Revamped Tier Levels Coming Soon

[RRFan]

3 hours ago, pompeii said:

Here is a price list I had saved pre-covid which shows the previous discount for trading in your minutes.  So a 7 day was $70, now 50% off = $35 or $5/day for one device unlimited.

What is the “Member Discount” column. Member of what?  

[RRFan]

11 minutes ago, dreams_of_travel said:

Quite disappointed to see the internet minutes removed.  It was one of the perks I actually used, and counted on having.  I don't want to pay more for something like unlimited internet, when I was just fine with the limited amount I had "earned" as a perk.  Oh well, not much I can do about it right now. 

 

The Princess Plus model is not something I am interested in because of the price increase to the cruise itself.  I hope they bring back the mix and match perk choices at some point.   Or more reasonable ala cart perk menu prices.  I would buy a drink package if the pricing was such that I wouldn't have to drink so many drinks a day to feel like I got my money's worth.   None of their pricing models seem to be for people who drink a little. 🤷‍♀️

We are with you. But I do think we all should express our opinions and let them know how we feel. Many of the Elite perks we never used.  It would be nice to have been given a choice of something like “choose 3 of the 6 options” or something.  We did use the free minutes. When they were implementing Medallion net, all Elites got the unlimited for free. I will admit it was nice not to have to worry if we logged off or not.  I would like to see a new level above Elite where maybe totally free WiFi was the benefit (instead of discount & having to buy it).  
 

I hope they don’t do away with the additional OBC that went with cruises over 21+ too!  
 

 

[Sea Hag]

I sent off an email to Princess, expressing my disappointment that the best one of our loyalty club benefits was going away. I don't expect anything to come of that - I don't really even expect a reply. But anyway, I got in my say on the matter.

[RRFan]

1 minute ago, Sea Hag said:

I sent off an email to Princess, expressing my disappointment that the best one of our loyalty club benefits was going away. I don't expect anything to come of that - I don't really even expect a reply. But anyway, I got in my say on the matter.

Which address did you send to?  We should all flood that email address with our opinions. 

[Sea Hag]

Just now, RRFan said:

Which address did you send to?  We should all flood that email address with our opinions. 

I just sent it through the generic contact form on the website. Probably multiple people handle form submissions from that, and also probably not the best place to send to. But that's what I did.

[beg3yrs]

2 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

Sooooo many passengers have no interest in a beverage package or in an "always on" Internet package. It seems a strange time to alienate established passengers.

Well may you should say "Soooo many actively posting / vocal Cruise Critic members have no interest ..." I often wonder how representative us CC members are of the general cruising population. If we're significantly different, that would explain why Princess often does things contrary to what we'd expect. I suspect we're not really a good cross-section of the cruising community rather we're a small and distinct sub-set.

[Mud_Shark]

We are only Platinum.  The internet minutes were the only perk of any value to us for that level.  We didn't need a lot of minutes, just enough to check email and some news feeds each day.  But the real value was being able to check-in online for our return flights while still on the cruise to ensure we are seated together.  Prior to gaining Platinum, we were separated a few times on our return flights because the seat assignments were virtually full by the time we got to the airport for an old fashioned check-in.

 

We like Princess, and there are other factors that create brand loyalty for us - such as the military OBC, the Future Cruise Deposit OBC, and the shareholder OBC.  But the Captain's circle benefits can be filed in the circular file.

 

There is nothing of interest here.  Captains circle is dead.

 

Don

[vjmatty]

10 hours ago, pompeii said:

But what Princess needs is to bring in more money, and a big way to do that is to push people to book the Plus fare by eliminating free internet and disguising the 50% discount as an exciting new perk.  That way, pax can no longer use the "I already get free internet" argument in deciding in favor of the basic fare over the Plus fare.

Here is what they don’t seem to be talking into account though…. first, lots of people use all their free minutes and end up buying more packages to supplement those minutes, especially when the internet is slow. Which brings me to the next issue, the amount of bandwidth or whatever satellites use in order for everyone to be on unlimited internet could be a lot more expensive than just giving elites a couple hours of free internet. It seems like the bean counters are counting the wrong beans. 

[skynight]

58 minutes ago, dreams_of_travel said:

 

The Princess Plus model is not something I am interested in because of the price increase to the cruise itself.  I hope they bring back the mix and match perk choices at some point.   Or more reasonable ala cart perk menu prices.  I would buy a drink package if the pricing was such that I wouldn't have to drink so many drinks a day to feel like I got my money's worth.   None of their pricing models seem to be for people who drink a little. 🤷‍♀️

I don't think Princess ever offered these kind of promos. Promo benefits were always fixed as far back as I can remember. Their current plus fares will break even with an average of 2 alcoholic drinks/pp/day, plus some non-alcoholic beverages. Now without the free internet minutes the breakeven may drop to 1 1/2 per day.  

[Crystal04]

I'm a younger Elite cruiser and the only perks I used were the free minutes and priority boarding since I arrive early to the terminal. The minutes were their best perk.  I'll probably venture out to another cruise line after my 20 day cruise in January.

[pompeii]

1 hour ago, RRFan said:

What is the “Member Discount” column. Member of what?  

That referred to the old discount plat/elites got for trading in their minutes for an unlimited package.  Just ignore it.

[pompeii]

1 hour ago, dreams_of_travel said:

  I would buy a drink package if the pricing was such that I wouldn't have to drink so many drinks a day to feel like I got my money's worth.   None of their pricing models seem to be for people who drink a little. 🤷‍♀️

Princess will not do this because that is how they make money.  From people buying the Plus package who don't get their money's worth out of it.  That's where their profit will come from.  It's kind of like insurance companies...they make their money from the people who don't "use" the product..

