Just got an email outlining the "NEW" offerings

[caribill]

3 hours ago, ceilidh1 said:

Well here’s an interesting turn of events. I have a short sailing coming up and it was a no- brainer to book premiere as I planned on eating at crown grill and sabatinis. Well, guess what? After having reservations for both I just checked the app and crown grill has disappeared and is no longer showing as available to book for any day. So, either this is more IT troubles or princess is selling a package that includes dining that’s not available?

 

The bigger the ship and the shorter the cruise, the more difficult it is for all Premier passengers to get reservations at the included specialty restaurants, especially when those without the package can also book (and pay for) reservations in advance.

 

Hopefully you have a screen shot of when the reservation did exist in the App.

[Steelers36]

2 hours ago, Mike07 said:

 

 

Imagine the number of cruisers that have been sailing the Grand Princess for 25 years that are going to show up and either not notice or notice that Alfredo's is now a charge restaurant.

Try just under 4.5 years of Alfredo's on that ship.  🙃

[Steelers36]

22 minutes ago, caribill said:

 

The bigger the ship and the shorter the cruise, the more difficult it is for all Premier passengers to get reservations at the included specialty restaurants, especially when those without the package can also book (and pay for) reservations in advance.

 

Hopefully you have a screen shot of when the reservation did exist in the App.

Yes, but the conspiracy mind might be thinking Princess is cancelling out paid reservations in order to fulfill as many as possible on the packages or they will have hell to pay when tons of guests cannot get their paid-for package benefits.

 

I am starting to see making a SD reservation taking over for top spot upon embarkation and Sanctuary falling to second.  Is that even possible/conceivable for a Caribbean cruise???!!

 

[Thrak]

1 hour ago, SCX22 said:

My point is expect there to be hiccups when changes roll out. 

 

Huge hiccup: John Padgett

[SCX22]

20 minutes ago, Thrak said:

 

Huge hiccup: John Padgett

 

At the time of Padgett’s appointing who else was in the running?  Did the board have many people to choose from?

 

Who’s to say that if Padgett wasn’t currently at the helm of Princess, the person that coulda/shoulda/woulda been at the helm of Princess wouldn’t be making the changes we’re seeing today?

Edited August 17, 2023 by SCX22

[Thrak]

12 minutes ago, SCX22 said:

 

At the time of Padgett’s appointing who else was in the running?  Did the board have many people to choose from?

 

Who’s to say that if Padgett wasn’t currently at the helm of Princess, the person that coulda/shoulda/woulda been at the helm of Princess wouldn’t be making the changes we’re seeing today?

 

I would have preferred someone who was not in Marketing.

[Steelers36]

1 minute ago, Thrak said:

 

I would have preferred someone who was not in Marketing.

He was the CIO.

[LittleFish1976]

4 minutes ago, Thrak said:

 

I would have preferred someone who was not in Marketing.

Just looked at his LinkedIn page; he seems to like the idea of himself as an inventor. As well as being 'focused on creating "Game Changing" Experiences through the fusion of Creative, Technology and Operations.'

 

Not sure people are that happy about having their 'game' changed for them in this way.

[CruizinSusan70]

16 hours ago, Tigrou said:

@gone9ers said these changes will either cost additonal fees or decrease options.  You have addressed the latter but not the former.

 

Okay, options may not be decreased.  But those options will now cost an additional fee.  When I booked my upcoming cruise for September it was clearly advertised as including Alfredo's, ordering via Medallion or room service.  I haven't had any official notification from Princess yet, don't know if I will, but I suspect many passengers on the cruise will turn up not knowing about the changes. 

 

It isn't the amount of the extra charges that annoys me, it's the principle of it.  I booked a cruise which included certain things but now if I want those things I'll have to pay extra.

 

If I booked a hotel at a price which included bed and breakfast, I wouldn't expect to get there and be charged extra for breakfast because between booking and my arrival, the hotel had changed their policy and applied it to my reservation retrospectively.   

