Revamped Tier Levels Coming Soon

[cruzsnooze]

5 minutes ago, nocl said:

Of course many of those complaining do not want the plus package, it cost more.

Not really, it's not good for people who don't drink. 

[dwflorida]

As a Platinum level Princess cruiser, I am extremely disappointed to lose my internet minutes;  this is, by far, the most valuable perk (to me) and has helped maintain my, "let's check Princess first"  loyalty to Princess.  Internet minutes are a small, but powerful perk - virtually no cost to them, but tremendous value to me!    The new Princess Plus has little appeal as my husband and I do not drink and we will always be paying the gratuities one way or another.   I expect Princess will see a few internet dollars from us as we need to keep in touch with our cat feeder, but in exchange they have certainly lost my loyalty and are likely to lose future cruise bookings.  I hope Princess management reverses this decision;  customer loyalty is  easy to lose and hard to recover.

[nocl]

1 minute ago, cruzsnooze said:

Not really, it's not good for people who don't drink. 

I would not buy it either for the same reason do not drink enough so it's not a good deal. Though I will pay for the discounted wifi.

[suzyed]

On 6/10/2021 at 12:15 AM, geocruiser said:

Only once did I have my shoes cleaned while on board Tahitian Princess.  It was a 14 day Alaskan cruise.  I was walking in port and stepped on dog Poo.  I tried to clean it up on the grass/ground while walking back to the ship.  When I got closed to the gangway, (no where near the ramp) I took my shoes  off to walk the last part to to gangway and on to the ship.  I walked on board with the shoes in my hand and a officer saw me and came over to me and ask me what happened.  I told him and he took my shoes and said he would get the clean and have them returned to my cabin.   He was happy that I did not want to track it on board.  That was the one and only time I had my shoes cleaned while on board.

Wish we thought of that after we visited the Penguins at Volunteer Point.

[suzyed]

On 6/10/2021 at 1:25 AM, Bruin Steve said:

First, for the record, I've done a lot of cruises...on nine different cruise lines...

I'm Platinum on Princess...Diamond on Royal Caribbean and Elite Plus on Celebrity...

In fact, I made it to Elite n Celebrity in just four cruises.  Under their old system, it was ten cruises to get to Elite, but you got an extra point for a cruise over 10 nights and an extra point for a suite...making it possible to get there in four cruises.  They since changed the system to award points for each night cruising with a different multiplier for different cabin categories...BUT, however it's worked, it's been much easier to attain higher status on Celebrity than on Princess.

 

And, for many years now, I've appreciated Celebrity's Elite/Elite Plus perks...The Internet free minutes are similar... so is the laundry, in a way, with Elite Plus getting us 2 loads of laundry EACH per cruise...always more than enough for us...But, the BIG difference between Celebrity AND Royal Caribbean versus Princess has been the FREE pre-dinner drinks...something that was always lacking on Princess...

 

However, things are changing...First, Celebrity started marketing cruises with "perks"--drink package, tips, internet.  Now, they are making those perks mostly mandatory.  This pretty much makes the drinking hours and internet perks completely moot...About the only Celebrity Elite/Elite Plus perk worth anything now is the free laundry...

 

But Princess is not far behind.  For our upcoming Majestic Princess cruise, Princess marketed it with a "too good to pass up" perk package--Drinks, gratuities, WiFi and a specialty restaurant night for $40 per night...

 

This appears to be the future of cruising on these cruise lines...

 

So, ask yourself:  What is the point of any of these perks as loyalty program perks?

 

And, for anyone thinking the cruise lines should give away things like Business Class Air or upgrades to Suites or Free cruises or other expensive freebies....remember, NOTHING IS REALLY EVER FREE.  The cruise lines are in this to MAKE MONEY...not to give way large profit items.  When they give away ANYTHING to ANYONE, they need to blend it into the cost somewhere.  So, expect any changes in any of the loyalty programs to be minimal at best...Maybe onboard "events" that don't cost them that much.  They are cool with things like priority boarding or priority tendering or advance restaurant reservations--those don't really cost the anything.

