New Medallionet Pricing in AUD?

[Tripmode33]

I've just read the USA Notification re the new internet pricing coming in on 22nd January 2024. Huge price hike. My question is, can anyone confirm that this will also change on Australian cruises from that date, and if so have you seen the new prices quoted in AUD?  No changes for those with packages, and Platinum/Elite still get discount as before. But increases are up to 65% more.

[Tripmode33]

This was the release to USA Travel Agents apparently. Prices are USD. I'll try and find the casual rate for a single day if purchased onboard.....

 

MEDALLIONNET PRICE INCREASE — NO CHANGE FOR FARE BUNDLES!

 

Now It Pays to Plus® more than ever as the price of purchasing super-fast MedallionNet® separately is going up. The a la carte cost is increasing to $24.99 per person, per day, per voyage, for single-device Wi-Fi, and to $44.99 for four-device Wi-Fi, effective with pre-cruise purchases starting Jan 22. Additionally, the price will increase for onboard Wi-Fi purchase on voyages sailing Jan 31 and beyond. There is no impact to guests who have purchased MedallionNet at the current price ($14.99/$39.99) prior to these dates. It is also important to note that there is no change to the price of Princess Plus and Princess Premier

 

 

[Tripmode33]

A regular poster on the main Princess CC page has summarised it as below. Again in USD. Note that new pricing means a 4 device package is now less expensive than two single device packages, which isn't the case with current pricing.

 

One Device (full voyage) = $25/day (up from $15)

Four Devices (full voyage) = $45/day (up from $40)

 

One Device (single day) = $30 (up from $20 )

Four Devices (single day) = $55 (up from $40 )

[MicCanberra]

I suppose they are targeting those who really cannot switch off and go without a connection.

[OzKiwiJJ]

Princess are becoming expensive while at the same time cutting quality. Princess regulars may start defecting to the luxury lines as they will become better value for money.

 

The Cunard cruise we're on is relatively expensive compared to Princess club class mini-suite prices but the selection and quality of meals, the service, and the little extra touches like complimentary bottled water in the cabins make it worth it. Oh, and you get chocolates at night, a notepad and pen, and personalised stationary. However the chocolates are just as bad as the Princess ones used to be. 

[arxcards]

10 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

I suppose they are targeting those who really cannot switch off and go without a connection.

As good as the internet is compared to the past, there is no way it costs them anywhere near that to provide & maintain internet services. A big target to rake in dollars, as I know of hardly anyone under 35 that can go a day without connection.

 

Still, I think they are trying to make it easier for passengers to justify springing for a plus package, as with their plug in the announcement of the price rise. I don't think it will be long until the packages are also increased in price.

[MicCanberra]

Definitely .

[Over from NZ]

1 hour ago, Tripmode33 said:

This was the release to USA Travel Agents apparently. Prices are USD. I'll try and find the casual rate for a single day if purchased onboard.....

 

MEDALLIONNET PRICE INCREASE — NO CHANGE FOR FARE BUNDLES!

 

Now It Pays to Plus® more than ever as the price of purchasing super-fast MedallionNet® separately is going up. The a la carte cost is increasing to $24.99 per person, per day, per voyage, for single-device Wi-Fi, and to $44.99 for four-device Wi-Fi, effective with pre-cruise purchases starting Jan 22. Additionally, the price will increase for onboard Wi-Fi purchase on voyages sailing Jan 31 and beyond. There is no impact to guests who have purchased MedallionNet at the current price ($14.99/$39.99) prior to these dates. It is also important to note that there is no change to the price of Princess Plus and Princess Premier

 

 

It doesn't pay to "plus" for many people.. but the bastids are trying to push people that way. Once they get to critical mass.. Plus will just become the default (basically getting what used to be standard, but now paying extra for it).. and then they'll try and entice you into some new upsell (price mark 2).. and so it begins all again..  

[OzKiwiJJ]

Just now, Over from NZ said:

It doesn't pay to "plus" for many people.. but the bastids are trying to push people that way. Once they get to critical mass.. Plus will just become the default (basically getting what used to be standard, but now paying extra for it).. and then they'll try and entice you into some new upsell (price mark 2).. and so it begins all again..  

It did initially when Plus was $40 or $50 but now it's not good value for money given the crap wines. Also oddly enough it's even less value for money for Elites/Platinums because of the discount they get on internet. So at the current $65 rate Elites/Platinums have to have $55 worth of drinks to break even whereas the remainder of passengers only have to drink $45 worth - and that makes it worthwhile for those who don't drink alcohol to break even with the package.

 

We've completely given up on the wines by the glass. As well as most of them being very poor quality there just isn't enough variety to suit us. Now I just budget to buy a bottle per day. At least the 25% discount makes them more affordable. We've having a wonderful time trying all sorts of great wines on Cunard - wines we rarely see in Australia. 

[Over from NZ]

21 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

It did initially when Plus was $40 or $50 but now it's not good value for money given the crap wines. Also oddly enough it's even less value for money for Elites/Platinums because of the discount they get on internet. So at the current $65 rate Elites/Platinums have to have $55 worth of drinks to break even whereas the remainder of passengers only have to drink $45 worth - and that makes it worthwhile for those who don't drink alcohol to break even with the package.

 

We've completely given up on the wines by the glass. As well as most of them being very poor quality there just isn't enough variety to suit us. Now I just budget to buy a bottle per day. At least the 25% discount makes them more affordable. We've having a wonderful time trying all sorts of great wines on Cunard - wines we rarely see in Australia. 

