Response from Princess to email re changes

[rosevew]

[CanuckCurlers]

50 minutes ago, rosevew said:

So it's all our fault for liking what they were offering.

[memoak]

57 minutes ago, rosevew said:

I can understand when we were on the Discovery in June you could not get a seat for pizza without a one hour wait. Tons of families ordering multiple pizzas and leaving half uneaten 

[rosevew]

12 minutes ago, memoak said:

I can understand when we were on the Discovery in June you could not get a seat for pizza without a one hour wait. Tons of families ordering multiple pizzas and leaving half uneaten 

Presumably if parents have a package they will just share with the kids so won't make any difference at all 

[memoak]

8 minutes ago, rosevew said:

Presumably if parents have a package they will just share with the kids so won't make any difference at all 

Yeah but 2 meals per cruise on a plus package would make a dent there were some people that ate almost every meal there

[rosevew]

It'll depend on the package. I am annoyed as I have a 24 night cruise and only 2 X option on plus

[Guest ldtr]

1 hour ago, memoak said:

Yeah but 2 meals per cruise on a plus package would make a dent there were some people that ate almost every meal there

I have  seen where each person will order a different pizza each eating a couple of slices leaving most uneaten. I have wondered about the amount of food waste there.

[antsp]

Typical c*ap from corporate, the first line about enhancements. That horizon Court is really popular for breakfast, and lunch, best start charging for it as that will help. Do they take us to fools. I've had a copy from a UK consumer lawyer about a legal complaint against Princess UK, that has been registered with Southampton trading standards, it will be interesting to see what happens 

[cr8tiv1]

Thank you for writing to corporate and sharing your response.  
 

Still does not address $5 room service charge for EliteSuite passengers. 

 

Supply and demand = Raising prices.  We should all love Princess to death.  Oh….blame it on the success of the Medallion/Medallion Class App.

[rosevew]

46 minutes ago, antsp said:

Typical c*ap from corporate, the first line about enhancements. That horizon Court is really popular for breakfast, and lunch, best start charging for it as that will help. Do they take us to fools. I've had a copy from a UK consumer lawyer about a legal complaint against Princess UK, that has been registered with Southampton trading standards, it will be interesting to see what happens 

Keep me posted. I replied to this email and pointed out that whilst they may be able to change the package, Alfredo's and Room Service was never part of the package but a clear part of the cruise itself. I'm trying to find previous ads but they have been very clever about updating links. Wish I had kept the brochure I had recently.

It's interesting to note that the imagine cruise listed on Travelzoo states that room service is included.

[azbirdmom]

Actually the part about addressing guest satisfaction about long lines seems like a bit of a reach to me.  It wasn't even mentioned on the webinar a couple of weeks ago.  But if they are truly concerned about guests waiting unnecessarily then I think the first thing they should have tackled is the long wait times to reach a phone representative, and then when you reach them they are often not likely to be able to solve your issue.  Let's see them address that customer dissatisfaction issue which has been a lot more painful than waiting in line for pizza.

[cruising.mark.uk]

No doubt it won't assuage those on here who are determined not to be happy unless they are not happy about the changes but, in my view, this is a pretty good letter. It states, honestly, that they've introduced the charge at Alfredos to reduce demand and increase revenue. As a shareholder, that sounds good to me. 

 

And, they have also pointed out that casual dining venues are not included in the packages and, by association, that specific dining venues are not included for all, package or not.  If only the many who have posted over and over on the other threads on this subject and who are only interested in what they think they paid for rather than what their contract and the T&Cs say they have paid for read and understood that, we could probably save ourselves another 50 pages of comments on related threads over the next few weeks.  I fear, though, that would be too much to expect.

[Ombud]

1 hour ago, rosevew said:

Presumably if parents have a package they will just share with the kids so won't make any difference at all 

433 single orders each of hot dogs, hamburgers, and fries on the 5/27/23 Emerald Princess Cabo cruise led to 12 hour waits. I'm glad there's a $5 charge for room service phone orders and $15 charge to activate Ocean Now.  

1 hour ago, memoak said:

Yeah but 2 meals per cruise on a plus package would make a dent there were some people that ate almost every meal there

That would be me ... well every lunch & several dinners. Now maybe just 3× on my next TA. But I waited (normally 1+ hour) at the bar next door. 

 

According to @rosevew 's post, guess I have to explore the buffet / World Market / whatever. A good friend (Runmotor) states they have a selection of teas so I don't have to bring my own

 

[rosevew]

8 minutes ago, cruising.mark.uk said:

No doubt it won't assuage those on here who are determined not to be happy unless they are not happy about the changes but, in my view, this is a pretty good letter. It states, honestly, that they've introduced the charge at Alfredos to reduce demand and increase revenue. As a shareholder, that sounds good to me. 

 

And, they have also pointed out that casual dining venues are not included in the packages and, by association, that specific dining venues are not included for all, package or not.  If only the many who have posted over and over on the other threads on this subject and who are only interested in what they think they paid for rather than what their contract and the T&Cs say they have paid for read and understood that, we could probably save ourselves another 50 pages of comments on related threads over the next few weeks.  I fear, though, that would be too much to expect.

I disagree. Informal dining was not part of the package, neither was room service or Ocean Now. They have since made it so. 

I am not concerned unduly about the changes to the packages, more that elements which were not in the package now are. When I booked the brochure clearly referred to 24 hour room service and complimentary informal dining which has been removed. Not a change to the package but a change to the cruise hotel services element.

