Elite Minibar and Substitution Possibilities for Post Covid Cruises

[AE_Collector]

Doing some last minute planning for our first Post Covid cruise that we board here in Vancouver on Monday May 2. We did a LOT of Princess cruising between 2010-2019, 42 cruises / 425 days. During the process of booking this cruise I quickly realized how much had changed and/or how much I had forgotten.

 

So the Elite Mini Bar:

I will assume that not much has changed, 10 alcohol and 10 non alcohol items included. Items can be rearranged within the alcohol and within the non alcohol categories by calling room service. Complete minibar can be swapped out for two coffee packages and there was also the ability in the past to swap out everything to all water or possibly swap out everything to just one bottle of wine I think?

 

Here is what I am really asking about here today. In the past I think they would swap out to 1/2 minibar (5 alcohol and 5 non alcohol) along with one coffee package. Has anyone heard of them doing this combo since the return from Covid? I’m guessing this may ultimately be “at Room Service managers discretion” unless it is included in the instructions of possible Elite Minibar swaps. I was successful in the past at getting 8 (not 10) alcohol items swapped to one of the 375 ml bottles of alcohol that Room Service supplies after getting the Room Service Managers approval. The basis for this was that there is NO RUM available in the Elite Minibar. The “No rum available” thing always amazed me. What alcohol goes with the Caribbean more than Rum and what alcohol goes with life at sea and the Navy more than Rum. But, that’s a discussion for another day.

 

Terry

[Astro Flyer]

51 minutes ago, AE_Collector said:

Here is what I am really asking about here today. In the past I think they would swap out to 1/2 minibar (5 alcohol and 5 non alcohol) along with one coffee package. Has anyone heard of them doing this combo since the return from Covid? I’m guessing this may ultimately be “at Room Service managers discretion” unless it is included in the instructions of possible Elite Minibar swaps.

It’s never been listed as an option for exchanges nor have I read about it being allowed. Both pre-pandemic & currently those who requested that exchange posted it was denied. Guess anything is possible if requested but don’t think it would be approved when it’s not listed as an exchange option.

 

I’ve never understood their logic about why rum has never been available.

 

Question:What if I don't want any alcohol in my Elite mini-bar?

Answer:If you do not wish to have any alcohol in your mini-bar we will behappy to exchange your mini-bar for one of the following: 

 

• Alcoholic beverages may be exchanged for non-alcoholic beverages on a one-for-one basis
• Full mini-bar may be exchanged for two (2) Coffee Cards
• All water mini-bar setup will consist of eight (8) 1.5 liter bottles of water

Edited April 30, 2022 by Astro Flyer

[voljeep]

4 minutes ago, Astro Flyer said:

It’s never been listed as an option for exchanges nor have I read about it being allowed. Both pre-pandemic & currently those who requested that exchange posted it was denied. Guess anything is possible if requested but don’t think it would be approved when it’s not listed as an exchange option.

 

I’ve never understood their logic about why rum has never been available. 🤔

rum would be 'too popular' ... and what about bourbon?

[Astro Flyer]

1 minute ago, voljeep said:

rum would be 'too popular' ... and what about bourbon?

Agree…it’s too easy to make rum & Coke or 7&7.

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, AE_Collector said:

In the past I think they would swap out to 1/2 minibar (5 alcohol and 5 non alcohol) along with one coffee package. Has anyone heard of them doing this combo since the return from Covid?

I wish.  I have never heard of this actually happening.  What year was this if you recall?  Could have been something specially done on a particular ship.  It seems logically possible, but supposedly not done in practice.

[AE_Collector]

10 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

I wish.  I have never heard of this actually happening.  What year was this if you recall?  Could have been something specially done on a particular ship.  It seems logically possible, but supposedly not done in practice.

I have never done the half and half but thought I recall hearing that it was easily done a number of years ago… maybe 2015-2017 or so. But I could be wrong.
 

We had a great deal going when coffee cards were actual cards. Of 42 cruises I think only 6 or 7 have been single cruises, almost anywhere we go that isn’t a Vancouver round trip we do at least 2 and sometimes 3 back to backs. Initially we had bought a couple of coffee cards so when boarding a back to back cruise we get the minbar set up to our preference and at the same time use our purchased coffee cards. Usually the one minibar is all we need to get through two cruises. Second part of B2B we get swapped minibar to coffee cards which went back into stock to use on a future sets of cruises. Thus we had minibar and coffee cards (mostly for the specialty coffee punches) for the entire trip. This all came to an abrupt end when they moved the coffee cards onto your onboard account/medallion. Just one tiny example of a change that likely affected very few but eliminated a small perk we got for being at Elite level and regularly booking back to back cruises with Princess. All they need to do is offer to issue both minibars at the beginning of a B2B to solve this but that wasn’t do-able the one time I asked.

[Eaglecw]

I wish they’d get a better selection of the mini bottles of alcohol. I swap all them out for vodka, because everything else is nasty. On our last cruise all they had was vodka, which was fine for me.

[tothemall&beyond]

3 hours ago, AE_Collector said:

Doing some last minute planning for our first Post Covid cruise that we board here in Vancouver on Monday May 2. We did a LOT of Princess cruising between 2010-2019, 42 cruises / 425 days. During the process of booking this cruise I quickly realized how much had changed and/or how much I had forgotten.

 

So the Elite Mini Bar:

I will assume that not much has changed, 10 alcohol and 10 non alcohol items included. Items can be rearranged within the alcohol and within the non alcohol categories by calling room service. Complete minibar can be swapped out for two coffee packages and there was also the ability in the past to swap out everything to all water or possibly swap out everything to just one bottle of wine I think?

