Ask Carnival Corp’s CEO: Call for Questions for Josh Weinstein

[Nicole&Pete]

Just now, Steelers36 said:

I understand where you are going with this, but in line 2 above you state that all cruise lines are doing the same thing - raising prices and cutting services.  If this is so, then it follows there is no place for otherwise loyal customers to turn to in order to avoid this trend.

That is true. 
 

I guess what I’m getting at is perhaps cutting services now is not the best long term strategy and perhaps maintaining or even enhancing services would help create some competitive advantage at a time when other lines are cutting back on things cruisers value.

[damiross]

On 3/5/2023 at 1:09 AM, Nicole&Pete said:

Here is my question for Josh Weinstein;

 

Post Pandemic Strategy

 

.... However, it seems all cruise lines have the same strategy at the moment which is to raise prices, both the cruise price and also drinks packages, and cut services in order to recoup losses. .... 

It's because many companies cannot see beyond next Tuesday.  They want to recoup all loses right this second, darn the customer.

 

[azbirdmom]

What are you doing to improve the pre-cruise experience to make it as seamless and easy as the actual cruise?

 

Since the restart it can often take hours or days to get answers to basic questions or to fix issues with bookings or check-in failures on the Medallion app.  Improving the technology will translate to fewer errors which will lighten the load on customer service staff.  And maybe they will be able to deliver on promised timing for resolution of the other customer issues that arise.  I don't run into these sorts of headaches when I book a land based vacation and making Princess and your other lines easy to book would go a long way towards keeping those ships full.

[travel treasure too]

Can you bring guests into the ship on embarkation day?  Years ago, before Covid, we did a Transatlantic on Ruby Princess and were able to register our kids for a Bonvoyage Lunch onboard the ship.  We had to register them as a regular passenger would but needed to disembark one hour before sailing.  Is this program still available?

[Thrak]

10 minutes ago, travel treasure too said:

Can you bring guests into the ship on embarkation day?  Years ago, before Covid, we did a Transatlantic on Ruby Princess and were able to register our kids for a Bonvoyage Lunch onboard the ship.  We had to register them as a regular passenger would but needed to disembark one hour before sailing.  Is this program still available?

 

Ahhhh... The BVE. We did it twice and it was great.

[travel treasure too]

1 hour ago, Thrak said:

 

Ahhhh... The BVE. We did it twice and it was great.

Can you bring guests into the ship on embarkation day?  Years ago, before Covid, we did a Transatlantic on Ruby Princess and were able to register our kids for a Bonvoyage Lunch onboard the ship.  We had to register them as a regular passenger would but needed to disembark one hour before sailing.  Is this program still available?

[travel treasure too]

I have called several times to Princess and no one knows what I am talking about, can you direct me to how to get them registered?  Can you give me any instructions?

[Buckeye10640]

On 2/26/2023 at 5:59 PM, UT-Volsfan said:

With the increasing number of passengers returning to Princess, will some of the reductions in on-board services and offerings be returned to us any time soon?  One of the areas we have seen cutbacks has been in offerings for diabetics on board. These include:

1) no sugar free or no sugar added jelly available upon request at breakfast.

2) no sugar added ice icream is no longer available at the ice cream shop.  Have only been able to get it in the dining rooms. 

 

While these are small offerings, the demographics on board would appear to indicate these would be used by several customers on board each cruise.  Yet they have not been available to us on several post Covid cruises (7+ weeks on Princess). We don't believe it is a supply chain issue because these simple offerings have been offered on other lines.

Ohh this reminds me.....why is it so hard to stock a couple of flavored sugar-free coffee syrups at International Cafe?

[nini]

7 hours ago, Buckeye10640 said:

Ohh this reminds me.....why is it so hard to stock a couple of flavored sugar-free coffee syrups at International Cafe?

Excellent question!!!

[Thrak]

A user here on CC has just reported that, while on his current South America cruise on Sapphire Princess, he was charged the 18% gratuity on the corkage fee. He was quite willing to pay the increased corkage fee of $20/bottle and was shocked to be charged $23.60/bottle. He was told this is a new policy beginning with his cruise. He asked if passengers had received any notice and was told, "No". They said that only crew were notified of the change.

