No more Coffee Cards

[nukesubsailor]

Has Princess really done away with coffee cards? Right I’m never sailing with them again. What with this and Ocean Medallion, it’s no wonder the share price has tanked this week.

The paper cards are being replaced by a coffee package that you purchase just like the premium beverage package.

[cruisinglady65]

I just got notification by email from Princess about the New Grounds Coffee Package....I also purchased a coffee card online for my November 1st sailing.....Princess sent me an email telling me that they are discontinuing the coffee card with punches...and that the coffee card that i had purchased will be added to my sail and sign card...and that each time i purchase a coffee the 15 Grounds Coffee Package will be deducted from my sail and sign card....It also said if i dont want to do this, and want a refund either to call them, or get the refund at guest services desk when i board...

 

I like my brewed coffee, and speciality coffee drinks, so i am going to keep things the way that they are....price did not go up...it remained at the 35.65....Heck i didn't purchase the all inclusive drink package, but did buy the soda and more package, so i am keeping my Grounds Coffee Package as well.... Hell its a vacation, it only comes but once a year....:);p:cool:(y):ship::hot-beverage:

[moki'smommy]

The paper cards are being replaced by a coffee package that you purchase just like the premium beverage package.

The "purchase" portion is like the premium beverage package, but the coffee package itself is like the old cards...except that they expire at the end of your cruise. It is still the $36 deal, not a daily charge.

 

And any old punch cards that do not contain an expiration date can be used for the punches until Aug. 31, 2019. If it has an expiration date printed, it expires on that date.

[myfuzzy]

Did you really think Princess corporate was going to say that you could use someone else's Cruise Card for a transaction? I'm sure they know it happens on the ship -- husband and wife with unlimited drink package, one of them brings both cards to the bar and gets two drinks, for example -- but they're not going to officially tell you that's allowed.

 

I never said I agreed or disagreed with the policy....only that with the paper card, whoever had it on their person could get the coffee's, now you have to figure out in advance who the coffee runner will be.

[Go-Bucks!]

The "purchase" portion is like the premium beverage package' date=' but the coffee package itself is like the old cards...except that they expire at the end of your cruise. It is still the $36 deal, not a daily charge.

 

And any old punch cards that do not contain an expiration date can be used for the punches until Aug. 31, 2019. If it has an expiration date printed, it expires on that date.[/quote']

So disappointing....I have 3 unused cards, but I won't be sailing on Princess until after Aug, 2019. Maybe I could sell them (at a discount) to someone who will sail before then? Is that allowed? Otherwise, they're worthless....sad. :(

[wheezedr]

So disappointing....I have 3 unused cards, but I won't be sailing on Princess until after Aug, 2019. Maybe I could sell them (at a discount) to someone who will sail before then? Is that allowed? Otherwise, they're worthless....sad. :(

Yes you can sell them as evidenced by the constant stream of them on eBay. I suspect that is one of the reasons that Princess opted to make this change. In addition, adding them directly to the cruise card makes it easy to zero out their value after the cruise ends. No more bringing back cards with 3 or 4 remaining punches. At the end of the cruise you will see lots of people treating others to a latte, espresso, etc.

[Micahs Grandad]

So far there are about a dozen threads on this with many giving different info. At this point no idea what is going on but will find out in August.

[floridalover5623]

I just got off the phone with customer relations..

 

I had asked if the "coffee card" part was on one spouses card, could the other take the card and get coffee....the answer....NO

 

Obviously that person has never taken a cruise before.

[PlopPlop]

I have purchased 2 coffee cards for my husband and myself for our cruise next week. I received the email today informing me of the new program effective for our cruise. Now I see both cards are in my name on the personalizer. What a pain.... now I have to remove the 2nd card from my name a have it moved to his name....

If you have prepaid for multiple cards you might want to look at your cruise personalizer and make your changes now as the line onboard at the service counter is usually long enough......

[sunsetbeachgal]

I am on the Royal now and just got two paper New Grounds coffee cards for our minibar.

 

 

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[Pierlesscruisers]

I absolutely agree, anyway this is just one more pennypinching reason why Princess is no longer my first choice for cruises,

 

why Princess don't just have decent free regular coffee on all their ships like almost every other line I do not know.

