Princess Corp is watching!

[mk0572]

Dear Princess -- if you really do read these boards, pleases improve your coffee! :p

 

The tea is pretty awful too!

:(

[NJRonbo]

Philip,

 

As one who has made a few complaints (but overall loved the cruise),

let me be the first to admit that your post above is not only an excellent

read, but makes a lot of sense.

 

Do you work for Princess? It seems to be worded in that fashion.

 

Firstly, forums like this (and I run one of my own) are primarily a place

for people to complain -- not that they mean to -- but it offers them the

chance to question practices and to generally vent. I think in general

there are the few that do have legitimate concerns and the rest of us

just nitpick despite the fact we had a wonderful cruise.

 

You made some great points about some of the issues I have personally

brought up about "nickel and diming" as well as "towel animals."

 

Certainly, if everything were free on a cruise, the price of traveling

would be substantially more expensive. There are people who can

enjoy a cruise without spending an extra dime on the soda or Internet.

I also agree that if these things were being offered for free or even at

a reduced price they would be abused. Just look at the increased

lines at Scoops this past week when they were giving away Ice Cream

for free. I am sure that is causing Princess a lot of extra money.

 

Since I am the person responsible for the "nickel and dime" comment

allow me to elaborate a little further about what I found to be excessive

hawking of products on the cruise. It seemed everywhere you looked

Princess was pushing products. First day at lunch someone came over

pushing soda and coffee cards. First time at Crown Grill the waiter was

pushing a wine tasting event. Every time I turned on the TV I had to

wade through channels dedicated to Princess pushing cruises or products.

That's the stuff I find excessive, but you know what? Every cruise line

is doing it. Perhaps the way to look at it is that travel prices are kept

down as long as the cruise companies can make it up in other ways.

 

Ultimately, all of us mean well. I think sometimes there are legitimate

concerns that Princess will be able to digest while wading through the

multitude of daily posts here.

[Live4Vacay]

Philip,

 

I too agree that your post makes a lot of sense. However, like the previous poster said about "nickle & diming," there are obviously ways to reduce the impression of doing so without eliminating the "have it your way" experience. For example, at dinner we are supposed to dress formally, but then you come around and interrupt our meal and conversation so you can sell us pics & wine tastings - how TACKY can you get? Not a deal-breaker here because I still love Princess, but thought you should know.

 

Phillip, if you work for Princess, I understand your need to explain. However, you come off a bit sarcastic and defensive. Here are my other suggestions. I don't think there is too much to debate about this, so you can go ahead and tell your superiors what would be appreciated by Princess's customers.

 

1) Alocholic drink cards. I hate signing every time I want a beer. Gets real old, real fast.

 

2) View account from t.v. in stateroom.

 

3) Train your home office customer relations dept. Too many inconsistent answers and can be rather rude.

 

I can't imagine anyone objecting to these requests. However, if there are arguments for waiting in line at Pursers desk to check account, and for waiting extra long to get drinks because bartenders have to print receipts after EVERY order, I'd like to hear them, please.

[phabric]

Philip,

 

1) Alocholic drink cards. I hate signing every time I want a beer. Gets real old, real fast.

 

When we went on Carnival, we were able to order from "Gifts" - Bar Credit (4 drink coupons) for $21.25 and Soft Beverage Coupons (4 coupons) for $7.75 this price also included the 15% tip.

 

If this is offered on Carnival, why cann't it be offered on Princess.

[rjnaz]

Royal Caribbean started that recently.

It was the biggest Public Relations disaster they have ever experienced.

opps........................:rolleyes:

[kooljamming]

ALL the major cruise line execs read Cruisecritic.

After they finish reading, they are ALL more confused than before they started.

 

I have heard this directly from TOP management staff at land resorts. They look at these boards, observe and sometimes laugh. For one it represents a very small percentage of the traveling public and two it's mostly Americans whose take on vacation and entitlement can be different (no flame intended). Just in case here is my wish list:

 

Add less sauce to your dishes

Add a Reggae band by the pool

Reconsider the design of Horizon Court

Have someone stroll the decks with drink of the day

Take your pool fun up a notch, some of us might be old but not cold:D

 

Never complaint without a compliment so:

Awesome job on your pools

Great evening entertainment

Lovely design on the ships (nice break from the wow of RCC and the WTH of Carnival)

 

Please be aware of any post where people smuggle alcohol, share soda card, reuse coffee card, not tip, and not follow dress code have been highly exaggerated, TRUE LIES;)

[peterv]

Thank you Peter for you comments, and i do appreciate the sarcasm on and off, i surley could not have figured that out on my own. So you have never heard of a fire being started from a lit cigarette? well you have internet, so i will assume that you also receive news from some where- fires are started all the time from cigarettes, in fact my own mother set her home on fire with a cigarette.

 

What part of that had anything to do with fires started in cabins on cruise ships which would make it a serious safety issue? I am still underwhelmed with the sheer lack of the number of times I have heard about it. I would think if it were a serious concern it would have been news by now given the number of ships and the amount of passengers around the world every day.

 

You can believe whatever you want about second hand smoke, but if the research was that laughable and had no medical plausability then why would half the world be banning it in public places? Calif no longer allows you to smoke in any restaurant and there are many states and countries that are doing the same in all kinds of public locations. And the only reason that i brought that up in my post was because i was responding to Control alt delete and that person making light of dying from cigarettes and second hand smoke. So thank you for your opinion and your sarcasm, i was again stating that it is a safety issue not an attack on smokers.

