Revamped Tier Levels Coming Soon

[Steelers36]

43 minutes ago, dreams_of_travel said:

I'm curious, was there a discount for the buy up to unlimited?

Yes.  The discount for Elite/Platinum was 25% off the on-board "Day 1" pricing of unlimited internet.  This was the best deal.  Do not order the internet in Personalizer if Elite/Platinum because you don't get the discount that way (at least pre-Covid pauses). 

 

You should pre-order Personalizer purchase deal if lower than Platinum as that is your best deal.

 

Rumor is that our 25% discount benefit is going to increase to 50%.

 

[Steelers36]

46 minutes ago, dreams_of_travel said:

I don't need a second device but some people would use it as you suggested for a second device. Especially if they needed to take care of some business while onboard. 

We have our laptops with us as well as our phones.  I don't find it an inconvenience - in fact you do not have to log off the active device as the system will prompt you and auto-logoff when go to use the alternate device.  

 

Last time or two, we had a four-device plan (was same net cost as two single plans) and shared with friends.  When it prompts you to log off a device, it shows all devices currently logged in and you pick the one to cancel.  If I am nice, I cancel out my own phone; if I am feeling evil, I cancel out my friends device.  HA, HA - just kidding.

 

[Sea Hag]

30 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

You might have the earliest group.  Often boarding can begin just before 11:30am, but I am thinking they think 11:30 is earliest.  This did occur to me... they don't want anyone sitting in the terminal after check-in.  Just check-in and go onto the ship.  11:30 start pretty much ensures that.  Do you figure you are in first group?  It is nice to read that functionality is working!!

 

That was the earliest time offered, and I'm thinking it's probably the earliest. I was happy to get it since we're going to be in Seattle early that day. I closed the app and opened it back up again a couple of times, and the arrival time is still in place. You can see how much I trust that app!

[Steelers36]

6 minutes ago, Sea Hag said:

That was the earliest time offered, and I'm thinking it's probably the earliest. I was happy to get it since we're going to be in Seattle early that day. I closed the app and opened it back up again a couple of times, and the arrival time is still in place. You can see how much I trust that app!

Me too on the trust.  Every time I read of a new problem or someone who was working and seems have lost something, I open the App and check.

 

Yes, I saw another thread where someone posted a screenshot and just three groups and labelled A, B, C.  Early, Mid, Late - so it seems the only delineations for now.  Of course, we expect first cruises to be less than full.  Perhaps more groups in future.  

 

Frankly, I hope well before Fall 2022, this whole Arrival Group thing is gone.

 

Are you Elite, BTW?  As for still available, how many even know about it if not on CC - unless Princess sent a prompter email out?

[voljeep]

8 minutes ago, Sea Hag said:

That was the earliest time offered, and I'm thinking it's probably the earliest. I was happy to get it since we're going to be in Seattle early that day. I closed the app and opened it back up again a couple of times, and the arrival time is still in place. You can see how much I trust that app!

definitely not directed at you or any one else in particular ... but I hope that if you show up 15 minutes after the time you book, you go to the end of the longest line and must wait until there is noone else in any line to board ... sorry, but that will make someone think about the actual time they want to get on board - not just book an early time then just show up whenever, huh ?

[Sea Hag]

3 minutes ago, voljeep said:

definitely not directed at you or any one else in particular ... but I hope that if you show up 15 minutes after the time you book, you go to the end of the longest line and must wait until there is noone else in any line to board ... sorry, but that will make someone think about the actual time they want to get on board - not just book an early time then just show up whenever, huh ?

Not taking this personally at all, since we will definitely be there at 11:30, but I seriously doubt they'll make latecomers go to the end of the last boarding group. Might be justice if they did, but I'm betting they'll just send them on in with whatever group is boarding.

[Steelers36]

8 minutes ago, voljeep said:

definitely not directed at you or any one else in particular ... but I hope that if you show up 15 minutes after the time you book, you go to the end of the longest line and must wait until there is noone else in any line to board ... sorry, but that will make someone think about the actual time they want to get on board - not just book an early time then just show up whenever, huh ?

