A question for those of you who've just lost the $100 loyalty benefit.

[PescadoAmarillo]

13 hours ago, Thrak said:

To be fair regarding my earlier post about "it's only $100"... Many folks (likely including the one to whom I was responding) take long cruises that are actually multiple segments so the $100 would be multiplied several times. I really do understand the disappointment of those who have been loyal Princess cruisers and have come to expect the benefits provided in the past. While $100 on a cruise may not be much it may actually end up being $400 or $500 on a multi-segment cruise. In my income bracket that is definitely nothing to discount lightly.

 

Having conceded that, I still wouldn't fail to take the cruise I had really looked forward to because of the loss of the benefit. We are booking cruises we really want to take even though the prices seem to have increased somewhat dramatically. It is my opinion that these prices have risen in this manner not only because the cruise line is hurting for money but also because they have issued such crazy amounts of FCC and are counting on folks not really minding the price increase because the cruise is now "free" which, of course, it really isn't.

 

We are not at all pleased with the increased pricing (or people's loss of perks) but still plan to cruise because it's what we want to do and have looked forward to doing.

What you’ve described in your first paragraph is exactly how this cutback has affected us. We’ve chosen to book several short cruises out of Fort Lauderdale this year, due to COVID. We don’t mind at all the turnaround days in Fort Lauderdale and we very much like the idea of having the opportunity to “jump ship” on any given turnaround day if things aren’t going well. We’ve booked nine cruises for 58 (I think) total days. I can tell you our average per diem on each cruise and in total. We will most likely no longer cruise for 58 days but instead something closer to 53 days, or slightly fewer days if we factor in the cost of WiFi. That way our total spending will remain about the same. 
 

But here’s the thing…about 32 of those days are during that slow travel period between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Because we aren’t sailing (at a higher fare, booked early), Princess will be selling one more cabin at a last minute fare for probably half what we’d have paid. Some Florida retiree will snap it up, and likely spend no more on board than we would have. We lose, Princess loses, but at least that person comes out ahead. 

[Astro Flyer]

3 hours ago, Tedferg said:

I am not arguing with you, just asking if there is a difference between the previous Internet and Medallion Net. I do see posts that Medallion Net is fast and accessible whereas my old free minutes were slow and not much use. I would only check email once and sign in for Air Boarding Passes.

 

So my original question was, does Medallion Net have the facility to restrict the number of minutes.

 

Also if they are two separate technologies, why keep the old one. Of course they might have designed Medallion Net to be 'always on' versus need to log in/out as a feature. I bet if they kept two systems and free minutes were only on old system, people would flock to new system.

 

Maybe too, if they had kept the old Personalizer and new Medallion App, people would flock to the latter after time. (Off Topic point )

Like most of us, I am not qualified to discuss the technology used in the previous minute based system vs the MedallionNet system and can only share my experiences on a ship that offered both minutes or unlimited plans.

 

On the Sky’s 28 day cruise (Med/TA) my wife kept her 500 free minutes & I exchanged my 500 minutes for a discounted unlimited plan for $112.50. Throughout the cruise both of us had the same internet access experiences while using different plans. Although that’s merely our experiences & others might have different experiences.

 

I certainly didn’t see anything argumentative in your post & instead only like all of us we’re attempting to better understand the new internet plans. 🙂

[Astro Flyer]

2 hours ago, caribill said:

 

The old technology was only kept for the ships without the upgraded technology which is needed for the Medallion.

 

During the pandemic pause, they upgraded ships which had the old technology and then sold the remaining ship (Pacific Princess) which did not have the new technology.

 

So all remaining Princess ships only have the new technology

The Sky was their first ship built with MedallionNet & sailing on that ship in November 2019 they had both systems available…minutes or unlimited.

 

Now that they’ve removed the minute plans none of us knows whether that was done to improve internet access or if it was a way to make everyone pay for it. However pre-pandemic both systems were available and my wife & I had the same internet experiences being on different plans.

 

Edited July 9, 2021 by Astro Flyer

[Tedferg]

1 minute ago, Astro Flyer said:

The Sky was their first ship built with MedallionNet & sailing on that ship in November 2019 they had both systems available…minutes or unlimited.

