Have you enjoyed Elite Status?

[mimi2]

I tried this before, but here goes again. Who has enjoyed the new Elite Status? Show and tell. How was it? What was different or new?

[RoyW]

Just back from 30 days on the Star Princess. I believe it was the first cruise (March 3) with the new Elite program in effect. This is really a great perk. The laundry and dry cleaning benefit alone saved us aprx. $175.00 (Princess prices). Every cruise up to now we've used the laundry room.

The mini-bar was worth about $135 (Princess calculation). And, 10% off in all the shops saved quite a bit. My wife also liked the upgraded toiletries.

All in all, along with the free internet that you also get at the Platinum level, we figured our benefit from Elite as somewhere in excess of $500. Not too shabby!! http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

Roy W.

[momofcnb]

Roy-Thanks for the information. How did the mini-bar set-up work. Did you tell them ahead of time what you wanted, or when you got on the ship? Or was in stocked with the standards? Is there a limit to the laundry and dry cleaning, did they do a good job, or did they shrink items, change colors, or loose anything. Do the stewards handle the laundry or someone else. Trying to figure out of much cas I will need for extra tipping.
Thanks!

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UNTIL SPRING BREAK ON THE CARIBBEAN PRINCESS

[learjetjock]

We just drink a litle wine. I too am interested on how they stock the mini-bar, could you please fill us in? Also did you get priority dining times and how does that work. Thanks

[momofcnb]

Roy W. help, where did you go?

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UNTIL SPRING BREAK ON THE CARIBBEAN PRINCESS

[RoyW]

As far as the "mini-bar" is concerned, there is no actual bar in the cabin - just a refrigerator. Ours was the first cruise with "Elite" so it took awhile before everything was "in place". About the fourth or fifth day, they brought in a large tray with assorted liquors, beer, soft drinks, mixes, water, etc., etc. We were not asked what we would prefer - it was just just a standard "mix" but perfectly adequate.

No, I don't believe priority dining times are in the program. However, since we prefer, and had, traditional dining, this was not an issue.

The laundry and dry cleaning service was excellent. Everything came back, nothing was lost, nothing shrank and nothing changed colors!
The steward leaves the standard laundry lists but you only fill in quantities of items - not the price. You should receive - and use - lists that are stamped "Complimentary" on the bottom. You fill a laundry bag, fill out the list and leave the bag with the list on top for your steward. The steward will also return the finished "product". Standard service is two days but we always (3 times) received ours back in one day.

"Momofcnb" you asked "...where did you go?" I assume you were asking about the cruise http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif. We started in Bangkok and ended in Venice. In "between" was Viet Nam, Singapore, Malaysia, India, Oman, Jordan, Turkey, Egypt, Greece and Croatia.

Roy W.

[Lampwick]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! One more cruise to go till we're ELITE! In fact, we're taking a 7 day cruise (inside cabin for the first time)in the fall, so we will be ELITE for our 15 day cruise to Hawaii next spring in a minisuite!

Please, tell me its heaven, tell me we are treated like royalty compared to the rest of the rabble, tell me it's worth spending my kids college fund on!

AHH, ELITE STATUS - As Bill Murry said in Caddyshack - "So I got that goin' for me."

[Druke I]

Our first as Elite will be next month, when the Sun Princess works her way up the Left Coast.

The free laundry (and dry cleaning if needed) will be great next March, when we do Sapphire Princess, 19 nights, Sydney to Bangkok. How nice it will be to be able to pack a little lighter, and not bother with the laundromats.

Reference the free internet - the system is so slow,I wouldn't use it if it wasn't free!

Michael

[cruiserforlife]

We are looking forward to enjoying the perks of being Elite members on our next cruise!

Thanks for all the input.

"a bad day at sea is better than a great day at work and a lousy day at sea is still pretty damn good!"

[Belle2002]

I can't wait for my next cruise to enjoy all of these perks. You can preorder any of your beverages for the mini bar on the Princess website, under captains circle. Belle

[Pam in CA]

My sister and brother-in-law have been designated "Elite" and found out that not only do they have the perks mentioned, but they also get validated parking at the pier, a savings for our Regal cruise in a couple of weeks of $160.00.

One question I had is, I've seen mentioned on the boards that there's a special place for Elite members to go to get priority tendering. Does anyone have any information on that?

Song of Norway & Song of America, 1986-88; Royal Princess 2/99; Sun Princess 1/00; Ocean Princess 12/00; Royal Princess 4/01; Grand Princess 12/23/01; Sea Princess 2/9/02; Explorer of the Seas 12/21/02; Coral Princess 8/9/03; Nordic Empress 12/27/03.

