July 1 - Currently onboard / Loyalty and Events Officer duties???

[cr8tiv1]

Senior moment.  Loyalty and Events Officer told me in May that her job was changing.  I think I heard June 15?  But it could have been July 1?  She would be in charge of events on the ship while the Loyalty part would move over to the Future Cruise "team".

 

Events:  Meet and Greet, weddings, and other functions that would require coordination of venues, officers, crew, etc.

 

Loyalty:  Captain Circle Party, Most Traveled Luncheon, and anything that has to do with your loyalty level.

 

Here's the gray area:  She mentioned something about suites on the Grand Class ships.  There will NOT be any lounge, but there will be a concierge to assist suite guests.  

 

Has anyone been on a Grand Class ship with these new assignments?  What is being offered?  What has changed?

[memoak]

At the June Discovery Most Traveled lunch the loyalty officer was there but the presentation was done br future cruises. Seemed to be a transition period

[kiwimum]

2 hours ago, memoak said:

At the June Discovery Most Traveled lunch the loyalty officer was there but the presentation was done br future cruises. Seemed to be a transition period

The transition took place June 25.   What her new position is was left hanging.    Discovery has 6 Future Cruise staff onboard.

[Guest ldtr]

My understanding is that they were offered two options.  Option 1 - Move into a special events coordinator role (stay a Princess employee and a ships officer) or 2. Go to work in the future cruise department as a contractor (nolonger an officer or a Princess employee). The ones I know were not at all happy.

[Ombud]

I found the Future Cruise Consultants on the Emerald Princess 5/27/23-6/17/23 to be useless. (1) didn't know the difference between refare and rebook (2) stated the voyage I was interested in was no longer booking solos reserving all rooms for dbl occupancy (3) referred me to the Cruise Vacation Planning dept if I wanted to sail again.  Texted my CVP who booked me

[Guest ldtr]

8 hours ago, Ombud said:

I found the Future Cruise Consultants on the Emerald Princess 5/27/23-6/17/23 to be useless. (1) didn't know the difference between refare and rebook (2) stated the voyage I was interested in was no longer booking solos reserving all rooms for dbl occupancy (3) referred me to the Cruise Vacation Planning dept if I wanted to sail again.  Texted my CVP who booked me

All of the people in the future cruise department are employees of ONE, Open Network Exchange. They are nolonger Princess employees.

 

The same company that was making the calls a few months ago pushing the hotel, Cruise, packages.

 

The couple that started and own the company, had sold their previous business. One that allowed people to exchange timeshare weeks for cruises.

[Ombud]

ONE also handles onboard future cruise sales for Royal Caribbean according to 1 employee. She worked for Princess prior to shutdown then found a job with RCCL transferred back to Princess once that dept was shifted to ONE. No thank you -- I was insulted / confused when she said (and supervisor reiterated) that they couldn't sell me a voyage but could sell me a pkg for $3300 for an unknown week. Do I look stupid???? 

 

At my next M&G I'm going to ask that the future cruise dept not be invited. 

[Ken the cruiser]

Please tell me we can purchase FCDs using the app while onboard, or will we have to go to the Future Cruise department to purchase them there?

[Ombud]

I *think* you can but I turned my form into them (at the same time they were unable to book me) and I was never charged. Next time I'm doing it online as that shouldn't need human interaction 

 

Have any other solos had a problem with ONE?

[Guest ldtr]

22 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Please tell me we can purchase FCDs using the app while onboard, or will we have to go to the Future Cruise department to purchase them there?

Yes you can buy them via App.

[cr8tiv1]

Thanks for the information about Future Cruise Department,  I know about them.  And I received information about Loyalty officer.  He/she is now back of house.

 

More interested in hearing about concierge service on Grand Class ships.  

[SCX22]

4 hours ago, Ombud said:

Have any other solos had a problem with ONE?

 

No problems with the GO Princess! reps on the Majestic Princess.  They were able to book our cruise buddy in a single cabin on one of the cruises on their current 50% off list.  The onboard pricing wiped out the single supplement.

 

Wouldn't get worked up over the reps.  It's a known issue for Princess to limit number of single cruisers on a given cruise.  

 

Princess changed their Future Cruise Department business model and these guys are only doing their jobs.  They are no longer pushing these packages over the phone (Princess cruisers got mad at that) and are now pushing them onboard the ships.  They are just doing what they were told to do.  To be honest, they only mention the Princess Promotions at the end and it wasn't pushy, at least not for us.  The option to decline is all there.

