Free Internet eliminated from all suites

[candydane]

It's not just the free internet or slippers -- Princess suite perks and all onboard service has been steadily declining over the last couple years.

 

Unlike in the past, our Grand Suite room steward was so overworked last year that he barely had time to make the bed, let alone clean very well or provide any personal service like we used to get in all suites. Our friends in a mini suite didn't even get their room made up one day -- the room steward ran out of time he had so many cabins to do!!!

 

I'll be using up my Princess Visa onboard credits on my upcoming Alaska cruise in August and expect it will be my last Princess cruise. I'll be canceling our Princess Visa cards and selling our CCL stock when I get home.

 

Princess used to be our favorite line but not anymore. We've switched and plan to sail mostly on NCL in the future.

[caribill]

It's my understanding that the first nights dinner being added is just like the special breakfast each morning in that other family members sailing with you who are staying in a cabin other than a suite can not join you.

 

Others can join you at the first night's dinner; they (or you) just have to pay the normal charge for each of them.

 

But for the breakfast, they could not join you even if willing to pay extra for it.

[cruzsnooze]

It's my understanding that the first nights dinner being added is just like the special breakfast each morning in that other family members sailing with you who are staying in a cabin other than a suite can not join you. With that said how many people would take advantage of the offer and leave their children, parents or other family to eat alone?

 

I'd be surprised if anyone traveling with family would.

Very easy solution, pay for the guests that are not in suites. In this case unlike the special breakfast at sabitini's your family and friends can join you.

[cruzsnooze]

It's not just the free internet or slippers -- Princess suite perks and all onboard service has been steadily declining over the last couple years.

 

 

 

I'll be using up my Princess Visa onboard credits on my upcoming Alaska cruise in August and expect it will be my last Princess cruise. I'll be canceling our Princess Visa cards and selling our CCL stock when I get home.

 

Princess used to be our favorite line but not anymore. We've switched and plan to sail mostly on NCL in the future.

NCL is a step down or at best a the same. . All cruise lines have cut back so if you want the same experience as you had before you'll need to go to Oceania or Crystal or Regent because you can't get it on a mass market cruise line.

[Starlaker]

Most of our cruises have been with Princess and for the most part we have been very happy with them. Then we did a cruse with Oceania and got very spoiled. Their level of service is a big step up. However, the cost is significantly more. You get what you pay for.

[tjcox9]

34440775[/color]]After I wrote that I remembered on formal night that the Capt. gave out frequent cruisers awards and the first place couple had an outrageous amount of cruises (I forget how many) and the 2nd place had 12. So' date=' obviously, there was only one elite couple cruising.

There were very few people having breakfast in Sabatini's on that cruise. Maybe they ate early and we mostly ate around 9.

That is a perk I would be majorly upset about if they took it away. ;)[/quote']

 

We have only twelve Princess cruises behind us and are elite. It is possible if one takes longer cruises.

 

[stellalimelight]

Things change and I pretty much go with the flow. Since I have traveled on cruises where the price of crude oil was way above the the limit where Princess could add the fuel surcharge and did not do it, I consider that a plus. Should they have grandfathered already book passengers, as a customer service satisfaction issue, yes. So maybe if they get enough complaints they will reconsider grandfathering those already book. However, this would surely not stop me from cruising Princess. We all pay for things that someone uses that we don't, so it all washes out in the end. I wish I could afford to book a suite but I see your point.

[Griller]

As fa

After I wrote that I remembered on formal night that the Capt. gave out frequent cruisers awards and the first place couple had an outrageous amount of cruises (I forget how many) and the 2nd place had 12. So, obviously, there was only one elite couple cruising.

There were very few people having breakfast in Sabatini's on that cruise. Maybe they ate early and we mostly ate around 9.

That is a perk I would be majorly upset about if they took it away. ;)

 

We just debarked Ocean Princess and out of 635 or so passengers there were 143 Elite.

 

The most travelled passengers had over 2000 days, the third most travelled had 1200 or so.

 

Fortunately we were all in the same quite successful Trivia team.....................

