Just venting!!

[CatsareCool]

My 'friend' just returned from her 6th one night Vancouver to Seattle cruise. She is now Elite. She always traveled single and a couple of times in a full suite. Bully for her but it still erks me because I did it the old fashion way, number of cruises/days. However, I have been able to enjoy a true cruise experience while she has not. So who's the real winner here?

[satxdiver]

It is a bit annoying to see someone make elite by taking a bunch of one day or even 3 or 4 day cruises. CCL and RCCL have both gone to cruise days only to qualify for a higher level. I would like to see Princess follow the same policy and only count sea days for the levels.

[Pierlesscruisers]

My 'friend' just returned from her 6th one night Vancouver to Seattle cruise. She is now Elite. She always traveled single and a couple of times in a full suite. Bully for her but it still erks me because I did it the old fashion way, number of cruises/days. However, I have been able to enjoy a true cruise experience while she has not. So who's the real winner here?

 

She's traveled single so she has spent twice as much and got double the cruise "points" as anybody traveling two to a cabin as you apparently have/did. If she went single in a suite and you went two to a suite she also got double the points that you did. If she went single in a suite and you went single in a non-suite, she got 6 times the points you got. She will advance much more quickly than you will but will have spent much more than you. You, however, will have spent more time on cruises than she will have. She advanced more quickly but you, I would guess, spent more time enjoying yourself.

 

 

Could you have spent time traveling with your friend? Maybe so, but if so, why didn't you go with her single in a cabin/suite as she did? That way you could have advanced as quickly as she did! If you opted to not do that and you could have, then don't get irked at your friend for taking advantage of a good situation just because you couldn't or didn't. Should others who don't/can't cruise as often as you for some reason be "irked" at you for being able to cruise more often then they do due to financial or locational conditions? I don't believe so. They should be glad that you have the good fortune to be able to do so. Easy to say but hard to do? Might be, but I believe it's the truth.

 

Who's the real winner here? Seems to me that both of you are since you're both able to do something you enjoy. We could all be homeless and hungry, but instead we are all fortunate to be able to cruise and that's a blessing. We're also fortunate to be able to enjoy a cruise line that offers us more than 1 way to advance from one level to another!

 

Tom

Edited April 30, 2018 by Pierlesscruisers

[Thrak]

It's her loss as far as cruising goes. I don't really care if someone makes Elite by days or by cruise credits. I have 3 cruises booked at the moment - one in November and then two late next year. After those I'll be elite with a total of 12 cruises and 154 days. If getting to Elite was all that important to me I could pump up the number of cruises with 4 or 7 day coastal cruises and 7 day Mexico cruises and such. I'd rather take cruises that sound more interesting. I also prefer longer than 7 days although one can book a coastal and a Mexico cruise back to back. Probably do that B2B one of these days but not just yet and not in the quest to be Elite. I doubt we would trust the laundry (that would be up to the one who insists on doing all the laundry - and I don't argue with her about that!!!) and don't need the canapes so about the only "privileges" I would gain as Elite are priority tendering and the mini-bar.

[pms4104]

Good grief!

 

Yes, perhaps Princess should redo the program and

base the levels on days only ... and, as part of the redo, reset everyone to zero.

 

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J320A using Forums mobile app

[elliair]

However, I have been able to enjoy a true cruise experience while she has not. So who's the real winner here?

 

Your friend enjoyed a few one day cruises and she made elite so I would say your friend is the winner. Princess allowed it, so, now she's elite and will enjoy the future perks.

[JC13]

Good for your friend! She can now have her laundry done then complain how long it took to get it back, how long she had to wait for a tender, and how she had to ask twice to exchange her bar setup for a coffee card. I believe you are doing it the right way, spending money and enjoying yourself on a cruise.

[Pierlesscruisers]

It is a bit annoying to see someone make elite by taking a bunch of one day or even 3 or 4 day cruises. CCL and RCCL have both gone to cruise days only to qualify for a higher level. I would like to see Princess follow the same policy and only count sea days for the levels.

