Looks like the loyalty OBC may also be a thing of the past

[PescadoAmarillo]

Just read this on Facebook. Has anyone else seen or heard about this?

[Timbles]

I received an email talking about elite level changes and yes, they are discontinuing the loyalty OBC.

[azbirdmom]

I haven't gotten the email yet oddly but lots of folks have been talking about it over the past hour here - sad but true.  

 

 

[kywildcatfanone]

This?  In the email I received:

 

We'll no longer offer onboard credit based on the number of cruises taken. What hasn't changed is our commitment to earning your loyalty.

[cherylandtk]

😢 Sad, but true.

[billco]

I sympathize with Princess. I figure they are looking at everything with the idea they just can't afford to be giving things away now. Might be a good idea to lock in what you can before it all goes away. Think I'll send in a shareholder request for all the cruises I have booked.

Edited July 1, 2021 by billco

[PescadoAmarillo]

I’ve said for years that the Captains Circle would be eliminated in a heartbeat if Princess could just fill their ships with first time cruisers. I guess we’ll see if that 80% repeater rate drops in the future. 

[Thrak]

21 minutes ago, billco said:

I sympathize with Princess. I figure they are looking at everything with the idea they just can't afford to be giving things away now. Might be a good idea to lock in what you can before it all goes away. Think I'll send in a shareholder request for all the cruises I have booked.

 

Hmmm.... I had it on our supposedly upcoming cruises but it fell off when I made a minor change to the bookings. Perhaps I really should get my butt in gear and add it back on.  I wonder if they will take away the OBC for referrals as well. I have $75 in referral OBC that keeps getting bumped from cruise to cruise as they get cancelled.

[san diego sue]

9 minutes ago, Thrak said:

 

Hmmm.... I had it on our supposedly upcoming cruises but it fell off when I made a minor change to the bookings. Perhaps I really should get my butt in gear and add it back on.  I wonder if they will take away the OBC for referrals as well. I have $75 in referral OBC that keeps getting bumped from cruise to cruise as they get cancelled.

It doesn't show up on your personalizer, never had on ours. Once on board it shows up as a credit on our on board account.Since it was spent on board and not a refundable  credit, Princess got their monies worth from us. Spent it in their shops and spent much more than the credit given.I have 6 cruises currently book . I have lost $600.

Edited July 1, 2021 by san diego sue

[wallyj]

5 minutes ago, san diego sue said:

It doesn't show up on your personalizer, never had on ours. Once on board it shows up as a credit on our on board account.Since it was spent on board and not a refundable  credit, Princess got their monies worth from us. Spent it in their shops and spent much more than the credit given.

The loyalty command OBC usually would post to the ‘Travel Summary’ a few days before sailing.

 

A friend forwarded the the same statement in post #4 to me and I asked him where did he get this info? Appears an email will be sent out ?

[Thrak]

8 minutes ago, san diego sue said:

It doesn't show up on your personalizer, never had on ours. Once on board it shows up as a credit on our on board account.Since it was spent on board and not a refundable  credit, Princess got their monies worth from us. Spent it in their shops and spent much more than the credit given.

 

I was referring to Shareholder OBC which has always showed up on my personalizer. On the Personalizer one clicks on Payments and Credits and it shows up in the Credits section. I need to add it back on. It would normally show up here:

 

[63 Super Sport]

This benefit we will miss. I thought for sure Princess would continue to reward long time guests. We started cruise with Princess in our 30s. Thirty plus years later. The extra OBC was a treat. 

[nocl]

46 minutes ago, san diego sue said:

It doesn't show up on your personalizer, never had on ours. Once on board it shows up as a credit on our on board account.Since it was spent on board and not a refundable  credit, Princess got their monies worth from us. Spent it in their shops and spent much more than the credit given.I have 6 cruises currently book . I have lost $600.

But what is the total cost of those 6 cruises.  While losing an existing benefit is never nice, and the change will go into our spread sheet for selecting cruises, in terms of the over all cost it is really not that much.  To put it another way for each of the 4 cruises we have booked next year the impact of the change is at at most 2% of cruise costs.  In most cases not enough to make another cruise line come out a head in a value comparison. 

[1emerald1]

Received an e-mail earlier today from Princess, it has been removed.  You can also see it when you login under your captains circle tab.

