Princess It's Time For A New Tier

[cruzsnooze]

 NCL recently announced they are adding a new tier.  RCL made a new Pinnacle tier. Elite tier is so easy to obtain that there have become so many of them the benefits are diluted.  Somewhere around 365 days which is a full year needs to be a new top tier. A new perk or two would be welcome and it wouldn't have to be something expensive.  A complimentary dinner or beverage coupon or deeper discount like 15% off at gift shops  would be nice. FYI I personally am not at 365 days so it's not thoughts for myself. 

Edited February 1, 2022 by cruzsnooze
typo

[billco]

8 minutes ago, cruzsnooze said:

 NCL recently announced they are adding a new tier.  RCL made a new Pinnacle tier. Elite tier is so easy to obtain that there have become so many of them the benefits are diluted.  Somewhere around 365 days which is a full year needs to be a new top tier. A new perk or two would be welcome and it wouldn't have to be something expensive.  A complimentary dinner or beverage coupon or deeper discount like 15% off at gift shops  would be nice. FYI I personally am not at 365 days so it's not thoughts for myself. 

Why add new perks? It makes more sense to provide the more popular perks/diluted to those with 365+ days, such as free laundry and mini bar.

[cruzsnooze]

16 minutes ago, billco said:

Why add new perks? It makes more sense to provide the more popular perks/diluted to those with 365+ days, such as free laundry and mini bar.

Because it hurts to take away the perks already enjoyed by the elite tier. Perhaps limit the current elites to one free bag of laundry per week and unlimited for a new higher tier. Something that would not cost Princess anything would be priority tender coming back to the ship at ports not just disembarking at ports. 

Edited February 1, 2022 by cruzsnooze

[marden1970]

We should be Elite by the end of the year and I think a higher tier sounds good.  I especially like the suggestion of priority tender when returning to the ship.  I know I will never get to that level unless we hit the lottery but one can dream.

[skynight]

This discussion has been going on for years & years. Princess will adjust the loyalty program when they feel it is to their benefit.

Disclaimer. We are milestone cruisers with Princess. Have no problem with the current benefits. Definitely don't want to limit the l laundry benefit.

 

[USCcruisecrazy]

Curious...how many Elites do you think there are?  And what percentage of Princess Cruisers are in that category?  And is there an advantage for adding another layer?  Do you think Princess will find that increases sailings?  Or will they just be forking out more benefits? I know Cruise Critic seems to have a lot of people that cruise multiple times a year, so probably a high percentage here.  But it would take 8 years if you cruised twice a year for 8-10 days each cruise.  Or like us, we cruise once a year so it's a 16 year plan to reach Elite.  Just curious.   

[cruzsnooze]

11 minutes ago, USCcruisecrazy said:

Curious...how many Elites do you think there are?  And what percentage of Princess Cruisers are in that category?  And is there an advantage for adding another layer?  Do you think Princess will find that increases sailings?  Or will they just be forking out more benefits? I know Cruise Critic seems to have a lot of people that cruise multiple times a year, so probably a high percentage here.  But it would take 8 years if you cruised twice a year for 8-10 days each cruise.  Or like us, we cruise once a year so it's a 16 year plan to reach Elite.  Just curious.   

There is a high percent of elite cruisers, some cruises have been 1/3 elite tier. Usually on cruises longer then 7 days have a higher percent of elite cruisers. You can reach elite status in as few as cruises as 5 if solo in a suite , if double in a suite it's 2 cruise credits so 8 cruises. 

  Since both other mass market lines NCL & RCL added a higher tier it seems logical for Princess to stay competitive.  I personally prefer RCL perks at their D+ which I am currently. 

Edited February 1, 2022 by cruzsnooze

[Host CJSKIDS]

1 hour ago, billco said:

Why add new perks? It makes more sense to provide the more popular perks/diluted to those with 365+ days, such as free laundry and mini bar.

I’m in agreement with the other poster, because they have already taken away elite perks like free WiFi and the $25 and up credit. Taking away a perk or two is one thing and it’s financial so I get it under the current circumstances, but start chipping away at the perks even further and making them harder to get is another thing. Many of us are not retired so can’t quickly add more days to the count. 

[Kmkub]

You can reach elite in 15 cruise days.  I think that’s part of the reason it’s so watered down. Since we don’t live close to PNW, we can’t take advantage of that. We have about 70 cruise days and are nowhere near elite.
 

on our last voyage, we heard that about half were elite.

 

 

[LACruiser88]

5 minutes ago, cruzsnooze said:

There is a high percent of elite cruisers, some cruises have been 1/3 elite tier.