 

Since they’ve removed the minute plans none of us knows whether that was done to improve internet access or if it was a way to make everyone pay for it. However pre-pandemic both systems were available and my wife & I had the same internet experiences being on different plans.

 

So Medallion Net might just be a ship intranet to use Medallion functions and not provide access to Internet directly, but link to another system for internet. I had assumed Medallion Net included a faster more responsive internet.

[geoherb]

The loss of the loyalty credit will just be something I won't have to consider when booking a cruise. Before booking a cruise, I would look at the various options available. Lately, Princess has won most of our business. Our last cruise on another line was a HAL cruise four years ago. In that case, going on HAL was considerably less expensive for the same basic itinerary (partial Panama Canal). I did consider the loss of free laundry, minibar, and internet minutes before booking it. 

 

I've purchased the unlimited internet on my last two cruises. I was able to use just my free minutes on the two before those. 

[nocl]

7 hours ago, ceilidh1 said:

I have to wonder if the Princess folks actually believe they are doing us a favour by changing these benefits? Did they run the numbers and see that the vast majority of plats/elite buy Plus so don't need the Internet minutes? Did they look at onboard spending and see the vast majority of elite end up not using their loyalty credit? Did they survey any plats/elites to ask what benefits would be important to them? The way the changes have been presented makes it sound as if Princess are doing this for "us"...is this just marketing speak, or do they believe it is in our best interests? 

For us not really. Though I expect that they did look at a lot of data before making the decision. I expect that the number of people impacted by the loss of free Internet minutes is a relatively small group, that most were either buying the inclusive fares or were upgrading, so as far as the minutes go more would benefit by the discount and the number remaining did not justify having to maintain a system for tracking minutes with all of it headaches (ie people forgetting to log off and losing their minutes).

 

As far as the loyalty OBC I expect it was a get a head of the curve decision. That the current payout was benefitting relatively few cruisers, and that projections would have indicated that the number eligeable and the corresponding payout would be be growing fairly quickly. Probably more than was ever expected when the program was put in place. A dollar value that they did not wish to fund.Thus the reason to kill off the program before the number impacted would be greater.

 

You cannot have it both ways that it is a major amount to some cruisers (the 7 day b2b2b2b crowd. but at the same time say that it is a trivial amount to the cruise line.

Edited July 9, 2021 by nocl

[Astro Flyer]

2 hours ago, Tedferg said:

So Medallion Net might just be a ship intranet to use Medallion functions and not provide access to Internet directly, but link to another system for internet. I had assumed Medallion Net included a faster more responsive internet.

As I understand it the free intranet to access all of the onboard functions is part of the free MedallionClass system.

 

Included in the MC app is an option to access the internet using the paid MedallionNet system.

[CeCe_]

 

7 hours ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

yes. Is that a surprise? We love Princess and RCI equally for the completely different reasons.

 

Love it!!!

 

 

 

 

[dog]

5 hours ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

What you’ve described in your first paragraph is exactly how this cutback has affected us. We’ve chosen to book several short cruises out of Fort Lauderdale this year, due to COVID. We don’t mind at all the turnaround days in Fort Lauderdale and we very much like the idea of having the opportunity to “jump ship” on any given turnaround day if things aren’t going well. We’ve booked nine cruises for 58 (I think) total days. I can tell you our average per diem on each cruise and in total. We will most likely no longer cruise for 58 days but instead something closer to 53 days, or slightly fewer days if we factor in the cost of WiFi. That way our total spending will remain about the same. 
 

But here’s the thing…about 32 of those days are during that slow travel period between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Because we aren’t sailing (at a higher fare, booked early), Princess will be selling one more cabin at a last minute fare for probably half what we’d have paid. Some Florida retiree will snap it up, and likely spend no more on board than we would have. We lose, Princess loses, but at least that person comes out ahead. 

Enjoy your 53 days on board  Hope all goes well with Princess sailing from Ft Lauderdale 

[Tedferg]

18 hours ago, Astro Flyer said:

As I understand it the free intranet to access all of the onboard functions is part of the free MedallionClass system.

