A question for those of you who've just lost the $100 loyalty benefit.

[nocl]

17 minutes ago, vjmatty said:

Boy it sure seems like a bad idea though, considering that people are living longer, to start alienating older cruisers in favor of younger ones. Yeah it’s morbid to think about but it is what it is. 

Who knows for sure.  I would not call the removal of one of several benefits to be alienating.  More that they feel that they do not need to continue that benefit to accomplish whatever the business plan is.  Probably influenced to some degree that the number of people accessing that benefit has gotten pretty large. 

 

Clearly they will impact  some to the point of leaving but in reality how many. I would expect it to be less than 5% even as strident as some here on CC has been.  But of course the people on CC are really not representative of the cruise market place.  In many ways they represent the group most likely to be impacted and in an environment to be spurred on by others.

 

  Some will emotionally react and feel they are not viewed as being as special by the cruise line as they were last week.  In reality it is a fairly minor cost increase when taken in context to the the entire cost value of the cruise.  For most people if they continue to like the product and feel that it is a good value they will continue to buy.  For a small number the relatively few dollars might be enough to impact their travel selection.  For some it will be an emotional reaction and they will take their travel dollars and go elsewhere.

Edited July 5, 2021 by nocl

[AnyMajorCruiseDude]

12 minutes ago, nocl said:

Who knows for sure.  I would not call the removal of one of several benefits to be alienating.  More that they feel that they do not need to continue that benefit to accomplish whatever the business plan is.  Probably influenced to some degree that the number of people accessing that benefit has gotten pretty large. 

 

Clearly they will impact  some to the point of leaving but in reality how many. I would expect it to be less than 5% even as strident as some here on CC has been.  But of course the people on CC are really not representative of the cruise market place.  In many ways they represent the group most likely to be impacted and in an environment to be spurred on by others.

 

  Some will emotionally react and feel they are not viewed as being as special by the cruise line as they were last week.  In reality it is a fairly minor cost increase when taken in context to the the entire cost value of the cruise.  For most people if they continue to like the product and feel that it is a good value they will continue to buy.  For a small number the relatively few dollars might be enough to impact their travel selection.  For some it will be an emotional reaction and they will take their travel dollars and go elsewhere.

Once again, I have to agree.  

[caribill]

2 hours ago, vjmatty said:

Boy it sure seems like a bad idea though, considering that people are living longer, to start alienating older cruisers in favor of younger ones. Yeah it’s morbid to think about but it is what it is. 

 

Older cruisers are more likely to be retired and can cruise anytime of year they wish.

 

Younger cruisers are more likely to have work obligations and children in school and thus can only cruise at limited times of the year.

 

To fill up the ships year round, Princess needs those older cruisers, hopefully loyal ones that do not cost much marketing $$$ to attract.

 

 

[caribill]

2 hours ago, nocl said:

 

Clearly they will impact  some to the point of leaving but in reality how many. I would expect it to be less than 5% even as strident as some here on CC has been.

 

5% of cruisers that take several cruises a year is more than 5% of bookings. If averaging two cruises a year, that 5% woiuld be 10% of bookings.

 

And the loyal longtime customers are more likely overall to book the longer cruises.

[mellon1]

19 hours ago, LACruiser88 said:

We also cruise on Celebrity and their cruises are much more expensive than Princess.  You get what you pay for...

They agree with you and said Celebrity is so much better, food, entertainment and all over for what you get too.

[mellon1]

18 hours ago, 2 cruises a year said:

I agree completely.  Loyalty that can be lost over $100 is not loyalty, it is prostitution.  Sorry to be so blunt, but this thread has gone off the rails.

It's not just $100, it would be $600 for us, as we are doing 6 B2Bs.  Also, when covid happened and we had to cancel our 2021 cruise, they never gave us back our deposits of $1,000 and when I looked they did not extend our OBC either, so that is another lump of OBC we will not have.  I called and they said the OBC are gone and I could not get them back nor use our deposits as they refunded them to us, but they were not on our statement.  It took 6 months to get our $1,000 deposits back.  When I asked about putting them back in our FCCs, they would not allow it or allow our OBC, so we lost that also.  So now we have to put down full deposit amount and get no OBC on the cruises we are doing in the future until we get on board and decide which way to go.  We have a business and I guess we value our customers and realize repeat customers are the best ones to have.  Much easier to keep a repeat customer than to get a new one.  I guess I expected more of Princess and don't feel valued or appreciated.  My problem I know, but that is how I feel and can't help think others feel that way too.  It is like dangling the carrot and then you reach that goal of almost getting that carrot and they move it further away each time.

