What would you do for a first Elite cruise?

[PrincessLuver]

I know there are people out there with more urgent questions, but let me toss out a frivolous first-world problem:

 

Assuming we take all the cruises we have booked, we'll reach Elite on the Princess loyalty ladder in October of 2018. What kind of cruise would you take to best make use of the added benefits?

 

-- A long cruise would give us plenty of chances to use the laundry perk, but the complimentary mini-bar wouldn't last long.

 

-- Something with a lot of tender ports would give us a lot of chances to pull rank. But c'mon, that's sick.

 

So what kind of cruise would you take (or did you take) to celebrate your Elite-ness?

 

Jim

 

Elite perks are not all that great but we do love the Princess' OBC program.....those are real perks....the free laundry on longer cruises is helpful and also getting to ride a Unicorn into the MDR every night is awesome and make us feel special...:)

[partybarbie]

Elite perks are not all that great but we do love the Princess' OBC program.....those are real perks....the free laundry on longer cruises is helpful and also getting to ride a Unicorn into the MDR every night is awesome and make us feel special...:)

 

I once rode the bronze tiger on the first Regal Princess. It was the life-sized one in the the Bengal Bar. I'll have to look for the unicorn on our next cruise. It must be something they do at traditional dining and not anytime. ;p

[Iamcruzin]

Did you ever consider she did those things on purpose. ;):D

My mother no. She hated when I used her washing machine. It was the whole, "You are wasting water and electric guilt trip thing". My wife maybe because at the time we were living in an apartment so we had to go to the Laundromat.

[floridalover5623]

My mother no. She hated when I used her washing machine. It was the whole, "You are wasting water and electric guilt trip thing". My wife maybe because at the time we were living in an apartment so we had to go to the Laundromat.

My wife let me do the cooking years ago.

Wasn't that nice of her. :D

[Knickearth]

If you are truly that anxious to use perks immediately upon reaching elite status, I suggest you do like a caribbean back to back trip. You would get 2 mini bar fillups, plenty of use of laundry, plenty of tender stops and whatever else you get with elite.

 

Hope this helps

[2pbears]

Thanks Mike, but I'm afraid any "achievement" is a ways in the future. It's interesting that you actually prefer to do your own laundry. Ever since my wife invited me 35 years ago to do my own, "if you don't like wrinkles," I've been getting tired of laundry.

 

On one cruise, we took an upsell to a suite and of course sent our laundry out to be done. There was one shirt in particular that came back better than new. So ever since, I've been thinking Elite would be cool for the laundry perk.

 

Jim

 

Actually, Jim, there are a few of us out there who prefer to do our own laundry. DH is allergic to many laundry detergents so we would never take the chance of sending his clothes out to be laundered and I prefer to wash my clothes in cold water and hang to dry. We just became Elite on our last cruise and I would seriously doubt we will ever take advantage of this perk. Everyone is different.

[Astro Flyer]

If you are truly that anxious to use perks immediately upon reaching elite status, I suggest you do like a caribbean back to back trip. You would get 2 mini bar fillups, plenty of use of laundry, plenty of tender stops and whatever else you get with elite.

 

 

 

Hope this helps

 

Even when booking as a single longer cruise that could be booked as shorter B2B cruises we've always received minibars for each segment. :)

[LeeW]

B2B cruises work well.

 

 

Agree. You get two minibars and laundry. Don't bother with shoe shine - your steward gets stuck with that job. And we don't eat the free canapes.

 

You could also splurge on a one day repositioning cruise in a suite and get two minibar setups.

Edited July 1, 2017 by LeeW
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[ellie1145]

Hope you enjoy becoming Elite. We think the perks are very good.

 

We make use of the amazing free internet minutes - this really is a great bonus for us. Leaving our little grandson at home was made bearable by being able to FaceTime him regularly. We found the Internet on Royal Princess to be excellent and it worked seamlessly.

 

We love afternoon tea on Princess, and being able to have it delivered to your balcony is an extra bonus. Especially since this time on Royal (May) they really were scones, The best we've ever had on Princess.

 

The bar set up is nice if you drink. We don't so changed it for a coffee card.