 

Will any of that sort of thing make you go out of your way to book with one cruise line or another?  Well, minimal stuff has worked in the past.  People like thinking they're getting something...anything...

 

Fo me, as always, I will book my cruises for the cruise itself...for the itinerary, the timing, the ship and the deal I get on THAT cruise.  Drinks...Laundry...WiFi...I can BUY any of that...on any cruise.  And on many cruises now, I'm forced to buy those as part of the "deal"...

My only question is...why did you have to "earn" your Elite status on Celebrity when you are Diamond on Royal?  The one time I sailed on Celebrity I was given Elite status since I am Diamond on Royal...

 

[nocl]

Just now, CarelessAndConfused said:

 

So the new changes were good for you, right?

 

 

Not really. We never upgraded the minutes before. Lost the loyalty obc.

 

I put this in the same category as when I had to buy a new operating system for my computer because the manufacturer stopped supporting the old one. I was happy as things were, may not have liked the need to upgrade, but things change. 

 

Compared to all the other aspects in the travel industry these changes have been rather mild.

 

Princess is still a good deal with lots of advantages to other lines including the ability to stack OBC, low on board prices compared to others like Celebrity, reasonable fare structure,  good FCD program, shareholder obc that can be used with most fares again unlike Celebrity, and the Veterans OBC for those eligeable.

 

While we sail several lines I suspect that some that profess to only being loyal to Princess will be somewhat surprised when they compare other lines and the economics of sailing on them.

 

Though I do encourage people to shop around.

[Iamcruzin]

2 hours ago, skynight said:

Maybe I'm misreading. With the Princess Premier Beverage Package, included in the plus fare, there are no time or place restrictions.

I was referring to other lines who offer cocktail hours in a separate lounge at specific times for top tier members. It’s very limiting as is the bar setup that Princess offers. If I wanted to mix my own cocktail I would just stay home. The only cruise line benefits I see worth a dime are the balcony discounts you get on Royal Caribbean or the one level upgrade you get on Celebrity.

Edited July 6, 2021 by Iamcruzin

[suzyed]

18 minutes ago, CarelessAndConfused said:

To be clear, to all those people who minimize the cost of Princess Plus, it is pretty significant if you're not really going to use it.  That's assuming all of those Elites are paying the daily gratuities.  But that leaves about $25 for unlimited WiFi and drinks.  On a 7-day cruise (that has an average cost below suites in the U.S. of somewhere around $1000-1500, the $350 of extra Plus costs for a couple is pretty darn significant if you drink very little and don't need much access to wifi.  It's easy enough to look at it for some and say "it's only $40" but that every day for every guest.

If you have 2 drinks or glasses of wine a day...that can be anywhere from 16-22 dollars.  Specialty coffee is $5-6. Gratuties approx $15/day.  Internet if you buy it at 50% off, we think will be $5/day.   Totals would be anywhere from $41-48/day approx. Then if you want a soda or two and a couple of bottles of water(I drink a lot of water), maybe some juice with breakfast, now you're ahead of the game. I would rather not think about it and I won't have to anticipate a big total on my folio at the end.  The only thing that will cost extra money are the shore excursions, which we will get 10% discount on (not a big deal), or Specialty restaurant dinners or if I choose to throw some money away on the slots.  We don't really buy "stuff" in the shops unless we pick up a t-shirt or small souvenir.
For us...the Princess Plus should work out nicely.

[suzyed]

17 minutes ago, nocl said:

Not really. We never upgraded the minutes before. Lost the loyalty obc.

 

I put this in the same category as when I had to buy a new operating system for my computer because the manufacturer stopped supporting the old one. I was happy as things were, may not have liked the need to upgrade, but things change. 

 

Compared to all the other aspects in the travel industry these changes have been rather mild.

 

Princess is still a good deal with lots of advantages to other lines including the ability to stack OBC, low on board prices compared to others like Celebrity, reasonable fare structure,  good FCD program, shareholder obc that can be used with most fares again unlike Celebrity, and the Veterans OBC for those eligeable.

