The Job could be yours you are the new president of Princess what changes would you do

[BCCRUSINGCOUPLE]

Hello, Everyone, I thought this could be fun to do.  Many of us have travelled with Princess and have seen some perks come and go over the years and now if you had the power what changes would you make to Princess to make the experience even better. 

 

1. I would love to see bbq out on deck like the old days under the lights 

2. More benefits for loyal customers 

3. 0% finance charges to book a holiday 2 years out so you can spread the cost over 24 months to pay 

 

 

 

[cr8tiv1]

1 hour ago, BCCRUSINGCOUPLE said:

Hello, Everyone, I thought this could be fun to do.  Many of us have travelled with Princess and have seen some perks come and go over the years and now if you had the power what changes would you make to Princess to make the experience even better. 

 

1. I would love to see bbq out on deck like the old days under the lights 

2. More benefits for loyal customers 

3. 0% finance charges to book a holiday 2 years out so you can spread the cost over 24 months to pay

 

Interesting thread.  

 

As for #3....When Princess moved the Golden Princess to Los Angeles to try out 3 and 4 day cruises, they could not give them away.  Prices were very low.  Then they threw in Sail Now, Entire Fare would be applied to a future 7 day or more cruise.  I took it to mean that I could do "installments" (give them my money now, sail, and get a "free" cruise).  I booked lots and lots of Window Suites on very short cruises.  Paid for an 18 day cruise in a balcony on the Coral Princess (Alaska).  You are either going to give Princess your money now or later.  

 

Your concept of 0% finance over a year or two would be very palatable to many.  Princess would get some much needed funds immediately.  As long as it was "non-refundable" but you could get FCC.  It would be a nightmare for Princess to have to pay you back if you cancelled your cruise.   

 

BBQ is a definite "No-No". Too much of a fire risk.

 

What would I do if I were President?  Build smaller ships with Deck 6 Window Suites.  

[pathi]

We have been doing #3 for years. We usually book 18 months or so out. Make a deposit(Usually a future cruise credit) And make payments on the cruise whenever we want. You just have to be sure to pay off by final payment date.

[Lady Arwen]

Change the smoking policy to no indoor smoking and only allowed in designated outdoor areas.  All of the other changes I’d make would be major structural issues so we’d need to start from scratch.  

[Guest ldtr]

4 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

 

Interesting thread.  

 

As for #3....When Princess moved the Golden Princess to Los Angeles to try out 3 and 4 day cruises, they could not give them away.  Prices were very low.  Then they threw in Sail Now, Entire Fare would be applied to a future 7 day or more cruise.  I took it to mean that I could do "installments" (give them my money now, sail, and get a "free" cruise).  I booked lots and lots of Window Suites on very short cruises.  Paid for an 18 day cruise in a balcony on the Coral Princess (Alaska).  You are either going to give Princess your money now or later.  

 

Your concept of 0% finance over a year or two would be very palatable to many.  Princess would get some much needed funds immediately.  As long as it was "non-refundable" but you could get FCC.  It would be a nightmare for Princess to have to pay you back if you cancelled your cruise.   

 

BBQ is a definite "No-No". Too much of a fire risk.

 

What would I do if I were President?  Build smaller ships with Deck 6 Window Suites.  

The problem with the old style BBQ was violation of health requirements related to food safety.  The reason most cruise lines did away with them around the same time.

[Potstech]

I would update all materials including brochures and web site to reflect current conditions.

I would tell all employees to only put out information that actually reflects current policy and operations.

I would require ALL ships to conform to stated operations and policies to make them standard across the fleet.

I would get rid of the Princess Plus and Premium programs and have one price for all for each cabin category.

I would terminate anyone who tries to instigate programs that do not benefit the company or its customers.

 

But then that is just me.

[mtnesterz]

Change the philosophy behind decision making, so changes come naturally.

Presently driven by:

“The general rule is that there is profit in confusion; the more confusion, the more profit. Therefore, the best approach is to create problems and then offer the solutions.”

― Milton William Cooper

End Plus and Premium; having to decide if it's worth it.

End pricing/tipping question. Pricing and employee wages raised to obviate tipping; no tipping policy. (like Azamara and luxury lines.)

Dining rooms set for formal wear on those nights, a same menu dining room set aside for casual diners. End the arguing.

Health: No smoking in casino. (Like X)

[skynight]

#1 - No. It's very difficult to prepare good bbq on deck and there are insufficient places to sit and eat.

#2 - Princess has needed to redefine their loyalty programs for a long time. Now there is very little benefit to being a loyal Princess customer. 

