From Princess's Mouth - Supposedly The Facts On New Perks

[Golfette]

After wading thru 3 pages re new perks for suites & mini-suites, I called Princess & spoke to Jesse who took some time to call & inquire of several of her supervisors whether these new perks would actually be in place in October when we traveled on the Sapphire. According to Jesse, they WILL be in place. After reading these boards for the past month, I realize that what is promised may never appear, but for whatever it's worth there it is. Would appreciate hearing from October cruisers on this subject. Good luck to us all & enjoy your cruise no matter what!:)

[CroozBlooz]

We're on the CB on 10/8. Will let you know.

[Pam in CA]

Thanks for the update. I believe that the new perks were supposed to be in place "in September" so that hopefully, they'll be in place for you.

[critterchick]

Pam, they were supposed to be in place "starting in September," which I read as a gradual rolling out across the fleet. With any luck, they're just about there!

[SLU Billikens]

We are on Oct. 8th Sapphire cruise and will let you know.

[Golfette]

Many thanks all! If possible, those of you on early Oct. sailings, can you post from the ship? We are leaving Oct. 15th. It's definitely not a life & death matter;), just curious to see "if they speaketh with forked tongues...". Hope you have a beautiful cruise.

[Golfette]

I am very sorry to say that a few days after I talked to Jesse at Princess cruises and she assured me, after speaking to her supervisors, that the new perks were in place on the Sapphire Princess already, I read the following in another perks thread:

 

No upgrades on Sapphire as of Sept. 30, 05

We were in minisuite E728 on the Sapphire from Sept. 26 to Oct. 1st. We asked about the perks and our steward hadn't heard of them. I also inquired at the pursers desk and had them make a copy of my printout from the Princess website. They hadn't received any information about the perks for minisuites and suites. Let me add that we had the exact same room on our January 6, 2005 cruise. The bedspread last week was soiled & stained & I had it removed for the duration of the cruise.

__________________

 

To say the least, I am truly disappointed in Princesses' conduct in this matter. Why not just tell the truth Princess! It would certainly alienate customers less than blatant lying.

[Nrknits]

Where exactly are these perks listed? I think I'd like to make a copy of them and take them with me on my next cruise.

[calikak]

Here's a link to the announcement from the Princess website (it was a Captain's Circle newsletter that had the announcement and to date there has not been a formal press release about it): http://book.princess.com/html/cc/enewsletter/onboard.html?source=enews6AS

 

I have to say I'm also a little disappointed about the way this has been handled. I wish they'd made it clearer that this would be a slow roll-out, rather than leaving the implication that by the end of September the new amenities would be in place.

[CroozBlooz]

Check out this link, as it lists the perks and says they are currently in place:

 

 

http://www.princess.com/news/articl...na755&submit=pk

 

 

Based on what others have written, don't expect the perks to be in place, and I wouldn't recommend wasting your valuable time showing the purser's staff the memo. It's obvious that they really can't do anything about it. It's a shame that Princess, yet again, doesn't deliver on its promises.

 

It's a shame. The onboard experience is wonderful, however the land based operations leave something to be desired.:mad:

 

Hmmm....since I last posted that link about a week ago, Princess now has removed the page. Perhaps they think they can remove things that they have had up for quite some time and act as if it never happened! :mad: :mad:

[redrobin]

calikak, there actually was a formal press release on the princess website. It was nice, detailed and very comprehensive. lt listed both the previous perks for suites along with the new ones for mini-suites and suites, including a few additional new ones that weren't mentioned in the Captain's Circle newsletter. For some reason Princess in the last day or so removed that page from their web site. Wonder what's up with that?!?

[CroozBlooz]

This is just another example of things that businesses do that really get my goat! If you look at the Q&A now for mini-suites, the only thing that they have added as an additional amenity is a welcome glass of (cheap) champagne.

 

I don't know about everyone else, but I booked recently, based on some of the amenities; in particular the upgraded mattress and linens. As a general rule, I prefer mini-suites for Alaska, but don't think it's really necessary for the Caribbean.

 

Princess, you really flubbed this one!

 

BTW, the reservation folks at Princess are saying that according to the information they have the suite and mini-suite amenities that we saw (mattress, linens, duvets, etc.) should be there.

[calikak]

calikak, there actually was a formal press release on the princess website. It was nice, detailed and very comprehensive. lt listed both the previous perks for suites along with the new ones for mini-suites and suites, including a few additional new ones that weren't mentioned in the Captain's Circle newsletter. For some reason Princess in the last day or so removed that page from their web site. Wonder what's up with that?!?

 

Thanks for correcting me! I did a google search to see if I could get a cached version of the article, but there isn't a cached version available. Sounds like someone in the advertising department made a promise that the facilities/logistics department couldn't keep, and now they're trying to pretend like they didn't tell us these things would be available starting last month.

[redrobin]

Thanks for correcting me! I did a google search to see if I could get a cached version of the article, but there isn't a cached version available. Sounds like someone in the advertising department made a promise that the facilities/logistics department couldn't keep, and now they're trying to pretend like they didn't tell us these things would be available starting last month.

 

The google search was a good thought! I agree, I think Princess is back pedaling. We'll have to wait and see if they come out with a new release. Did anyone save the removed release that they could post? I didn't bother since I didn't think it would be going away.

