Where Are The Perks?

[need2cruisesoon]

I was looking at the Royal this December (2019) seven day Mexico but the perks were minimal to say the least. Just some onboard credits and Gratuities.

 

I ended booking with the another line and got all 5 perks, so unsure what the advantage of booking with Princess?

 

 

[GUT2407]

3 minutes ago, need2cruisesoon said:

I was looking at the Royal this December (2019) seven day Mexico but the perks were minimal to say the least. Just some onboard credits and Gratuities.

 

I ended booking with the another line and got all 5 perks, so unsure what the advantage of booking with Princess?

 

 

Some people just like the product 

[LARGIN]

What 5 perks did you get?

[fishywood]

1 hour ago, need2cruisesoon said:

I ended booking with the another line and got all 5 perks, so unsure what the advantage of booking with Princess?

One of the most frequent topics on the North America Homeports boards is finding a pre-cruise hotel that includes such perks such as shuttles to the port, parking your car there during the cruise, internet access, breakfast and/or evening beverages, etc. etc....

 

Often when such a hotel is found it is in an unsafe or otherwise undesirable neighborhood with a reputation for lack of cleanliness, lack of helpful employees, and the actual execution of the promised perks being several grades below minimum standards. Unlikely anyone would ever book there without all the aggressive marketing of questionable promises in the first place.

 

Ya see where I am going with this? Just translate the above to "the other line" with their Free-Free-Free-Free-Free offers. Which are accompanied by some interesting math where a service charge of 20% of Free is somehow greater than zero.

Edited June 2, 2019 by fishywood

[Times Prince]

1 hour ago, need2cruisesoon said:

I was looking at the Royal this December (2019) seven day Mexico but the perks were minimal to say the least. Just some onboard credits and Gratuities.

 

I ended booking with the another line and got all 5 perks, so unsure what the advantage of booking with Princess?

 

 

Wow.  I would go with the OBC and gratuities included, as those are significant money savers.  I wouldn't call them minimal.

 

Are you thinking perks like booze cards, or free specialty restaurant?  Free excursion?  

[getting older slowly]

I was wondering what the 5 perks were as well ???

 

1. OBC

2. Gratuities

 

the others could be

3. a cabin

4. free food

5 a trip of cruise ship

 

or free upgrade, free drinks, free laundry, free internet, free sea air... .

 

Cheers Don

[ceilidh1]

NCL has their free at sea that includes free drink package, free specialty dining, shore excursion credit, free internet, free air, and 3rd and 4th sail free....sounds like a GREAT deal, right??? BUT the drinks and dining packages are "free: but you pay the service charges, so not really 100% free. The shore excursion is $50 total per shore day (not per person - so isn't a whole lot of use), the internet is 250 minutes of the basic so is pretty useless, the air is fly in same day and fly out day of arrival - and you have no say over airline or times. 3rd and 4th free seems good! Add to this, the price on NCL right now is insane!!! I have a 6 night coatal booked that is costing around $500 a night! I prefer the option of booking a basic cruise with no frills pricing and then adding is=n things that are worthwhile to me over a cruise that have everything included but hidden in the fare and masked as "free"

 

Edited June 2, 2019 by ceilidh1
typo

[omc329]

I also do not see the value with NCL. Free drinks cost more than we would spend outright, (dh doesn't drink and I have to pay his 20% as well), we already get free specialty dining and internet because we are plat with NCL, (we don't need unlimited internet on a vacation), and find far more value in the given obc than in all those other perks. For a 14 day Caribbean with Princess we have $250 from the promo, $250 for stockholder, and $250 for military AND another $310 from our box TA. That'll buy me a lot of 5 for free!! AND the base price is cheaper.

 

The trick with all lines is to add up the costs, (including extra fees, extra for purchasing ship tours with or without $50 discounts vs buying on shore, tips, values of normal spending habits for drinks vs offer, etc and so forth), and then add or subtract to the base fare. Also keep in mind the cruise lines constantly change offers as well, and your mileage may vary depending our your cruising needs.

 

I did find that Celebrity can sometimes be near the Princess mark, depending on the cruise. NCL doesn't  come close anymore, not since the Del Rio takeover.

 

Value varies depending on what your are looking for. Me, I miss the old NCL. I looked at them recently, and the only way to avoid paying for all that "FREE", was to purchase a guarantee. I'd rather go elsewhere and choose my cabins.

[geoherb]

I shop around but have found better deals overall on Princess. I wouldn't sail on NCL again unless perhaps in a Haven cabin, but the price would have to be irresistible. 

[majortom10]

You are lucky to get free gratuities we never get that offer in UK and are expected to pay the full price of gratuities.

[ohnonotmeagain]

Try living in the UK and then you will find out what minimal perks are..... out 3 for free one bottle of wine, one speciality meal and $100 OBC, that's it

[itf]

6 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

You are lucky to get free gratuities we never get that offer in UK and are expected to pay the full price of gratuities.

 

Got decent perks last year on RCI (Free parking, free internet for the whole two weeks) but got no perks whatsoever on my upcoming Sky Princess B2B. 😞

Edited June 2, 2019 by itf

[ian441672]

30 minutes ago, ohnonotmeagain said:

Try living in the UK and then you will find out what minimal perks are..... out 3 for free one bottle of wine, one speciality meal and $100 OBC, that's it

 

Totally agree, even the Princess Future Cruise lady agreed, being a UK resident really holds you back on perks. Sip and Sail is a regular for US cruisers and openly offered on board for your next cruise, but as soon as they realise we are UK residents, we can never get that offer. I don't think I have ever seen it advertised for UK guests; 'all' we get is a bottle of wine or a free meal or a comparatively smaller token gesture.

