Princess It's Time For A New Tier

[paul929207]

1 hour ago, Poulsbo Cruisers said:

We just finished our 11th Princess cruise. We have 119 cruise days. We may never achieve Elite status as we will be trying other cruise lines. A few years ago we were on a Princess cruise with a young couple who were Elite. They were telling us how they achieved this by booking one day cruises between Seattle and Vancouver every year until they reached Elite. They had a fraction of the cruise days we had, but they were Elite. Even someone just taking 7 day cruises out of Port Everglades could achieve Elite status after 105 cruise days. Maybe all cruise lines should consider rewarding people for cruise days over number of cruises. With that thought out of the way, our recent cruise on Emerald had very few Elite and Platinum guests. 

I don't think the Elite benefits are worth taking a bunch of 1 day cruises to get them

[PescadoAmarillo]

5 hours ago, billco said:

For those of us who stream and enjoy all the features of the internet, it is a great bargain.

I agree…when it works and speed allows. My husband is returning to the Ruby Princess next week on a cruise to a Hawaii. We were on that same ship on that same itinerary two years ago and I’m looking forward to seeing what WiFi speeds he’ll be seeing. We haven’t matched those speeds on either the Majestic Princess in Alaska (more understandable) or the Emerald Princess going through the Panama Canal. 

[PrincessLuver]

On 2/2/2022 at 9:33 AM, Poulsbo Cruisers said:

Even someone just taking 7 day cruises out of Port Everglades could achieve Elite status after 105 cruise days. Maybe all cruise lines should consider rewarding people for cruise days over number of cruises. With that thought out of the way, our recent cruise on Emerald had very few Elite and Platinum guests. 

 

Princess should have started the program with cruise days and not cruises.....someone taking fifteen 1, 2 or 3 day cruises would achieve more status than someone who takes a 30 day cruise or World Cruise....makes no sense to me......even though we are Elite we prefer how Princess allows us to stack our OBC's which we find more useful and valuable then the perks they give now.......

[mellon1]

What about a Royal Tier?  Maybe an OBC based on how much your current sailing costs?  Or a discount on sailings, a percentage? Or a bottle of champagne in the room, something little to just show that they acknowledge you for your loyalty to make you feel special.

Edited February 6, 2022 by mellon1
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[LACruiser88]

43 minutes ago, mellon1 said:

bottle of champagne in the room

Please, not the dreadful Princess Sparkling juice, it is HORRIBLE!  Now, if they provided a real Champagne, we would not complain.

[MissP22]

4 minutes ago, LACruiser88 said:

Please, not the dreadful Princess Sparkling juice, it is HORRIBLE!  Now, if they provided a real Champagne, we would not complain.

It's probably the same stuff they used for the champagne waterfall. 😆

[mellon1]

5 minutes ago, LACruiser88 said:

Please, not the dreadful Princess Sparkling juice, it is HORRIBLE!  Now, if they provided a real Champagne, we would not complain.

You think they would do that?

[sirclean]

"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.  "

 

That is not true.  They do not double the 'bonus' of being in a suite for a single. 

I reached Elite in part by taking advantage of the Vancouver to Seattle and Seattle to Vancouver cruises.  At first I wanted the preferred check in line, the departure lounge and the discount for insurance that comes about the time of Platinum. 

Now I have reached enough credit that I WAS able to get additional, minimal ($25 OBC). 

Princess Plus costs $40 a day extra.  AS I dont have time to sail on longer cruises just now, the mini bar set up covered the drinking I may have done, the OBC covered either a specialty dining or reduced the tip bill, and I was usually able to make do with the minutes I had available.  Taking away those benefits in an attempt to move me to Princess Plus raises my cruising  costs by as much as 30 t0 40% on my short cruises. 

Raising prices means fewer cruises ON PRINCESS (as other companies' cruises become more price competitive). 

I wonder, then IF they ARE saving money IF they are ultimately driving away their most frequent (shall I say 'elite tier') customers?

 

In the past, because of the perks, I didnt even price check other cruise lines.  Now that most of the other perks I have used (mini bar, OBC, internet minutes) are gone or reduced, the marginal benefit of Princess over say Royal Caribbean is gone, so I find that I am now exploring that line (and others) to find the best overall deal.  The point is that I EARNED those perks by taking a lot of shorter cruises (and several Alaska cruises).    I didnt set up the program, but I certainly played the game that Princess created, and Princess booked the revenue of my trips!    A win win perhaps?  But with the benefits to me greatly reduced, I am not feeling as exclusively loyal to Princess!  Perhaps Royal Caribbean would appreciate some of my cruise dollars? 

 

 

[Steelers36]

On 2/2/2022 at 1:17 PM, MissP22 said:

If the people at the PSD would call the next person in the elite/suite line next then it work as intended but most times they just call anyone. I'm thinking they don't want to offend the lower class people at times. 

 

On 2/2/2022 at 1:28 PM, MissP22 said:

Simple.

Just cruise more to get yourself in the class that offers priority boarding back to the ship or leave the beach earlier to avoid the main crowd.

