Changes to Princess Plus, room service fees, Alfredo's and others. Fee changes. Etc

[Guest ldtr]

7 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

It was reported earlier in the thread that about 75% of the passengers purchase either the plus or the premier package.  So, that means that only 25% are standard cruisers that would have the option of paying the $15.00 for Ocean now.  If there are 4000 passengers on the ship, only 1000 would have the option to buy the Ocean now activation.  Not everyone needs to get room service or have a drink delivered to them and the purchase is 100% optional, so basically it's less than a 1000 people that may have to pay the 15.00.  Maybe 600 and that estimate could be high.  If people are frugal and don't want to purchase a package that 75% of the cruisers buy, what makes you think they'll fork over another 15.00.  Many are going to remove 112 in tips to make their overall cost cheaper.

That is only if they have accomplished their sales goals of 50% and 25%

[Guest ldtr]

7 hours ago, caribill said:

 

That was true pre-Covid shutdown.

 

After the restart, with Princess expecting about 75% of passengers to have Plus/Premier package which include gratuities that cannot be removed, and with most of the other 25% of passengers not reducing what they pay for "crew appreciation," Princess decided it was not worth the effort to have every cash tip checked to see if gratuities had been reduced.

 

Thus now cabin stewards and dining room staff can keep cash tips without having to first check if a passenger has reduced what they are paying into the general tip pool.

yep. The only thing that is in place now is that one of the performance metric tracked for room stewards is the rate of gratuity removal compared to expected rates. If they show a trend for higher removal it can be flagged as part of their reviews.

[gah_cruise]

7 minutes ago, ldtr said:

Technically buying a package with gratuities is a voluntary act of an optional purchase so it does not violate US accounting rules concerning how gratuities are handled.

Okay so that explains why I cannot reduce/remove them.......decision made 🙂

[kathy49]

Wondering what people think that worked to achieve a status such as "Elite" and now does that status really afford you the perks you expected? Now you can buy so much and packages are being  pushed.  For example some report elite boarding   lines are longer than regular. It seems any priority that  Elite could get is not available to many more passengers.

[Guest ldtr]

3 hours ago, gah_cruise said:

If Princess had announced that wef Aug 01 that all new bookings would incur these additional fees, then I believe there would have been far fewer "comments".
But they didn't ... they are charging a group of passengers for services that, at the time of booking, were included....which frankly stinks.  

As it stands (at the moment....)  our next cruise with Princess is unaffected (unless we have 3 or more Alfredo pizzas)....we like Princess but it appears they cannot be trusted and that will definitely be a major factor when we book our next cruise.

As far as that goes if that is your criteria none of the mainstream lines they all make changes that impact previously booked cruises. Sometimes they announce implementation before penalty period, sometimes after, sometimes not at all. Pretty much same practices.

[kywildcatfanone]

2 minutes ago, kathy49 said:

Wondering what people think that worked to achieve a status such as "Elite" and now does that status really afford you the perks you expected? Now you can buy so much and packages are being  pushed.  For example some report elite boarding   lines are longer than regular. It seems any priority that  Elite could get is not available to many more passengers.

There seems to be little to no benefit to being Elite anymore.  Laundry is still there I guess, but we quit using it because they lost clothing.  Swapping the minibar used to be decent with the coffee exchange, but now you don't get much.  

If they are giving priority boarding to package people, then that is gone too.  

[Guest ldtr]

3 hours ago, whitecap said:

Steelers36, I would agree with you about the crew part, IF, a passenger removed the automatic gratuities AND didn't themselves distribute gratuities to crew members.  And believe me, I understand wanting to reward someone for excellent service but paying into a pool doesn't guarantee that Your room steward will get anything.  Princess specifically states that they decide, throughout the year, who shares in the pool and how much they get, FLEET WIDE.  I just don't see that as a very responsible way to allocate my money.  Many do and I'm ok with that.  As others have said, you do you, I'll do me.  And we can all be happy.  

You are implying that it is by whim. The monies must go to crew. There is a structure to those payouts by job. That structure also includes bonuses and awards, as well as a flat amount.

 

Listing workers that perform well in the survey goes a long way in determining those bonuses, as well as future assignment and contracts.

