Elite loyalty status

[Ombud]

17 minutes ago, sunviking90 said:

On Royal Princess last week, we replaced with a bottle of wine, but kept the sparkling water and regular waters. Our room steward did this for us. Like so many things it seems this is not consistent from ship to ship.

I'll try that next time I'm on! All alcohol for wine, all non alcohol for still water 👍

[bellebaby]

On 5/15/2024 at 1:07 AM, Thrak said:

 

 

We often do our own laundry. As for the "wasted" time... We go to the cabin, start a movie and then pause it and put in the wash. We set a timer for 5 minutes less than the wash cycle and watch the movie. (Sometimes we have something delivered from room service during this time.) When the timer goes off we pause the movie and go check the laundry. Because we set the timer just "short" of the actual wash time we never inconvenience anybody else by having the machine tied up with our "finished" laundry. We move the laundry to the drier and repeat the same process... watching the movie again during the wait time.

 

As for "free tokens" we have been denied each time we inquired about them. I understand that others have received free laundry tokens but, despite being Elite, we have been told, "No" each time we have inquired.

Earlier this month on the Discovery, the machines in the Laundry Rooms were "free".  No token required for anyone.  Detergent and dryer sheets were also available to use without charge.

 

B

[georgetheblue]

First cruise as elite coming up.   I understand Princess will refund 10% of my shipboard prebooked paid excursions to my folio onboard.  It will be refundable OBC.  Does anyone know if Princess will give the 10% excursion refund for prepaid excursions booked on my cruise tour/land portion also?  Flightseeing excursions excluded.

Edited May 19 by georgetheblue

[memoak]

1 hour ago, bellebaby said:

Earlier this month on the Discovery, the machines in the Laundry Rooms were "free".  No token required for anyone.  Detergent and dryer sheets were also available to use without charge.

 

B

It varies ship to ship. One ship I was in (Discovery) didn’t have a token machine. On the Ruby you needed tokens

[NavyVeteran]

26 minutes ago, georgetheblue said:

First cruise as elite coming up.   I understand Princess will refund 10% of my shipboard prebooked paid excursions to my folio onboard.  It will be refundable OBC.  Does anyone know if Princess will give the 10% excursion refund for prepaid excursions booked on my cruise tour/land portion also?  Flightseeing excursions excluded.

the land portion is completely different than the cruise portion. Nothing carries over to your cruise folio.

[bellebaby]

I have a question.

 

What does "priority disembarkation" mean?

 

I know there is an Elite lounge to wait for your group to be called, but is there actually an Elite priority disembarkation?

 

Thanks.

 

B

 

[reedprincess]

1 hour ago, bellebaby said:

I have a question.

 

What does "priority disembarkation" mean?

 

I know there is an Elite lounge to wait for your group to be called, but is there actually an Elite priority disembarkation?

 

Thanks.

 

B

 

You have your choice/priority of choice of disembarkation time.

If waiting in the lounge, when your color/time comes up, the staff escorts you out to the lineup area to tap out of the ship...(Has been the case the few times we've bothered - we usually self walk off).

Edited May 20 by reedprincess

[bellebaby]

1 hour ago, reedprincess said:

You have your choice/priority of choice of disembarkation time.

If waiting in the lounge, when your color/time comes up, the staff escorts you out to the lineup area to tap out of the ship...(Has been the case the few times we've bothered - we usually self walk off).

I have always walked off, too.  But, my husband handled a lot of the luggage.  Now that I am widowed, it's a little harder to manage.

 

On my most recent sailing, I inquired at Customer Service.  They said all that was offered was the Elite lounge.  Choice of time was not an option.

 

Maybe I'll have a different experience on my next sailing.

 

Thank you.

 

B

 

BTW....St. Lucia is gorgeous. 

 

Edited May 20 by bellebaby
Clarity

[annmarz]

47 minutes ago, bellebaby said:

On my most recent sailing, I inquired at Customer Service.  They said all that was offered was the Elite lounge.  Choice of time was not an option.