We have been on several TA's where more than 50% of passengers were Elite.  This discussion has been going on for years and will probably continue for years.    

[USCcruisecrazy]

9 minutes ago, cruzsnooze said:

There is a high percent of elite cruisers, some cruises have been 1/3 elite tier. Usually on cruises longer then 7 days have a higher percent of elite cruisers. You can reach elite status in as few as cruises as 5 if solo in a suite , if double in a suite it's 2 cruise credits so 8 cruises. 

  Since both other mass market lines NCL & RCL added a higher tier it seems logical for Princess to stay competitive.  I personally prefer RCL perks at their D+ which I am currently. 

Interesting!  So if you cruise alone (obviously you pay more) so you get double credits.  We've only done 4 Princess cruises (have #5 scheduled as a 10 day next January).  Can't imagine getting to 150 days or 16 cruises, but impressed with there being 1000 Elites on a ship with 3000 guests.  That would tell me that Princess isn't necessarily growing in patrons as much as they depend on loyalty.  So, yeah, I would agree they should increase their bennies.  Then again, if you've cruised that many days, perhaps the figure these same folks will continue regardless. Things that make you go hummmm!!! 

[billco]

16 minutes ago, Host CJSKIDS said:

I’m in agreement with the other poster, because they have already taken away elite perks like free WiFi and the $25 and up credit. Taking away a perk or two is one thing and it’s financial so I get it under the current circumstances, but start chipping away at the perks even further and making them harder to get is another thing. Many of us are not retired so can’t quickly add more days to the count. 

Just thinking that some of the perks have less benefit due to too many people entitled to them. I have been on cruises where the laundry was overwhelmed, so it took longer to get laundry back. What is the benefit of priority boarding if there are more people in that line than the regular line. The loyalty benefit was tied to number of cruises, not elite. 

Edited February 1, 2022 by billco

[skynight]

One week or less sailings not too many elite, a few hundred. Longer trips and those that can be b2b2b, maybe 600 or so. The longer the trip the more elites.

[PrincessLuver]

16 minutes ago, billco said:

Just thinking that some of the perks have less benefit due to too many people entitled to them. I have been on cruises where the laundry was overwhelmed, so it took longer to get laundry back. What is the benefit of priority boarding if there are more people in that line than the regular line. The loyalty benefit was tied to number of cruises, not elite. 

 

Agree.....Princess has a very weak travel rewards program compared to other travel programs like the airlines, hotel, rental car etc.

 

Princess requires very little effort of passengers to reach their Elite tier and then thy have it for LIFE.  You usually have to fly a million miles or more on most airlines to earn life time status and then it is a lower level status.

 

To me there is very little benefit to being Elite on Princess because just about EVERYONE is......they need to destroy the program they have now and start over.  Make it rewarding by rewarding those who are Princess' best customers.....not by being able to take fifteen 1, 2 or 3 day cruises and reach Elite.  

 

To make it more meaningful I think they need to add a yearly qualifier such as cruise so many days or spend so much money or both or else you lose you Elite Status and fall back to Platinum for the next year.

 

We find their OBC and FCD rewards way more valuable then our Princess Elite status.....not so for the airline, hotel and rental car companies we have Elite level status with.....their perks have definite value.

Edited February 1, 2022 by PrincessLuver

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, marden1970 said:

We should be Elite by the end of the year and I think a higher tier sounds good.  I especially like the suggestion of priority tender when returning to the ship.  I know I will never get to that level unless we hit the lottery but one can dream.

The only time I have seen much of a line for returning tenders is at Princess Cay.  Not much incentive to me for other ports we have been to.

[Steelers36]

IF Princess were to add a new tier, here are some additional perk suggestions:

 

I would suggest 30 voyages or 300 days (I am also fine if they change to all Days while grandfathering existing Levels earned).

 

1. They get B.S.E. benefits all the time.  Means book lowest fare category and get up to a "B" cabin.  This costs Princess relatively small dollars.  Now, I don't book the high-end categories, so perhaps for Minis you go only up one category and excludes Suites.  Just throwing out an idea without big analysis.  Means also get a free SD night.

 

2. Priority water shuttle to ship.  Costs Princess nothing and doesn't matter at most ports I think.

 

3. Faster laundry turnaround.  Ahead of regular Elites if backed up.

 

4. Up to two mini-bar setups if two qualifying occupants in a cabin.  This appears to be the most cost to PCL, so not sure.  Perhaps the second one should just be some additional items such as 50% more alcohol items and 50% more non-alcohol items.

