Your experience with the Platinum Lounge

[paul929207]

Does Princess have a "Meet & Mingle" party like Royal Caribbean. I have learned a lot from the forum .....we haven't been on Princess since '04....have 41 cruises with RC.

Someone from the roll cal has to request a Meet & Greet. We had the Associate CD put it in the Princess Patter last month. He stopped by for a few minutes.

 

We have also had several luncheon for the Roll Call.

[Nukesailor]

Hi, Folks!

We were on the Island Princess Nov. 10 - 20. There was a special lounge set up in the Explorers Lounge for Platinum, Elite and passengers in Suites. There were complimentary hors d'oeuvres and a special drink of the day ($5) - this was a different drink than the shipwide drink of the day. The hours were (per faulty memory) 5:30 - 7:30PM. Mike, the chef, made some interesting things each evening.

 

The Platinum/Elite disembarkation lounge was in the Wheelhouse Lounge. It wasn't crowded at all. Also, they were calling the colors and kept us advised as to how long a wait it was to get off the ship.

 

All-in-all both were quite pleasant.

 

Art

[asctony]

On our last two Princess cruises, from 5pm to 7pm, there was a small area in Skywalker set aside for Elites and Suites (don't about Platinum). They had a lot of hors d'oeuvers and offered $1 off the usually undesirable drink of the day. There were not many people there and we only went once. Most of the Elites at the CC M&G agreed that it was a worthless perk. It is not close to being comparable to the Celebrity and RCL party with free drinks for Elites. In both of the cruise questionaires I suggested that Princess should at least have "happy hour" with 2 for 1 drinks.

 

Totally agree with your opinions. This is not really a perk compare to RCI.

[PescadoAmarillo]

Totally agree with your opinions. This is not really a perk compare to RCI.

And Celebrity has added a couple of hours of free wine and beer on their cruises for Elites also.

 

Re: Princess's lounge. I was trying to explain it to DH last night, and he wondered (and I didn't know), if one of us ordered a drink and the other a soda with our soda sticker, would that be looked down on? What if we both chose not to drink alcohol, just get a club soda or Coke...would we still be welcome in the lounge?

[paul929207]

And Celebrity has added a couple of hours of free wine and beer on their cruises for Elites also.

 

Re: Princess's lounge. I was trying to explain it to DH last night, and he wondered (and I didn't know), if one of us ordered a drink and the other a soda with our soda sticker, would that be looked down on? What if we both chose not to drink alcohol, just get a club soda or Coke...would we still be welcome in the lounge?

I would certainly think either scenario is fine.

[Colo Cruiser]

And Celebrity has added a couple of hours of free wine and beer on their cruises for Elites also.

 

Re: Princess's lounge. I was trying to explain it to DH last night, and he wondered (and I didn't know), if one of us ordered a drink and the other a soda with our soda sticker, would that be looked down on? What if we both chose not to drink alcohol, just get a club soda or Coke...would we still be welcome in the lounge?

 

I can't see why a coke or any other drink would be out of place.

[BigTimeCruiser]

OK, news to me on the expansion to Platinum as well. ;)

We got off of the Star Princess on Nov 22nd. They were running Skywalkers for Platinum, Elite and the Suites for the full 60 days of both cruises. I was disappointed because this was not what was initally promised when the concept was launched. Basically, on this cruise it included the majority of the ship.

[Colo Cruiser]

We got off of the Star Princess on Nov 22nd. They were running Skywalkers for Platinum, Elite and the Suites for the full 60 days of both cruises. I was disappointed because this was not what was initally promised when the concept was launched. Basically, on this cruise it included the majority of the ship.

 

I agree, I don't quite understand it either. :cool:

[captainron]

No free drinks. One discounted cocktail at $5.00. Other drinks at regular prices. And a good selection of hors d'œuvres.

 

On the Crown in September, it was held part of Skywalkers Lounge from 5 PM- 7 PM on most evenings. There was a schedule card in the cabin the first day and on each day it was held, there was an invitation in the mail slot that morning.

 

HI,On Star Oct/Nov 09 the Plat/Elite/Suite lounge was in Skywalkers 5-7pm nightly except formal evenings.

 

TOTO,

On the above mentioned voyage on Star, we (our 100+ CC Group) invited the Captain (Ed Perrin) adn the CD Richard Joseph to our first one. The captain sent his regrets and they held another for us with fruit, sweet rolls etc (a la Int'l cafe) and Capt Perrin, Richard Joseph, Food Svcs Mgr (Karen)and the PSD all joined in the gahering.

 

Ed Perrin runs a classy ship.

 

Ciao for now!!!