 

We don't use the laundry, I'm way to fussy about not mixing colours, washing at the correct temperature etc. If I want something washing I'll use the self service laundry, with my own washing powder, to prevent allergies.

 

As for the tendering, we do find it very helpful, as it saves waiting in the dining room. It just means we go straight down and join the end of the line - no flashing our elite black cards, or saying 'do you know we are ELITE!' Ha ha!

 

We don't ever bother with the hors d'oeuvres. Would have preferred chocolate strawberries but these were deleted some time ago.

 

So hope that at least some of these perks will be of use to you.

 

Happy cruising!

[floridalover5623]

 

 

We don't ever bother with the hors d'oeuvres. Would have preferred chocolate strawberries but these were deleted some time ago.

 

On the Royal they used to have the chocolate covered strawberries & pineapple wedges at the buffet one afternoon. (dip them yourself).

[satxdiver]

Celebrate like it is 1999! Then gather up your laundry and give it to your room attendant for the free laundry service but don't expect it back the next day.

[jasbo49]

Hope you enjoy becoming Elite. We think the perks are very good.

 

We make use of the amazing free internet minutes - this really is a great bonus for us. Leaving our little grandson at home was made bearable by being able to FaceTime him regularly. We found the Internet on Royal Princess to be excellent and it worked seamlessly.

 

We love afternoon tea on Princess, and being able to have it delivered to your balcony is an extra bonus. Especially since this time on Royal (May) they really were scones, The best we've ever had on Princess.

 

The bar set up is nice if you drink. We don't so changed it for a coffee card.

 

We don't use the laundry, I'm way to fussy about not mixing colours, washing at the correct temperature etc. If I want something washing I'll use the self service laundry, with my own washing powder, to prevent allergies.

 

As for the tendering, we do find it very helpful, as it saves waiting in the dining room. It just means we go straight down and join the end of the line - no flashing our elite black cards, or saying 'do you know we are ELITE!' Ha ha!

 

We don't ever bother with the hors d'oeuvres. Would have preferred chocolate strawberries but these were deleted some time ago.

 

So hope that at least some of these perks will be of use to you.

 

Happy cruising!

Thank you Ellie, and thank you to everyone else who has contributed.

 

Being a rough-edged American from the West Coast, I'm unfamiliar with the joys of afternoon tea, but I think that might be a fun thing to try as it's delivered to our balcony.

 

Easier for me to relate to is the joy of a couple of short back to backs that each have a mini-bar setup. I think a B2B of Mexico shorties out of Los Angeles might be a good way to go.

 

But again, thanks to all who have contributed.

 

Jim

[lolane1]

I've been doing my laundry for most of my life. My mother never folded my jeans correctly so I relieved her of the duty, It was harder on her than it was for me. When we were first married 26 years ago my wife left her lipstick in her pocket and it melted all over my shirt. She was also relieved from the duty. I am very OCD about laundry and how it should be separated and dried. Don't even get me started on how the dishwasher should be loaded.

 

Hey, I hear you. I may not be OCD about laundry but I have had an a couple of items damaged when sending my laundry to a local service at home. Never again! I am approaching elite but think I will be doing my laundry myself when the time comes. Once burned...................

[Lucky TGO]

It doesn't matter in the least. The perks are available no matter how long your cruise is. You might get more benefit from the unlimited laundry on a longer cruise.

 

There's no Elite perk that allows you to "pull rank" unless the perks have changed. The tender priority allows you to get on the back of the line for the tender. It doesn't mean you "jump" the line and it's only going ashore.

I totally agree with you Pam.

Tony

[jasbo49]

I totally agree with you Pam.

Tony

Tony, I was kind of thinking about a B2B on the row boat, but I have some concerns about your tenders.

 

Jim

[Lucky TGO]

Tony, I was kind of thinking about a B2B on the row boat, but I have some concerns about your tenders.

 

Jim

 

Hi Jim,

Don't worry about anything. On the Rowboat we are there for you. Don't concern your self about tenders.

The Captain of the Rowboat,

Tony

[trbarton]

I'm on a 19 day cruise on the Majestic Princess in 2019. The cruise starts in Sydney Australia, where I am boarding, or you can board in Brisbane Australia 2 days later. Does thus mean that I will get 2 mini-bar set-ups as it's starting from 2 different ports? What has been people's experiences?

