No more MTG luncheon, only cocktail party

[Iamcruzin]

1 hour ago, Coral said:

I don't think they had Elite level in the 90's. I think that came sometime in the early 2000's.

They didn't. Princess was owned by P&O and the loyalty program didn't come into play until Carnival bought them. My first cruise with Princess was 1991 and I had to send them proof of that sailing when I booked my second sailing with them in 2006 so that it could be added in.

Edited August 28 by Iamcruzin

[suzyed]

10 hours ago, kywildcatfanone said:

They have removed one of the best benefits to trading the mini bar, so I would expect they will limit laundry to once a sailing or altogether and just give you tokens to use the self service machines.

Hush...don't give them any ideas!

[Cruise Raider]

13 hours ago, Iamcruzin said:

That's because it was abused. People would save the last punch and have access to unlimited regular coffee for the rest of their life. I can't even count how many time Elites would brag about hoarding the cards and selling them on eBay. 

Correct me if I’m wrong.  I think Princess moved away from that coffee syrup so all ships now have freshly brewed coffee.  

[memoak]

14 hours ago, Iamcruzin said:

They didn't. Princess was owned by P&O and the loyalty program didn't come into play until Carnival bought them. My first cruise with Princess was 1991 and I had to send them proof of that sailing when I booked my second sailing with them in 2006 so that it could be added in.

Back in the 1990’s the Captains Circle was called Cirqulo del Commendante. I attend my first past passenger party in 1992

[Iamcruzin]

26 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

Correct me if I’m wrong.  I think Princess moved away from that coffee syrup so all ships now have freshly brewed coffee.  

I haven't been on Princess in 10 years but I think they switched to Lavazza on the newer ships which they use on Celebrity and it's good

[Cruise Raider]

8 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

I haven't been on Princess in 10 years but I think they switched to Lavazza on the newer ships which they use on Celebrity and it's good

Yes, it’s Lavazza and it is really delicious! 
I believe they have it on the Ruby and Crown now, too. 

[Iamcruzin]

3 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

Yes, it’s Lavazza and it is really delicious! 
I believe they have it on the Ruby and Crown now, too. 

I happy to hear this.

[crusdiva]

2 hours ago, memoak said:

Back in the 1990’s the Captains Circle was called Cirqulo del Commendante. I attend my first past passenger party in 1992

True! And I still have my cloisonné pin!

[startedwithamouse]

1 hour ago, Cruise Raider said:

Yes, it’s Lavazza and it is really delicious! 
I believe they have it on the Ruby and Crown now, too. 

Lavazza is on Caribbean too. We were onboard the day it changed over last August.

[memoak]

23 minutes ago, crusdiva said:

True! And I still have my cloisonné pin!

Somewhere I still have a watch with the fancy calligraphy on the face

[crusdiva]

2 minutes ago, memoak said:

Somewhere I still have a watch with the fancy calligraphy on the face

Nice!

[Astro Flyer]

3 hours ago, memoak said:

Back in the 1990’s the Captains Circle was called Cirqulo del Commendante. I attend my first past passenger party in 1992

 

53 minutes ago, crusdiva said:

True! And I still have my cloisonné pin!

@memoak @crusdiva

 

I couldn’t find my pin but did locate the Log Book with an mage of our ship embossed on the front cover.

 

We sailed Sitmar’s Fairwind in summer 1988 and six months later after the merger sailed on the same ship renamed Dawn Princess which sadly had already removed the pizzeria.

 

Edited August 28 by Astro Flyer

[1emerald1]

42 minutes ago, Astro Flyer said:

 

@memoak @crusdiva

 

I couldn’t find my pin but did locate the Log Book with an mage of our ship embossed on the front cover.

 

We sailed Sitmar’s Fairwind in summer 1988 and six months later after the merger sailed on the same ship renamed Dawn Princess which sadly had already removed the pizzeria.

 

I still have the etched low ball glasses, match books, an ashtray, luggage tags, etc., so many souvenirs!  Even a few menus.

[memoak]

52 minutes ago, Astro Flyer said:

 

@memoak @crusdiva

 

I couldn’t find my pin but did locate the Log Book with an mage of our ship embossed on the front cover.

 

We sailed Sitmar’s Fairwind in summer 1988 and six months later after the merger sailed on the same ship renamed Dawn Princess which sadly had already removed the pizzeria.

 

Exactly like my watch face

[Astro Flyer]

16 minutes ago, 1emerald1 said:

I still have the etched low ball glasses, match books, an ashtray, luggage tags, etc., so many souvenirs!  Even a few menus.

Me too. ☺️

 

On that January 1989 Princess cruise (considered as our 2nd Princess cruise after sailing with Sitmar) as a lowly repeat passenger in an interior cabin on an over 30 year old ship, we each received a SeaWitch logo etched champagne flute with the year 1989 and a bottle of champagne. Of course when considering inflation, we had more of a luxury cruise experience at a higher price than today’s cruises which are much more affordable to enjoy more days on a cruise. 😃

 

We’ll pass 500 days on our next cruise but the more we cruise the further away we get from another MTG event. Although that’s icing on the cake & our true enjoyment is cruising as often as possible. 😊

 

Edited August 28 by Astro Flyer

[Astro Flyer]

6 minutes ago, memoak said:

Exactly like my watch face

Lucky you 😊

 

[memoak]

33 minutes ago, Astro Flyer said:

Me too. ☺️

 

On that January 1989 Princess cruise (considered as our 2nd Princess cruise after sailing with Sitmar) as a lowly repeat passenger in an interior cabin on an over 30 year old ship, we each received a SeaWitch logo etched champagne flute with the year 1989 and a bottle of champagne. Of course when considering inflation, we had more of a luxury cruise experience at a higher price than today’s cruises which are much more affordable to enjoy more days on a cruise. 😃