 

3 minutes ago, Sea Hag said:

Not taking this personally at all, since we will definitely be there at 11:30, but I seriously doubt they'll make latecomers go to the end of the last boarding group. Might be justice if they did, but I'm betting they'll just send them on in with whatever group is boarding.

Although I certainly empathize with @voljeep sentiment for early time slot hoggers who won't actually be there by 11:30am, I seriously doubt Princess will send people off to end of the afternoon.  Especially Elites & Suites. 

 

In truth, 11:30am isn't all that early as boarding is often going by then, barring any unusual delays.  IDK if they really will be needing any much extra cleaning than they will be doing each day. 

 

But these are the early cruises and things may well change by 2022 sometime.

[geoherb]

On 6/10/2021 at 5:16 PM, nocl said:

The only one we have seen treated erratically is the internet minutes. Have seen that handled differently from on cruise to another when it comes to segments, on some gave gotten it by segment on others the whole cruise.

 

I had to complain to get the correct number of internet minutes on my back-to-back Alaskan cruises two years ago. I booked them as separate cruises, but the internet manager said I would get them as if I had booked a single 14-day cruise. That would have been fine if they had given me shareholder credit based on a 14-day cruise instead of two 7-day cruises. I went over his head and received the 50 extra minutes I was due.

[MamaFej]

3 hours ago, Turk1 said:

Maybe base it on number of days and then add a bonus depending on the level of cabin you book. Added as extra sea days to help you progress up the ladder.

This is one thing that Celebrity does better than Princess. For their Captains Club, the points needed for various levels are far more than on Princess, but they are also earned differently. 2-18 points per night, depending on the chosen accommodations. People who stay is the super wazoo suites move up the levels faster and enjoy the ammenities that come with those suites. I mostly stay in basic balcony cabins, and earn 3 pointsper night. I've also stayed in a 2 point inside cabin and some 5 point balcony cabins with a few extras. 

 

On both Princess and Celebrity, my next cruise will be at the next level up. Of course, I thought those next cruises would be in spring and fall of 2020. 🤷‍♀️

 

There is quite a bit of talk on the Celebrity board about loyatly benefits being devalued with the introduction of "Always Included" (tips, beverages, wifi). It's interesting to see the same concerns here. Personally, I like the $40/pppd pacakge on Princess. It works for us, but it does devalue the internet minutes we will finally be entitiled to once we actually cruise.

[dreams_of_travel]

2 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Yes.  The discount for Elite/Platinum was 25% off the on-board "Day 1" pricing of unlimited internet.  This was the best deal.  Do not order the internet in Personalizer if Elite/Platinum because you don't get the discount that way (at least pre-Covid pauses). 

 

You should pre-order Personalizer purchase deal if lower than Platinum as that is your best deal.

 

Rumor is that our 25% discount benefit is going to increase to 50%.

 

 

Thank you for that info.  I really had no idea about the unlimited pricing deal. 

 

2 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

We have our laptops with us as well as our phones.  I don't find it an inconvenience - in fact you do not have to log off the active device as the system will prompt you and auto-logoff when go to use the alternate device.  

 

Last time or two, we had a four-device plan (was same net cost as two single plans) and shared with friends.  When it prompts you to log off a device, it shows all devices currently logged in and you pick the one to cancel.  If I am nice, I cancel out my own phone; if I am feeling evil, I cancel out my friends device.  HA, HA - just kidding.

 

Excellent information.  Thank you.  I had no toggled between two or more devices, so I wasn't aware of the automatic prompt.  HaHaHa about feeling evil.  That was funny. 😉 

[Daniel A]

3 hours ago, voljeep said:

definitely not directed at you or any one else in particular ... but I hope that if you show up 15 minutes after the time you book, you go to the end of the longest line and must wait until there is noone else in any line to board ... sorry, but that will make someone think about the actual time they want to get on board - not just book an early time then just show up whenever, huh ?

Oh, c'mon now...  Do you really think there are people who would do something like that?  It's not like people would do something similar with say...deck chairs...😉

[2 cruises a year]

4 hours ago, Sea Hag said:

Not taking this personally at all, since we will definitely be there at 11:30, but I seriously doubt they'll make latecomers go to the end of the last boarding group. Might be justice if they did, but I'm betting they'll just send them on in with whatever group is boarding.

