No more free internet for platinum & elite

[TonyM99]

Well received my email form Princess today with changes to Elite benefits - Like !! the way they try and sell the benefit of having to pay for internet benefits as opposed to getting for free !!

 

 

Updating your loyalty benefits

Your loyalty means the world to us. To show our thanks we've made sure your Elite member benefits reflect our latest offerings, including Dine My Way reservations and MedallionNet Wi-Fi. We hope you enjoy these updates to your perks — because you deserve it.

What's new?
* Exclusive, early access to Dine My Way reservations (ability to make them before final payment!)
* 10% off shore excursions
* 10% off Lotus Spa treatments
* 10% off Photo Gallery offerings
Discounts will be applied onboard.

What's changing?
You’ll get a 50% discount on unlimited, premium Wi-Fi with MedallionNet. Enjoy the best Wi-Fi at sea (also included with PrincessPlus) instead of limited, free internet minutes. (No need to worry about logging on or off anymore!)

You'll notice a lot less paper. We're moving to electronic invites and announcements as part of our health protocols and commitment to protecting the environment.

We'll no longer offer onboard credit based on the number of cruises taken. What hasn't changed is our commitment to earning your loyalty.

Our return to service
As part of our commitment to safe sailing, some loyalty events and offerings may be updated.

We appreciate all the cruises you’ve taken with us over the years and look forward to sailing with you on another adventure soon!

[Bwana Tom]

12 hours ago, caribill said:

Send your E-mails to:

 

Collin Steinke, Director, Customer Relations csteinke@princesscruises.com

Lorna Warren, VP Guest Services lwarren@princess.com

Jan Swartz, President jswartz@princesscruises.com

Mario Siebaldi, Senior VP Product Development msiebaldi@princesscruises.com

Just sent my emails out. I don't think Jan is still there though. We need to all let Princess know how we feel. While we all recognize the problems facing the cruise industry financially, but these changes will only have a very marginal affect on their money problems and it will likely work in the negative for them. I'm quite sure it will result in driving many of their most loyal customers to other cruise lines. I'm hoping that Princess will get their head on straight and reverse these changes, but of course that is very unlikely. I just wonder who is making these decisions.

[dog]

I used the Contact Us- Captain Circle form to share my thoughts on their stinginess 

[StrawberryHill]

Thats OK for me. I dont use internet on boar.   Its supposed to be a vacation.

[deckhead]

 I was really mad when I read their email. I agree taking away our free internet is penny-pinching. I sent them and email via Captains Circle on the Princess website, maybe if they get enough complaints they might rethink the new measures. 

[Sincity]

Our last cruise was on Celebrity and really liked the food and cabins more (even more than Princess's newest ships). We kept on remarking how we wished we didn't have to pay for internet if we booked on Princess. With these changes to the loyalty program, it wouldn't hurt us to cruise on Celebrity more often.

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, Sincity said:

Our last cruise was on Celebrity and really liked the food and cabins more (even more than Princess's newest ships). We kept on remarking how we wished we didn't have to pay for internet if we booked on Princess. With these changes to the loyalty program, it wouldn't hurt us to cruise on Celebrity more often.

I'd be open to checking them out for value proposition as we sailed them in the past.  But, need to use up all the money I have tied up in the Bank of Princess first.

[casofilia]

I have sent an email regarding my loss of the Free WiFi minutes.

[Ride-The-Waves]

The question is whether the loss of WiFi will make you reconsider cruising with Princess.  Princess is betting it will not.  Betting that you will pay inflated pricing for the cruise and once committed, will purchase WiFi minutes and other "perks" provided as inclusive before the pandemic.  Every penny counts now and Princess will do whatever is needed to recoup losses from the no-sail period.  Get used it it - it WILL be more expensive.

[steveww48]

Earlier this afternoon I sent my email to these people:

 

Collin Steinke, Director, Customer Relations csteinke@princesscruises.com

Lorna Warren, VP Guest Services lwarren@princess.com

Jan Swartz, President jswartz@princesscruises.com

Mario Siebaldi, Senior VP Product Development msiebaldi@princesscruises.com

 

I got a bounceback on Lorna Warren ("Recipient address rejected") but there were no other bouncebacks so I presume the email got to the other three people.

 

I also forwarded my email to my Princess PVP (who I really like) and asked him to consider forwarding it to his management, in the belief that more management visibility might improve the chances of getting this decision reversed.

 

As I noted in my earlier post (#193) we now are in a position where we will explore other cruise lines. If we see a cruise we like, we'll book it and see what we think of that company's product. If we find a line we really like, it will become our favorite and replace Princess. There's just no reason any more to pre-emptively favor Princess. We'll probably start by looking at Celebrity.

 

So Princess will certainly lose some of our business as we explore other cruise lines. And if we find a new favorite, Princess will lose all of our business.

 

I made these points (and more) in the email I sent. The changes that Princess made have clearly delineated what loyalty is all about. I do hope they come to their senses and re-consider what they've done.

 

 

[paradiselivin1]

19 hours ago, Astro Flyer said:

What is astonishing to me is them touting their new benefits which eliminate 3 Elite benefits…free internet minutes, priority boarding and Loyalty OBC.