[wallyj]

17 minutes ago, skynight said:

I don't think Princess ever offered these kind of promos. Promo benefits were always fixed as far back as I can remember. Their current plus fares will break even with an average of 2 alcoholic drinks/pp/day, plus some non-alcoholic beverages. Now without the free internet minutes the breakeven may drop to 1 1/2 per day.  

I believe it was late 2019 early 2020, Princess offered BSE, best sale ever, where you could actually choose, drinks, tips, WiFi, in whatever combo worked for you. You were allowed to add this promo, at least I was able to after I made booking for the AKL/LA cruise on the Ruby, April 2020. Believe promo was Best2DG for Drinks and Tips(Grats) for $30/day. Now only all 3 offered as a bundle with ‘plus’.
 

 

[vjmatty]

33 minutes ago, wallyj said:

I believe it was late 2019 early 2020, Princess offered BSE, best sale ever, where you could actually choose, drinks, tips, WiFi, in whatever combo worked for you. You were allowed to add this promo, at least I was able to after I made booking for the AKL/LA cruise on the Ruby, April 2020. Believe promo was Best2DG for Drinks and Tips(Grats) for $30/day. Now only all 3 offered as a bundle with ‘plus’.
 

 

I remember BSE (not just because in the women’s health field it stands for something else 😉 ) and thought that was a much better model. 

Edited June 29, 2021 by vjmatty

[travellingnana]

I have several upcoming cruises which I booked under the old tier levels, assuming that what was in effect when I booked was what I would get.  So... do these new "benefits" apply immediately, or do they begin with the first cruise you book after today?  

[RRFan]

4 minutes ago, travellingnana said:

I have several upcoming cruises which I booked under the old tier levels, assuming that what was in effect when I booked was what I would get.  So... do these new "benefits" apply immediately, or do they begin with the first cruise you book after today?  

Good question since the. “New benefits” just came out like yesterday, we all assumed we were still getting the benefits we booked under. Good point!  

[azbirdmom]

59 minutes ago, wallyj said:

I believe it was late 2019 early 2020, Princess offered BSE, best sale ever, where you could actually choose, drinks, tips, WiFi, in whatever combo worked for you. You were allowed to add this promo, at least I was able to after I made booking for the AKL/LA cruise on the Ruby, April 2020. Believe promo was Best2DG for Drinks and Tips(Grats) for $30/day. Now only all 3 offered as a bundle with ‘plus’.
 

 

 

Yes and I remember how excited all of us were for this.  We never actually go to use it though as all of the cruises that we booked with it were cancelled.

 

[Thrak]

28 minutes ago, travellingnana said:

I have several upcoming cruises which I booked under the old tier levels, assuming that what was in effect when I booked was what I would get.  So... do these new "benefits" apply immediately, or do they begin with the first cruise you book after today?  

 

Since they have always reserved the right to change anything anytime I would guess all currently booked cruises will now have the "new" benefits. Remember when they changed the Unlimited Beverage Package to the Premium Beverage Package?  All previously booked cruises sailed under the new rules.

[Astro Flyer]

33 minutes ago, travellingnana said:

I have several upcoming cruises which I booked under the old tier levels, assuming that what was in effect when I booked was what I would get.  So... do these new "benefits" apply immediately, or do they begin with the first cruise you book after today?  

Based on this statement included with the new chart the new terms will apply.

 

“Princess Cruises® reserves the right to terminate the Princess Cruises Captain's Circle℠ Program, change the terms and conditions of participation, and/or terminate or change benefits, in whole or in part, at any time, without notice”.

 

https://book.princess.com/captaincircle/ccTermsNCondition.page

 

Edited June 30, 2021 by Astro Flyer

[tillys mom]

Sorry Princess, but I’m really not a happy camper right now! Can anyone get a good email address for us all to express our displeasure?

[wallyj]

I am holding out hope the ‘free’ Platinum/Elite internet minutes will still apply depending upon cruise length and Princess has just solidified the discount to unlimited Medallion net if desired.

 

We know from past sailings on Medallion net enabled ships, the ‘system’ can be set to give allotted minutes and is not all or nothing. 

[JF - retired RRT]

On 6/27/2021 at 6:46 PM, TheRabbit said:

When I look at the plus up it is $50 a day without subtracting the gratuity bonus.

Hey, Bugs Bunny. My phone ate my contact list. Could you text me, so I'll have your # again?

[cruzsnooze]

So how would one go about getting their boarding pass printed at the internet cafe for their flights the next day if they don't buy the package. If they don't use a smart phone to this task either. 

 If Princess goes to a more inclusive cruise model I will go to Celebrity or Azamara which has a better cruise experience. 

  I just looked at the cabin perks and the complimentary specialty dinner on the first night is gone from booking a full suite. Where says view more under the category there is nothing. They must be busy removing the perks. 

Edited June 30, 2021 by cruzsnooze

[TheRabbit]

1 hour ago, JF - retired RRT said:

Hey, Bugs Bunny. My phone ate my contact list. Could you text me, so I'll have your # again?

Email me. See my signature.

Found it, just texted.

Edited June 30, 2021 by TheRabbit

[NSWP]

Elite cruisers on the world cruises will not be happy re the loss of Elite internet minutes. Like if you are on a 107 day WC, people like to stay in touch using the Elite complimentary internet.