A question for those of you who've just lost the $100 loyalty benefit.

[CineGraphic]

I know many of you won't book anything unless the math makes sense, so how will the loss of your loyalty benefit affect your booking decisions?

Edited July 2, 2021 by CineGraphic

[DRS/NC]

Is the Loyalty Benefit the bonus $25 after 20 cruise points; $50 after 30; $75 after 40 & $100 after 50?  If so, I'll miss that 450.00

 

[srpilo]

???

Did Princess eliminate the Loyalty OBC ? Where/ When did you hear this ?? Is this posted somewhere ?

 

Please reply

[CineGraphic]

8 minutes ago, srpilo said:

???

Did Princess eliminate the Loyalty OBC ? Where/ When did you hear this ?? Is this posted somewhere ?

 

Please reply

 

It looks like emails started going out tonight. Folks are posting about it here:

 

[4cats4me]

14 minutes ago, srpilo said:

???

Did Princess eliminate the Loyalty OBC ? Where/ When did you hear this ?? Is this posted somewhere ?

 

Please reply

Yes, it is true. A whole bunch of us received the e-mail today. 

 

[capriccio]

8 minutes ago, 4cats4me said:

Yes, it is true. A whole bunch of us received the e-mail today. 

 

DH and I received the emails but they didn't contain the information that the loyalty OBC has been eliminated.  So there are at least two different emails being sent.

[Steelers36]

24 minutes ago, capriccio said:

DH and I received the emails but they didn't contain the information that the loyalty OBC has been eliminated.  So there are at least two different emails being sent.

Would you qualify for it?  We don't qualify and that paragraph was not in our email.

[capriccio]

Just now, Steelers36 said:

Would you qualify for it?  We don't qualify and that paragraph was not in our email.

Yes. It starts with the 21st cruise.  We've been on 27 Princess cruises.

[ceilidh1]

The email came out to TAs - definitely discontinuing the loyalty OBC. That on top of eliminating free Internet minutes to charge for unlimited...not sure what Princess is thinking right now?

[caribill]

2 hours ago, capriccio said:

DH and I received the emails but they didn't contain the information that the loyalty OBC has been eliminated.  So there are at least two different emails being sent.

 

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.

[2 cruises a year]

We're not wealthy, but comfortable. So $100 (actually $50 for us) will not have a dramatic effect on our cruise budget.

[Musky Ike]

Sure! Cruises 21-25 got cancelled for us, we were looking forward to this. 😡 

[majortom10]

Couldnt vote on what we are going to do because not the option. We will still carry on cruising but after our Seacation cruise already booked we will no longer cruise with Princess and use other cruise lines.

[PescadoAmarillo]

We will definitely cruise less, although, to be fair, we were already going to cruise less. But that sentence in an email cost us $1000 just this year alone.  We have a budget (albeit a sizable one) for cruising, and this change means we will cruise fewer days. We also have FCDs with two other cruise lines, and some of that budget will definitely be spent on cruises with them. 

[maggie777]

2 hours ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

We will definitely cruise less, although, to be fair, we were already going to cruise less. But that sentence in an email cost us $1000 just this year alone.  We have a budget (albeit a sizable one) for cruising, and this change means we will cruise fewer days. We also have FCDs with two other cruise lines, and some of that budget will definitely be spent on cruises with them. 

What other cruise lines offer FCDs? It's time to look at cruising options.

[TM]

I certainly don't like the new changes.  But the implementation of them and the additional charges will not impact the number of cruises I can take.  It does however leave a very sour taste knowing that Princess does not seem to care about those of us that have been loyal passengers.  We may look at other cruise lines.  This is no different than how I feel about other businesses.  IF I were to go into a bank and the tellers were constantly rude would I continue to do business with that bank or would I look otherwise.  Most cruise lines, just like banks, provide a very similar service so we do have a choice based upon how we are treated.

[jeeper2]

The loss of the Loyalty OBC, free Internet minutes (if I choose to not add Princess Plus), and the effective loss of Priority Boarding ( We always arrived early and enjoyed the drinks and snacks while waiting in the lounge), is not enough to make me take a refund and quit cruising with Princess.  What it does do is make it easier for me to book with some other lines I have been anxious to try!

