First Cruise Perks?

[FrankieJayIII]

I have had to talk to a representative 2x regarding various things with my cruise/cruise package.  They all ask- if its my first princess cruise.  Which the answer is yes... I am sure they do this because they don't see any history of cruising with Princess.

 

Are there any first cruise perks?   Anything we should know about?  Have you ever had anything "show up?" 

 

Anything we should know for our first cruise with Princess?

[Potstech]

Only perk you get is to eat a lot of food, cruise to different places and spend money you never thought of.

Honestly there are no 1st time cruiser on Princess perks.

[SCX22]

Probably asking to gauge how much explaining they have to do.

 

Sometimes a TA will arrange for a bottle of champagne/wine or chocolate covered strawberries to be delivered to your room.  But your TA will initiate this, if you have one.

 

Some ships will throw a “Blue Party.”  The party gets its name from the blue colored Medallions that first time Princess cruisers are issued.  It’s kind of a meet and greet for first time cruisers and goes over what Princess as a company has to offer, what the ship has to offer, how to use the Medallion App.

 

If there’s no Blue Party, it might be a good idea to attend the Medallion Class Presentation done on the afternoon of embarkation day.  This is for first timers and those with loyalty status, but first time on a Medallion Class ship.  This presentation explains how to use the Medallion App and Medallion Net.

[VibeGuy]

I would specifically attend the blue/first time cruisers event because they typically give away Elite status to one attendee as a door prize.  I’m not sure if it persists beyond that sailing, but it’s still 10% off shops and spa services and shore excursions and half off internet for that sailing if it’s purchased a la carte. 

[DallasGuy75219]

Captain's Circle (like all cruise line past guest programs) is clearly meant to incentivize repeat customers.  The perks as a first-time Princess cruiser are that you get the cruise you paid for. 

[jujuyu211]

Sometimes a representative or TA might ask if it’s your first cruise to ensure you don’t already have a loyalty number. A lot of times the system may not match the guests with their loyalty status immediately.. and instead assign a new loyalty number to the guest. This causes confusion and more trouble to reconcile later. I’ve had to merge people’s loyalty numbers many times because for some reason they book through third party agencies in the past and got a new loyalty number each cruise.  Also, if you’ve sailed on Princess before then they can (potentially) find you better rates after entering your loyalty number. So it’s always good to ask to double check!

Edited March 24, 2023 by jujuyu211

[caribill]

3 hours ago, FrankieJayIII said:

I have had to talk to a representative 2x regarding various things with my cruise/cruise package.  They all ask- if its my first princess cruise. 

 

Once you have provided a booking number, the representative knows exactly how much cruising you have done on Princess. 

 

Only if you have not provided the booking number would I see any reason to have a rep ask this question.

[2022cruisey]

We won Elite status on our first cruise at the first time cruiser gathering.  
It only lasts for that cruise and was great.  Free laundry was the best perk.

[sttopmh]

A "Welcome Aboard" greeting.

[Kellyansapansa]

We were very fortunate to receive an upgrade on our very first cruise, from an inside cabin to a balcony. We did not receive advance notice, it happened when we checked in on embarkation day. We were very grateful and it was a lovely introduction to Princess... but it has never happened again!

[disneyochem]

19 minutes ago, Kellyansapansa said:

We were very fortunate to receive an upgrade on our very first cruise, from an inside cabin to a balcony. We did not receive advance notice, it happened when we checked in on embarkation day. We were very grateful and it was a lovely introduction to Princess... but it has never happened again!

This happened to us as well on our first Princess cruise!  It was a very nice surprise and we booked a cruise while onboard!  
 

 

 

[sandyoftheseas]

We also received a free upgrade on our first cruise from an inside to a oceanview room on the old Sun Princess in 2000.

[voljeep]

we were at a 'beach break' as part of an excursion ... to our right was a couple of 30 something ladies, obviously having a  really nice time ... one of them remarked how great it was that this was their first cruise and they got upgraded to balcony from an inside!  well the elderly couply to our left also heard that and loudly remarked that they had been on '35' Princess cruises and never got a single upgrade in all those years.  Awkward ...

 

at that time we had one previous 'upgrade' - from an inside to an obstructed balcony...