 

 

I understand where you're coming from, but it's in the terms and conditions from the various cruise lines that things can change such as port stops and nuisances on board and their butts are covered.  Does it stink, yes, but only you can decide if the changes are bad enough to make you change cruise lines.  Peruse the various threads, there are unhappy campers on multiple lines.

[CruizinSusan70]

14 hours ago, startedwithamouse said:

Good workaround.

If there's a loophole, you need to plug it.

[65Mommy]

I am now hoping that room service will be better since there are fees!

[CruizinSusan70]

18 minutes ago, 65Mommy said:

I am now hoping that room service will be better since there are fees!

For only those booked with standard fare.

[JoRoy218]

On 8/14/2023 at 7:24 PM, DANCING GRANDMOMMY said:

I wonder if you can upgrade on board?

Hopefully that has not changed. We upgraded to Plus on the Emerald in June, so that could use the OBC. They also refunded the $10. we paid for Medallion delivery. 

[JoRoy218]

8 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

@Steelers36 I can see the Alfredo menu working on Royal Class ships.  Would you still be charged $14.99 for JUST pizza on the Grand Class ships that don't have the option for an expanded menu or will the new menu be across the fleet.  

Should have eaten on the Grand when I had the chance.  I really "did" like their pizza.

I agree! The first thing that caught my eye was the new charge for Alfredo’s. We normally eat there 2-3x per cruise.  One of our favorites!

[CruizinSusan70]

1 minute ago, JoRoy218 said:

I agree! The first thing that caught my eye was the new charge for Alfredo’s. We normally eat there 2-3x per cruise.  One of our favorites!

If you have a package, you get two visits per person for the 3 course meal over the course of your cruise.  If you have standard, then you'll have to pay for the good pizza.

[JoRoy218]

4 minutes ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

If you have a package, you get two visits per person for the 3 course meal over the course of your cruise.  If you have standard, then you'll have to pay for the good pizza.

Yes, I saw that…our next cruise is Feb ‘24. Been with Princess quite a while, guess I have to roll with the “punches.” Not enough for us to look elsewhere.The bottom line for them is always the focus. What can we do? Roll with it or move on, but then a good many are making similar moves!

[caribill]

Two people can pay $1056/day + taxes without a package for a penthouse suite (random cruise I looked at for next summer) and Princess says, "That's not enough for one day. We will charge you $5 for calling room service."

 

 

 

 

[villauk]

1 hour ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

If you have a package,

A current package. I’m sure there will be many on our cruise that have a package but won’t qualify because our final payment date was back in May, not than many months after the new charge introduction (in cruise booking terms).

[JoRoy218]

8 hours ago, caribill said:

Two people can pay $1056/day + taxes without a package for a penthouse suite (random cruise I looked at for next summer) and Princess says, "That's not enough for one day. We will charge you $5 for calling room service."

 

 

 

 

Exactly!!!

[Oxo]

9 hours ago, caribill said:

Two people can pay $1056/day + taxes without a package for a penthouse suite (random cruise I looked at for next summer) and Princess says, "That's not enough for one day. We will charge you $5 for calling room service."

 

 

 

 

They may think if you will pay $1,056 per day, 

What's another $5?

That's called 5 & 10 (nickle & dimeing.) LOL

[whitecap]

8 minutes ago, Oxo said:

They may think if you will pay $1,056 per day, 

What's another $5?

That's called 5 & 10 (nickle & dimeing.) LOL

So true.  So let me ask the question:  What are "we", the loyal Princess cruisers, going to do about it?  Vent on social media, then pay their fees?  Vent to Princess, then pay their fees?  Maybe let them know by not purchasing their drink package or cancelling one if you have it, to send a message that we know what they're doing and we don't like it and don't want it?  Ummm, since I don't purchase the package (four booked cruises) I don't have a dog in this fight, other deciding $5.00 vs. $14.99 vs walking to the buffet/IC for late night snack, it will be interesting to see how others decide to handle it.

