How can we help Princess save or make money?

[Dena]

DH suggested that I ask this. There have been so many cost cutting measures from Princess lately, it is probably because the cost of fuel is high. I know Princess does not want to raise prices because they are trying to attract younger cruisers. Yet they risk alienating loyal passengers. Realistically, many retirees will have more disposable income than young families. Maybe Princess needs to defer trying to grow their market until after the economy improves. Maybe this is the time to focus on, not alienate, loyal passengers. Maybe just increase the cruise price and stop cutting services and reinstate those that have been cut.

 

Princess looks they are just guessing about what really is and is not important to us. Perhaps we can help them. For example, I would be happy to spend money in the spa, but I won't endure a hard-sell afterwards. Based on what I have read on these boards, Steiner employees are on commission and will vigorously try to sell products after each service. Princess could takeover the spa operations and instruct employees to treat the spa customers with respect, in other words, no sales pitch. What about the shops? I am not much of a shopper, but nothing in these shops even tempts me. Maybe more avid shoppers could offer advise about more tempting products.

[Dena]

Maybe put a small florists refrigerated case in one of the shops and offer small $10 bunches. Many people would buy these rather than the 50 dollar bouquets.

 

Maybe stop the pillow chocolates and offer higher quality chocolates in the shop.

[mr green]

I see where you are coming from, but I believe that all cruise lines are well versed in cost cutting, so what you may consider a good idea, may upset others.:)

 

john

[Griller]

So glad you raised this topic, we have noticed that the age group of pax on Princess cruises we have been on over the last couple of years has been increasing, its now like I remember Holland America was 15 years ago.

We may be unrepresentative as we like longer cruises, but then we always did.

I don't think they can increase fares much more and still get full ships, I saw soon to depart 14 day cruises on Princess today for $600, and a good part of that would be taxes and port dues. So bookings can't have been too good at higher fares.

Photos are still selling but are now so expensive we don't buy them. I didn't mind $10 but $25????

Spa is expensive and as you say the add on sales pitch puts people off.

Wine has gone up substantially,noticeably fewer tables with wine at dinner now, drinks aren't cheap and shore excursions are expensive but lots of people still book them out of fear of being left behind if they tour independently.

 

So it seems they can put up some things and still sell them but not others so much, no doubt the accountants do their work and make the decisions.

 

And then things like no lights on the tables for formal evenings, cheap port now in the Elite lounge and drinks there up 30%. Small things but noticeable to regular cruisers. And the change to cheaper dishes on the MDR menus.

I'd be looking to changing lines if it wasn't for the free laundry and the great OBC for which I thank Princess.

[paul929207]

Maybe put a small florists refrigerated case in one of the shops and offer small $10 bunches. Many people would buy these rather than the 50 dollar bouquets.

 

Maybe stop the pillow chocolates and offer higher quality chocolates in the shop.

I do my part by buying flowers for my wife every cruise.

[Dena]

I know. Why give them any ideas. But the ideas they are coming up with are very disturbing to me, especially the recent downgrade in balcony amenities. If they really are taking out the blue mats to save weight (fuel) this seems a bit desperate. I also wonder if they are making the balcony furniture less comfortable so we will leave the room more often and, maybe, buy drinks. This strategy won't work on us because we don't/can't drink much.

 

Just trying to brainstorm some better ideas for Princess.

[Dena]

Shorter cruises, both in terms of time and distance traveled, would save fuel. This would also be a chance for young families to sail for less cost. More experienced cruises could skip these itineraries.

[mr green]

I know. Why give them any ideas. But the ideas they are coming up with are very disturbing to me, especially the recent downgrade in balcony amenities. If they really are taking out the blue mats to save weight (fuel) this seems a bit desperate. I also wonder if they are making the balcony furniture less comfortable so we will leave the room more often and, maybe, buy drinks. This strategy won't work on us because we don't/can't drink much.

 

Just trying to brainstorm some better ideas for Princess.

 

Taking out the mats is much better idea IMO than putting up the Fuel Tax.

I have been given to understand that airlines are putting in lighter carpets, and using less paint to cut costs.

 

john

[Griller]

These mega ships like NCL Epic are too big to get into many ports, NCL's ideal cruise would be to leave, steam slowly offshore to conserve fuel and return to the same port without ever docking anywhere, just let the pax drink, gamble and pay extra in the speciality restaurants onboard for a week.

While we like seadays that wouldn't suit too many Princess passengers.

 

Don't know the extra port cost but staying ports 2 days would cut fuel costs and allow extra profit on more varied shore excursions

[Dena]

Taking out the mats is much better idea IMO than putting up the Fuel Tax.

I have been given to understand that airlines are putting in lighter carpets, and using less paint to cut costs.