[rdsqrl]

I wonder where they hold it on the Coral (there's no Skywalkers on Coral, right? Or am I wrong? I could go look at the deck plans but I'm still in a turkey-induced coma and so am too lazy to do all that clicking around). If in fact they are allowing lowly Platinum people to join the festivities, I'll definitely check it out, but I agree with Pam that ending at 7 is ridiculous when late seating isn't until 8pm. I guess I could nurse my drink for an hour and a quarter, but that seems pretty lame -- not to mention having to shower and change an hour earlier just to make it up (down? over?) there in time. Oh, the horrible, horrible things we have to endure on our vacations.

[Pam in CA]

Re: Princess's lounge. I was trying to explain it to DH last night, and he wondered (and I didn't know), if one of us ordered a drink and the other a soda with our soda sticker, would that be looked down on? What if we both chose not to drink alcohol, just get a club soda or Coke...would we still be welcome in the lounge?

Because it ends so early, I pop up and grab something from the offerings. No one says a thing. You can have whatever you want.

 

On the above mentioned voyage on Star, we (our 100+ CC Group) invited the Captain (Ed Perrin) adn the CD Richard Joseph to our first one. The captain sent his regrets and they held another for us with fruit, sweet rolls etc (a la Int'l cafe) and Capt Perrin, Richard Joseph, Food Svcs Mgr (Karen)and the PSD all joined in the gahering.

I suspect this had a lot to do with Richard Joseph. He is on CC occasionally and is very aware of the boards. Whenever there is a CC group on one of his ships, he arranges for (free) cocktails (mimosas) and snacks for the group. One time, he also arranged for the show cast to come and meet everyone. He's one of the very few CDs who do this.

[sunsetbeachgal]

Rdsgirl,

 

Just off the Island and it was held in a side/back area of the Explorer's Lounge-very nice area with ocean views. We and our traveling companions really enjoyed it-we do anytime dining and the time of this worked very well for us.

 

Jeanne (Pescado), our companions had a coke card and always were welcomed!

[WeBeGone]

We've enjoyed the lounge at 5 for a pre-dinner cocktail. And we've had fresh made hors d'ouvres that were delicious - especially the guacamole, sushi, and the fresh shrimp cocktails. We even got to try steak tartre- not my thing but at least I tried it. It's a very relaxing way to unwind after a busy port day. No it's not up to par with some other lines but very nice nonetheless.

[PescadoAmarillo]

Jeanne (Pescado), our companions had a coke card and always were welcomed!

Thanks, Carole! Hope you had a great Canal transit! I posted the following to your attention a couple of weeks ago before I remembered you were on a cruise. Any thoughts?

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1091239&highlight=

 

Thanks. Sorry we'll miss you this year on the Ruby!

[vickie_bernie]

We sailed on the Island for 17 days in Sept and we were invited nightly to the Explorers lounge for cocktails/hor d'orves. This was for Elite/Suite passengers only.

 

Are Platinum included now?

 

If it would of included Platinum there would of been a lot of people there as there were many on board. Or do they decide each sailing depending on the numbers on who to include?

 

Celebrity/RCL do have the conceirge lounge which is a nice treat; however Princess does include a free mini bar (filled once) to all Elite/Suite Passengers, and for me that is a nice perk (especially when I can customize it).

 

I too agree about the disembarkation lounge, it really depends on the crowds on wether we go there or not.

[Toto2Kansas]

From what has been reported lately, Platinum Captain's Circle members are now included in the evening cocktail hour.
I know it was only Elite on the Pacific in October/November, but reports coming back from different ships since then are saying it now includes Platinum members.
On some sailings, this will be so crowded, many won't be interested in attending.
On our Pacific Princess cruise, we would have welcomed anyone, as the lounge was all but empty each evening and if you found one other couple there, you were shocked. :eek:

[capnjack]

We were on the Coral Oct 23-Nov 7. As platinum level we recieved an invitation to Explorer's Lounge for the free hor d'orves and (not free) drinks. The interesting thing is we got the invitation halfway through the cruise listing the hor d'orves and cocktail of the day for the final week. Either we didn't get one for the first week or we missed it. Maybe Plainum level members are included as of November 1, which is why we got our invitation halfway through the cruise. Just a guess.

[sunsetbeachgal]

Platinum members were invited on the Island...and there really weren't ever more than 15-20 folks at one time each evening.

Hi to you Jeanne! Yes, we really enjoyed Panama Canal and the very interesting ports of Cartegena and Costa Rica-took private tours in both and really enjoyed them. Carl somehow contracted the dreaded norovirus during the sailing, so was quarantined for 48 hours :mad:, but he enjoyed everything before and after his illness. We loved the Island Princess and it's wonderful size and staff, but missed the International Cafe' each morning (the cafe on the Island is much smaller and no freshly baked pastried!! Hope all is well with you! Carole