Purchase Medallion Net now or embarkation day?

[hobbyfarmer2]

We are Canadian Platinum members on a 21 day b2b this November.  We can purchase internet thtough the Personalizer now for $75 CAD for the first cruise of 7 days and $125 CAD for the second cruise of 14 days.  Is it better to purchase now or wait until we board on embarkation day?

[Pierlesscruisers]

23 minutes ago, hobbyfarmer2 said:

We are Canadian Platinum members on a 21 day b2b this November.  We can purchase internet through the Personalizer now for $75 CAD for the first cruise of 7 days and $125 CAD for the second cruise of 14 days.  Is it better to purchase now or wait until we board on embarkation day?

I believe that the price is better purchasing before the cruise, so it might be better before. Not sure how much better though. Might give Princess a call and ask them. Many feel that that's a wasted effort and that you get different answers from different people, but it probably can't be any worse than  what you get here. (And, before someone chimes in here, yes, that includes what I've said! 😁

 

Ah, I see that someone has already shown me the error of my knowledge already. 

 

Tom

Edited August 29, 2019 by Pierlesscruisers
correct error

[Astro Flyer]

22 minutes ago, hobbyfarmer2 said:

We are Canadian Platinum members on a 21 day b2b this November.  We can purchase internet thtough the Personalizer now for $75 CAD for the first cruise of 7 days and $125 CAD for the second cruise of 14 days.  Is it better to purchase now or wait until we board on embarkation day?

 

Based on our experience & that of other passengers who have posted on such threads we’ve received an additional 25% discount during the first 24 hours onboard in exchange for our free internet minutes...$120 for 14 days became $90 on the Royal in late April.  

 

The second screenshot was posted by a passenger who is eligible for the free minutes which was received by email to exchange their free minutes onboard for an additional 25% discount.

 

Edited August 29, 2019 by Astro Flyer

[Steelers36]

38 minutes ago, hobbyfarmer2 said:

We are Canadian Platinum members on a 21 day b2b this November.  We can purchase internet thtough the Personalizer now for $75 CAD for the first cruise of 7 days and $125 CAD for the second cruise of 14 days.  Is it better to purchase now or wait until we board on embarkation day?

Tip:  It would be useful to post the rates in USD as we don't know for sure what the conversion rate is on your booking.  If I use the most recent rate in use for some time (except for a brief bump to 1.35), it is 1.3 and your $125 CAD is likely $99 USD and the $75 CAD something like $59 USD (although the math indicates $57.70)??.  

 

I believe Princess has - or now has - a standard package rate for a range of cruise lengths.  So 6-8 days is $X, 10-14 ....

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, Astro Flyer said:

 

Based on our experience & that of other passengers who have posted on such threads we’ve received an additional 25% discount during the first 24 hours onboard in exchange for our free internet minutes...$120 for 14 days became $90 on the Royal in late April.  

 

 

 

 

Hi, Astro.  You and I have both responded to a lot of folks about internet.  We had a couple of slightly different experiences.  I finally realized something on a prior call to Princess and today I got to the bottom of it.  Now I wish there was a Sticky for this topic as it comes up more often then dress codes (LOL).  

 

You may recall I was originally informed prior to our Regal Baltic cruise that the "regular" price for Medallion Net package was $100 and my Personalizer price of $75 reflected the 25% discount (11-night trip).  So, I pre-booked and found things on board not quite the same.  Misinformation, or something created to make me feel good????  Anyway, it all worked out and we did get a discounted price in the end.

 

But, here is the REAL story.  Princess has standard pre-cruise pricing in the Personalizer, grouped by length of cruise (see below).  These prices DO NOT reflect any membership status discount.  Once on board, the package prices are higher, but then we get our 25% discount.  So, it is a bit of a shell game you could say because a "newbie" Princess customer can get a good rate that isn't all that far off our member benefit rate as you will see below.  That might be an argument for another day, but it does indicate this internet strategy for Princess customers:

 

RULE 1:  If you are not yet Platinum or Elite, book the Internet package using the Personalizer for your best pricing option as it will be higher on board - even on embarkation day.

 

RULE 2:  If you are Platinum or Elite, do NOT pre-book the Internet package and wait until embarkation day as you will get 25% off the on-board price and that will be lower than the Personalizer rate.

 

CRUISE LENGTH	PRE_CRUISE PERSONALIZER		ON BOARD PRICE (Day 1)
(nights)	List Price	Member Discount	On Board Price	Member Discount Price
7	$60.00	n/a	$70.00	$52.50
8 - 10	$70.00	n/a	$75.00	$56.25
11 - 12	$75.00	n/a	$90.00	$67.50
14	$100.00	n/a	$120.00	$90.00
15 - 30	$130.00	n/a	$150.00	$112.50
31+	$180.00	n/a	$200.00	$150.00

 

The above was pasted in from Excel, so I hope it works out and stays aligned.

 

ETA - All package prices in USD of course and rounded to $1 avoiding nonsense of $0.95 and $0.99.

