Changes to Princess Plus, room service fees, Alfredo's and others. Fee changes. Etc

[ceilidh1]

11 minutes ago, ldtr said:

 

Making Gigi's/Alfredo's  a charged venue

Adding $14.95 charge to activate App ordering 

Adding $5 per order room service charge when ordering by phone

 

My disappointment with the above is that all 3 were heavily promoted/touted in Princess marketing as being "included" - the ocean medallion app ordering was one of the selling points for medallion class cruising, Gigi's and Alfredos have been constantly marketed as an inclusion, and complimentary room service was also one of the pieces that made Princess stand out from the other lines.

[Guest ldtr]

1 minute ago, ceilidh1 said:

My disappointment with the above is that all 3 were heavily promoted/touted in Princess marketing as being "included" - the ocean medallion app ordering was one of the selling points for medallion class cruising, Gigi's and Alfredos have been constantly marketed as an inclusion, and complimentary room service was also one of the pieces that made Princess stand out from the other lines.

Now Princess has followed their competition.  Though HAL still does not charge for room service (though their charge for special eggs benedict is worth the up charge)

[Guest ldtr]

2 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

My disappointment with the above is that all 3 were heavily promoted/touted in Princess marketing as being "included" - the ocean medallion app ordering was one of the selling points for medallion class cruising, Gigi's and Alfredos have been constantly marketed as an inclusion, and complimentary room service was also one of the pieces that made Princess stand out from the other lines.

If it was really a game changer to me I would contact Princess customer service and ask for my cruise to be canceled and with a full refund if the change occurred within 90 days of my cruise departure.  If that did not work send them a polite letter asking  if such charges could be waived due to the late notice or if that was not possible $X dollars in OBC due to the lack of advance notification.

 

The result might be positive, might be negative, do not know if anyone has tried.

 

The changes are made, pretty much following changes by competition, the only real argument at this point is the timing of the notification.  Of which there still has not really been one to the customers, only the one aimed at travel agents.

 

Letters raising the lack of advance notification are more likely to get a result then streams on cruise critic.  Especially if some farther out cruises get canceled.  In our case, not enough impact, the increased cost on our hotel room the night before our next cruise compared to last year is higher then the impact of this during that cruise,

[whitecap]

1 minute ago, ldtr said:

The veterans shareholder change only impacts those where both couples are veterans or where a veteran is sailing solo.  For couples where there is one veteran the stacking still is allowed.  The veteran applies for the veterans benefit, the stock should be owned by the other person in the cabin or in a joint account that includes their name and they apply for the shareholder benefit.  It is only when an individual tries applying for both in their name that is not allowed.

But the bigger point is not who the shareholder/military OBC change affected, it is that this is just another one of the benefits that Princess passengers did receive and now its gone.  Also gone, internet, loyalty OBC, bathroom amenities, coffee card, cost to get medallion, and I'm sure there is more I just can't think of at the moment.  All these reductions with all these added fees/charges just makes one wonder how far will they go.

I have a suggestion for Princess:  No one likes taking off the bandaid slowly; please rip it off, go ahead and add all the fees you can think of and to get you started how about a cover charge to go to the buffet, Lido pizza and the grill; cover charge for MUTS and those little ice cream cones don't come cheap, put them in a vending machine and charge a buck for each.  Go ahead, make all the reductions you can, do it all at once, PLEASE!  You know it is in the plans.  It will sting for a moment, but it will certainly help me make my decision.  

[memoak]

1 hour ago, Barbie075 said:

You had better upgrade to Premier then, as you will only be entitled to two meals for free as a Plus, after that you will have a pay a la carte pricing.

At $20 per day more it would not be worth it unless you are going to ignore the MDR all cruise and always eat at extra charge venues. We like the MDR. Most of the casual venues mentioned have a charge now except for the Pizzeria on some ships

[waltd]

1 hour ago, charliedalrymple said:

 

I had not seen it when I posted, but I have since then. Sheesh.  What will they come up with next?

 

Oh you say you wanted fresh towels daily?   A towel Freshenr charge.  Do I get a prize for this new fee?🙂

 

[rcrabb1513]

On 7/27/2023 at 9:06 AM, LMaxwell said:

What does this mean for those of us looking at standard fares?  