 

john

 

Yes. I would not want to spend 20 dollars a day just for the mats. I am sure Princess has a lot of data and has given this a lot of thought, but the perspective of Princess executives is probably very different than that of the average Princess cruiser. I still hope we may be able to help them.

[Pam in CA]

Princess does an excellent job of cost analysis and are the experts when it comes to running a cruiseline and operating ships.

 

We can make all sorts of suggestions and recommendations but the ones so far show a lack of knowledge of Princess and the cruise industry. Not sure others will be any better but I can hope. :(

[Dena]

I hope no one is afraid to brainstorm for fear of being called ignorant. Pam is right. Princess knows their business and can take or leave any idea we may offer.

[Griller]

Princess does an excellent job of cost analysis and are the experts when it comes to running a cruiseline and operating ships.

 

We can make all sorts of suggestions and recommendations but the ones so far show a lack of knowledge of Princess and the cruise industry. Not sure others will be any better but I can hope. :(

 

Quite a few of us on here have stock in Carnival so have a direct interest in Princess profitability

Having been fairly successful in business myself on a small scale I know that the way to make an overall good profit is not to make everything too expensive to sell in volume.

And that is what many cruise lines are doing, just raising on board costs but losing sales.

[Pam in CA]

Quite a few of us on here have stock in Carnival so have a direct interest in Princess profitability

Having been fairly successful in business myself on a small scale I know that the way to make an overall good profit is not to make everything too expensive to sell in volume.

And that is what many cruise lines are doing, just raising on board costs but losing sales.

Me, too, on both counts. Like the newspaper and magazine industries which don't make money from subscriptions but from advertising, cruiselines don't recover their costs via cruise fares. Onboard spending is what makes the difference between a cruise's profit and loss. How successful a cruiseline is depends on whether they can separate us from our money. It's a fine line between offering a service we didn't know we wanted but now crave (the Sanctuary and specialty restaurants, for instance) and turning people off by "nickel and diming." Having entertainers in the Piazza, for instance, keeps passengers nearby, purchasing drinks, sodas and cappuccinos. We are barely aware we're being encouraged to spend.

 

You can bet that Princess is aware of how much each item costs and the ROI, and there are bean counters pouring over the numbers constantly.

 

People complain about Princess being part of the Carnival Corp group but there are enormous savings as a result, not just in soft and hard goods, but in fuel, provisions, etc. as a result of purchasing power and volume.

[KfromCA]

Maybe put a small florists refrigerated case in one of the shops and offer small $10 bunches. Many people would buy these rather than the 50 dollar bouquets.

 

Maybe stop the pillow chocolates and offer higher quality chocolates in the shop.

Great ideas! I could do without the pillow chocolates.

[rdsqrl]

Do. Not. Touch. My. Pillow. Chocolates.

[Bimmer09]

I think the best way to help Princess is to buy a cruise and when you are on that cruise act like you are on vacation and treat yourself to all the things you have been missing while working day in, day out. Buy that drink, that Bingo card, that Princess excursion, the tee shirt the tote bag and so on. Buy them because you are feeling good on the ship and want to enjoy it to the max.

 

You give them money -they give you a good time. Simple business transaction. If they fail to live up to the advertising-then blast them in the onboard surveys and in e mail or by phone-or by choosing another line next time and send Princess an email telling them why you are spending your hard-earned money elsewhere until they return the blue deck mats!

 

We all have choices when it somes to spending vacation money- so far I am happy to trade dollars for fun with Princess but I wouldn't hesitate to try a different line if the PCL product declined drastically (which I don't forsee as they have survived handsomely this long.)

 

I was on a Princess ship just two months ago -and it was brilliant. I spent an extra $2400 on top of the cruise fare (which was a steal for what they gave me in return) and I wasn't even in partying mode. So they made some good profit from me which is fine- it's the American way. Me and Princess benefitted.

 

The Grand has lost it's deck mats (which I like) but it lost Skywalkers and that's the main reason I won't sail on it. The Royal is different (gasp!) but I will still want to sail on it once to see for myself whether it pleaseth me.

 

As Pam says-Princess is a business-a very successful and profitable one to date-and as such, like the great institutions such as American banks, can make great decisons or bonehead ones (in equal measure).

 

They are feeling their way through difficult economic times, as are we all, and they stand or fall on their own decisions. They have to fill cabins and get repeat customers from those filled cabins. Then they have to make a financial profit from each customer, day in and out.

 

If they cut back too much they will find passengers trying another line and will have trouble filling the ships week in and week out.

 

Competition breeds excellence. We, as passengers, owe Princess nothing-except our feed-back. We can let them know what's good and not-so-good in the way they run things at sea. Comment cards on board, face to face meeting with white uniforms and of course, e mails to Alan.