 

Charges of this sort are unconscionable. How can this possibly be justified?

[voljeep]

37 minutes ago, Thrak said:

A user here on CC has just reported that, while on his current South America cruise on Sapphire Princess, he was charged the 18% gratuity on the corkage fee. He was quite willing to pay the increased corkage fee of $20/bottle and was shocked to be charged $23.60/bottle. He was told this is a new policy beginning with his cruise. He asked if passengers had received any notice and was told, "No". They said that only crew were notified of the change.

 

Charges of this sort are unconscionable. How can this possibly be justified?

Simple, really - wait until Princess invokes the 1 bottle per person limit ONLY - NO other carry on wines. Period.

 

Princess wants to SELL wine at $80 for a $15 bottle ... not open a bottle for $20

 

enjoy it while you can...

[Steelers36]

15 minutes ago, voljeep said:

Simple, really - wait until Princess invokes the 1 bottle per person limit ONLY - NO other carry on wines. Period.

 

Princess wants to SELL wine at $80 for a $15 bottle ... not open a bottle for $20

 

enjoy it while you can...

Don't say that!!  Heaven forbid!! I consider this one of the best perks with Princess.

 

[voljeep]

3 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Don't say that!!  Heaven forbid!! I consider this one of the best perks with Princess.

 

when you do your cost analysis / matrix for bringing wine on board instead of a package - I seem to notice you do not factor in the corkage fee(s) ...🤑

Edited March 9, 2023 by voljeep

[GonzoWCS]

12 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Don't say that!!  Heaven forbid!! I consider this one of the best perks with Princess.

 

Concur absolutely! 

 

Cheers

[Steelers36]

7 hours ago, voljeep said:

when you do your cost analysis / matrix for bringing wine on board instead of a package - I seem to notice you do not factor in the corkage fee(s) ...🤑

It is on the spreadsheet.  So, I do factor it in, but there isn't much point in doing it anymore with PCL raising many prices.  I just happen to be lucky and rarely have to pay.  Being among the first at check-in, it seems they are never ready with the wine table staffed.  (I suppose you were just joking mostly).  Anyway, there isn't much point in that spreadsheet anymore.  For one thing, why would I want to pay $35 - $40 for $8 retail wine when I can bring on $20-$25 retail wine?

[dickinson]

On 3/7/2023 at 1:02 PM, travel treasure too said:

Can you bring guests into the ship on embarkation day?  Years ago, before Covid, we did a Transatlantic on Ruby Princess and were able to register our kids for a Bonvoyage Lunch onboard the ship.  We had to register them as a regular passenger would but needed to disembark one hour before sailing.  Is this program still available?

 

Sorry no one answered your question.  Yes, it is gone.  It was discontinued a couple of years before the pandemic.

[texswamper]

On 3/3/2023 at 6:43 PM, Buckeye10640 said:

Why discontinue the coffee package? Some of us just want good coffee!

I just got off of Ruby today after 2 weeks and I had prepaid for both weeks of the coffee package.  Day 2, realized I was being charged for each latte and/or fresh brewed coffee only to be told that it wasn't available.  Can't understand why they even allowed us to buy the package when they knew our sailing date was after the 2/20/23 change.  So, it was pay as I went but they did at least refund my money to OBC.  Buying the Plus package or the non alcohol package just doesn't pay off for me.  😞

[startedwithamouse]

 

Please consider an all inclusive higher fare.

 

This makes for much less work for guest services, adjusting bills.  No passenger can remove tips as crew appreciation is included.  No one wants to go over a laundry list of drink charges while on a cruise. 

 

Princess becomes more profitable, to have the "money in the bank" when final payment is made, and it's not a guessing game as to how many passengers will remove tips. 

 

Pricing for an all inclusive vacation in Mexico is MORE THAN DOUBLE most cruises with Princess Plus.    

 

A new generation of cruisers is here.  They're shown in every Princess commercial and print ad, and they want a real vacation with the wi-fi and drinks (whether it be mocktails or alcohol).  

