Elite perks eliminated???

[Thrak]

The special at the platinum/elite lounge has been rather weird (at least to us) lately so we have not been ordering drinks. Just munch on whatever they have

 

We've been fortunate on our last two cruises to have the beverage package as a perk so we could drink whatever we wanted at the P/E/S nosh.

[elliair]

Just got e-mail from Princess. They won't let me back onboard unless I return the little bottles of booze I brought home from the minibar.

 

I've got about 30 of those small bottles sitting on my little mini bar here. We don't drink much at home, so I just accumulate them. Last cruise I gave our beers away, it made a couple of guys happy.:halo:

[IECalCruiser]

Re: laundry . Are you saying you put your laundry outside your door???

Yes, per discussion with our steward.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[caribill]

It's time for a new higher up class where it really means something. ;p

 

Be careful what you ask for.

 

Let's guess that the higher class would require a minimum of 500 cruise days and you would have to be at that new level for the laundry benefit.

 

Obviously many current elites would not be eligible for the new higher level and would no longer have the laundry benefit.

 

So which do you think most current elites would prefer?

a) Having a laundry benefit with a three day turnaround or

b) Having to wait until reaching 500 days to have the laundry benefit again.

[joybook]

I've always found the laundry benefit to be of no big deal - forget it. The sooner Princess do away with the number of cruises and just work on the number of days cruised the better. That will do away with all those who just rack up 1 and 2 day cruises in the US.

[Thrak]

I've always found the laundry benefit to be of no big deal - forget it. The sooner Princess do away with the number of cruises and just work on the number of days cruised the better. That will do away with all those who just rack up 1 and 2 day cruises in the US.

 

Remember that Princess originally only counted number of cruises. The number of days was added in later. Of course they likely didn't have all of those short cruises at that time. I don't know as it definitely pre-dates our cruising.

 

I've often seen people complain about those super short cruises and "all the people" who use them to become elite but I have to say that I really doubt it is a very large number of people who do that. Most don't live in the areas where that is possible and many of those who do live in those areas look at the crazy pricing for those cruises and follow the advice to "Just say no".

[kruisey]

Laundry on 34 day cruise I would get underwear returned 2 to 3 days later then outer clothing the day after.

The Elite lounge about 4.00PM in Club Fusion was always well attended with good selection of munchies provided.

[abbydancer2003]

Ours was in Club Fusion as well. We went a couple of times and there was literally no one else there and we had to go to the bar to order drinks. The waitstaff was there but service was practically non-existent. We didn’t go back.

 

We were there most nights, sometimes busy sometimes not. But after the first couple of days the waitstaff got much more attentive.

 

We've been fortunate on our last two cruises to have the beverage package as a perk so we could drink whatever we wanted at the P/E/S nosh.

 

We had a beverage package and one night they told us it wasn't good at the P/E/S nosh. We told him it had been honored every other night. Or maybe it was just the foo-foo drink he said wasn't valid. In any case, nothing every showed up on the bill, so it was honored.

[Sillyjilly]

eliminated? No.

 

What was decided was to reverse the perks. Now, first timers get what were previously elite perks and elites get nothing. The idea is that first timers need to get hooked on cruising and elite level passengers will continue to cruise with or without the perks. At least that is what i’ve heard. ;p

 

huh???????????????????????

[paul929207]

Be careful what you ask for.

 

Let's guess that the higher class would require a minimum of 500 cruise days and you would have to be at that new level for the laundry benefit.

 

Obviously many current elites would not be eligible for the new higher level and would no longer have the laundry benefit.

 

So which do you think most current elites would prefer?

a) Having a laundry benefit with a three day turnaround or

b) Having to wait until reaching 500 days to have the laundry benefit again.

I think Princess would be very hesitant to remove an existing perk from Elites. Dropping laundry for most would be very upsetting for many.

 

I would rather see them change the laundry perk to a free laundry allotment. Something like $25 or $50 per week. This would let nearly every Elite get THEIR laundry done, but would make it harder for those who think of it as a "friends & family" benefit.

[happicruzer]

I was told, while on Caribbean Princess, that the unlimited laundry perk has a change coming - mostly due to abuse of the privilege. Specifically, sending out laundry for others not elegible for the perk; I.e., grandparents sending grandchildren’s clothing.

 

It was interesting, as it was our first time with complimentary laundry, to see the complimentary charges of $35 and $48 (backed out to zero) - lots of lost dollars to bean counters.

 

Everyone is aware of the new expiration dates on coffee cards, one gentleman purchased two coffee cards off eBay for $15. More lost revenue to bean counters.

