Just an Observation

[capriccio]

When we started cruising Princess and at least for our first 3 cruises (before I discovered cruise critic) I had no idea why there were different color cards (and wasn't curious enough to find out).  We don't display our cards or tell strangers our loyalty level but I do keep an eye/ear out for confused looking newbies and provide assistance if possible.  On our last cruise I had a long chat with a couple while we were waiting for and riding an elevator and gave them some tips.  They thanked me and asked me if I worked on the ship!  I thanked them for the complement and said no, I just spend lots of time on them.

[Mike45LC]

I was Elite on Princess for a long time before I realized (from reading it on this Forum) that the cruise card color reflected your status level.  I just never noticed.  

 

For me, being Elite means I get priority boarding and free internet minutes.  If my wife was ever ready to disembark via tender early, that perk might be nice as well.  But the only reason to flash my cruise card is to show the "Soda & More" sticker to the server or bartender!!

 

[figmentdj]

We're elite with Princess and appreciate the rewards we receive for our loyalty but also the effort we put in to achieve the level (won't call it status). We reached elite pretty young in relation to the average age of Princess cruisers mainly because we loved the princess brand, started cruising as young adults and didn't shop around too much (Princess provided everything we could ask for in a cruise). That said, we now enjoy the variety that other lines can bring. I would not consider us snobby about our level, maybe a bit proud. And certainly never thought of ourselves as better or higher class or status than others.

 

As for the elite snobs, I kinda have a feeling they're probably rude and pretentious regardless of what color card they're carrying. (Probably hog chairs too 😜) 

Edited May 31, 2019 by figmentdj

[Ep010835]

3 hours ago, voljeep said:

we were in line for the mdr and the lady in front of us commented very loudly to anyone who was listening that she was elite and should be moved to the front of the line without a wait - all the while flashing her black card to anyone who was looking in her direction ...

 

Did her temperament deteriorate further as her boasting produced no results? 

[janetz]

I could care less anyone’s status. 

Just laugh at these people that think they are above.

😎

 

We are true to none. 

[PescadoAmarillo]

In all of our days of cruising Princess, I’ve never seen one person flaunt their Captains Circle status. I’ve also never seen anyone treat the staff rudely (though I was behind one lady who was stating her displeasure to a waiter in the buffet, but hey, she was entitled to her opinion and she wasn’t being rude). DH has only encountered anything resembling status flaunting one time, where a lady was impressing upon him all she knew about cruising on Princess because it was her EIGHTH cruise. He never let on that it was probably his 88th, and just told her how wonderful it was that she found a vacation type that clearly appealed to her. 

 

We know that we are much happier cruisers when we purposely take an extremely myopic view toward our fellow passengers.  

[Camelia-]

I think that entitled passengers exist for every cruise line and there is just no getting away from that fact. While Princess is my first choice I have also tried other lines like Celebrity and RCCL. I must say that I did notice a difference between Princess and the other two. On Celebrity I was struck by how uppity some cruisers were just because they got to dine in Blu Restaurant..lol..I saw quite a number of passengers turned away because they weren't in the right cabin category. The hostess had quite an attitude in sending them away!  I wasn't very impressed. On RCCL I saw whole sections of the theatre roped off for the "special' group (which most of the time remained empty). I waited and waited while the "special" elevator filled with the "special" group went by..I'm sure that I missed other "special" perks which I was not entitled to. All these things contributed in making me aware of a real distinction between the passengers. I don't have this feeling on Princess. Of course there will always be those Elites flaunting their black cards but, other than a separate line at the REception desk and priority boarding on the tenders, I don't feel it and I certainly don't see it everywhere..maybe I've just been very lucky?

[satxdiver]

Our first cruise was on RCI and we cruised with them several times.  I have noticed on cc's RCI website that RCI has a very rabid following and if one dares to criticize RCI they will jump on you in mass.  I am very glad that Princess cc website is not like that.  There are several reasons we stopped sailing with RCI.  One being they no longer allow CCL on the cc website and was immediately jumped on much like complaining on the RCI cc site.  They don't seem to be as rabid as the RCI crowd but come close.  I hope Princess cc followers do not start doing it. 

