Elite loyalty status

[Traderboy]

We have just reached elite status on Princess.

 

Do we now have unlimited free washing like you do in a full suite?

 

What other perks do others value the most?

[skynight]

Yes, you have unlimited laundry service. Turn around takes up to 3 days depending on the number of elite members on the cruise. On a recent cruise turn around for me was two days. Not too many elites on board. Full suites have next day turn around.

Priority water shuttle is nice. If you are going ashore at a tender port during peak times you don't have to plan very much. Just show up at the designated location and your wait will be short. This benefit is for ship to shore only. Shore to ship you wait in line with everyone else. 

I guess if you are booking Princess excursions the 10% discount is nice.

10% discount on full price items in the ship's shops also nice if you buy stuff.

Mini bar of little use if you have plus or premier fares, but some people like the set up.

https://www.princess.com/downloads/pdf/cc/captains-circle-loyalty-benefits.pdf

 

Edited May 13 by skynight

[Cruisemeister2002]

We are Elite and enjoy the 10% off goods in the shops. It's good to wait as although I am not totally familiar with Princess I presume they have as with P&O day's where they have sales of goods and there's bargains to be had. Plus of course any other spending you do also gives you 10% off. We have gone for the Plus package, this will be our first cruise we have taken up such an option therefore I would hazard a guess that when onboard we won't be spending anywhere near what we have in the past. As for laundering I doubt I will have much use of this service. Maybe a couple of dress shirts. The desserts look interesting although I doubt we'll get through two a day. There's also the two casual dining we get in the package and a mini bar comes with Elite status which is o.k. as we like a drink prior to going to a bar for a pre-dinner drink. I hope I haven't confused you by mixing Elite status and the Plus package which of course are totally separate.      

[555]

37 minutes ago, Cruisemeister2002 said:

The desserts look interesting although I doubt we'll get through two a day.

If they'll allow you to only have them eliminate everything but the ice cream then we can certainly eat two a day or maybe 1 piece a of cake & one ice cream.

[karatemom2]

We are Elite and since we are very light drinkers, the benefit helps us with our decision to pass on the Plus package for now. 
 

We exchange our minibar for 20 sodas and water, along with preordering the water and sodas packages which provides the greater share of our daily non alcohol drinks. 
 

As Elite passengers we can go to the daily Elite happy hour for small bites and $8 cocktails which pretty much satisfies our alcohol consumption with maybe an occasional glass of wine for dinner. Any more than that leaves me feeling unwell. 
 

Elite passengers also get half price Wi-Fi. We really only need one device that allows me to stay connected at work and with our family, so less expensive again with our Elite benefit than buying two packages. 
 

The Elite laundry service is an amazingly helpful benefit for us and allows lighter packing, especially for longer trips of 14 days or more. And since we are cruising in large part to visit the ports, we really appreciate the priority tendering service as we are generally up early and ready to get off the ship as soon as possible. 
 

The 10 percent discount is nice - it applies for shops, shore excursions, and the spa so definitely a savings we appreciate. 
 

A couple of other benefits we enjoy are the free wine tasting event and the free in room tea service delivery. We usually take advantage of each of those benefits every cruise.   
 

Everyone has different styles of cruising and different things they value. Those who get more value from the Plus package may find it dilutes the value of their Elite benefits a bit, but for us we really appreciate the savings from not needing Plus packages which we invest in amazing port experiences, a much higher priority for us. 

[memoak]

The only difference between elite and suite laundry is that suite laundry has priority and comes back faster. Most times in a suite if we put the laundry out mid to late morning it is back the next afternoon or evening. Elite depends on how many elites are on your cruise 

[helenb]

16 minutes ago, karatemom2 said:

We are Elite and since we are very light drinkers, the benefit helps us with our decision to pass on the Plus package for now. 
 

We exchange our minibar for 20 sodas and water, along with preordering the water and sodas packages which provides the greater share of our daily non alcohol drinks.