 

 

[malba2366]

On 3/9/2023 at 3:12 PM, Thrak said:

A user here on CC has just reported that, while on his current South America cruise on Sapphire Princess, he was charged the 18% gratuity on the corkage fee. He was quite willing to pay the increased corkage fee of $20/bottle and was shocked to be charged $23.60/bottle. He was told this is a new policy beginning with his cruise. He asked if passengers had received any notice and was told, "No". They said that only crew were notified of the change.

 

Charges of this sort are unconscionable. How can this possibly be justified?

 

It's ok let them charge whatever corkage fees they want.  Save your wine glasses from the bar, and pour yourself a double in your cabin before going to the dining room.

[subaru94]

Is Princess considering building some smaller ships like the size of Coral Princess, Sapphire Princess, they are an ideal size and still have the wonderful traditional cruising feel, these newer ships, are becoming building blocks rather than cruise ships.  

Tea/Coffee making facilities in cabin would be great for Australia, other cruise lines supply 

Elite:  I'm not sure why you took away the free minutes for wifi, I found it really great for overseas.  Found the minutes we got enough for us.  The new set up is very expensive.  

Have Princess thought about doing virtual inside cabins, we were on one with a competitor cruise line and it was great?

[Buckeye10640]

On 3/12/2023 at 1:42 PM, startedwithamouse said:

 

Please consider an all inclusive higher fare.

 

This makes for much less work for guest services, adjusting bills.  No passenger can remove tips as crew appreciation is included.  No one wants to go over a laundry list of drink charges while on a cruise. 

 

Princess becomes more profitable, to have the "money in the bank" when final payment is made, and it's not a guessing game as to how many passengers will remove tips. 

 

Pricing for an all inclusive vacation in Mexico is MORE THAN DOUBLE most cruises with Princess Plus.    

 

A new generation of cruisers is here.  They're shown in every Princess commercial and print ad, and they want a real vacation with the wi-fi and drinks (whether it be mocktails or alcohol).  

 

 

Not everyone wants to pay what they will charge for all inclusive. Isn't that essentially Princess Premier?  

[Thrak]

I'm not sure that the dates of this meeting have been listed here in this thread but it is slated for March 27th through March 30th.

[ewilner]

I was truly shocked when I just inquired about Princess Plus for my family. We have two cabins, and were forced to register with one adult, one child in each cabin. And for any beverage/internet/tips package, Princess charges both people in the cabin.  So they would be very willing to charge both the adult and minor in the room the full price Princess Plus with alcohol package - while ensuring, of course, that said minor would not have access to alcohol.  But not willing to simply register the child for the non-alcohol package at the cheaper price! I'm disgusted by this cheap ploy, and actually should thank them for the research we've now done into bringing wine on board, finding the free champagne occasions, and generally not going overboard (so to speak) on cocktails as we might have done with the package.  Saves us pounds and pennies.

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, ewilner said:

I was truly shocked when I just inquired about Princess Plus for my family. We have two cabins, and were forced to register with one adult, one child in each cabin. And for any beverage/internet/tips package, Princess charges both people in the cabin.  So they would be very willing to charge both the adult and minor in the room the full price Princess Plus with alcohol package - while ensuring, of course, that said minor would not have access to alcohol.  But not willing to simply register the child for the non-alcohol package at the cheaper price! I'm disgusted by this cheap ploy, and actually should thank them for the research we've now done into bringing wine on board, finding the free champagne occasions, and generally not going overboard (so to speak) on cocktails as we might have done with the package.  Saves us pounds and pennies.

In another thread, this topic came up.  Parents with kids can book as you said - but book Standard Fare.  No one can make you book with Plus or Premier.  Once you are on-board and swap the kids into their own cabin, the parents can order Plus package on board for their cabin (do it on first day).  Kids can have nothing and you just pay as they go.

 

If you think kids are going to consume a lot, just buy the Plus plan and they will get the Zero Alcohol package in lieu of the alcohol Plus beverage package. It is not economical to buy the drink package standalone for them.

 

[brisalta]

There are people that cruise on Princess ships that do not drink alcohol or soft drinks. Will the coffee and tea card be reintroduced by Princess to cater to this clientele?

Edited March 23, 2023 by brisalta