Has anyone attempted to use an old coffee card recently?

[victory2020]

I have to say that until a couple of months ago I was exclusively on the Princess boards. Because of many factors(coffee card being one) I have booked & sailed HAL & Oceana, thus reading mostly their boards now. I rarely see the vicious & snarky remarks that I see here. Maybe I made the right choice by choosing different cruise lines.

[septrack]

18 hours ago, caribill said:

 

Will you be on a cruise before then?

Actually Yes...leaving on the Royal 10/4. Guess I'll find out then!

[Colo Cruiser]

50 minutes ago, victory2020 said:

I have to say that until a couple of months ago I was exclusively on the Princess boards. Because of many factors(coffee card being one) I have booked & sailed HAL & Oceana, thus reading mostly their boards now. I rarely see the vicious & snarky remarks that I see here. Maybe I made the right choice by choosing different cruise lines.

Really?  I have seen stuff on the Oceania board that makes the Princess board look like saints.

It is on all of them. It's the internet where keyboard courage rules.

[Go-Bucks!]

7 minutes ago, Colo Cruiser said:

Really?  I have seen stuff on the Oceania board that makes the Princess board look like saints.

It is on all of them. It's the internet where keyboard courage rules.

 

I agree...I'm on both boards and each has their share of snarky and argumentative posters...sadly! 

[caribill]

15 hours ago, Musky Ike said:

On the Caribbean Princess as of 2 weeks ago they took and old card and applied the unused punches to your current account.

 

 

That seems like a reasonable way to handle it, even if the unused "punches" disappear at the end of that voyage.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

7 minutes ago, caribill said:

 

That seems like a reasonable way to handle it, even if the unused "punches" disappear at the end of that voyage.

 I agree, at least give the person a chance to use the unused “punches”.

 

 I wish people would not have cheated then this probably wouldn’t have become an issue. Sad. 

[MissP22]

5 hours ago, MsSoCalCruiser said:

 I agree, at least give the person a chance to use the unused “punches”.

 

 I wish people would not have cheated then this probably wouldn’t have become an issue. Sad. 

Cheated?How?

People either bought the card or received them under the pretense of being able to use the card until the punches were used up (Princess's rule) & then Princess decides to change their rule & cancel all cards as of a certain date.

That's called cheating the public.

If they were going to renege on the cards rules they should at least have given the public the opportunity to sell back the cards.

Even an exchange for a setup of some cans of soda would have been fair, rather than just stealing the value.

 

[whatcruiseisnext]

On 9/19/2019 at 9:39 PM, septrack said:

My old Coffee card has a 12/31/19 expiration date stamped on it. Wonder if that will make any difference?

Are you sure that it isn’t a 12/31/18 expiration date? 

[whatcruiseisnext]

4 hours ago, MissP22 said:

Cheated?How?

People either bought the card or received them under the pretense of being able to use the card until the punches were used up (Princess's rule) & then Princess decides to change their rule & cancel all cards as of a certain date.

That's called cheating the public.

If they were going to renege on the cards rules they should at least have given the public the opportunity to sell back the cards.

Even an exchange for a setup of some cans of soda would have been fair, rather than just stealing the value.

 

Cheated by selling the cards on eBay so that someone could purchase it at a very reduced rate some of which were counterfeit cards but looked exactly like the real ones. 

[BigGuy25]

On 9/19/2019 at 4:15 PM, Scotto97 said:

 

For me, "Hell to pay" means being a strong negotiator, but always polite and respectful. 

???????

[jasbo49]

27 minutes ago, whatcruiseisnext said:

Cheated by selling the cards on eBay so that someone could purchase it at a very reduced rate some of which were counterfeit cards but looked exactly like the real ones. 

 

I know lots of posters feel this way, and I suppose Princess does too, but I don't consider it cheating.

 

If you are given a watch upon retirement, you're perfectly free to sell it. If you get a set of wine glasses for opening up a new account at the bank, they're yours to do with what you choose, and if Princess gives your two coffee cards in lieu of the mini-bar setup you didn't want, do what you like. Use them, sell them, whatever. They're yours.

 

Jim

Edited September 21, 2019 by jasbo49

[Daniel A]

5 minutes ago, jasbo49 said:

 

I know lots of posters feel this way, and I suppose Princess does too, but I don't consider it cheating.

 

If you are given a watch upon retirement, you're perfectly free to sell it. If you get a set of wine glasses for opening up a new account at the bank, they're yours to do with what you choose, and if Princess gives your two coffee cards in lieu of the mini-bar setup you didn't want, do what you like. Use them, sell them, whatever. They're yours.

 

Jim

If you got the cards in lieu of the mini bar setup, didn't you have to ask for the coffee cards instead?  When you asked for the cards, you asked for the cards accepting the terms and conditions that came with them.  One of the terms agreed to when requesting the cards was "Coffee cards cannot be sold, or otherwise transferred to any individual. Coffee package cards are only valid for use by the purchaser." 

 

Let the buyer beware.

 

P.S. I was holding a few cards myself.  I threw them away as I knew they are now valueless.

[oskidunker]

16 hours ago, victory2020 said:

I have to say that until a couple of months ago I was exclusively on the Princess boards. Because of many factors(coffee card being one) I have booked & sailed HAL & Oceana, thus reading mostly their boards now. I rarely see the vicious & snarky remarks that I see here. Maybe I made the right choice by choosing different cruise lines.