 

42 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

Oh, c'mon now...  Do you really think there are people who would do something like that?  It's not like people would do something similar with say...deck chairs...😉

Or Theater seats...😉

[skynight]

6 hours ago, beg3yrs said:

Here's a thought about Internet perks: Leave the free minutes in place for Platinum and Elites. Then allow those with free minutes on the Plus fare to trade them in for say allowing a second device to be simultaneously attached to the Internet. The benefit for us would be that when we want to use our laptop in our cabin (larger screen and keys!) we don't have to log off one of the phones. Everything could stay logged in all the time.

I guess we will find out. Princess is trying to sell their plus fares and everyone in the cabin has free internet. I see very little or probably no marketing benefit of such a plan. 

[brisalta]

3 minutes ago, skynight said:

I guess we will find out. Princess is trying to sell their plus fares and everyone in the cabin has free internet. I see very little or probably no marketing benefit of such a plan. 

 

I go on a ship to get way from being connected to the outside world. I do not want internet or phone access. Having it available is a negative to me.

[Astro Flyer]

6 hours ago, dreams_of_travel said:

I'm curious, was there a discount for the buy up to unlimited? 

Steelers36 explained the pre-pandemic situation & for our 28-day cruise by exchanging my free 250 minutes I paid $117.50 for an unlimited plan. My wife doesn’t use many minutes so she kept her 250 and didn’t use all of them.

[phabric]

I usually do not purchase Princess Plus as I do not drink alcohol/coffee/tea.  It is cheaper for me to purchase the soda and more package and pay the tips.  The free WIFI minutes is enough for me, usually I have left over minutes. 
 

I don’t think I would purchase WIFI at 50%. I would use 10% discount on excursions.

 

Will we still have priority tendering?

[cruzsnooze]

I just had a nice conversation with a Princess rep who told me they are working/looking  at the tiers and he stated they realize there are to many elites. My impression (not fact) was they are considering a higher tier. That implication means to me that no perk would be removed but a newer tier would have additional perks. I am Diamond Plus on RCL and when they instituted the higher level of Pinnacle no perks except the concierge lounge were eliminated from the D+ but was replaced with a complimentary happy hour. 

 I was told that because of medallion issues and the covid issues and CDC etc....they had to post phone any revision of the tiers until everything else is worked out. 

Edited June 23, 2021 by cruzsnooze

[UT-Volsfan]

9 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Me too on the trust.  Every time I read of a new problem or someone who was working and seems have lost something, I open the App and check.

 

Yes, I saw another thread where someone posted a screenshot and just three groups and labelled A, B, C.  Early, Mid, Late - so it seems the only delineations for now.  Of course, we expect first cruises to be less than full.  Perhaps more groups in future.  

 

Frankly, I hope well before Fall 2022, this whole Arrival Group thing is gone.

 

Are you Elite, BTW?  As for still available, how many even know about it if not on CC - unless Princess sent a prompter email out?

Reserved our boarding time for August 1 cruise this morning.  After clicking on the Early time, we then had a couple of choices of 15 minute time slots to choose from.  We chose the first group boarding between 11:30 and 11:45.

 

Disembarkation times were still not available today.

 

We didn't get any notification from Princess.  Was checking the Medallion app at lunch and saw they were available.  Other people on our roll call still cannot select a boarding time.  We are Elite with Princess so they may be making slots available to passengers who had Priority boarding in the past.

[caribill]

6 hours ago, Astro Flyer said:

Steelers36 explained the pre-pandemic situation & for our 28-day cruise by exchanging my free 250 minutes I paid $117.50 for an unlimited plan. My wife doesn’t use many minutes so she kept her 250 and didn’t use all of them.

 

If you had to purchase 250 minutes in the past, the cost was $100. Thus the value of the platinum/elite Internet benefit was $100.

 

To me, that should mean you should get a $100 discount on an unlimited plan, paying $17.50.

 

But by charging you $117.50, it means Princess gave you a benefit worth $17.50 instead of $100.