 

 

 

 

For voyages embarking August 12 and beyond, guests on Princess Plus and Princess Premier packages will enjoy savory prix fixe dining options in the ship's casual restaurants, including Vines, Salty Dog Pub, O'Malleys, Ocean Terrace, Planks, Steamers, Alfredo's, and GiGi's. The addition of new three-course, pre-fixed menus gives Plus and Premier guests more food options than ever before without any extra charges. For those who prefer sailing on Princess Standard, the casual prix fixe dining will be $14.99 and individual selections will continue with a la carte pricing.

"Great food is fundamental to the Princess Cruises experience," said John Padgett, president of Princess Cruises. "By incorporating our casual dining experiences into the Princess Plus and Princess Premier packages, guests can now indulge in more memorable meals tailored to their dining style preferences without hesitation, all while enjoying unparalleled value."

All guests can continue to enjoy top-quality culinary options at no additional charge. Complimentary dining options for all guests include exquisite multi-course meals in all main dining rooms, buffet-style delights at World Fresh Market and Horizons Court, scrumptious treats at the International Café, poolside offerings at Slice, Coffee & Cones, and more, as well as traditional stateroom breakfast available using the classic door hanger menus.

Our upcoming cruise is on Coral Princess and she does not have any of the casual dining venues listed.  That perk is moot for us.

[ceilidh1]

17 minutes ago, ldtr said:

Now Princess has followed their competition.  Though HAL still does not charge for room service (though their charge for special eggs benedict is worth the up charge)

Exactly - so Princess no longer stands out from the competition. What is there to make me (or anyone) choose Princess over the other lines? I used to be 100% loyal to Princess for many years, now I have no hesitation in choosing the competition. I will still cruise with them, but they are no longer my first choice/go to line. 

[CruizinSusan70]

9 hours ago, dsukid said:

Ah you see. I'm not exactly to that extreme the issue. I have a pretty firm idea of what the costs of the alcohol "everyone" is downing to excess to get their monies worth and the ship is still making a profit on it. All these other perks have very little incremental costs associated with them. Thus if one who doesn't really drink but fiends caffeine takes plus they are providing a huge margin of profit for the line. 

But your statement about "subsidizing others intoxication" was where I wanted a little further explanation from you. 

[Guest ldtr]

29 minutes ago, whitecap said:

But the bigger point is not who the shareholder/military OBC change affected, it is that this is just another one of the benefits that Princess passengers did receive and now its gone.  Also gone, internet, loyalty OBC, bathroom amenities, coffee card, cost to get medallion, and I'm sure there is more I just can't think of at the moment.  All these reductions with all these added fees/charges just makes one wonder how far will they go.

I have a suggestion for Princess:  No one likes taking off the bandaid slowly; please rip it off, go ahead and add all the fees you can think of and to get you started how about a cover charge to go to the buffet, Lido pizza and the grill; cover charge for MUTS and those little ice cream cones don't come cheap, put them in a vending machine and charge a buck for each.  Go ahead, make all the reductions you can, do it all at once, PLEASE!  You know it is in the plans.  It will sting for a moment, but it will certainly help me make my decision.  

 

 

An over reaction to what is a negative change but a fairly minor one.  Then going into all kinds of things that have not changed.

 

First keep in mind exactly what the Elite benefits were and still are:

 

Out of all of the elite benefits there is only one that is gone

The bag of toiletries.

 

There is one that changed when the entire nature of the service related to it changed

 

Internet going from free minutes (on average 15-20 minutes per day of cruise) to a 50% discount on unlimited minutes.  That change was made when the way Internet was charged for and tracked was changed from minutes to unlimited.

 

At that same time the 10% rebate on excursions was added as a benefit. 

 

Since the nature of the Internet has changed in the years since the benefit was changed.  How many would really be satisfied getting such a limited number of free minutes, compared to the unlimited per day use?

 

There are two where the benefit has become a bit more limited:

 

The retail discount cannot be used on sale items but is still available on full price items

 

The Minibar swap no longer has the coffee card option.  That is because the coffee card program no longer exists.  Pretty hard to swap for something that does not exist.  Other than that the minibar benefit is intact.

 

 

 

As far as the Veterans and shareholder stacking.  Still available except for couples that are both veterans that could have triple dipped in the past and solo veterans that could have double dipped.

