What do y'all think of the Captain's Circle benefits?

[Topo Gigio]

If you spend over a certain amount - I think it was $150.

That's in VERY small print! ;)

 

I got 10% around the 5th day and I only spent like $38.

[chamima]

Isn't there 10% off the first night in the stores for everyone?

 

I got 10% around the 5th day and I only spent like $38.

 

 

I think Cruise junky was asking about the coupon everyone gets that says something about 10% off in the stores the first night of the cruise.

I bought an eyeliner and got my Elite 10% off but when I asked about the extra first night 10% she pointed out that I needed to spend $150 to get that.

Didn't need that many eyeliners! :p

 

(The Elite 10% is good in any store on the ship for the entire cruise)

[Topo Gigio]

I think Cruise junky was asking about the coupon everyone gets that says something about 10% off in the stores the first night of the cruise.

I bought an eyeliner and got my Elite 10% off but when I asked about the extra first night 10% she pointed out that I needed to spend $150 to get that.

Didn't need that many eyeliners! :p

 

(The Elite 10% is good in any store on the ship for the entire cruise)

 

I was a lowly Gold!

[karena1]

Ironing is part of the laundry process and is included in the Elite Free Laundry perk. We have send off my tuxedo shirt and wife's gown for pressing when we board.

 

 

That is good to know. I wanted to send out hubby's tux shirt to get pressed but only saw laundry. Nice to know I can just send it to get it pressed.

[spunks]

We are elite on Princess and Diamond on RCCL. We like both lines. There is a distinct difference in the loyalty benefits. If you are big drinkers, RCCL is your line of choice. Otherwise, there is no comparison to Princess for perks, at the elite level anyway.. Unlimited free laundry IS a big deal, especially on the long cruises. That includes ironing and everything. Free shoe polishing for that matter, but I never used that. I will say that on our last 7 day RCCL cruise, they gave us 60 min each of free internet which was unexpected. I also agree that the Diamond and concierge lounges are very, very nice. The thing that separates the 2 lines really is not so much loyalty benefit as it is policy. Simply put, Princess allows you to "stack" your benefits RCCL does not. If you book a WOW sale, you can get no other credits with RCCL. There is never a time you can get stockholder benefits with RCCL if you have gotten any kind of discount. I will list the on board credit opportunities you get with Princess whether Elite or 2nd time cruiser.

 

Stockholder benefit.....................$250 per cabin on a 14 day cruise.

Past military service...................$250 per veteran on a 14 day cruise

Future cruise credit....................$depends on cabin category& cruise length

 

Other OBC opportunities such as ..over 20 cruises,30 cruises,40 cruises per cabin. Also new referral bonus. for both you and your referral.

 

 

The obc money will buy lots of drinks, tours, shop merchandise, and even tips.

[hospvol]

I wish Princess went by total days cruised. These short cruises get one to elite fast, but we don't live near port.

[Kinkacruiser]

What do y'all think of the Princess Cruises loyalty benefits compared to other lines?

 

Great. That's why we always cruise Princess :)

( It would take too long/too many $'s to reach the same level on another cruiseline).

[SoCal Cruiser78]

I wish Princess went by total days cruised. These short cruises get one to elite fast, but we don't live near port.

 

Not sure if you are aware, but you can get to Elite by days only. I believe it is 150 days for Elite, and 50 for Platinum. So you can get to Elite with just a couple WCs ;).

[icat2000]

Not sure if you are aware, but you can get to Elite by days only. I believe it is 150 days for Elite, and 50 for Platinum. So you can get to Elite with just a couple WCs ;).

I once went to a Captain Circle party where the most travel passenger had only done 5 cruises prior to the this one. All world cruises though. First cruise was a world cruise. Go big, go bold. :D

Edited January 3, 2015 by icat2000

[maggie.1008]

Once a year I take 83 yr. old dad on a cruise. On Celebrity I am Elite Plus and he is allowed in the Happy Hour lounge with me as we share the same cabin. I am Platinum now on Princess and dad is not. Will he be allowed in the lounge with me ?

[AE_Collector]

I got 10% around the 5th day and I only spent like $38.

 

Two bottles of duty free alcohol onboard which is 10% off always with a coupon?

 

Once a year I take 83 yr. old dad on a cruise. On Celebrity I am Elite Plus and he is allowed in the Happy Hour lounge with me as we share the same cabin. I am Platinum now on Princess and dad is not. Will he be allowed in the lounge with me ?

 

We have never been checked entering the Elite/Platinum lounge as other than food which there usually isn't a shortage of elsewhere onboard, they really aren't giving anything away there.

 

Terry

Edited January 4, 2015 by AE_Collector

[Oxo]

Once a year I take 83 yr. old dad on a cruise. On Celebrity I am Elite Plus and he is allowed in the Happy Hour lounge with me as we share the same cabin. I am Platinum now on Princess and dad is not. Will he be allowed in the lounge with me ?

 

Almost anyone can go into the Happy Hour lounge on Princess. It is totally different than Celebrity's Elite/+ 5-7pm. Princess charges $5 for the drink of that evening. Whereas, Celebrity has free drinks. This is one benny that Celebrity excels in.

[windsor26]

I wish Princess went by total days cruised. These short cruises get one to elite fast, but we don't live near port.

 

They do 150 days for elite

[AE_Collector]

Almost anyone can go into the Happy Hour lounge on Princess. It is totally different than Celebrity's Elite/+ 5-7pm. Princess charges $5 for the drink of that evening. Whereas, Celebrity has free drinks. This is one benny that Celebrity excels in.

