Casual Dining with Plus package

[MountainEER74]

Has Princess come to their senses with this  yet. According to the plus package you get two free casual dinings

per voyage.  So if I book a three night cruise and pay the extra $180 for the Plus pkg I get two free casual dinings. If I book a 120 day world cruise and pay an extra $7200 I also receive 2 free casual dinings. Does this seem right?  When are they going to think this through and say maybe we ought to give 2 casual dinners for evey 7 nights of the cruise that are booked with plus package or something similar?

 

Peoples thoughts on this?

[kywildcatfanone]

7 minutes ago, MountainEER74 said:

Has Princess come to their senses with this  yet. According to the plus package you get two free casual dinings

per voyage.  So if I book a three night cruise and pay the extra $180 for the Plus pkg I get two free casual dinings. If I book a 120 day world cruise and pay an extra $7200 I also receive 2 free casual dinings. Does this seem right?  When are they going to think this through and say maybe we ought to give 2 casual dinners for evey 7 nights of the cruise that are booked with plus package or something similar?

 

Peoples thoughts on this?

Discussed many times.  2 per voyage currently.   

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

33 minutes ago, MountainEER74 said:

Has Princess come to their senses with this  yet. According to the plus package you get two free casual dinings

per voyage.  So if I book a three night cruise and pay the extra $180 for the Plus pkg I get two free casual dinings. If I book a 120 day world cruise and pay an extra $7200 I also receive 2 free casual dinings. Does this seem right?  When are they going to think this through and say maybe we ought to give 2 casual dinners for evey 7 nights of the cruise that are booked with plus package or something similar?

 

Peoples thoughts on this?

You are correct... crazy isn't it. Just how a policy like this can make it into reality eludes me. It is the kind of policy implemented without any kind of thought or scrutiny... 

 

... it is Princess... what more can I say 🙂 

[jagoffee]

14 hours ago, Snaxmuppet said:

You are correct... crazy isn't it. Just how a policy like this can make it into reality eludes me. It is the kind of policy implemented without any kind of thought or scrutiny... 

 

... it is Princess... what more can I say 🙂 

It is the same with all the features and benefits.  Perhaps if the World Cruise is a combination of multiple of numerous back to back cruises, you will get the benefits for each segment.  That is the way it works for a 14 day cruise that is really just two 7 day cruises.

 

of course if the cruise is a single 28 day cruise that is not availalbe to book as a B2B, you are correct.

Edited December 20, 2023 by jagoffee

[MacMadame]

4 hours ago, jagoffee said:

Perhaps if the World Cruise is a combination of multiple of numerous back to back cruises, you will get the benefits for each segment.

That's what people are reporting happened to them. Doesn't help me as our cruise is 16 days and is a single cruise. Oh well, it's over a year away so maybe they'll change the policy by then. Or change what is offered in a way that pisses me off. Either could happen from what I see. 😄 

[jagoffee]

3 minutes ago, MacMadame said:

That's what people are reporting happened to them. Doesn't help me as our cruise is 16 days and is a single cruise. Oh well, it's over a year away so maybe they'll change the policy by then. Or change what is offered in a way that pisses me off. Either could happen from what I see. 😄 

Same thing happened to me on a true 28 day cruise RT from San Pedro.

[skynight]

The poster is correct. Princess has not thought these so called included benefits through completely. Their financial system is set up voyage to voyage, which they think of as one week. They have difficulty thinking differently. But it's not impossible.

Lets look at casual dining. I think that a DR meal probably cost Princess more than a casual dining meal. There is more prep, more courses, more galley and restaurant staff. If my assumption is correct then every time a passenger chooses a casual dinner instead of a DR dinner Princess comes out ahead. They really make out if a passenger has the standard fare and pays for the casual dinner. Princess should address this.

  

[Thrak]

We just spent 63 days on Grand Princess and used this "feature" one time. We don't want an appetizer, main dish, and dessert at Alfredo's or Vines. (The only venues on that ship that offer casual dining.) It's too dang much food for us. Of course we don't eat like some folks. After 63 days onboard we each gained a total of zero pounds.

[Rmyoung]

If you have premier is it unlimited? And does it include sushi 

[reedprincess]

1 hour ago, Rmyoung said:

If you have premier is it unlimited? And does it include sushi 

Premier Cruise Package includes unlimited casual dining, at whatever casual dining venue(s) that may be in whatever ship you're sailing on... 

[startedwithamouse]

1 hour ago, Rmyoung said:

If you have premier is it unlimited? And does it include sushi 

yes, and it's unlimited sushi at Ocean Terrace. 

[Steelers36]

Although, I have not tuned into a PCL Sales Webinar for many months now, I do recall Carmen Roig mentioning that HQ was going to look into doing something about the 2-meal limit for longer voyages.  Of course, she is a good talker, but obviously not much action going on.

