Complimentary mini-bar

[Astro Flyer]

Has anyone done the mini bar set for coffee card exchange?

 

I am wondering if the sailing information on the coffee cards is blank so that they can be used on a future cruise.

I've only read posts from those on the 49 day cruise but none from other passengers. It's another recent change that even crew are not fully aware of it's existence & thus the need to bring the info from the Princess website. I think it's doubtful that when giving it to us in exchange for a mini-bar set up that it wouldn't be stamped to be valid only on the current cruise just like those purchased. It's just my guess but not sure if many have experienced this new option yet.

 

Any card with punches still available can be used for specialty coffee drinks or a cup of brewed coffee on a future cruise but not for unlimited brewed coffee on another cruise.

[SeaTheWorldBySea]

Has anyone done the mini bar set for coffee card exchange?

 

I am wondering if the sailing information on the coffee cards is blank so that they can be used on a future cruise.

 

We exchanged our mini bar for the 2 coffee cards. I hope they look the same on all ships and expect they will. They are brown. The front says Cafe Selects Premium Coffee Card This coffee card is good for purchases of: (coffee drinks are listed)

 

The back of the card says: Present this card when receiving your specialty coffee and your server will punch a hole into the card. Unused specialty coffees redeemable on next voyage. Complimentary coffee and tea only applicable to voyage of purchase. This card entitles the cardholder to 15 specialty coffees.

 

There is a place for Ship name and Voyage date - both of those are BLANK! They were not filled in when they were brought to our cabin and on 29 days of cruising, I did not fill them in and no one questioned that.

 

If cards look the same on all ships, there are punches left and I expect to be able to used them for regular coffee and tea on our next cruise.

[Astro Flyer]

We exchanged our mini bar for the 2 coffee cards. I hope they look the same on all ships and expect they will. They are brown. The front says Cafe Selects Premium Coffee Card This coffee card is good for purchases of: (coffee drinks are listed)

 

The back of the card says: Present this card when receiving your specialty coffee and your server will punch a hole into the card. Unused specialty coffees redeemable on next voyage. Complimentary coffee and tea only applicable to voyage of purchase. This card entitles the cardholder to 15 specialty coffees.

 

There is a place for Ship name and Voyage date - both of those are BLANK! They were not filled in when they were brought to our cabin and on 29 days of cruising, I did not fill them in and no one questioned that.

 

If cards look the same on all ships, there are punches left and I expect to be able to used them for regular coffee and tea on our next cruise.

That's the same cards & lucky you! :D We've had cards without the name of the ship or cruise number but that was due to a mistake by staff.

[IECalCruiser]

I thought the same thing but now that the 2 coffee card option to exchange for the entire mini-bar is clearly stated in the Captain's Circle Mini-Bar FAQ's it should be available fleetwide.

Thanks for pointing that out. Those FAQs aren't that easy to find. We wine drinkers should complain. We need to trade in the entire mini-bar set-up worth about $70 for ONE bottle of wine worth $29-$32 while coffee drinkers get TWO coffee cards worth $58. Where's the justice :rolleyes:

[cr8tiv1]

If you click on the attached PDF file (a very common free Adobe Acrobat Reader download) you can view the Elite Mini-Bar info. :)

 

 

After much hunting, I did find your link and saved it as a PDF on my computer for future cruises. Thank you for taking the time to post a direct PDF file to this thread. It will make it so much easier for everyone down the line.

 

And yes, Room Service is the place to call for the exchange, but as of February 2013, they knew absolutely nothing about this. Hope they work it out. It is to their advantage and really a good offer for those who do not imbibe. I just purchased a new card on last month (pre this notice) so I am good to go. But at least I know and for the immediate future, I won't have to lug bottles of water with me.

 

Mahalo,

 

Renee

[srice]

We exchanged our mini bar for the 2 coffee cards. I hope they look the same on all ships and expect they will. They are brown. The front says Cafe Selects Premium Coffee Card This coffee card is good for purchases of: (coffee drinks are listed)

 

The back of the card says: Present this card when receiving your specialty coffee and your server will punch a hole into the card. Unused specialty coffees redeemable on next voyage. Complimentary coffee and tea only applicable to voyage of purchase. This card entitles the cardholder to 15 specialty coffees.