The existing benefit is still more than on the competing lines.  HAL just added a veterans benefit though only for new bookings and only for $100.  Other competition nope.

 

So the only real cut, which was not one of the Elite benefits) was the loyalty benefit that kicked in at 25 cruises and higher.

 

The benefits are pretty much still there.  They do have substantial value if one chooses to use them. In our case over $700 in savings on a 22 day B2B.  Along with $700 in Veterans and Shareholder OBS that we will continue to qualify for even with the changes.

Edited July 29, 2023 by ldtr

[Kamastar]

I have three more cruises booked for this year: Celebrity, HAL and Princess. Celebrity with beverage package, wi-fi and gratuities; HAL with beverage and wi-fi plus 1 tour pp and 1 specialty restaurant pp and shareholder; and Princess (Elite) with Princess + ($60 pp) and military and shareholder. I will know more about what the best comparisons are by December and make my future cruise plans based on that.

[JGmf]

48 minutes ago, ldtr said:

For all of the angst, discussion an debate.  In reality the changes are

 

Making Gigi's/Alfredo's  a charged venue

Adding $14.95 charge to activate App ordering 

Adding $5 per order room service charge when ordering by phone

 

Most of this discussion is largely because the announcement (the one aimed at TAs) focused on packages and why TA's should push them to their clients.  Instead of being a announcement of the price increases themselves.  

 

There have been far larger changes in the past with more economic impact that generated less angst and confusion.  

 

This.  Well said. 

 

It's fascinating to read the subset of people threatening to cancel Princess now and forever over measly increases.

[Guest ldtr]

14 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

Exactly - so Princess no longer stands out from the competition. What is there to make me (or anyone) choose Princess over the other lines? I used to be 100% loyal to Princess for many years, now I have no hesitation in choosing the competition. I will still cruise with them, but they are no longer my first choice/go to line. 

We will be sailing on 7 different cruise lines in the next 12 months (everything from a 50 passenger ship to a 5000 passenger ship).  Why anyone sticks to one cruise line is beyond me.  Though we sail primarily for itinerary and to reach different places we need cruises on different lines.

 

That said we still find that even with the changes Princess is usually the best value (lowest per day price) out of the adult focused main stream lines.  As a result for common destinations we often book Princess (we are traveling 150 days next year on cruises and various land trips) because of that price differential.  During a normal travel year we are on Princess more days than other lines, though Princess might be less that half of our total cruise days during any given year.

 

One of the reasons why I think that any price increase has the reaction that it does on Princess is because for the last 10 year it has had a lower price point in general than the other adult focused main stream lines.

 

I encourage everyone to get out an travel more, try other lines, do not limit yourself to only one.  You might find that the one you have been on is still your favorite or that others might be worth additional cost.  Much better or groaning about changes to any one line.  Cruise lines are like hotels and airlines.  More alike than different. How the difference appeal to anyone individual varies.

Edited July 29, 2023 by ldtr

[jwattle]

Q22023_COMPARATIVECHART_2023_0727.pdf

This is a chart to compare the Princess packages with the other Big Three..

 

[JGmf]

5 minutes ago, ldtr said:

We will be sailing on 7 different cruise lines in the next 12 months (everything from a 50 passenger ship to a 5000 passenger ship).

 

That's awesome.  I'm very envious.

[Guest ldtr]

6 minutes ago, JGmf said:

 

This.  Well said. 

 

It's fascinating to read the subset of people threatening to cancel Princess now and forever over measly increases.

Some have posted months ago that they were done with Princess, yet return to stir the pot.  Others have said the same thing about many things such as the removal of barrel chairs.

[whitecap]

9 minutes ago, ldtr said:

 

 

As usual an order reaction to what is a negative change but a fairly minor one.  Then going into all kinds of things that have not changed.

 

First keep in mind exactly what the Elite benefits were and still are:

 

Out of all of the elite benefits there is only one that is gone

The bag of toiletries.

 

There is one that changed when the entire nature of the service related to it changed

 

Internet going from free minutes (on average 15-20 minutes per day of cruise) to a 50% discount on unlimited minutes.  That change was made when the way Internet was charged for and tracked was changed from minutes to unlimited.

 

At that same time the 10% rebate on excursions was added as a benefit. 

 

Since the nature of the Internet has changed in the years since the benefit was changed.  How many would really be satisfied getting such a limited number of free minutes, compared to the unlimited per day use?