[MountainEER74]

I do think they need to change the details of this policy. How is a voyage defined? My next cruise is a 17 day cruise consisting of 10 day and  7 day cruises b2b but booked as a single cruise. As far as loyalty program it counts 2 cruises. Does this qualify as on or two voyages?

[Cruise Raider]

2 hours ago, MountainEER74 said:

I do think they need to change the details of this policy. How is a voyage defined? My next cruise is a 17 day cruise consisting of 10 day and  7 day cruises b2b but booked as a single cruise. As far as loyalty program it counts 2 cruises. Does this qualify as on or two voyages?

I’ve read, but have no person experience with this, that it will be treated as 2 sailings.  

[Hlitner]

If the OP wants to book a 120 day World Cruise, and are concerned about the number of included meals, they could book it as a series of shorter segments (and get 2 meals per segment).  Of course that is a pain in the neck, you may not be able to get the same cabin throughout, and you would possibly find yourself paying a lot more (when booked as separate voyages) vs a single booking number.  \

 

As to "how is the voyage defined" I believe Princess simply looks at "Booking Numbers."  So if I book two back to back 7 day cruises as separate voyages, I will get 4 alternative restaurant meals instead of 2.  We recently took a 14 day Sky Princess cruise where we did it as a single booking (and only got 2 free meals).  We had considered doing it as 2 seven day bookings, but the additional cost of the cruise did not make it a worthwhile move.  For us there are other considerations such as our Shareholder Credit, Veterans Credit, and extra OBC provided by our trusted cruise agencies.  In fact, our favorite cruise agent will actually do the math and tell us if it makes sense to book multiple segments as opposed to one longer booking.

 

Also keep in mind that Princess accounting normally handles each booking number as its own entity.  So, if you get an OBC or a benefit on a 7 day cruise and do not use it all during that 7 days, Princess will generally not roll it over to the next voyage.  They close out the accounting for each booking number.  But if you book as a single (longer booking) they will carry-over unused OBC (and other unused benefits).

 

Hank

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

IMHO if someone can afford a 120 day, round world cruise then perhaps their priorities likely wouldn't be how many casual dining meals they will get.

 

At least it wouldn't be for me 🙂 

[palolake]

1 hour ago, Hlitner said:

 

 

Also keep in mind that Princess accounting normally handles each booking number as its own entity.  So, if you get an OBC or a benefit on a 7 day cruise and do not use it all during that 7 days, Princess will generally not roll it over to the next voyage.  They close out the accounting for each booking number.  But if you book as a single (longer booking) they will carry-over unused OBC (and other unused benefits).

 

Hank

 

We often book a BTB as two voyages.  OBC always rolls over to the next cruise. On our upcoming cruise, we have two booking numbers but it's in the Ocean Ready app as one voyage.

[MountainEER74]

1 hour ago, Snaxmuppet said:

IMHO if someone can afford a 120 day, round world cruise then perhaps their priorities likely wouldn't be how many casual dining meals they will get.

 

At least it wouldn't be for me 🙂 

I am not planning a 120 day cruise, I was just using that for an extreme example. My wife's limit is probably about 20 days.  Now, if I was on that 120 day cruise, and I'm paying $60/day for the plus pkg., don't you think you deserve more casual dining meals than the guy on a 3 day cruise?  After paying for that cruise, I don't think I could afford any extra meal costs.

 

Also some other questions regarding booking b2b cruises separately versus booking them as one longer cruise.  Do they send you multiple medallions?  Assuming you aren't on either Plus or Premium pkgs do you pay multiple times for the Ocean Now delivery

[Hlitner]

14 minutes ago, MountainEER74 said:

I am not planning a 120 day cruise, I was just using that for an extreme example. My wife's limit is probably about 20 days.  Now, if I was on that 120 day cruise, and I'm paying $60/day for the plus pkg., don't you think you deserve more casual dining meals than the guy on a 3 day cruise?  After paying for that cruise, I don't think I could afford any extra meal costs.

 

Also some other questions regarding booking b2b cruises separately versus booking them as one longer cruise.  Do they send you multiple medallions?  Assuming you aren't on either Plus or Premium pkgs do you pay multiple times for the Ocean Now delivery

My SIL has friends who recently took a round the world cruise on Silverseas (we are talking big bucks).  Close to the middle of that long voyage, they left the ship (in Europe) for about 10 days, to fly home to see their grandkids and deal with a few other issues.  After that 10 day vacation from the cruise they flew back to Europe to rejoin their ship.  They paid for the entire cruise, so while they were off the ship their suite remained empty.  Interesting.

 

When we spoke to the lady owner from The World, she explained that most of the owners on that ship only cruised part of the year.  Many simply left their suites/condo empty when they were not aboard, a few made them available to friends, and others made their suites available for folks who simply wanted to book a short term voyage.  