 

Included in the MC app is an option to access the internet using the paid MedallionNet system.

Gee I should have seen that, Medallion Intranet has to be free for Medallion to work !

[Tedferg]

22 hours ago, Astro Flyer said:

As I understand it the free intranet to access all of the onboard functions is part of the free MedallionClass system.

 

Included in the MC app is an option to access the internet using the paid MedallionNet system.

I just watched an interesting technical video on Princess.com about Medallion Net answered all my questions, except why you can't hav free minutes 🙂

 

[avalong]

On 7/9/2021 at 12:50 PM, PescadoAmarillo said:

What you’ve described in your first paragraph is exactly how this cutback has affected us. We’ve chosen to book several short cruises out of Fort Lauderdale this year, due to COVID. We don’t mind at all the turnaround days in Fort Lauderdale and we very much like the idea of having the opportunity to “jump ship” on any given turnaround day if things aren’t going well. We’ve booked nine cruises for 58 (I think) total days. I can tell you our average per diem on each cruise and in total. We will most likely no longer cruise for 58 days but instead something closer to 53 days, or slightly fewer days if we factor in the cost of WiFi. That way our total spending will remain about the same. 
 

But here’s the thing…about 32 of those days are during that slow travel period between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Because we aren’t sailing (at a higher fare, booked early), Princess will be selling one more cabin at a last minute fare for probably half what we’d have paid. Some Florida retiree will snap it up, and likely spend no more on board than we would have. We lose, Princess loses, but at least that person comes out ahead. 

Are you gonna blog (pretty please)?

[mellon1]

On 7/9/2021 at 3:50 PM, PescadoAmarillo said:

What you’ve described in your first paragraph is exactly how this cutback has affected us. We’ve chosen to book several short cruises out of Fort Lauderdale this year, due to COVID. We don’t mind at all the turnaround days in Fort Lauderdale and we very much like the idea of having the opportunity to “jump ship” on any given turnaround day if things aren’t going well. We’ve booked nine cruises for 58 (I think) total days. I can tell you our average per diem on each cruise and in total. We will most likely no longer cruise for 58 days but instead something closer to 53 days, or slightly fewer days if we factor in the cost of WiFi. That way our total spending will remain about the same. 
 

But here’s the thing…about 32 of those days are during that slow travel period between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Because we aren’t sailing (at a higher fare, booked early), Princess will be selling one more cabin at a last minute fare for probably half what we’d have paid. Some Florida retiree will snap it up, and likely spend no more on board than we would have. We lose, Princess loses, but at least that person comes out ahead. 

 

[mellon1]

On 7/9/2021 at 3:50 PM, PescadoAmarillo said:

What you’ve described in your first paragraph is exactly how this cutback has affected us. We’ve chosen to book several short cruises out of Fort Lauderdale this year, due to COVID. We don’t mind at all the turnaround days in Fort Lauderdale and we very much like the idea of having the opportunity to “jump ship” on any given turnaround day if things aren’t going well. We’ve booked nine cruises for 58 (I think) total days. I can tell you our average per diem on each cruise and in total. We will most likely no longer cruise for 58 days but instead something closer to 53 days, or slightly fewer days if we factor in the cost of WiFi. That way our total spending will remain about the same. 
 

But here’s the thing…about 32 of those days are during that slow travel period between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Because we aren’t sailing (at a higher fare, booked early), Princess will be selling one more cabin at a last minute fare for probably half what we’d have paid. Some Florida retiree will snap it up, and likely spend no more on board than we would have. We lose, Princess loses, but at least that person comes out ahead. 

I agree with your post.  We have less time booked in 2023.  Everyone has a budget of how much they are willing to spend, well at least most people I would think.  

 

I cannot wait to read your blog.  Please let us know how things are going.  We too are doing 7 day B2Bs but in January and February.  We are driving, so we have flexibility as we do not know what to expect.  

I read somewhere on CC here where Princess was giving free cruises away to casino players, something like that.  That's the stuff that really I cannot understand when they are taking perks away from their most loyal customers.  