[ceilidh1]

24 minutes ago, whitecap said:

So true.  So let me ask the question:  What are "we", the loyal Princess cruisers, going to do about it?  Vent on social media, then pay their fees?  Vent to Princess, then pay their fees?  Maybe let them know by not purchasing their drink package or cancelling one if you have it, to send a message that we know what they're doing and we don't like it and don't want it?  Ummm, since I don't purchase the package (four booked cruises) I don't have a dog in this fight, other deciding $5.00 vs. $14.99 vs walking to the buffet/IC for late night snack, it will be interesting to see how others decide to handle it.

I will continue to sail Princess if they have the itinerary and pricing that works for me. Cruises of 7 days or less work for me to buy the package. Longer cruises no longer make sense with the package, since I sail with 2 kids that get very little "value" from it. This is where Princess have "priced me out" if you will - and not strictly monetary but value...

 

The bigger concern they should have is from agents (such as myself) who generally push Princess as first option to their clients. I am a firm believer in knowing my product and, as a longtime Princess cruiser, I felt that I knew the line, the ships, and that they offered a great product. This died off some with the rollout of the app (and this is still a bone of contention) and now the changes to packages. I have a number of clients affected by this - some past final payment, some already cancelled - and this has taken a huge number of work hours to communicate, find answers, deal with upgrades/cancellations - all work hours that are not paid for (remember, we only get a commission on the base cruise fare and not all the hours spent adjusting, etc). I know MANY of the TAs I work with are just done with Princess. For me, it's getting harder and harder to recommend them as first choice...

[PacnGoNow]

16 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

I will continue to sail Princess if they have the itinerary and pricing that works for me. Cruises of 7 days or less work for me to buy the package. Longer cruises no longer make sense with the package, since I sail with 2 kids that get very little "value" from it. This is where Princess have "priced me out" if you will - and not strictly monetary but value...

 

The bigger concern they should have is from agents (such as myself) who generally push Princess as first option to their clients. I am a firm believer in knowing my product and, as a longtime Princess cruiser, I felt that I knew the line, the ships, and that they offered a great product. This died off some with the rollout of the app (and this is still a bone of contention) and now the changes to packages. I have a number of clients affected by this - some past final payment, some already cancelled - and this has taken a huge number of work hours to communicate, find answers, deal with upgrades/cancellations - all work hours that are not paid for (remember, we only get a commission on the base cruise fare and not all the hours spent adjusting, etc). I know MANY of the TAs I work with are just done with Princess. For me, it's getting harder and harder to recommend them as first choice...

I Hope Princess IS reading these comments.  Very important feedback from you.  

 

[MissP22]

46 minutes ago, whitecap said:

So true.  So let me ask the question:  What are "we", the loyal Princess cruisers, going to do about it?  Vent on social media, then pay their fees?  Vent to Princess, then pay their fees?  Maybe let them know by not purchasing their drink package or cancelling one if you have it, to send a message that we know what they're doing and we don't like it and don't want it?  Ummm, since I don't purchase the package (four booked cruises) I don't have a dog in this fight, other deciding $5.00 vs. $14.99 vs walking to the buffet/IC for late night snack, it will be interesting to see how others decide to handle it.

I suspect, based upon what I'm reading, that most people will complain to some degree and just pay the increases in the long run. We're not happy with the cutbacks and reductions and have our own strategy on maintaining our expenditures, but I'm sure it wouldn't work for most people.   

[desertdwellingsailor]

We got the same email. We signed up for a March 2024 cruise on July 1, 2023 and selected the Plus option. Our travel summary on the web site lists all the costs and features of plus. But in the app under packages it says Premier 80 and lists the new premier benefits as outlined in the email. We have not paid the final bill yet so we will see what we are actually paying then but it appears we were upgraded for free to premier without any notice. We were upgraded from plus to premier due to a promotion on our April 30th, 2023 Alaska cruise but it never showed up in the app that way. We really are fine with just the plus but if we get upgraded for free we won't complain.