Princess Cruises-Why so many loyal cruisers?

Hello,

I'm new to this message board, so bear with me! In talking to fellow cruisers, there many we have spoken to who are very loyal to Princess, and will not cruise with any other cruise line. When I ask why, the answers are vague--just that they like Princess the best. Can anyone be more specific?

Thanks for any comments you can offer!

Welcome to Cruise Critic!

I think you have a very small sampling of the cruising population. I think if you had a larger sampling, you would see people that are very loyal to any of the other mass market cruise lines, as well as the smaller market and luxury cruise lines.

Why are people loyal to Chevy, or Ford? To McDonalds or Burger King? To Coors, or Bud? It is all personal opinion.

I enjoy the design of the Princess ships. Large but not too large...

I think you will find that each line has its regulars and then there are a number who switch around.

Each line has its own repeat guest programs. As you rise up thru the ranks, you get more perks. While these are not work a huge amount, they are something to consider when booking.

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

You would be surprised to find that each cruise line has a large number of loyalists. You need to get out more and talk to thousands of people to get the picture -- not just a few people in your area??

We are loyal Princess cruisers. We enjoy Princess and have has wonderful cruises with them. The things we like about them are:

Immediate access to rooms when boarding.

Great meals (I know food is subjective, but we like the food).

Also, the food is not gamed up fast food like the burger joints on other lines. Princess serves reasonable portions of good quality food.

The rooms are basically the same, which means you can get the room set up quickly. Pam from Californian says it is almost like going home.

They have great itineraries. We have enjoyed the cruises we have taken because they go to a variety of locations and we have seen a lot of interesting places and things.

They have great customer service on the ships. Yes, I know you will find a bad crew member from time to time, but, for the most part, the crews have been great.

There is a lot to do on the ships and places of places to do nothing.

Princess loyalty program also has some good perks once you get past 6 cruises. These are a great selling point for us.

To put it simple, we have no reason not to cruise Princess.

I remember one day we were having some tea (and snacks) in the buffet. There were 5 other ships in port and across th pier was an RCCL ship. There was a woman on one of the upper decks wistfully looking across at us. I said to my wife "You know what she's thinking? She wants to be here on this ship!" She laughed and agreed.

I hope this helps you get a better idea about Princess loyalty.

Just like we don't eat the same food every day, we don't cruise the same cruise line. Actually, there are lines we don't care for so we don't cruise on them.

I think you will find that each line has its regulars and then there are a number who switch around.

 

Each line has its own repeat guest programs. As you rise up thru the ranks, you get more perks. While these are not work a huge amount, they are something to consider when booking.

:) Thanks for your prompt reply! I have heard of the perks and incentives to repeat cruises on the same cruise line. We have only been on four cruises, each on a different cruise line. We love Celebrity, and would definitely book again.

Happy Cruising!

Just like we don't eat the same food every day, we don't cruise the same cruise line. Actually, there are lines we don't care for so we don't cruise on them.

:) I agree. We have been trying out different cruise lines, and like Celebrity the most. We have cruised Carnival (back in the 80s), Celebrity, Princess, and have an upcoming HAL cruise booked. So we will see!

Like everything else in life, it is finding what is right for you that is important. No cruise line is right for everyone.

We are loyal Princess cruisers. We enjoy Princess and have has wonderful cruises with them. The things we like about them are:

 

Immediate access to rooms when boarding.

 

Great meals (I know food is subjective, but we like the food).

 

Also, the food is not gamed up fast food like the burger joints on other lines. Princess serves reasonable portions of good quality food.

 

The rooms are basically the same, which means you can get the room set up quickly. Pam from Californian says it is almost like going home.

 

They have great itineraries. We have enjoyed the cruises we have taken because they go to a variety of locations and we have seen a lot of interesting places and things.

 

They have great customer service on the ships. Yes, I know you will find a bad crew member from time to time, but, for the most part, the crews have been great.

 

There is a lot to do on the ships and places of places to do nothing.

 

Princess loyalty program also has some good perks once you get past 6 cruises. These are a great selling point for us.

 

To put it simple, we have no reason not to cruise Princess.