On our recent Caribbean Princess cruise we sat in the Elite lounge and proceeded to the tap out area when our color/number was called.  No escorts. No choice of time. It didn't matter.  Everything was quick and efficient.

[Ombud]

16 hours ago, annmarz said:

17 hours ago, bellebaby said:

On my most recent sailing, I inquired at Customer Service.  They said all that was offered was the Elite lounge.  Choice of time was not an option.

On our recent Caribbean Princess cruise we sat in the Elite lounge and proceeded to the tap out area when our color/number was called.  No escorts. No choice of time. It didn't matter.  Everything was quick and efficient.

I have ALWAYS traded my luggage tag for the color (disembark time) I wanted. Most recently 4/28/24, so there hasn't been a change for me. 

[Ombud]

2 hours ago, Ombud said:

I have ALWAYS traded my luggage tag for the color (disembark time) I wanted. Most recently 4/28/24, so there hasn't been a change for me. 

Short story about my last disembarkation at Daikoku Pier in Yokohama .... the industrial one 4 miles from the city. I wanted to get to Osanbashi Pier in the middle of the city. Asked GS how to do that and they said I needed to be transferring to the Diamond Princess shuttle so Lt Blue 5 tag. So I asked for that tag and got it. Walked past every one else standing in 1 LONG LONG line for a taxi right to the shuttle. 

 

FWIW I should've (& they should've) taken the free city shuttle next to the Osanbashi shuttle (needed a Lt Blue 5 for that) but it wasn't advertised. Oh well. Got the luggage tag I wanted and a free shuttle to the pier in the middle of the city. 

 

Bottom line: be explicit & have an expressionless look. Having gray hair & dumb look works for me 😂

 

Has NOTHING to do with loyalty level except I did wait in Alfredos with ample seating, coffee / tea / juice / pastry setup

 

I was escorted in December 2023 but not April 2024 so things might be changing 

 

Edited May 20 by Ombud

[arizonaperson]

@Thrak

keep asking for the laundry tokens ,my mom has done it as recent as April 2024 and had luck. Seems to be ship to ship. They gladly gave them to her on the Emerald Princess at guest services. Her husband who is also elite was able to send his items out that he wanted. My mom just doesn’t trust her fancy clothes or any clothes for that matter in the commercial wash machines. She’s also had clothing items lost by Princess ,but didn’t discover it because she didn’t remember what she had sent and it never came back ,her fault sort of, but she prefers to do her own laundry.

 

[TRLD]

On 5/19/2024 at 7:06 PM, bellebaby said:

I have always walked off, too.  But, my husband handled a lot of the luggage.  Now that I am widowed, it's a little harder to manage.

 

On my most recent sailing, I inquired at Customer Service.  They said all that was offered was the Elite lounge.  Choice of time was not an option.

 

Maybe I'll have a different experience on my next sailing.

 

Thank you.

 

B

 

BTW....St. Lucia is gorgeous. 

 

With in the limits of your travel options after leaving the ship you can pretty much choose when you leave.  Unless you are taking a ships transport or excursion you can always fill out the disembarkation form to pretty much get what you want for a departure time within limits.

 

For example if you are not taking an excursion or transport to the airport, and you want to leave early, but not be in the carry baggage off groups.  Just mark independent travel arrangements with an early time.  

Edited May 22 by TRLD

[SiliconCruiser]

On 5/20/2024 at 2:24 PM, Ombud said:

Short story about my last disembarkation at Daikoku Pier in Yokohama .... the industrial one 4 miles from the city. I wanted to get to Osanbashi Pier in the middle of the city. Asked GS how to do that and they said I needed to be transferring to the Diamond Princess shuttle so Lt Blue 5 tag. So I asked for that tag and got it. Walked past every one else standing in 1 LONG LONG line for a taxi right to the shuttle. 