 

I would agree that is the one benefit that financially is worth more to passengers than Princess' Elite Mini Bar. For us, everything else is better on Princess. That said, we frequently have trouble getting through the Mini Bar as well as our two bottles of wine we bring onboard. We traded out our second Mini Bar on a recent B2B for coffee cards. Happy hour 2 for 1's is making it even more difficult to use everything up.

 

We aways do early dinning so Celebrity's free Elite drinks from 5 to 7 would just be an inconvenience for us anyway so I think we are good with Princess!

 

Terry

Edited January 4, 2015 by AE_Collector

[geoherb]

I wish Princess went by total days cruised. These short cruises get one to elite fast, but we don't live near port.

As long as I get the benefits, I don't care how others got to the same level as us. I have read that on some cruises there are way more Elites than the ship can handle--leading to long turnaround time for laundry, crowded Platinum/Elite/suite events, and no true priority tendering but tickets instead. We have not experienced any of these. On our recent Caribbean Princess cruise, there were 55 Elites according to the Captain's Circle hostess. We walked to the back of the tendering line for Princess Cays. Our laundry came back the next day. There was never a crowd at the party.

[ar1950]

Me and Princess have an understanding. We pay for a cruise and they give us a cruise. Anything else they want to give me, I gladly accept and go on my way ;)

 

So after reading all of the pros and cons, I vote this the best post of the thread. YMMV :cool:

[Oxo]

 

We aways do early dinning so Celebrity's free Elite drinks from 5 to 7 would just be an inconvenience for us anyway so I think we are good with Princess! Terry

 

Even if you have early dinning, you can still go for an hour at least. You may enter the MDR late. If they give coupons, you can take your drink into the MDR from one of the bars. People do it all the time.

[LabGuy64]

Hi,

 

in what way's do you find the Princess loyalty program superior to Celebrity?

 

Keeps us cruising with Princess almost exclusively.

 

I don't know the details about other cruise lines loyalty programs other than Celebrity. For me, Princess loyalty benefits are far and above better than Celebrity's.

 

Terry

[LabGuy64]

I totally agree, and for me the 10% on the boutique sales is worthless...I neve buy on the ship....I find the items either trash...and would not care to buy trash at any price...or fine goods that are overpriced and that I can get at home...would rather buy from the places i visit, looking for something unique..and as for internet.....I really try to stay away form it onboard.....and just enjoy the curise

 

I think once you make platinum and are eligible for free internet minutes the program starts to have value. With more and more hot spots popping up in ports it may become less of a value. Gold and Ruby are worthless. The free internet minutes are not enough to keep me coming back if I can get a better deal on Celebrity and the stretch between platinum and elite is so far that the program doesn't compel me to try to make it to the next level.

 

I think Celebrity's program is better at the lower end. I only sailed once with Celebrity and on my second booking I was able to upgrade within my room category. It was a $60 savings and I was eligible for a reduced deposit. I didn't need to buy an FCC to do that. With that said, Celebrity has changed the way you gain points and it's difficult to move to the next level if you are unable to cruise a lot, so I'm not compelled to book based on their program either.

 

I really think Princess needs a level between platinum and elite. They could offfer discounts on photos or in the shops. It would promote on board spending and make the passenger feel like they are getting something. I work in retail you would be surprised how many people open a credit card at 29% interest to save 15% on their purchase. Most of these people are not paying the balance off when the bill comes in.

[LabGuy64]

I also favor princess over Royal...except for the lounge......

 

I agree, I think that is the one huge difference b/t the 2 lines for perks. We love the nightly complimentary cocktail hour on Royal whereas Princess has the food, but no free drinks.

 

Other thing I like is on Royal is the free ironing, don't get that on Princess that I could find.

 

Otherwise, we love Princess, had a wonderful Cruise in Dec on Ruby and plan to cruise on Princess again

[Lovetocruiseprincess]

As long as I get the benefits, I don't care how others got to the same level as us. I have read that on some cruises there are way more Elites than the ship can handle--leading to long turnaround time for laundry, crowded Platinum/Elite/suite events, and no true priority tendering but tickets instead. We have not experienced any of these. On our recent Caribbean Princess cruise, there were 55 Elites according to the Captain's Circle hostess. We walked to the back of the tendering line for Princess Cays. Our laundry came back the next day. There was never a crowd at the party.

That's what's still nice about the older ships...they don't attract as many Elites as the Regal & Royal. The Elite status still seems to mean something extra like space in the boarding lounge, priority tender boarding, pass service desk wait line, etc., whereas on the Royal it seemed 1/3 of the ship was Elite. There has to be a time when a new top status has to come about.

[Putterdude]

For us the most appreciated benefit is the free laundry for Elite, it sure makes a huge difference in terms of packing when flying and for longer cruisers. This would be followed by the internet time and the mini bar set up. Has anyone ever used the shoe shine service????

[HMSDingy]

I too go for price and itinerary. Heck I wasn't aware we were Platinum until we got our cards in the mail. But the few perks are a nice touch. :D

[critterchick]

But...Princess Elite doesn't kick in until after 15 cruises, RCL and X is after 10

 

RCI has two levels about Diamond (80 days): Diamond Plus (175) and Pinnacle Club (700). We are Pinnacle on RCI and Elite on Princess. I enjoy the free laundry and more Internet time on Princess, but overall prefer the onboard experience on RCI more. If I am booking for the ship, I'd pick RCI every time, but when booking for the itinerary, I'll look at all of the lines.

 

I read it it to mean armed forces OBC, ie military.

 

So did I, and I love that DH gets us one on every Princess sailing as OBC that's combinable with the FCC, shareholder and any other OBC offered. RCI offers it as a discount on the price of the cruise, and often makes it difficult to combine it with other promotions.

[hillslife]

We love the benefits...think they are quite generous. It keeps us coming back for more....:p