 

I think a mistake of thinking, that many of us make is to try and project our own situation to the lifestyle of others.  There are plenty of folks on the planet for which money is just not an issue, but free time is at a premium.  But there are also plenty of folks who have enough money and time to do as they please.  When we retired, a norm would have been to sell our home and move south (DW once said, "don't make me move to Florida.").  But it occurred to us that we could simply stay where we are (interestingly, US News and World Report just named our area the #`1 best place to live in the USA (with this we will not agree).  Our thinking was that there was no reason to move, and we could just choose to travel when we pleased.  For us. there was no single ideal place to live but rather lots of nice places to be for part of the year.  Call it a snowbird philosophy on steroids :).   One does not always need to be wealthy to pull it off.  For example, living in Mexico (for part of the year) is quite reasonable (which is why over 800,000 Americans are expats living in Mexico).  You can find American expats all over the world.  But what sets this "nomads" apart is that they are wandering expats :).  Our evenings at the Ocean Bar, listening to these folks, was one of the highlights of that 6 week cruise (meeting Cruisemom was another highlight).

 

Hank

[palolake]

31 minutes ago, MountainEER74 said:

 

 

Also some other questions regarding booking b2b cruises separately versus booking them as one longer cruise.  Do they send you multiple medallions?  Assuming you aren't on either Plus or Premium pkgs do you pay multiple times for the Ocean Now delivery

they only send one medallion for two or more cruises. We have even gotten an email saying we need to set up the medallion or we will have to get it when we get on the cruise, but there is no way to do that 🙂 and you don’t have to.

 

I agree with you about the two casual dining, exercise, classes, etc. I wrote to a few of the bigwigs and got a call from someone at Princess wanting to discuss. She said they were looking into adjusting it based on the number of days. That was about six months ago so you can see how that’s going. 

 

[palolake]

Sorry, I meant they want us to set up the second medallion on a back to back

[suzyed]

On 12/19/2023 at 6:38 PM, MountainEER74 said:

Has Princess come to their senses with this  yet. According to the plus package you get two free casual dinings

per voyage.  So if I book a three night cruise and pay the extra $180 for the Plus pkg I get two free casual dinings. If I book a 120 day world cruise and pay an extra $7200 I also receive 2 free casual dinings. Does this seem right?  When are they going to think this through and say maybe we ought to give 2 casual dinners for evey 7 nights of the cruise that are booked with plus package or something similar?

 

Peoples thoughts on this?

Of course we agree on this...been saying this same thing since they sprung this on us.  Just goes to show how little they value their most loyal customers who frequently cruise on longer voyages.

[skynight]

6 hours ago, MountainEER74 said:

I do think they need to change the details of this policy. How is a voyage defined? My next cruise is a 17 day cruise consisting of 10 day and  7 day cruises b2b but booked as a single cruise. As far as loyalty program it counts 2 cruises. Does this qualify as on or two voyages?

Agree. Booking numbers and days on board are not compatible. Should a passenger that books a 5 day cruise receive the same number of plus/premier benefits as one that books a 16 day cruise? Think of the cost. $150 for a 5 day cruise to receive 2 casual meals vs $480 for a 16 day cruise to receive the same 2 casual meals.  It just doesn't make sense. Everything should go by days. The more days on board, the more plus/premier benefits.  

[suzyed]

2 minutes ago, skynight said:

Agree. Booking numbers and days on board are not compatible. Should a passenger that books a 5 day cruise receive the same number of plus/premier benefits as one that books a 16 day cruise? Think of the cost. $150 for a 5 day cruise to receive 2 casual meals vs $480 for a 16 day cruise to receive the same 2 casual meals.  It just doesn't make sense. Everything should go by days. The more days on board, the more plus/premier benefits.  

I have communicated with a connection in Corporate on this issue.  I was told that is is "in front of them" but they have made no change to it even when they were informed that it is a HOT topic on CC and FB.  It seems they are not really interested in doing anything different.

 

[cruise_critical]

20 hours ago, startedwithamouse said:

yes, and it's unlimited sushi at Ocean Terrace. 

Technically yes, but not to the extent that I was expecting unfortunately.

 

e.g., I'm currently on the Royal and with premier. Ocean Terrace has a fixed menu which is a small bowl of salad, beans, pickes, 2 salmon nigiri, 1 prawn nigiri, 1 tuna nigiri, and spicy tuna aburi roll (8 pcs). There is no other choice or selection that you can or are allowed to have as part of the plus / premier package. (anything differen is charged at ala carte rate) So you can have unlimited of what I've listed (even can order them individually, and not as a set) but nothing else on their menu can be ordered for free. (e.g. can't have any other type of nigiri such as hamachi, octopus etc, nor any of their other rolls or sashimi etc)

 

Alfredos is better, as you can pretty much order anything and everything on the menu, as a 3 course set or in an individual manner as many as you want. (e.g. can just sit in, and order the tiramisu and nothing else, or order 3 pizzas and nothing else etc.) Same for Vines with their limited food menu.

 

 

Edited December 21, 2023 by cruise_critical