 

 

[kathy49]

2 minutes ago, kywildcatfanone said:

There seems to be little to no benefit to being Elite anymore.  Laundry is still there I guess, but we quit using it because they lost clothing.  Swapping the minibar used to be decent with the coffee exchange, but now you don't get much.  

If they are giving priority boarding to package people, then that is gone too.  

It reminds me of what has happened in air travel. Delta has extended so many perks to so many that priority boarding is over 1/2 the plane....so many have membership to the "Sky clubs" that they are completely overrun,...and on and on. Loyalty programs seem to now offer    little.  

[gah_cruise]

6 minutes ago, ldtr said:

As far as that goes if that is your criteria none of the mainstream lines they all make changes that impact previously booked cruises. Sometimes they announce implementation before penalty period, sometimes after, sometimes not at all. Pretty much same practices.

Yup ... it is my criteria...and if I book Princess again, I have already decided how I shall book.

[cruising.mark.uk]

1 minute ago, kathy49 said:

It reminds me of what has happened in air travel. Delta has extended so many perks to so many that priority boarding is over 1/2 the plane....so many have membership to the "Sky clubs" that they are completely overrun,...and on and on. Loyalty programs seem to now offer    little.  

And that, I think, is the problem for Princess (and other cruise lines).  So many people are at the highest levels that it becomes impossible to provide any meaningful benefits to them.  And it is commercially not viable to provide benefits that are worth real money, because so often passengers at the highest tiers are the ones that deliver the lowest revenue per diem.  So, it is not worth it for the lines to pay to retain the loyalty of these passengers.  From my perspective the best real perk (given that we'll have the Plus package anyway) is the free laundry.  Our next cruise is 28 nights - we will save hundreds of dollars because of that perk.

[Ken the cruiser]

20 minutes ago, kathy49 said:

Wondering what people think that worked to achieve a status such as "Elite" and now does that status really afford you the perks you expected? Now you can buy so much and packages are being  pushed.  For example some report elite boarding   lines are longer than regular. It seems any priority that  Elite could get is not available to many more passengers.

We’ll make elite after our next cruise in October, and as long as we will get free unlimited laundry, we’re good! 😁

[whitecap]

6 minutes ago, ldtr said:

You are implying that it is by whim. The monies must go to crew. There is a structure to those payouts by job. That structure also includes bonuses and awards, as well as a flat amount.

 

Listing workers that perform well in the survey goes a long way in determining those bonuses, as well as future assignment and contracts.

 

 

This conversation was between Steelers36 and myself but you seem to have to add your unsolicited comment.  You keep trying to convenience others to "pay into a pool" and if you and they decided that is how you want to do it, great, go for it.  Stop trying to shame me and others for paying our gratuities in the fashion that we deem most appropriate for us.  And please, please, don't respond to any of my post as we completely disagree with how Princess has conducted themselves and how they are treating loyal customers.  

[voljeep]

2 minutes ago, whitecap said:

This conversation was between Steelers36 and myself but you seem to have to add your unsolicited comment.  You keep trying to convenience others to "pay into a pool" and if you and they decided that is how you want to do it, great, go for it.  Stop trying to shame me and others for paying our gratuities in the fashion that we deem most appropriate for us.  And please, please, don't respond to any of my post as we completely disagree with how Princess has conducted themselves and how they are treating loyal customers.  

the ignore poster option is a beautiful thing - I've used it, and I'm sure it's been used on me also😎

[whitecap]

8 minutes ago, voljeep said:

the ignore poster option is a beautiful thing - I've used it, and I'm sure it's been used on me also😎

Thanks voljeep.  Never knew that button exists.  Always great to learn something new. 

Edited July 31, 2023 by whitecap

[Guest ldtr]

4 hours ago, kywildcatfanone said:

Your obsession with defending the benefits cuts by Princess to elite passengers is well noted.  Can we just move on from your attempts to justify the reduction in loyalty programs?  Everyone understands that Princess is no longer interested in loyal passengers

Can we move on from attacks on loyalty programs that have actually had very little change. The only removal from Elite benefits is the toiletries. The Internet benefit changes but still exists. It is up to each individual if they want to use them or not, but the benefits are still there.

