No exchanges anymore for mini bar to coffee?

[MissP22]

1 minute ago, datone said:

No - you are not alone.   Not going to buy any packages either.   Don't drink a lot of alcohol, only drink the odd diet soda which they don't have on board so just not worth it for me.   

 

We've come to the conclusion that BYO(insert whatever) is the only way to go from now on. I'm getting very tired of trying to make any of their package a "value" and more. 

[kywildcatfanone]

6 hours ago, MissP22 said:

We've come to the conclusion that BYO(insert whatever) is the only way to go from now on. I'm getting very tired of trying to make any of their package a "value" and more. 

I get why they do it.  They are making sure tips are paid, they sell wifi, and they are still making a fortune off of the drinks, and getting more people to buy them, even if they drink very little.

 

But not offering an alcohol free options for around $40 is a huge omission for those who don't drink, or drink very little.

We leave Saturday, will stop and buy a couple of packs of sodas, and take our own cups, and that will be our drinks by the pool for the week.

[coo359a2]

With the current Plus price, I break even with 1 mudslide and 2 martinis each day with all the diet coke I need.  So for now I'm ok but will rethink it if Plus price increases again.

[kywildcatfanone]

13 hours ago, MsSoCalCruiser said:

I agree with you.  They could have raised the price a few dollars.  I know I will not purchase the non-alcohol package for $40 a day.  That’s crazy high for fountain soda and specialty coffee. They lost my money on that one.

If they had this with a package for soft drinks/coffee, wifi and tips, I would buy it. Would make it about $20 a day for the drinks portion, and that is reasonable.  $40 a day for soft drinks and coffee only, is super expensive, just like the other new packages.

[Redwing55]

1 hour ago, coo359a2 said:

With the current Plus price, I break even with 1 mudslide and 2 martinis each day with all the diet coke I need.  So for now I'm ok but will rethink it if Plus price increases again.

That would likely work for me.  Issue is that my spouse isn't a drinker so that ups those martinis.  Plus, on our most recent booking, (we discussed on another thread)  it would cost me the $60/day plus a sizeable fare increase.  I'm hoping we can maybe get it onboard for only the $60/day.  Then again, I'm not a big drinker so I'm weighing if the almost $1100 extra is worth it.  (I pulled out the tips and Wifi costs.)

[coo359a2]

2 hours ago, Redwing55 said:

That would likely work for me.  Issue is that my spouse isn't a drinker so that ups those martinis.  Plus, on our most recent booking, (we discussed on another thread)  it would cost me the $60/day plus a sizeable fare increase.  I'm hoping we can maybe get it onboard for only the $60/day.  Then again, I'm not a big drinker so I'm weighing if the almost $1100 extra is worth it.  (I pulled out the tips and Wifi costs.)

For future cruises, I'm thinking of waiting till on board to purchase the pkg using OBC.

[Shelly97060]

A slight topic detour but for what it’s worth… I boarded Crown yesterday and in Ocean Concierge ( NOT medallion App) the Coffee Package is still listed as available.  I didn’t purchase or try to swap mini bar for it because I had already purchased in advance of the cruise. 

 

To see what’s available on your next cruise go to Ocean Concierge the first day or two of your voyage, click on “my beverage packages”, and it will bring up a list of the packages available for purchase onboard . YMMV but if they are still offering the packages in Ocean Concierge then hopefully they will allow the exchange.

Edited March 18, 2023 by Shelly97060

[jagoffee]

19 hours ago, ldtr said:

There were some issues with how the coffee card showed up on the waiters system. Waiters in the bars would confuse it with drink package. Ran into that issue on several cruises after the restart. Also on recent cruises, with drinks packages becoming more common the IC staff often did not record the coffees ordered. So Princess may have decided easier to get rid of than fix the issues of how it fit into medallion system. It was the only package for X drinks instead of per day.

I believe Princess may have some time ago also eliminated the wine bottle packages

 

 

Edited March 18, 2023 by jagoffee

[gottagocit]

44 minutes ago, Shelly97060 said:

A slight topic detour but for what it’s worth… I boarded Crown yesterday and in Ocean Concierge ( NOT medallion App) the Coffee Package is still listed as available.  I didn’t purchase or try to swap mini bar for it because I had already purchased in advance of the cruise. ..

 

Hmm. Interesting. I’m guessing they forgot it was hidden there and didn’t delete it but perhaps someone will try to purchase it and see what happens. Thanks. 

[coo359a2]

On the Regal now and friends were not able to switch out their mini bar for the old coffee package. 

[jagoffee]

46 minutes ago, coo359a2 said:

On the Regal now and friends were not able to switch out their mini bar for the old coffee package. 

Post 232 above suggests your friends might be able to buy one.  Does it look like that it is really an option?   He did not actually purchase one to see  if the system would actually allow you to purchase one on board. (Poster already had one)  Maybe your friends  can be a test case for CC assuming they want one.

 

can the old package actually be purchased in board.  I have my doubts.

Edited March 18, 2023 by jagoffee

[wrongwaywatson]

13 hours ago, MissP22 said:

So true. Now they've raised the prices on all packages so high that we don't consider any of them any more. 

I realize that I'm probably along with my thinking but they've gotten past what I consider reasonable and are forcing people to overindulge just to break even.

Agreed.  I have bought soda package and coffee cards on almost all of my cruises.  This one coming up we have Princess Plus, because the price was good on it when we purchased it, but it will probably be the last time that we do.   Before the medallion, I hated buying things ala carte and paying for them, you had to wait for it to ring up, sign the paper, etc.  It was just easier to buy the package at the old prices.  I don't drink premium coffees, just a lot of brewed.  Now, I will just buy as I go, it won't take long to scan my medallion and I will spend WAY less.

