Will HAL add the new Princess Type HIA to its ships?

[swin26]

New Princess Program - I would prefer this

 

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-unlimited-features-make-princess-cruises-premier-package-the-best-value-in-cruising-302223508.html

[WriterOnDeck]

Some people would love it. I would pass. I can't even make the HIA work out for me. But God bless those who do buy all the upgrades -- they keep the cruise lines in business and hopefully keep the basic fares lower.

 

 

[Torquer]

Seems like the unlimited free specialty restaurants in this package would make it nearly impossible for guests not in the package to ever get a reservation at one.  I sure hope it doesn't come to HAL.

[CruiserBruce]

1 minute ago, Torquer said:

Seems like the unlimited free specialty restaurants in this package would make it nearly impossible for guests not in the package to ever get a reservation at one.  I sure hope it doesn't come to HAL.

Agree. Obviously this package would need to be seriously capacity controlled. 

[tjcox9]

Seems to me due to the small number of specialty restaurants on the smaller HAL ships, this wouldn't be feasible on the entire fleet. 

[Dutchman48]

4 minutes ago, Torquer said:

Seems like the unlimited free specialty restaurants in this package would make it nearly impossible for guests not in the package to ever get a reservation at one.  I sure hope it doesn't come to HAL.

Already has in a way. With HAL only having a few specialty restaurants their currant HIA package makes it hard to book a time slot. We have an upcoming 7-day cruise the P.G. was almost fully booked months ago. If someone waits till they get onboard about the only slots open are 5:00 or after 8:00. On our longer cruises we see more openings as people have more dates to use their free options.

[Hlitner]

That Princess package is somewhat of a an overpriced con.   What happens (we already ran into this problem with their old Premiere Package) is that if you get several hundred or even 1000+ on the ship with that package, it is nearly impossible to get a reservation at any of the decent alternative restaurants.  Consider that most Princess ships carry over 3000 souls, but only have limited seating in the 3 most popular alternative venues.  On our last Princess cruise (Sky Princess) we struggled to get reservations at the Catch by Rudi and Crown Grill.  And in those days, the Premiere Package included only 2 meals in those venues.  With unlimited, there will be quite a few folks who will want to dine in those venues on a nightly basis and they will often be out of luck.

 

Even capacity controls are not going to solve the problem.  Keep in mind that a majority of folks on the large Princess ships do want to dine in each of the alternative venues at least once.  If I am paying $90 per person day (which is $30 per person/day more than the Princess Plus Package) I want to get my money's worth for that extra $30...and that means dining in the most expensive alternative restaurants every day.  Princess also has been playing a game with their Premiere Package by not letting folks book reservations, prior to boarding the ship, unless they pay the fee on their credit card.  Once aboard they can try to get that charge reversed, but the norm on Princess is to give the credit as OBC rather than a refund to the credit card.  

 

Hank

[cbr663]

HIA doesn't work for us either.  Knowing thought that cruise line profits are earned from onboard spending and not cruise fares then it makes sense that they offer these amenities to entice people to spend more.  It's how they will increase their profits.

 

And it seems to be working.  HIA appears to be very popular with many HAL cruisers.  The cruise lines have reported that they have been successful in attracting a lot of first time cruisers and new to the brand cruisers who are eager to purchase these pre-paid bundled amenities.  The cruise industry is quickly transitioning to the ship being the destination and there certainly seems to be a business case for the cruise lines to be operating as an all-inclusive floating resort.  

 

My fear and my experience has shown though that the more popular that these amenities become the poorer the experience becomes onboard.  Long waits to get service becomes the norm.  Menus in speciality dining venues are slashed and more and more upcharge items are added.  I am thinking of Tamarind, for instance.  The menu now is but a shadow of what it was when the restaurant first appeared.  And please, the drink packages?  My DW and I rarely drink and when we do our cocktail of choice is Bombay Sapphire Gin.  We of course get the one drink free Mariner ticket when we sail.  On our last 2 cruises we ordered our Bombay Sapphire Gin cocktail and I don't know what atrocious substance they put in the glass, but I can assure you it wasn't Bombay Sapphire Gin.  

Edited August 16 by cbr663

[Hlitner]

43 minutes ago, cbr663 said:

HIA doesn't work for us either.  Knowing thought that cruise line profits are earned from onboard spending and not cruise fares then it makes sense that they offer these amenities to entice people to spend more.  It's how they will increase their profits.

 

And it seems to be working.  HIA appears to be very popular with many HAL cruisers.  The cruise lines have reported that they have been successful in attracting a lot of first time cruisers and new to the brand cruisers who are eager to purchase these pre-paid bundled amenities.  The cruise industry is quickly transitioning to the ship being the destination and there certainly seems to be a business case for the cruise lines to be operating as an all-inclusive floating resort.  

 

My fear and my experience has shown though that the more popular that these amenities become the poorer the experience becomes onboard.  Long waits to get service becomes the norm.  Menus in speciality dining venues are slashed and more and more upcharge items are added.  I am thinking of Tamarind, for instance.  The menu now is but a shadow of what it was when the restaurant first appeared.  And please, the drink packages?  My DW and I rarely drink and when we do our cocktail of choice is Bombay Sapphire Gin.  We of course get the one drink free Mariner ticket when we sail.  On our last 2 cruises we ordered our Bombay Sapphire Gin cocktail and I don't know what atrocious substance they put in the glass, but I can assure you it wasn't Bombay Sapphire Gin.  