 

We always give additional tips to the crew, as they deserve it and make our trip. We use the spa for massages/treatments and I have gotten some products at times.  We buy the wine package, stay in the Sanctuary the entire time and do the specialty restaurants 2 times each cruise.  We do get some things on board at times and have a lot of the art work just because it is something we like and it is a memory of the cruise.  We usually stay in a full suite; however with those prices increasing so much, we are now doing a mini suite instead.  We don't gamble, but through the years we have spent a hefty amount with Princess.  We have done Royal Caribbean, HAL, one Carnival, will never go back to them, and Princess.  We have a lot with RCL, as that was our first cruise and we are at their highest level, but liked that there are hardly any kids on Princess.  My husband said everything is going up and it is what it is.  I understand, but I think if you had cruises booked, then they should honor.  We don't do anything all year and save to cruise and it is nice to have some OBC for things...kinda mad money to spend on yourself that you would not normally spend.

 

I do agree they made a mistake with the Elite levels, giving babies and kids status.  By the time they are 18 they are already elite.  They should make it fair--average it out.  Average cruise being 7 days, average dollars spent for cruise, no freebie cruise, or cruises priced to fill the rooms, and start the status accumulation @ 18 years of age, as that is when you are considered an adult.  I know I will get flamed for that, but that would eliminate a lot of so many elites.  I do agree with some posters who say give an OBC and let them spend it on what they want and eliminate the free laundry.  Sometimes people just use things because they are free.  Just like coupons, people buy things because they have a coupon and it is normally something they don't use, or buy it because it is on sale.  

[mellon1]

17 hours ago, CarelessAndConfused said:

 

I don't think for most people it is remotely the $100.  It's the sense of not feeling appreciated.  I've worked with dozens of companies and it's shocking how petty people making mid six figures can be.  I don't think it's because of the value of some minor perks they didn't get so much as a reflection of not feeling appreciated. 

Well said.

[mellon1]

8 hours ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

There were many other passengers that we’ve met over the years who consistently spent $25000 and much more every year with Princess, which, for us, was more than we’ve spent with any other business in our lives except with our home builder. Not every cruise had to be perfect…they had our loyalty. You’re right in that they didn’t need to spend anything to market to us; in fact, some of us actually marketed for Princess in the form of a blog (or so I’ve heard. 😏)

 

And now they’re offering a 10% bonus on gift card purchases at the same time they are removing a $100 OBC on a cruise that costs in the thousands for their most traveled guests. It makes no sense. 
 

We feel most fortunate that we’ve cruised when we did. We were already going to be cutting back…this just speeds up our slowing down. 
 

I totally agree.  Hope Princess is reading this.

[Steelers36]

On the posts about marketing and some customers not needing marketing.  When Princess - or any company - launches a general advertising campaign, they face a fixed cost depending on platforms - online websites, television, print media, through travel providers.  The only savings in my mind would be targeted advertising sent to the individual.  And that cost can be pretty minimal if they are doing a mass email send.  I have snail mail turned off with Princess so it seems it is really me saving them direct mail costs.

[vjmatty]

8 hours ago, nocl said:

Who knows for sure.  I would not call the removal of one of several benefits to be alienating.  More that they feel that they do not need to continue that benefit to accomplish whatever the business plan is.  Probably influenced to some degree that the number of people accessing that benefit has gotten pretty large. 

 

Clearly they will impact  some to the point of leaving but in reality how many. I would expect it to be less than 5% even as strident as some here on CC has been.  But of course the people on CC are really not representative of the cruise market place.  In many ways they represent the group most likely to be impacted and in an environment to be spurred on by others.

 

  Some will emotionally react and feel they are not viewed as being as special by the cruise line as they were last week.  In reality it is a fairly minor cost increase when taken in context to the the entire cost value of the cruise.  For most people if they continue to like the product and feel that it is a good value they will continue to buy.  For a small number the relatively few dollars might be enough to impact their travel selection.  For some it will be an emotional reaction and they will take their travel dollars and go elsewhere.

It’s not solely the removal of one benefit I’m referring to as alienating.  It’s the general marketing strategy that so many on this thread are talking about….the favoring of younger cruisers over older ones. I get that you see this as petty, and if it were all about getting something for nothing I’d agree with you. But I think you’re misunderstanding the overall trend posters are talking about because you’re focusing on this all being about one issue. Yes that’s what the thread originally discussed, but it’s wider than the few disgruntled Elites complaining about OBC. Most people are comparison shopping rather than leaving in a huff, and Princess will have to decide if and how they want to keep measuring up. 