[msmoger]

We had the weirdest thing happen on our March 18 cruise on Caribbean Princess. Normally they deliver a menu such as shown above but we got one that just had the days on it. No menu. Nothing but the days. It was held in Club Fusion and they served the exact same stuff every night of the 14 day cruise. There was a lot of grumbling and complaining. I'm told that the cruise following ours (those who embarked on April 1) was back to normal. We were possibly the victim of one of the infamous Princess experiments to see how the idea went over with passengers. Having the same - less than impressive - spread each night was a terrible idea. Of course it did cut down on the number of people who partook of the "event". We ate there maybe 3 times but many people (including us on many nights) stopped by, looked in, and left.

 

Hey Thrak, how are you guys doing.

 

Don't want to start a street fight here ;p, but that's simply not true. Yes they had the crudite and cheese type stuff every night. Every PES reception I have been to has done this. But every night (except that weird one where the servers were walking around with little cups of crudite) there was a featured item including smoked salmon, shrimp, the cheeses, beef tartare, guacamole, salsa, etc. On a 14 day cruise they obviously repeated some but there was always a featured item. :D

 

Not providing the menu in advance I attribute to a CD that was less than spectacular, especially when it came to that awful show schedule in the Princess Theater. I'm not that into matinees (sarcasm very intentional :cool:;p).

[msmoger]

huh???????????????????????

 

Read his other posts. ;);)

[floridalover5623]

Be careful what you ask for.

 

Let's guess that the higher class would require a minimum of 500 cruise days and you would have to be at that new level for the laundry benefit.

 

Obviously many current elites would not be eligible for the new higher level and would no longer have the laundry benefit.

 

So which do you think most current elites would prefer?

a) Having a laundry benefit with a three day turnaround or

b) Having to wait until reaching 500 days to have the laundry benefit again.

Definitely 500 days would do it.

There would be no reason to change the existing benefit but only give people with 500 days or more a "priority" laundry and cleaning service.

btw- we hardly use laundry as it is. If my wife sends in $25 of items on a 20 day trip it's a lot and on the last cruise they shrunk her stuff once again.....and she knows better. :D

[Woobstr112G]

I think Princess would be very hesitant to remove an existing perk from Elites. Dropping laundry for most would be very upsetting for many.

 

I would rather see them change the laundry perk to a free laundry allotment. Something like $25 or $50 per week. This would let nearly every Elite get THEIR laundry done, but would make it harder for those who think of it as a "friends & family" benefit.

 

Same here. I've seen personally the abuses of the "Friends & Family" plan.....

 

Bob

[elliair]

I've always found the laundry benefit to be of no big deal - forget it. The sooner Princess do away with the number of cruises and just work on the number of days cruised the better. That will do away with all those who just rack up 1 and 2 day cruises in the US.

 

I'm at 100% agreement with you. No one does my laundry at home but me. I happen to be one of those females who do not like other people touching my undies, PJ's, or anything that I wear. I can take care of it myself, DH always helps out. I would like Princess to give me the free tokens to do it myself. I guess I can't have everything.....

[elliair]

[quote name=happicruzer;56068653

 

Everyone is aware of the new expiration dates on coffee cards' date=' one gentleman purchased two coffee cards off eBay for $15. More lost revenue to bean counters.[/quote]

 

I'm a bean counter myself. I purchase at Costco the instant Starbucks 100% Columbia coffee. I wasn't sure about the taste but went ahead and bought them. Oh my are they good!!! I went back to Costco and purchased 2 more packages. I put them in a ziplock and I order hot water from room service. No coffee cards, better than what you get from a coffee card. I bring our own instant cappuccino as well.

[TracieABD]

I have used the laundry perk a lot, and I have used it just a little. On hot weather cruises, I use it much more.

 

However, because I have so many clothes that need to be drip dried or dried at very low temps, I tend to do my own laundry much more now. Also, I prefer to wash my own dainties....

 

I send out jeans and shirts that need to be pressed to be presentable.

 

On my next cruise, I will wear sweaters and turtlenecks... so I am on my own!

[crochetcruise]

I've always found the laundry benefit to be of no big deal - forget it. The sooner Princess do away with the number of cruises and just work on the number of days cruised the better. That will do away with all those who just rack up 1 and 2 day cruises in the US.

 

It is possible to qualify in Australia by taking the 2 or 3 day cruises-either Melbourne-Sydney or vice versa, or Sydney-Brisbane and vice versa.