 

Where are the towel animals? I've had wonderful days at sea only to return to my cabin to find that my room steward didn't contort my fluffy towels into the shape of an elephant!! I did what any one would do-smashed the TV and tossed it over the balcony! Damn right!

 

The best thing we can do to help Princess is to sail on their great ships and have the time of our lives or send a wake-up call by trying another line.

 

For me- I am as happy as a clam (currently) and drooling over the prospect of the Diamond Princess in August.

 

Norris

[DugboatLarry]

Since it is an election year. And since they're the ones making a profit and you're paying for it... Ask not what you can do for your Cruise line, Ask what your cruise line can do for you. Then choose.

[Putterdude]

They could certainly reduce their paper cost but reducing the number of unwanted flyers that get stuffed in Patters and in your mail compartment.

[pris993]

Give me a break, I just got off a Princess and Celebrity ship. The cruiselines are doing just fine. They know how shake the money out passengers. It is the passengers who need to look out.

[mummyrose]

Well they could have battery's to sell with the water bottles when you disembark on tour days....I don't know how many times my hubby has helped folk out with batterys because the cameras are flat...(maybe they are all new to cruising) but they all come down expecting the shops to be open...

[Dena]

They could certainly reduce their paper cost but reducing the number of unwanted flyers that get stuffed in Patters and in your mail compartment.

 

I agree!

[novice99]

Do. Not. Touch. My. Pillow. Chocolates.

Are you saying there are chocolates on the pillows with Princes??

We were last year on the Ocean Princess on the 19 day Land of the Midnight Sun cruise in a balcony cabin. We never got chocolates. We had them previously with other cruise lines.

Who ate my chocolates?? Oh well, gained enough weight as it was.

[Pam in CA]

They could certainly reduce their paper cost but reducing the number of unwanted flyers that get stuffed in Patters and in your mail compartment.

Seriously? I had very, very few on my recent Star cruise. Maybe a couple of flyers over sixteen days and maybe a few inserted into the Patter. They've really, really cut back on the constant stream of paper. Granted, I had invitations to stuff I had no intention of going to, like the Captain's Circle parties or wine tastings but I don't count those.

[bdjam]

There have been so many cost cutting measures from Princess lately, it is probably because the cost of fuel is high. I know Princess does not want to raise prices because they are trying to attract younger cruisers. Yet they risk alienating loyal passengers. Realistically, many retirees will have more disposable income than young families. Maybe Princess needs to defer trying to grow their market until after the economy improves. Maybe this is the time to focus on, not alienate, loyal passengers. Maybe just increase the cruise price and stop cutting services and reinstate those that have been cut.

 

Princess looks they are just guessing about what really is and is not important to us. Perhaps we can help them. For example, I would be happy to spend money in the spa, but I won't endure a hard-sell afterwards. Based on what I have read on these boards, Steiner employees are on commission and will vigorously try to sell products after each service. Princess could takeover the spa operations and instruct employees to treat the spa customers with respect, in other words, no sales pitch. What about the shops? I am not much of a shopper, but nothing in these shops even tempts me. Maybe more avid shoppers could offer advise about more tempting products.

 

Seriously?

 

I've been almost exclusively on Princess cruises since 1996 - there was a big change in what Princess offered - i.e. the line went from premium to mass market - when the first Sun Class ships came online and it took a few years for the quality of the product to even out. Once it did, I haven't really noticed any cost cutting measures that affect my cruise. What might adversely affect one passenger might be a boon to another. On the contrary, what is offered on the ships has increased by leaps and bounds - especially with the larger ships since the original Sun Class started offering a lot of options.

 

I don't know that I could seriously fault Princess for removing balcony mats. Are you sure they are doing it because of fuel costs? Princess has plenty of "pay as you go" amenities - don't you think they'd raise a price here and there to offset the cost of a balcony mat? Will this really affect my cruise experience?

 

Instructing Steiner employees to stop doing the hard sell isn't going to help or hurt Princess - Steiner pays the rent - what they get in profits belongs to them. And I've always said no thank you to the hard sell and it seems to stop - maybe the passengers should treat the Steiner employees with some respect with a polite "no thanks"?

 

Princess tried to take over the spa operations when Caribbean Princess came on line and were unable to prove running it themselves cost effective - that's why Steiner came back.

 

Princess is what Princess is. As a cruise line they are very successful. I don't understand why people want to change the product they offer. The best thing to do if you don't like the product is go find one that you do and let Princess know you're taking your money elsewhere. Princess tries to be the cruise line for everyone and in doing so, has a very difficult time satisfying everyone.

 

And as another poster said, leave my chocolates alone.