-- Regal Princess (4/20/04) -- Roll Call (http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=927093444&f=4763056957&m=2573008957)
-- Caribbean Princess (12/26/04) -- Roll Call (http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=927093444&f=4763056957&m=9323078957)
-- Royal Princess (4/21/05)

[Bevj]

Pam in MA,we're just of the Golden 3/27/04, with Elite Status--the night rior to a tender port the room steward will leave priority tender tickets of your pillow-then you just go to the head of the line and they allow your right on. Re: laundry, etc., if the laundry lists in your room are NOT marked Complimenary, just use the regular ones, then underneath your signature just print Platinum Elite--works fine. If no one else has mentioned it yet, they also bring you sprecial chocolates and your cruise card (which is black) is preprogrammed so that when you spend money in the ships boutiques, then is a 10% automatic discount.

"Until the Ryndan Feb 7 and the Golden 3/27

[sueclark]

Is there anything different with these Elite benefits than what you get with a Grand Suite? Everything I've read here is the same as the perks for the suite.

Sue

Grand Princess - Western Caribbean - April 25, 2004
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Constellation Transatlantic 9/7/04

Infinity Panama Canal 4/17/05

[Pam in CA]

Bev, thanks for the tip. I'm not Elite but my sister and brother-in-law are and I'll be going on the tender with them. I assume I can just go along since we'll have tour tickets with us.

Song of Norway & Song of America, 1986-88; Royal Princess 2/99; Sun Princess 1/00; Ocean Princess 12/00; Royal Princess 4/01; Grand Princess 12/23/01; Sea Princess 2/9/02; Explorer of the Seas 12/21/02; Coral Princess 8/9/03; Nordic Empress 12/27/03.

-- Regal Princess (4/20/04) -- Roll Call (http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=927093444&f=4763056957&m=2573008957)
-- Caribbean Princess (12/26/04) -- Roll Call (http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=927093444&f=4763056957&m=9323078957)
-- Royal Princess (4/21/05)

[PAULNJILL]

Hi all

How many cruises with Princess qualifies you for Elite Status or is it not the number of cruises you do but the sateroom that qualifies you

CANBERRA JUNE 97
OCEAN PRINCESS OCT 01
DAWN PRINCESS MARCH 03
STAR PRINCESS AUGUST 04

PAULNJILL

[BenP]

15+ cruises and you are an Elite customer.

[Lampwick]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>My sister and brother-in-law have been designated "Elite" and found out that not only do they have the perks mentioned, but they also get validated parking at the pier, a savings for our Regal cruise in a couple of weeks of $160.00. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Wow - that's the best perk I've so far! I hope it's consistant with all cruises. We live in L.A. and have been trying to save $$$ on the parking when we sail out of the port there. If they validate, we would be very pleased!

Has anyone had thier parking validated out of L.A. harbor?

[Murphey]

Pam...I'm also interested in the "free parking", as I haven't read anything about that. How did you know about it?? What port were you at????

[Murphey]

bump

[BillMcAnally]

Hi Pam and Sue, I have been reading the post on this subject and find it interesting that your sister Pam got validated parking at the pier at the World Cruise Center in San Pedro. I have found no reference to this being one of the perks that go along with being an "Elite" Princess Passenger. My wife and I are "Elite members and we will be sailing on the Island Princess in September and are driving to the pier from San Diego. That would be quite a saving but I just haven't seen anything from Princess that says this is so.

And Sue you ask "Is there anything different with these Elite benefits than what you get with a Grand Suite? Everything I've read here is the same as the perks for the suite." Yes there are. We have only been in a suite twice but on neither occasion did we get a 10% discount on our purchases in the stores. We didn't get out laundry done or our dry cleaning done for free.

Bill. http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_rolleyes.gif

[kruisey]

Lampwick .What did you mean by 'the rest of the Rabble"? http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_frown.gif

[BillMcAnally]

Bump

[Lampwick]

Kruisey - I either said it in jest, or I said it to offend the hundreds of people that read this board. I'll let you decide. http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_razz.gif

[kruisey]

Ok Lampwick.Everyone that boards a Princess cruise is a V.I.P. we are all paying customers whether we have cruised once or 100 times.
Yes those that cruise 15 times or more are entitled to extra perks for their loyalty to the line.Apart from that we are all as one. http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_cool.gif

[KruzPrincess]

I just went to Elite on my last cruise. They sent me my Elite Captain's Circle card towards the end of my cruise. It's been fun reading about the perks. I think it's wonderful to get free internet access alone, so I'm thrilled to hear about the new perks. Thanks for telling us about them. I did get invited to a special brunch for "most Princess traveled" passengers. This was on the Island. It was very, very nice and quite a nice treat. I really feel like Princess 'romances' their returning guests better than any of the other cruise lines I've traveled on.