 

Seems to be nice to have more than one way to advance. Does it give some people an advantage due to where they live? Yes, it does. Advancing only on sea days gives other people an advantage too. Who? Those with more disposable income because they can cruise more often and/or those who can travel in more expensive accomodations (e.g. suites vs non-suites.) People who live on the coasts, especially the West Coast or the Florida Coast, because they have to spend a goodly sum less to travel to a port. Thus, a lot of different folks have one or more advantages over others of us.

 

 

There is, however, at least to the best of my knowledge, only 1 cruise line that lets you advance on the trip basis which is, at least for some, is definitely a less expensive manner to advance, that line being Princess. So for those who believe that Princess allows some people an advantage, whether it's unfair or not, they have a wide choice of other lines on which to cruise where there is only one set of rules. To tell the truth, I might feel the exact same way if I lived a long, long distance away from a cruise port.

 

Tom

[Pierlesscruisers]

I doubt we would trust the laundry (that would be up to the one who insists on doing all the laundry - and I don't argue with her about that!!!)

 

Smart man! ;p

 

Tom

[HiMagicFan]

Hope your venting went well and you feel better.

[OCruisers]

My 'friend' just returned from her 6th one night Vancouver to Seattle cruise. She is now Elite. She always traveled single and a couple of times in a full suite. Bully for her but it still erks me because I did it the old fashion way, number of cruises/days. However, I have been able to enjoy a true cruise experience while she has not. So who's the real winner here?

 

While your are the real winner because you have enjoyed true cruise experiences, seems she is just happy to become Elite ... so to each his own. Hopefully, now she's Elite she'll take longer cruises and enjoy true cruise experiences. :rolleyes::rolleyes:;);)

[VibeGuy]

As a shareholder, I appreciate her sacrifice. Port charges are assessed per ton and/or foot and/or passenger, and having the 1NTs sail full helps princess’s bottom line. More money for

me.

 

Did you know there’s no drink packages available on 1NTs anymore? So the bar bills are both large and full-price. More money for me.

 

Did you know that the specialty restaurants are booked to the gills? Like, to levels I’ve never seen on any other sailing? More money for me.

 

The cost of the Elite benefits relative to the profits obtained when Elite members sail again is obviously favorable to the line, or the very talented management teams at both Princess and Carnivore Corporation would put an end to them, rejigger the program rules or both. I hear crickets from Santa Clarita, yet every few months someone swears they’ve been told the Elite qualifications are changing.

 

I’ve seen what full suites go for per night on 1NTs, and it’s competitive with an outside 7NT drop-and-go. So thanks to her for paying $700ish for a single night to earn maybe $20/day in laundry and $12 worth of booze.

[paul929207]

Sorry, but I just can't get worked up over it. I have been Elite for a number of years. I got there on my 11th Princess Cruise when I hit 150 nights.

[elliair]

FTR, the elite perks for DH and me are rarely used. We like the mini bar upon boarding, we like priority boarding, we like the elite captains party for a free drink, and that's about it. We do our own laundry, I have this thing about people touching my underwear. We don't have to wait for it, and we do our laundry on sea days. We're not much into "status."

[keithm]

She's traveled single so she has spent twice as much and got double the cruise "points" as anybody traveling two to a cabin as you apparently have/did. If she went single in a suite and you went two to a suite she also got double the points that you did. If she went single in a suite and you went single in a non-suite, she got 6 times the points you got. She will advance much more quickly than you will but will have spent much more than you. You, however, will have spent more time on cruises than she will have. She advanced more quickly but you, I would guess, spent more time enjoying yourself.

 

 

Could you have spent time traveling with your friend? Maybe so, but if so, why didn't you go with her single in a cabin/suite as she did? That way you could have advanced as quickly as she did! If you opted to not do that and you could have, then don't get irked at your friend for taking advantage of a good situation just because you couldn't or didn't. Should others who don't/can't cruise as often as you for some reason be "irked" at you for being able to cruise more often then they do due to financial or locational conditions? I don't believe so. They should be glad that you have the good fortune to be able to do so. Easy to say but hard to do? Might be, but I believe it's the truth.

