Coffee Card

Has anyone recently bought a coffee card? I hear they now expire. I called the Princess 800# and couldn't get a definitive answer. I know I can still use up my old card. Wondered if they have made a final decision on new cards. Thank You

It appears that they are using up whatever stock they have and then changing to the new cards which currently have a 12/31/18 expiration date. There are reports in the last week or so that some ships are still handing out cards with no dates while others are using dated cards.

With the different ships handing out different cards, it is easy to see why the call to Princess did not yield a clear answer

Just off the Royal Princess and the coffee cards had a Dec 31/18 expiry date. Very fine print mind you, at the bottom of the card. The staff at the IC do not help matters as I over heard the staff person telling the lady she can use the punches on upcoming voyages which is true but he failed to realize they must be used by the expiry date. The lady did go to the pursers desk and they did confirm that the card would expire Dec 31/18.

So many cruisers I talked to were unaware of the expiry date.

I imagine many are not happy with that. It would be bad enough to have a (full) year but if you buy it in June etc...then its only good for half year ??? Not everyone can cruise multiple times a year. It may change our minds on if we buy cards in the future. Thanks for the information. Seems to be a lot of changes in many areas.

We only cruise with Princess once a year and we get 2 coffee cards in exchange for our Elite mini bar so on the last day if we have any punches left just ask if anyone wants a free coffee.

Sweet !!!! We did something similar on a recent cruise where we had drink "coupons". The last night at dinner we "bought" the table a round! Cruisers are good people.

We just got off of the Regal on March 4. We purchased a coffee card and it had a 12/31/18 expiration date. Two different people at IC told me that the punches do not expire, but your ability to use it at IC for coffee or tea does. Assuming this is true, that should clarify it.

No matter to us as my wife only drinks cold coffee drinks and we ended up purchasing 12 large cold coffees between us. The large were either $5 or $5.50 each so we are ahead even if the punches expire. I do wish we had purchased them earlier as we would have used all 15 punches.

As I have a side issue with Princess, this may have been my first and last cruise with Princess. I am planning to appeal what I was told onboard to a higher authority.

Wonder when they will add time to the coffee card?

We just got off of the Regal on March 4. We purchased a coffee card and it had a 12/31/18 expiration date. Two different people at IC told me that the punches do not expire, but your ability to use it at IC for coffee or tea does. Assuming this is true, that should clarify it.

No matter to us as my wife only drinks cold coffee drinks and we ended up purchasing 12 large cold coffees between us. The large were either $5 or $5.50 each so we are ahead even if the punches expire. I do wish we had purchased them earlier as we would have used all 15 punches.

As I have a side issue with Princess, this may have been my first and last cruise with Princess. I am planning to appeal what I was told onboard to a higher authority.

They should clarify it to us and educate the staff!

Some times at Princess the Right hand doesn’t know what the Left hand is doing. You call and you get a different answer for the same question. :rolleyes:

Tony

As I have a side issue with Princess, this may have been my first and last cruise with Princess. I am planning to appeal what I was told onboard to a higher authority.

Care to share what the issue was?

Each card should last the length of the cruise and then expire. Done. Leave the ship and toss it. Done. Why should something so simple be so complicated. Lifetime coffee for $35? Not really.

Each card should last the length of the cruise and then expire. Done. Leave the ship and toss it. Done. Why should something so simple be so complicated. Lifetime coffee for $35? Not really.

So agree.

If PCL had ever realized people would save these cards for cruise after cruise this new policy would have instituted when the coffee card product was introduced.

Each card should last the length of the cruise and then expire. Done. Leave the ship and toss it. Done. Why should something so simple be so complicated. Lifetime coffee for $35? Not really.

How do you figure lifetime coffee... it's just using up 15 cups. That's a limit in most people's eyes.

Some coffee cards have been kicking around for many cruises...lifetime was an exaggeration. ;)

We have two, blank, coffee cards that we bought for the recent cruise that we had to cancel.

