Captain Circle benefits

[murphysam]

I am an Elite member with Princess and my son who is now 15 and has been sailing with me, twice a year with me paying Full cruise fare for him since he was 4. I contacted Princess as to why he is not allowed the member benefits specifically the free internet usage and their answer was that's just their policy. Has anyone had any luck requesting this service while on board? Thank you.

[Toto2Kansas]

Afraid he won't make Elite status (or get the benefits from being Elite) until he reaches the age of 18, no way around it. Sorry!

[Megsdad]

I am an Elite member with Princess and my son who is now 15 and has been sailing with me, twice a year with me paying Full cruise fare for him since he was 4. I contacted Princess as to why he is not allowed the member benefits specifically the free internet usage and their answer was that's just their policy. Has anyone had any luck requesting this service while on board? Thank you.

 

Internet - give him your log on details

[1 HappyCruiser]

Internet - give him your log on details

 

That's good for the first day of the cruise, then what's he going to do?

[Megsdad]

That's good for the first day of the cruise, then what's he going to do?

 

surf

[can786]

I think the OP was hoping that both he and his son would get the free internet packages so they would have twice the internet. I know how teenagers can burn through those minutes!

 

I agree that it is a bit annoying that kids can't qualify for any CC benefits. It really annoys my 17 year old that he gets a blue card even though he has sailed Princess several times. Minor detail, but annoying to him, especially since the last time he sailed his brother was 18 and got the gold card.

[Miss Jolly]

Yes - I agree: especially as we have to pay the adult fare for them. Funny thing is that my teens were also upset about the blue card.

[DaisyRose]

I didn't know this was the policy. It seems unfair to me since most of you say you pay full fare for them. It won't ever effect me, as I have never sailed with children, and mine are all now grown anyway. I could see it creating some hard feelings, as yes, teenagers would like to have that Internet time.

[Grego]

That's good for the first day of the cruise, then what's he going to do?

 

Tell him there's lots of stuff to do on a ship he can't do at home and the email can wait. He's not on a ship to sit there and sit in front of the internet.

[Berliner]

Wow getting upset about the card color? I get the Internet thing but the color?

Ask him if he would rather stay home.

[satxdiver]

Speaking as the father of two now adult men, I can relate to the color problem. I can see them being upset about the color when they have cruised so many times on Princess. This is particularly true when their parents had to pay adult prices to get them onboard. This really is a narrow minded move on the part of Princess in that when these teens become full fledged adults they may remember and move to a different cruise line. We are talking about adults that have 60+ years ahead of them.

 

There are a couple of companies and one well known charity organization that I will not patronize because of what they did to me as a teenager. After all so they thought I was just a kid! That was over half a century ago.

 

Wake up Princess. This is a really short minded decision.

[Iamcruzin]

My kids were disappointed on their second sailing when they got a blue card. They got over it. They are just happy to on a cruise. My 17 year old will only be Gold by the time he is 18 and my 15 year old will probably be Platinum by his 18th birthday. Why would they want to start from scratch with another cruise line just because Princess will only issue blue cards to minors? . Should they give elite minors a free bar set up?

[Stevesan]

My kids were disappointed on their second sailing when they got a blue card. They got over it. They are just happy to on a cruise. My 17 year old will only be Gold by the time he is 18 and my 15 year old will probably be Platinum by his 18th birthday. Why would they want to start from scratch with another cruise line just because Princess will only issue blue cards to minors? . Should they give elite minors a free bar set up?

 

Especially when Princess offers far better bennies to repeat cruisers. I recently exceeded 100 days on HAL. I received a copper medallion and a photo with the ship's captain.

That was the sum total of HAL's benefits for this repeat cruiser. Compare with this:

 

https://book.princess.com/captaincircle/jsp/memberShipBenefitsForProspect.jsp

[can786]

Wow getting upset about the card color? I get the Internet thing but the color?

Ask him if he would rather stay home.

