New ideas of perks that could be offered

[cr8tiv1]

10 hours ago, NownZen said:

The point for me is that at $20/bottle I will not bring on wine.

I saw a sign, but didn’t take a photo, of $15 corkage fee at SF pier 27. 

 

11 hours ago, JimmyVWine said:

Challenge accepted.  The priority tendering already exists in the form of early, no ticketed transportation.  Having your own system would imply that if a priority passenger does not avail herself of the early option, then when she walks up to the departure area, this "own tendering system" would necessitate a special tender ready to whisk her ashore ahead of everyone else in line, with no one else allowed to board that vessel.  Picture in your mind's eye that scenario where a tender that holds 200 people departs with one person on it while 500 other people are in line waiting to board a tender.  Now imagine what the scene would look like if, while that special tender was making its journey, one more priority person showed up and was allowed to board a private tender whilst they wait. Chaos and violence would ensue. Early departure with no waiting is sufficient.  A private shuttle two hours later when there is a substantial line to go ashore would be obnoxious and cost inefficient.   

I liked the earlier days when Elite/suite had priority tender embarkation on the “next” tender.  Of recent, once the tickets were over (first couple of hours), it was a free for all.  Elite/suite had to get in line with everyone else. 

[caribill]

13 hours ago, cruisingrob21 said:

 

 early access to dine my way. 

 

Do you mean early access to making DMW reservations? Currently Platinum and Elite can make DMW reservations as soon as they book a cruise. Hard to get any earlier access than that.

 

13 hours ago, cruisingrob21 said:

I could see them offering early access to upgrade bids. 

I see no advantage to this unless Princess would process those bids and make acceptances before others can even make bids. I do not see that happening since the bidding process is supposed to increase Princess revenue as much as possible and not allowing all to bid before accepting early bids would likely not result in the optimal income increase.

 

13 hours ago, cruisingrob21 said:

 

Perhaps since the ships are getting so big, have a bypass line for platinum and elite port access when the ship first pulls into port.

 

Often 2/3 or more of the passengers are platinum/elite. Lines would be as long as they have been with this as a perk.

[caribill]

40 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:

I saw a sign, but didn’t take a photo, of $15 corkage fee at SF pier 27. 

 

 

Like the Princess web site, signs at ports often do not get updated to reflect current policies.

[JimmyVWine]

6 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

I liked the earlier days when Elite/suite had priority tender embarkation on the “next” tender.

I agree that this is the way it should be. (And I'm not even in either group.)  Elite/Suite should have a "Fast Pass" lane where they merge at the very front of the line in alternating, "zipper" fashion with the regular line.  Princess is missing an important psychological factor here if they in fact have done away with this.  Case in point.  My wife and I love going to the Aspen Food and Wine Festival.  There, they have numerous cooking classes and demonstrations conducted by the who's who of celebrity chefs.  You have to reserve a spot for those sessions well in advance, but there is not reserved seating. It is first come, first served.  For the most popular sessions, (Julia Child back in the day), Jacque Pepin, Thomas Keller, Mario Batali (before, well, you know), the lines would begin to form hours in advance.  While standing at the front of one such line in our second year, we heard a woman call out: "Platinums! Platinums follow me!" and about 100 people were allowed in to the room and got all the seats in the first three rows.  I asked what that was all about and someone said: "Oh. People who bought their tickets through the Amex Platinum program get to go in first."  Now, a good number of people in that line were angry and frustrated at being bypassed by people who just walked up while they had been in line for over an hour.  Did I get mad?  No.  I got an Amex Platinum Card later that year to use in the future.

 

So the moral of the story is that Princess should make it widely known that Elites get special tender privileges, and that includes making a show of the fact that they are ushered right up to the front.  Sure, some people will get mad and frustrated.  But others will say to themselves: "I need to work on becoming an Elite."  And therein lies the benefit to Princes. 

[neverbeenhere]

Personal Water Shuttle

[Roatanfans]

Princess would probably be most likely to offer perks that cost them little to nothing, are perceived as having some value by people who use them, and encourage the users to spend more money.  Things like free slot play or discounts on art auctions or a free bingo card.

[kywildcatfanone]

Perks will never again be added, only removed.

[c-boy]

1 hour ago, kywildcatfanone said:

Perks will never again be added, only removed.

[Princessfan20]

The one perk I would like to see Princess add is a dedicated Customer Service Line for Elites with more veteran CSR's working those lines.  

 

The airlines, hotels and rental car companies do it and it certain would save a lot of frustration and wasted time for their most loyal customers.