Unpopular Opinion: I'm excited about the changes to Plus and Premier

[drwbrt]

6 minutes ago, JGmf said:

I was an NCL devotee.  I didn't like the PC changes, but even factoring them in, Princess offers a competitive value compared to NCL.

 

I have a 10-day cruise booked with PC this winter with Princess Plus.  Can't wait!

We wanted to go back on NCL but the price was killing us. Princess won. 

[New2cruise2022]

9 minutes ago, eaflorida said:

Ditto. I am not impressed either. Have been a diamond plus cruiser on Royal Caribbean and primarily sailed with them over the last several years. Before RCL, most of my cruises were on Carnival where we have been diamond for 15 years. But earlier this year I took my first cruise on Princess. Really enjoyed the fact that there were many free items you could order through room service. It was a nice touch. My wife and I are not big drinkers, so paying for a drink package is not something that we would use. So we book the standard package. Its just unfortunate that the bean counters at Carnival took away a nice benefit that separated Princess from the other cruise lines. Will this in itself cause us to no longer cruise Princess? No it wont. As always, itinerary and price are important. But I do believe this will cause others to look at other cruiselines. 

The bean counters at Carnival have Princess AND Carnival. Carnival continues to offer plenty of included dining at the standard cruise fare — probably the most at sea. They have another offering in a completely different cruise line. For the people that don’t drink, migrate to Carnival. 

[New2cruise2022]

3 minutes ago, drwbrt said:

We wanted to go back on NCL but the price was killing us. Princess won. 

We tried. A hundred times to get back to NCL because we liked the Bliss so much. NCL proved to be a value and budget loser every way that we looked at it. 

[drwbrt]

14 minutes ago, CanuckCurlers said:

I agree with this and I think they realized their loyalty customers were ageing and not purchasing the expensive drink packages. The older Millennials who were maturing and having children were leaving Carnival and choosing Royal Caribbean. In my opinion Carnival is now using the Princess ships and their new packages with a cheaper drink package and more WIFI options to attract this clientele group. Look at the plans for the new Sun. Up until now multigenerational groups were pretty much the only children you saw on board and my guess is that Grandpa and Grandma were footing the bill. I can see why the poster is liking the new packages, they are the clientele that Princess marketing is trying to attract. They won't mind if the previous loyal Princess cruisers switch to Celebrity, the money still goes in their pocket.  

So well said. House of brands, figure out how to put customers in the right brand and collect the money. 

[New2cruise2022]

Good purchasing for any product — in this case travel — is understanding first who you are a traveler. What do you value and what are your resources. You are one person on a ship of thousands. The cruise line offers a product for thousands. You have to decide if their offering is close enough to you value and what your resources are. It isn’t a personal slight to you if their business model shifts and your values and resources can’t track with the changes … even if you are a loyal customer. 

[villauk]

39 minutes ago, PMGS247 said:

but not much of a change for anyone who was already a plus or premier customer.

I’m on a Plus package and it’s a big change for me!

[drwbrt]

4 minutes ago, villauk said:

I’m on a Plus package and it’s a big change for me!

Genuinely curious, what do you feel like the shift is? Just losing unlimited access to GiGi’s?

[BlerkOne]

For those hoping the stock tanks, my CCL stock has more than doubled in price. If anything, migrate to HAL.

[memoak]

15 minutes ago, villauk said:

I’m on a Plus package and it’s a big change for me!

What no pizza every day ?  You can still go twice or spend your 2 casual meals at different spots that used to cost money. Unless you have an old plus fare then it is your choice to upgrade or not

[PMGS247]

29 minutes ago, villauk said:

I’m on a Plus package and it’s a big change for me!

 

As others have asked I'm really curious what drives this big change.

 

Gigi's/Alfredo's now being covered by the 2x per cruise casual dining rather than free & unlimited is the only notable downside I can see. Even that's kind of offset by the fact that the 2x casual dining now opens up other places like o'malley's, salty dog, planks, steamers options for included meals as well.

[New2cruise2022]

4 minutes ago, PMGS247 said:

 

As others have asked I'm really curious what drives this big change.

 

Gigi's/Alfredo's now being covered by the 2x per cruise casual dining rather than free & unlimited is the only notable downside I can see. Even that's kind of offset by the fact that the 2x casual dining now opens up other places like o'malley's, salty dog, planks, steamers options for included meals as well.