[vjmatty]

7 hours ago, caribill said:

 

Older cruisers are more likely to be retired and can cruise anytime of year they wish.

 

Younger cruisers are more likely to have work obligations and children in school and thus can only cruise at limited times of the year.

 

To fill up the ships year round, Princess needs those older cruisers, hopefully loyal ones that do not cost much marketing $$$ to attract.

 

 

Especially world cruises and those 30-day itineraries. If the posters here are right about Princess’ new business model favoring young over old, this is another reason it’s a bad move. 

[billco]

I've got no complaints. Our first cruise that was cancelled was a 25 day TA/Baltic cruise in April, 2020 on the Sky Princess. We had made final payment that included cruise fare of $7000 for a deluxe balcony. Princess gave us $10,500 in FCCs for that cruise. 

 

Over the year, we put deposits on other cruises that were cancelled that resulted in various FCCs. Most notably was a 32 day cruise on the Grand Princess from LA to Shanghai in October, 2020 that was cancelled. We received $8000 in FCCs for our $4000 deposit. Our FCCs ended up at a total of $21000 for deposits of about $12,000. We have used the FCCs to pay for cruise fares for five upcoming cruises, including a 25 day TA/Baltic on the Enchanted Princess next April. All with Princess Plus and a higher grade category than we would normally have booked.

 

I think it would take a lot more than loss of some OBC or free internet before I would feel justified in complaining about anything.

[CRUZGAL53]

36 minutes ago, billco said:

I've got no complaints. Our first cruise that was cancelled was a 25 day TA/Baltic cruise in April, 2020 on the Sky Princess. We had made final payment that included cruise fare of $7000 for a deluxe balcony. Princess gave us $10,500 in FCCs for that cruise. 

 

Over the year, we put deposits on other cruises that were cancelled that resulted in various FCCs. Most notably was a 32 day cruise on the Grand Princess from LA to Shanghai in October, 2020 that was cancelled. We received $8000 in FCCs for our $4000 deposit. Our FCCs ended up at a total of $21000 for deposits of about $12,000. We have used the FCCs to pay for cruise fares for five upcoming cruises, including a 25 day TA/Baltic on the Enchanted Princess next April. All with Princess Plus and a higher grade category than we would normally have booked.

 

I think it would take a lot more than loss of some OBC or free internet before I would feel justified in complaining about anything.

We totally agree! We have had 44 Princess cruises cancelled since March 2020 and also have a lot of FCC's that we are using for our future cruises. Princess was very generous in the FCC bonus amounts. We plan on continuing to sail with them. After 153 Princess cruises we have no intent or desire to sail on other lines. We have been on many others in the past and Princess is still our choice of lines. Perks may come and go but we love the crew and the ships and will remain loyal to Princess!   No complaints from us either! 

[nocl]

9 hours ago, caribill said:

 

Older cruisers are more likely to be retired and can cruise anytime of year they wish.

 

Younger cruisers are more likely to have work obligations and children in school and thus can only cruise at limited times of the year.

 

To fill up the ships year round, Princess needs those older cruisers, hopefully loyal ones that do not cost much marketing $$$ to attract.

 

 

keep in mind when I say younger that also includes early retired, and those near retirement.

[caribill]

1 hour ago, billco said:

I've got no complaints. Our first cruise that was cancelled was a 25 day TA/Baltic cruise in April, 2020 on the Sky Princess. We had made final payment that included cruise fare of $7000 for a deluxe balcony. Princess gave us $10,500 in FCCs for that cruise. 

 

 

1 hour ago, CRUZGAL53 said:

We totally agree! We have had 44 Princess cruises cancelled since March 2020 and also have a lot of FCC's that we are using for our future cruises. Princess was very generous in the FCC bonus amounts.

 

Happiness about the FCCs may depend on when your cruise was cancelled.

 

When the first cruises were cancelled, all the cruises were after final payment and the bonus FCC was 50%, 75% or 125% with the amount based on how close to sailing the cruise was cancelled.

 

The next batch of cancelled cruises was for Australia based cruises and also was after final payment. The bonus FCC was based on the length of the cruise and ranged from (in Australian $) $50 for voyages for 2-6 days to $5000 for voyages over 77 days.

