mthomp5

Hello fellow CC members!

Wanted to share my situation and see if anyone experienced the same. 
 

Here’s my situation with Princess Plus60 and a 2025 cruise: In June 2023, I booked a cruise departing on 9/20/2025 with Princess Plus paying $60 a day per person. At the time, Princess Plus included: WiFi, crew appreciation, plus beverage package, premium desserts, 2 fitness classes and free medallion shipping. 

I refared in September 2023 with the Labor Day sale. There were no changes to the Princess Plus perks as when booked in June. 

Currently with the Black Friday sale, fare has dropped a small amount and Princess Plus perks now includes 3 new perks: 2 casual dining, OceanNow delivery and Room service delivery.

My TA has tried to get those 3 new perks added to my booking but has not been able to.  She has even tried to cancel and rebook me and still can’t get those new perks added.  She has spoken to 3 people at Princess and has had it elevated to a special department.  With the holidays, we may not hear back for at least a week.

Has anyone encountered this with the Princess Plus new perks and a late 2025 cruise where the new perks were not originally listed when booked but now are and still can’t get the perks with a new booking?

I’m debating about rebooking with standard fare while the Black Friday sale is still on (fare is a little  lower) and then just buying the Princess Plus package once onboard. Hoping they will still allow that in 2025. Purchasing Princess Plus early doesn’t seem to give me any benefit like locking in at a lower price since recently, increased pricing includes additional perks which earlier lower pricing excludes.  

So my questions are:

Has anyone encountered not being able to get the full advertised Princess Pkus 60 perks?  If so, how did you resolve it?

Any downfall to booking standard fare and just purchasing Princess Plus onboard?

Thanks!

55 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Thanks for your report.  It's a good opportunity to talk a little bit about hotel "annexes" in Rome and other places. 

 

In historic centers like the one in Rome, most buildings are classified as historically important and footprints often can't be changed. 

 

To get around this, some hotels will have a separate annex building to provide additional rooms for guests. These buildings are usually near the original hotel but may be situated with a less pleasant aspect (view) or be part of a more modern building (not in a good way). They tend to have less of the historical character and interest of the original building. This isn't unique to Rome. Even the famous Hotel Danieli in Venice has an annex building that lacks the same period charm and details of the original.

 

My own policy is to avoid rooms in annexes after a couple of experiences that underwhelmed me. Definitely reserve a room in the main hotel building, if at all possible. If there is not a room in the main building, or the annex is less expensive and you decide to go for it, be aware that it may not be to the same standards as the reviews you've read for the hotel.

 

One further note: many people ask about the availability of triples in Rome hotels. Triples also seem to be located in annex buildings, probably because the room sizes are larger and can accommodate them. Just be aware of what you're getting.

 

 

Thanks for this useful information on annexes! When booking a hotel, is it usually evident if you’re booking an annex room or does one need to ask?

3 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

It was interesting but the souffle was the winner.

I love the souffles.  They’re my favorite.  I’ll always get that if it’s on the menu. 

27 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

Vanilla Mascarpone & Blueberry Cremeux thingy.

Did you like it?

2 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

The food looks delicious.  My favorite dessert is always the souffle.  But what is the pink dome shaped dessert?  This looks yummy.

On 10/1/2023 at 10:59 AM, Steelers36 said:

I just figured out why this has happened.  And it may explain another mailing issue that came up recently. 

 

Some members of the OCEAN IT team have transferred to marketing and are now creating sales brochures. 😁

Good one! 😂

I know there have been negative reviews but we enjoyed our dinner at Bistro Sur La Mer!  The wait staff was very attentive to us.  We haven’t tried Sabatini’s yet but will be in April. We usually go to Crown Grill.

3 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

They have not updated Travel Summary information as yet.  They have said nothing about this.  We might expect them to do so - eventually.

Thank you so much for your reply! You’re always so helpful!

Good to know that I didn’t slip through the cracks. 

I booked a cruise on 6/2/2023 with Princess Plus (so this would be the Plus 60) and should receive the free medallion shipping, 2 included casual specialty dining, and included Ocean Now delivery.  But I don’t see this on my Travel Summary.  
 

Does anyone who has Princess Plus-60 see the three “new” items on their Travel Summary?

1 hour ago, Thrak said:

I have 2 cruises booked under the Plus 60 fare that is supposed to include a couple of casual dinings. There is absolutely nothing about this on my travel summaries. I looked just now to see if there was an updated summary but neither one of them mentions the casual dining or being able to use the Princess Now feature or room service or any of the changes. Likewise these changes don't show under the Onboard Services tab in the personalizer.

 

I'm well aware that the 2 cruises I have booked with the old Plus 50 don't include these things but the other 2 booked with Plus 60 are supposed to have them. I don't see anywhere to confirm that Princess is going to honor the changes on the 2 more expensive packages.