 

FWIW I should've (& they should've) taken the free city shuttle next to the Osanbashi shuttle (needed a Lt Blue 5 for that) but it wasn't advertised. Oh well. Got the luggage tag I wanted and a free shuttle to the pier in the middle of the city. 

 

Bottom line: be explicit & have an expressionless look. Having gray hair & dumb look works for me 😂

 

Has NOTHING to do with loyalty level except I did wait in Alfredos with ample seating, coffee / tea / juice / pastry setup

 

I was escorted in December 2023 but not April 2024 so things might be changing 

 

Oh were you there as well?  We got the e-mail and ended up having to take two cabs (2 motorized wheelchairs) to Daikoku, for the Royal, at around $40 USD each.  Had be played dumb and just showed up at Osanbashi like a lot of people, we would have been able to take the free shuttle. 🤫.

 

.  

[Ombud]

Just now, SiliconCruiser said:

Oh were you there as well?  We got the e-mail and ended up having to take two cabs (2 motorized wheelchairs) to Daikoku, for the Royal, at around $40 USD each.  Had be played dumb and just showed up at Osanbashi like a lot of people, we would have been able to take the free shuttle. 🤫.

I got off the Royal Princess on 4/27/24. After securing the Lt Blue #5, being among the last group off, I walked almost all the way to the shuttle past everyone waiting in the taxi line, then I came across city workers asking if anyone wanted the free shuttle!! They had no takers!! The only issue was that ppl had to manage their own luggage. Would've been perfect for me as I only had a 22" 4 wheel roller bag

[Thrak]

37 minutes ago, arizonaperson said:

@Thrak

keep asking for the laundry tokens ,my mom has done it as recent as April 2024 and had luck. Seems to be ship to ship. They gladly gave them to her on the Emerald Princess at guest services. Her husband who is also elite was able to send his items out that he wanted. My mom just doesn’t trust her fancy clothes or any clothes for that matter in the commercial wash machines. She’s also had clothing items lost by Princess ,but didn’t discover it because she didn’t remember what she had sent and it never came back ,her fault sort of, but she prefers to do her own laundry.

 

 

My wife had a pair of pants go missing. Instead of her pants she received back a very small pair of "skinny jeans". (The label actually said "skinny".) They looked like they might fit a 10 -12 year old girl and were most definitely not even close to my wife's size or the type of clothing she sent out. It took 3 days to get it sorted. Since then we lay out everything on the bed and take a picture before we send out any laundry.

[arizonaperson]

@Thrak,

yes, I told my mom and her husband that they needed to take a picture of the items and when they came back from the sent out laundry to go through everything. But of course they tend to go on longer cruises and get caught up in everything and just did not check what they sent. so they discovered the Capri pants missing, but on the last day of the cruise or after they got home -either way I’m sure they’ve been donated to someone.

i’m glad your wife found her item & hopefully the skinny leg pants found their correct Home as well. 

[SiliconCruiser]

4 minutes ago, Thrak said:

 

My wife had a pair of pants go missing. Instead of her pants she received back a very small pair of "skinny jeans". (The label actually said "skinny".) They looked like they might fit a 10 -12 year old girl and were most definitely not even close to my wife's size or the type of clothing she sent out. It took 3 days to get it sorted. Since then we lay out everything on the bed and take a picture before we send out any laundry.

For the first time ever, I sent a few items out for laundry service since it was a 16 day segment.  There was a notice that laundry was taking 48-72 hours to be returned due to the volume of Elites on board (seems to a standard preprinted notice on every cruise.)  Well it took over 4 days to be returned, so we just returned to our old habit of using the washing machines and the free laundry tokens.

 

[SiliconCruiser]

On 5/14/2024 at 11:07 PM, Thrak said:

As for "free tokens" we have been denied each time we inquired about them. I understand that others have received free laundry tokens but, despite being Elite, we have been told, "No" each time we have inquired.

