Loss of some Elite perks

[kenexx]

Those in full suites also get free laundry and report it comes back in one day even when elites not in a full suite have to wait several days.

 

 

Thats as it should be given the price that those of us who sail in full suites pay.

[XBGuy]

Not all hotels do rewards by $'s.

 

I agree, I don't think Holiday Inn does, and I don't think Best Western does. (When I traveled for work I belonged to all of them.) Similarly, most airlines give points for air miles flown, but not all of them--Southwest, for example.

 

Anyway, we do not drink alcoholic beverages as we don't like them, nor can I drink carbonated drinks or those high in sugar for medical reasons. We do take some excursions but prefer ones no longer than 4-5 hours long so we don't spend as much money as many do on a cruise.

 

I don't think anybody does everything on a cruise. I don't visit the casino. I don't play Bingo. I don't buy jewelry in their stores. If somebody wants to buy $1500 for art (?), I think it is smart of the cruise line to recognize that he is a profitable customer and give him an incentive to spend more.

 

BUT we do cruise as many as 100 plus days per year. So, using amount spent would certainly not be to our benefit. Yes, I do realize that the cruise fare would count.

 

Absolutely, your cruise fare would count. I would guess that the vast majority of most passengers' "spend" is in the fare. It certainly is in my case. However, as somebody has already indicated, why not give more "credit" to somebody paying full fare for a suite over somebody like me who always books a lower cost forward balcony? To me it makes good business sense.

 

Obviously, it is to Princess' benefit to cater to their existing customer base. That is the easiest place to book new sales. That is why loyalty programs were created. I would think, however, that paying particular attention to your most profitable customers would provide additional benefit.

[HaveDogWillTravel]

Hmmmm... Interesting idea about using money spent to award loyatly credits. We spend from $300-$600 per day per person (cruise fare alone) for every cruise have taken on Princess. We take their excursions, use EZ Air when needed, buy their AIBP (both of us), eat in specialty restaurants, pay our auto gratuities (and personally give tips to individuals for outstanding service using the ships envelopes at the end) However, we do not buy art or jewelry on Princess. I have priced jewelry and art on all the ships I have sailed so have a sense of prices there.

I would hope that people like us would have some benefits even though we spend faaaaaaaar less than those who buy jewelry and art.

Please let's not digress into the pros and cons of buying jewelry and art on Princess as it is completely besides the point.

 

The point is that people who do buy jewelry and art would skew the data right. There must be enough people who buy these things or the shops would be taken out and made into cabins (LOL). I am thinking that the distribution of amount of money spent on a cruise would be bi-modal with a strong left skew on the left mode (representing a more typical inside cabin, OV or balcony cabin perhaps). I need to find this data to use when I teach Stats this next fall semester. Could be fun.

 

At any rate how do you define a loyalty program with data that looks like that? Maybe I'll make it a test question and report back. My students always delight me with their innovative points of view.

[VibeGuy]

HAL does add bonus days sailed for onboard spend.

[RDC1]

3 day Elite laundry has been our experience for quite some time. We were on Ruby 3 weeks ago for a 6 day LA to Vancouver coastal. We were notified of the 3 day turnaround upon registration so we were very surprised on the second day when the laundry we put in on the evening of the first day came back. We did a second batch of laundry and it also came back the next day. We were told at the captains circle event that there were only 600 or so elites. It seems like it may simply be a capacity issue.

Rick

 

 

It is called setting expectations. Better off telling people it would take 3 days and deliver in one, than the opposite.

[caribill]

And are there no Elites who travel with their children or grandchildren?

 

The problem is not family traveling in the same cabin as an elite, but family members who are in other cabins and bring their laundry to the elite person to have it sent out for free.

[caribill]

We take their excursions, use EZ Air when needed, buy their AIBP (both of us), eat in specialty restaurants, pay our auto gratuities (and personally give tips to individuals for outstanding service using the ships envelopes at the end)

 

EZ Air $$$ go to the airlines with possibly a small commission to Princess. Money going to an airline should not count if $$$ spent would be a basis for status.