 

Well actually I do know, they are too mean and nickel and diming to do it................. its very shortsighted of them, no way to encourage passenger loyalty, they get your money and then provide as little for it as they possibly can

 

And after 71 cruises on Princess I think I am qualified to comment, its going downhill big time

 

I am ashamed to be a stockholder in the company which owns Princess

 

A couple of points here. First of all, unless you are privy to the meetings the corporate big-wigs have where they discuss this subject, you don't know why they don't have the coffee you like. Although with that many cruises you certainly have more experience cruising on Princess than most of us, you still only have your personal opinion of what their rationale is.

 

As to being ashamed of being a stockholder in Carnival, there is an easy solution to that, donate your stock to a charity and take a tax write-off or sell your stock and sever your relationship with the company. Problem solved.

 

Tom

[Coral]

IMO - Princess should have approached this like the soda card. Pick a dollar amount like $5 per day and charge people by the number of days.

 

The current system and previous system just seemed flawed as it wasn't based on the amount of days. It is difficult to us them up by one person on a 7 night cruise or less and then on the flip side, people on a 29 day cruise will buy 3 cards.

[calvin31]

IMO - Princess should have approached this like the soda card. Pick a dollar amount like $5 per day and charge people by the number of days.

 

The current system and previous system just seemed flawed as it wasn't based on the amount of days. It is difficult to us them up by one person on a 7 night cruise or less and then on the flip side, people on a 29 day cruise will buy 3 cards.

 

 

 

The wording of the new system is that it is somewhat based on days....that part just hasn’t been fully rolled out yet.

 

 

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[Cindy]

IMO - Princess should have approached this like the soda card. Pick a dollar amount like $5 per day and charge people by the number of days.

 

The current system and previous system just seemed flawed as it wasn't based on the amount of days. It is difficult to us them up by one person on a 7 night cruise or less and then on the flip side, people on a 29 day cruise will buy 3 cards.

 

 

 

I agree...it’s really very cumbersome, and now will also not be user friendly for couples. I would be a fan (and purchaser!) of a good non-alcoholic drink package like Royal Caribbean’s Replenish package that includes specialty coffee, bottled water, fresh squeezed juice, etc. — pretty much anything that doesn’t contain alcohol.

 

FWIW, when we have a beverage package, one of us always takes both cruise cards down in the morning to get coffee, and we have never been turned down. I’d rather pay a bit more and have a daily rate on BOTH cards than have to worry about which card our specialty coffees are loaded on.

 

We have two completely unused, undated cards for our upcoming 12-night cruise so it’s not an issue, but moving forward it’s an annoyance for what could and should be an easy part of the day. I don’t want to have to think and plan just to get a cup of coffee!☕️☕️☕️

 

 

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[Skai]

Guess we will stop purchasing the specialty coffee. This really stinks

 

Guess we will stop sailing Princess -- other than @ giveaway booking prices to help justify our dealing with their ever expanding a la carte business model.

 

Consider us 'Nickle and Dimed" to death.

 

Really looking foward to our next sailing with Oceania, where items like specialty coffees are complimentary/included in the fare.

[kendon]

Princess fares plus a $35 coffee card is still way less than Oceania fares....aren't they?

 

Regarding Princess ala carte charges, Celebrity did a good job of that themselves. I was charged $5.00 for a cup of "good" coffee at Cafe al Bacio on the Equinox last year! Way less on Princess. Specialty dining Way less on Princess also.

[AnyMajorCruiseDude]

Princess fares plus a $35 coffee card is still way less than Oceania fares....aren't they?

 

Regarding Princess ala carte charges, Celebrity did a good job of that themselves. I was charged $5.00 for a cup of "good" coffee at Cafe al Bacio on the Equinox last year! Way less on Princess. Specialty dining Way less on Princess also.

I'm with you. At least I can choose what I want and decide if the offered price is worth it for me

[ukestrummer]

anybody need some blank coffee cards-sale?

[Skai]

Princess fares plus a $35 coffee card is still way less than Oceania fares....aren't they?

 

Regarding Princess ala carte charges, Celebrity did a good job of that themselves. I was charged $5.00 for a cup of "good" coffee at Cafe al Bacio on the Equinox last year! Way less on Princess. Specialty dining Way less on Princess also.