 

I remember one day we were having some tea (and snacks) in the buffet. There were 5 other ships in port and across th pier was an RCCL ship. There was a woman on one of the upper decks wistfully looking across at us. I said to my wife "You know what she's thinking? She wants to be here on this ship!" She laughed and agreed.

 

I hope this helps you get a better idea about Princess loyalty.

Thanks for your excellent answer! Overall, we loved our one Princess cruise, which was last Jan. to Hawaii, RT from LA. Loved the ship, even tho it was the older Star Princess. Loved all the activities, loved the sea days with some exciting high seas towards the Islands (except we didn't get to stop on Maui because of the large swells.)

The only bad thing about the cruise was that we somehow got a cabin with the hardest mattress I have ever slept on! It took us a week to get the problem resolved, even after going through all the proper channels. We finally went to one of the officers and told him the problem. We are not cranky complainers, and we approached him cordially and respectfully. He was quite rude to us at first, and asked us why we waited a week to complain, and why we didn't follow the "chain of command." We told him we had gone through our room steward, our head steward, and the customer service desk several times, with no help! We felt like we were being chastised by the school headmaster, but then he settled down, and had our problem fixed almost immediately. From then on, when we ran into him on the ship, he was more than cordial to us.

Truth be told, we were trying to save money and booked an oceanview cabin rather than a balcony cabin. We visited the balcony cabin of another couple we made friends with, and their bed was perfectly fine. I'm wondering if the comfort of the bed increases with the cabin category?

One of the Princess cruisers we have talked to told us they pack an eggcrate mattress just for these bed problems! Another travel agent told us to tip our room steward and he would bring us a "mattress topper." We did this in the beginning, and he brought us a down comforter, that when he shook it out to put it on the bed, we could see through it to the other side!

I did email Princess, and told them just what I wrote above. To their credit, within a day, I got a phone call from a very nice gentleman from Princess, and he gave us $200 each credit toward a future cruise. So, I guess we will be cruising with Princess again soon! Next time we will get a balcony room! Haha!

Wishing you smooth cruises and soft mattresses!

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

You would be surprised to find that each cruise line has a large number of loyalists. You need to get out more and talk to thousands of people to get the picture -- not just a few people in your area??

Hi! Thanks for your response to my question.

We are not very experienced cruisers (four cruises and one upcoming, all on different cruise lines.) We always get into conversations with folks we meet about cruising, vacations, etc., and it's always interesting to hear what people's faves are. Granted, we have not talked to "thousands of people" but because Princess was so often mentioned as a favorite cruise line, it got me wondering why, as no one could give us anything specific, other than the very nice answer from AKMan.

Welcome to Cruise Critic!

 

I think you have a very small sampling of the cruising population. I think if you had a larger sampling, you would see people that are very loyal to any of the other mass market cruise lines, as well as the smaller market and luxury cruise lines.

 

Why are people loyal to Chevy, or Ford? To McDonalds or Burger King? To Coors, or Bud? It is all personal opinion.

Thanks for your reply! I was just looking for specific reasons why folks prefer Princess, such as AKMan's excellent answer!

I think you will find that each line has its regulars and then there are a number who switch around.

 

Each line has its own repeat guest programs. As you rise up thru the ranks, you get more perks. While these are not work a huge amount, they are something to consider when booking.

Thanks for your reply! We are working on finding our favorite cruise line. Celebrity gets it so far! Princess was very nice to give us a small $$ credit toward a future cruise when we reported a problem we had.

Happy cruising!

We like Princess a lot and have sailed this line more than any other--10 times out of about 30 total. We also like other lines; in fact, we've never had a bad cruise and have never been on a cruise line we wouldn't cruise on again.

We like the food, ambiance, activities and ship of Princess. One thing no one has mentioned is that, at least for us, Princess tends to be quite a bit cheaper than some other lines. We have gotten some really good deals.

With 10 cruises we get some perks; the best is free (well, a lot of minutes free) internet, which we need to keep touch with elderly parents.

The last Princess cruise we were on got to seem a little old; probably because we had done a 14 day Hawaii in February and then a 17 day South America in December on the exact same ship. We decided to go with another line for a cruise or two, but we will be back.

It's not so much a party ship as some, and doesn't have as many activities like flow-riders and slides as others, but it suits us well.