Edited August 29, 2019 by steelers36

[Steelers36]

I didn't want to clutter my informational post above with this, but as can be plainly seen, Platinum and Elites are not really getting the benefit of a 25% discount for our status in exchange for the free minutes.  Now I still like the U/L package option and appreciate the faster internet.  I also thought that a 25% discount was a pretty good thing in exchange for our free minutes benefit.  That said, the discount is not at all close to 25% off as can be seen in the above post.

 

When anyone can book at a discounted rate in the Personalizer, it removes the true value of our benefit.  The rep I spoke to could not say why Princess doesn't offer us a discount pre-cruise as they certainly know what our status is when booking.

 

On a 14-night cruise, we only save 10% over "regular" customers who pre-pay for the internet as one example.

[idahospud]

8 minutes ago, steelers36 said:

 

 

CRUISE LENGTH	PRE_CRUISE PERSONALIZER		ON BOARD PRICE (Day 1)
(nights)	List Price	Member Discount	On Board Price	Member Discount Price
7	$60.00	n/a	$70.00	$52.50
8 - 10	$70.00	n/a	$75.00	$56.25
11 - 12	$75.00	n/a	$90.00	$67.50
14	$100.00	n/a	$120.00	$90.00
15 - 30	$130.00	n/a	$150.00	$112.50
31+	$180.00	n/a	$200.00	$150.00

 

The above was pasted in from Excel, so I hope it works out and stays aligned.

 

Discount prices look to be rounded up  penny on this chart? 14 days was $89.99 and 21 days was $112.49 for me.

Edited August 29, 2019 by idahospud

[Peytonhead]

We purchased the unlimited plan at $59.99 for our cruise on the Sky Princess in April 2020.  You can see below that this rate is 50% off the ship pricing.  If this deal is available i would buy it now!

 

[Astro Flyer]

Thanks “steelers36” for sharing the results of your research.  It’s good to see some standardized pricing & discounts because during the transition to MedallionNet sometimes experiences have varied.

 

Lacking a sticky, I’ve saved a screenshot of your rules & pricing...thanks! 

[Steelers36]

1 minute ago, Peytonhead said:

We purchased the unlimited plan at $59.99 for our cruise on the Sky Princess in April 2020.  You can see below that this rate is 50% off the ship pricing.  If this deal is available i would buy it now!

 

The save over 50% is marketing hype.  You must be on a 7-night cruise.  Absolutely order it now if you do not have membership status benefit.

[Astro Flyer]

2 minutes ago, Peytonhead said:

We purchased the unlimited plan at $59.99 for our cruise on the Sky Princess in April 2020.  You can see below that this rate is 50% off the ship pricing.  If this deal is available i would buy it now!

 

 

We saw the same $60/week price last Spring which at that time marketing described it as a 25% discount but now the same $60 is described as a 50% discount so I don’t find such percentages to be credible.

 

Are you eligible for the free platinum/elite internet minutes?

 

If so based on past experiences you’d receive an additional discount by exchanging the free minutes during the first 24 hours onboard.  Although past experiences are no guarantee of future experiences because Princess can change it at anytime.  Thus there’s some risk involved by waiting until boarding the ship.

 

My Fall 28-day cruise offers the unlimited plan for $130 which based on steelers36 chart would be $112.50 onboard in exchange for my free minutes.  Our first 2 weeks are port intensive & our cellphone plan has free data & text in port so we plan to use our 500 minutes for each of us instead of an unlimited plan onboard.

[voljeep]

16 minutes ago, steelers36 said:

The save over 50% is marketing hype.  You must be on a 7-night cruise.  Absolutely order it now if you do not have membership status benefit.

the 9.99 per day is 'Over' 50% off the single day price of 19.99 per day ... j/s

[geoherb]

I never realized Princess did the pricing like this, so that we'd pay the same amount for our upcoming 16-day cruise as for a 30-day one. I guess we'll get by with our 250 free minutes each.

[vampiress]

thanks for the very clear guidance.  i was super confused before and i had returned my pre-purchase internet.  i have added it back because i do not have status minutes yet.

 

for my 5 day cruise, the 1 device price was $44.95 US with the 50% discount advertised in the cruise personalizer.

Edited August 29, 2019 by vampiress

[Coral]

Why does Princess take something basic and turn it into something complicated with how they list their pricing?

 

Thanks Steelers and Astroflyer.

 

 

[PescadoAmarillo]

2 hours ago, steelers36 said:

Hi, Astro.  You and I have both responded to a lot of folks about internet.  We had a couple of slightly different experiences.  I finally realized something on a prior call to Princess and today I got to the bottom of it.  Now I wish there was a Sticky for this topic as it comes up more often then dress codes (LOL).  

 

You may recall I was originally informed prior to our Regal Baltic cruise that the "regular" price for Medallion Net package was $100 and my Personalizer price of $75 reflected the 25% discount (11-night trip).  So, I pre-booked and found things on board not quite the same.  Misinformation, or something created to make me feel good????  Anyway, it all worked out and we did get a discounted price in the end.