 

As far as the elimination of unlimited internet - Congratulations Princess , you just took away the last ( and illogical) reason I might book a suite these days.

 

Long Live Inside Cabins! 5 Cruises for the price of one in a suite.

 

Anyone want a lanyard?|

[crusinbanjo]

Most of our cruises have been with Princess and for the most part we have been very happy with them. Then we did a cruse with Oceania and got very spoiled. Their level of service is a big step up. However, the cost is significantly more. You get what you pay for.

 

Mrs Banjo & I have cruised on many lines, and for sure, you get what you pay for!

 

Having said that, our Alaska cruise in September will likely be our last ocean cruise for the next few years. Mrs Banjo & I have cruised most all of the IT's offered and we have noticed significant declines in the overall experience. With the cruise lines building bigger & bigger ships, the overall level of service and quality will continue to decline.

 

We plan do do more river and barge cruising, as well as exploring a few other travel experiences for awhile.

[earljr]

Because of many of the reasons mentioned we have

our next cruise of 42 days booked on Hal and our

March cruise of 21 days us also on Hal.

 

We feel Princess overall

cruise appeal is declining rapidly.

 

Having said that we are now in the process

of booking 2 more Princess cruises.

[ONT-CA]

Very easy solution, pay for the guests that are not in suites. In this case unlike the special breakfast at sabitini's your family and friends can join you.

 

A similar situation can occur with breakfast at Sabatini's, although not in an official capacity. We know of several passengers who have joined their "Suite" friends for breakfast by making $atisfactory arrangement$ with the Table Captain

[Griller]

A thread like this will show if Princess people (higher ups) actually read CC and are prepared to listen to feedback from their suite passengers. Common sense says they should but common sense is in short supply these days.

 

I firmly believe that Princess, while they have excellent past passenger benefits which encourage frequent cruisers, make more money from passengers on their first 5 cruises.

 

After that many cruises passengers don't buy so many photos, don't go on so many excursions, don't use the Chef's Table or specialty restaurants so often and for all I know have found ways to smuggle their own booze on board.

 

I have been told that if you, as a much travelled Princess passenger, now write in to Princess with a complaint or comment about lack of service or something wrong then you are likely to receive a standard form letter back telling you to go to another cruiseline if you like.

 

I would guess they know they aren't making so much money out of us Elite.

Specially those frugal ones who book an Inside cabin at the last minute flash fare.

[JimmyVWine]

I firmly believe that Princess, while they have excellent past passenger benefits which encourage frequent cruisers, make more money from passengers on their first 5 cruises.

 

After that many cruises passengers don't buy so many photos, don't go on so many excursions, don't use the Chef's Table or specialty restaurants so often and for all I know have found ways to smuggle their own booze on board.

 

I have been told that if you, as a much travelled Princess passenger, now write in to Princess with a complaint or comment about lack of service or something wrong then you are likely to receive a standard form letter back telling you to go to another cruiseline if you like.

 

I would guess they know they aren't making so much money out of us Elite.

Specially those frugal ones who book an Inside cabin at the last minute flash fare.

 

While I don't necessarily disagree with your overall premise, the issue here is cutting back a perk from suite passengers--not from Elites or frequent cruisers. Suite passengers are not always frequent cruisers.

 

Above all else, I believe that a paying customer should get what s/he paid for, and what was advertised. This mandates that grandfathering should be employed to provide Internet service to everyone who had booked prior to the change. Beyond that, I think that the outrage is misplaced. Again, if it is advertised, it should be provided. But there is nothing inherent in the concept of booking a suite that would require this perk. I can see rewarding Platinum and Elite cruisers with a freebie, but to me, a suite is simply a larger stateroom. You are paying for square footage. No doubt, some genius in a board room commented that Princess was giving away an asset that people would be willing to pay for. And that goes along with the notion that people who pay for suites can pay $75 for Internet. Now, I realize that it is taboo to make that point here on a chat board. But let's not ignore the fact that it is not taboo for Princess executives to raise that point in a revenue maximization meeting. To think otherwise is naive. Bad business in the short run? Probably. Bad business in the long run? We'll see. It all depends on a comparison of the revenue lost from the number of people that Princess chases away compared to the number of suite bookers who pay for Internet. This is nothing more or less than a move to please shareholders over customers.