Just booked my first non Princess cruise in over 20 years on Cunard. Hoping things are better there.

[MissP22]

58 minutes ago, whatcruiseisnext said:

Cheated by selling the cards on eBay so that someone could purchase it at a very reduced rate some of which were counterfeit cards but looked exactly like the real ones. 

That has never been proven to be correct.

 

17 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

If you got the cards in lieu of the mini bar setup, didn't you have to ask for the coffee cards instead?  When you asked for the cards, you asked for the cards accepting the terms and conditions that came with them.  One of the terms agreed to when requesting the cards was "Coffee cards cannot be sold, or otherwise transferred to any individual. Coffee package cards are only valid for use by the purchaser." 

 

Let the buyer beware.

 

P.S. I was holding a few cards myself.  I threw them away as I knew they are now valueless.

They also said that the cards could be used on subsequent cruises and now they're not. It seems to me that they're the one who committed the bigger violation. 

Yea, I know it's their ship, their rules but I still don't feel bad to circumvent some of their other "rules" when even I can.

[MissP22]

39 minutes ago, jasbo49 said:

 

I know lots of posters feel this way, and I suppose Princess does too, but I don't consider it cheating.

 

If you are given a watch upon retirement, you're perfectly free to sell it. If you get a set of wine glasses for opening up a new account at the bank, they're yours to do with what you choose, and if Princess gives your two coffee cards in lieu of the mini-bar setup you didn't want, do what you like. Use them, sell them, whatever. They're yours.

 

Jim

Neither do we Jim. They were given to me & we've sold many on eBay & other sites before the 8/31/19 date & lots of people benefited by them. 

[jasbo49]

28 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

... One of the terms agreed to when requesting the cards was "Coffee cards cannot be sold, or otherwise transferred to any individual. Coffee package cards are only valid for use by the purchaser." 

 

 

I'm not sure where one has to go to find that language. It certainly doesn't appear on the Cafe Select card or the New Grounds card I have.

 

Obviously, that gives them a leg to stand on in opposing sales. But I'm still not sure what their excuse is for devaluing them after they were sold.

 

I know, there's more legal jargon about Princess having "the right to alter the terms" of whatever they want. But this kind of move makes a lot more enemies than friends.

 

Jim

[vampiress]

they cards were destined to go away once medallions rolled out anyway.  and even if medallions never became a thing, they were eventually going to be applied to your cruise card the way they are to the medallion.  the reason is not people selling, it is because it makes more sense,

• there is no dealing with customers crying about a lost punch card. 
• it makes sense to have it be per cruise and not never ending
  • it is easier to manage from their side
  • they likely make money if people don't use the punches
  • no fake cards
  • more consistent redemption experience

 

i suspect the coffee program will go away entirely as people stop buying it because its too hard to use the punches up on a cruise and people will migrate to the more expensive beverage package.

 

[Daniel A]

People are omitting the language on the cards that specifies the unused punches are good to be used on the next voyage.  The cards were never 'never ending' in the first place.  I think this misunderstanding has a lot to do with the decision to void all of the cards after August 2019.  Instead of issuing cards which contributed to the confusion, Princess opted to replace the cards with an electronic version which now clearly works better with the new coffee package.

 

I think a lot of the reason for the change is to avoid the misunderstanding that the cards are never ending.  That was an urban myth and made problems for Princess.  Now, what the package covers and when is being made very clear.

[tailspintom]

2 hours ago, vampiress said:

i suspect the coffee program will go away entirely as people stop buying it because its too hard to use the punches up on a cruise and people will migrate to the more expensive beverage package.

 

We started to randomly gift some our punches after reading Thrak's comment on it some time back. For us, the coffee card is a benefit even if we use it for the teas. The total net benefit for changing out the bar setup is significant.

[wrongwaywatson]

I always bought one, but I only used it for brewed coffee.  I don't like "foo-foo" coffees or teas, just brewed coffee.  I used it, usually, on 2 cruises.  On the second cruise they would punch it for a cup.  I had no problem with that.  Now, I will buy as I use them, because it will be cheaper.  It would be nice if they had a coffee plan that only covered brewed coffee.

[MissP22]

3 hours ago, jasbo49 said:

I know, there's more legal jargon about Princess having "the right to alter the terms" of whatever they want. But this kind of move makes a lot more enemies than friends.

 

Jim

You're correct about that one. I'm sure they'll be lots of folks now sharing their drink package than ever before. After all, it's use it or lose it. 

[wrongwaywatson]

Actually, if I buy the coffee package and only use it for brewed, I will absolutely use my 15 punches to buy people their foo-foo coffees.  You are allowed to use them for anyone, it is just limited to 15.  

[tailspintom]

4 minutes ago, wrongwaywatson said:

Actually, if I buy the coffee package and only use it for brewed, I will absolutely use my 15 punches to buy people their foo-foo coffees.  You are allowed to use them for anyone, it is just limited to 15.  

Yep.

[Daniel A]

48 minutes ago, tailspintom said:

Yep.

Hey, Tailspin...We are down visiting Williamsburg this week.  We are really enjoying ourselves especially  Kings Arms for the Pottage Pye.  We love this place, I hope you consider yourself lucky...

[compozer]

I was always under the assumption that the card was good for that cruise - just like the drink package.  When I had punches left, I use to spend them all on the specialty coffees  and give them to the staff at customer service.

 

I think the coffee card posts need to die and never come back.