Are platinum members always allowed in elite lounge?

[weedpindle]

And where did one "read' this?. It's always 'someone' said, or I 'read' this, but never who or where

 

[avonlady6390]

I was on the Caribbean princess in May and platinum I received an invitation with drink specials and appetizers for the week listed.  My favorite night is shrimp cocktail.

[satxdiver]

1 hour ago, Thrak said:

 

The sign often says "Elite Lounge" but it's open to Platinum, Elite, and Suite passengers.

 

Possibly I cannot remember but the invitation that listed each day's offering was explicit about elite only.  I did not realize that this would stir up a hornet's nest equal to what to wear on formal night.  

[grnyel05]

On the Star Princess November 1-4, 2019 sailing we received the invitation to the lounge as platinum members and attended.  No idea about the verbiage on the invitation or the sign other than that the daily offering the day we attended was different than what was listed on the invitation.  

[railman]

We were on the Pacific Princess this past August and it was PES.  We will be on the Caribbean Princess in a few weeks.

[Bollycats]

On my cruise in 2 weeks I will be Platinum and my Mom will be Elite, both for the first time. I know nothing about this lounge. Sounds like you still pay for drinks and you get free nibbles. (like any other place on the ship) Why is this lounge/party special? Am I missing something?

[Daniel A]

4 minutes ago, Bollycats said:

On my cruise in 2 weeks I will be Platinum and my Mom will be Elite, both for the first time. I know nothing about this lounge. Sounds like you still pay for drinks and you get free nibbles. (like any other place on the ship) Why is this lounge/party special? Am I missing something?

They have cheese & crackers and other nibbles and some drinks are discounted.  The nibbles they have are more than just nuts and bar mix some nights they have shrimp.

[Hlitner]

There is no "Elite Lounge" on Princess but rather a 2 hour cocktail time that is open to Platinum and above.  I will confess, as a long time Elite level person, that we seldom bother to go to that function.  The offerings are pretty sad (you will get a listing of the daily special at the beginning of the cruise) and they only offer a small drink discount on a small group of selected drinks for which we have absolutely no interest.  We do love our evening Martinis, but this is best handled in a decent bar (our preference is Crooners) where there is also live music.

 

As to Elites, we just returned from a 25 day Emerald cruise where we had over 1000 Elites (out of about 3000).  On our August CB cruise we had about 1200 Elites out of 3100.  One could say that Princess has suffered "Elite Creep."

 

Hank

[canadarocks]

4 hours ago, satxdiver said:

 

Possibly I cannot remember but the invitation that listed each day's offering was explicit about elite only.  

 

Thank you for reporting on what happened on your cruise, which as far as I know is the most RECENT report of a Princess cruise. Unfortunately policies can change at any point. Hopefully this isn't a fleet wide decision. 

[polmcs]

8 hours ago, grnyel05 said:

On the Star Princess November 1-4, 2019 sailing we received the invitation to the lounge as platinum members and attended.  No idea about the verbiage on the invitation or the sign other than that the daily offering the day we attended was different than what was listed on the invitation.  

We were on the same cruise. We boarded as Platinum cruisers, but were in a suite. There was someone at the top of the escalator checking  cruise cards as we entered the PES lounge each evening.They only performed a cursory glance at our cruise card, so they were keying on the color of the card as there was no way that they would ever see the suite designation at the top of the card, so it appears as if our Platinum status is what allowed us to enter the lounge.

[Happy2BCruzing]

13 hours ago, Daniel A said:

I have a 28 day cruise booked on the Star.  We are Platinum Level.  If Star is denying entry to platinum members in the PES lounge, then I will likely cancel the booking and look for a similar itinerary on another line.  I would encourage other platinum members to stop sailing on the Star or any other ship that is taking our lounge away.  After all, it is a loyalty program and loyalty is a two way street.  What satxdiver is reporting is clearly disloyalty to platinum members.

We were on the Star in October and were not denied entry.  We are Platinum.  

Edited November 22, 2019 by Happy2BCruzing

[MissP22]

14 hours ago, Bollycats said:

On my cruise in 2 weeks I will be Platinum and my Mom will be Elite, both for the first time. I know nothing about this lounge. Sounds like you still pay for drinks and you get free nibbles. (like any other place on the ship) Why is this lounge/party special? Am I missing something?

You haven't missed anything.

They like to make it sound special so that people will attend & order drinks at a  somewhat slight discount which in our opinion is nothing to get excited about.

Also the snacks provided aren't all that great except that on some nights they'll have something that isn't available in the DR.

btw- you don't have to order a drink in order to just eat the food.