 

There are two where the benefit has become a bit more limited:

 

The retail discount cannot be used on sale items but is still available on full price items

 

The Minibar swap no longer has the coffee card option.  That is because the coffee card program no longer exists.  Pretty hard to swap for something that does not exist.  Other than that the minibar benefit is intact.

 

 

 

As far as the Veterans and shareholder stacking.  Still available except for couples that are both veterans that could have triple dipped in the past and solo veterans that could have double dipped.

The existing benefit is still more than on the competing lines.  HAL just added a veterans benefit though only for new bookings and only for $100.  Other competition nope.

 

So the only real cut, which was not one of the Elite benefits) was the loyalty benefit that kicked in at 25 cruises and higher.

 

The benefits are pretty much still there.  They do have substantial value if one chooses to use them. In our case over $700 in savings on a 22 day B2B.  Along with $700 in Veterans and Shareholder OBS that we will continue to qualify for even with the changes.

I stopped reading after the first sentence.  I stand by my opinion, it is my opinion and you don't have to agree.  Your condescending first sentence serves no purpose and as for me, your attempts at sugar coating these changes simply fall on deaf ears.  Have a wonderful rest of your weekend.

[Catchum]

10 hours ago, dsukid said:

Ah you see. I'm not exactly to that extreme the issue. I have a pretty firm idea of what the costs of the alcohol "everyone" is downing to excess to get their monies worth and the ship is still making a profit on it. All these other perks have very little incremental costs associated with them. Thus if one who doesn't really drink but fiends caffeine takes plus they are providing a huge margin of profit for the line. 

In my local supermarket a steak - low end and a bottle of wine - vin plonk costs roughly the same. On the ship they put more $$ into giving my DH the steak than the wine.  Honestly my wine drinking subsidies your meat. Also I don't eat deserts which are massively labour intensive and therefore expensive. You are welcome that my beverage package subsidies the cost of your vacation.

[WisCruiser2]

Can anyone tell me what the current prices are for  beer, basic drinks (e.g., gin & tonic), soda, and coffee (brewed and lattes) are? That's really the difference for us, as we do not drink much alcohol, but do like our morning coffee!

 

Also, the "casual dining" change doesn't mean much for those ships that don't have Alfredo's or Ocean Terrace. Salty Dog "Gastropub" and Planks/Steamers had an upcharge the last time we were cruising (in 2020...).

[Guest ldtr]

2 minutes ago, whitecap said:

I stopped reading after the first sentence.  I stand by my opinion, it is my opinion and you don't have to agree.  Your condescending first sentence serves no purpose and as for me, your attempts at sugar coating these changes simply fall on deaf ears.  Have a wonderful rest of your weekend.

Listing a bunch of things that have not changed and saying this could be next certainly seems to be an over reaction to me.

 

You are the one that brought up the benefit cuts so what exactly in incorrect in what I posted.

[MrSchwump]

No loss for me. I never thought Alfredo’s was all that to begin with. 

[whitecap]

3 minutes ago, ldtr said:

Listing a bunch of things that have not changed and saying this could be next certainly seems to be an over reaction to me.

 

You are the one that brought up the benefit cuts so what exactly in incorrect in what I posted.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

[rosevew]

I for one have contacted Princess to express my dissatisfaction, both by telephone and by email to UK and USA offices. I also suggested that they look at this thread to see the depth of feeling for the changes

[dsukid]

1 hour ago, ldtr said:

For all of the angst, discussion an debate.  In reality the changes are

 

Making Gigi's/Alfredo's  a charged venue

Adding $14.95 charge to activate App ordering 

Adding $5 per order room service charge when ordering by phone

 

Most of this discussion is largely because the announcement (the one aimed at TAs) focused on packages and why TA's should push them to their clients.  Instead of being a announcement of the price increases themselves.  

 

There have been far larger changes in the past with more economic impact that generated less angst and confusion.  

To my recollection is that they didn't do it effectively immediately.

[whitecap]

4 minutes ago, rosevew said:

I for one have contacted Princess to express my dissatisfaction, both by telephone and by email to UK and USA offices. I also suggested that they look at this thread to see the depth of feeling for the changes

And I would encourage anyone who is still confused, upset, or feeling that Princess has become disloyal to do the same.