Same here. The travel summary for my Plus 50 doesn’t show the new extras, which is expected. But The travel summary for my Plus 60 doesn’t show them either.  Hopefully will be updated eventually.  

4 hours ago, memoak said:

I made a reservation at my favorite local restaurant a month ago for a special occasion I have coming up next week. When I get to the restaurant and find that price of items has been increased should I throw a tantrum and insist on last months prices ?

Yes - if prepaid fixed price menu.  Would expect what was advertised.

6 hours ago, MBandJSinUK said:

I have read this long thread with interest and amusement. When the change was first announced on here, I figured it might be an issue so watched the TA webinar and in doing so could see clearly that this was pre-emptive marketing (or spin) to sell more.

 

Distilling it down:

- they need to increase their bottom line

- they will do this by pushing more people into Plus/premium packages - standard is much less profitable

- by making standard less attractive, they increase the perception that plus/premium is a better investment pushing more people who were undecided or borderline into upgrading

- the spin is to try and create more perception of “value”

- for those who don’t want/need plus/premium, they make more profit (or less loss)

in trying to create the casual dining “product” to create perceived value, they needed to move Alfredos/Gigis into the chargeable product

 

 

This, whilst sensible from a business perspective, created a few anomalies which is where the “spin” comes in:

- For Plus60/Premium80 - we will get the same other than the Alfredo’s/Gigis which is reduced to give a free casual dining in some other venues - some will win/more will lose on this

- For standard fares it will cost more to get what was previously inclusive - either we upgrade or pay the EXTRA as we go.

 

For guests that are after the cancellation window, that really sucks as it will cost more - for guest who can cancel free of charge, it still sucks but they still have the option to vote with their wallets. In the UK we don’t get a free cancellation but that discrepancy is not new.

 

I see the big anomaly for those guests that booked nice and early (pre-Dec 22) getting Plus50/Premium75 and can still cancel free of charge

- This group will either have to pay an upgrade to move to Plus60/Premium80 or will be hit with on board charges for services that were previously free

- For some the maths work out to just pay the new charges onboard

- The “spin” is added value whereas the value is made up with things of little interest or were previously free

- This creates negative perceptions and is a slap in the face for those booking early even if the upgrade or on board charges may not be financially significant in the context of the total fare

 

The gaping hole in their plans is for guests that booked nice and early (pre-Dec 22) getting Plus50/Premium and CANNOT still cancel free of charge or have already paid in full (voyages within the next 90 days). These guests will pay more than was agreed when booking.

 

I’m struggling to think of any other scenario where a retailer or service provider can legally agree a deal, advertise a specification, take full payment then change the terms requiring more money (ether upfront or at a later date) to deliver the agreed item/service. Some contracts allow for a change in specification/price but those change provisions have to be notified up-front in the contract.

 

So what will they do? Nothing, they will ride out this mini-storm.

 

What should they do? Either delay the implementation for 3 months to allow those on the old Plus/Premium to make a reasoned decision or Grandfather the facilities to those on the old Plus/Premium.

 

This action looks to undermine the goodwill we have in the brand. Time will tell if it backfires on them.

 

Having 33 cruises under our belts and sitting on 5 future cruise bookings (Only one on Plus50 fully paid), for us this is a slap in the face and in between reading this mega-thread, I’ve been looking at different cruise options for the future - elsewhere.

You summed this up very well. Certainly, while not a big financial drain to pay $14.99 to activate Ocean Now, $5 for room service via phone, and to pay for Alfredo’s, it does feel like a slap in the face from Princess for those of us who booked early and in advance.  

Out of goodwill, Princess should grandfather everyone who bought any type of Plus or Premier package. I remember when the cost of their beverage package increased in the past, people were able to purchase it before the price increase and were grandfathered.   People actually rushed to purchase it before the increase and didn’t have to pay the difference in the price to receive the benefits of the beverage package.  At least some people felt like they got a good deal.
 

While they have added some “additional benefits” to the Plus and Premier Package, they are still calling them the same thing.  Just grandfather everyone who’s purchased any form of these packages and maybe it would be a little easier to swallow the pill of new fees.  I think this was poorly executed.  

37 minutes ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

Now, the reduction in times that we can go to Alfredo's/Gigi's (2 per sailing) is what is really stuck in my crawl.

Yep…and we got Plus50 so that means no included Alfredo’s/Gigi’s for us.  Aside from using Ocean Now, Alfredo’s was the thing we value.  But paying additional $10 a day for a week cruise doesn’t offset Alfredo’s twice. Don’t care about the premium desserts or fitness classes.  Happy to pick up medallion at port.  