 

There is a place for Ship name and Voyage date - both of those are BLANK! They were not filled in when they were brought to our cabin and on 29 days of cruising, I did not fill them in and no one questioned that.

 

If cards look the same on all ships, there are punches left and I expect to be able to used them for regular coffee and tea on our next cruise.

 

Thanks, Julie. That is the information I was looking for.

 

I can only hope that is how it is handled the next time we sail.

[sminfiddle]

I've only read posts from those on the 49 day cruise but none from other passengers.

 

I did the exchange on the Crown March 9, 2013 - No one knew about it but Room Service.

The nice woman answering the phone had me hold on while she asked someone there. Came back quickly with "Yes, we will be right up to your cabin. We'll need the entire Mini Bar" and it was all done in a couple of minutes.

They filled out the back with Ship/Voyage number as per standard policy.

[Astro Flyer]

I did the exchange on the Crown March 9, 2013 - No one knew about it but Room Service.

The nice woman answering the phone had me hold on while she asked someone there. Came back quickly with "Yes, we will be right up to your cabin. We'll need the entire Mini Bar" and it was all done in a couple of minutes.

They filled out the back with Ship/Voyage number as per standard policy.

Thanks...that's the proper procedure that staff is suppose to follow & guess that SeaTheWorldBySea just got lucky. ;)

 

We won't use the coffee card option on our cruise later this year on the Royal's TA but will probably use it for a b2b next year. By then staff should be fully aware of this recent change although I'll bring the Mini-Bar FAQ just in case there's an issue. If they enforce the unlimited brewed coffee benefit to only 1 cruise & not for the b2b then we'll probably wait until the longer 2nd segment which has more seadays. For our b2b at the end of last year they said it was only for the segment purchased since we hadn't booked as 1 cruise. :(

[paul929207]

I think the number of Elites (over 1000) on the Grand forced them to find a better way to avoid all the exchanges they were going to get. So they came of with a form listing all the options. This let many people know of options they were not aware of. Of course, many of us came back and reported about it on Cruise Critic.

[Astro Flyer]

I think the number of Elites (over 1000) on the Grand forced them to find a better way to avoid all the exchanges they were going to get. So they came of with a form listing all the options. This let many people know of options they were not aware of. Of course, many of us came back and reported about it on Cruise Critic.

With that many elites that's understandable & maybe with restocking problems for the mini booze bottles (happened on our Crown cruise at the end of last year) they came up with the coffee card option. Apparently it was successful & now they're offering it as an option on any cruise. With reports of staff not being aware of this new option then bringing the Mini-Bar FAQ info is a good idea to prove that the coffee cards are now an option.

[t60]

Here is the direct link to the Elite Mini-Bar FAQ mentioning the Coffee Cards.

You do need to be logged in to your Princess account to get there.

 

Print and pack it in case you get told "no"

 

 

very helpful, thank you. Wish I had this when we sailed on Dawn Princess in april. It seemed that when we queried something we we told, ¨not on Australian Ships¨

 

Sandy in Spain

[paul929207]

very helpful, thank you. Wish I had this when we sailed on Dawn Princess in april. It seemed that when we queried something we we told, ¨not on Australian Ships¨

 

Sandy in Spain

There are a number of differences between the Australian based Princess ships and all the others.

[Pia1913]

Someone recently posted Princess FAQ info about the mini-bar showing another option to exchange the mini-bar setup for 2 coffee cards.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=38014843&postcount=15

 

This is true. We did the exchange on the Grand. February 14th. At that time we thought they were doing it because there were more than 1000 Elites on board. Now it's nice to see that this will continue to be an option on all cruises.

[Astro Flyer]

This is true. We did the exchange on the Grand. February 14th. At that time we thought they were doing it because there were more than 1000 Elites on board. Now it's nice to see that this will continue to be an option on all cruises.