[Grego]

20 hours ago, san diego sue said:

I like our free minutes. With mine and my husbands,  always enough for us.

However on one of our last cruises, it was a  28 day. There was still plenty of free minutes but I traded it in for unlimited and paid the difference. What I loved was I didn't have to remember to sign out, didn't have to compose off line  to save minutes, just enjoyed it. Probably didn't spend any more time on my computer than before .

I love this. You are right!  With the Elite minutes my wife and I get it seems that we never come close to running out of minutes.....however, it seems every time we leave the cabin I hear, "Did you log out?".

[Steelers36]

12 hours ago, Astro Flyer said:

Steelers36 explained the pre-pandemic situation & for our 28-day cruise by exchanging my free 250 minutes I paid $117.50 for an unlimited plan. My wife doesn’t use many minutes so she kept her 250 and didn’t use all of them.

Minor correction - my chart indicates should have been $112.50 for that voyage (discounted from $150.

 

6 hours ago, caribill said:

 

If you had to purchase 250 minutes in the past, the cost was $100. Thus the value of the platinum/elite Internet benefit was $100.

 

To me, that should mean you should get a $100 discount on an unlimited plan, paying $17.50.

 

But by charging you $117.50, it means Princess gave you a benefit worth $17.50 instead of $100.

Princess would say the passenger received a $37.50 benefit (the discount from the on-board pricing at embarkation). 

 

@Astro Flyer should have received 500 free minutes for a 28-night voyage according to benefit info I found.  (250 up to 20 nights).  Let's assume that - and 250 minutes isn't very much at all for 4 weeks.  I think 400 mins was $159 and 600 mins was $199.  There was usually a bonus if buying on Day 1.  The bonus on the 400 min pkg would not have been 100 mins - looking for a fair equivalence.  Not easy to find the right dollar value, but let's say $179 equivalence for 500 minutes.

 

A fairer analysis would be the following: 

MINUTES = $0.358/minute for 500 minutes  ( call it ~$0.35 with some bonus minutes)

 

MEDALLION NET = $0.0028/minute.  Or, let's say reasonably that internet would not be used 24 hr/day.  Based on 12hr/day, cost is ~$0.0056/minute.  For 10 hrs, cost is $0.0069/minute.

 

250 minutes isn't very much for a 4-week voyage.  I don't think 500 is either - but that is me.

 

 

For a 10-night voyage.....

MINUTES = $0.40/minute for 250 minutes

 

MEDALLION NET = $63.75 or $0.01625/minute based on 10-hr days.

 

Obviously, if anyone can manage with the free minutes, there is no argument for them to pay dollars to get more internet.  But as soon as the minutes become insufficient, the Medallion Net pricing is a pretty good deal and no issues if forget to logout.  In the old days, I am sure I was chasing the Internet Cafe Mgr more than once about lost minutes and/or logout not working.

[Astro Flyer]

Steelers36…thanks for correctly refreshing my memory. ☺️

 

You’re correct…500 minutes for each of us on our 28-day cruise & I exchanged mine for a $112.50 unlimited package. With my wife keeping her 500 minutes that combination worked best for our internet usage.

[caribill]

3 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

For a 10-night voyage.....

MINUTES = $0.40/minute for 250 minutes

 

MEDALLION NET = $63.75 or $0.01625/minute based on 10-hr days.

 

 

 

I would hope while on vacation that I was not on the Internet 10 hours of awake time a day.

[neverbeenhere]

Not that I bothered to read the entire thread; below is the RCL conversion method used in their "new" loyalty program. (New means 2011??) Of course Princess can't use the same formula, but it wouldn't surprise me that they used something similar.  Then "credits" per day sailed and a bonus for upper staterooms. Perhaps some onboard spending twist(Holland) or non-sailing credit earner (Celebrity)

 

 

Conversion from old cruise credits to cruise points:

If credits were 1-4, points = credits * 7 + 1

If credits were 5-7, points = credits * 7 + 3

If credits were > 7, points = credits * 7 + 13

[Ombud]

3 hours ago, caribill said:

 

I would hope while on vacation that I was not on the Internet 10 hours of awake time a day.

How many times can I like this! 💯%👍