Response from Princess to email re changes

[Guest ldtr]

1 minute ago, Cruise Raider said:

 
You really haven’t given me a response to change my mind, though.  The procedure was implemented to order anything, including items off the beverage package, initially during the restart to keep CoVid at bay.  
But, it is overwhelmed the staff.  Can you imagine the outrage if that service was discontinued?  I can tell you, I think it would be worse that the massive complaints they are encountering due to the very small charge we are seeing now.  They really couldn’t hire another 24 staff members to handle the increase in orders once capacity was raised to 100%!  That may be an arbitrary number but I bet it is not far off the mark!  
 

Crew quarters is on of the limitations that ships have to deal with.  Usually if they increase one department they need to cut somewhere else.

[kywildcatfanone]

3 minutes ago, caribill said:

 

Right,

 

Princess can easily replace those old folk with young families who are anxious to cruise durtng September, October, January and other months that school is in session,

This is now us mostly.  We cruise when school is in session now or take longer cruises with my wife being retired.

[SCX22]

9 minutes ago, caribill said:

 

Right,

 

Princess can easily replace those old folk with young families who are anxious to cruise durtng September, October, January and other months that school is in session,

 

Now that people can work remotely, more and more younger people are willing to cruise in the off months.  That's certainly what's afforded my group of friends the ability to cruise when we want.  Also, RC/Carnival still has a younger demographic than Princess in the off season.  Princess can also stop offering such long cruises.  RC/Carnival/NCL have few long itineraries.  Most of their cruises are a week to 10 days in length.

Edited August 21, 2023 by SCX22

[Guest ldtr]

1 minute ago, Steelers36 said:

It is quite possible.  It's been a long time, so I don't recall all of the details from back then (pre-Covid).  This is an operative paragraph:

 

One of the key benefits for guests starts before they even board the ship. Using the OceanReady digital experience, MedallionClass guests can complete 95 percent of boarding steps on mobile devices before arrival. This reduces wait time by more than 90 percent, shortening to about 30-60 seconds a process that used to take 15-20 minutes.

 

I don't recall check-in taking anything like 15-20 minutes pre-Medallion.  Even if they were involved, it seems to have been almost an after-thought compared to the rest of it (infrastructure and on-board experience).  Who knows who managed what at this point - and it doesn't really matter anymore, does it now?  Thanks.

Embarkation certainly did speed up after they went to the medallion system.  To us the most valuable feature is being able to locate other members of our travel party on board.

[kywildcatfanone]

3 minutes ago, ldtr said:

No but they can replace them with people from other lines or are new to cruising.  Those from other lines are used to packages and paying higher on board spend amount.

Go read the Celebrity board.  Princess is picking up a lot of new passengers by being 10% cheaper.

[Cruise Raider]

49 minutes ago, kywildcatfanone said:

So, standard fare passengers and minimal onboard spenders are chronic complainers and super demanding?

 

I would think the opposite.

The combination of the two is what I was I was was referring to.  If that’s a direct quote, my apologies for not making it more clear.  
The only ones that seem to be complaining about this recent change are the standard fare passengers.  

Edited August 21, 2023 by Cruise Raider

[tothemall&beyond]

1 minute ago, SCX22 said:

 

All of the major mass market cruise lines have done/are doing the same thing.  Unless you're going to a niche up market cruise line, which costs more, you'll be met with the same charges.  Each to their own.

Not necessarily true. We sailed for 11 nights this past December through Norway on a small Hurtigruten passenger ship, paying far less per night than Princess's current fares, and we received complimentary unlimited fast wifi, complimentary 24/7 brewed coffee and tea, generous amounts in OBC, even gifts at the end of the cruise, and did not have to pay any port fees, taxes or gratuities (and the service was superb). 

[tothemall&beyond]

1 minute ago, Cruise Raider said:

The combination of the two is what I was I was was referring to.  If that’s a direct quote, ,y apologies for not making it more clear.  
The only ones that seem to be complaining about this recent change are the standard fare passengers.  

And don't standard fare pax have a right to be upset? 

[caribill]

3 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

I doubt it (long lines for dinner).  I certainly have not seen this as a major issue when dipping into some "live from" reports.

 

 

[tothemall&beyond]

7 minutes ago, ldtr said:

Embarkation certainly did speed up after they went to the medallion system.  To us the most valuable feature is being able to locate other members of our travel party on board.

Not any longer - unless you give them money to ship it to you ahead of time. Something that was advertised as free and touted as a huge benefit. Now you have to wait to get the medallion just like we had to do back in days of cruise cards.

[Cruise Raider]

Just now, tothemall&beyond said:

And don't standard fare pax have a right to be upset? 

I don’t think so … hey, but that’s just me!  It’s a small change to keep up with industry standards and inflation. 
To me, it’s much ado about such a small charge.  

[startedwithamouse]

8 hours ago, rosevew said:

 

Has anyone noticed the multiple typos on this email? 

 

Horizons Court is Horizon Court

World Fresh is World Fresh Marketplace

Ocean Now is OceanNow

 

Booking conditions does state sentence is a complete mess.

 

Definitely not from corporate.