[Griller]

I certainly agree with you, however as usual Princess are likely to be saving cents on costs and losing dollars in profits. There are so many instances of this currently.

 

As a shareholder I was checking the overall Carnival Corp net profit the other day and its better than RCL.

But revenue is down. Not a healthy situation.

Unfortunately I cannot separate Princess from the overall figures.

[4cats4me]

Perhaps the Suite Internet perk was being abused by those "loaning" their logon password to family & friends. Just like other perks, it they get abused, they go bye bye.. Maybe Princess will reconsider and change the Suite Internet perk to something like 20 hours per cabin for each 7 day segment. This in addition to the free Internet for Platinum members should be plenty..

 

I can see, because of the smartphone explosion and the inability of those users to function without staring at a 4 inch screen, the free internet hours being lowered in the future or done away with completely.

 

Wondering what internet perks the other cruise lines have?

 

Next thing you know Princess will be imposing a health care tax on those who book suites.:eek: It's pretty obvious that Princess doesn't appreciate their highest paying customers....

[4cats4me]

This is really upsetting! I booked a suite and that is one of the things that prompted me to do it! Not happy!

P\

Perhaps you could cancel? And I'm not being facetious, either. We paid $5,700 for a suite once when everyone else in our party was paying around $700 to $1,200 pp for other types of accommodations. the LEAST they can do is throw in a free Internet. There's really not much of an incentive to book a full suite over a mini-suite, IMHO. We've been just as happy with the minis

[4cats4me]

That makes me laugh when they just gave the suite people a complementary meal in the Specialty restaurants the first night. LOL :D:D

I didn't hear of anyone complaining about that increase in perks.

 

 

I don't find anything funny about Mike's ['bhopal] post. So WHAT if they are giving a "free" meal in a specialty restaurant. The monetary value of special meal still doesn't compare with the Internet value Therefore, the perk has been diminished

[GlacierMD]

It is sad to see that this discussion has come down to the snubbing of people who book suites and not the fact that Princess is not delivering on what they advertised for those who have bookings. Personally I only book insides and enjoy them. I believe the fair thing to do is honor those who have already booked suites. For those of you that stay in suites...Bravo. Ignore the snubbing.

[1 HappyCruiser]

I don't find anything funny about Mike's ['bhopal] post. So WHAT if they are giving a "free" meal in a specialty restaurant. The monetary value of special meal still doesn't compare with the Internet value Therefore, the perk has been diminished

 

If the people in suites feel that strongly about the loss then they quit booking Princess ships entirely (or maybe lower their standards to go in a mini) but I'd almost bet that 1 person in a hundred will abandon Princess because of that loss. :D

People threatened to leave Princess many times over after each cutback (smoking, entertainment, restaurant hours, staggered boarding, etc. and I see them still posting. I can only wonder why. :p:rolleyes::rolleyes:

[4cats4me]

It is no longer listed in the amenities of suites which has recently been changed to include a free dinner at a speciality restaurant on the first night:

 

http://www.princess.com/downloads/pdf/ships/PrincessSuite_eFlyer.pdf

 

-----

 

While I have cruised in suites previously, I have not recently. I did spend 3 weeks on the Sapphire recently (in a mini suite that cost me significantly more then I have paid in the past) and after the cruise, I realized that Princess is no longer the line for me. It is the gradual cuts over the years that made me realize that "Princess cruising" is not what it used to be. I have to say that we had excellent service in many areas on the ship. The wait staff was great, our room steward was great, etc... But it is the overall cuts (over the years) that no longer makes me feel the same way I used to about cruising. Some of them are small things and some are items that may not mean much to some, other things are things that I don't like (MUTS blaring during the day). I realize that all mid-line cruise lines are going through similar cuts and it is entirely possible I wouldn't be happy on those lines either so I had already decided to take a break from cruising and do land based trips. I may end up on a Princess ship in the future, if my mom wants to go one more time (cruising is something that I have done with my mom) but it wouldn't be my choice.