 

While we sail several lines I suspect that some that profess to only being loyal to Princess will be somewhat surprised when they compare other lines and the economics of sailing on them.

 

Though I do encourage people to shop around.

I agree!  
One of the reasons, other than the great itineraries(our main reason), that we went to Princess 11 years ago, was that other lines were starting to get really pricey.  We're Diamond on Royal and I have seen their prices steadily rise over the years...I have found the same with Celebrity and NCL.  The only line that still had fairly reasonable prices was MSC and that is a whole different cruise experience. Carnival is still ok, price wise, but we've been there, done that quite extensively.
I'm just thankful that we still have a choice and that hopefully we will get back to cruising safely!
Just my 2 cents!

[trvlwrld]

Just priced out a Japan cruise with Celebrity and Princess for all inclusive rates since I lost my elite internet minutes...going with Celebrity....Princess just lost my loyalty.  Price is only $125 more, but between the loss of internet and the fact that the medallion app is a nightmare, my patience with Princess is done-done-done!

[Tedferg]

41 minutes ago, CarelessAndConfused said:

  On a 7-day cruise (that has an average cost below suites in the U.S. of somewhere around $1000-1500, the $350 of extra Plus costs for a couple is pretty darn significant if you drink very little and don't need much access to wifi.  

Are you suggesting that a Suite on a 7 day cruise only costs $1,000 - $1,500 more than a Balcony? I was intrigued by this and looked at three Saved cruises, Suites were way more expensive

[suzyed]

10 hours ago, abbydancer said:

Or do what Celebrity does - Elite (mid level on them) gets 1 bag.  Elite + gets 2, and Zenith - walk on water top tier gets unlimited.

 

So maybe - 2 bags for Elite and then unlimited to the 50/500 tier.  That way, other than me, Elites don't feel they lost a lot.  (In 2010, Princess lost a bag of my laundry, so since then I do several small bags to minimize how much they can lose).

 

Or 1 bag/week per Elite guest?  Honestly we don't even use it that much...we do some laundry on our own.  But if you are on a 25-28 day or longer cruise, one bag of free laundry may not be sufficient.
BTW, when we were confined to our cabin on the Coral last year the last part of our cruise, the laundry perks was very helpful.

 

Edited July 6, 2021 by suzyed

[memoak]

1 hour ago, suzyed said:

Or 1 bag/week per Elite guest?  Honestly we don't even use it that much...we do some laundry on our own.  .  We But if you are on a 25-28 day or longer cruise, one bag of free laundry may not be sufficient.
BTW, when we were confined to our cabin on the Coral last year the last part of our cruise, the laundry perks was very helpful.

 

Since we rarely take cruises that are less than 14 days I would not do well with one bag.  We try to pack light and send out laundry every few days in small bunches.  This is the best perk as far as I am concerned.   We do like our cocktails, wine and coffee drinks so we are always on princess plus

[nocl]

4 hours ago, CarelessAndConfused said:

 

They are talking about the free cocktail hours that they lost as Elite members.  Along with the internet minutes they lost.  They apparently are not interest in getting the Plus package.

Any free drinks on Princess went away years ago. Though up until fairly recently they had 2 for 1 happy hours in some bars.

[Thrak]

10 minutes ago, CarelessAndConfused said:

 

I thought there was a regular cocktail party at least a few times a cruise for Elite members where free cocktails are available.  Am I just completely misremembering whatever I once read?  I'm sure you'd know since you are a much more prolific and actual Elite member of Princess and I have not actually done any of these things.

 

6 minutes ago, CarelessAndConfused said:

 

 

Now that I think about it, I may be getting confused with Celebrity.

 

 

 

Nope. There has regularly been a Captain's Circle "party" where there are free drinks. You are not misremembering. There has also been the Champagne Waterfall where there is free-flowing champagne and other drinks in the piazza.  There are mimosas available if one wants to visit Effy (ugh...) at various times. There is champagne available at the (double ugh...) art auctions. There are often Tequila of Vodka "tasting events" and Martini demonstrations. (The Vodka tastings are generally on Alaska sailings. Ever try "Smoked Salmon Vodka"? It's "interesting...") Plenty of freebie booze for those who may want it.