 

The next batch of cancelled cruises resulted in a 25% bonus FCC for those who had made final payment and no bonus for those who had not made final payment.

 

The next set of cancelled cruises also had a 25% bonus FCC for those who had made final payment and a 100% bonus (minimum $100) for those who had not made final payment (not to exceed 100% of cruise fare). Those who had made the minimum $100 deposit received a $100 bonus FCC. Those who had paid more towards their cruise (but not fully paid) received double what they had paid which could be over a $1000 bonus FCC.

 

More recently those who had cruises cancelled received a 10% bonus FCC with a minimum of $25. This applied to fully paid and non-fully paid bookings.

 

If any cancelled cruise had been paid for using FCCs (refund FCC and/or bonus FCC) from previously cancelled cruises, there was no new bonus FCC at all, but the used FCCs were restored.

 

So cruisers who had voyages cancelled early in the pandemic had higher bonus FCCs than those whose voyages were cancelled more recently. Bonus FCCs have gone from up to 125% of fare paid to recently just 10%. (or 0% if the cruise had been paid for with FCCs)

 

Those affected by recent cancellations may not be as happy as the two posters quoted at the start of this post.

[dog]

2 hours ago, billco said:

I've got no complaints. Our first cruise that was cancelled was a 25 day TA/Baltic cruise in April, 2020 on the Sky Princess. We had made final payment that included cruise fare of $7000 for a deluxe balcony. Princess gave us $10,500 in FCCs for that cruise. 

 

Over the year, we put deposits on other cruises that were cancelled that resulted in various FCCs. Most notably was a 32 day cruise on the Grand Princess from LA to Shanghai in October, 2020 that was cancelled. We received $8000 in FCCs for our $4000 deposit. Our FCCs ended up at a total of $21000 for deposits of about $12,000. We have used the FCCs to pay for cruise fares for five upcoming cruises, including a 25 day TA/Baltic on the Enchanted Princess next April. All with Princess Plus and a higher grade category than we would normally have booked.

 

I think it would take a lot more than loss of some OBC or free internet before I would feel justified in complaining about anything.

Wonderful!  
Nice to see you are appreciative. 
 

[voljeep]

43 minutes ago, caribill said:

Those who had paid more towards their cruise (but not fully paid) received double what they had paid which could be over a $1000 bonus FCC.

Us - we had paid $ 1,000 toward a cruise fare of $ 1,150 ( combined for 2 )

[dog]

58 minutes ago, voljeep said:

Us - we had paid $ 1,000 toward a cruise fare of $ 1,150 ( combined for 2 )

That was generous, like us— paid $1.00 deposit got $101.00 FCC when Princess cancelled. 

[dog]

On 7/5/2021 at 10:47 AM, nocl said:

keep in mind when I say younger that also includes early retired, and those near retirement.

Thanks for clarifying 

[voljeep]

6 minutes ago, CarelessAndConfused said:

Thanks for the clarification.  'Older' and 'younger' are very relative terms, especially around here.

 

 

we took our first Princess cruise at age(s) 53 and 52 ... were we younger or older ?

[nocl]

Just now, voljeep said:

we took our first Princess cruise at age(s) 53 and 52 ... were we younger or older ?

for princess younger  for HAL adolescents.

[voljeep]

1 minute ago, CarelessAndConfused said:

 

I would say younger even if I'm not there yet.  But a casual cruiser and irregular visitor to these forums could read "younger" and implicitly assume people are talking about kids or young adults.

 

 

it was a 7 day Alaska cruise - we were definitely the 'younger demographic' on that cruise

 

the next year we took a little 3 day getaway 'spring break getaway' out of Canaveral on RCL - let's just say we were no longer the 'younger demo' on that cruise ...

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, voljeep said:

we took our first Princess cruise at age(s) 53 and 52 ... were we younger or older ?

One of you was younger and the other was older.

[nocl]

4 hours ago, voljeep said:

it was a 7 day Alaska cruise - we were definitely the 'younger demographic' on that cruise

 

the next year we took a little 3 day getaway 'spring break getaway' out of Canaveral on RCL - let's just say we were no longer the 'younger demo' on that cruise ...

the funny thing is that shorter 7 day  cruises such as Alaska tend to tilt towards the younger side the passenger base, compared to longer cruise.

[Waynetor]

We have not received a notice of this change from Princess.

 

I wonder how many passengers will be arriving for their next cruise unaware of the change,