Princess Coffee Cards now have expiration dates

Personally, I never assumed that Princess meant to sell me a "Free coffee for life" card. It just didn't seem to make good business sense and I figured they made a mistake in labeling/marketing that they would eventually correct. That's not to say I haven't taken advantage of it as long as the ride has lasted but it's no surprise to me they're working to close the loopholes.

Putting the voyage number and sailing date on the card eliminated the "free coffee for life" option.

However, the promise has been that the punches are good until used, no matter how many voyages over how many years it takes. That is not a loophole. It is using what you have paid for.

Yeah if you've paid for 15 coffees on a card, you've paid for 15 coffees and shouldn't be forced to use them on one cruise. That's just unfair.

Maybe Princess should abolish the current card and offer a $10 card with 5 punches and good for unlimited brewed ... all to expire at end of voyage for which card was bought

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Putting the voyage number and sailing date on the card eliminated the "free coffee for life" option.

 

However, the promise has been that the punches are good until used, no matter how many voyages over how many years it takes. That is not a loophole. It is using what you have paid for.

I'm wondering what they'll do when presented with an old coffee card - with or without a voyage & ship written on the back?

Possibly write an expiration date on it to limit it's future use?

That really seems unfair since they were sold under the pretense of being able to be used anytime on subsequent voyages. :mad:

Maybe Princess should abolish the current card and offer a $10 card with 5 punches and good for unlimited brewed ... all to expire at end of voyage for which card was bought

 

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or simply pay by the cup and do away with the cards altogether.

I would argue that a coffee card is a gift card. Princess is headquartered in California. Ironically, California law prohibits putting an expiration date on gift cards ( Civil Code section 1749.5). I won’t be buying another coffee card, so it won’t matter to me. I suspect our cruise next week will be our last on Princess.

Musings @ 5:30 am with my first cup of coffee.

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or simply pay by the cup and do away with the cards altogether.

I don't drink brewed coffee, just specialty coffees, and typically only one or maybe two per day. On seven day voyages, I rarely use the 25 punches. I will probably end up paying per cup. It it way cheaper, even per cup, than my vanilla soy latte at Starbucks which is currently $5.39 in NYC. An no, I don't buy one every day, just a treat. Nespresso and vanilla soy suffice at home.

I don't drink specialty coffees, but I drink a LOT of brewed coffee. I have 2 cards with no punches on it that i will bring on my upcoming 10 day cruise. I'm not expecting free unlimited brewed coffee, but i do expect to be able to use a punch for a brewed. That should get me 30 cups of coffee. I don't like specialty coffees, but it is a good value to me if I can get unlimited one cruise and then 15 cups on the next. If they do add the expiration date, I will buy by the cup, because it will be a better value.

 

That really seems unfair since they were sold under the pretense of being able to be used anytime on subsequent voyages. :mad:

++++++ 1

Srpilo

We will be on the Ruby Princess in 3 weeks. I have an unsigned/blank coffee card with no punches that was given to me by a friend. I am wondering if I will have trouble using it? Should I write the ship name, voyage number and date on it prior to using it or just leave it blank?

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The current expiration date on the new cards is 6/30/2018' date=' so your card will be fine on your B2B.[/quote']

 

 

 

Six months? That’s crazy! If a person purchases 15 punches, there shouldn’t be a time limit on using them.

 

 

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Personally, I never assumed that Princess meant to sell me a "Free coffee for life" card. It just didn't seem to make good business sense and I figured they made a mistake in labeling/marketing that they would eventually correct. That's not to say I haven't taken advantage of it as long as the ride has lasted but it's no surprise to me they're working to close the loopholes.

What loophole? It's like a gift card you purchase, and paid for 15 specialty coffees and now that gift card expires? The free brewed was never an issue after they started dating the cards.

I suspect the coffee card change mag be the result of cost vs. revenue.

My guess is that Princess has both cost and revenue goals on each voyage on each ship. By honoring coffee cards with no expiry any ship has the coffee cost, be it brewed or specialty, on its P&L, with no corresponding revenue.

If Princess plans to continue a coffee program, they ought to sell a single-voyage package that they can load onto one's cruise card or one's *****.

All this angst just seems petty

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Personally, I never assumed that Princess meant to sell me a "Free coffee for life" card. It just didn't seem to make good business sense and I figured they made a mistake in labeling/marketing that they would eventually correct. That's not to say I haven't taken advantage of it as long as the ride has lasted but it's no surprise to me they're working to close the loopholes.

Reasonable position.

I also doubt Princess wants the reselling of coffee cards on Evmbay to continue.

 

If Princess plans to continue a coffee program, they ought to sell a single-voyage package that they can load onto one's cruise card or one's *****.

 

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That’s a more reasonable solution than not allowing a person to use what is essentially a gift card balance.