[Guest ldtr]

2 hours ago, antsp said:

Typical c*ap from corporate, the first line about enhancements. That horizon Court is really popular for breakfast, and lunch, best start charging for it as that will help. Do they take us to fools. I've had a copy from a UK consumer lawyer about a legal complaint against Princess UK, that has been registered with Southampton trading standards, it will be interesting to see what happens 

Pretty sure that they did their homework and the use of the term significant was not an accident. Since that is the description in the UK consumer law and the PTR about when there is an actionable change.

 

Have you asked Princess for your cruise within 90 days to be canceled and refunded and been denied? Which is my understanding would be the next step even if it was a significant change.

Edited August 20, 2023 by ldtr

[rosevew]

5 minutes ago, cruising.mark.uk said:

Apologies for having a sense of humour.

 

I think you mean a written description of what you were getting at the time the brochure was issued.  But, what you forgot to include was the written T&Cs from the brochure that made it very clear that they can change pretty much anything they want to in terms of what they provide and what they charge for it whenever they wish.

Sense of humour is allowed. However, it's no different to booking a land based hotel - if you make that contract based on what is offered, then they really should honour it. Equally, the whole issue is that Princess haven't even had the decency to tell passengers that what they are expecting isn't being delivered.

Like you, I am a shareholder but feel very strongly that we are getting shafted as passengers.

[cruising.mark.uk]

4 minutes ago, rosevew said:

Equally, the whole issue is that Princess haven't even had the decency to tell passengers that what they are expecting isn't being delivered.

 

Further to @ldtr's post 16 above, I am sure they would have told passengers if the changes had been 'significant'.  And, I'm pretty confident their legal department are well-versed as to what is and what isn't a significant change.

 

And, it would be impossible, in any case, for them to satisfactorily address the expectations of each individual passenger when it is very clear from posts across the many related threads that many posters base their expectations entirely on hope and assumptions rather than on reality and an understanding of what they are really purchasing and the associated booking conditions / T&Cs. 

[BlerkOne]

So much negativity. I couldn't help but notice the letter mentions door hanger cards which apparently have not been discontinued.

 

When demand exceeds supply, change is inevitable.

[Tigrou]

1 hour ago, rosevew said:

Keep me posted. I replied to this email and pointed out that whilst they may be able to change the package, Alfredo's and Room Service was never part of the package but a clear part of the cruise itself. I'm trying to find previous ads but they have been very clever about updating links. Wish I had kept the brochure I had recently.

It's interesting to note that the imagine cruise listed on Travelzoo states that room service is included.

 

My next cruise is the Sky Princess 24-day Canada & USA from Southampton.  Details on the website still clearly shows Alfredo's as being included.  I've just taken this screenshot. 

 

To date, I haven't received any notification from Princess about the changes.  Just plenty of other emails, including the one about a free subscription to The Telegraph!

 

 

 

 

Edited August 20, 2023 by Tigrou

[Ombud]

55 minutes ago, Ombud said:

433 single orders each of hot dogs, hamburgers, and fries on the 5/27/23 Emerald Princess Cabo cruise led to 12 hour waits. I'm glad there's a $5 charge for room service phone orders and $15 charge to activate Ocean Now.  

Oops. Meant average 433×3 phone orders orders PER HOUR impacting both phone lines & delivery!! Anyway that's what the retiring captain said. Once he gave instructions to just leave it in the room instead of trying to find the passenger delivery time decreased drastically but never under 2 hrs (2hrs is better than 12). Frankly I think that should be the standard practice ... RS dropped off in room only. Not there? Too bad if it's no longer proper temperature 

 

I'm a standard fare cruiser who's glad there's a phone order charge. 

[rosevew]

17 minutes ago, Tigrou said:

 

My next cruise is the Sky Princess 24-day Canada & USA from Southampton.  Details on the website still clearly shows Alfredo's as being included.  I've just taken this screenshot. 

 

To date, I haven't received any notification from Princess about the changes.  Just plenty of other emails, including the one about a free subscription to The Telegraph!

 

 

 

 

Snap, same cruise as us. What is the direct link to that page?

 

[Tigrou]

Another screenshot from the Princess website, current info for the 24-day Canada & USA cruise.  It's what comes up when you click on "What's Included", which is on the first page after you click on cruise details.  It clearly shows that the Princess Standard fare includes OceanNow and 24-hour room service, just as it did when I booked the cruise.

 

I feel sorry for the guest services staff who will have to deal with the fallout from passengers not being informed of the changes, and from those changes not having been 'grandfathered' in.

 

[Tigrou]

1 minute ago, rosevew said:

Snap, same cruise as us. What is the direct link to that page?

 

https://www.princess.com/cruise-search/details/?voyageCode=Y328

 

[Tigrou]

3 minutes ago, rosevew said:

Snap, same cruise as us. What is the direct link to that page?

 

I've just re-read the last paragraph of the response you received from Princess, about it not being advertised as inclusive of casual dining, OceanNow and room service.  What complete bs!  It is STILL being advertised as including all 3, as can be seen in the screenshots.  And the screenshots show the date and they were taken, ie today, it's not that I took them before the changes.

[Abercrombie2019]

So, if they made Alfredo’s/Gigi’s a for fee restaurant because of long lines - does that mean that the main dining room is next?