[dog]

11 minutes ago, mellon1 said:

I agree with your post.  We have less time booked in 2023.  Everyone has a budget of how much they are willing to spend, well at least most people I would think.  

 

I cannot wait to read your blog.  Please let us know how things are going.  We too are doing 7 day B2Bs but in January and February.  We are driving, so we have flexibility as we do not know what to expect.  

I read somewhere on CC here where Princess was giving free cruises away to casino players, something like that.  That's the stuff that really I cannot understand when they are taking perks away from their most loyal customers.  

Agree too

 

re: casino offers- I am surprised that several have received offers recently too. That brings in the spending on board, which seems to be what Princess is after, over Loyalty. 

[CineGraphic]

1 hour ago, mellon1 said:

That's the stuff that really I cannot understand when they are taking perks away from their most loyal customers.  

 

The casino is owned by a contractor. They buy cabins in bulk and pay Princess for them.

The casino is giving away the cabin, not Princess.

[mellon1]

33 minutes ago, CineGraphic said:

 

The casino is owned by a contractor. They buy cabins in bulk and pay Princess for them.

The casino is giving away the cabin, not Princess.

Really?  I did not know that.  Someone once told me at the pool that there are VIPs on board that get free stuff because of the casino.  

[san diego sue]

3 hours ago, CineGraphic said:

 

The casino is owned by a contractor. They buy cabins in bulk and pay Princess for them.

The casino is giving away the cabin, not Princess.

Those are the free cabins. What about people that get the "casino rate" and gambling money. Does the Contractor  pay the difference in price on those?We have never gotten the casino rate.

Edited July 12, 2021 by san diego sue

[PescadoAmarillo]

5 hours ago, avalong said:

Are you gonna blog (pretty please)?

Awww, thanks!  I am definitely planning to blog on our Alaska cruise. I’m not sure about our Caribbean cruises. 

[Steelers36]

43 minutes ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

Awww, thanks!  I am definitely planning to blog on our Alaska cruise. I’m not sure about our Caribbean cruises. 

It will be useful to read about any changes from Alaska time to Caribbean time as Princess gains experience with whatever the state of MC App and DMW are by then.  But you also need to enjoy yourself and you owe us nothing for you have given us so much in the past.

[Ombud]

13 hours ago, mellon1 said:

Really?  I did not know that.  Someone once told me at the pool that there are VIPs on board that get free stuff because of the casino.  

Yes. The casino buys stuff from PCL to give as a bonus to certain players. It's not the same as the CD giving prizes to whomever wins certain games -- that comes from Princess Cruises 

[dog]

10 hours ago, san diego sue said:

Those are the free cabins. What about people that get the "casino rate" and gambling money. Does the Contractor  pay the difference in price on those?We have never gotten the casino rate.

Yes, I am wondering about this casino rate   We get it and really do not know why. Saved about $600 pp on a 14 day cruise and also $600 pp on our next 12 day cruise.  Plus some OBC for casino 

We spend on board re: specialty restaurants, jewelry, watches, go- pro, photography, spa, excursions, bingo, art auction, etc but not a lot in the casino in the past. I assumed the rate was from Princess. 

Edited July 12, 2021 by dog

[dog]

Another point regarding this topic- I met a couple who cruise frequently on Princess who were in a free suite, drinks , excursions paid for them. They attend the art auctions and buy on-board to resell pieces in their art gallery. 

[CineGraphic]

1 hour ago, dog said:

Another point regarding this topic- I met a couple who cruise frequently on Princess who were in a free suite, drinks , excursions paid for them. They attend the art auctions and buy on-board to resell pieces in their art gallery. 

 

As most of you know, the art gallery is yet another contractor, who is probably footing the bill for this "art whale".

[CineGraphic]

12 hours ago, san diego sue said:

Those are the free cabins. What about people that get the "casino rate" and gambling money. Does the Contractor  pay the difference in price on those?We have never gotten the casino rate.

 

I'm not 100% sure on this, because the casino must be getting a great daily rate since they buy cabins on every single sailing.

We get the casino rate, and I believe my TA has to deal with the casino department instead of a regular rep when dealing with our bookings.