 

 

He certainly didn't let it ruin his cruise but rather tended to joke about being the black sheep of the family since he was the only one with a "lowly" blue card when everyone else had gold or platinum. He knows he will receive credit for those cruises when he turns 18 in 8 months. You might try to be less judgemental of other people's kids.

[cherylandtk]

A friend of mine solved the blue card problem by just bringing a handful of gold stars and plastered them on her daughter's card. Made Meredith feel like she had more than a 'beginner's blue' card and whenever she used it, the staff either asked about the stars or figured out on their own she was a 'gold' status minor. And when she turned 18, she went direct to Platinum.

[Miss Jolly]

It's no great hardship having blue and my teens certainly didn't let it dampen their enthusiasm. They just thought it unfair as they were proud to have cruised several times and felt a little inferior still having the blue card. They didn't dwell on this - just merely passed a comment. They would like to have their internet though to email their friends back home. They usually take their laptops for photo storage and boring airport waits. Also, my son had schoolwork to do on the last trip and the internet time would have come in handy for that. Even if the internet time for minors is limited to cabin wifi rather than have the internet cafe over run with minors. Of course alcohol of any sort should not be provided but perhaps they should be entitled to the other perks.

[Stevesan]

It's no great hardship having blue and my teens certainly didn't let it dampen their enthusiasm. They just thought it unfair as they were proud to have cruised several times and felt a little inferior still having the blue card. They didn't dwell on this - just merely passed a comment. They would like to have their internet though to email their friends back home. They usually take their laptops for photo storage and boring airport waits. Also, my son had schoolwork to do on the last trip and the internet time would have come in handy for that. Even if the internet time for minors is limited to cabin wifi rather than have the internet cafe over run with minors. Of course alcohol of any sort should not be provided but perhaps they should be entitled to the other perks.

 

 

You may have pinpointed the reason. Limiting to Wifi could fix that, but isn't that a separate package?

[Toto2Kansas]

Even if the internet time for minors is limited to cabin wifi rather than have the internet cafe over run with minors. Of course alcohol of any sort should not be provided but perhaps they should be entitled to the other perks.

 

 

I actually started posting something similar to this yesterday, but couldn't get the wording right so it didn't sound like an anti-kid rant, so never posted it. :o

 

I don't think there is a way to limit internet access to just wi-fi in the stateroom, or it would be a good idea.

 

I know we sailed on a ship once where a group of young pre teens/early teens were booked in a full suite. They had unlimited internet access and they were like wild indians in the internet cafe. Totally unsupervised I might add. It got to the point where they were asked to either leave, or return with a parent if they wanted to use the internet cafe, by the internet manager. Yes, it was that bad. Now, all kids aren't like this, I know that as a fact, but it doesn't take more than a few bad experiences to fully understand why Princess does not issue benefits of the Captain's Circle until the child reaches 18 years old.

And on a second note. Since the child would not receive mini bar access, how many parents would be screaming that Princess needed to come up with something special just for those kids that is non-alcoholic? I see no end to the complaints, problems, and demands for these children should Princess decide to grant them benefits under the age of 18 years. IMHO of course! :)

[Iamcruzin]

I actually started posting something similar to this yesterday, but couldn't get the wording right so it didn't sound like an anti-kid rant, so never posted it. :o

 

I don't think there is a way to limit internet access to just wi-fi in the stateroom, or it would be a good idea.

 

I know we sailed on a ship once where a group of young pre teens/early teens were booked in a full suite. They had unlimited internet access and they were like wild indians in the internet cafe. Totally unsupervised I might add. It got to the point where they were asked to either leave, or return with a parent if they wanted to use the internet cafe, by the internet manager. Yes, it was that bad. Now, all kids aren't like this, I know that as a fact, but it doesn't take more than a few bad experiences to fully understand why Princess does not issue benefits of the Captain's Circle until the child reaches 18 years old.