But it figures that they take away the elite mini bar exchange, as this next cruise will be our first elite.  We never had the opportunity to exchange it out and I was looking forward to doing that! LOL

[startedwithamouse]

2 hours ago, Shelly97060 said:

A slight topic detour but for what it’s worth… I boarded Crown yesterday and in Ocean Concierge ( NOT medallion App) the Coffee Package is still listed as available.  I didn’t purchase or try to swap mini bar for it because I had already purchased in advance of the cruise. 

 

To see what’s available on your next cruise go to Ocean Concierge the first day or two of your voyage, click on “my beverage packages”, and it will bring up a list of the packages available for purchase onboard . YMMV but if they are still offering the packages in Ocean Concierge then hopefully they will allow the exchange.

Looks like it's disabled since there's no dollar amount listed. 

 

 

[startedwithamouse]

1 hour ago, gottagocit said:

Hmm. Interesting. I’m guessing they forgot it was hidden there and didn’t delete it but perhaps someone will try to purchase it and see what happens. Thanks. 

It has no dollar amount, probably not able to purchase.

[startedwithamouse]

2 hours ago, Shelly97060 said:

A slight topic detour but for what it’s worth… I boarded Crown yesterday and in Ocean Concierge ( NOT medallion App) the Coffee Package is still listed as available.  I didn’t purchase or try to swap mini bar for it because I had already purchased in advance of the cruise. 

 

To see what’s available on your next cruise go to Ocean Concierge the first day or two of your voyage, click on “my beverage packages”, and it will bring up a list of the packages available for purchase onboard . YMMV but if they are still offering the packages in Ocean Concierge then hopefully they will allow the exchange.

Is the classic soda package still $9.99?  

[gottagocit]

1 minute ago, startedwithamouse said:

It has no dollar amount, probably not able to purchase.

Okay thanks. I’m not surprised given where we stand elsewhere with respect to coffee cards. 

[startedwithamouse]

1 minute ago, gottagocit said:

Okay thanks. I’m not surprised given where we stand elsewhere with respect to coffee cards. 

There's quite a few obsolete items on the app and website. Takes manpower to update, and IT department aren't cheap.

[Shelly97060]

10 minutes ago, startedwithamouse said:

It has no dollar amount, probably not able to purchase.

All the other packages that were listed first day are not available second day but coffee package is still available to purchase. The dollar amount is listed in the description.

[coo359a2]

1 hour ago, jagoffee said:

Post 232 above suggests your friends might be able to buy one.  Does it look like that it is really an option?   He did not actually purchase one to see  if the system would actually allow you to purchase one on board. (Poster already had one)  Maybe your friends  can be a test case for CC assuming they want one.

 

can the old package actually be purchased in board.  I have my doubts.

Nope, they called room service and was told no. I asked the Loyalty and Events Manager and she said that package was no longer offered.  I pre bought the $38 (?) package last December for our cruise in September. Asked at  Guest Services what would happen to what I had purchased and was told it would go to OBC if I didn’t cancel it before the cruise 

Edited March 19, 2023 by coo359a2

[Shelly97060]

16 minutes ago, startedwithamouse said:

Is the classic soda package still $9.99?  

It was listed as available in Ocean Concierge on the first day but I didn’t try to purchase it so I don’t know if the purchase would have gone smoothly or not. It’s worth checking Ocean Concierge once you board (the first day). Can’t hurt to try if it’s something that interests you! 
 

it could be that the IT department hasn’t scrubbed the out dated items out of Ocean Concierge… so I am not sure if the purchase would go through or not.

Edited March 19, 2023 by Shelly97060

[Shelly97060]

2 hours ago, gottagocit said:

Hmm. Interesting. I’m guessing they forgot it was hidden there and didn’t delete it but perhaps someone will try to purchase it and see what happens. Thanks. 

Yes, that certainly is possible. 

[startedwithamouse]

6 minutes ago, Shelly97060 said:

It was listed as available in Ocean Concierge on the first day but I didn’t try to purchase it so I don’t know if the purchase would have gone smoothly or not. It’s worth checking Ocean Concierge once you board (the first day). Can’t hurt to try if it’s something that interests you! 
 

it could be that the IT department hasn’t scrubbed the out dated items out of Ocean Concierge… so I am not sure if the purchase would go through or not.

They still have the old Sabatini's menu and price up also.  Lots of old content which needs to be scrubbed. 

[startedwithamouse]

11 minutes ago, Shelly97060 said:

All the other packages that were listed first day are not available second day but coffee package is still available to purchase. The dollar amount is listed in the description.

Probably since it's no longer live/able to be purchased. 

[sunviking90]

15 minutes ago, startedwithamouse said:

There's quite a few obsolete items on the app and website. Takes manpower to update, and IT department aren't cheap.

I used to manage a business and inconsistencies like this between apps, website and what’s actually on offer are just sloppy. If I ever noticed something on our website that was incorrect (even misspellings) I made a call and it was done the same day. 

[startedwithamouse]

Just now, sunviking90 said:

I used to manage a business and inconsistencies like this between apps, website and what’s actually on offer are just sloppy. If I ever noticed something on our website that was incorrect (even misspellings) I made a call and it was done the same day. 

Honestly don't think they have the manpower, and their priority is booking and cruise prices, as that seems to be ever changing.