[dog]

With the way the pandemic has impacted our lives we just didn’t need this slap from Princess. Take away from Platinum & Elite passenger benefits is no way to show us Loyalty. 
First off many on here were under a lot of stress trying to settle their cancellations for months. 
Then, health & travel medical insurance with Covid coverage added to the stress 

And we will have to decide whether we are willing to board a ship with unvaccinated people. Wear a mask or not wear a mask. 
A small OBC, free limited internet minutes and priority boarding do show us that the company appreciates our business. 
It would be easy to back pedal at this point Princess and honour these benefits for those of us who have bookings with you as of today. 
 

I do like purchasing the FCD for $100, and hope there will still be OBC with those in the future. 

[ceilidh1]

Out of curiosity, did the benefits for any other level change (either added or reduced)? I can't recall what benefits started where for Gold/Ruby?

[Ombud]

31 completed voyages, 6 booked and I didn't get that paragraph either. I'm mad but what other line permits stacking OBCs?

[jeeper2]

11 minutes ago, dog said:

 

I do like purchasing the FCD for $100, and hope there will still be OBC with those in the future. 

Yes, I certainly hope so.  I’ve already lost three FCD’s because of cancelled cruises.  One expired as I, for some reason, thought I was told that they would automatically be extended and did not call to ask for an extension.  The others were used for cruises that were cancelled and are now in with FCC.  It has been noted in my record that, although I will have to pay the full deposit amount, the OBC will be honored for all of them.  We shall see.

[nocl]

Just a fairly slight change to my spread sheet when deciding which cruise or cruiseline to take. Might make a difference if the numbers were close between two choices.

 

Other cruise lines have devalued some of their programs over the last couple of years as well. Including those that Princess most directly competes with.

 

Princess still provides some unique programs that others do not such as shareholder OBC available for all most all bookings, Veterans OBC, Pretty flexible FCD program.

 

Yes it is a pain to lose s benefit, but in reality it is not any different than the fares going up by $100 dollars.

 

 

 

[dog]

19 minutes ago, jeeper2 said:

Yes, I certainly hope so.  I’ve already lost three FCD’s because of cancelled cruises.  One expired as I, for some reason, thought I was told that they would automatically be extended and did not call to ask for an extension.  The others were used for cruises that were cancelled and are now in with FCC.  It has been noted in my record that, although I will have to pay the full deposit amount, the OBC will be honored for all of them.  We shall see.

Oh, believe me my TA and I both worked on getting my FCD S reinstated when they refunded as FCC   Call and email customer service 

[fishnchips]

1 hour ago, jeeper2 said:

The loss of the Loyalty OBC, free Internet minutes (if I choose to not add Princess Plus), and the effective loss of Priority Boarding ( We always arrived early and enjoyed the drinks and snacks while waiting in the lounge), is not enough to make me take a refund and quit cruising with Princess.  What it does do is make it easier for me to book with some other lines I have been anxious to try!

Yes loyalty was keeping us at Princess ,but it seems Princess is not loyal to us anymore.

So we a look to other lines now outside the carnival umbrella and it sets us free also.

Loyalty is a 2 way thing ,especially when most helped Princess through these tough times by not asking for a refund or moving cruises to a later date or accepting associated losses because you wanted Princess to survive through the early days of the pandemic ....

But with over 40 cruises with them loyalty should be rewarded not taken away !

So yes other lines will be on our radar now as loyalty should be more than lip service and a reduction of benefits!

[Renophi]

While I do not really understand them taking this (or any) benefit away from a customer service perspective, the 10% discount for excursions will more than make up for it in our case anyway as we book almost all of our excursions through Princess. We have already paid over $3,000 in excursions for our European cruise in April and that will be a $300 credit when we board. Not quite as much for our Christmas Caribbean cruise but almost break even. The wifi is important to us, but we have also been booking the plus package as we do receive a lot of value for the drink package so the free minutes are not a loss in our case either. I am very happy to have the laundry perk untouched!

 

I guess the gain/loss of value just depends on how you book and what you use onboard but it does seem like they are trying to guide us towards booking the plus package.