 

The only time we have been denied free tokens was on the Crown earlier this year.  The reason being, that all the washing machines and dryers were free (so they didn't have any tokens at Guest Services.)  On other occasions they just ask us how many, and often give us a few extra in case the tokens end up being eaten by the machine.  Last year on the Caribbean a couple of the clerks tried to charge us for the tokens but were told by a more experienced clerk that there was no charge to Elites for tokens.

 

[Thrak]

On 5/22/2024 at 4:53 PM, SiliconCruiser said:

 

The only time we have been denied free tokens was on the Crown earlier this year.  The reason being, that all the washing machines and dryers were free (so they didn't have any tokens at Guest Services.)  On other occasions they just ask us how many, and often give us a few extra in case the tokens end up being eaten by the machine.  Last year on the Caribbean a couple of the clerks tried to charge us for the tokens but were told by a more experienced clerk that there was no charge to Elites for tokens.

 

 

My wife was denied free tokens on Royal Princess - May 2022 12 Day Alaska cruise - and again on Grand Princess - October 2023 63 day B2B2B2B, etc.  (6 cruises segments in a row.) On the Alaska cruise on Royal Princess I asked because I had been to FIVE decks and found the token machines our of order. Too bad, so sad... (I did finally find a deck where the token machine worked thanks to the assistance of another cruiser.) On Grand Princess it was my wife who asked. There "may" have been a different answer if I had asked but I'm not real sure about that. While it seems wrong that others have received free laundry tokens as an Elite benefit it really didn't break the bank to pay to do our own laundry when we wanted to do so.

[SiliconCruiser]

On 5/22/2024 at 4:25 PM, Ombud said:

FUTURE CRUISES:

9/23/24 Sun Princess Iberian Passage

Hey!  We're gonna be on that one too!  Actually we'll be on board waiting for you, we're boarding in Barcelona. 

[SiliconCruiser]

On 5/23/2024 at 9:27 PM, Thrak said:

 

My wife was denied free tokens on Royal Princess - May 2022 12 Day Alaska cruise - and again on Grand Princess - October 2023 63 day B2B2B2B, etc.  (6 cruises segments in a row.) On the Alaska cruise on Royal Princess I asked because I had been to FIVE decks and found the token machines our of order. Too bad, so sad... (I did finally find a deck where the token machine worked thanks to the assistance of another cruiser.) On Grand Princess it was my wife who asked. There "may" have been a different answer if I had asked but I'm not real sure about that. While it seems wrong that others have received free laundry tokens as an Elite benefit it really didn't break the bank to pay to do our own laundry when we wanted to do so.

Rule of thumb when dealing with Guest Services, when you don't like the answer from one clerk, speak to another, or ask for a supervisor or more senior clerk. I was standing next to some guy that was asking one clerk why he didn't get his mini-bar on the second segment of a cruise and the clerk insisted he only gets one; I just blurted out that there was a second one waiting for me in our cabin when we got back from breakfast. 😅  Still had to do the usual exchanges with the hooch and soft drinks though.

 

[memoak]

On 5/22/2024 at 4:45 PM, SiliconCruiser said:

For the first time ever, I sent a few items out for laundry service since it was a 16 day segment.  There was a notice that laundry was taking 48-72 hours to be returned due to the volume of Elites on board (seems to a standard preprinted notice on every cruise.)  Well it took over 4 days to be returned, so we just returned to our old habit of using the washing machines and the free laundry tokens.

 

I still have never seen any paperwork saying that elite status = free tokens

[Alaska05]

On 5/13/2024 at 9:35 AM, 555 said:

If they'll allow you to only have them eliminate everything but the ice cream then we can certainly eat two a day or maybe 1 piece a of cake & one ice cream.

I saw one man on my recent Alaska cruise sit down with 2 of the premium ice cream desserts.  He proceeded to eat both!  He was an averaged size man.

[PescadoAmarillo]

On 5/13/2024 at 5:31 PM, Ombud said:

No. You do not pay to receive Captain's Circle benefits (trading minibar or ordering elite tea set-up)

But we do tip considerably extra for laundry handling and minibar change outs. 
 

Oh, wait. That’s a different thread.