Definitive email from Princess

[JSandage]

1 minute ago, Thrak said:

 

If you are now Elite then you should have been receiving a card in your stateroom on every cruise you did as Platinum. The card lists where and when the PES Lounge would be held and also list what the "main food item" would be each night. I'm not sure how one goes through the Platinum level cruises without ever hearing about the PES Lounge.

I apologize, this will be our first as platinum, not elite. So sorry for the error!!!

 

[Croooser]

4 hours ago, nocl said:

Except they still have a meaningful loyalty program.  One that still has substantial value.  For those that buy excursions and use more than a limited set of minutes the changes may be even more valuable than what was removed.

 

 

Fair point, for sure. Some will still value the revised program while some will not. So it will continue to be meaningful for some and not for others - agreed?

 

4 hours ago, nocl said:

So yes by not grandfathering it in, Princess may lose some passengers.  Some may sail less with them.  But when one looks at the economics from the cruise line perspective they may be just the passengers that the cruise line is willing to lose.

Otherwise, I think that you and I are in "violent agreement" - that it is highly likely that Princess calculated carefully what was the best decision for Princess and that Princess could have grandfathered and chose not to.

 

In the end, they get to decide what they offer, and we all get to decide if we are going to sail on them.

 

YMMV

[AnyMajorCruiseDude]

3 hours ago, Croooser said:

Fair point, for sure. Some will still value the revised program while some will not. So it will continue to be meaningful for some and not for others - agreed?

 

Otherwise, I think that you and I are in "violent agreement" - that it is highly likely that Princess calculated carefully what was the best decision for Princess and that Princess could have grandfathered and chose not to.

 

In the end, they get to decide what they offer, and we all get to decide if we are going to sail on them.

 

YMMV

Yes,they have the info to make the decision.

[Gretchendz]

On 7/1/2021 at 8:40 PM, Busy Mum said:

Mmmm…..one does wonder how long the free laundry will last. To lose that perk would be a big drawback for me! 😟

 

 

I do know that, when they poll elites, the free laundry is the most popular item.  They also learned there were many elites who were unaware of the OBC....that might have guided the decision.

[dog]

5 hours ago, Gretchendz said:

 

 

I do know that, when they poll elites, the free laundry is the most popular item.  They also learned there were many elites who were unaware of the OBC....that might have guided the decision.

When was the poll of elites?  Never heard of this 

[suzyed]

On 7/1/2021 at 7:00 PM, san diego sue said:

We  just got the Elite letter.In it it says "We no longer will offer on board credit for cruises taken".

Next sentence. We appreciate your loyalty---------etc.

For us with over 75 cruises taken we were getting $100 on board credit. To refresh peoples memory it started at 21 st cruise with $25.00 and went up as you cruised more till the max of $100.

This was very significant loss especially when we did B2B

So talk about losing benefits. No longer free internet and losing OBC. Nice Princess.

We never got to the point of getting the obc...and now it's gone.  We got Elite by counting days instead of voyages....not even sure if you could get it by days?   🤨

[san diego sue]

51 minutes ago, suzyed said:

We never got to the point of getting the obc...and now it's gone.  We got Elite by counting days instead of voyages....not even sure if you could get it by days?   🤨

It was by cruises not days. Started at 21 cruises.

[caribill]

9 hours ago, Gretchendz said:

 

 

They also learned there were many elites who were unaware of the OBC....that might have guided the decision.

 

They may have been unaware for two reasons:

1) It is not mentioned as a benefit in any obvious place on the Princess web site or in onboard literature.

2) They have not yet achieved the 21 needed credits to receive the benefit.

 

If Princess chooses not to publicize a benefit, their decisions should not be influenced by how many people have never heard of it.

 

I suspect that most people who are aware of this benefit but who were not yet eligible to receive it learned about it on Cruise Critic, not from Princess.

[Gretchendz]

On 7/11/2021 at 10:20 AM, dog said:

When was the poll of elites?  Never heard of this 

 

I think it was a random survey prepandemic...it's been awhile so I don't have it at hand. I do do some of us who are travel agents were made aware of the results.  The main take away was "Don't touch the free laundry." 🙂

[suzyed]

On 7/11/2021 at 1:49 PM, caribill said:

 

They may have been unaware for two reasons:

1) It is not mentioned as a benefit in any obvious place on the Princess web site or in onboard literature.

2) They have not yet achieved the 21 needed credits to receive the benefit.

 

If Princess chooses not to publicize a benefit, their decisions should not be influenced by how many people have never heard of it.

 

I suspect that most people who are aware of this benefit but who were not yet eligible to receive it learned about it on Cruise Critic, not from Princess.

I learned about it from friends who were getting it.

 

[alfieisgod]

Speaking of benefits that may, or may not have been communicated by Princess.....

 

Having bought CCL shares last year, my next cruise will include the Shareholder Benefit for the first time.  (Yay! Free money!)  I am curious whether those who have owned shares for longer than me have ever received a communication from Princess saying "don't forget to claim your shareholder benefit". 

[pris993]

30 cruises with Princess, luckily I don't cruise for perks alone, since lost free internet and on board credit for 30+ cruises.  We will continue to cruise Princess out of our home port of San Francisco.   I try to avoid flying to get on a ship these days.  Much prefer to take a taxi to the ship. 

[Bridalgownz]

On 7/3/2021 at 10:22 AM, Thrak said:

I'm not sure how one goes through the Platinum level cruises without ever hearing about the PES Lounge.

I'm platinum for a long time and I've never gotten a card or heard about the lounge.  Guess they were holding out on me...LOL.  

[Steelers36]

8 hours ago, alfieisgod said:

Speaking of benefits that may, or may not have been communicated by Princess.....

 

Having bought CCL shares last year, my next cruise will include the Shareholder Benefit for the first time.  (Yay! Free money!)  I am curious whether those who have owned shares for longer than me have ever received a communication from Princess saying "don't forget to claim your shareholder benefit". 

I doubt they will ever send out such a reminder.  I am not likely to forget, though.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

On 7/11/2021 at 8:09 AM, suzyed said:

We never got to the point of getting the obc...and now it's gone.  We got Elite by counting days instead of voyages....not even sure if you could get it by days?   🤨

I was 1 cruise away from the Loyalty OBC … disappointed.

[suzyed]

On 7/15/2021 at 4:30 PM, MsSoCalCruiser said:

I was 1 cruise away from the Loyalty OBC … disappointed.

sorry

 

[ontheweb]

On 7/14/2021 at 11:35 AM, alfieisgod said:

Speaking of benefits that may, or may not have been communicated by Princess.....

 

Having bought CCL shares last year, my next cruise will include the Shareholder Benefit for the first time.  (Yay! Free money!)  I am curious whether those who have owned shares for longer than me have ever received a communication from Princess saying "don't forget to claim your shareholder benefit". 

No, and that is not just from Princess, but also other members of the Carnival Cruise Line family.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

4 hours ago, suzyed said:

sorry

 

Thank you

[caribill]

On 7/14/2021 at 10:35 AM, alfieisgod said:

 I am curious whether those who have owned shares for longer than me have ever received a communication from Princess saying "don't forget to claim your shareholder benefit". 

 

Not from a cruise line itself, but the CCL Corp annual report does have a full page about it.

[alfieisgod]

On 7/14/2021 at 9:35 PM, Steelers36 said:

I doubt they will ever send out such a reminder.  I am not likely to forget, though.

 

Nor will I.  As an accountant working in Banking I am a big fan of "free" money. (Yes, I know I had to pay for the shares, but I did manage to get them relatively cheaply.)