 

As far as the FCDs, people should really stop using the paper forms.  It a waste of paper and it just creates more work because someone else has to manually enter it in.  It's one of the functions of the Medallion App that works.  After, purchasing the FCD through the app, the confirmation e-mail populates your inbox in a matter of minutes.

[Guest ldtr]

30 minutes ago, SCX22 said:

 

No problems with the GO Princess! reps on the Majestic Princess.  They were able to book our cruise buddy in a single cabin on one of the cruises on their current 50% off list.  The onboard pricing wiped out the single supplement.

 

Wouldn't get worked up over the reps.  It's a known issue for Princess to limit number of single cruisers on a given cruise.  

 

Princess changed their Future Cruise Department business model and these guys are only doing their jobs.  They are no longer pushing these packages over the phone (Princess cruisers got mad at that) and are now pushing them onboard the ships.  They are just doing what they were told to do.  To be honest, they only mention the Princess Promotions at the end and it wasn't pushy, at least not for us.  The option to decline is all there.

 

As far as the FCDs, people should really stop using the paper forms.  It a waste of paper and it just creates more work because someone else has to manually enter it in.  It's one of the functions of the Medallion App that works.  After, purchasing the FCD through the app, the confirmation e-mail populates your inbox in a matter of minutes.

The biggest change is going from a salaried Princess employee, usually very long term. To a contract staff that is paid based upon sales. It was also ONE that pushed for Princess to move the loyalty functions to their department instead of the Princess employed loyalty host. Their arguement was that it would enable them to sell more cruises.

 

According to the former loyalty host on one ship they made that push without even knowing or understanding all of the back office work the loyalty host did each cruise.

[SCX22]

32 minutes ago, ldtr said:

The biggest change is going from a salaried Princess employee, usually very long term. To a contract staff that is paid based upon sales. It was also ONE that pushed for Princess to move the loyalty functions to their department instead of the Princess employed loyalty host. Their arguement was that it would enable them to sell more cruises.

 

According to the former loyalty host on one ship they made that push without even knowing or understanding all of the back office work the loyalty host did each cruise.

 

No reason to be disgruntled at the front line employees of Go Princess!.  Regardless of the politics behind it, ultimately it was Princess management that chose to reorganize the Future Cruise Department.

 

If a passenger doesn't want to support Go Princess! because of the politics of the change, there are other avenues of booking future cruises shoreside.  I do see the potential of boosting future cruise sales because now there are more reps to serve passengers wanting to book future cruises.  Prior, there was usually only one Future Cruise rep and if there was a line, most passengers didn't bother.

 

As far as the Loyalty responsibilities being taken over, I haven't noticed a difference.  There was a Captain's Circle Party with an open bar and the Most Travelled Luncheon still occurred.  There is no obligation to attend either event, if invited; both are completely optional.  Most will probably continue to attend.  Captain's Circle Members can go to the Go Princess! desk to have their problems taken care of and it is open longer than the few hours a day the Captain's Circle Host desk ever was.

 

It's no different than the current state of layoffs with U.S. tech companies.  It's a strategic move, not a personal attack.  At least the Princess employees affected were given a choice.

[Guest ldtr]

1 hour ago, SCX22 said:

 

No reason to be disgruntled at the front line employees of Go Princess!.  Regardless of the politics behind it, ultimately it was Princess management that chose to reorganize the Future Cruise Department.

 

If a passenger doesn't want to support Go Princess! because of the politics of the change, there are other avenues of booking future cruises shoreside.  I do see the potential of boosting future cruise sales because now there are more reps to serve passengers wanting to book future cruises.  Prior, there was usually only one Future Cruise rep and if there was a line, most passengers didn't bother.

 

As far as the Loyalty responsibilities being taken over, I haven't noticed a difference.  There was a Captain's Circle Party with an open bar and the Most Travelled Luncheon still occurred.  There is no obligation to attend either event, if invited; both are completely optional.  Most will probably continue to attend.  Captain's Circle Members can go to the Go Princess! desk to have their problems taken care of and it is open longer than the few hours a day the Captain's Circle Host desk ever was.

 

It's no different than the current state of layoffs with U.S. tech companies.  It's a strategic move, not a personal attack.  At least the Princess employees affected were given a choice.

I might agree with you if the service from that department was as good as before the change. So far it is not. They have more people and it is easier to talk to them. Unlike before the change when there was one very knowledgeable person when you usually needed to make an appointment.