Our next cruise will be later this year, and we have the Beverage Package.

Might need to ditch them on eBay, or see if we can connect with somebody who is cruising soon!

I do not feel that there is any guarantee that these blank cards will be be good after this year.

We currently have three coffee cards with unused punches. One is from our cruise last August. We traded in a minibar setup on the Royal in December for the other two. Fortunately our cards don't have expiration dates. We've never used the cards for the free brewed coffee. We have used them for free tea/tea bags.

Has anyone recently bought a coffee card? I hear they now expire. I called the Princess 800# and couldn't get a definitive answer. I know I can still use up my old card. Wondered if they have made a final decision on new cards. Thank You

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We purchased coffee cards on the Emerald last month. We were told that the ability to get free coffee at the International Cafe expired at the end of the cruise and the punches expire on 12/31.

 

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This is what most people are assuming as the policy Princess intends,,,but it is not what Princess personnel are saying on all ships and at their on shore phone service.

This is what most people are assuming as the policy Princess intends' date=',,but it is not what Princess personnel are saying on all ships and at their on shore phone service.[/quote']

 

The people on the ships that have been saying the punches expire on the printed date have been supervisory personnel that theoretically should know.

 

Reports have indicated that staff selling the cards on board were not even aware there was an expiration date printed on them.

 

Those at Princess HQ who answer the calls probably have no true idea what the policy will be.

 

Since the unlimited fresh brewed coffee feature expires at the end of the cruise the card was acquired, the only possible reason for having an expiration date printed is to have it apply to the punches. If the punches do not expire, then there is no need for a printed expiration date.

The people on the ships that have been saying the punches expire on the printed date have been supervisory personnel that theoretically should know.

 

Reports have indicated that staff selling the cards on board were not even aware there was an expiration date printed on them.

 

Those at Princess HQ who answer the calls probably have no true idea what the policy will be.

 

Since the unlimited fresh brewed coffee feature expires at the end of the cruise the card was acquired, the only possible reason for having an expiration date printed is to have it apply to the punches. If the punches do not expire, then there is no need for a printed expiration date.

I totally understand your logic. However, I question how Princess can say that the fresh brew feature expires at the end of the cruise on which the card was purchased when it doesn't say that anywhere on the card, and in fact says that it does expire on 12/31/18. My point is that the printed information does not conform with the actual "in use" information on MOST ships. And enforcement/information seems to vary from one ship to another (no surprise there.)

I understand how we all believe that Princess intends for it to function. The design and wording on the card itself was poorly done and contributes to the confusion.

I have just returned from a cruise on the Sea Princess. I swapped the elite mini bar for 2 coffee cards and the cards were not dated to expire, nor was the ships name written on the cards.

Each card should last the length of the cruise and then expire. Done. Leave the ship and toss it. Done. Why should something so simple be so complicated. Lifetime coffee for $35? Not really.

The point is that you paid for 15 drinks. When you have 15 punches, you are done. The company is not out any money even if you finish it on another cruise. So why should it expire? Just like gift cards that you bought and paid for can no longer expire under the law!

The people on the ships that have been saying the punches expire on the printed date have been supervisory personnel that theoretically should know.

 

Reports have indicated that staff selling the cards on board were not even aware there was an expiration date printed on them.

 

Those at Princess HQ who answer the calls probably have no true idea what the policy will be.

 

Since the unlimited fresh brewed coffee feature expires at the end of the cruise the card was acquired, the only possible reason for having an expiration date printed is to have it apply to the punches. If the punches do not expire, then there is no need for a printed expiration date.

The obvious problem is that there are two different expiration dates to be considered. Possibly thought up by two different Princess departments.

The first date being the handwritten ship name & voyage number for unlimited brewed coffee without punches - only good for the current cruise plus 15 specialty coffees with a punch

and now a limitation of use for specialty coffees by the printed date on all new cards.

They've created a situation that's very confusing to explain to a person who purchases the card for the first time. I think most crew members will just skip over the expiration date unless specifically asked about it.