[caribill]

Absolutely, your cruise fare would count. I would guess that the vast majority of most passengers' "spend" is in the fare.

 

And what would count? The fare you paid to a TA who offers a discount or the advertised fare which you did not pay?

 

And of course each time you ask for a re-fare to get a lower price, you would also get less "points" towards status.

 

Why make it so complicated? It really works OK now.

[caribill]

We take their excursions, use EZ Air when needed, buy their AIBP (both of us), eat in specialty restaurants, pay our auto gratuities (and personally give tips to individuals for outstanding service using the ships envelopes at the end)

 

How about neither cruise credits given or days cruised counted on any voyage where the auto-gratuities were removed by the passenger?

[crochetcruise]

Again, how do we make the leap that others are in different cabins? Why should we conclude that people who wear extra large clothing items do not travel with children? No one can see inside another person's laundry bag, so this entire discussion is theoretical in any event. If one wants to draw conclusions from the volume of laundry, fine. But no conclusion can be drawn from the size or style of the items in the bag.

 

I use a sheet protector which goes on top of the sheet, and if reasonably bulky when folded so it bulked out my laundry bag. I forgot-newbie mistake-to put the bag out before 9.00am, fortunately I had disposable protection with me. I have learned from this mistake.

 

I'm also a larger size and wear men's tshirts and sweatshirts because I prefer the brown and orange tones I can't usually get in women's clothing

[mrs and mrs]

Thats as it should be given the price that those of us who sail in full suites pay.

 

a ha so theres different levels of elites

How interesting and amusing.

[Gwendy]

a ha so theres different levels of elites

How interesting and amusing.

Not to mention those of us who sail solo and pay exorbitant single supplement! Lol

[Happy2cruise]

Why not do away with free laundry and instead give Elites a discounted rate on their laundry.....bet that would cut down on the abuse:evilsmile:

[floridalover5623]

All Princess has to do is price out all the perks with a dollar value & allot a certain number of dollars to each level to spend as they see fit. I certainly can live with their crappy laundry service and just a little of their cleaning. If those that want to clean every article of clothing they wear every day, they can spend their on board allowance as they see fit.

[sonomaphil]

Me, me, me, me, gimme, gimme, gimme. That's not fair! Their slice of pie is bigger than mine! What are you going to do for me?

 

Second childhoods are true.

[umuva]

All Princess has to do is price out all the perks with a dollar value & allot a certain number of dollars to each level to spend as they see fit. I certainly can live with their crappy laundry service and just a little of their cleaning. If those that want to clean every article of clothing they wear every day, they can spend their on board allowance as they see fit.

 

 

You mean there is something wrong with washing the clothes you wore all day? Especially in the tropics? If the laundry service is crappy, don't use it. We have found their service, including dry cleaning, to be more than adequate.

 

 

 

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[compozer]

Me, me, me, me, gimme, gimme, gimme. That's not fair! Their slice of pie is bigger than mine! What are you going to do for me?

 

Second childhoods are true.

 

 

I have been saying this for years. It is all about ME!!!

[floridalover5623]

You mean there is something wrong with washing the clothes you wore all day? Especially in the tropics? If the laundry service is crappy, don't use it. We have found their service, including dry cleaning, to be more than adequate.

 

 

 

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Some people put on a shirt for 2 hours, eat diner & send it in for cleaning. That is totally unnecessary. They're the ones who should be paying the price for extra laundry service.

If they were limited to a "reasonable" amount like 1 bag per person every other day they would think twice or do it themselves.

[umuva]

Some people put on a shirt for 2 hours, eat diner & send it in for cleaning. That is totally unnecessary. They're the ones who should be paying the price for extra laundry service.