 

But, here is the REAL story.  Princess has standard pre-cruise pricing in the Personalizer, grouped by length of cruise (see below).  These prices DO NOT reflect any membership status discount.  Once on board, the package prices are higher, but then we get our 25% discount.  So, it is a bit of a shell game you could say because a "newbie" Princess customer can get a good rate that isn't all that far off our member benefit rate as you will see below.  That might be an argument for another day, but it does indicate this internet strategy for Princess customers:

 

RULE 1:  If you are not yet Platinum or Elite, book the Internet package using the Personalizer for your best pricing option as it will be higher on board - even on embarkation day.

 

RULE 2:  If you are Platinum or Elite, do NOT pre-book the Internet package and wait until embarkation day as you will get 25% off the on-board price and that will be lower than the Personalizer rate.

 

CRUISE LENGTH	PRE_CRUISE PERSONALIZER		ON BOARD PRICE (Day 1)
(nights)	List Price	Member Discount	On Board Price	Member Discount Price
7	$60.00	n/a	$70.00	$52.50
8 - 10	$70.00	n/a	$75.00	$56.25
11 - 12	$75.00	n/a	$90.00	$67.50
14	$100.00	n/a	$120.00	$90.00
15 - 30	$130.00	n/a	$150.00	$112.50
31+	$180.00	n/a	$200.00	$150.00

 

The above was pasted in from Excel, so I hope it works out and stays aligned.

 

ETA - All package prices in USD of course and rounded to $1 avoiding nonsense of $0.95 and $0.99.

This is the best information I have seen on Medallion Net pricing. Thank you so much for posting it. Unfortunately, I just purchased WiFi though our Cruise Personalizer two days ago. The difference in my case is $18.

 

Way to figure out how to take something really positive (high speed WiFi) and use it to irritate your Platinum and Elite passengers, Princess. 

[vampiress]

you can likely cancel it still if you not with in a week* of sailing. 

 

* i thin maybe it said 3 days out they lock down the personalizer?

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

This is the best information I have seen on Medallion Net pricing. Thank you so much for posting it. Unfortunately, I just purchased WiFi though our Cruise Personalizer two days ago. The difference in my case is $18.

 

Way to figure out how to take something really positive (high speed WiFi) and use it to irritate your Platinum and Elite passengers, Princess. 

You can always cancel it and refund.  Book and pay on board instead.  

[Steelers36]

3 hours ago, vampiress said:

thanks for the very clear guidance.  i was super confused before and i had returned my pre-purchase internet.  i have added it back because i do not have status minutes yet.

 

for my 5 day cruise, the 1 device price was $44.95 US with the 50% discount advertised in the cruise personalizer.

Very good.  The agent @ Princess did not give me any prices below 7 nights.  I should have asked.  But then I was thinking maybe those ships didn't have shorter voyages. 

 

UPDATE:  There is no MedallionNet price chart with a voyage of under 7 nights.  The Princess Connect (new internet, but non-Medallion ship) is sold as unlimited in three levels by the day.  I couldn't find out anything about a published pricing for <7 nights, so they probably came up with something for that trip is my guess.  The "on board" price would just be a guess, but I am thinking about $55 and then $41.25 with 25% off if eligible.

 

 

 

[Steelers36]

3 hours ago, geoherb said:

I never realized Princess did the pricing like this, so that we'd pay the same amount for our upcoming 16-day cruise as for a 30-day one. I guess we'll get by with our 250 free minutes each.

Yes, I love that pricing for something near 30 nights.  We have a 38 night one booked for Fall 2020, so $150 with discount is just under $4/day.  Not bad at all.

[Steelers36]

3 hours ago, voljeep said:

the 9.99 per day is 'Over' 50% off the single day price of 19.99 per day ... j/s

Yes, that is the math, but I have not heard of it actually costing $20/day on board.  And all the price offers are under $10/day as it is.  To me the advertising "come on" is just another example of Princess info being out of date.

Edited August 30, 2019 by steelers36

[vampiress]

my price was for the royal, and for 1 device, and it is a medallion cruise.

Edited August 30, 2019 by vampiress

[Steelers36]

15 minutes ago, vampiress said:

my price was for the royal, and for 1 device, and it is a medallion cruise.

Got it and thanks for clarifying.  I guess Princess has not informed phone reps of this new price level.  That said, the advice stands, depending on whether you have Platinum/Elite status or not.

[idahospud]

2 hours ago, steelers36 said:

Yes, that is the math, but I have not heard of it actually costing $20/day on board.  And all the price offers are under $10/day as it is.  To me the advertising "come on" is just another example of Princess info being out of date.

If you are purchasing it for a single day it is $19.99.

 

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, idahospud said:

If you are purchasing it for a single day it is $19.99.

 

Unreal.  Have not seen that one.  That is nutso (of Princess) in my opinion.  Obviously, it would not take many days at $20 per to quickly add up to the package prices.