#3 - You can finance at 0% yourself. Just send or charge payments monthly, quarterly, or whenever you want. You do not have to wait until final payment date. Why get Princess involved in payment processes? 

 

[Steelers36]

President for a Day, huh?  Or longer, perhaps?

 

I would do the following immediately:

1. Ban smoking in all indoor locations (other than the closed in Churchill's), but would work to repurpose those spaces instead of removing other public spaces.
2. Re-write the Clothing Recommendations to reflect modern trend and to align with on-board practice.  Clarify what is not accepted in DR and SD venues.  Re-designate all formal nights as DTI nights (this is partially in effect now) and use X style language to indicate guests are welcome to fancy it up any night for dinner and that smart casual is good to go any night as well.  DRO's to follow new policy.
3. Write a letter to all past PCL guests with >200 days and explain changes coming and going to address long-term loyalty and ask them to keep trust in Princess going forward.

 

 

The following ASAP:

1. Find a new CIO and fire the incumbent.  The new CIO will have objectives to assess the IT teams, internal and external, identify weak spots and how to improve (training, replacement, etc). 
2. Significant improvements to the Princess App guest experience within 3 months, 6 months and bug-free within 6 months.  This includes non-visible issues like data integrity and sync between back-end POLAR system and Princess App.  Add functionality to web version.  All to be done within a year and milestone improvements along the way.
3. Examine ways to improve the food quality and increase revenue to pay for it.  I keep hearing Princess is very price competitive to other lines.  Well, how about having a better product and be more in line with the other lines?
4. Ask the SVP HR how we keep the good senior people on our ships and not lose to competition and find more good people. 
5. Ask SVP Sales if we can bake in the Crew Appreciation to cruise fares worldwide and increase staff salary, but implement a bonus program for top performers.
6. Can we identify guests who earn PCL the least revenue and the most revenue?  What are the differences and similarities?  Can we fill ships with the latter and not encourage the former?  How is revenue per guest compare to other lines?  Is there anything we should be doing differently?
7. I'd have a lot of measurements for the new Sun ship since it is so different in terms of guest satisfaction, spending and usage of facilities, etc.
8. Hire a technical writer and assign them to review all online documentation and ensure up to date, consistent and accurate.  Identify gaps where information is missing and work with marketing and web design team to provide missing information.
9. Look for ways to acknowledge and perhaps reward long-term guests with large number of past sailings as they achieve milestones with Princess.  What makes sense for the relationship and is affordable and meaningful.  Can we measure if such guests are actually unofficial Princess ambassadors?

 

ETA:

I would ASAP implement process whereby guests owed money back at end of voyage have it credited back to their card on account and terminate the 3rd party arrangement for issuing checks.  Also, any guest eligible for a discount is charged the net cost either online or on the phone and no more having to get OBC for any pricing difference. 

Edited April 16, 2023 by Steelers36

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, Potstech said:

I would get rid of the Princess Plus and Premium programs and have one price for all for each cabin category.

I am not sure this is practical given the state of the industry and clearly a lot of folks prefer to go this way.  I imagine your suggestion means all guests are paying menu prices for beverages?

 

I think I would look into the profitability of the current packages and where PCL makes a profit versus no profit.  As long as PCL not losing money of guests max out all the perks, I don't see a problem if it puts guests onto ships.  I keep reading that PCL prices are better than other lines for these packages, so another price increase might be warranted and still beat the competition?  I don't know enough to say more at this point (and no way to know proprietary info), but all-inclusive packages are certainly a selling feature.

[Lady Arwen]

44 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

President for a Day, huh?  Or longer, perhaps?

 

I would do the following immediately:

1. Ban smoking in all indoor locations (other than the closed in Churchill's), but would work to repurpose those spaces instead of removing other public spaces.
2. Re-write the Clothing Recommendations to reflect modern trend and to align with on-board practice.  Clarify what is not accepted in DR and SD venues.  Re-designate all formal nights as DTI nights (this is partially in effect now) and use X style language to indicate guests are welcome to fancy it up any night for dinner and that smart casual is good to go any night as well.  DRO's to follow new policy.
3. Write a letter to all past PCL guests with >200 days and explain changes coming and going to address long-term loyalty and ask them to keep trust in Princess going forward.