 

Here is what I am really asking about here today. In the past I think they would swap out to 1/2 minibar (5 alcohol and 5 non alcohol) along with one coffee package. Has anyone heard of them doing this combo since the return from Covid? I’m guessing this may ultimately be “at Room Service managers discretion” unless it is included in the instructions of possible Elite Minibar swaps. I was successful in the past at getting 8 (not 10) alcohol items swapped to one of the 375 ml bottles of alcohol that Room Service supplies after getting the Room Service Managers approval. The basis for this was that there is NO RUM available in the Elite Minibar. The “No rum available” thing always amazed me. What alcohol goes with the Caribbean more than Rum and what alcohol goes with life at sea and the Navy more than Rum. But, that’s a discussion for another day.

 

Terry

Have been sailing Princess since 2000, and have been at Elite level since 2014. They have never allowed a partial switch of half a mini-bar for one coffee card, but they always allowed  - and still do - a complete swap of your entire mini-bar for 2 coffee packages. Even when I travelled as a solo traveller (which I did 3 times), I could not do a half and half exchange -- it had to be a complete swap for which they gave me two coffee cards.

[tothemall&beyond]

2 hours ago, Astro Flyer said:

It’s never been listed as an option for exchanges nor have I read about it being allowed. Both pre-pandemic & currently those who requested that exchange posted it was denied. Guess anything is possible if requested but don’t think it would be approved when it’s not listed as an exchange option.

 

I’ve never understood their logic about why rum has never been available.

 

 

Question:What if I don't want any alcohol in my Elite mini-bar?

Answer:If you do not wish to have any alcohol in your mini-bar we will behappy to exchange your mini-bar for one of the following: 

 

• Alcoholic beverages may be exchanged for non-alcoholic beverages on a one-for-one basis
• Full mini-bar may be exchanged for two (2) Coffee Cards
• All water mini-bar setup will consist of eight (8) 1.5 liter bottles of water

Have been sailing Princess since 2000, and have been at Elite level since 2014, and I know that, even though it is not in writing anywhere, they have always allowed  - and still do - a complete swap of your entire mini-bar for 2 coffee packages. 

[Astro Flyer]

18 minutes ago, tothemall&beyond said:

Have been sailing Princess since 2000, and have been at Elite level since 2014, and I know that, even though it is not in writing anywhere, they have always allowed  - and still do - a complete swap of your entire mini-bar for 2 coffee packages. 

Just as I wrote in my post you quoted…

 

“Full mini-bar may be exchanged for two (2) Coffee Card”

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, tothemall&beyond said:

Have been sailing Princess since 2000, and have been at Elite level since 2014. They have never allowed a partial switch of half a mini-bar for one coffee card, but they always allowed  - and still do - a complete swap of your entire mini-bar for 2 coffee packages. Even when I travelled as a solo traveller (which I did 3 times), I could not do a half and half exchange -- it had to be a complete swap for which they gave me two coffee cards.

Of course back then you could save a clean card and use it on a future voyage or give/sell to someone else.  Now, anything coffee expires the second you disembark, so an argument could be made that having two packages is superfluous (other than having double the specialty drink allowance I suppose).

[AE_Collector]

Yes exactly @Steelers36. Numerous years ago there was a big push to have the cruise details written onto the card when received preventing the free coffee/tea/hot chocolate if card was used on a future cruise. We did the 29 day Sydney to LA cruise (a single point cruise, not several added together) and then stayed on for the next cruise, 3 days LA to Vancouver. No cruise pointed out how ridiculous it was to have the elite minibar handed out one at a time per cruise. Both minibars up front would have prevented us from having to stretch one for 29 days only to receive the next and have 2 1/2 days to use it. We swapped the second one to Coffee cards for the future and had to get the Room Service manager approval to NOT put the cruise details on the card which we appreciated them doing but the whole thing seems like they could make it work so much better if they REALLY do appreciate us for our loyalty. Of course I’m sure many of us have repeatedly asked that we could pre-select the minibar contents before the cruise but that continues to go nowhere as well.

[VibeGuy]

The pre-selection interface was there in the Very Before times (2010 and earlier) but it never did anything.  It’s less labour for the ship to make them all up the same and swap out as needed, which isn’t quite as satisfying as it would be if they’d recall I want all Sprite Zero and Cognac. 

[AE_Collector]

Yes I usually try to get on the phone with them ASAP to try to head them off before the standard package arrives. Sometimes I am successful and other times no so much. I guess being “free” we aren’t supposed to whine about it but it just seems like it would save everyone some unnecessary effort and get things off to a smoother start.

Edited May 1, 2022 by AE_Collector

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, VibeGuy said:

The pre-selection interface was there in the Very Before times (2010 and earlier) but it never did anything.  It’s less labour for the ship to make them all up the same and swap out as needed, which isn’t quite as satisfying as it would be if they’d recall I want all Sprite Zero and Cognac. 

 

16 minutes ago, AE_Collector said:

Yes I usually try to get on the phone with them ASAP to try to head them off before the standard package arrives. Sometimes I am successful and other times no so much. I guess being “free” we aren’t supposed to whine about it but it just seems like it would save everyone some unnecessary effort and get things off to a smoother start.

Mr Mickey Mouse could add it to the MC App as a preference and it fits with his stated goal to have a barrier free cruise experience where things just come to the guest almost by magic.

[cr8tiv1]

Never had the option to swap out for one coffee card.  On the Grand (recently), Canadian Club Whiskey was an option (swapped out 10 while they had them).  Google uses for Vodka.  You'd be surprised how versatile these little bottles are.  

 

Memory says I saw rum once, but I could have been dreaming LOL.