Agree with most of that.. although it wouldn't be worthwhile for those that don't drink alcohol unless they're already planning on having gallons of softdrinks and bottled water. There's no way I would get through $55 worth (or even $45). The wife does drink.. but she's a light-weight drinker and would be too borderline to bother with getting the package 🙂 

 

[Jean C]

39 minutes ago, Over from NZ said:

Agree with most of that.. although it wouldn't be worthwhile for those that don't drink alcohol unless they're already planning on having gallons of softdrinks and bottled water. There's no way I would get through $55 worth (or even $45). The wife does drink.. but she's a light-weight drinker and would be too borderline to bother with getting the package 🙂 

 

Hahaha, glad I'm not the only lightweight 🤣  I also don't drink softdrinks, just water and coffee, so definitely not worthwhile for me either 😊 I took the (adult) kids on a cruise recently and they all got the Plus package. Staff were quite relaxed and they often ordered drinks for me under their package. Being such a fussy drinker, it confirmed to me that there's nothing much I'd enjoy from the selection anyway! I quite liked the frozen strawberry margarita, or was it a daiquiri, I'm so ignorant re alcohol?  You couldn't actually taste the alcohol so I could have dtunk more than one, but the kids told me to be wary, they were potent.  Towering higher than the sides of the glass, with a shaky hand because you had to be so careful with it  and with it melting a bit, I kept spilling it over the side of the glass. We were around the outside pool at the time so I kept using a pool towel to mop up the mess - the laundry staff must hate that. In the end it was more trouble than it was worth and I abandoned the drink🍹 😂

[sewgood]

No wonder these days I'm looking more at Azamara and Oceania for the next cruise I book.

 

 

[rkmw]

1 hour ago, Jean C said:

Hahaha, glad I'm not the only lightweight 🤣  I also don't drink softdrinks, just water and coffee, so definitely not worthwhile for me either 😊 I took the (adult) kids on a cruise recently and they all got the Plus package. Staff were quite relaxed and they often ordered drinks for me under their package. Being such a fussy drinker, it confirmed to me that there's nothing much I'd enjoy from the selection anyway! I quite liked the frozen strawberry margarita, or was it a daiquiri, I'm so ignorant re alcohol?  You couldn't actually taste the alcohol so I could have dtunk more than one, but the kids told me to be wary, they were potent.  Towering higher than the sides of the glass, with a shaky hand because you had to be so careful with it  and with it melting a bit, I kept spilling it over the side of the glass. We were around the outside pool at the time so I kept using a pool towel to mop up the mess - the laundry staff must hate that. In the end it was more trouble than it was worth and I abandoned the drink🍹 😂

Tell your kids be careful sharing drinks as it’s not allowed and if caught they’ll lose their package 

[Tripmode33]

Just checked on app for my upcoming 13 night Princess cruise to NZ. Was $141 for single device for whole cruise (Elite 50%) and now $235. So that's 67% increase.

It would have been nice, for Princess or the travel agents who got the details last week, to have shot through an email to those with Princess future bookings to give them the heads up!  We get enough other emails.

[boeckli]

54 minutes ago, Tripmode33 said:

Just checked on app for my upcoming 13 night Princess cruise to NZ. Was $141 for single device for whole cruise (Elite 50%) and now $235. So that's 67% increase.

It would have been nice, for Princess or the travel agents who got the details last week, to have shot through an email to those with Princess future bookings to give them the heads up!  We get enough other emails.

 

I paid $162.82 for 14 night Dec 24 a couple of days ago (Elite 50%), so that's a slightly higher rate than what you had 😕

I wouldn't buy it at the new rates.

[arxcards]

3 hours ago, Tripmode33 said:

Just checked on app for my upcoming 13 night Princess cruise to NZ. Was $141 for single device for whole cruise (Elite 50%) and now $235. So that's 67% increase.

It would have been nice, for Princess or the travel agents who got the details last week, to have shot through an email to those with Princess future bookings to give them the heads up!  We get enough other emails.

The only pre-communication I have seen is in US dollars, which tells me that the Australian office sat on their hands with this.

[Relaxing Robbies]

3 hours ago, arxcards said:

The only pre-communication I have seen is in US dollars, which tells me that the Australian office sat on their hands with this.

I phoned my Princess cruise planner on Monday morning to add wifi and she had not heard anything about the price increases. She thought I had read incorrect information, but I did manage to convince her that I needed to organise it right then before prices went through the roof.  She seemed genuinely blindsided and wanted to know where I found out about the increase.  

[arxcards]

26 minutes ago, Relaxing Robbies said:

I phoned my Princess cruise planner on Monday morning to add wifi and she had not heard anything about the price increases. She thought I had read incorrect information, but I did manage to convince her that I needed to organise it right then before prices went through the roof.  She seemed genuinely blindsided and wanted to know where I found out about the increase.  

No offense to your PVP.

They aren't always at the top of the list when it comes to the communication loop. We have had several of these "you are wrong" conversations out of the Australian office over the years for most of the Carnival brands. I suspect that the news hadn't filtered down from above, and believe most T/As that were aware of it were alerted by their customers. 

 

A funny encounter from the past that went on for days. P&O Pacific Sun was in Cairncross drydock across the river from Portside. Among work being done, there were rumours that they were removing the slide from the pool deck. There was no announcement from P&O, but friends managed to get photos of the cut-up slide laying on the ground at the shipyard. For several days after, "Kylie from P&O" insisted that the slide was not being removed and people didn't know what they were talking about.