Edited July 6, 2021 by Thrak

[abbydancer2003]

17 minutes ago, CarelessAndConfused said:

 

 

Now that I think about it, I may be getting confused with Celebrity.

 

 

Celebrity had a cocktail event most nights with a limited set of free drinks and passed hors d'oeuvres 

 

Princess had a cocktail event most nights with a discounted drink of the day and an hors d'oeuvres buffet feature a snack of the day.

 

I'm not sure we know, going forward, with the new pricing on both lines, what will happen

[caribill]

1 hour ago, CarelessAndConfused said:

 

I get all the permutations of math and how that $40 could shake out as you're only paying $15 for drinks per day, if the Wifi is valuable to a person, which it is to me. 

 

But if you do not need multiple devices on the Internet at the same time, you are paying twice with Plus fares for Internet you only need to purchase one time.

[Ombud]

On 6/7/2021 at 6:31 AM, cruzsnooze said:

Friend in high up places tells me they are coming out with new tier level^ and reworking the current perks for each level*......

Now that we know what this means* and idea what this means^? Does your source still indicate there actually be another tier or is that just talk? I'm so over the loss of benefits but it would cost me more to move to another line then simply buy wifi & OBC (just spent 2 promo cards to get a week of wifi + 65.97 OBC)

Edited July 6, 2021 by Ombud

[maggie777]

3 hours ago, trvlwrld said:

Just priced out a Japan cruise with Celebrity and Princess for all inclusive rates since I lost my elite internet minutes...going with Celebrity....Princess just lost my loyalty.  Price is only $125 more, but between the loss of internet and the fact that the medallion app is a nightmare, my patience with Princess is done-done-done!

Do you know if Princess is the only cruise line requiring a smart device for pre-cruise preparation? That along with loss of internet minutes and loyalty obc has me shopping other cruise lines. 

[LACruiser88]

1 hour ago, Thrak said:

free-flowing champagne

Don't get me going on the quality of the $1.29 bottles of "Sparkling" plonk they serve!  

[caribill]

21 minutes ago, LACruiser88 said:

Don't get me going on the quality of the $1.29 bottles of "Sparkling" plonk they serve!  

 

You are valuing it too high.

 

I once cruised with a purchasing agent from another cruise line. He says the cruise line pays less than $1. a bottle.

[Iamcruzin]

On 7/3/2021 at 12:26 PM, suzyed said:

Cruiselines....ALL of them seem to be in a state of "flux" at the moment. They are shuffling benefits and perks and such in an effort to help build up their reserves after losing so much during the pandemic. Hopefully as time goes by and everything settles down, new perks and benefits will appear and we can all settle into the "new normal".

Once they are gone I can't see them bringing them back. People who stay will adjust, those who leave will be replaced by others who are new and will have no idea what is missing. Look how the airlines have reduced benefits for frequent flyers. People either stay loyal or move on to a product that is more beneficial to them. 

[Iamcruzin]

1 hour ago, maggie777 said:

Do you know if Princess is the only cruise line requiring a smart device for pre-cruise preparation? That along with loss of internet minutes and loyalty obc has me shopping other cruise lines. 

Smart devices are being used on every line I would travel on. However, you can still get paper menus and paper copies of their version of the Patter.  This was bound to happen eventually but Covid accelerated it.  

[Iamcruzin]

Just now, Iamcruzin said:

Smart devices are being used on every line I would travel on. However, you can still get paper menus and paper copies of their version of the Patter.  This was bound to happen eventually but Covid accelerated it.  You don't have to have a wifi plan to use their on board app.  

 

[Steelers36]

19 minutes ago, caribill said:

 

You are valuing it too high.

 

I once cruised with a purchasing agent from another cruise line. He says the cruise line pays less than $1. a bottle.

When the CD team openly disses it and makes jokes, you know it has to be bad.  And yet, nothing ever changes.