45 minutes ago, beg3yrs said:

We're booked on the Discovery in April of 2024 with the old Plus-50 package. Did some quick math to see if we should upgrade to the current package.

 

Cost to upgrade a ten day cruise for two people: 2 people x $10 per day per person x 10 days is $200.

 

Cost savings over ten days:

1) Two Ocean Now initial fees: $30

2) Room service by phone fee - say once per day over ten days: $50

3) Four casual dining meals at $15 each: $60

4) Don't eat the desserts.

5) Don't use the special exercise classes.

 

Total of $140 in savings versus a $200 cost. We could still have four more casual dining meals and break even or up to 12 more room service by phone orders. Seems like unless you're a big casual dining fan or are an obsessive phone order for room service type, it's not worth it to upgrade.  Am I missing something?

Agree!  We also have Plus50 for April 2024, 10 days Discovery.  Not worth the $10 per day upgrade for those same reasons.

20 minutes ago, Ladyshopper23 said:

They definitely do make special pizzas for dietary restrictions at the pizza place on the Lido deck. Certainly for us they make gluten-free pizzas, and they're made out the back to avoid cross contamination.

Thank you for this! A looomg time ago, we asked at the Lido deck and the person there was so accommodating and made my husband a personal pizza without sauce. But on different cruise, we asked if they could do the special pizza for him on Lido deck and the staff refused!  I submitted a comment card at guest services and received a written apology and said they would make him the pizza.  After that, my husband didn’t want to ask for special pizza on the Lido deck anymore because we weren’t sure if the first situation was the norm or the second.  And we didn’t have to want to raise an issue, if making special pizzas were not the norm.  So thank you for telling me this.  We will not feel bad for asking for a special pizza.

10 hours ago, sunviking90 said:

Point taken. I guess Alfredo’s is the only one we go to, so the others were never on my radar anyway.

Same here.  We would frequent Alfredo’s often.  And they can accommodate my husband’s request for no sauce on the pizza (due to dietary restrictions).  I doubt they will make him a special pizza on Lido deck.  
 

We also paid for Plus when our cruise first came out.  And it’s annoying  that they move the goal post….Plus 50, Plus 60.  Those who bought Plus 60, may soon need to pay Plus 70 to get other items that were once included. 
 

We had sailed NCL, then Royal Caribbean before becoming Princess loyalist.   Not saying we won’t be cruising Princess anymore but we’ll be exploring other lines now.  

23 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Yes, if you book specialty dining via Princess App (Dine My Way) or via web version, you are charged to provided credit card (unless you have a SD Credit) at time of booking.  Nothing is charged on board in this case.

Thank you for the info!  I’ll wait until I get onboard so I can use OBC instead.  

8 hours ago, Last Lion said:

If you have booked and paid for a crown grill reservation before a cruise, once on board can you change the payment method to an OBC?

I’m curious about this too. If you book in advance of sailing, does Princess charge your credit card when you make the reservation or on the day of the reservation?

4 hours ago, DCThunder said:

I just received confirmation of this Scavi tour for mid-November 2023.  I sent in my information on Sunday.

Awesome!  Great to know they still have slots even though less than 6 months. And they got back to you rather quickly,  I have a ways to go.  We’re sailing in 2025. But I will be doing this tour then!

9 minutes ago, katmu said:

You should be able to book the Scavi tour up to 6 months in advance.  They are going to need the full name of everyone in your group.

Awesome!  Thank you for this Info!

52 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

 

I was able to make my request via the "Contact Us" form on the Ufficio Scavi web page which is an option that I had read that others were able to do even though the Scavi website only says fax. 

 

I don't recall how far in advance you can secure reservations.  I can tell you that I received a confirmation email on Apr 25 for a tour on Oct 21.  So you can book at least 6 months in advance.  I don't have the date that I sent in my request, but the turnaround time was fairly short--perhaps a couple of days.

 

Thank you so much for this information! I will use the contact us form.  Will make a note to reserve six months in advance.  Thanks again!

3 hours ago, mahdnc said:

 

The famous Vatican Scavi Tour is a great ticket to get during the summer, if you can get it. 

This tour sounds very interesting.  Looking at the website, it looks like reservations need to be made via fax.  Is anyone aware of a method to making a reservation?  Otherwise, I’ll look for a way to fax.

Also, does anyone know how far in advance can we make reservations?

On 6/17/2023 at 2:28 PM, damiross said:

I was able to book specialty and MDR time slots with my cruise not even being close to paid off.  At the time, it was over 200 days until the cruise. There was a charge for the specialty dining.  I checked my credit card.  The charge was listed as "pending" for a few days and then dropped off.  I was not charged.

hi @damiross, was your card not charged because you had dining credits to use?

Thanks for sharing your adventure with us.  Looking forward to following along!