[Murphey]

I do too..And, I would like any comment towards my comments on the "Diamond Wide Open" thread!

[sue3689]

Do both passengers in the cabin get priority
tender tickets, if only one has elite status?
We're travelling and touring together, so there would be no point in me getting off early alone.

[larsen]

I've go a question about the Elite laundry service. Does this service mean 'washed and folded' or are the items that require ironing, such as shirts and men pants, ironed? http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_cool.gif

Crown '93,Star '94, Regal '95,
Sun '96, Crown '97, Dawn '98,
Dawn '99, Sun 2000, Dawn '01,
Grand '02, Coral '03,Star 6/28/03, Sun 3/10/04, Star 02/27/05

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[BillMcAnally]

BUMP

[sprinkles]

Lampwick,

I took your post in "jest". My parents were on the Royal last month first sailing with Elite. She did say that "everyone is VERY nice when they see your Elite card". But you don't get anything special other then what the listed perks are. They didn't even get their bar set-up as the whole thing was so new to everyone. However, they really enjoyed the free laundry/dry cleaning.

I long for the day when I am not part of the rabble http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif , for now I'll just have to settle for the free email that I will be using for the first time with my new Platinum status.

Tammy
15 MORE DAYS TILL THE ROYAL!!!

[GottoCruise]

If you have a cabin with no refrigerator --how do they manage the "Bar set Up"??

Until PACIFIC PRINCESS Islands of the Pacific Theater
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Until GOLDEN PRINCESS British Isles back-to-back TransAtlantic
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Until GOLDEN PRINCESS
British Isles back-to-back w/ TransAtlantic
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[BillMcAnally]

I thought that all the cabins have refrigerators. http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_rolleyes.gif

[GottoCruise]

The Tahitian and Pacific Princess Balcony cabins have no refrigerators...(and certainly not the lower catagories either) only Mini and Owners' Suites have refrigerators

Until PACIFIC PRINCESS Islands of the Pacific Theater
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Until GOLDEN PRINCESS British Isles back-to-back TransAtlantic
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Until GOLDEN PRINCESS
British Isles back-to-back w/ TransAtlantic
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[BillMcAnally]

The following is a copy of the upgraded offering for Elite Captain's Circle members that I received in the mail. For those of you that have had a chance to sail under this new status, was all this true? Did you get the upgraded bath robe, towels and toilet articles that are usually only for those in a suite? We are going in September. We have been in a suite only twice and these things are nice. This time we are in a mini suite and just wondering.

Effective on voyages commencing on or after March 1st
PREFERRED SERVICES PACKAGE
Priority Tender Embarkation
As a well-traveled guest with Princess, you have the opportunity to travel ashore quickly and without waiting in line. Simply present your Priority Tender Ticket directly at the gangway instead of waiting with other passengers in the lounge area. You will then join any remaining passengers and board the tender as soon as it is clear to embark.

Shoe Polishing Service
Your shoes will be polished upon request,- this service is complimentary.

Complimentary Dry Cleaning & Laundry Service
Upon request, your cabin steward will organize your laundry to be cleaned/dry cleaned,- compliments of Princess Captain’’s Circle!

ELITE CABIN AMENITIES PACKAGE
Complimentary Mini Bar Set Up
Your stateroom mini bar will be set up according to your personal preferences. If no preferences have been indicated in your Member Profile, the standard selection will be given. Drinks will be refilled upon request and you will only be charged for the additionally requested drinks consumed.

Deluxe Canapes Selection
You may receive, upon request, a complimentary selection of deluxe canapés specially created by the Chef, delivered to your stateroom on formal night. This benefit can be ordered through room service and should be requested at least 6 hours prior to the desired delivery time.

Afternoon Tea
Complimentary afternoon tea may be served in your stateroom, should you wish. You may request this via room service at least 6 hours prior to the desired delivery time.

Upgraded Bathroom Amenities
Your stateroom bathroom will be stocked with the upgraded amenities reserved for Suite guests.

PREFERRED DISCOUNT PACKAGE
10% Boutique Discount. Our Boutiques are second to none for choice and gift selection. Now, as an Elite Member, take advantage of a 10% discount store wide to buy those extra gifts for all your family back home! Your Cruise Card is your key to this wonderful benefit,- simply show it when you make any purchase, and our Boutique Staff will automatically deduct 10% from your purchase price.

Complimentary Wine Tasting
Our Wine Tasting Events are popular and many of our members attend, so we have made arrangements to pick up the cover charge for you! Space is limited at these events so, should you wish to attend, you must confirm with the Circle Host who will contact you at the beginning of your cruise.