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

[Guest ldtr]

1 hour 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.  

You post I will respond if I want to.

 

Largely because you are making comments about the pool that make it sound like the money is not going to the crew, or that it is not a well thought out structured plan. I do not care what you do. That is your choice.

 

I do care when someone posts misleading information about a program that distributes the gratuities to the hard working crew on the hotel side of the business. Many of which work very hard in providing services in the buffet and other areas, especially under DMW, but do not have the direct visibility of the cabin Steward.

[Guest ldtr]

1 hour ago, kywildcatfanone said:

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

In over 50 cruises since we made Elite I have never not had an item returned. Their accuracy rate is very good. I did have one pair of old tan hiking pants that came back a couple of shades lighter because they tried and succeeded in getting out a stain.

[kywildcatfanone]

26 minutes ago, ldtr said:

Can we move on from attacks on loyalty programs

Some of us have tried.

[Ken the cruiser]

18 minutes ago, dreaminofcruisin said:

 

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

That too!! 😂

[getaway101]

9 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

We would put in a complaint with the ADA if we had to pay for the elevator since I'm in a scooter.  😄

I was being sarcastic of course.

 

[DHP1]

2 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Wrong.  The member re-fared this year so had the new Plus.

When we re-fared on July 11, there was no mention of the new changes (add on) in Princes Plus

[Ken the cruiser]

11 minutes ago, kywildcatfanone said:

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

Defitely a good idea! We always do when we book a suite or when we otherwise send some in and have always received all of our clothes back.

[Princessfan20]

1 hour 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.  

 

The only Elite benefit we cherish is the free laundry.  The Loyalty program was really weak IMHO.  We are more interested in the different ways you can earn OBC's on Princess.

 

I do not think Delta is a good representation of speaking for all loyalty programs or airline reward programs.  Delta Sky Miles has always been referred to by many frequent flyer's as Sky Pesos.  Also, as you are probably aware Delta has tightened its' rules on who can enter their clubs because of the over-crowding that was occuring.

[nbsjcruiser]

None of these nickel and dime charges will impact us. The last 2 cruises we were on I quickly realized neither one of us came anywhere near drinking enough to come out ahead on the Princess Plus package we bought so we'll save the Extra $500-$600 pp on each cruise we book and take the standard fare. If I want a drink, I'll buy it. If I want to go to Alfredo's, I'll pay the $15 once on the cruise otherwise I'll enjoy the Dining Room food and hope they don't dumb that down like Royal Caribbean has. We don't do room service very often (once in 33 cruises) and since I sit on the internet every day working, having access to the internet for the week is not a perk for me. In a weird sort of way, I kinda like this. We'll book the lower fare each cruise and save money. I think in many respects, people look at all these add-ons like they're missing out on something or will be a lower class passenger if they don't participate. Princess does a good job pretending they're giving you something and if you drink enough, I suppose you might be. But for us, doing the math, Princess Plus and Premium is just an offer to pay for perk that I don't need or want. My way of thinking is, if I can't pay for Alfredo's once or twice or can't afford a few specialty coffes for the week, I probably shouldn't be cruising anyway.

[DHP1]

2 hours ago, villauk said:

 

Which means if you only paid the old rate for your packages, then you will have to pay either more to upgrade or extra for using any of the changes to amenities. But it’s irrespective as you only have the same benefits that you paid for if you have purchased the new Premier package - all other packages/standard fares result in a reduction to what you originally booked and paid for.

The total cost of the cruise remains the same if we select the new Princess Plus.  In the meantime, I have contacted our CVP.  We do room service every morning (coffee, juice and fruit) and we notice that still remains free by using the carddoor system.  However, we do enjoy going to Alfredo's $$$$

Edited July 31, 2023 by DHP1

[whitecap]

I have found it interesting that some on the thread will side step direct questions or use phrasing that attempts to explain away a situation in an attempt to bolster Princess.  For instance the "crew" gratuity.  I and others have posted how the automatic gratuities goes into a pool that Princess decides how to distribute and to whom.  Never has it been said that the "crew" doesn't get it.  It has been pointed out that crew members on the ship you are on, may or may not be selected by Princess to receive the gratuities paid into the pool and that the gratuities are paid out "fleet wide".  Of course, those that keep trying to explain this away have been asked point blank how they can confirm that the crew on the ship they are currently on received any of the gratuities but they refuse to answer that direct question.  They also continue to try and convenience others that there has been no change in Elite benefits.  Um, 250 FREE minutes now COST $105.  Zero to $105 seems to me to be a pretty big change.  As a cruiser, I pay for what I use, compensate for good service, have no issue with shaking a hand and thanking someone for their kindness.  Oh well, to each their own.

[Tedferg]

11 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

No, you would be able to split a salad or bowl of soup, a pizza and either tiramisu or apple torte.  This way you would get four visits over the course of your cruise with each of you presenting your medallion for payment twice.

Our predicament is my DH loves their calzone and I don't.