While Princess is our favorite cruise line, we aren't so loyal that we don't sometimes cruise on others. It's fun to "Sleep Around"! :D

LuLu

i have sailed on a number of lines, including Regent and Silverseas, but for us, Princess gives the most"bang for the buck". I am Elite (not bragging), and the best perk is free laundry! We just came back from a 31 day cruise and that alone saved us a bunch, plus we could pack lighter.

The thing we like about Princess is the variety of ships and destinations. There is literally something for everyone.

While we aren't veteran cruisers, we aren't newbies either. We have sailed one Princess cruise and we really enjoyed it. We did find the food to be extremely salty though, but loved the International Cafe. The style and decor is very classy, but cabins seem smaller. We had a balcony cabin and there wasn't a couch or loveseat in the room. Only a small desk and chair. Made eating room service kind of hard. And eating on the balcony makes food go cold too quickly. I love how Princess has self serve laundromats; though why some can't be bothered with doing a small load of laundry on a sea day is beyond me.

We choose based on price first, then itinerary. However we won't go back to Carnival or try NCL. My Carnival experience wasn't terrible. I mean I was a child, but I just don't care for their reputation, and I don't want to find out first hand as an adult. I don't want to try NCL bc I cannot get past those hideous hull paintings.

Royal is good, but seem to cater more towards families than I care for as we don't have children.

I guess that leaves us with Princess, Celebrity, and HAL. HAL I think is too old for us as we're in our 30s. Going back to X in less than two weeks.

i have sailed on a number of lines, including Regent and Silverseas, but for us, Princess gives the most"bang for the buck". I am Elite (not bragging), and the best perk is free laundry! We just came back from a 31 day cruise and that alone saved us a bunch, plus we could pack lighter.

The thing we like about Princess is the variety of ships and destinations. There is literally something for everyone.

Understand what you're saying.

We do not cruise on Princess because we are Elite.

We are Elite because we most often cruise on Princess because it is the best All Around fit for us. :D

LuLu

My first six cruises (hubby-seven) were on Carnival. Not that bad, but we did want to try another line and when one of the men working for hubby offered us a friends and family discount (his gf worked for Princess at the time), we jumped on the offer. That cruise really sold us and our next five cruises were on Princess. Not that if the moon and stars align in the future we would never go on another Carnival cruise, but it's more that we feel "Princess is where we belong" as the tagline goes.

No crazy pool games (keeping my fingers crossed that "hairy back" and "stuff the bikini" contests won't be brought aboard Princess in the future). No seemingly endless PAs about last chance bingo games and art auctions -- neither activity I have the slightest interest in, but c'mon I think I am capable of reading the daily newsletter if I was. No Vegas light arrays in the public areas.

I do like that there's a mini fridge in every cabin and self-service laundries on just about every passenger deck (we're doing longer cruises and even the one-week ones we try to pair with a land trip, so this is a must for us; and we can't use the ship's laundry service as one of us is allergic to regular laundry detergent). I like that we can go to our cabin after boarding. I love the International Cafe (especially the chocolate chip cookies).

We get some nice perks, military cruise credits, free minutes on the internet, free mini bar, free laundry, and there are several other nice items.

This means that any other cruise line has to have a lot to offer, for us to switch.

john

I think you will find that each line has its regulars and then there are a number who switch around.

 

Each line has its own repeat guest programs. As you rise up thru the ranks, you get more perks. While these are not work a huge amount, they are something to consider when booking.

Thanks for your comment! Loyalty programs seem to be a huge incentive to return to a given cruise line!

We get some nice perks, military cruise credits, free minutes on the internet, free mini bar, free laundry, and there are several other nice items.

This means that any other cruise line has to have a lot to offer, for us to switch.

 

john

Yes! The perks you mentioned make a big difference! I think you will love the Hawaii cruise! I would do it again, but we timeshare there a lot.

Aloha!

 

The only bad thing about the cruise was that we somehow got a cabin with the hardest mattress I have ever slept on!

 

Wishing you smooth cruises and soft mattresses!

Actually, that is another feature we like-we both love a hard mattress!

Actually, that is another feature we like-we both love a hard mattress!

Haha! Well there you go! Take care!