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Elite Perks


Sthronds

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I'm a TA and I know what is listed for Elite perks but I was curious as to first-hand experience. A client of mine wants to know whether the canapes were worth it and how many times they could get them. They were also curious as to the afternoon tea to be delivered to their room. What is included? Has anyone tried any of these services and what is your opinion?

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Canapes are canapes, you get them on formal nights and sometimes randomly. Personnally, I would rather have a bag of potato chips. The one time bar setup is good and you can exchange for your personal wants. The best perk is the free laundry and drycleaning, next to that the preferred tender passes. Also, since we have been elite and even before we have been invited to the most traveled luncheon/cocktail party - but - this is not a given.

Ron

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On the Sea this past December, they delivered a canape menu to our cabin around 10:00 AM the morning of formal nights. Those are the only nights (unless you are booked in a full suite) that they deliver canapes to you. 7 Days would equal two formal nights=canapes delivered twice. Funny thing was, the canape menu stated it needed to be hung out on the door by 9:00 AM to have them delivered that evening. HUH? Made no sense to us. Tried hanging it out as soon as we got it and they were never delivered. Finally contacted the room steward the last formal night and asked how we could hang it out by 9:00 if it wasn't even given to us until 10:00? He called room service and placed a special order of us. They weren't anything special. and not an assortment. Just a plate of one type of canapes. Several different kinds to choose from but still, nothing that great and all the same.

Have never tried the afternoon tea service in the cabin, but have read where some have tried and room service had no idea what they were talking about. Guess it depends on what ship you are sailing on if they know about some of these Elite perks.

 

I do agree though, the free laundry and dry cleaning is one of the greatest perks they offer.

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Different ships, different service. We have had fancy assortments of canapes plus strawberries and, on another ship, the menu for your choice, I always take the strawberries. We've never tried the tea. I'll take the laundry any day. Hubby likes the bar.

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Sometimes it is easy to exchange the bar setup -- sometimes it is not easy. We don't drink sodas, beer or liquor and would prefer only wine and water.

Sometimes you can chose which canapes you want and have them delivered at a particular time (we pick just chocolate-covered strawberries). Sometimes the assorted canapes were delivered to the room when we were at dinner and have just sat there, dried up and got thrown out -- that is why we would rather have ALL strawberries anyway. I would rather have pretzels than the rest of the stuff they deliver.

Notice that I have said "sometimes" on just about everything? Even on the same ship on different voyages they may have different policies.

We do LOVE the complimentary laundry/drycleaning, the priority tender passes and the free internet.

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Canapes are canapes, you get them on formal nights and sometimes randomly. Personnally, I would rather have a bag of potato chips. The one time bar setup is good and you can exchange for your personal wants. The best perk is the free laundry and drycleaning, next to that the preferred tender passes. Also, since we have been elite and even before we have been invited to the most traveled luncheon/cocktail party - but - this is not a given.

 

Ron

 

 

I take the choc covered strawberries instead all week. :)

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We finally tried the afternoon tea and thought it was very good. A plate of little sandwices, scones with clotted cream and jam and marmalade, some fancy little cookies. We ordered ice tea and coffee and got both.

 

This has to be ordered several hours before (maybe 7?) and it is just delivered to your cabin, not served to you. We will definitely do it again.

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I'm a TA and I know what is listed for Elite perks but I was curious as to first-hand experience. A client of mine wants to know whether the canapes were worth it and how many times they could get them. They were also curious as to the afternoon tea to be delivered to their room. What is included? Has anyone tried any of these services and what is your opinion?

 

Hey, not very exciting, but a nice touch. We got little squares of bread with salmon, caviar, salami etc on them, and also choc strawberries.

 

Tea is tea -- regular or herb tea, little biscuits, etc. Again not exciting, but a nice touch.

 

If you are a TA -- definitely take the Princess courses! DW is a Commodore and that is why we get the Elite treatment! Kind of fun!

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I too recently achieved Commodore status due to the Princess courses. We just returned from a 10 day on the Sun Princess over Christmas.

 

The priority boarding was wonderful, as was the tendering.

 

We received the canapes in our room on both formal nights, no form to request or choices, just a plate of capapes that neither of us would eat. They were always delivered while we were at dinner and we didn't leave til after 8.

 

We used the free internet a lot! Didn't use the free laundry, I prefer to do my own.

 

Did as the room steward to exchange a few items in the mini bar and he did it no problem.

 

Also the 10% off in the shops came in a little handy.

 

Enjoy!

 

Terry

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For the record - I love the canapes!

 

There's a newly announced Elite perk: your choice of disembarkation times to suit your plans. It was announced in the same memo to TAs that explained the additional consideration of days sailed to determine status in the Captain's Circle.

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Merced Mike I'm also a TA and I'm a Commadore with Princess and a new Elite member. Do you really get the same benefits as all other Elite members.My first Orincess cruise will be coming up soon very excited.:)

 

Please share with me what a "commodore" level passenger is with Princess?

 

Cruise #4 in 2 weeks , loving Princess! working toward elite status

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Please share with me what a "commodore" level passenger is with Princess?

 

Cruise #4 in 2 weeks , loving Princess! working toward elite status

 

...a level of achievement for Travel Agents who participate in the Princess Academy Program to educate TA's about the Princess Product.

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In other words, TA are getting a reduced rate and elite perks? Wow! Guess we were in the wrong business. I'm sure that won't be a popular thought on this thread.

