Changes Coming to Plus/Premier Packages?

[nymshowdown]

Princess sending out surveys about Plus/Premier packages. Looks like they might be considering some new benefits such as shore excursion credits (meh) and unlimited specialty dining (woah)

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

It will be interesting to see if they actually move forward with including the Excursion OBC option, as that might get us to reconsider booking our cruises with Plus again. Since we recently made Elite and really don't drink that much alcohol to make it cost-effective, we've decided to pass on booking cruises with it. However, if they start to include Excursion OBC like NCL does with their FAS Plus package, we may have to reconsider our decision. 

[msmoger]

I'm guessing this post might be pulled by the mods.  They make it very clear that you're not supposed to share any parts of the surveys on social media.  I'm not trying to give you a hard time.  Just trying to give you a heads up.

[LACruiser88]

The big change that most folks are hoping for is changing the 2 casual dining meals on the Plus Package for longer voyages.  It should probably be 2 per week?

[cr8tiv1]

Any "additional" perk will have to be offset with a price increase (to justify adding more perks.  Look what they did to the $50/pp for Plus increase.  Added specialty desserts (2 x a day) and gym classes.  Both of which I would not partake in.

 

Then they added 2 specialty dinners to the Premier, making it harder for everyone to get reservations at the Crown Grill/Sabatini's.  Let's do some math here.  An extra $20 a day for 2 specialty dinners.  

 

10 day cruise = $200 extra for 2 dinners (per person).  Without the package, you could independently book 5 dinners at the Crown Grill (5 x $40).  I know....there were other inclusions, mostly costing Princess nothing (photos, reserved seating, higher beverages costs, etc).  Princess wins ALL the time.

 

 

[voljeep]

NO and NO !

 

if anything, take out the fluff in the PLUS and Premier, reduce the price, and get it back to basics of the old BEST. SALE. EVEH.  Drinks, Grats, Wifi .

 

I know, I know

[voljeep]

1 minute ago, cr8tiv1 said:

Any "additional" perk will have to be offset with a price increase (to justify adding more perks.  Look what they did to the $50/pp for Plus increase.  Added specialty desserts (2 x a day) and gym classes.  Both of which I would not partake in.

 

Then they added 2 specialty dinners to the Premier, making it harder for everyone to get reservations at the Crown Grill/Sabatini's.  Let's do some math here.  An extra $20 a day for 2 specialty dinners.  

 

10 day cruise = $200 extra for 2 dinners (per person).  Without the package, you could independently book 5 dinners at the Crown Grill (5 x $40).  I know....there were other inclusions, mostly costing Princess nothing (photos, reserved seating, higher beverages costs, etc).  Princess wins ALL the time.

 

 

always PLUS - but upgraded to Premier on the little 5 day'er

[cr8tiv1]

2 minutes ago, voljeep said:

always PLUS - but upgraded to Premier on the little 5 day'er

 

Yes, I can see the benefit of upgrading to Premier for a short cruise.  All the advantages without breaking the bank.

 

YES, YES, YES....bring back the $50 Plus without the extras.  Call it Economy Plus or Basic Plus!

[nymshowdown]

1 hour ago, msmoger said:

I'm guessing this post might be pulled by the mods.  They make it very clear that you're not supposed to share any parts of the surveys on social media.  I'm not trying to give you a hard time.  Just trying to give you a heads up.

Didn't know! If they wish to pull it please go ahead, was an honest mistake. 

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

Yet another excuse to put up the price. DOH!

[memoak]

Unlimited speciality dinners would max out every venue and have a lot of unhappy people

[Astro Flyer]

Last year Oceania created Simply More cruise fares that added tour only credits and a beer/wine package at lunch & dinner.
 

We don’t want those add ons however since they eliminated standard fares we likely won’t sail with them again. Of course prices increased by adding those things that we don’t want & I don’t want to see Princess to do something similar.
 

Edited March 29 by Astro Flyer

[jagoffee]

48 minutes ago, Snaxmuppet said:

Yet another excuse to put up the price. DOH!

I agree. I suspect some people are not connecting the dots.  Personally I do not think either one of those two options are worth a price increase.  I am not sure if the survey shared what the cost would be.  

[cyndyga]

With all the people that have the Plus and Premiere package they couldn't do unlimited specialty dining without limiting the amount of Plus/Premiere packages...no way with the limited venues they could fit that inclusion...

[kywildcatfanone]

You guys realize new "benefits" will include a price increase,  which is the goal, right?

[PacnGoNow]

1 hour ago, memoak said:

Unlimited speciality dinners would max out every venue and have a lot of unhappy people

Exactly my thoughts.  You would never get a reservation at a SD.

 

 

[memoak]

7 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

Exactly my thoughts.  You would never get a reservation at a SD.

 

 

And then we would all be asking for refunds. They may cave in and give a few extra meals on longer cruises but if you add unlimited casual to plus packages it would take things back to having hour long waits to get into Alfredo’s 

[Thrak]

Unlimited Specialty Dining = Disaster. What a horrendously stupid idea.

[Hillmom]

I wish they'd just fix the issue that whether your cruise be a 5 day or a 35 day - you still get only two meals.....  Yes, of course, drinks and tips scale with number of days, but much of the rest does not. 

[chamima]

3 hours ago, LACruiser88 said:

The big change that most folks are hoping for is changing the 2 casual dining meals on the Plus Package for longer voyages.  It should probably be 2 per week?

 

I used to think that also but we are currently booked for 39 days on the Sun and the only 2 "casual" restaurants are Alfredos and O'Malleys (which is only open for dinner). They made Kai Sushi and everything else "Specialty" restaurants. So don't need more casual meals on that ship!

[LACruiser88]

6 minutes ago, chamima said:

 

I used to think that also but we are currently booked for 39 days on the Sun and the only 2 "casual" restaurants are Alfredos and O'Malleys (which is only open for dinner). They made Kai Sushi and everything else "Specialty" restaurants. So don't need more casual meals on that ship!

I concur when it comes to the Sun.  That really sucks!

 

We have at least 6 future bookings (not on the Sun) of 30+ days in length where we could use more included casual meals with our Plus Package.

[jeromep]

Having studied marketing research, and worked in organizations that have used marketing research for decision making, a survey doesn't necessarily mean that something is coming.  And if something is coming, it doesn't mean soon.  Marketing research is about answering questions.  Questions usually posed by management in which there is no other way to get a meaningful answer, but to find a sample of consumers and ask them what they think.  Sometimes marketing research tells you valuable things you didn't know before, sometimes it tells you, what you want to hear, and sometimes it leaves you exactly where you started, with unanswered questions.  A skilled company knows how much to rely on marketing research and focus groups and when to not follow the information that comes out of research.  It is an art and skill.

 

Princess does have to be careful, putting more comped dining into Plus and Premier means more difficulty getting reservations in specialty restaurants and those newly minted "casual dining" venues.  It also ads complexity to the on board experience.

[Cubgal25]

5 hours ago, nymshowdown said:

Princess sending out surveys about Plus/Premier packages. Looks like they might be considering some new benefits such as shore excursion credits (meh) and unlimited specialty dining (woah)

 

 

 

[Cubgal25]

We had $200 shore excursion credit on HAL. I like that feature.

I have had Plus in the past, but for our next one we booked Premier. 

Celebrity might want to reconsider dropping gratuities in their all in option. Princess is a much better value. The 3 premium lines often cost less than the others with what they include. 

[BamaVol]

Is it possible that Princess is exploring a third package with additional benefits?  That would somewhat limit the extra load on SD.