Surprising number of "Blue" cruisers on World Cruise 2023

[We_like_to_cruise]

 

We had our Captain's Circle "Meet the Captain" party the other night.

 

One of the speakers was the Loyalty Manager who gave us the passenger stats.  As might be expected, there were over 900 Elite passengers.  (The Island Princess holds 2200 passengers although I believe our current passenger load is less than 1900).

 

What I found surprising was that there were 270 Blue passengers - on their first ever Princess cruise.

 

I thought that was a large number of people that would spend nearly four months on a cruise ship without ever being on that cruise line before. 

 

Do you think that is a surprising number?  I am interested in your thoughts.

[JimmyVWine]

I guess I’d want to know how many cruises each of the Blue passengers had before answering. It could be that many (most) have very high status ratings on other cruise lines but their favorite line does not offer a world cruise. I suppose that with the proper amount of research one could conclude that 110+ days on an untested cruise line is a safe bet. Also, do you know that they are all on for the full journey?  Aren’t there several shorter (relatively speaking) segments?

[david63]

And how do you know that all of the Elite members have cruised with Princess before?

 

My wife has never cruised with Princess but is Elite due to an IT malfunction that brought all her cruise history over from P&O!

[JimmyVWine]

Also, all of the Blues will be Platinum when they walk off the ship!

[Guest ldtr]

Are you sure that they are doing the entire world cruise instead of merely the first segment?

[cruzsnooze]

World cruises attract an older crowd. How many Blue tier cruisers are with a partner who is elite. Many widows and widowers might have a new partner cruising with them. 

[2 cruises a year]

1 hour ago, ldtr said:

Are you sure that they are doing the entire world cruise instead of merely the first segment?

Exactly, you can book segments of the World Cruise.  That being said, those segments are typically pretty long.  Not what I would call a "try it and see if I like it" cruise.

We booked 64 days of the World Cruise out of Sydney in 2015.  When I booked it, I didn't even know that it was the World Cruise.  That being said, we did meet two individuals, solo travelers that said that this was their first cruise.  After 64 days, we disembarked in New York, and they were still going strong.  They, like us, enjoyed socializing late at Crooners, they were never bored.

[2 cruises a year]

2 hours ago, JimmyVWine said:

Also, all of the Blues will be Platinum when they walk off the ship!

lol, even Elite if they booked a single, or full suite.

[Rick&Jeannie]

At the beginning of 2020 (just before the pandemic broke out) we did the first segment of the world cruise on the Pacific Princess.  It was a full transit Panama Canal cruise, FLL to LA.  When we first booked we did not realize that it began a world cruise.  Not that it would have made any difference to us!  Sadly, Princess sold off the Pacific Princess to Azamara during the shutdown.

[We_like_to_cruise]

Thanks for all of your comments.

 

Actually, the 270 Blue passengers are all on the full World Cruise, and not just a segment of it.

 

The Loyalty Manager said she had to re-check her figures twice to make sure they were correct!

[pathi]

On 3/31/2023 at 10:26 AM, david63 said:

And how do you know that all of the Elite members have cruised with Princess before?

 

My wife has never cruised with Princess but is Elite due to an IT malfunction that brought all her cruise history over from P&O!

This probably was not an error. Princess used to match status with P&O.

[RNRcruisers]

That surprises me too! Maybe some are with friends who have been on Princess? And as has been said, could be seasoned cruisers on some other line.

[CeCe_]

On 3/31/2023 at 7:14 AM, We_like_to_cruise said:

 

We had our Captain's Circle "Meet the Captain" party the other night.

 

One of the speakers was the Loyalty Manager who gave us the passenger stats.  As might be expected, there were over 900 Elite passengers.  (The Island Princess holds 2200 passengers although I believe our current passenger load is less than 1900).

 

What I found surprising was that there were 270 Blue passengers - on their first ever Princess cruise.

 

I thought that was a large number of people that would spend nearly four months on a cruise ship without ever being on that cruise line before. 

 

Do you think that is a surprising number?  I am interested in your thoughts.