 

I don't drink at all, and my husband drinks 1-2 alcoholic drinks a day on vacation. We get the soda package as well. My husband will bring 1-2 bottles of wine onboard to have a glass before dinner (or carry it to the dining room to have with dinner). But he keeps the small bottles of alcohol from the Elite minibar. Then he will order a virgin mocktail (which is included with the soda package) and add in alcohol from the mini bottles. So other than the soda package, we never need to purchase drinks onboard.

 

I agree with others that being Elite makes it obvious that Plus isn't for us. Between me not drinking alcohol and the discounted wifi, Plus just doesn't work out without some kind of TA promotion.

 

The laundry is really nice. Every 3-4 days I send out our socks, underwear, t-shirts, etc. It's nice to have clean things rather than a growing pile of stinky clothes! It also helps me pack less on a longer trip. For example, we are going around the British Isles on Regal next month and will be away for nearly 3 weeks. But I'm only packing 1 week's worth of underwear/socks/etc. because we'll be able to get things laundered.

 

The tender priority is helpful too. We have a lot of tender ports on this same British Isles cruise, and when planning our time ashore, I know that we'll be able to get ashore relatively quickly.

[RSF Cruiser]

If an elite and non elite are in the same room, do both get the elite benefit - especially laundry and wine tasting?

[karatemom2]

19 minutes ago, RSF Cruiser said:

If an elite and non elite are in the same room, do both get the elite benefit - especially laundry and wine tasting?

 
In our experience, yes. My daughter is Elite and her new husband is not, yet they allowed him to join her in all of her Elite perks on their honeymoon last year. 

[warthog2608]

We are brand new elites, just sailed our first cruise as elite. We enjoyed the included wine tasting, the wines weren't that great but the pairings and presentations were nicely done. I was looking forward to the tea in the stateroom benefit. But when I called room service I was told I had to order it a day in advance. I apologized that I was a new baby elite and didn't know all the rules yet. She laughed and said, "I'll see what I can do" and lo and behold, a nice tea service arrived!

Haven't experienced the priority tendering yet, really looking forward to that! We'll be on a 16 day Iceland Greenland cruise soon, laundry will come in handy!

Enjoy your elite benefits.

[memoak]

5 minutes ago, warthog2608 said:

We are brand new elites, just sailed our first cruise as elite. We enjoyed the included wine tasting, the wines weren't that great but the pairings and presentations were nicely done. I was looking forward to the tea in the stateroom benefit. But when I called room service I was told I had to order it a day in advance. I apologized that I was a new baby elite and didn't know all the rules yet. She laughed and said, "I'll see what I can do" and lo and behold, a nice tea service arrived!

Haven't experienced the priority tendering yet, really looking forward to that! We'll be on a 16 day Iceland Greenland cruise soon, laundry will come in handy!

Enjoy your elite benefits.

Please remember that it is only priority tendering to the port not back to the ship. See way too many people in port trying to cut the tender line waving a black cruise card or medallion 

[warthog2608]

10 minutes ago, memoak said:

Please remember that it is only priority tendering to the port not back to the ship. See way too many people in port trying to cut the tender line waving a black cruise card or medallion 

Yup, not confused about that!

[kywildcatfanone]

You do get the laundry, and 10% off in shops (but only on retail price items), and 10% for shore excursions.  You can trade the mini bar in if you don't want what is offered, but unless you are getting more alcohol the value isn't much.  

 

[skynight]

Some of these postings are mixing up elite loyalty benefits with plus/premier fare benefits and benefits available at the platinum level.

Elite benefits are detailed in the Princess site referenced in my post no. 2.  Elite benefits include all those for the gold, ruby and platinum levels plus some 10 additional ones. 

[chubbypiggy]

1 hour ago, warthog2608 said:

We are brand new elites, just sailed our first cruise as elite. We enjoyed the included wine tasting, the wines weren't that great but the pairings and presentations were nicely done. I was looking forward to the tea in the stateroom benefit. But when I called room service I was told I had to order it a day in advance. I apologized that I was a new baby elite and didn't know all the rules yet. She laughed and said, "I'll see what I can do" and lo and behold, a nice tea service arrived!

 

What is included in the Elite "tea service"?  Just regular tea?  TIA.

[sippican]

Is the mini-bar set up standard, or can you request certain items?