 

 Since the change I have found that for many requests such as taking advantage of a sail to refare a cruise or to upgrade cabins, or to add another cruise on to an existing b2b I have run into lack of interest, indications that they did not understand how to service the request or in one case tried and ended up messing up a booking so badly that it was easier to cancel then to try and straighten out once I got home.

 

I spend a lot of time on board ship. As a result it is not easy to work through shoreside customer service when sales come up or other changes occur. As such the future cruise rep was the goto person to handle such issues 

 

Since the change they seem more qualified to hand out brochures and maybe take simple bookings but not demonstrating a deep understanding of the itineraries and an indepth understanding of the booking system and policies.

[SCX22]

7 minutes ago, ldtr said:

I might agree with you if the service from that department was as good as before the change. So far it is not. They have more people and it is easier to talk to them. Unlike before the change when there was one very knowledgeable person when you usually needed to make an appointment.

 

 Since the change I have found that for many requests such as taking advantage of a sail to refare a cruise or to upgrade cabins, or to add another cruise on to an existing b2b I have run into lack of interest, indications that they did not understand how to service the request or in one case tried and ended up messing up a booking so badly that it was easier to cancel then to try and straighten out once I got home.

 

I spend a lot of time on board ship. As a result it is not easy to work through shoreside customer service when sales come up or other changes occur. As such the future cruise rep was the goto person to handle such issues 

 

Since the change they seem more qualified to hand out brochures and maybe take simple bookings but not demonstrating a deep understanding of the itineraries and an indepth understanding of the booking system and policies.

  

I understand that you have a unique situation.  However, Princess most likely didn't have passengers like you in mind when they decided to make this switch.  There is probably a very small percentage who cruise like you do and have as many future cruises as you do.  The Go Princess! Team is there to make NEW bookings.  Even prior to this change, I wouldn't expect Future Cruise rep to service an existing booking.  They wouldn't be getting credit towards their quota by doing this.  It's no different shoreside, when TAs and CVPs won't service a booking that isn't credited to them or their agency.

 

You should find a Princess CVP will be highly responsive to your requests by e-mail.  I have one of these and she is great.  I transact with her almost exclusively through e-mail and don't really need to talk to her unless she's taking my CC info for final payment.

[Guest ldtr]

14 minutes ago, SCX22 said:

  

I understand that you have a unique situation.  However, Princess most likely didn't have passengers like you in mind when they decided to make this switch.  There is probably a very small percentage who cruise like you do and have as many future cruises as you do.  The Go Princess! Team is there to make NEW bookings.  Even prior to this change, I wouldn't expect Future Cruise rep to service an existing booking.  They wouldn't be getting credit towards their quota by doing this.  It's no different shoreside, when TAs and CVPs won't service a booking that isn't credited to them or their agency.

 

You should find a Princess CVP will be highly responsive to your requests by e-mail.  I have one of these and she is great.  I transact with her almost exclusively through e-mail and don't really need to talk to her unless she's taking my CC info for final payment.

Yep a lot of people that they can sell to without really having to understand the product. Just like the time share exchange industry that the companies owners came out.

[cr8tiv1]

OP here.

 

I started this thread to find an answer to Grand Class ship concierge host.

 

I understood Princess' decision to revamp the Loyalty and Events Officer's duties.  

 

I am trying to get clarity on Isadora's comment about Grand Class ships getting the same level of service that the Royal Class suite passengers have without the lounge.

 

Would someone who is in a Suite on a Grand Class ship address this new perk?

 

 

[HaveDogWillTravel]

2 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:

OP here.

 

I started this thread to find an answer to Grand Class ship concierge host.

 

I understood Princess' decision to revamp the Loyalty and Events Officer's duties.  

 

I am trying to get clarity on Isadora's comment about Grand Class ships getting the same level of service that the Royal Class suite passengers have without the lounge.

 

Would someone who is in a Suite on a Grand Class ship address this new perk?

 

 

Hi!  I am sadly not in a full suite on Emerald right now (but am loving the mini).  I will ask if this ship has a concierge for full suites and what they can/can’t do though. 
 

We were in the Grand suite on Diamond Jan 30 to Feb (9th? 10th?) this year. On that sailing I received a call from the loyalty and events person introducing themselves as the suite concierge.  I went down and chatted with her and she did take care of a service issue I was having difficulty getting resolved. At that time it was just pilot program and her hours were pretty limited. I gave some feedback on the program and I will be interested to see how it’s morphed since then.  
 