[Steelers36]

59 minutes ago, san diego sue said:

It doesn't show up on your personalizer, never had on ours. Once on board it shows up as a credit on our on board account.Since it was spent on board and not a refundable  credit, Princess got their monies worth from us. Spent it in their shops and spent much more than the credit given.I have 6 cruises currently book . I have lost $600.

Honestly sorry to read about losing the OBC.  It seems the bean counters and marketing decided it was a necessary cutback like we lost our dividends due to Covid.  Perhaps they will bring it back in a couple of years?  Who knows?

[franktown]

19 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Honestly sorry to read about losing the OBC.  It seems the bean counters and marketing decided it was a necessary cutback like we lost our dividends due to Covid.  Perhaps they will bring it back in a couple of years?  Who knows?

I'm afraid wishful thinking.  Once gone will never come back at least that's my opinion.

[san diego sue]

46 minutes ago, nocl said:

But what is the total cost of those 6 cruises.  While losing an existing benefit is never nice, and the change will go into our spread sheet for selecting cruises, in terms of the over all cost it is really not that much.  To put it another way for each of the 4 cruises we have booked next year the impact of the change is at at most 2% of cruise costs.  In most cases not enough to make another cruise line come out a head in a value comparison. 

I agree it is very little impact on the cruise cost. However, it was still a nice free thing that is no longer  going to happen. I won't change cruise lines because of it.

[kitty2264]

It is hard for me to understand why Princess would cut Loyalty OBC.  I don't know how many persons on a cruise would have 50+ sailings thus saving Princess $100 each, but that number doesn't seem like it would be worth the bad PR.  We only have half that many cruises so we will lose $25 each.  

 

We have been loyal to Princess for many reasons and gaining an additional perk at 21st cruise was nice but hardly a deal maker and for future cruises it won't be a deal breaker either.  They earned our loyalty thru good courteous service, friendly smiles, and providing a generally welcoming atmosphere.  We'll make the most of the benefits that we are provided.

[macusr]

We hadn't yet gotten to the number of cruises needed to get the loyalty OBC but we were looking forward to receiving it.  So that's disappointing.

[cruzsnooze]

They took away some valuable perks and simultaneously raised the "crew incentive". All around disadvantage to consumers.

[blubberwon]

17 hours ago, wallyj said:

The loyalty command OBC usually would post to the ‘Travel Summary’ a few days before sailing.

 

A friend forwarded the the same statement in post #4 to me and I asked him where did he get this info? Appears an email will be sent out ?

It's is in the elite benefits changing email just received from Princess. I'm not happy about it since my wife and I will be losing $150 obc per cruise. Any obc received always gives us more incentives to cruise the itineraries we cruised numerous times boarding in SF. Luckily, they haven't eliminated or reduced the stockholder benefits. We don't benefit from the new benefits offered since we don't frequent the Spa, shore excursions and don't take photos. 

 

As mentioned previously, Princess does want newbies to be sailing because they do frequent the above.

 

Princess is finding ways to generate more income from passengers by giving us discounts on the above. I don't believe they will be getting many Elite passenger to part-take in the new benefits.

Edited July 2, 2021 by blubberwon
corrected typo

[neverbeenhere]

The Good News! They are giving the loyal cruisers a shaft. Oops, that reads "The Shaft". 😀

 

Cruise On!

Question Authority

Now... Question Loyalty (if you weren't already)

[BigTimeCruiser]

18 hours ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

I’ve said for years that the Captains Circle would be eliminated in a heartbeat if Princess could just fill their ships with first time cruisers. I guess we’ll see if that 80% repeater rate drops in the future. 

Yes, it will be interesting to see how many long time Princess customers return.

[Sincity]

1 hour ago, BigTimeCruiser said:

Yes, it will be interesting to see how many long time Princess customers return.

It does change things for us as having free internet was a big reason on becoming a Platinum and then Elite. Our last cruise prior to Covid was on Celebrity and we felt that the food was better and the cabin was much nicer, even over the newest Princess ships. It now broadens our choices whereas in the past, it was Princess without any questions asked. 

[caribill]

18 hours ago, kitty2264 said:

 

We have been loyal to Princess for many reasons and gaining an additional perk at 21st cruise was nice but hardly a deal maker and for future cruises it won't be a deal breaker either. 

 

Which is why Princess eliminated this benefit. They figure there enough cruisers like yourself who say it does not matter.