 

May I respectfully suggest that you use the term "level" in lieu of "class" when discussing Captain's Circle levels and benefits.  These are not really classes and sometimes can give the wrong connotation.  I have been purposely trying to make sure I use "level" when posting.  I notice @Musky Ike did the same just above.

[MissP22]

4 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

 

May I respectfully suggest that you use the term "level" in lieu of "class" when discussing Captain's Circle levels and benefits.  These are not really classes and sometimes can give the wrong connotation.  I have been purposely trying to make sure I use "level" when posting.  I notice @Musky Ike did the same just above.

You're to funny. 😄😄

[billco]

8 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

 

May I respectfully suggest that you use the term "level" in lieu of "class" when discussing Captain's Circle levels and benefits.  These are not really classes and sometimes can give the wrong connotation.  I have been purposely trying to make sure I use "level" when posting.  I notice @Musky Ike did the same just above.

Exactly! That's why I started referring to the MedallionLevel app.

Edited February 7, 2022 by billco

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, billco said:

Exactly! That's why I started referring to the MedallionLevel app.

At least with MedallionClass, everyone is in the same situation with the same access.  Well, except for those for whom the App is not working.  😵

[awhcruiser]

6 hours ago, MissP22 said:

You're to funny. 😄😄

Bless your heart

[cruzsnooze]

I use the term "elite tier" because just elite sounds ............well elitist

[Ombud]

On 2/1/2022 at 12:31 PM, VibeGuy said:

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

So I love these suggestions:

On 2/1/2022 at 12:02 PM, Steelers36 said:

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

 

On 2/1/2022 at 2:09 PM, cruzsnooze said:

reserved seating at the shows.

 

On 2/1/2022 at 2:04 PM, geoherb said:

able to trade in the minibar for two dinners at a specialty restaurant

Starting at 30 cruises. Maybe 1 of each suggestion at every 10 cruises to replace the old Loyalty OBC. That capped out at 50 I think 

 

(Sent it to the Customer Relations mgr that I email with)

 

Edited February 7, 2022 by Ombud

[paul929207]

48 minutes ago, Ombud said:

So I love these suggestions:

 

 

Starting at 30 cruises. Maybe 1 of each suggestion at every 10 cruises to replace the old Loyalty OBC. That capped out at 50 I think 

 

(Sent it to the Customer Relations mgr that I email with)

 

The old loyalty OBC capped out at $100 

[Ombud]

16 minutes ago, paul929207 said:

The old loyalty OBC capped out at $100 

Meant capped out at 50 cruises not 50 OBC. Please dbl check me on that. I'm only at 35

 

21 cruises = something .... would say free drink coupon but best value seems to negate this value

31 cruises = 2 specialty dinners

41 cruises = reserved show seating 

51 cruises = priority water shuttle return (not suite benefit) -- really special in some ports

 

Something 'splashy' but not really costly to PCL 

 

 

 

Edited February 7, 2022 by Ombud

[MissP22]

4 hours ago, Ombud said:

So I love these suggestions:

 

 

Starting at 30 cruises. Maybe 1 of each suggestion at every 10 cruises to replace the old Loyalty OBC. That capped out at 50 I think 

 

(Sent it to the Customer Relations mgr that I email with)

 

 While I agree with the posted suggestions you mentioned there are some people here who think it would cause hard feelings among the lower classes. 😄😉 

We wouldn't want that, would we? 

[PrincessLuver]

5 hours ago, cruzsnooze said:

I use the term "elite tier" because just elite sounds ............well elitist

 

YAWNNNNNNNNNN............Tomato Tomahto............

[Ombud]

38 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

 While I agree with the posted suggestions you mentioned there are some people here who think it would cause hard feelings among the lower classes. 😄😉 

We wouldn't want that, would we? 

Not lower classes. Lower tiers.

[caribill]

I do not think reserved seating for shows is very practical unless all who would be eligible would like to be seated in the area Princess would choose for this.

 

But I suspect each person has their own idea of where they prefer to sit for a show.

[MissP22]

9 hours ago, Ombud said:

Lower tiers.

That makes it sound like the people who have to sleep on one of the lower decks. 😋

[MissP22]

2 hours ago, caribill said:

I do not think reserved seating for shows is very practical unless all who would be eligible would like to be seated in the area Princess would choose for this.

 

But I suspect each person has their own idea of where they prefer to sit for a show.

What about the anger of all the people who had to get there 45 minutes to see a popular show and then see you walk in 3 minutes before show time for a reserved seat? 😄 LOL

[Ombud]

18 hours ago, Ombud said:

Meant capped out at 50 cruises not 50 OBC. Please dbl check me on that. I'm only at 35

 

21 cruises = swag

31 cruises = 2 specialty dinners

41 cruises = flowers 💐 

51 cruises = priority water shuttle return (not suite benefit) -- really special in some ports - new medallion color

Changed. Of course the medallion color at 51 cruises would have to be different otherwise how would they know the pax got priority water shuttle return?

 

Edited February 8, 2022 by Ombud

[MissP22]

27 minutes ago, Ombud said:

Changed. Of course the medallion color at 51 cruises would have to be different otherwise how would they know the pax got priority water shuttle return?

 

 

I wonder if they could have reserved seating on the tender for those higher upper classes? 😄