 

If they were limited to a "reasonable" amount like 1 bag per person every other day they would think twice or do it themselves.

 

 

"Reasonable", "unnecessary "? Maybe for you. How about small people half the amount of large people? Since their clothes are smaller. How about a laundry police so you can check to see if the clothes are really dirty? How about different grades of dirt or must wear for a certain amount of time?

 

 

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[justafem]

We used the free laundry for the first time during our last cruise and this was our second time in a window suite. I have no idea how many elites there were, but the platinum/elite reception was packed (weirdly enough we had 3 levels of cards for the 3 people in our room, I'm platinum, hubby was ruby and the kid was gold). I counted 35ish suites on the Grand.

 

So 3 people, all distinctly different sized clothing (hubby is a men's med, I'm a fem large and the adult kid is a fem 4x) and we could have had a 4th person in the room (which we will on our upcoming cruise). We made sure our laundry was blue-bagged the night before, but didn't set it outside the door, just left it on the bed for our steward to pick up when he cleaned the room. We ALWAYS got our laundry back the next day and I'm sure if we would have put the bag out, we would have gotten in the "same" day. But that is a suite perk.

 

We are fast tracking our way to elite due to the double cruise points in the window suites (at 6 cruises, I have 9 cruise points). We keep booking them for the space and the ability to add an extra person or two for minimal cost, without feeling like I'm losing the ability to move.

 

That said, I adore the free laundry! When we finally hit elite, I'm sure we'll use it and I appreciate that perk. It's FREE, yes, we "earned" it by cruising, but it's still free. Maybe I'm too working class, but I appreciate the small stuff, heck I still get a thrill out of the toilet paper folded into a point every time I walk into the room.

[antsp]

Why all the fuss over a few items that all the elite passengers send in, stop and thinks about all the laundry done on a ship in a day

 

Pool towels

Cabin towels

Napkins

Table clothes

Crew uniform

Muts blankets

[umuva]

We used the free laundry for the first time during our last cruise and this was our second time in a window suite. I have no idea how many elites there were, but the platinum/elite reception was packed (weirdly enough we had 3 levels of cards for the 3 people in our room, I'm platinum, hubby was ruby and the kid was gold). I counted 35ish suites on the Grand.

 

So 3 people, all distinctly different sized clothing (hubby is a men's med, I'm a fem large and the adult kid is a fem 4x) and we could have had a 4th person in the room (which we will on our upcoming cruise). We made sure our laundry was blue-bagged the night before, but didn't set it outside the door, just left it on the bed for our steward to pick up when he cleaned the room. We ALWAYS got our laundry back the next day and I'm sure if we would have put the bag out, we would have gotten in the "same" day. But that is a suite perk.

 

We are fast tracking our way to elite due to the double cruise points in the window suites (at 6 cruises, I have 9 cruise points). We keep booking them for the space and the ability to add an extra person or two for minimal cost, without feeling like I'm losing the ability to move.

 

That said, I adore the free laundry! When we finally hit elite, I'm sure we'll use it and I appreciate that perk. It's FREE, yes, we "earned" it by cruising, but it's still free. Maybe I'm too working class, but I appreciate the small stuff, heck I still get a thrill out of the toilet paper folded into a point every time I walk into the room.

 

 

 

 

 

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[floridalover5623]

"Reasonable", "unnecessary "? Maybe for you. How about small people half the amount of large people? Since their clothes are smaller. How about a laundry police so you can check to see if the clothes are really dirty? How about different grades of dirt or must wear for a certain amount of time?

 

 

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Sounds like you inferring that large people are dirtier than small people. ;p

[floridalover5623]

Why all the fuss over a few items that all the elite passengers send in, stop and thinks about all the laundry done on a ship in a day

 

Pool towels

Cabin towels

Napkins

Table clothes

Crew uniform

Muts blankets

I'd bet that 1/2 those MUTS blankets are just refolded without being washed. :o

[umuva]

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