 

Just sailed with one that had recently gotten that status. Not sure how many Princess cruises they had been on, but I don't think very many, but they were sportin that black card. ;)

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Merced Mike I'm also a TA and I'm a Commadore with Princess and a new Elite member. Do you really get the same benefits as all other Elite members.My first Orincess cruise will be coming up soon very excited.:)

 

Yep -- it only showed on our boarding pass as Platinum, but when we checked in my DW got her black card sure enough! It is a nice little perk -- goodness knows TA's don't get near as many of them as the general public seems to think! I think you will LOVE Princess. Of course that is what they hope and why they offer the perks!

 

Have a GREAT cruise!

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You mean one of us should have been a travel agent rather than going over 350 days to get to Elite? Rats! Nancy

 

UMMM -- no, you should have been a very experienced Travel Agent who gives a lot of business to Princess, works for an Agency that has Princess as a preferred supplier, and takes extensive training courses in all the Princess products over a long period of time. Then you would have earned the right to the few small perks that those special highly trained agents get.

 

Or -- perhaps you could say that by cruising with Princess a lot, you have earned the right to those perks too??

 

Naturally it is a marketing ploy on the part of Princess. They hope that by treating the Travel Agents right they will earn some referrals from the agents. They hope that by treating their past passengers right they will earn loyalty and referrals from the past passengers.

 

I would be pretty sure that whatever business you are in, you get some small perks and rewards from the business. When we were in the jewelry business, we got to wear nice jewelry. Now that my DW is a TA we get some small travel perks. I'm a teacher -- what perks do I get? All the red pens I can carry?? HMMMM ...

 

>:-)

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Regardless of your industry, you likely have access to perks that non-industry people do not have access to. It should come as no surprise that the travel industry has access to perks as well. Contrary to popular belief, these perks are few and far between anymore.

 

While all cruiselines offer training on their product, Princess has recently launched an indepth training program for agents. Completing it requires a significant investment of time as well as a commitment to developing a strong knowledge base about the product. When agents complete this training program, they do receive some benefits from Princess.

 

As a travel agent who is certified by CLIA as an ECCS (CLIA's pinnacle certification held by only several dozen travel agents in the US), I find it completely inappropriate when fellow agents discuss industry benefits in this forum. The purpose of this forum is information sharing among cruisers, not to create hard feelings. It's not professional for TA's to start discussions like this.

 

Do you expect your doctor to chat you up about the freebies he/she gets? Does the sales person in Macy's tell you that he/she could get the item you're buying 20 or 30% cheaper? When you get your car serviced, do you want to know that the mechanic got the same service at cost? When you get your hair done, does the stylist brag that he/she got a great head of highlights at no cost? Does your massage therapist tell you that he/she trades off with a coworker for free massages? Does your builder tell you that he/she sometimes gets free products and invitations to cool events from manufacturers? We all know these things exist but they're not typically discussed by professionals. I'm not sure why a travel agent would bring up our industry perks here--I don't see how it serves any positive purpose.

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Regardless of your industry, you likely have access to perks that non-industry people do not have access to. It should come as no surprise that the travel industry has access to perks as well. Contrary to popular belief, these perks are few and far between anymore.

 

While all cruiselines offer training on their product, Princess has recently launched an indepth training program for agents. Completing it requires a significant investment of time as well as a commitment to developing a strong knowledge base about the product. When agents complete this training program, they do receive some benefits from Princess.

 

As a travel agent who is certified by CLIA as an ECCS (CLIA's pinnacle certification held by only several dozen travel agents in the US), I find it completely inappropriate when fellow agents discuss industry benefits in this forum. The purpose of this forum is information sharing among cruisers, not to create hard feelings. It's not professional for TA's to start discussions like this.

 

Do you expect your doctor to chat you up about the freebies he/she gets? Does the sales person in Macy's tell you that he/she could get the item you're buying 20 or 30% cheaper? When you get your car serviced, do you want to know that the mechanic got the same service at cost? When you get your hair done, does the stylist brag that he/she got a great head of highlights at no cost? Does your massage therapist tell you that he/she trades off with a coworker for free massages? Does your builder tell you that he/she sometimes gets free products and invitations to cool events from manufacturers? We all know these things exist but they're not typically discussed by professionals. I'm not sure why a travel agent would bring up our industry perks here--I don't see how it serves any positive purpose.

 

Definitely well said, and I totally agree with your thoughts on this matter. Those of us that are not travel agents spent a lot of money to get to this point and we honestly don't need to know that a TA can get his/her Elite status for completeing a training program with Princess. I agree, perks are nice in some big business, but they are rarely discussed in public.

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As a travel agent who is certified by CLIA as an ECCS (CLIA's pinnacle certification held by only several dozen travel agents in the US), I find it completely inappropriate when fellow agents discuss industry benefits in this forum. The purpose of this forum is information sharing among cruisers, not to create hard feelings. It's not professional for TA's to start discussions like this.

 

 

Thank you DD. I have been in the industry for over 22 years and I have never discussed the perks that I receive as an agent. I too find this very inappropriate. It doesn't surprise me that some people will discuss the perks, however these are usually the people that have bought their identification cards or work for an agency that does not abide by the rules for obtaining an identification card . A professional travel consultant would never discuss the perks.

 

I am hoping that the agents that are discussing this are very new to the industry and now realize that the general public is not very pleased to find out this information. Please use a little discretion in the future.

 

F.Y.I..... TA's..... fellow guests on cruises, at resorts etc. do not like to know how much you paid for your vacation either. Most of us experienced, legitimate agents know this.

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