 

A few of the cuts that have annoyed me are dining room menu cuts (and lack of changing menus like other lines have), loss of lunch on port day cuts, the new very uncomfortable furniture on my balcony which made it very uncomfortable to sit in for long periods of time when I had 4 glacier days with Princess recently, the lack of food in the buffet around 3:30 (it was extremely minimal - the buffet was closed and the area outside of the buffet that they built had very minimal food), the increased demands on the staff to do more and to be pushed to a point where service is lacking (not their fault), decrease space ratio on their newer ships, etc... My cruise on the Crown Princess was so crowded and there were so many lines that I have specifically avoided those ships the past few years.

 

I could go on. I am paying more for my cruises then I did before. I am getting less then what I used to get. It may not affect some, but it affects me.

 

I sold my Carnival stock when I returned from my cruise last month as I didn't see a need for it in the future as I don't expect to be using that perk in the future.

 

As far as the internet issue - Princess can pay more for better bandwidth (even with satellite) -they can do this. I am tired of people saying "it is slow because it is satellite". It is slow because they are choosing not to pay more for more internet bandwidth, though charging a high fee for their internet. Heck, in 2002 or so, Princess only charged .35/per minute for internet. Technology has gotten cheaper and Princess increases their rates.

 

I read recently that RCCL is greatly increasing their internet speed on one of their ships as a trial bases ( http://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/news/news.cfm?ID=4885 ) .

 

Bash me if you choose. I used to be a huge supporter (maybe even a cheerleader) of Princess but over the last few years, I have definitely changed my thoughts. Cruising on Princess no longer has the magic it used to and it no longer is the value I once considered it to be. I no longer want to feel like I am being herded by cattle which is what my last few cruises made me feel like.

 

Coral, next to Toto, you are one of the most respected posters on the Princess board. Due to your beautiful pictures over the years of the suites, we chose to book the exact suite that you'd photographed. We loved Princess in the beginning, as did most people we know. Shortly after we started cruising Princess Carnival bought them. My husband I said uh-oh. And truly, the product has become more and more diminished through the years. The first couple years after the Carnival takeover Princess was still pretty decent. However, in the last 2 to 3 years we've really felt a difference. We realize this is due in large part to the huge economical upheavals since 2005, yet Carnival now decides to spend more money building newer ships that we don't want or need, instead of improving the current fleet and keeping the benefits that so many of us have been accustomed to over the years. To a newer cruiser, Princess probably fits the bill. To those of us who know what the product could be or used to be, it's become passe.

It's been a year exactly since our last Princess cruise, and at this point I really don't know when we'll be going next on Princess. We are currently booked on Celebrity for 2013.

 

Last year we noticed a huge decrease in quality. LIke you, Coral, it's the little things, and when I expressed my opinions last year, I was met with extreme opposition by many posters. Let's see -- no more 24/7 buffet at Horizon Court was implemented 2 months after our last cruise in 2012. Not a big deal to many but it was a huge deal breaker for me. The coffee card thing -- I never buy a card so not a big deal. Charging for this and that. Tired of ala carte cruising. Would rather have the overall fare increased and enjoy a higher quality of a cruising experience that Princess had not so long ago. Now Princess has cut the length of shows to 30 minutes. On the fence about that one. About 4 years ago they started repeating the shows 3 times a week, so less entertainment budget.

Two years ago we noticed that the quality of the beef in the main dining room wasn't quite as good, yet it was still tolerable. Last July, 2011, the beef was nearly inedible. No, I don't want to pay extra to go to the steakhouse, but I would be willing to pay more for my fare if it meant bringing back quality beef in the MDR. Cost of drinks have skyrocketed, but in fairness to Princess, drinks have skyrocketed pretty much everywhere and on other cruiselines as well.