 

No, not surprising at all.  In fact, we were looking at a world voyage with Cunard in comparison to the Island. Newer ship/cabin and has equally interesting ports and length.  It will be our first on Cunard and will be staying in an unfamiliar cruise for 4 months.   That's the risk we will take, only after trying we can tell.

Edited April 3, 2023 by CeCe_

[CeCe_]

On 3/31/2023 at 9:22 AM, cruzsnooze said:

World cruises attract an older crowd. How many Blue tier cruisers are with a partner who is elite. Many widows and widowers might have a new partner cruising with them. 

 

Excuse me?  

[MissP22]

On 3/31/2023 at 12:22 PM, cruzsnooze said:

World cruises attract an older crowd. How many Blue tier cruisers are with a partner who is elite. Many widows and widowers might have a new partner cruising with them. 

Sounds logical.

[startedwithamouse]

Many new retirees are figuring out cruises are an easy way to travel the world, and more affordable than living in a house or retirement home.  

[polmcs]

On 4/3/2023 at 6:08 AM, CeCe_ said:

 

No, not surprising at all.  In fact, we were looking at a world voyage with Cunard in comparison to the Island. Newer ship/cabin and has equally interesting ports and length.  It will be our first on Cunard and will be staying in an unfamiliar cruise for 4 months.   That's the risk we will take, only after trying we can tell.

I was “almost in the same boat” as you (so to speak). When I saw the balcony fares for the Island WC2025, I decided to look elsewhere and was tempted by the 2025WC on Cunard as it was much more reasonably priced. 
 

I ended up booking a Princess WC for 2025, but on the Crown out of Sydney as the fares were much more reasonable and I think that the itinerary is much more interesting than the Island. 

[suzyed]

On 3/31/2023 at 10:14 AM, We_like_to_cruise said:

 

We had our Captain's Circle "Meet the Captain" party the other night.

 

One of the speakers was the Loyalty Manager who gave us the passenger stats.  As might be expected, there were over 900 Elite passengers.  (The Island Princess holds 2200 passengers although I believe our current passenger load is less than 1900).

 

What I found surprising was that there were 270 Blue passengers - on their first ever Princess cruise.

 

I thought that was a large number of people that would spend nearly four months on a cruise ship without ever being on that cruise line before. 

 

Do you think that is a surprising number?  I am interested in your thoughts.

I do!

 

 

[suzyed]

On 3/31/2023 at 10:26 AM, david63 said:

And how do you know that all of the Elite members have cruised with Princess before?

 

My wife has never cruised with Princess but is Elite due to an IT malfunction that brought all her cruise history over from P&O!

I would guess the majority have cruised Princess with the small exception of folks like your wife.

[suzyed]

On 4/3/2023 at 9:08 AM, CeCe_ said:

 

No, not surprising at all.  In fact, we were looking at a world voyage with Cunard in comparison to the Island. Newer ship/cabin and has equally interesting ports and length.  It will be our first on Cunard and will be staying in an unfamiliar cruise for 4 months.   That's the risk we will take, only after trying we can tell.

Make sure you pack your tux and gowns!

 

[Steelers36]

9 minutes ago, suzyed said:

Make sure you pack your tux and gowns!

 

Yeah, they'd have to be offering me a WC for at least half-price in order to have to be Mr Dressup for 4 months.

[Ombud]

On 3/31/2023 at 10:24 AM, 2 cruises a year said:

On 3/31/2023 at 7:31 AM, JimmyVWine said:

Also, all of the Blues will be Platinum when they walk off the ship!

lol, even Elite if they booked a single, or full suite.

Singles get # cruises doubled but not # nights doubled. So 8 cruises or 150 nights instead of 15 cruises or 150 nights. 

[Cruise Junky]

2 hours ago, polmcs said:

I was “almost in the same boat” as you (so to speak). When I saw the balcony fares for the Island WC2025, I decided to look elsewhere and was tempted by the 2025WC on Cunard as it was much more reasonably priced. 
 

I ended up booking a Princess WC for 2025, but on the Crown out of Sydney as the fares were much more reasonable and I think that the itinerary is much more interesting than the Island. 

All the cool kids booked Crown instead of Island 🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️😂