Exactly. I’ll be on the Discovery with Premium. This means I can do pizza, burgers, or sushi. Every day. Or, I can do pizza, burgers AND sushi. Everyday. Pretty good value and options.

[getaway101]

2 hours ago, drwbrt said:

@Mike45LC my upgrade to Premier includes reserved seating so while those may not be less crowded, I won't be fighting for a seat.  Thanks for pointing out additional value I'm getting!

We are also Premier but you do realize that the reserved seating is only for Production Shows.  Still a plus IMO

[New2cruise2022]

I think Princess has figured out how to set the margins. One of the seeming oversights of the new program is accounting for the disparity in cruise length. Lots of discussion about offering the same 2 casual meals for Plus or the 2 specialty meals for Premium, regardless of the length of the cruise — 5 vs 7, and week long cruising. 
 

The weeks on end cruisers really just may not opt for Plus and Premium. But this cruiser is different from the 5 and 7 night cruisers. Just guessing, but average age for longer cruisers is older. And on longer cruises it is more port heavy. On more port heavy cruises, cruisers rely more on MDR and buffet because they spend their dollars in port. That is great, but those dollars don’t help cruise lines stay afloat. By reducing the free offerings of Gigis and Alfredo’s, those consumers will either spend more or the cruise line can improve margins in the MDR and buffet. 

[Bgwest]

2 hours ago, wcflats said:

Princess in my opinion is trying to move us long time loyal princess cruisers to another cruise line.  

We will all kick, scream and gnash our teeth for some obligatory mourning period then we will all carry on with Princess. Business as usual. 

[PMGS247]

3 minutes ago, New2cruise2022 said:

Exactly. I’ll be on the Discovery with Premium. This means I can do pizza, burgers, or sushi. Every day. Or, I can do pizza, burgers AND sushi. Everyday. Pretty good value and options.

Undoubtedly part of their plan with this was to spread the crowds that are overflowing at Gigi's/Alfredo's to the relatively empty other casual dining spots.  It makes sense. There was a lack of balance.  It was a great deal to freeload on the quality pizza, but it was always overflowing with people while other food options sat empty.  I saw this coming miles away.  Still free pizza up on the Lido.

 

[rosevew]

14 minutes ago, PMGS247 said:

 

As others have asked I'm really curious what drives this big change.

 

Gigi's/Alfredo's now being covered by the 2x per cruise casual dining rather than free & unlimited is the only notable downside I can see. Even that's kind of offset by the fact that the 2x casual dining now opens up other places like o'malley's, salty dog, planks, steamers options for included meals as well.

Not much good on the ships that have none of those options though!

[rosevew]

35 minutes ago, memoak said:

What no pizza every day ?  You can still go twice or spend your 2 casual meals at different spots that used to cost money. Unless you have an old plus fare then it is your choice to upgrade or not

Only the ships have those options and not all do. We are on a 24 night on Sky which only has Alfredo's and a Sushi place

[rosevew]

2 minutes ago, PMGS247 said:

Undoubtedly part of their plan with this was to spread the crowds that are overflowing at Gigi's/Alfredo's to the relatively empty other casual dining spots.  It makes sense. There was a lack of balance.  It was a great deal to freeload on the quality pizza, but it was always overflowing with people while other food options sat empty.  I saw this coming miles away.  Still free pizza up on the Lido.

 

I've seldom seen a queue at Alfredo's on Sky.

[New2cruise2022]

1 minute ago, getaway101 said:

We are also Premier but you do realize that the reserved seating is only for Production Shows.  Still a plus IMO

Premier helps passengers extract the most value out of a cruise. Whether they do or not is immaterial if they have the resources to pay for Premier. Maybe they only use two causal dinings over 7 days, but go to a production show and get coffee from international cafe. 
 

Younger consumers drink water. Lots of it. Included. And they drink less alcohol right now. So you have to include packages that being value beyond alcohol to capture the extra revenue (Wi-Fi, gratuities, fitness classes, water, coffee, mocktails). 
 

Change is always a gamble but I think Princess knows the odds and the payouts of these changes. 

[PMGS247]

Just now, rosevew said:

Not much good on the ships that have none of those options though!