 

I DO like the Princess product and we are Elite and stay in a suite, but I do question my loyalty at times, and indeed are cruising to the Caribbean with Celebrity in January, for a very similar price on Princess, we have a Sky suite with free drinks (yes I have to pay gratuity, but it is still far far cheaper) and free unlimited wifi. 

 

I have mentioned this to Princess, and I am sure my spending or not with them will not make any difference to their profit (although we can spend £7000-£10000 a cruise), but they do not budge nor offer much empathy. Its a shame, but with a comparable product but better perks on Celebrity, this might be where my money goes in future.

[Flafun888]

UK definitely gets short end of the stick on cruise promos. But if it makes you feel better, you get much more protection when you fly from UK or anywhere within Europe , due to much stricter rules around cancellations and passenger compensation airlines must follow.

 

In the U.S. we have far fewer of those protections when airlines, cancel, bump, change our schedules, etc.

Edited June 2, 2019 by Flafun888

[ian441672]

8 minutes ago, Flafun888 said:

UK definitely gets short end of the stick on cruise promos. But if it makes you feel better, you get much more protection when you fly from UK or anywhere within Europe , due to much stricter rules around cancellations and passenger compensation airlines must follow.

 

In the U.S. we have far fewer of those protections when airlines, cancel, bump, change our schedules, etc.

 

I feel only slightly better 😉

But I still get frustrated about the deals, or lack of them.

[majortom10]

We are Elite but think our next cruise in August on Crown will be our last with them. Recent increases of daily gratuity, increase from 15% to 18% on drinks and now scrapping Soda+ more. Also do not like the dress code on Princess they advertise Formal but dont enforce it and some go to MDR in all sorts of weird dress for Formal i.e. jeans, t-shirts and baseball caps seen them all.

[KCsealegs]

11 hours ago, need2cruisesoon said:

I was looking at the Royal this December (2019) seven day Mexico but the perks were minimal to say the least. Just some onboard credits and Gratuities.

 

I ended booking with the another line and got all 5 perks, so unsure what the advantage of booking with Princess?

 

 

The advantage is that you would be on a Princess ship and not NCL! Keep in mind, even with having all 5 perks, you will still be experiencing the Norwegian Cruise Lines product. 

[fishnchips]

And Uk cannot refare without a  booking penalty....

[Doug R.]

1 hour ago, majortom10 said:

We are Elite but think our next cruise in August on Crown will be our last with them. Recent increases of daily gratuity, increase from 15% to 18% on drinks and now scrapping Soda+ more. Also do not like the dress code on Princess they advertise Formal but dont enforce it and some go to MDR in all sorts of weird dress for Formal i.e. jeans, t-shirts and baseball caps seen them all.

We bid you a fond farewell. I also wish you luck in finding a mainstream line that has not raised gratuities, most have also scrapped formal nights. I wonder why you are so obsessed with what others wear to the extent it ruins your cruising experience.

Edited June 2, 2019 by Doug R.

[1emerald1]

If you pay attention to the OP's prior posts, he always starts out with a provocative statement then you never hear from him again.

[ian441672]

8 minutes ago, need2cruisesoon said:

 

December '19 sail.

NCL Joy

Mini Suite cabin

Perks:

Beverage Pkg for 2

Specialty Dining for 2

250 Internet Mins

$50 shore excursion credit

++ $210 gratuities paid by TA

$2622.00 (all in)

 

December '19 sail

Princess Royal

Mini Suite

Perks:

Gratuities

$50 OBC per person

$$2878.00 (all in)

 

Exactly lol

[1emerald1]

Just saw on princess.com that the Sun-Drenched Deals sale starts June 11th, so check your booking when the sale starts to see if it's a better deal than what you have.

[majortom10]

1 hour ago, Doug R. said:

We bid you a fond farewell. I also wish you luck in finding a mainstream line that has not raised gratuities, most have also scrapped formal nights. I wonder why you are so obsessed with what others wear to the extent it ruins your cruising experience.

Simple Cunard.

[geocruiser]

1 hour ago, need2cruisesoon said:

 

December '19 sail.

NCL Joy

Mini Suite cabin

Perks:

Beverage Pkg for 2

Specialty Dining for 2

250 Internet Mins

$50 shore excursion credit

++ $210 gratuities paid by TA

$2622.00 (all in)

 

December '19 sail

Princess Royal

Mini Suite

Perks:

Gratuities

$50 OBC per person

$$2878.00 (all in)

I have also been looking int NCL.  The cruises that I have looked at with them gives you up to 5 perks.  But the price is higher to have the perks than NCL sail- a- way rate. The cruise that I looked at was in Dec.  The mini was for the Sail-a-way of $849.  And the take it all rate with the perks you listed was $1229.  So, the increase for the perks is $380. PP  It would be worth it is you use the drink package.

I decided to look at the sail-a-way rates because I would not use the drink package.

But it seems to work out for you.  Enjoy.

[fishywood]

42 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

Simple Cunard.

Actually if the member in question is as militant about formal dress code as they come across they probably would be more disappointed by Cunard's changes than any other cruise line--Princess' "lack of enforcement" is a mere drop in the bucket. While Cunard still insists than men wear jackets every night in the MDR and all alternative dining options save one section of the buffet, they have now withdrawn the dictum of "no daytime sports wear after 6PM" in the Casino, Theatre, and most other lounges--even on formal nights. Even though I have learned to not let what others are wearing color my enjoyment of the evening my reaction is that Cunard has expunged a significant amount of what justifies the price difference between it and Princess just with those few words.

(/thread drift)