 

 

The following ASAP:

1. Find a new CIO and fire the incumbent.  The new CIO will have objectives to assess the IT teams, internal and external, identify weak spots and how to improve (training, replacement, etc). 
2. Significant improvements to the Princess App guest experience within 3 months, 6 months and bug-free within 6 months.  This includes non-visible issues like data integrity and sync between back-end POLAR system and Princess App.  Add functionality to web version.  All to be done within a year and milestone improvements along the way.
3. Examine ways to improve the food quality and increase revenue to pay for it.  I keep hearing Princess is very price competitive to other lines.  Well, how about having a better product and be more in line with the other lines?
4. Ask the SVP HR how we keep the good senior people on our ships and not lose to competition and find more good people. 
5. Ask SVP Sales if we can bake in the Crew Appreciation to cruise fares worldwide and increase staff salary, but implement a bonus program for top performers.
6. Can we identify guests who earn PCL the least revenue and the most revenue?  What are the differences and similarities?  Can we fill ships with the latter and not encourage the former?  How is revenue per guest compare to other lines?  Is there anything we should be doing differently?
7. I'd have a lot of measurements for the new Sun ship since it is so different in terms of guest satisfaction, spending and usage of facilities, etc.
8. Hire a technical writer and assign them to review all online documentation and ensure up to date, consistent and accurate.  Identify gaps where information is missing and work with marketing and web design team to provide missing information.
9. Look for ways to acknowledge and perhaps reward long-term guests with large number of past sailings as they achieve milestones with Princess.  What makes sense for the relationship and is affordable and meaningful.  Can we measure if such guests are actually unofficial Princess ambassadors?

 

ETA:

I would ASAP implement process whereby guests owed money back at end of voyage have it credited back to their card on account and terminate the 3rd party arrangement for issuing checks.  Also, any guest eligible for a discount is charged the net cost either online or on the phone and no more having to get OBC for any pricing difference. 

All excellent ideas and I’m 100% in agreement.  However, have you not just described Celebrity, Virgin, Azamara, Oceania and others?  Why even wait for Princess to implement changes when it’s already available elsewhere.  If I were President of Princess I would probably just throw in the towel.  

[PescadoAmarillo]

1 hour ago, Steelers36 said:

 

1. Examine ways to improve the food quality and increase revenue to pay for it.  I keep hearing Princess is very price competitive to other lines.  Well, how about having a better product and be more in line with the other lines?
2.  

I would ASAP implement process whereby guests owed money back at end of voyage have it credited back to their card on account and terminate the 3rd party arrangement for issuing checks.  Also, any guest eligible for a discount is charged the net cost either online or on the phone and no more having to get OBC for any pricing difference. 

So many valid points here, but a few stand out.
 

Every time I hear, “Well the other cruise lines are just as bad” regarding…you name it:  food, home office customer service, entertainment, etc., I can’t help but think that is another opportunity for Princess to differentiate itself and excel. The goal should not be a race to the bottom.  The goal should be to stand out in a supply driven market. 
 

The entire discount and refund process needs to be re-worked.  It’s only going to work if it requires no human intervention. Cancelling a cruise before final payment works perfectly. In three days, I can see the credit back on my card. It all needs to work so flawlessly. 

 

I would add that whoever thought up DMW should be walked out the door with the current CIO.

 

And one final thought…if the app works fine for people taking a single cruise but is causing people who book $35K+ of business each year to stop doing so, fixing it needs to be a high priority.
 

 

[Ellipooh]

8 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

 Build smaller ships with Deck 6 Window Suites.  

This. 

[Izzywiz]

Build much smaller ships again.
Have kettles in every cabin on every sailing not just those from the UK or, at least, have the option to have a kettle brought to your cabin as happens on Celebrity ships.

[beg3yrs]

Many great ideas here. My favorite is smaller ships and couple that with more exotic itineraries.

[Eleanor Rigby 14]

Lots of great suggestions here from everyone! (Some of you sound like you are already President of something - your comments are very professional and succinctly stated like you are doing a presentation in front of a Board of Directors. Impressive.)

 

I’ve never held a position anywhere near President level. If I were suddenly appointed President of Princess, I might first want to be an “Undercover Boss” for a short while. I would disguise myself as I attempted to assist a cabin steward, bartender, waiter, etc. I would not expect to be finding much fault at all with staff. On the contrary, I would expect that I might find out what changes I could make that would better serve them as my employees. Most of all though, because not every cruiser fills out surveys or gives reviews, I would want to hear first-hand what my paying customers were saying as they sat at a bar, the piazza, casino, buffet, pool, MDRs, specialty restaurants. Even the elevators would be filled with helpful commentary I’m sure. I would make my decisions on any possible changes to be made after that enlightening experience.

[CruzinNoony]

Bring back the milestone recognition program.  Such a shame that those reaching 1000 days aren't invited to Sabatini's for breakfast on the cruise where their milestone is reached.