 

We chose Oceania, because of a desire to visit Bermuda(RT from NYC) -- an itinerary that Princess does not offer. It was down to HAL, Celebrity or Oceania for our preferred choices.

 

It deserves noting upfront that I'm a 'savvy shopper'...The (Early Saver)fare that we paid for our future Oceania sailing was very close to those being offered by HAL and Celebrity for the same time-frame. We opted not to take advantage of Oceania's included air, but did opt for their OLife promotion(complimentary internet & $400 OBC for the cabin).

 

Oceania now has decided to provide complimentary internet across the entire fleet(as of a month or two ago), but we will likely keep the OLife promotional OBC to apply to(essentially prepay) gratuities and for a few alcoholic beverages aboard -- we don't drink enough to make getting their OLife beverage package a value for us.

 

On Oceania, there is no additional cover charge for their specialty restaurants. One additionally ought to consider that the quality of the food in all dining venues aboard is noticeably better than their counterparts on most all mainstream lines...Oceania's grocery budget pp is higher than on Princess, and the quality of ingredients reflects that.

 

Coffee Drinks? Included. Soda,juices,teas etc.? Included. Milk Shakes? Included. Lobster in the buffet every night? Included.

 

In addition to Oceania porting @ Bermuda longer than the other lines that sail there.....Small ship sailing means that we will dock in both Hamilton and St. George's Harbour(instead of Royal Dockyard). The R-class ship that we will be sailing is a sister to the old Royal Princess ship that we sailed (RT)French Polynesia several years back. The ship's layout will be familiar to us.

 

Also, 600 pax = Less crowds(from embarkation to disembarkation).

 

Yes, the base price of the cruise costs about $150-$200 PP more than what I suspect Princess would charge for a similar class (inside) cabin for that itinerary, however the value comparison(which I won't bother to add to beyond what I stated above) is likely going to be WELL WORTH IT to not be nickle and dimed.

 

One trade off might be -- less entertainment options aboard in the evening, however, truth be told, we've had our fill of Princess playlist production shows.

 

Maybe we'll try out 'Afternoon Tea'(something we've never done on Princess). I hear it's quite an affair on Oceania.

Edited June 9, 2018 by Skai

[geoherb]

Why?..because it is such a small thing in the big world of Princess cruising.

 

Most of the people posting here never have even bought a card...and they feel they are being treated unfairly by Princess.

 

Those that have purchased them, feel they have already broken even or accept the new policy .......so what is the big deal.....?

No. I don't feel like we've already broken even, and I don't accept the new policy. It's a matter of bait and switch--selling us cards that have 15 punches and no expiration date and then coming along six months later and saying btw our unused punches will expire after all.

[tip]

...Consider us 'Nickle and Dimed" to death...

 

The Princess cheerleaders on this thread notwithstanding, I think that this is a major part of the problem that some of us are trying to get across.

[tip]

No. I don't feel like we've already broken even, and I don't accept the new policy. It's a matter of bait and switch--selling us cards that have 15 punches and no expiration date and then coming along six months later and saying btw our unused punches will expire after all.

 

You understand it. Some others on this thread do not.

[caribill]

 

why Princess don't just have decent free regular coffee on all their ships like almost every other line I do not know.

 

 

I have checked the cruise critic threads for CCL, RCCL, etc. and find many posts about hopw bad the free regular coffee is on their ships.

 

I have yet to come across a post about any of Princess' competitors that says their ship had great free regular coffee.

[tip]

...I have yet to come across a post about any of Princess' competitors that says their ship had great free regular coffee.

 

I may not have made such a post, but we found Seattle's Best brewed coffee served at no additional charge on RCCL and found it to be superior to any of the Nescafe syrup (or concentrate if you will) coffee served on Princess.

[floridalover5623]

No. I don't feel like we've already broken even, and I don't accept the new policy. It's a matter of bait and switch--selling us cards that have 15 punches and no expiration date and then coming along six months later and saying btw our unused punches will expire after all.

It appears that there are some people who sail Princess who don't mind being screwed over & accept it willingly.

 

We've all obtained our cards under the premise of being used in the future and this move only shows how Princess really feels about their loyal customers.

It's sad.:(