Cruise Personalizer and Information Sharing

[junglejane]

We've taken a couple of Princess cruises and so of course I've used the Cruise Personalizer at the Princess.com website to register my information. Lately, we've been thinking of planning a transatlantic on the QM2 for the summer of 2009. I've been researching a little on-line, including of course reading posts over at the CC Cunard board. While on the Cunard website I decided to sign up for email offers. I do get an occasional brochure in the mail from Cunard, which I realize is because Carnival owns both them and Princess. I don't mind that at all and in fact the reason I decided to register at the Cunard website was to get more, hoping to see a good promotion.

 

Well, what surprised me was how much Cunard already knew about me! I entered my name and, since I hadn't cruised with Cunard before, I was prompted to enter my birth date. As soon as I did that, the website popped up with my anniversary date and my passport information (number, issue date, expiration date)! I was a little taken aback. I have to assume the information originated from my Princess cruise personalizer.

 

This got me to wondering how much information Princess shares. I went to the Princess website and looked at the Privacy Policy. It says they may share information with their affiliated companies, so I guess that explains it. I still found it a little creepy!

 

Anyone else have any thoughts or concerns about how Princess uses the info you submit?

 

--Junglejane

[Druke I]

Cunard and Princess are both owned by Carnival;and many of the Cunard top executives have been transferred over from Princess. The higher-ups had decided that Cunard needed a management shake-up, and that Princess had the model that suited them.

 

I am not the least bit surprised that they share databases, and I don't beleive there is any reason for undue concern.

[sunhoney64]

I am not sure how much you have researched the QM but my parents just returned from a 10 day trip out of NYC. They have been on approx. 7 other cruises from Princess, Celebrity and Norweigen. They were extremely disappointed on the Queen. They are 69 & 71 years old. They said they were some of the youngest passengers. They said everyone on the cruise was 70-90 years old and "irritable as hell." Carpet was stained, not personable service and most of all they were shocked at how much the Americans are hated. Most of the passengers were British, French or otherwise and made no effort to hide thier distaste for American people. Overall they said, they woudnt recommend it to anyone. I think their expectations of this ship were high and they said that the other cruise ships were so much prettier and service was much better on Princess. Dont want to burst your bubble but I would read some reviews especially if you are a bit younger.

[sunhoney64]

I am not sure how much you have researched the QM but my parents just returned from a 10 day trip out of NYC. They have been on approx. 7 other cruises from Princess, Celebrity and Norweigen. They were extremely disappointed on the Queen. They are 69 & 71 years old. They said they were some of the youngest passengers. They said everyone on the cruise was 70-90 years old and "irritable as hell." Carpet was stained, not personable service and most of all they were shocked at how much the Americans are hated. Most of the passengers were British, French or otherwise and made no effort to hide thier distaste for American people. Overall they said, they woudnt recommend it to anyone. I think their expectations of this ship were high and they said that the other cruise ships were so much prettier and service was much better on Princess. Dont want to burst your bubble but I would read some reviews especially if you are a bit younger.

[Stevesan]

I am not sure how much you have researched the QM but my parents just returned from a 10 day trip out of NYC. They have been on approx. 7 other cruises from Princess, Celebrity and Norweigen. They were extremely disappointed on the Queen. They are 69 & 71 years old. They said they were some of the youngest passengers. They said everyone on the cruise was 70-90 years old and "irritable as hell." Carpet was stained, not personable service and most of all they were shocked at how much the Americans are hated. Most of the passengers were British, French or otherwise and made no effort to hide thier distaste for American people. Overall they said, they woudnt recommend it to anyone. I think their expectations of this ship were high and they said that the other cruise ships were so much prettier and service was much better on Princess. Dont want to burst your bubble but I would read some reviews especially if you are a bit younger.

 

Do not accept this experience as typical. I suspect the "irritable as hell" on QM2 were an anomaly who hate everything unfamiliar.

 

I spent a week in both Paris and London just last September. I encountered zero animosity towards me or others from the U.S.

Quite the opposite. People in both cities were cordial, helpful and most spoke at least some English, even in London. :p

[English muffin]

I am not sure how much you have researched the QM but my parents just returned from a 10 day trip out of NYC. They have been on approx. 7 other cruises from Princess, Celebrity and Norweigen. They were extremely disappointed on the Queen. They are 69 & 71 years old. They said they were some of the youngest passengers. They said everyone on the cruise was 70-90 years old and "irritable as hell." Carpet was stained, not personable service and most of all they were shocked at how much the Americans are hated. Most of the passengers were British, French or otherwise and made no effort to hide thier distaste for American people. Overall they said, they woudnt recommend it to anyone. I think their expectations of this ship were high and they said that the other cruise ships were so much prettier and service was much better on Princess. Dont want to burst your bubble but I would read some reviews especially if you are a bit younger.

 

Hello Sunhoney

I am sorry to hear that your parents didnt enjoy the cruise,

You can tell your Mum & Dad that we are British and we love the American people. Thats why we travel with Princess Celebrity & Hal, because we like to meet the American & Canadian people. Perhaps the British people on board the Cunard were not the friendly, polite, bubbly British type. You always get a few "badones" in the bag.

Never really fancied Cunard unless of course we got a really good deal,the staterooms we prefer on the other cruise comapnies are much more expensive on cunard. Perhaps one day we may meet up with your parents.

[sunhoney64]

Thanks for the info. I will pass it on to mom and dad. They are just good ole' folks. They met up with a couple from Wales that they fell in love with.

 

Theres a nasty one in every crowd, I suppose. Some people made some nasty remarks when they are getting on the elevator and there were people at the bar complaining about the Americans. I was shocked when the told me all of this, so it is good to hear that it is isolated. I guess when you are in your 80's or 90's you can be irritable if you want. LOL

[junglejane]

Well, by summer of 2009 You-Know-Who (and I don't mean Lord Voldemort) will have retired to Crawford. So maybe everyone's attitude toward Americans will improve. :)

 

I was under the impression that the QM2 transatlantic attracts a somewhat more diverse crowd (in terms of ages) since it's something that's on a lot of cruisers "must try once" list.

 

I am a little put off by the prices though, considering it's only a 6 day cruise. We usually go for 2 balcony cabins for our family of four, but I'm considering 2 insides on the QM2. I was hoping that by registering on the Cunard website I might get mailed some sort of price promotion.

 

Thanks everybody for the responses.

 

--Junglejane

[BurBunny]

Princess and Cunard not only share the same parent company, but share the same offices in California and the same booking system. None of the other Carnival brands share info and support the same way these two brands do. At times, these brands have even been headed by the same person. Since they both have strong British heritage, it has made sense.

 

I've enjoyed my time on Cunard very much. My transatlantic this past June was a 180 experience from what was related here. Very diverse group, no anti-Yank sentiment that I detected, and a great time.