Sorry your thread got off track. It can be frustrating…..

[SCX22]

1 minute ago, ldtr said:

Yep a lot of people that they can sell to without really having to understand the product. Just like the time share exchange industry that the companies owners came out.

 

There's a requisite of understanding the product offered by Princess by being a current passenger.  It's for the passenger to decide if taking another cruise with Princess is for them.  The Go Princess team can lead them to water and give options but ultimately can't make them drink.  They can present itineraries and give pricing.  Not sure how much more they can do.  From my experience they are fully capable and understand the booking engine when it comes to making new bookings.  Given their job responsibility to make new onboard bookings and meet quotas, you can't really expect them to know how to service a booking with a complicated request.

 

Time will tell if this was the correct decision for Princess management to switch.  My CVP has stated to me the the Go Princess team has helped to fill ships once final payment has passed by offering 50% off cruise fares departing in 50 days or less.  

 

Sorry to the OP.

[memoak]

22 minutes ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

Hi!  I am sadly not in a full suite on Emerald right now (but am loving the mini).  I will ask if this ship has a concierge for full suites and what they can/can’t do though. 
 

We were in the Grand suite on Diamond Jan 30 to Feb (9th? 10th?) this year. On that sailing I received a call from the loyalty and events person introducing themselves as the suite concierge.  I went down and chatted with her and she did take care of a service issue I was having difficulty getting resolved. At that time it was just pilot program and her hours were pretty limited. I gave some feedback on the program and I will be interested to see how it’s morphed since then.  
 

Sorry your thread got off track. It can be frustrating…..

One of the concierge crew on the Discovery told me he believed that the old loyalty managers would be taking on the role just without a lounge on non Royal class ships. The are not going to reappoint any space to a lounge

[cr8tiv1]

45 minutes ago, memoak said:

One of the concierge crew on the Discovery told me he believed that the old loyalty managers would be taking on the role just without a lounge on non Royal class ships. The are not going to reappoint any space to a lounge

 

Thanks for confirming what I "thought" I heard in May.  

 

@HaveDogWillTravel Thanks for going the extra mile.  I will soon find out for myself.  It is what it is...with or without a concierge.  Would be nice, since I won't be on a Royal/Sun Class ship in the future.

[milolii]

@cr8tiv1 thanks for the thread.  I would also be interested in any information about a concierge  on non Royal class ships. 
 

@memoak and @HaveDogWillTravel thanks for your reports. 

 

 

We are on the Island in a few weeks and wondering about a concierge as well.  We will miss the lounge for sure. 
 

 

[Steelers36]

12 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Please tell me we can purchase FCDs using the app while onboard, or will we have to go to the Future Cruise department to purchase them there?

They are sold on the App, but you used to be able to pick up the form anonymously and drop it in the box anonymously.  I have bought our recent ones using the App - NP.

Edited July 3, 2023 by Steelers36

[Guest ldtr]

5 hours ago, SCX22 said:

 

There's a requisite of understanding the product offered by Princess by being a current passenger.  It's for the passenger to decide if taking another cruise with Princess is for them.  The Go Princess team can lead them to water and give options but ultimately can't make them drink.  They can present itineraries and give pricing.  Not sure how much more they can do.  From my experience they are fully capable and understand the booking engine when it comes to making new bookings.  Given their job responsibility to make new onboard bookings and meet quotas, you can't really expect them to know how to service a booking with a complicated request.

 

Time will tell if this was the correct decision for Princess management to switch.  My CVP has stated to me the the Go Princess team has helped to fill ships once final payment has passed by offering 50% off cruise fares departing in 50 days or less.  

 

Sorry to the OP.

That was a function of the FCD prior to the change. According to the head of the department on my last 3 cruises it is still supposed to be if they can actually be bothered to do so.

 

However some do not seem to understand, some cannot be bothered, some do not even understand the recent changes in Princess policy concerning refundable vs non refundable, or the lowest category in each meta category being guarantee only.

 

I have seen them give out incorrect information to people trying to book. 

 

The main reason they wanted to take over the loyalty duties is to get access to and use cruise history as part of the sales process. As in oh you are X days from loyalty tier Y. if you book this cruise you will have that status afterwards.

 

The head of the department on each ship usually understand the policies at least, but the people that work for them not so much.

 

If they are to be simple order takers they could have replaced the department with a terminal, a set of instructions and a stack of brochures.