 

[reedprincess]

7 minutes ago, chubbypiggy said:

What is included in the Elite "tea service"?  Just regular tea?  TIA.

It's tea, scones, pastries and sandwiches, delivered to the stateroom. Order for one as it's a LOT of food, more than enough for 2, easily..  usually needs to be ordered the day before, or at the latest by 9am day of 

Its a great set-up for an afternoon nosh, particularly after a shorter port day or lazy sea day. 

1 minute ago, sippican said:

Is the mini-bar set up standard, or can you request certain items?

 

Setup is standard - 8 mini alcohol, 2 beers, 2 still water, 2 sparkling water and 6 sodas/mixers. 

What booze depends on ship.  Usually 2 vodka, 2 gin, 2 scotch, 2 cognac.

You can trade like for like, all booze for one type of booze, all non-alcoholic for different non-alcoholic, entire setup for all non-alcoholic or entire setup for a single bottle of wine.. (from a small list).

[chubbypiggy]

6 hours ago, skynight said:

https://www.princess.com/downloads/pdf/cc/captains-circle-loyalty-benefits.pdf

 

For the benefit "complimentary afternoon tea in stateroom", do you need to pay for the $5 service charge if you didn't pay for the one time $14.95 app charge for delivery?

[skynight]

1 minute ago, sippican said:

Is the mini-bar set up standard, or can you request certain items?

 

It is standard at first with10 alcoholic and 10 non alcoholic beverages. Once in the cabin you can call room service and trade. It's one for one alcoholic for different alcoholic or non alcoholic, or one for one non alcoholic for non alcoholic. You can also trade the entire mini bar for a bottle of wine.

[pompeii]

Regarding the free laundry, if the turnaround is too long and you need something back right away, Guest Services will probably give you free tokens for the laundry room, including soap etc. I say probably because I have gotten them on every ship I’ve asked but some people have said they weren’t successful. I agree that the best thing about the laundry benefit is that they do it for you, but sometimes you just gotta do a quick load. 

[DCThunder]

I rank the perks as follows:  50% off internet packages > Elite Lounge snacks > priority water shuttle >>> free laundry >>>> tea in the cabin >>>>>> 10% off in shops...

[NavyVeteran]

5 hours ago, RSF Cruiser said:

If an elite and non elite are in the same room, do both get the elite benefit - especially laundry and wine tasting?

Yes and no.

When you send out the laundry, you put the last name and the stateroom number on the laundry form. If your last names are different, I would recommend putting the Elite passengers name on the form. It's certainly OK to send out your laundry together, but please don't add the laundry from your non-Elite extended family and friends in other staterooms.

The free wine tasting should be for the Elite only. The non-Elite can go but would have to pay. I've heard of some people piggybacking in, but I wouldn't count on it.

They will usually allow someone traveling in the same stateroom to accompany the Elite for priority boarding at embarkation and for priority tendering.

You only get one mini-bar setup even if there are two Elites in the stateroom. Whether or not you want to share it is up to you.

Only the Elite will get the 10% discount for excursions and shop purchases. For shop purchases, just make sure they are charged to the Elite passenger's folio. That doesn't work for excursions.

The non-Elite cabinmate can definitely attend the Platinum, Elite, and Suite happy hour.

[karatemom2]

3 hours ago, chubbypiggy said:

For the benefit "complimentary afternoon tea in stateroom", do you need to pay for the $5 service charge if you didn't pay for the one time $14.95 app charge for delivery?

 

We have never been charge anything for delivery of our Elite tea service. We do generously tip the crew member delivering as they generally go above an beyond to bring it in and set it up for you. 

[chubbypiggy]

22 minutes ago, karatemom2 said:

 

We have never been charge anything for delivery of our Elite tea service. We do generously tip the crew member delivering as they generally go above an beyond to bring it in and set it up for you. 

Thanks.

[Kay S]

15 hours ago, Traderboy said:

 

 

What other perks do others value the most?

I've been elite for many years.  The one thing I valued the most was the free Internet (but that's gone.)  The free laundry was the next best thing, but I will not be surprised to see that disappear in the future.  Enjoy your new status.