 

We’ll pass 500 days on our next cruise but the more we cruise the further away we get from another MTG event. Although that’s icing on the cake & our true enjoyment is cruising as often as possible. 😊

 

It really is dependent on itinerary. On Most Alaska cruises we make easily in fact earlier this month we were in the top 3 both weeks. On our other cruises we make it about 1/2 the time. We are in the mid 500’s

Edited August 28 by memoak

[Astro Flyer]

25 minutes ago, memoak said:

It really is dependent on itinerary. On Most Alaska cruises we make easily in fact earlier this month we were in the top 3 both weeks. On our other cruises we make it about 1/2 the time. We are in the mid 500’s

Thanks…back in 2010 in Alaska just after reaching the elite level, I was #6 and #1 had 250 days. ☺️
 

In 2013 in Alaska got invited on B2B Coral cruises with the other cocktail parties being CA Coastal's from LA. Our only lunch was surprisingly on a r/t Hawaii cruise from LA in 2017. Being on the low end of the number of days we had the CC hostess…we had a great time sharing lunch with her. 😊

 

Hopefully they’ll keep the MTG lunch fleetwide & not as currently with too much confusion…even reports of cocktail parties without any appetizers. Too often Princess is consistently inconsistent which is frustrating.

 

Edited August 28 by Astro Flyer

[memoak]

6 minutes ago, Astro Flyer said:

Thanks…back in 2010 in Alaska just after reaching the elite level, I was #6 and #1 had 250 days. ☺️
 

In 2013 in Alaska got invited on B2B Coral cruises with the other cocktail parties being CA Coastal's from LA. Our only lunch was surprisingly on a r/t Hawaii cruise from LA in 2017. Being on the low end of the number of days we had the CC hostess…we had a great time sharing lunch with her. 😊

 

Hopefully they’ll keep the MTG lunch fleetwide & not as currently with too much confusion…even reports of cocktail parties without any appetizers. Too often Princess is consistently inconsistent which is frustrating.

 

I am still betting that those who talk about cocktails and no food are confusing Captains Circle I have never been at any MTG event

[TRLD]

19 hours ago, Iamcruzin said:

That's because it was abused. People would save the last punch and have access to unlimited regular coffee for the rest of their life. I can't even count how many time Elites would brag about hoarding the cards and selling them on eBay. 

The program was first a card that never expired. Problem with that is that is became an accounting nightmare since after several years the number of unused cards was pretty large and no easy way to estimate the amount. They tried solving that by making it only for the cruise for which it was purchased. That eliminated the need to account for all of the old cards with punches remaining. That lasted only a short time before it went electronic.

 

That worked out well until they started pushing the per day packages. At that point the coffee packages system ran into a problem. It would show up on the portable screens as a package. I ran into it when waiters would try to tell me that i had a drinks package, and i had to tell them that it was only for coffee. Instead of correcting the problem in their system they chose to eliminate the package entirely. That also  fit into their strategy to push packages.

[TRLD]

28 minutes ago, memoak said:

I am still betting that those who talk about cocktails and no food are confusing Captains Circle I have never been at any MTG event

I would agree. I have never attended the 40 person MTG cocktail party without food items being served.

 

On the other hand that is pretty much the norm at the Captains Circle parties.

[Iamcruzin]

1 hour ago, TRLD said:

The program was first a card that never expired. Problem with that is that is became an accounting nightmare since after several years the number of unused cards was pretty large and no easy way to estimate the amount. They tried solving that by making it only for the cruise for which it was purchased. That eliminated the need to account for all of the old cards with punches remaining. That lasted only a short time before it went electronic.

 

That worked out well until they started pushing the per day packages. At that point the coffee packages system ran into a problem. It would show up on the portable screens as a package. I ran into it when waiters would try to tell me that i had a drinks package, and i had to tell them that it was only for coffee. Instead of correcting the problem in their system they chose to eliminate the package entirely. That also  fit into their strategy to push packages.

What really annoyed me with Princess was the fact that you had to buy fresh regular coffee to begin with. Yes I get having to pay for fancy espressos and Lattes but they couldn't just brew some Maxwell House and include in the fare? I swear they piped in that syrup coffee in Horizon Court from the La brea Tar Pit.

[sultan_sfo]

31 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

 ...

I swear they piped in that syrup coffee in Horizon Court from the La brea Tar Pit.

 

Wow! Wonderful!

[Coral]

22 hours ago, Iamcruzin said:

They didn't. Princess was owned by P&O and the loyalty program didn't come into play until Carnival bought them. My first cruise with Princess was 1991 and I had to send them proof of that sailing when I booked my second sailing with them in 2006 so that it could be added in.

I remember that when they announced Elite, I was already at that level.

 

I didn't start cruising Princess until 1998 I believe. So I know Elite level wasn't then.

[cr8tiv1]

Just because it hasn't happened to you, doesn't negate that it is not occuring on "some" ships.

 

On the Caribbean Princess (July 28 to August 13, 2024), there was a Most Traveled Guest COCKTAIL event held in the Wheelhouse WITH food and bar service. 

 

This was different than the Captain Circle Party held in Club Fusion.  This was different than the Suite Cocktail party meet the Officers' event.  This was different than the Suite (only) Lounge that was moved from PES in Skywalkers to the Wheelhouse nightly.

 

5 hours ago, memoak said:

I am still betting that those who talk about cocktails and no food are confusing Captains Circle I have never been at any MTG event