[Kruzer Zuker]

Never understand the need to "flaunt" status.  It is not like it needs intelligence, or hard work, or a lot of money.  

 

What is it to be proud of?

[jsquared]

3 hours ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

DH has only encountered anything resembling status flaunting one time, where a lady was impressing upon him all she knew about cruising on Princess because it was her EIGHTH cruise. He never let on that it was probably his 88th

This made me laugh as a very similar thing happened to us. During the first Captain's party after we became elite we started chatting with a lovely couple who was probably 25 years old than us. We talked about different places we had traveled to and then they started talking about the perks of the different Captain's Circle levels. The CC host started her spiel about the numbers of passengers at each level of the cruise but when she got to the elite number she asked us to stand up. I glanced over at our neighbors; his jaw had dropped. We had a good laugh afterwards and they said that we should've been telling them about the perks as the were only platinum.

 

I don't think that the elitist attitudes are a result of being elite. I've seen those attitudes at every level of CC. I think it is just the person.

[getting older slowly]

One other thing......   at what point do you become a seasoned cruiser   a 100 days at sea or 1000 days at sea ??....

 

People get to up tight about the status level......   It is all about going with the flow....

 

Also if you go in suites to get all the perks as well without the status level......( but you have payed for it )

 

Me I am happy just to be able to go cruising... at least it is under 200 days till the next one

 

Cheers and happy cruising

 

Don

[4cats4me]

On 5/30/2019 at 2:28 PM, MixerDave said:

I follow both Princess and Royal Caribbean (because we have sailed RCCL before.  What I notice is RCCL Crown and Anchor members are obsessed with their status, while Princess cruisers are not.  They are "loyal to royal" regardless of how they are treated, going so far as to defend royal to the nth degree.  After a recent RCCL cruise, we have vowed never to sail them again, and hope our first Princess cruise will show us a new home.

 

 

We usually sail Princess and have sailed on RCCL 3-4 times. We like both lines, but we noticed years ago that a lot of passengers on Royal Caribbean are hung up on their statuses,  more than any other line we’ve been on.   We travel with fiends who have at least 50 RCCL cruises under their belts and they don’t act this way, in fact, they poke fun at their fellow travelers who almost always preface every conversation with “I’m Elite, or Diamond,” or whatever Royal’s top tier is. 

Even on CC when I’ve occasionally gone to the Royal board or Royal Caribbean roll calls, most everyone starts their post with, “we are Diamond plus, blah blah.  “ 

Some Princess passengers status brag, but it is not nearly as rampant on Princess as it is on RCCL.  

I don’t feel that most Celebrity passengers are as hung up on status, either. 

 

Royal Caribbean passengers take the cake for that one. LOL

[ldubs]

13 hours ago, Doug R. said:

I am not sure if he was using the fact that he was an elite to defend his clothing choice, or was telling me as an insignificant gold card that I should only speak when spoken to. His spouse was just as haughty and the table ignored both of them. Thank goodness for ATD so we didn't have to see them the rest of the cruise.

 

Hmmm.  I think I might actually find it amusing to be around someone acting like that.  Well, maybe for a little while. LOL.  

 

Anyway, it does really makes you wonder what motivates some folks.   

[satxdiver]

There are braggarts everywhere.  When talking to others and they ask how many times we have been on Princess cruises the usual answer is several or a bunch.   I don't recall ever being asked our status and I keep my card/OM in my pocket only displaying it to buy something.  I have never run into someone flashing their black card to make a point.  

[ldubs]

14 hours ago, voljeep said:

we were in line for the mdr and the lady in front of us commented very loudly to anyone who was listening that she was elite and should be moved to the front of the line without a wait - all the while flashing her black card to anyone who was looking in her direction ...

 

Perfect opportunity -- I would have egged her on.   

 

PS: I spent a lot of time in the principal's office.   😀

Edited June 1, 2019 by ldubs

[GUT2407]

On 5/31/2019 at 7:28 AM, MixerDave said:

I follow both Princess and Royal Caribbean (because we have sailed RCCL before.  What I notice is RCCL Crown and Anchor members are obsessed with their status, while Princess cruisers are not.  They are "loyal to royal" regardless of how they are treated, going so far as to defend royal to the nth degree.  After a recent RCCL cruise, we have vowed never to sail them again, and hope our first Princess cruise will show us a new home.