 

I mean there aren't many ships that don't have any of them, (if any? I'm too lazy to go research it) but I'll bet my next paycheck there's no ships that ONLY have a Gigi's/Alfredo's but no other casual dining options.

[getaway101]

1 hour ago, PrincessLuver said:

 

I agree.  They are throwing in a couple free pizzas, two workout classes, and some DQ deserts and people are just going gaga.  I doubt these are the cruisers who sail on Princesses 20+ day cruises or World Cruises.  Probably 7 day cruisers.  And nobody knows for sure that 75% of these packages are being bought on cruisers.  Speculation run rampant on CC as usual.  Princess should start selling timeshares next onboard because it sound like they may have a built in customer base.

I am one of those 20+ day cruisers.  We are on a 25 day in Sept.  27 day next May and 33 day next Sept.   I still think that Princess has the best loyalty program.  Yes they took away the minutes for WIFI and for a very good reason IMO. Everyday the line of people complaining they lost their minutes because they forgot to log out.  Princess is the last one that allows stockholders to still claim the OBC even though they got a special deal or have other OBC.  Royal & Celebrity did away with that years ago. 

[New2cruise2022]

4 minutes ago, getaway101 said:

I am one of those 20+ day cruisers.  We are on a 25 day in Sept.  27 day next May and 33 day next Sept.   I still think that Princess has the best loyalty program.  Yes they took away the minutes for WIFI and for a very good reason IMO. Everyday the line of people complaining they lost their minutes because they forgot to log out.  Princess is the last one that allows stockholders to still claim the OBC even though they got a special deal or have other OBC.  Royal & Celebrity did away with that years ago. 

What a refreshing perspective. Cruise ships aren’t empty. The problem with loyalty members is they sometimes think they are doing the company a favor. Diminishing returns implies this isn’t the case. Loyalty programs have to support a smart business model. They can’t just be a deep-good giveaway that loses money for the company … unless Hallmark launches a cruise line. Then, maybe. 

[rosevew]

5 minutes ago, PMGS247 said:

 

I mean there aren't many ships that don't have any of them, (if any? I'm too lazy to go research it) but I'll bet my next paycheck there's no ships that ONLY have a Gigi's/Alfredo's but no other casual dining options.

Sky has just Alfredo's, Ocean Terrace and a Vines wine bar. OK if you like Sushi, I suppose. And there wasn't been food offered in Vines on Sky when we were on last summer. The offerings shown for Vines (that do offer food) is just one starter, one main charcuterie board and a dessert. Caribbean, Coral and Diamond don't have any, as far as I'm aware.

[getaway101]

13 minutes ago, PMGS247 said:

 

I mean there aren't many ships that don't have any of them, (if any? I'm too lazy to go research it) but I'll bet my next paycheck there's no ships that ONLY have a Gigi's/Alfredo's but no other casual dining options.

Isn't the Salty Dog the burgers and hot dogs up by the pool?  Asking for a friend....🤪

[JG&Lcruisingnewbies]

Can I add that they are not just upsetting loyal customers. They are deterring new & potentially new cruisers from cruising Princess again, or at all. Some customers lost they won’t care. But right now, if you are looking at reviews, social media and very prominent bloggers/vloggers to see if Princess is right for you, you will be met with a whole load of discontent. Not just grumbles. It’s not encouraging. The scale of the upset now will only increase too. As unhappy cruisers who only just heard about these changes onboard go on to review the cruise.

 

So many passengers who have booked standard or old packages will step on board with no knowledge of changes until a letter is given to them as they begin their holiday. Spare a thought for the staff having to field these complaints too. And the atmosphere on board for cruisers & staff on the first voyages.

 

Because It’s not just the ££. It’s the poor implementation & communication and tbh right now it feels like they are treating passengers like numpties.
 

They are telling us that charging for things we thought we’d paid for already months ago is giving me & others in a similar boat (so to speak) more value for this cruise. 🤔 I don’t believe this is all to reduce food waste either 🙄

 

I hope time shows that these extra costs can improve offerings. Quality of food, speed of service etc. so with that said, OP I hope you get the better experience you hope you will get, & I hope you enjoy your cruise.

 

I’m sure I’ll enjoy mine too. I’ll make sure of it whatever happens 😊