[Ombud]

Bookmarking this & I'll report back from Skywalkers on Sunday 

Edited November 22, 2019 by Ombud

[Colo Cruiser]

1 minute ago, Ombud said:

Bookmarking this & I'll report back Sunday 

I am reporting back now.  Nothing has changed.  😉

[Photofinish4]

 we just got off the Royal the lounge was for elite only. We did not get an invitation. We are platinum. I called and they said it was for elites. We were on the Coral last spring and they included platinum   

[Ombud]

I prefer it on ships that have Skywalker's for watching the wake off the back. And I thought it was PES on the Star March 2019 in Skywalkers & Royal October 2019 in Club 6 (I really don't like Club 6 on the Royal long & narrow waste of space .... Vines is better)

Edited November 22, 2019 by Ombud

[voljeep]

Royal class ships have a SUITE only concierge lounge ...

[Colo Cruiser]

Just now, Photofinish4 said:

 we just got off the Royal the lounge was for elite only. We did not get an invitation. We are platinum. I called and they said it was for elites. We were on the Coral last spring and they included platinum   

Do you have photos of the paperwork advertisement for this?

The menu provided in the cabin?

This is being blown way out of proportion.

 

It says "Exclusive Elite Lounge" but the word "Elite" does not stand for the level.

 

 

[Daniel A]

30 minutes ago, Colo Cruiser said:

Do you have photos of the paperwork advertisement for this?

The menu provided in the cabin?

This is being blown way out of proportion.

 

It says "Exclusive Elite Lounge" but the word "Elite" does not stand for the level.

 

46 minutes ago, Photofinish4 said:

 we just got off the Royal the lounge was for elite only. We did not get an invitation. We are platinum. I called and they said it was for elites. We were on the Coral last spring and they included platinum   

 

I wonder if this is another example of Princess not enforcing consistent policies fleet wide.  Between ships handling early cabin access differently, erratic dress code enforcement in MDR , continuing to honor coffee cards on some ships and not others, and now it may be that only elites are getting access to the pre dinner lounge.  I'm really beginning to wonder what to expect on a Princess cruise anymore.  I starting to think that it's time to start looking elsewhere.

[lstone19]

Just off Regal Princess 11 days ago and likewise, "a special invitation ... for our Elite, Suite and Platinum guests" and this with the passengers being 57% Plat or Elite (per the numbers the CC host provided - 1,720 P/E out of 3,002 passengers (yes, we were not full)).

 

It was in the Vista Lounge most nights but in contrast to all my prior cruises since making Platinum, rather than being closed on the nights of the CC receptions (there were 4 - both an early and a late on two different nights), it was moved to Club 6. A previous cruise we were on with multiple CC reception nights had it closed both nights.

[Colo Cruiser]

6 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

 

 

I wonder if this is another example of Princess not enforcing consistent policies fleet wide.  Between ships handling early cabin access differently, erratic dress code enforcement in MDR , continuing to honor coffee cards on some ships and not others, and now it may be that only elites are getting access to the pre dinner lounge.  I'm really beginning to wonder what to expect on a Princess cruise anymore.  I starting to think that it's time to start looking elsewhere.

No, I think it is a misinterpretation of the PSE lounge which has not changed and IMO has nothing to do with what you list in your post.  😉

[Hlitner]

Perhaps we can all agree that Princess excels at being inconsistently consistent :).

 

Hank

[MissP22]

1 hour ago, Photofinish4 said:

 we just got off the Royal the lounge was for elite only. We did not get an invitation. We are platinum. I called and they said it was for elites. We were on the Coral last spring and they included platinum   

Not getting an invitation was an oversight by the cabin steward and what they told you at the PSD was wrong.

Did you go to the lounge? Were you denied being seated or served?

[Colo Cruiser]

7 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

Perhaps we can all agree that Princess excels at being inconsistently consistent :).

 

Hank

What is inconsistent with the PSE Lounge?

[Hlitner]

4 minutes ago, Colo Cruiser said:

What is inconsistent with the PSE Lounge?

That there are apparently times when it is open to those who are Platinum and other times when it is not.  Personally we have "blown off" all the Elite events (including parties, lounges, etc) for many years although we still like some of the Elite benefits such as free laundry,  tender priority  and the mini-bar (which we exchange for coffee cards (now digital).  But we have never seen the wisdom of waiting in a long queue (at the Captain's reception) for a free drink.  And the slightly reduced price drinks in the Elite lounge thing....are of no interest since we prefer other type drinks (such as a real Martini, scotch, bourbon, etc).

 

Speaking of free laundry, Princess seems to have a lot of "difficulties" doing laundry.  It is very normal to get a notice that laundry will take at least 3 days (this does discourage many folks).  On HAL, they somehow are able to return laundry by the end of the following day....even when a majority of passengers are 4-5 Star (qualify for free laundry).  As to the so-called "Elite Lounge" the benefit pales by comparison to Celebrity where one can get a large selection of cocktails for FREE!  

 

Hank