 

 

[greenie082756]

2 hours ago, skynight said:

This discussion has been going on for years & years. Princess will adjust the loyalty program when they feel it is to their benefit.

Disclaimer. We are milestone cruisers with Princess. Have no problem with the current benefits. Definitely don't want to limit the l laundry benefit.

 

Isn't it nice to having "normal" discussions going on again? 

[VibeGuy]

Princess *had* post-Elite tiers via the Loyalty Commend OBC.   Having that evaporate really stung. 

 

I would like to see a program that offers voyage-by-voyage choices for loyalty rewards.  Given that we usually book with Princess +, the minibar benefit (and that which you can trade it for) isn’t as great as it used to be, but maybe it could go towards one specialty dining cover?  Maybe a thermal suite or Sanctuary day?

 

As someone in the PNW who did get to Platinum largely on short sailings, I cordially invite all of you carping about them to intercourse yourselves. We’ve used (and will continue to use) those sailings to introduce dozens of friends to the line, most of whom are now Platinum or better on their own. Young people who hadn’t considered cruise vacations before.  Fresh meat for Princess to seduce into more and longer cruise vacations, the kind of thing that drives fleet growth and REVPAR.   

[sttopmh]

I don't need any additional tiers. We are loyal to Princess due to excellent service, ports, ships, food, etc. We are Platinum now, but don't really see the benefits, other than early boarding, of which don't often take advantage.

[cruzsnooze]

2 hours ago, Host CJSKIDS said:

I’m in agreement with the other poster, because they have already taken away elite perks like free WiFi and the $25 and up credit. Taking away a perk or two is one thing and it’s financial so I get it under the current circumstances, but start chipping away at the perks even further and making them harder to get is another thing. Many of us are not retired so can’t quickly add more days to the count. 

I wasn't suggesting taking away perks but adding a few for  a higher level. I for one will miss the loyalty OBC and hope they bring it back when they are financially more solvent. 

 Adding a 1day  thermal suite pass or priority water shuttle back to ship costs them nothing. 

[Host CJSKIDS]

Just now, cruzsnooze said:

I wasn't suggesting taking away perks but adding a few for  a higher level. I for one will miss the loyalty OBC and hope they bring it back when they are financially more solvent. 

 Adding a 1day  thermal suite pass or priority water shuttle back to ship costs them nothing. 

 

that would be a great thing!  

[azbirdmom]

Under the circumstances I am grateful to be getting any perks from Princess.  Loyalty in general seems to be less important to companies and I've noticed benefits being stripped away from at least one of my other loyalty programs.  With the airlines it's subtle but getting harder all the time to redeem miles.  I'm glad that when Princess removed the loyalty OBC and wifi minutes they at least substituted something for it, although in the end most of us felt like it was a net loss.  But again I'm happy that the bean counters aren't winning and that we are at least getting something in return for our loyalty to Princess.

[geoherb]

I also hate that Princess took away benefits for Elites over the shutdown. I would have received the next level of loyalty credit on my first cruise back. I also could have made do with the formerly free internet minutes on that cruise instead of spending $35 for the week.

 

Being able to trade in the minibar for two dinners at a specialty restaurant would be great, especially for those who paid for Princess Plus. I'm betting the cost would be negligible for Princess.

 

And as others have mentioned, having priority tendering back to the ship wouldn't cost anything.

[cruzsnooze]

One of my favorite perks from RCL as a D+ is reserved seating at the shows. 5 Minutes before show time they release the seats to anyone. Perks can be meaningful but cost nothing. NCL does the same for their Haven suites. 

[afurman]

1 hour ago, cruzsnooze said:

One of my favorite perks from RCL as a D+ is reserved seating at the shows. 5 Minutes before show time they release the seats to anyone. Perks can be meaningful but cost nothing. NCL does the same for their Haven suites. 

When was the last time you were on RCL with the D+ reserved seating perk?  My last two cruises which were November and December of last year on Royal I never saw it and I have D+ status with them, really wasn't needed on either cruise since the ships weren't sailing full.  On the Internet side I actually prefer the new benefit over the previous one of free minutes.  With it being 50% off makes it very cheap would be nicer to be free but I still find this perk to be better than Royal D+ of 2 Free Days which you can't even get the discount if you booked it in advance, at least Princess provides the 50% off if you book it in advance which you might not see until you board the ship but they at least give it to you where Royal doesn't.  The two lines are completely different depending upon what you are looking for in terms of a vacation.