[cruzsnooze]

Interesting article on MSN today. I'm not voicing an opinion merely posting the link.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/tips/cruises-are-increasingly-adopting-the-strategy-of-budget-airlines-get-ready-to-pay-more-for-all-the-extras/ar-AA1exFvA?ocid=mailsignout&pc=U591&cvid=981b4405140740858e75eab304a349e0&ei=11

[Guest ldtr]

4 hours ago, vjmatty said:

And it is possible with the new system to still give free perks, just not by minutes. RC which uses the same systems gives Diamond Plus members two days per sailing. Not as convenient as spreading minutes across the length of your cruise but still useful to check in for flights or book outside excursions. 

The two days per sailing is not a minute based system. It is a per day system. Princess could offer a day ot two free instead of the current discount but chose not to go in that direction. Just as a passenger can buy Internet for a single day under the current system.

 

Lobbying for a day or two free because the current system could support it, than moaning  about the old minute based system that it cannot.

 

 

[no1racefan1]

10 hours ago, wilsonhold said:

Based on several recent critical reviews on the time it took to receive various medallion orders recently, I suspect the motive of these charges are not just  monetary but instead to reduce overall demand. Princess mgt has invested heavily in the medallion technology, does not want to add more staff to delivery food,  and the only remaining option is to control the number of orders processed by raising rates.

 

 

 

 

 

I concur.

[Guest ldtr]

1 hour ago, kathy49 said:

Wondering what people think that worked to achieve a status such as "Elite" and now does that status really afford you the perks you expected? Now you can buy so much and packages are being  pushed.  For example some report elite boarding   lines are longer than regular. It seems any priority that  Elite could get is not available to many more passengers.

As the number of people in the top tiers grow it impacts the value of some benefits. When 40% of the ship is Elite the priority tender embarkation is not as quick as when there is 3% like on my last Alaska cruise. Laundry turn around becomes 4 days, instead of 1.

 

That is really one of the problems with the lifetime nature of the cruise loyalty systems. The numbers in the top tier only keep getting larger.

[dreaminofcruisin]

31 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

We’ll make elite after our next cruise in October, and as long as we will get free unlimited laundry, we’re good! 😁

 

For us, it will be in February and I want the mini-bar!   😄

[CynCyn]

3 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Inquire at Guest Services on the ship.  You will likely receive $10 Refundable OBC for the asking.

I received the $10 in May and didn’t have to ask.  I upgraded to Premier AFTER ordering my medallion.

[portiemom]

10 hours ago, Wanderers2 said:

Green lane boarding now comes with Plus & Premier if you have your medallion delivered to your home. 
 

We live in Australia & home delivery of a medallion is not available to us, so does that mean we can never be green lane before arriving at the dock.

I book the standard package. Opted not to pay for medallion shipping. App tells me I'm green lane for upcoming cruise this month. As I understand it, the blue and green lanes are going away, and in my experience never mattered anyway when we arrived at port.

[no1racefan1]

8 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

If someone booked standard fare they are receiving the same no matter when they booked.  If someone booked recently, they paid the 60 per day to get plus.  If someone booked plus at 40 or 50, they would need to pay the extra 10 or 20 per day to get the same benefits.  So no matter when you book, the costs would be the same.

What do you mean? When I booked standard fare, it included room service, use of the OceanNow delivery app (or whatever the heck it's called), and Alfredo's. Now I will have to pay extra if I want to utilize any of those three things that were included in my fare when booked.

[CynCyn]

57 minutes ago, kathy49 said:

Wondering what people think that worked to achieve a status such as "Elite" and now does that status really afford you the perks you expected? Now you can buy so much and packages are being  pushed.  For example some report elite boarding   lines are longer than regular. It seems any priority that  Elite could get is not available to many more passengers.

On my past 2 cruises they sent me to the main lines because Elite/Platinum check-in was so backed up.  It did not affect me boarding with the Elite/Platinum as we were all sent into the same room.  In Seattle, I had to push because the man monitoring the room was saying Elite only.  A Princess employee educated him.

[kywildcatfanone]

40 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

We’ll make elite after our next cruise in October, and as long as we will get free unlimited laundry, we’re good!

Document and take pictures of what you send off.  You might not get it all back 🙂