I would love to see them do something like Royal Caribbean‘s refreshment package instead of the tired old soda package. The refreshment package includes fresh squeezed juice, bottled water, and specialty coffee in addition to soda and mocktails. It can be loaded onto a cruise card, and is good only for that journey. It would definitely take care of the indefinite use of coffee cards, as well as the selling of cards on eBay.

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If that becomes standard practice, IMO that's the same as stealing at least part of the monetary value of the unused punches. We paid for the card and if we don't get to use all of the punches on the cruise during which it was purchased or within the dated life of the card, that to me is thievery. In that instance, I will no longer buy coffee cards, but will fall back on the coffee from the Horizon Court.

I can understand that a card from a previous cruise not being usable to get "free" brewed coffee on later cruises, but the remaining punches should be able to be used for brewed coffee or specialty coffees until all the punches are used up, no matter how long it takes. That way we would at least get the full value of what we paid for the card.

Come on, Princess That's just a money grubbing tactic!

Yeah if you've paid for 15 coffees on a card, you've paid for 15 coffees and shouldn't be forced to use them on one cruise. That's just unfair.

Very much agree

The current expiration date on the new cards is 6/30/2018' date=' so your card will be fine on your B2B.[/quote']

 

 

 

It’s not 6/30/18 on all cruises. As I mentioned when starting this thread.... we sailed on the January 9, 2018 cruise on the Royal and coffee card has an expiration date of 12/31/18.

 

 

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I suspect the coffee card change mag be the result of cost vs. revenue.

 

My guess is that Princess has both cost and revenue goals on each voyage on each ship. By honoring coffee cards with no expiry any ship has the coffee cost, be it brewed or specialty, on its P&L, with no corresponding revenue.

 

If Princess plans to continue a coffee program, they ought to sell a single-voyage package that they can load onto one's cruise card or one's *****.

 

All this angst just seems petty

 

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By your logic they should be charging for coffee in the Horizon.

That’s a more reasonable solution than not allowing a person to use what is essentially a gift card balance.

 

I would love to see them do something like Royal Caribbean‘s refreshment package instead of the tired old soda package. The refreshment package includes fresh squeezed juice, bottled water, and specialty coffee in addition to soda and mocktails. It can be loaded onto a cruise card, and is good only for that journey. It would definitely take care of the indefinite use of coffee cards, as well as the selling of cards on eBay.

 

 

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Yes but their drink package allows as much as you want on that cruise unlike the Princess coffee card that has a limit or 15 punches.

If they sold the coffee card as unlimited for all their coffee on that cruise, your logic makes sense.

I'm wondering what they'll do when presented with an old coffee card - with or without a voyage & ship written on the back?

 

Possibly write an expiration date on it to limit it's future use?

 

That really seems unfair since they were sold under the pretense of being able to be used anytime on subsequent voyages. :mad:

In the past when we used a card without a voyage number or ship name on it, the current voyage number and ship was added when using it the first time

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I would argue that a coffee card is a gift card. Princess is headquartered in California. Ironically, California law prohibits putting an expiration date on gift cards ( Civil Code section 1749.5). I won’t be buying another coffee card, so it won’t matter to me. I suspect our cruise next week will be our last on Princess.

Musings @ 5:30 am with my first cup of coffee.

 

 

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All over a coffee card.....LOL.....Well counselor, Princess cruise ships do not fall under California law.

Cruise lines have been circumventing U.S. statutes and regulations since as early as the 1920s. It all depends on their registry. By opting to re-flag in a new nation, a vessel owner becomes subject to the safety, labor and environmental codes of that nation. Thus, those nations whose open registries have become the most popular also tend to be those who possess the most lax labor, safety and environmental codes. Plus this is compounded by overlapping with obscure maritime laws on the high seas. :):cool:

No ... because that is included in your cruise fare.

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Delete

In the past when we used a card without a voyage number or ship name on it, the current voyage number and ship was added when using it the first time

 

 

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I suppose now they'll be adding the ship/voyage and trying to add an expiration date on the back.

At that point I'll be extremely annoyed if they try adding an expiration date to my card which was obtained with the premise that it was good on subsequent Princess cruise ships in the future.

By your logic they should be charging for coffee in the Horizon.

 

 

 

 

 

Yes but their drink package allows as much as you want on that cruise unlike the Princess coffee card that has a limit or 15 punches.

 

If they sold the coffee card as unlimited for all their coffee on that cruise, your logic makes sense.

What I am saying is I would like to see them create another package. Similar to the alcohol package, a person could get unlimited amounts of the non-alcoholic beverages including coffee and water. That way no one would have to deal with punches, and Princess wouldn’t have to worry that the cards are going to find their way to eBay because there wouldn’t be any.

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