"Fast Track" Elite status

[chamima]

On 6/10/2018 at 8:53 PM, floridalover5623 said:

That is correct but there's nothing at that point from keeping that person from buying as much as they want since they're already logged on to your account.

I gave 150 minutes to my cabin steward the day before we disembarked the ship so he could use them for Skype that night.

Obviously they should be given to someone you trust.

 

 

I didn't know we could do that!!!!

What a good idea!

I usually have LOTS of minutes left over.

[voljeep]

7 minutes ago, Pierlesscruisers said:

Just as a matter of interest, there are 28 sailings of 1 to 5 days the rest of this year and 39 sailings of those lengths scheduled for next year.

and how many of those are on the west coast

[memoak]

11 minutes ago, Pierlesscruisers said:

 

The fact is, however, that Princess has seen fit, for whatever the reason (s) to offer 2 methods for advancement. There are only only 2 ports that have 1-day sailings available and about 3 or 4 that have 2-day sailings, and they're all along the West Coast, Asia or Australia.  There are a number of 3- and 4-day sailings with ports along both coasts, Asia, Australia, and some in Europe also. I don't think you're going to see any changes in the Princess advancement plan, although I certainly don't have any insider knowledge on which to make that prediction, it's just a guess on my part. Just as a matter of interest, there are 28 sailings of 1 to 5 days the rest of this year and 39 sailings of those lengths scheduled for next year. One oddity I noticed was that there are no cruises of 1-5 days for only 1 month next year, July.

 

If you really feel strongly about Princess offering 2 different methods to advance you're up a creek without a paddle as they used to say when I was a kid, and the only way to get around it would be to go over to another cruise line that goes strictly by the days-sailed method. 🤔

 

Tom

Oh not upset I became elite a long time ago on 7-26 day cruises now have close to 40 cruises and close to 400 days. 

[MissP22]

1 hour ago, chamima said:

 

 

I didn't know we could do that!!!!

What a good idea!

I usually have LOTS of minutes left over.

It used to be that the extra minutes were of value to the crew but since the introduction of  the Medallion Net on most of the ships the benefit has dropped to being almost worthless.

The crew can get a deal for $60 per month for unlimited internet use & most of them do have it. 

 

[kywildcatfanone]

Rich people don't have to earn perks.  Been that way since the beginning of time. 

[Pierlesscruisers]

2 hours ago, voljeep said:

and how many of those are on the west coast

 

Of the 28 2019 cruises, 8 are on the West Coast, 3 on the East Coast, 1 in Europe, 4 in Asia and 12 in Australia/New Zealand.

 

Tom

[Ombud]

On 4/10/2018 at 6:00 PM, reiddg said:

My wife and I are one of the fast tracks as well. We were checking in for our 5th cruise, so the next one would be Platinum. The clerk came back with our cards and told us we had an upgrade. Since it was our anniversary, I knew it wasn't a cabin upgrade so I thought we were getting promoted to Platinum a cruise early. No - Elite. We were very excited and grateful. Our first cruise was a balcony but 2-5 were suites.

So you were bumped up after your 9th cruise credit? Maybe they're bumping repeat suites early (4 suites @ 2 ea +1). And I've heard suites have preferential laundry turn around times. I just book balconies or OC behind art gallery

Edited June 20, 2019 by Ombud

[getting older slowly]

I do not see the need for fast track....... you get there when you get there....

 

We are now that grey color and are happy to be there.... if we don't go to another color that is fine...

 

We cruise with princess because we enjoy it..

 

Cheers Don

[reiddg]

14 hours ago, Ombud said:

So you were bumped up after your 9th cruise credit? Maybe they're bumping repeat suites early (4 suites @ 2 ea +1). And I've heard suites have preferential laundry turn around times. I just book balconies or OC behind art gallery

Yes, it could be.  From what I've read, there are a number of criteria used to make that determination and I'm guessing it's all based on the dollars spent whether on cabins, cruises, or casino.

[Direwolves]

Wow, either this thread really blew up yesterday or I got a backlog of nearly 20 messages from CC letting me know there were new comments.  Anyways, it has always struck me as funny that regardless of the their preferred cruise line there seems to be three types of loyalty cruisers.  1--Those that don't care what level they are, just let them be on a cruise.  2--Those who want to be a certain level and are doing what they can to get there.  And finally ... 3--Those who finally got to a level and want the door closed behind them so the room doesn't get too crowded, almost like people who are running for a bomb shelter and yelling "close the doors" when they are a close enough to get in before the lock catches.  The final group is the funniest to me.

 

I'll never forget our first cruise which happened to be Princess 6.5 years ago and we did Seattle to Alaska in the fall. We got married on that cruise and on our wedding day there was a huge storm. 20 foot waves for 18 hours, crew and passengers were green as can be and here we are walking around with the photographers in our wedding attire highly noticeable.  The next day I was in the buffet and a very nice couple who recognized me and came over to chat and see how things went.  Upon sitting down the husband did the classiest thing, he quickly took out his black Elite card, made sure I understood its meaning and quickly put it away and told me that in all of their cruises they had never seen weather like that. The rest of the conversation had NO title or rank, just three people chatting over coffee and desserts.  Fast forward to today and we have tried all six major cruise lines, have minimal rank on most and some increased rank on others, but we never play those cards unless forced to.

[crochetcruise]

19 hours ago, memoak said:

Many people are achieving elite status these days with a bunch of 1-4 day cruises.  I firmly believe it should be judged on days not cruise credits 

 

While I respect your opinion, it would make it virtually IMPOSSIBLE for me to achieve Elite status.

 

I am on a Government benefit due to being Handicapped. I have to plan and budget VERY carefully to afford a 3 or 4 night cruise. I must fly interstate, with at least 1 overnight stop-not confident to try changing terminals and planes in 1 day due to mobility issues. This adds to my expenses.

 

[memoak]

20 minutes ago, crochetcruise said:

 

While I respect your opinion, it would make it virtually IMPOSSIBLE for me to achieve Elite status.

 

I am on a Government benefit due to being Handicapped. I have to plan and budget VERY carefully to afford a 3 or 4 night cruise. I must fly interstate, with at least 1 overnight stop-not confident to try changing terminals and planes in 1 day due to mobility issues. This adds to my expenses.

 

For years I had to budget my cruises and it took many many years for me to reach elite status and I throughly enjoyed the long journey, this was when it was all based on days sailed

[nukesubsailor]

16 hours ago, kywildcatfanone said:

Rich people don't have to earn perks.  Been that way since the beginning of time. 

I think that the people who learned what they needed to know and put in the time and work to become rich would feel that they earned the perks.