Thank you for clarification. BTW for us this is not a cost saving measure, just that a single pizza is always enough for us when we go to Alfredos.

 

ETA I could have missed your response due to the length of this post, Now when I responded to you I jump six pages to current last post. So hard to keep up with this topic, especially with so many diversions.

Edited July 31, 2023 by Tedferg

[Steelers36]

23 minutes ago, DHP1 said:

When we re-fared on July 11, there was no mention of the new changes (add on) in Princes Plus

Why would you see new changes back then when they have just been announced last Thursday.  I am a bit confused here.

[villauk]

9 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Why would you see new changes back then when they have just been announced last Thursday.  I am a bit confused here.

 

Me too, that’s why I didn’t reply. 
 

I do think some pax, not in the above case, are seeing the package listing on their online accounts where it lists all the perks and see the ‘Purchased’ box, thinking they have ALL that is listed without realising their Travel Summary states something completely different. There will be many under the impression that they have all those new perks because for all intents purposes, it looks like they have  - which is another way Princess are not being totally upfront about the changes.

Edited July 31, 2023 by villauk

[Host CJSKIDS]

As an Elite member, I like everyone else is bothered by the erosion of our benefits.  Also bothered by the changes to the packages and dining.

 

Perhaps someone would like to start a new thread about elite benefits as that is technically off topic for the discussion purposes of this thread.

 

There have been changes and about the packages, new charges for dining on board and changes to room service fees and new charges to using the Ocean Now as is being discussed and all of these are on topic for the thread.  

[caravellov1]

6 hours ago, Wanderers2 said:

You need to log into your booking on Princess.com & look at your travel summary for the cruise. That will tell you what is included in your booking. 

Are the new benefits such as the casual dining actually showing there? My travel summary has not changed. 

[Guest ldtr]

22 minutes ago, whitecap said:

I have found it interesting that some on the thread will side step direct questions or use phrasing that attempts to explain away a situation in an attempt to bolster Princess.  For instance the "crew" gratuity.  I and others have posted how the automatic gratuities goes into a pool that Princess decides how to distribute and to whom.  Never has it been said that the "crew" doesn't get it.  It has been pointed out that crew members on the ship you are on, may or may not be selected by Princess to receive the gratuities paid into the pool and that the gratuities are paid out "fleet wide".  Of course, those that keep trying to explain this away have been asked point blank how they can confirm that the crew on the ship they are currently on received any of the gratuities but they refuse to answer that direct question.  They also continue to try and convenience others that there has been no change in Elite benefits.  Um, 250 FREE minutes now COST $105.  Zero to $105 seems to me to be a pretty big change.  As a cruiser, I pay for what I use, compensate for good service, have no issue with shaking a hand and thanking someone for their kindness.  Oh well, to each their own.

Again.

 

1. All crew members that are part of the pool on the hotel side get money from the pool based upon their job and days on contract.  This is well structured.

 

2. Some crew members will get additional awards and bonuses from the pool.  Passenger input into that process is largely based upon passenger feedback via the end of cruise survey.  It used to be by the little cards that you used to be able to get from and turn into customer service.

 

3. The pool is fleet wide.  It was made that way instead of by ship due to variance is gratuity payments based upon the location the ship was sailing and the mix of passengers.  For example Lots of Australian or UK passengers resulted in lower gratuity rates than mostly US passengers.  This made the crew unhappy with some assignments.  To balance that out the pool was made fleetwide instead of by ship.  This resulted in similar treatment of crew independent of where the region crew was assigned.

 

Other changes included things like ships based in Australia, where on the onboard currency is AUD those that book under Australian terms (Australian residents) have the gratuity in their fare without the ability to remove.  US residents booking under US terms do not.

[Steelers36]

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.

Just go to whichever line looks shortest/fastest to you.  But don't blame me if you guess incorrecty.  😉

 

[Doug R.]

It may be time for admin to bring out the locks and bring this thread to a deserved end. It has evolved into perceived personal attacks. elites again griping about perk reductions and a tip debate. Actual information about the changes has been pointed out and discussed ad nauseum. Confused cruisers have a hard time sifting through this thread to find out what the changes actually are and the true facts.

[Jemnibabe02]

I am still confused in regard to RS because I have seen so many different responses.  Now, just pertaining to the standard fares, someone keeps repeating if you pay the $14.99 Ocean Now fee for delivery, then you don't have to pay the individual $5.00 for RS.  I am fairly sure I heard them say on the Webinar that is not how it works.  Why would they have those two listed on new benefits for Plus if they would only be one charge?  Further, in the list of benefits still provided to elites, it states "complimentary tea service" but if you have to pay 5.00 for the RS than it's no longer complimentary.Just call me confused.  lol

Edited July 31, 2023 by Jemnibabe02

[DHP1]

19 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Why would you see new changes back then when they have just been announced last Thursday.  I am a bit confused here.

Post 1821

“Wrong.  The member re-fared this year so had the new Plus.”

Now I’m confused. Lol