And on a second note. Since the child would not receive mini bar access, how many parents would be screaming that Princess needed to come up with something special just for those kids that is non-alcoholic? I see no end to the complaints, problems, and demands for these children should Princess decide to grant them benefits under the age of 18 years. IMHO of course! :)

You said what I was thinking but couldn't phrase it. Also once you start making exceptions and changes the original program, the program turns into a different program. When you think about it there are people (adults) who still don't know how to use the internet. Should they get something else to compensate for this?

[Miss Jolly]

It's all getting a bit complicated now but throwing ideas around stimulates the brain anyway. I am very fortunate to have well behaved teens but could definitely see opening the internet cafe to minors could be a big problem. My own teens have been appalled at the behaviour of a minority of teens on some cruises. We tend to take longer cruises so have never experienced mass children/teens on board.However, I still think that they could be allowed to use the internet benefits on their own laptops without causing probelms to other passengers. By the way, I gave my internet time to mys son for his schoolwork and he used the wi -fi in our cabin and also the reading room without any problems so I guess it is not a different package. I know some will complain that it is still unfair for those who do not bring along laptops but I can't solve that - unless they put some internet access in the teen room but this could cause problems in itself. My son will turn 18 in May and daughter in September, 2011 so it may not be a problem for us soon - or is it 21 before the rules change????

[caribill]

My son will turn 18 in May and daughter in September, 2011 so it may not be a problem for us soon - or is it 21 before the rules change????

 

18 is it

[CALMOM]

A solution might be to have two separate Internet Cafes, one for adults and one for minors. I think it might be difficult for all minors to bring laptops and there are children that do know how to behave like civil human beings but I agree I have seen some children that should be caged. Unfortunately, those children usually have parents that believe it is the cruise lines to babysit their animals. It would be nice also if the cruise lines could make a special internet package for the minors that does not cost an arm and a leg. A busy child it a happy child and let's face it they have been brought up in a computer world.

[caribill]

A solution might be to have two separate Internet Cafes, one for adults and one for minors.

 

Let the one for those under 18 be a part of the organized kid's programs.

[Ando]

Our 7yo DD has already attained the platinum qualification and it would be nice if she got some recognition for that given that she has sailed Princess more than many of the adults onboard :)

 

Perhaps the kids platinum could include $100 internet credit (with kids to be accompanied by an adult if in the internet cafe or use their own notebook with wifi elsewhere) & a free soda card.

 

Elite kids could get the $100 internet credit, a free UKP drinks card, and some free arcade game tokens.

 

And of course the appropriate colour card please :D

 

We fly Emirates whenever possible and they have their own frequent flyer program exclusively for kids - called Skysurfers. Members get their own printed Skysurfers luggage tags, amenity & entertainment packs onboard and a souvenir photo of her wearing the Emirates hostess hat (guessing that's just for the girls...lol). Whenever we are flying she always asks if it's with Emirates, and I'm afraid anyone else is just second best!

 

Come on Princess - don't be outdone by an airline ;)

 

Ando (Princess Elite)

[Miss Jolly]

Our 7yo DD has already attained the platinum qualification and it would be nice if she got some recognition for that given that she has sailed Princess more than many of the adults onboard :)

 

Perhaps the kids platinum could include $100 internet credit (with kids to be accompanied by an adult if in the internet cafe or use their own notebook with wifi elsewhere) & a free soda card.

 

Elite kids could get the $100 internet credit, a free UKP drinks card, and some free arcade game tokens.

 

And of course the appropriate colour card please :D

 

We fly Emirates whenever possible and they have their own frequent flyer program exclusively for kids - called Skysurfers. Members get their own printed Skysurfers luggage tags, amenity & entertainment packs onboard and a souvenir photo of her wearing the Emirates hostess hat (guessing that's just for the girls...lol). Whenever we are flying she always asks if it's with Emirates, and I'm afraid anyone else is just second best!

 

Come on Princess - don't be outdone by an airline ;)

 

Ando (Princess Elite)

 

I think they are great ideas....now how do we get them implemented???;)