[calikak]

I had another idea, but can't access the website from my work computer (we have a heck of a lot of filters on our work computers). Could someone go to http://www.archive.org and put in this website:

 

http://www.princess.com/news/article.jsp?newsArticleId=na755&submit=pk

 

I don't know if they have it in their archive, but it's worth a shot, right? :)

 

What I think is the stinkiest part about all this is that I'm sure they folks at purser's desks across the fleet are now having to deal with annoyed/angry passengers who expected these things to be in place when they're actually not. It's unfair to the crew when the corporate folks create an expectation that doesn't reflect the actual onboard experience, because the crew ends up bearing the brunt of people's complaints for things that aren't actually their fault. I'm basically a peon at work, and sometimes I have to bear the brunt of the public's anger at things that I have no control over and no power to fix, and that's probably the most unpleasant aspect of my job, so I really feel bad for the crew when something like this happens.

[cruise182]

:mad: this:mad: burns:mad: me:mad: up!!:mad:

[bdjam]

This is just another example of things that businesses do that really get my goat! If you look at the Q&A now for mini-suites, the only thing that they have added as an additional amenity is a welcome glass of (cheap) champagne.

 

I don't know about everyone else, but I booked recently, based on some of the amenities; in particular the upgraded mattress and linens. As a general rule, I prefer mini-suites for Alaska, but don't think it's really necessary for the Caribbean.

Based on the fare structure, you weren’t expecting top of the line champagne, were you? As for the rest of the amenities – when’s your cruise that you purchased based on them – maybe they’ll be in place by then and you’re getting upset for nothing.

Right - Princess should follow through with what they say - unfortunately, it's a known fact that the land-based office and the ships at sea are often on different pages and none of us knows the logistical issues of putting these things in place. I'm sure most of us have been victims of overzealous marketing at one time or another. But I'm wondering if anyone has really been damaged by these amenities not being in place. If so, you have a legitimate complaint that should be forwarded to Customer Relations and that should demonstrate that damage to them.

[cruise182]

Based on the fare structure, you weren’t expecting top of the line champagne, were you? As for the rest of the amenities – when’s your cruise that you purchased based on them – maybe they’ll be in place by then and you’re getting upset for nothing.

 

Right - Princess should follow through with what they say - unfortunately, it's a known fact that the land-based office and the ships at sea are often on different pages and none of us knows the logistical issues of putting these things in place. I'm sure most of us have been victims of overzealous marketing at one time or another. But I'm wondering if anyone has really been damaged by these amenities not being in place. If so, you have a legitimate complaint that should be forwarded to Customer Relations and that should demonstrate that damage to them.

[HMcruiser]

I had another idea, but can't access the website from my work computer (we have a heck of a lot of filters on our work computers). Could someone go to http://www.archive.org and put in this website:

 

http://www.princess.com/news/article.jsp?newsArticleId=na755&submit=pk

 

Sorry, calikak, not there. (and i did use the full URL, not just the part showing in the post).

[redrobin]

calikak, I also tried and could only come up with an archived page listing the article on the princess site.

 

Background/Special Topics

Princess Suite Amenities Surround Passengers with Luxury

I also agree that it may be the onboard staff who end up 'damaged' the most and should probably be the ones lodging complaints!! :) Unfortunately, I can see some passengers removing tips or otherwise venting their disappointment on the crew. :(

[donna5]

Here it is guys.

 

I had made a copy of it when it first came out in the newsletter and it also prints out the url at the bottom of the copies. I just tried this and made another copy to keep in my files. I will take this with for next weeks cruise.

http://book.princess.com/html/cc/enewsletter/onboard.html?source=enews6AS

[CroozBlooz]

Based on the fare structure, you weren’t expecting top of the line champagne, were you? As for the rest of the amenities – when’s your cruise that you purchased based on them – maybe they’ll be in place by then and you’re getting upset for nothing.

 

Right - Princess should follow through with what they say - unfortunately, it's a known fact that the land-based office and the ships at sea are often on different pages and none of us knows the logistical issues of putting these things in place. I'm sure most of us have been victims of overzealous marketing at one time or another. But I'm wondering if anyone has really been damaged by these amenities not being in place. If so, you have a legitimate complaint that should be forwarded to Customer Relations and that should demonstrate that damage to them.

 

Actually, I don't really care about the champagne. The most valuable amenities in my opinion are the upgraded mattress and linens, as these have a direct impact on quality of sleep.

 

Cruise on the CB is 10/8, so I'll find out very quickly. And it's not that I'm going to go ballistic or worry about this...I'm not. I just don't like when promises are made that, in part, affect my decisions, and then the promises are not kept.

 

I do what I say I will do, and I ask that others do the same. Is that so wrong?

[donna5]

OK I have tried to edit this four times it keep cutting out the middle of this url so I will try to type it in without the hyper link.

 

http://book.princess.com/html/cc/enewsletter/onboard.html?source=enews6AS

 

http://book.princess.com/html/cc/enewsletter/onboard.html?

source=enews6AS

 

the top url is from the cut and paste, the second one I entered it manually and put it on two lines, there is no space between ? and source

 

Hope this works.

 

Just looked at it and you need to add the source=enews6AS to the url, it keeps cutting it off.

[devinc]

Actually, I don't really care about the champagne. The most valuable amenities in my opinion are the upgraded mattress and linens, as these have a direct impact on quality of sleep.

 

Cruise on the CB is 10/8, so I'll find out very quickly. And it's not that I'm going to go ballistic or worry about this...I'm not. I just don't like when promises are made that, in part, affect my decisions, and then the promises are not kept.

 

I do what I say I will do, and I ask that others do the same. Is that so wrong?

 

Very well said!

[donna5]

I just went up to my posts and even though it is not showing the complete url in the link, when I clicked on it, it did go to the newsletter page.