Thanks for everyone's replies.

Tom:D

[Astro Flyer]

I'm on a 19 day cruise on the Majestic Princess in 2019. The cruise starts in Sydney Australia, where I am boarding, or you can board in Brisbane Australia 2 days later. Does thus mean that I will get 2 mini-bar set-ups as it's starting from 2 different ports? What has been people's experiences?

 

Thanks for everyone's replies.

Tom:D

The way I understand the procedure, you'd only receive 2 minibars if it's possible to only book the 2-day Sydney to Brisbane cruise.

[Times Prince]

The way I understand the procedure, you'd only receive 2 minibars if it's possible to only book the 2-day Sydney to Brisbane cruise.

I can vouch for that answer. We had a similar thing on a Transatlantic, leaving from Galveston, and picking up passengers 3 days later in Florida. In that case the 3 day cruise was not legal, so was not offered as a separate cruise. Only 1 minibar.

 

The upside is that those first couple of days will feel like you've got a private yacht. With only a partial passenger population, the crew is more relaxed, friendlier, and nothing is crowded. Enjoy!

[jdr2]

With 8 sea nights to go to reach Elite we hope to reach it in 2018. It's been a long time coming as we are still working and DH does not get many holiday days a year. Really looking forward to the extra "perks" that come with Elite but it will not make us try and pull rank on anyone. We hope to do a Baltic cruise to get there and then, with retirement looming in a couple of years, some longer cruises to enjoy Elite.

 

 

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[CruisingObsessed]

I know there are people out there with more urgent questions, but let me toss out a frivolous first-world problem:

 

Assuming we take all the cruises we have booked, we'll reach Elite on the Princess loyalty ladder in October of 2018. What kind of cruise would you take to best make use of the added benefits?

 

-- A long cruise would give us plenty of chances to use the laundry perk, but the complimentary mini-bar wouldn't last long.

 

-- Something with a lot of tender ports would give us a lot of chances to pull rank. But c'mon, that's sick.

 

So what kind of cruise would you take (or did you take) to celebrate your Elite-ness?

 

Jim

 

My first as elite was just a 7 day Mexico, DH was a 12 days British Isles. The 7 day Mexico we drank the mini-bar; the British Isles we used the laundry. It's all good! :cool:

[geoherb]

Hope you enjoy becoming Elite. We think the perks are very good.

 

We make use of the amazing free internet minutes - this really is a great bonus for us. Leaving our little grandson at home was made bearable by being able to FaceTime him regularly. We found the Internet on Royal Princess to be excellent and it worked seamlessly.

The free internet minutes start at the Platinum level. We still enjoy them as Elite, but they're something the OP has been receiving for several cruises.

[cheznandy]

I'm on a 19 day cruise on the Majestic Princess in 2019. The cruise starts in Sydney Australia, where I am boarding, or you can board in Brisbane Australia 2 days later. Does thus mean that I will get 2 mini-bar set-ups as it's starting from 2 different ports? What has been people's experiences?

Thanks for everyone's replies.

Tom:D

 

You may, but you probaly won't;)

We have a done quite a few cruises that departed Sydney, first port Brisbane, which was also sold as a 2 nighter, have never received two mini bar set ups.

Our most recent was last April on the Dawn Princess to PNG, it could be booked Syd/Syd....Bne/Bne or a two day Syd/Bne, We booked 15 nights Syd/Syd and got one mini bar setup.

 

We are also on Majestic from Sydney November 2018:D

[goldenrod]

Our first cruise as Elite will be on the Emerald this November, 14 & 17 days from LA to South American we booked a Penthouse suite. We did not book it as a b2b but as two separate cruises, That way we will get stock on board credit for both, also 4 mini bar setups 2 for the suite and 2 for being Elite.

 

 

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[floridalover5623]

Our first cruise as Elite will be on the Emerald this November, 14 & 17 days from LA to South American we booked a Penthouse suite. We did not book it as a b2b but as two separate cruises, That way we will get stock on board credit for both, also 4 mini bar setups 2 for the suite and 2 for being Elite.

 

 

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You get the same thing no matter how you booked it.