Agreed. The loyalty OBC is minimal (all things considered but I hate that they took away the free minutes as I rarely use more than was accorded to us for free. And; don't get me started on the priority boarding ~ what the heck? New benefits? More like diminished benefits....

[Astro Flyer]

7 minutes ago, steveww48 said:

I got a bounceback on Lorna Warren ("Recipient address rejected") but there were no other bouncebacks so I presume the email got to the other three people.

That’s because you used @princess.com and not @princesscruises.com like in your other emails.

 

Edited July 2, 2021 by Astro Flyer

[2 cruises a year]

1 minute ago, Astro Flyer said:

That’s because you used @princess.com and not @princesscruises.com like your other emails.

Good call.  Very astute on your part.

[steveww48]

2 minutes ago, Astro Flyer said:

That’s because you used @princess.com and not @princesscruises.com like in your other emails.

 

Thanks! I'm pretty sure it was posted that way by the OP (a few pages ago). I just Cut & Pasted from that other post.

 

I'll resend to Lorna. Thanks again.

 

[casofilia]

A suggestion to those using the four addresses above.   Either send four separate emails or send one to the four recipients BCC.

 

If they know that the email has been sent to all four addresses it may not be seen to carry the same weight.

[Astro Flyer]

1 hour ago, steveww48 said:

Thanks! I'm pretty sure it was posted that way by the OP (a few pages ago). I just Cut & Pasted from that other post.

 

I'll resend to Lorna. Thanks again.

 

You’re welcome & rechecking the previous post it was incorrect for Lorna Warren…hopefully you get responses to your emails.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

22 hours ago, Astro Flyer said:

What is astonishing to me is them touting their new benefits which eliminate 3 Elite benefits…free internet minutes, priority boarding and Loyalty OBC.

 

How can Princess think this is something to boast about.

 

My TA forwarded the email from their SVP of Sales and the last line is ridiculous after eliminating benefits…he thinks that’s the way to earn clients loyalty? 

 

“What hasn't changed is our commitment to earning your clients' loyalty”.

 

I still haven’t received an email but I did see my friends. What about the part that said “We hope you enjoy these updates to your perks – because you deserve it“???

[Ombud]

23 hours ago, Astro Flyer said:

Both get a 50% discount…for example with a 7-day cruise:

• Pre-paid: $70 with a $35 non-refundable OBC added to the portfolio
• Pay onboard: $105 with a $52.50 NR OBC to portfolio.

The 50% discount is a CC benefit so either use it or lose it. That’s the way the customer service rep explained it but we won’t know for certain until some experiences the procedure. I used the email posted on one of these change in benefits threads & as I recall she was described as a customer service manager who would hopefully be knowledgeable & she said she’s worked for PCL for a long time.

 

So if I decide to bite the bullet & buy ...

I can't find it!! I'd rather pay 70 & get 35 OBC to offset 'crew incentive' too. Especially since I've got 150 bonus gift cards and I like to dump the little ones asap 

[Astro Flyer]

56 minutes ago, Ombud said:

So if I decide to bite the bullet & buy ...

I can't find it!! I'd rather pay 70 & get 35 OBC to offset 'crew incentive' too. Especially since I've got 150 bonus gift cards and I like to dump the little ones asap 

She was told that it’d be available to purchase soon but no one gave her a definition for the vague term soon.

[dog]

1 hour ago, MsSoCalCruiser said:

I still haven’t received an email but I did see my friends. What about the part that said “We hope you enjoy these updates to your perks – because you deserve it“???

That last line has probably set some off.  Hope you enjoy—-

 

I have used the Contact Us— Captain Circle form in the past to share my concerns and have always received a response. 

[Astro Flyer]

1 hour ago, MsSoCalCruiser said:

I still haven’t received an email but I did see my friends. What about the part that said “We hope you enjoy these updates to your perks – because you deserve it“???

Based on that statement & other deceptive ones in their “Your Elite benefits are changing!” email Princess marketing could be named Spin City based on their misleading statements.

 

Edited July 3, 2021 by Astro Flyer

[Thrak]

We never even got the email...

[Thrak]

People keep wondering what the Internet access costs. I don't know if they have raised it recently but this is from our Travel Summary that I downloaded just now.  It shows what Princess is considering the cost of the Internet service I'm getting with Princess Plus. This is for a 12 day cruise in May 2022. Using the price listed that makes the cost of Internet service $9.97/day.

 

 

[nocl]

4 hours ago, Ride-The-Waves said:

The question is whether the loss of WiFi will make you reconsider cruising with Princess.  Princess is betting it will not.  Betting that you will pay inflated pricing for the cruise and once committed, will purchase WiFi minutes and other "perks" provided as inclusive before the pandemic.  Every penny counts now and Princess will do whatever is needed to recoup losses from the no-sail period.  Get used it it - it WILL be more expensive.

Or if it does, are you really a customer that they want to keep. Princess has a lot of Elite cruisers.  A number of which cruise a lot, but do not spend much outside of their cruise fare.  If the value of Internet is enough for one to totally leave a cruise line, they just might be a non-profitable customer.

 

When one considers that 25-28% of main stream cruise lines revenue comes from on board sales.  One that is not willing to spend much on board is not a profitable customer for the cruise line.  

[MsSoCalCruiser]

52 minutes ago, Thrak said:

We never even got the email...

Neither have I.