No question, packages are about marketing and profits for the cruise lines.  On the other hand, for the right cruiser the packages can generate significant savings.  DW and I actually like the HIA package because we drink enough adult beverages to justify the cost.  Consider that on a typical cruise day, we would have two pre-dinner cocktails, a couple of glasses of wine at dinner, and later drinks as we enjoy the evening.  Between the drink benefits and Internet we more than cover the cost of HIA.  Where I do not like HIA is the excursion credit....because we would seldom take any cruise line excursion except for using that darn credit.  

 

I do think that many HAL cruisers would not do well with the HIA.  Many HAL regulars are not big drinkers.  We figure the break-even (for HIA) is about 4 drinks per day, and many HAL cruisers are not going to normally take advantage of that benefit.    There is also a little secret about those drink packages.  Cruisers drink a lot more on sea days!  At one time, the cruise lines would not even sell packages on cruises with lots of sea days.  We tend to take longer HAL cruises, with lots of sea days, so HIA works!

 

Hank

[LAFFNVEGAS]

6 hours ago, swin26 said:

Will HAL add the new Princess Type HIA to its ships?

New Princess Program - I would prefer this

 

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-unlimited-features-make-princess-cruises-premier-package-the-best-value-in-cruising-302223508.html

To answer your Thread Title Question......Oh My Gosh I hope Not!!!

In my opinion, Princess just keeps making their product worse. It is bad enough that the Medallion is more of a nightmare now than the day it was introduced, they are now adding things to their programs to increase revenue that are not well thought out. Prior to this new introduction the complaints were extremely high for those stating they could not make reservations or ever get into the specialty dining. Then there is the numerous silly desserts that very few are interested in and certainly do not eat the amount they are allowed. plus I have my doubts many are partaking in the exercise classes either. At least HAL's Have It All is a good program for many at a fair value. I can however see them increasing the price very soon again but doubt they will add stupid stuff to it to make it seem like they are giving us something for more money. They will just raise the price.

[Sea42]

6 hours ago, WriterOnDeck said:

Some people would love it. I would pass. I can't even make the HIA work out for me. But God bless those who do buy all the upgrades -- they keep the cruise lines in business and hopefully keep the basic fares lower.

 

 

For us it depends on the itinerary. Our upcoming cruise in January has 10 or so sea days so the drinks, internet and crew gratuities work for us. For our Mediterranean cruise with only 3 sea days out of 21, it was not worth the cost. As long as these things aren't mandatory I'm OK with it.

[cavecreekguy]

I did two, 2-week cruises on Sky Princess last year with Princess Plus. It was more than adequate for my needs. I wasn't interested in Princess Premier, and certainly wouldn't be interested in this new program.

 

I wouldn't mind if HAL made the HIA with early booking bonus a package that was available as a per-day add-on, like regular HIA is. Maybe $65/day for the enhanced package? When I've priced cruises that include the early booking bonus, it's usually been about $65/day more than booking the "best price."

[atexsix]

8 hours ago, Torquer said:

Seems like the unlimited free specialty restaurants in this package would make it nearly impossible for guests not in the package to ever get a reservation at one.  I sure hope it doesn't come to HAL.

This.  Internet speeds are a joke because of so many people with HIA.  And yes, why bother promoting specialty restaurants in their advertising when it's unavailable much of the time?

 

They should limit the number of HIA sales so the people paying a la carte have a chance.  

[Cruise Junky]

6 hours ago, cbr663 said:

HIA doesn't work for us either.  Knowing thought that cruise line profits are earned from onboard spending and not cruise fares then it makes sense that they offer these amenities to entice people to spend more.  It's how they will increase their profits.

 

I actually think the HIA was a killer deal for us. We booked the cruise in Canadian $$ and was planning on buying the drink package which is a far better deal on HAL than on Celebrity…(but I digress) the drink package had to be bought in US$ but the HIA was in Canadian$$. With the currency exchange they were within about $5 total of each other. So to get a drink package, shore excursion credit, dinner in Pinnacle Grill and Wifi seemed like a great deal for two drinkers.   

[Euby]

The unlimited drinks would have me worried.  I'm just waiting for a news story about someone harming themselves or others because they could get unlimited alcohol. 

Personally, while I do have an occasional adult beverage while on a cruise, I seldom ever drink enough overall to come close to the 15-drink limit from the HAL HIA.

[HappyInVan]

20 hours ago, cbr663 said:

My fear and my experience has shown though that the more popular that these amenities become the poorer the experience becomes onboard.  Long waits to get service becomes the norm.  Menus in speciality dining venues are slashed and more and more upcharge items are added.  I  

 

Agree

[leerathje]

18 hours ago, cavecreekguy said:

I did two, 2-week cruises on Sky Princess last year with Princess Plus. It was more than adequate for my needs. I wasn't interested in Princess Premier, and certainly wouldn't be interested in this new program.

Not 

I wouldn't mind if HAL made the HIA with early booking bonus a package that was available as a per-day add-on, like regular HIA is. Maybe $65/day for the enhanced package? When I've priced cruises that include the early booking bonus, it's usually been about $65/day more than booking the "best price."

 

Adding the HIA per day wouldn't make sense, because how do you deal with the excursion and specialty dinner?  But too bad you can't book drinks and internet per day.

 

L.

 

[cavecreekguy]

2 hours ago, leerathje said:

 

Adding the HIA per day wouldn't make sense, because how do you deal with the excursion and specialty dinner?  But too bad you can't book drinks and internet per day.

 

L.

 

Sorry I wasn't clear. By "per day" I meant a flat amount of $$ per day based on the length of your cruise, like HIA currently is. Not that you could pick and choose which days you wanted to pay for the package.

Edited August 17 by cavecreekguy