 

Lots of people spout about their level with Princess and all the other lines too, not sure why

[Gwendy]

I cruise because I like to cruise ,couldn’t care less about colour of card, last year we were lowest level on CMV as it was our first time sailing with them.  Only difference I had to do my own laundry. Lol

However I did flaunt my black card once, (still cannot believe I did it),  A “lady” pushed in front of me at coffee bar, I politely told her I was first, she slammed her card on the counter and said “I am platinum”, I put my card on counter and said ‘I am Elite!”  She walked away, guy serving was almost in tears from laughing.

[AF-1]

I have no status with any cruise line.  Reading this thread I have to ask the question: what makes you elite on Princess;  is it the amount of cruises you take or the amount of days you sail with them?  Also, every time you cruise with Princess you get a different color sea card?  I have been on two cruises with Princess and did not notice my card;  well since I've been on two did not pay attention to sea card; and second cruise I had a medallion around my neck.  Thanks for your answers

[capriccio]

1 hour ago, AF-1 said:

I have no status with any cruise line.  Reading this thread I have to ask the question: what makes you elite on Princess;  is it the amount of cruises you take or the amount of days you sail with them?  Also, every time you cruise with Princess you get a different color sea card?  I have been on two cruises with Princess and did not notice my card;  well since I've been on two did not pay attention to sea card; and second cruise I had a medallion around my neck.  Thanks for your answers

 

Answers are here:  https://book.princess.com/captaincircle/membershipBenefits.page

[Spikesgirl]

On ‎5‎/‎30‎/‎2019 at 2:28 PM, MixerDave said:

I follow both Princess and Royal Caribbean (because we have sailed RCCL before.  What I notice is RCCL Crown and Anchor members are obsessed with their status, while Princess cruisers are not.  They are "loyal to royal" regardless of how they are treated, going so far as to defend royal to the nth degree.  After a recent RCCL cruise, we have vowed never to sail them again, and hope our first Princess cruise will show us a new home.

 

We've been sailing with Princess since 1997 and recently achieved Elite status.  While I'm delighted with having a black card, I've found much more attitude coming from the suite people than I have the Elites. 

[jagoffee]

I thought the black card was a designation that the user was just released from prison and were still on probation.😁🤡😁

[jeromep]

On 5/30/2019 at 2:28 PM, MixerDave said:

I follow both Princess and Royal Caribbean (because we have sailed RCCL before.  What I notice is RCCL Crown and Anchor members are obsessed with their status, while Princess cruisers are not.  They are "loyal to royal" regardless of how they are treated, going so far as to defend royal to the nth degree.  After a recent RCCL cruise, we have vowed never to sail them again, and hope our first Princess cruise will show us a new home.

 

Oh, trust me, you will meet, either here or someplace else, plenty of Princess cruisers with high Circle status who defend the line to the nth degree.  You'll also find those that are very proud of their Elite status and "black card".  Please don't be disappointed when you find that Princess loyalists are about the same as RCCL loyalists.

[Lucky TGO]

Congratulations for leaving the dark side. 😁 Welcome to Princess Cruise!!!

The Captain of The Rowboat,

Tony

[pris993]

We started out with RCCL over 30 years ago, when RCCL started to build bigger ships, we shopped around trying Princess, HAL, Cunard, Royal Cruise line, NCL,  and Celebrity.  We are elite on Princess and Celebrity... 2 Star on HAL... now we prefer Princess to the rest for a variety of reasons.  It does keep it interesting to try different lines.  We have well over 60 cruises, lost count sometime ago... now just focus on what we like, keeps it simple.   

[c-boy]

8 minutes ago, pris993 said:

We started out with RCCL over 30 years ago, when RCCL started to build bigger ships, we shopped around trying Princess, HAL, Cunard, Royal Cruise line, NCL,  and Celebrity.  We are elite on Princess and Celebrity... 2 Star on HAL... now we prefer Princess to the rest for a variety of reasons.  It does keep it interesting to try different lines.  We have well over 60 cruises, lost count sometime ago... now just focus on what we like, keeps it simple.   

so what keeps you coming back to Princess ?