 

We too, Coral, have chosen more land based vacations since we feel at this time that they offer us more what we need right now. Truthfully, the reason we chose cruising was for the all-inclusive aspect of it, the relaxation, et cet, and it used to be a good bang for the buck. Even though the cruise fares are a good bang for the buck, after you factor in all the extras, it's cheaper for me to do a land based fantastic vacation. I know I'm leaving some things out, but those are the things that come to my mind right now. And as for the 3:30 thing, very little or miminal food in the H/C, that's a new one on me. I would be very P.O'd if there was hardly anything to choose from in the afternoon. H/C used to have abundant choosings at 3:30. I also heard similar complaints about the H/C regarding the Star Princess in April --- very obvious that Princess has become stingy with the food budget. Shades of my Carnival cruise

[Starlaker]

As far as I can see, the issue is that Princess is breaching a contract made with those who have booked suites. Most people don't seem to have a major problem with changes in benefits as long as they are notified before they book. Grandfathering this benefit would have been the honorable thing to do. By the way, I have never had a suite and never will, but that doesn't mean that I don't want others to be treated fairly. Guess it all depends on whose Ox is being gored for many of the posters on here.

[4cats4me]

I think the people that abuse the system might be the people that are upgraded free. Not those of us who are paying for them.

 

Several times I have heard people say (in a large group of friends) "we have free internet, so let me know when you want to use it." same with laundry. They are so thrilled to be upgraded that they offer the perks to their friends.Look at how many upgraded people ask here about brings friends to different functions, etc.

 

 

WRONG. We paid for a full suite in the past and we've been upgraded to a full suite in the past. NEVER did we use ANY Internet, let alone offer it to the other 5 people who were traveling in our group:rolleyes: Furthermore, what's the difference if someone wanted to loan their computer to someone else for 10 minutes to check on something? Even though I did not consume one minute of Internet time, even if I had logged in for a family member to check on an airline pass or a boarding pass, that's my business. They A: Might either ask me to use the computer or B: They give me all their info and I check on it for them. What's the difference?. It's amazing to me everytime Princess takes away something, instead of blaming Princess everyone is quick to blame the Princess clientele for freely "giving away perks to the world." And if you have overheard peopel in the past giving away freebies, perhaps reporting it to the purser's desk might have been an option to thwart said activity. I was never so "thrilled" to be upgraded that I gave away my freebies. LOL

[4cats4me]

The Carnival Circus Lads have done it again. They do not think out their marketing ideas such as free internet, never thinking that it would come home to haunt them in usage. Just as they didn't think out that offering Sabatini's breakfast to the Elite would overtake the staff and that too had to be rescinded. They don't seem to understand that it's not unlike giving a dog a bone.....just try taking it away from him. We bite.

 

So the breakfasts for Elites has been taken away, too? Oh brother.:rolleyes:

[Griller]

If the people in suites feel that strongly about the loss then they quit booking Princess ships entirely (or maybe lower their standards to go in a mini) but I'd almost bet that 1 person in a hundred will abandon Princess because of that loss. :D

People threatened to leave Princess many times over after each cutback (smoking, entertainment, restaurant hours, staggered boarding, etc. and I see them still posting. I can only wonder why. :p:rolleyes::rolleyes:

 

I keep on sailing Princess because its still quite a good experience, its a fair price for an inside cabin usually, and because of the generous OBC and the free laundry.

 

If they were taken away I would not be so loyal.

[4cats4me]

If the people in suites feel that strongly about the loss then they quit booking Princess ships entirely (or maybe lower their standards to go in a mini) but I'd almost bet that 1 person in a hundred will abandon Princess because of that loss. :D

People threatened to leave Princess many times over after each cutback (smoking, entertainment, restaurant hours, staggered boarding, etc. and I see them still posting. I can only wonder why. :p:rolleyes::rolleyes:[/quo

 

Because some posters, like myself, enjoy the entertainment value of this board at times like this. :D

I'd completely forgotten about the staggered boarding. Bad, bad Princess. LOL