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

I can’t help but think that is another opportunity for Princess to differentiate itself and excel. The goal should not be a race to the bottom.  The goal should be to stand out in a supply driven market. 

You said it, J!!

[Kay S]

1 hour ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

 

 

I would add that whoever thought up DMW should be walked out the door with the current CIO.

 

 

 

Yep.

[Steelers36]

2 hours ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

I would add that whoever thought up DMW should be walked out the door with the current CIO.

I was originally going to bypass this one, but here goes (similar to what I have posted a long time ago and also sent to Princess).

 

In DMW, the first thing a guest does is add any other Travel Companions to their Dining Party.

 

The next selection should be if guest wants TD experience with a private table or TD experience with a shared table.  If the guest elects a TD experience, they are advised this will be in effect for the full voyage, but they can do exceptions such as booking SD for individual nights.  The guest is offered some time slots and a preferred table size if they elected sharing option that is the end of it.  All of these requests go to the ship as they used to and the DRO does the table assignments.  In order to make this work, Princess pre-blocks a percentage of tables from the inventory and they form the TD pool.  Let's say it begins with 50% as this is historically what they did.

 

If a guest does not opt for TD, they then flow into the existing DMW process where they are offered to book for full voyage or individual nights, followed by time selections and (new feature) table size.  The inventory made available at this point is 50% of the total.  Guests should be advised that booking either in advance or on board does not guarantee the same table location nor wait staff each evening.  Also, if they elect sharing option, their dining companions will most likely be different each evening.

 

Once the DRO has completed table assignments, any excess inventory can be held until Day 1 in order to accommodate any last minute requests or changes for TD as space allows.  This means a return of the DRO meeting time in the DR on embarkation afternoon.  Once any requests are settled, the DRO can release any excess inventory back to DMW for on-demand bookings (another new feature).

 

ETA:  Of course, there will still be walk-ups.

 

Edited April 16, 2023 by Steelers36

[fpsphil]

First: Remove the horrible marketing department obsessing over catchy millennial sayings. At the same time remove the graffiti from the side of the Enchanted

Second: bring back the unique itineraries. Lately a lot of the more exotic itineraries seem to be slowly dieing off

Third: all the IT/internet infrastructure needs to get fixed both on the ships as well as the mobile app and website. It’s a constant mess of errors that needs to be corrected

 

[Dunk]

16 hours ago, BCCRUSINGCOUPLE said:

 

3. 0% finance charges to book a holiday 2 years out so you can spread the cost over 24 months to pay 

 

 

 

This is already a thing. 

[Kellyansapansa]

I would revamp the Captain's Circle loyalty scheme.

 

There seems to be a high proportion of Elite cruisers amongst the Princess user base but once you reach Elite there is no great incentive to keep booking cruises. There is no higher level to attain, and there seems to be a lot of dissatisfaction with the perception that Princess is gradually removing Elite entitlements and devaluing this status level.

 

I would keep the current levels because they are valued by many Princess cruisers but I would repackage the benefits to make them more cost effective for Princess. I would then reintroduce a points-based milestone scheme where rewards are unlocked for every 5 cruise credits achieved, and credits can be accumulated for redemption on bigger and better rewards.

 

I would have the rewards catalogue include things that are valued and coveted by the Princess user base. For example, a seat at a Chef's Table, priority Sanctuary bookings, dinner with the captain, Ultimate Ship Tour, bridge tour, and I'm sure there are many other things that could be included.

 

The problem with the current scheme is that different people value different things so it's extremely difficult to please the majority. The ability to choose rewards would please more of the people more of the time.

Edited April 16, 2023 by Kellyansapansa

[billco]

Foremost I would try to please the higherups at Carnival by understanding why I got hired. I think that would first be identifying and finding a balance that will fill ships with those who would help the bottom line the most.

 

So, I’ll come up with things to attract younger big spenders to the short cruises while keeping the older non spending cruisers on the longer cruises.

Personally I don’t care about any of it, but I need this job.

Edited April 17, 2023 by billco

[rdsqrl]

Bring back Traditional Dining.  

 

I can be pretty sanguine about most of the rest of the stuff we all complain about, but I don't know how many more Princess cruises I can take with the utter chaos that is this new "system."  Having to wait in line for more than 45 minutes WITH a standing reservation is simply not something I wish to repeat on future cruises, not to mention I dearly miss the opportunity to develop camaraderie over the cruise with my assigned tablemates. I'd rather sail less on pricier but old-school Cunard than more often on Princess.