Free Internet to be Eliminated for Upper Levels of Capt's Club

[Psee]

Well this is the last straw! :mad:

 

The only reason I went on all those Princess cruises was so I could get to Platinum level and spend a couple of grand to get unlimited "high speed" internet service on "state of the art" equipment for a few days... :D

 

I don't think there are "internet hogs" on a cruise unless it's a bored kid that's using their parents' card or a bored spouse that has nothing better to do. Princesss is trying to maximize it's revenue plain and simple.

[Cruisin' Grandma]

It's not the micro-issue of internet usage that concerns me about this move, it's the incredibly cheap cost-saving measure taken against your best customers. I find that very tacky and very stupid.

How much margin are they making on internet usage to begin with? I would venture a guess that it is north of 60%. So what are they trying to save - again, at the expense of their best customers?

This will not change my cruise preference for Princess. It will however, change the value equation - even ever so slightly.

I am a Platinum cruiser. I wonder what's next. I mean, do they want a buck for the use of the robe? How about a water in the room charge?

Stupid, I admit. So is taking away a perk from your best customers. If you couldn't afford it to begin with you shouldn't have offered it.

 

It fits in with everything else that has gone downhill at Princess in the past few years. Since the inception of automatic tipping, personal choice and especially since the Carnival takeover I've noticed a slight decline every cruise when in comes to service, food etc.

 

It's just not the Princess cruises it used to be.

 

Lola in Hamilton

[tdf799]

On the Regal last week they had a 60 minute card for $30 and a 30 minute for $15. My wife and I each went through not quite 3 cards in 10 days. This being our 6th cruise, we 'saved' $180 with our new platinum status. The connection was so slow however we probably wasted half the time waiting for a response. There was literally no one checking in when we got to San Juan so the Platinum and Elite check in was not needed and since we were almost the first ones off the ship, the embarkation lounge was of little benefit. That being said, we have been on past cruises when those perks would have been a real plum. If the bring on wine and beer policy changes and the Platinum and Elite perks are being squeezed, Princess must be busting with new customers to replace us. After the experiences we had on this last cruise, it will probably be quite a while before we will be using the internet on a Princess ship. Since we now know what we are going to get on a Princess cruise, it is kind of daunting to have to do all the research all over again to pick another line. Thanks to CC and all the posts, that job is not a shot in the dark.

[JWJs]

I was really disappointed when I read this "Free Internet To Be Eliminated" news tonight.

 

Does anyone know how much it costs Princess to provide internet service on their ships? Is it a huge cost? If it's not huge, why don't they just let passengers use the internet free of charge? We have a wireless that we bring with us and it sure would be nice to just use it.

 

BTW...My DH just hit the "magic 5" cruises on our last Princess cruise and we were sure looking forward to "free internet."

[skarletohara]

I'm glad to see that the extra thousands of dollars we're spending for a full suite will be justified by the fact that our internet usage will be UNLIMITED:D after all!

[Toto2Kansas]

Well, I have been thinking on this after I left this evening and I once again went to the Princess Captain's Circle to check. Since the listing for this still says FREE INTERNET for Platinum/Elite, I find it hard to believe that there isn't going to be some free internet for all platinum and elite members. I think it will be a limited internet access, but there will still be some free. We will see when more of this info comes out. But I can not believe that Princess would be listing this under FREE INTERNET if they were just going to allow you to buy minutes at a discount, that wouldn't be considered free then would it? Below is exactly how it is stated on the Princess website. So, before we all get carried away here, let's see what happens. I will bet anyone on this site that when this all comes out, it will be limited minutes instead of unlimited for Platinum and Elite passengers.

 

Free Internet Access

Credit Towards Internet Café Packages (effective April 1, 2007)

 

$75 for voyages of 7 days or less

$100 for voyages of 8-20 days

$200 for voyages of 21 or more days

 

Our next cruise in April, we have a full suite booked so it won't matter either way for April, and even on the next ones, I don't mind it being limited at all, as long as they don't completely take this perk away. I have too many friends that have been striving to make Platinum status so they could receive free internet, but they can only cruise once a year.

[JLC@SD]

with this change.....now we wil lbe able to find an open computer...:)

[Hondu]

Why offer a perk and then take it away? Why piss off your loyal customers?

[calliecat]

PLEASE! Read down a couple of posts, they are NOT totally taking away free internet, just limiting the minutes to a normal range.

 

I just made platinum with this last cruise:( . If the internet ran at a reasonable speed rather than 20 minutes for a page to load, I wouldn't mind this change but I am certainly not going to purchase a package. Now there is really nothing for me to look forward to with this status.

We are planning to do a European cruise next year and I don't think Princess will be the first cruise line I look at now.

[Toto2Kansas]

I just made platinum with this last cruise:( . If the internet ran at a reasonable speed rather than 20 minutes for a page to load, I wouldn't mind this change but I am certainly not going to purchase a package. Now there is really nothing for me to look forward to with this status.

We are planning to do a European cruise next year and I don't think Princess will be the first cruise line I look at now.

 

Hold on, don't get excited. It might just mean that the price you are discounted IS the price for the package, which would make it still free. Don't jump the gun on this one until someone finds out for sure. I honestly can't see them taking away all free internet, but I can see them trying to limit access beginning April 1. So, hold on until someone can find out for sure. Please!

[Hondu]

We are planning to do a European cruise next year and I don't think Princess will be the first cruise line I look at now.

 

Good for You. The perks for platinum are almost useless with the forthcoming change.

 

Nothing to brag about anymore.

[Toto2Kansas]

I just can't understand why everyone is so upset here, when NOBODY knows exactly what's going on yet. Everyone is speculating. Does it mean this or does it mean that?

 

Again, so you don't have to read all the posts on this thread. I am understanding this as meaning if you take an 8-20 day cruise, you will get a $100 credit off an internet package. Now, up to you which package you buy and if you need more than 250 minutes then it just might cost you. But if you can use the discount of $100 to purchase 250 minutes, then it is still not costing you one red sent. But honestly, even though I check email, print boarding passes and also post on the live from threads, I have yet to even come close to using that kind of minutes on a cruise ship.

Again, hold on and don't jump the gun here until we find out exactly how this is going to work.

[Phyljim]

jlc@sd nice to hear a positive thought on all this.

 

It will limit those who have abused the freeby. I cannot complain about that. It sounds like we will still have some sort of free internet.

 

There was a question on an earlier post about where was the $55 for 100 minutes plan. We had it on the Grand Princess 30 Dec 06 to 6 Jan 07. So that is pretty current. Other plan as I remember it was 250 minutes for $100. Then the last few days they had the by minute for those wanting to check flights, and print boarding passes.

On the Grand speed was somewhat like a fast dialup connection. Not saying much for speed....but then remember we are on the ship with a satellite going up and down back and forth with the motion of the seas. Pretty remarkable when you think about it, that we have a connection. It has to be constantly searching to remain in contact.

[Pam in CA]

This thread needs to be pulled. The title is very misleading and getting people all upset. Yes, there are changes but for the vast majority of Platinum and Elite members, your Internet perk won't be affected other than the method of getting your free Internet. Very few people spend 20 - 25 minutes at the computer every single day of a cruise.

[Host Caroline]

I'm going to close this thread because it has gotten so off topic.