 

What about those people who need to budget very carefully for their chance to enjoy a cruise? They may only be able to manage the shorter cruises. Why should they be penalized for enjoying the shorter cruises?

[nukesubsailor]

I’ve experienced anywhere from 3-7 days for laundry to be returned over the last three years and 7-8 cruises. This is not new.

 

I was on the Emerald for 12 days, disembarking Wednesday. I received a note at the beginning of the cruise to not expect laundry be returned for 72 hours. I sent laundry out three times and it was back 36-48 hours. Cut-off for sending out laundry was May 6 @ 9am. I got it back May 7th in the afternoon.

 

The Platinum/Elite Lounge is definitely still there. Prices have gone up and the included drinks changed.

 

Pam, Thank you for posting the menu. If, on your cruise, it was like on my last cruise on the Caribbean Princess, then I must conclude that the cruel prank we suffered is done on other Princess ships.

Your menu lists onion rings for the cocktail party the evening you were at Skagway. On our cruise we were delighted to see onion rings on the menu and we were eager to attend that evening. When we arrived we saw this tall mountain of onion rings on the buffet table. They were raw. No breading. No deep frying, Just raw onion rings. They were not serving hamburgers so why raw onion rings?

I have lived and traveled all over the USA and everywhere I have been when you saw "Onion Rings" on the menu they were breaded and deep fried. When I was last on the Emerald Princess they served onion rings at the Trident Grill and they were breaded and deep fried as they should be.

I think the pompous chef who decided that raw onions should be advertised as "Onion Rings" should be charged with bait and switch fraud and thrown in the brig.

[Woobstr112G]

I have used the laundry perk a lot, and I have used it just a little. On hot weather cruises, I use it much more.

 

However, because I have so many clothes that need to be drip dried or dried at very low temps, I tend to do my own laundry much more now. Also, I prefer to wash my own dainties....

 

I send out jeans and shirts that need to be pressed to be presentable.

 

On my next cruise, I will wear sweaters and turtlenecks... so I am on my own!

 

This is about the only thing we use the laundry perk for as we have become a little leery since there have been a few isolated instances where some of our items (after laundry) have come back a new size. We never send out undergarments as I make a number of trips to the self service laundry during sea days. ....:):):)

 

Bob

[Woobstr112G]

As far as the PES lounge, we usually do not attend unless we have close friends and/or family members who are eligible. On our CB Iceland/Norway T/A (Fall 2016) the PES offerings were the same (cheese/crackers/celery sticks, etc) every night except one night they had shrimp. We attended because we met up with our core group of roll call friends for great conversation before dinner. During our Panama cruise last year (Pacific Princess) the PES offerings were better. We attended almost every night to meet up with DW's sister and her hubby.....:):):)

 

Bob

Edited May 14, 2018 by Woobstr112G

[abbydancer2003]

Pam, Thank you for posting the menu. If, on your cruise, it was like on my last cruise on the Caribbean Princess, then I must conclude that the cruel prank we suffered is done on other Princess ships.

Your menu lists onion rings for the cocktail party the evening you were at Skagway. On our cruise we were delighted to see onion rings on the menu and we were eager to attend that evening. When we arrived we saw this tall mountain of onion rings on the buffet table. They were raw. No breading. No deep frying, Just raw onion rings. They were not serving hamburgers so why raw onion rings?

I have lived and traveled all over the USA and everywhere I have been when you saw "Onion Rings" on the menu they were breaded and deep fried. When I was last on the Emerald Princess they served onion rings at the Trident Grill and they were breaded and deep fried as they should be.

I think the pompous chef who decided that raw onions should be advertised as "Onion Rings" should be charged with bait and switch fraud and thrown in the brig.

 

Actually, the onion rings on this are supposed to be uncooked. They were there to go with the salmon. Often smoked salmon is served with capers and onions. Often, they are simply sliced, so less confusing.

[OCruisers]

We had the weirdest thing happen on our March 18 cruise on Caribbean Princess. Normally they deliver a menu such as shown above but we got one that just had the days on it. No menu. Nothing but the days. It was held in Club Fusion and they served the exact same stuff every night of the 14 day cruise. ........

 

Same thing on January 2018 Caribbean Princess (14 day cruise) ... Club Fusion.

The notice we got only showed the days. No menu.

However, different things were served on the three or four evenings we went.

[ExploringTheGlobe]

I've sent my laundry out every day on my last 3 cruises and it was returned the next day without issue. One cruise, on the first day, I had a note stating it would take a day or two longer so at least I did get some notice to plan ahead.