 

Who's the real winner here? Seems to me that both of you are since you're both able to do something you enjoy. We could all be homeless and hungry, but instead we are all fortunate to be able to cruise and that's a blessing. We're also fortunate to be able to enjoy a cruise line that offers us more than 1 way to advance from one level to another!

 

Tom

Very well thought out response. Nice job!

[paradiselivin1]

It is a bit annoying to see someone make elite by taking a bunch of one day or even 3 or 4 day cruises. CCL and RCCL have both gone to cruise days only to qualify for a higher level. I would like to see Princess follow the same policy and only count sea days for the levels.

 

Agreed. Most people don't get the opportunity to take a one day cruise. West coast has an incredible number of short cruises.

[helencruising]

Your friend enjoyed a few one day cruises and she made elite so I would say your friend is the winner. Princess allowed it, so, now she's elite and will enjoy the future perks.

 

I agree with you. It’s Princess’ policy and if someone wants to take advantage of it more power to them.

[Pierlesscruisers]

Very well thought out response. Nice job!

 

Thanks, Keith. I tried. :)

 

Tom

[Toofarfromthesea]

My 'friend' just returned from her 6th one night Vancouver to Seattle cruise. She is now Elite. She always traveled single and a couple of times in a full suite. Bully for her but it still erks me because I did it the old fashion way, number of cruises/days. However, I have been able to enjoy a true cruise experience while she has not. So who's the real winner here?

 

Why does someone have to be the winner?

[Lucky TGO]

I’m just happ for my friend Thrak!! He is finally going to be Elite soon :D. We all know he had so much Fun working to become a Elite member.

The Captain of The Rowboat,

Tony

[Murphey]

Good grief!

 

Yes, perhaps Princess should redo the program and

base the levels on days only ... and, as part of the redo, reset everyone to zero.

 

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J320A using Forums mobile app

 

The poster did say he\she was just venting...

[elliair]

Why does someone have to be the winner?

 

Well, the OP wanted to know who was better off, or who was smarter maybe?

 

My 'friend' just returned from her 6th one night Vancouver to Seattle cruise. She is now Elite. She always traveled single and a couple of times in a full suite. Bully for her but it still erks me because I did it the old fashion way, number of cruises/days. However, I have been able to enjoy a true cruise experience while she has not. So who's the real winner here?

I still think her friend did it the right way to become elite if that was her goal. There's nothing to be upset about, so what if someone becomes elite just because they played the game, and the one putting on the game allowed her to WIN! I couldn't be bothered taking 1 day cruises, packing, going through embarking and disembarking, blah, blah. But more power to those who can do it! To me, being elite is no big deal, other than the embarkation and debarkation. It won't be long until you can pay your way to get on board first like Carnival does....FASTER TO YOUR WALLET!

[4cats4me]

It is immaterial to me who got to what status and how long it took.

We did it the old-fashioned way. It took us about 12 years to make it to Elite. I just wish we had been as clever as to book a couple of shortie cruises. Also, we were dumb, in that we paid for mom to have her own cabin on at least three or four cruises and she got double credits, while we got one. Our big joke was that she would make it to Elite before we would. LOL. If we’d been thinking straight, we should have put me in the single cabin to get the double points, hence, getting to Elite a couple years earlier. Now that we are Elite, I still do my own laundry since most items need to be hand washed, and I never imbibed using our free bar on this last cruise. My husband enjoyed the DeWars, however. [emoji23]

[Sillyjilly]

Get over it. Good Grief. It's not like she's getting some super duper perks and as another poster noted, she has had to pay double for her trips.

Why is it everyone wants what others have? This world of me, me, me has gotten really old.

[geoherb]

By sailing solo in a suite, she probably paid more for her cruises than I have for a lot of my 7-day ones.