What's New in the past 14 years??

[karinad]

I'm looking at a New England/Canada cruise with Princess. We haven't sailed with them for about 14 years just because of price and itinerary. I think that we're Platinum Class. What benefits are there now? The benefits used to be the best out of all the cruise lines we sailed on, RCCL, NCL, Celebrity, DCL. I'd love to sail again with Princess. This cruise would be out of NY in October. Thank you!

[MissP22]

😆 Nothing much.

[skynight]

Here are the benefits. They don't amount to much.

https://www.princess.com/downloads/pdf/cc/captains-circle-loyalty-benefits.pdf

[Coral]

FYI - I would warn you to expect a decline in entertainment and food. Just my opinion.

 

Canada and NE have excellent ports.

Edited June 3, 2023 by Coral

[startedwithamouse]

 Every single thing is different than 14 years ago on land, it's the same with a cruise. 

[karinad]

We used to get a good amount of free internet minutes. Did they cut that out? The benefit listed says Princess online. What does that include?

[MissP22]

8 minutes ago, karinad said:

We used to get a good amount of free internet minutes. Did they cut that out? The benefit listed says Princess online. What does that include?

Free minutes are gone. 

[Steelers36]

11 hours ago, karinad said:

I'm looking at a New England/Canada cruise with Princess. We haven't sailed with them for about 14 years just because of price and itinerary. I think that we're Platinum Class. What benefits are there now? The benefits used to be the best out of all the cruise lines we sailed on, RCCL, NCL, Celebrity, DCL. I'd love to sail again with Princess. This cruise would be out of NY in October. Thank you!

That is an unfair question to ask IMO.  The friendly crew and great service has not changed, but 2009 is long time ago in the cruising world.  Have you looked around Princess.com?  They will tell you a lot about cruising today and also benefits are listed under Captain Circle section.

[karinad]

20 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

That is an unfair question to ask IMO.  The friendly crew and great service has not changed, but 2009 is long time ago in the cruising world.  Have you looked around Princess.com?  They will tell you a lot about cruising today and also benefits are listed under Captain Circle section.

So very sorry to offend anyone with an unfair question. I'll get off of here now and not take anyone's more of you time. I did look there before asking and some things aren't clear. Again, so sorry !

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, karinad said:

So very sorry to offend anyone with an unfair question. I'll get off of here now and not take anyone's more of you time. I did look there before asking and some things aren't clear. Again, so sorry !

It's just a tall order to try and inform someone of 14 yrs worth of changes.

 

It won’t surprise you to learn all prices are higher.

[Rick&Jeannie]

2 hours ago, karinad said:

So very sorry to offend anyone with an unfair question. I'll get off of here now and not take anyone's more of you time. I did look there before asking and some things aren't clear. Again, so sorry !

You did not offend anyone with your question...but as @Steelers36 stated, it's really hard to answer a question like that since we don't really know what you are expecting.  Please come back with some more specific questions about any particular topic and I'm quite certain that you'll get lots of help/answers.

[arizonaperson]

3 hours ago, karinad said:

We used to get a good amount of free internet minutes. Did they cut that out? The benefit listed says Princess online. What does that include?

 If you’re platinum and above  a 50% discount on the Internet. They are packages now ,there’s no minutes ,it’s unlimited for the duration of your cruise. Although I do believe you can purchase one day (24 hr block of time)and get a 50% discount as well . Everything on most cruise lines are different in 14 years time.

One difference  on Princess is the Internet. Another is no set dinner time( i.e. traditional dining time)

 To the OP @karinad-I know you said that you were done because of some other remarks, but if you ask a specific question of what has changed you might get a better answer.   I agree with another poster -it’s a tall order to ask what  has changed in 14 years because it’s quite a bit .

Edited June 3, 2023 by arizonaperson

[Steelers36]

3 hours ago, arizonaperson said:

.......... Although I do believe you can purchase one day (24 hr block of time)and get a 50% discount as well . .. 

      

Yes, we do get a discount on a single day purchase as well.... if qualify of course as Platinum or Elite.

[reedprincess]

19 hours ago, karinad said:

I'm looking at a New England/Canada cruise with Princess. We haven't sailed with them for about 14 years just because of price and itinerary. I think that we're Platinum Class. What benefits are there now? The benefits used to be the best out of all the cruise lines we sailed on, RCCL, NCL, Celebrity, DCL. I'd love to sail again with Princess. This cruise would be out of NY in October. Thank you!

What's new in 14 years?

And entirely new class of ship, the Royal class. 

New cabin category introduced with Royal class ships, the Deluxe Balcony

Alfredo's/Gigi's 

Good Spirits at Sea

Drink packages 

New specialty restaurants, Catch, Harmony, Salty Dog, etc. 

Medallion, MedallionClass app

No more blue bags

360 Dining Experience

Some new theater shows.

Fortuna Luck character

Stanley the bear

Bundled Cruise Packages that include wifi, drink packages, crew appreciation (new name for daily gratuity), etc. 

New additions to Lido deck Grill, tacos, pulled pork, etc. 

Reserve class cabins with extra perks

Concierge lounge for suite guests

New design for buffet on Royal class ships. 

 

And more..

 

Scour the website, the FAQs, etc have loads of great info.. 

 

 

Edited June 4, 2023 by reedprincess

[MissP22]

A big item for many people is the reservation system for the DR's.

Unless you make reservations right after after booking the cruise, you might run into crowds of people waiting to enter the DR. 

 

[skynight]

19 hours ago, karinad said:

We used to get a good amount of free internet minutes. Did they cut that out? The benefit listed says Princess online. What does that include?

Free minutes are gone. The plus & premier fares include unlimited internet* as well as the daily gratuities and a drink package. If you have the no frills fare you will have to purchase internet service.

*Princess calls internet service wifi. In reality wifi is free and you can connect to any onboard activity such as booking dining, ordering food or beverage and other things. It is the internet connection that has cost. If purchasing internet you might want to consider if you require one or more connections.