It's a nice option to have & it's good to have it in writing for the times we run into an uninformed crewmember to prove that it's an option.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=270225&d=1367781320

[DiRonT]

Can someone tell me exactly what is included in the Elite mini bar set-up? Thanks in advance.

[sminfiddle]

Can someone tell me exactly what is included in the Elite mini bar set-up? Thanks in advance.

Membership Questions (viewable after you've logged in to Captain's Circle)

 

Question: What will my mini-bar consist of?

Answer: Elite members will get a one-time complimentary mini-bar set-up (1 per Elite stateroom) which consists of two (2) miniature bottles each of Cognac, Gin, Vodka and Scotch Whisky, two (2) 12 ounce cans of beer, two (2) 12 ounce cans/bottles of tonic water, two (2) 12 ounce cans of Coca Cola, two (2) 12 ounce cans of Sprite, two (2) 0.5 liter bottles of water, two (2) 11 ounce bottles of Perrier. The contents of the mini-bar are subject to change.

 

Question: What if I don't want any alcohol in my Elite mini-bar?

 

Answer: If you do not wish to have any alcohol in your mini-bar we will be happy to exchange your mini-bar for one of the following:

• Alcoholic beverages may be exchanged for non-alcoholic beverages on a one-for-one basis
  
• Full mini-bar may be exchanged for two (2) Coffee Cards
  
• All water mini-bar setup will consist of eight (8) 1.5 liter bottles of water
  

[paul929207]

You can trade the basic minibar for what you prefer. For instance, we trade the six non-scotch minis for scotch. We trade all the other stuff for 12 sprite zeros.

[Seal]

You can trade the basic minibar for what you prefer. For instance, we trade the six non-scotch minis for scotch. We trade all the other stuff for 12 sprite zeros.

 

We also go for the Sprite Zeros but with all Vodka for the other minis.

 

Nancy:D:D

[partybarbie]

We also go for the Sprite Zeros but with all Vodka for the other minis.

 

Nancy:D:D

 

I'm with you:D. I also get a couple of ginger ales, grab a lime from DH's beer bucket, and make a killer Moscow mule.:cool:

[remydiva]

Thanks for pointing that out. Those FAQs aren't that easy to find. We wine drinkers should complain. We need to trade in the entire mini-bar set-up worth about $70 for ONE bottle of wine worth $29-$32 while coffee drinkers get TWO coffee cards worth $58. Where's the justice :rolleyes:

 

Heavy sigh....once again we wine drinkers have to suffer the wrath of injustice while we watch the scotch drinkers do the 'highland fling' and the java nuts do the 'caffeinated Gangham style' :D

 

now, where did I put my corkscrew?

Edited June 1, 2013 by remydiva

[seabreezer]

So is the mini-bar/coffee-card exchange only allowed for elite members? We will be in a suite and have the complimentary mini-bar set-up and we would much prefer the coffee cards.

[synet165]

Hi

The answer to your question is no, the mini bar is a perk for full suites and window suites.

We were on the Grand last month in a full suite and the exchange was no problem.

All you do when you first get into the suite is don't touch the set up and call ROOM SERVICE. And ask for two coffee cards. They are the ones that handle the exchange and will bring the cards with them when they come later to pick up the bar.

Enjoy

syner165

[RichNY]

So if I am reading this right I will receive 2 mini bar set ups on my 4 and 5 day B to B and only one for my 18 day TA, both in a full suite...:rolleyes:

[Pia1913]

So if I am reading this right I will receive 2 mini bar set ups on my 4 and 5 day B to B and only one for my 18 day TA, both in a full suite...:rolleyes:

 

If you're Elite and in a suite you get two setups. But yes, you will get one each for the four and five day cruises and only one for the 18 day.

[seabreezer]

I am in a suite, not a mini- suite. How is that different from a full suite? I know I receive a comp. mini-bar...so I cannot exhange it for the coffee card unless I am in a full suite? I didn't realize full suite was a separate cat.. We are not elite cruisers however.