Edited August 21, 2023 by startedwithamouse

[SCX22]

1 minute ago, tothemall&beyond said:

And don't standard fare pax have a right to be upset? 

 

Not when paying the bills is at stake.  Remember Princess took on an astronomical amount of debt during the pandemic.  None of this debt is to be forgiven.  Princess has to get revenue to go up or risk defaulting.

[tothemall&beyond]

17 minutes ago, ldtr said:

Maybe your mistake was only sailing on one line.  If you sailed on more you see what the entire industry is doing.

I didn't say I have only sailed on one line. I have actually sailed on 5 lines other than Princess - just not so much in the past 23 years. In my first post, I said only two times on other lines in those 23 years, but I realize now I was in error as it was actually 4 times.

Edited August 21, 2023 by tothemall&beyond

[Cruise Raider]

1 minute ago, tothemall&beyond said:

Not any longer - unless you give them money to ship it to you ahead of time. Something that was advertised as free and touted as a huge benefit. Now you have to wait to get the medallion just like we had to do back in days of cruise cards.

 We just boarded a few days ago … so easy and quick!  No lines whether you had your medallion or had to pick it up on the port.  Lines for both were less than 2 minutes!  

[caribill]

13 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

One of the key benefits for guests starts before they even board the ship. Using the OceanReady digital experience, MedallionClass guests can complete 95 percent of boarding steps on mobile devices before arrival. This reduces wait time by more than 90 percent, shortening to about 30-60 seconds a process that used to take 15-20 minutes.

 

 

Yes, spend hours fighting the app pre-cruise to save a few minutes at check-in.

[memoak]

8 minutes ago, tothemall&beyond said:

Not necessarily true. We sailed for 11 nights this past December through Norway on a small Hurtigruten passenger ship, paying far less per night than Princess's current fares, and we received complimentary unlimited fast wifi, complimentary 24/7 brewed coffee and tea, generous amounts in OBC, even gifts at the end of the cruise, and did not have to pay any port fees, taxes or gratuities (and the service was superb). 

Where can I get my 8-12 cocktails a day ?

[SCX22]

Just now, caribill said:

 

Yes, spend hours fighting the app pre-cruise to save a few minutes at check-in.

 

You're forgetting the many who don't have problems.  While I agree some problems are caused by the App, some is also caused by user error.  You also only have to upload once.  The App remembers your info for any future cruises; the only thing that has to be redone every time is accepting the cruise passage.

[tothemall&beyond]

1 minute ago, memoak said:

Where can I get my 8-12 cocktails a day ?

I hope you are being funny because that's the point... Princess is forcing people who don't want all those cocktails to take very expensive packages into which they're loading "perks" that used to be free for everyone or at least for Elite pax.

[tothemall&beyond]

8 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

 We just boarded a few days ago … so easy and quick!  No lines whether you had your medallion or had to pick it up on the port.  Lines for both were less than 2 minutes!  

Good to hear. Thanks.

[caribill]

25 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

I don’t think so … hey, but that’s just me!  It’s a small change to keep up with industry standards and inflation. 
To me, it’s much ado about such a small charge.  

 

Not a small charge for a family of four that would need to now pay $59.96 each time to eat at Alfredo's/Gigi's or pay $59.96 so each could order via the app.

[Guest ldtr]

23 minutes ago, SCX22 said:

 

Now that people can work remotely, more and more younger people are willing to cruise in the off months.  That's certainly what's afforded my group of friends the ability to cruise when we want.  Also, RC/Carnival still has a younger demographic than Princess in the off season.

Largely because NCL, RCCL and Carnival are NA family focused, where as Celebrity, Princess and HAL have been NA adult focused lines.  The demographics go with the nature of the ships and the activities on board.

[Cruise Raider]

3 minutes ago, caribill said:

 

Not a small charge for a family of four that would need to now pay $59.96 each time to eat at Alfredo's/Gigi's or pay $79.96 so each could order via the app.

If one person activates the the OceanNow feature on the app, it is a one time charge of $14.99. 

lt actually makes me believe that a lot of kids or family members each were actually using that privilege, ordering one soda at a time.  

[caribill]

7 minutes ago, SCX22 said:

 

You're forgetting the many who don't have problems.  While I agree some problems are caused by the App, some is also caused by user error.  You also only have to upload once.  The App remembers your info for any future cruises; the only thing that has to be redone every time is accepting the cruise passage.

 

If you read other current threads, you will see posts by a number of people who are spending much more time than it takes to check-in at the pier trying to order the Medallion, but unable to no matter what digital device they have or what version of the app they are using. And this is true whether shipping is free or not.

 

And posts by people who said their previously successful orders for the Medallion have disappeared and they are unable to place the order again.

[SCX22]

5 minutes ago, ldtr said:

Largely because NCL, RCCL and Carnival are NA family focused, where as Celebrity, Princess and HAL have been NA adult focused lines.  The demographics go with the nature of the ships and the activities on board.

 

Exactly.  If Princess were to change their demographic, which they are trying hard to do so, they will also have the younger demographic that RC/NCL/C have, not having to depend on the retired/about to retire to fill their ships in the off season.  I wouldn't mind this change.  It would give my group more people to connect/hang out with.

Edited August 21, 2023 by SCX22