 

As to the second part, why do they do it, noisy people making a big to do about anything they do not like, it really is as simple as that. I believe that most places where it is banned would prefer it to be otherwise.

 

Cheers,

Peter

[Woobstr112G]

Philip,

 

As one who has made a few complaints (but overall loved the cruise),

let me be the first to admit that your post above is not only an excellent

read, but makes a lot of sense.

 

Do you work for Princess? It seems to be worded in that fashion.

 

Firstly, forums like this (and I run one of my own) are primarily a place

for people to complain -- not that they mean to -- but it offers them the

chance to question practices and to generally vent. I think in general

there are the few that do have legitimate concerns and the rest of us

just nitpick despite the fact we had a wonderful cruise.

 

You made some great points about some of the issues I have personally

brought up about "nickel and diming" as well as "towel animals."

 

Certainly, if everything were free on a cruise, the price of traveling

would be substantially more expensive. There are people who can

enjoy a cruise without spending an extra dime on the soda or Internet.

I also agree that if these things were being offered for free or even at

a reduced price they would be abused. Just look at the increased

lines at Scoops this past week when they were giving away Ice Cream

for free. I am sure that is causing Princess a lot of extra money.

 

Since I am the person responsible for the "nickel and dime" comment

allow me to elaborate a little further about what I found to be excessive

hawking of products on the cruise. It seemed everywhere you looked

Princess was pushing products. First day at lunch someone came over

pushing soda and coffee cards. First time at Crown Grill the waiter was

pushing a wine tasting event. Every time I turned on the TV I had to

wade through channels dedicated to Princess pushing cruises or products.

That's the stuff I find excessive, but you know what? Every cruise line

is doing it. Perhaps the way to look at it is that travel prices are kept

down as long as the cruise companies can make it up in other ways.

 

Ultimately, all of us mean well. I think sometimes there are legitimate

concerns that Princess will be able to digest while wading through the

multitude of daily posts here.

 

 

Well said.

 

I believe Philip works for Princess or some other line. A majority of his posts are always in defnse of the cruise industry....

 

Bob

[Woobstr112G]

But he makes some very good points......

 

Bob

[Philip217]

Philip,

 

I too agree that your post makes a lot of sense. However, like the previous poster said about "nickle & diming," there are obviously ways to reduce the impression of doing so without eliminating the "have it your way" experience. For example, at dinner we are supposed to dress formally, but then you come around and interrupt our meal and conversation so you can sell us pics & wine tastings - how TACKY can you get? Not a deal-breaker here because I still love Princess, but thought you should know.

 

Phillip, if you work for Princess, I understand your need to explain. However, you come off a bit sarcastic and defensive. Here are my other suggestions. I don't think there is too much to debate about this, so you can go ahead and tell your superiors what would be appreciated by Princess's customers.

 

1) Alocholic drink cards. I hate signing every time I want a beer. Gets real old, real fast.

 

2) View account from t.v. in stateroom.

 

3) Train your home office customer relations dept. Too many inconsistent answers and can be rather rude.

 

I can't imagine anyone objecting to these requests. However, if there are arguments for waiting in line at Pursers desk to check account, and for waiting extra long to get drinks because bartenders have to print receipts after EVERY order, I'd like to hear them, please.

 

Actually I don't work for Princess. But all the mass market lines have the same clientele and the same problems/issues/complaints.

 

I agrere completely about the photos and selling on Formal Night in the dining room. If I had my way there would be no photos on ships. But you may be surprised to learn that the highest number of photos sold are from Fromal night in the dinnig room. The highest number of wine tasting tickets are sold on Formal Night in the dining room. So long as the masses are willing to buy something - no matter how tacky - we are willing to sell it to them. If the masses agreed with me and you that things like formal night dinner photos and wine tasting tickets, art auctions, refrigerator magnets, and penny slot machines were really tacky and stopped supporting them, all to those nasty things would be gone tomorrow. But the public loves them. They vote with their wallets. None of those things is going to disappear anytime soon.

 

Why force people to wait in line at the Purser's Desk to see their bills? Because we know that a relatively high percentage of people will not do it. Once you see your bill in the middle of the cruise, spending drops off dramatically. If you don't see it, you keep on spending and get the sticker shock on the final day. People who monitor their onboard spending, spend between 20% and 30% less than those who do not monitor it. We don't want you to know or think about how much you are spending.

 

1) Alcoholic drink cards don't really work very well. They allow you to control your spending (keeping it lower), and do not allow us to monitor your consumption. Most of the mass market lines face Billions of dollars in frivolous lawsuits every year from people who smuggle alcohol onboard, get drunk, fall overboard, breaks bones, etc, or parents of children who get their hands on booze and get into trouble. The US Courts are only willing to dismiss these suits if the cruise lines can prove that they are making serious efforts to control alcohol consumption onboard their vessels. So we have introduced RSA Courses (Responsible Service of Alcohol) for all bar staff, enforce the 21 drinking age rule - even though we are not required to do so, confiscate most alcohol brought onboard by passengers, and we have nearly eliminated 2 for 1 deals and happy hours. We also need a paper trail for all drinks sold to each passenger. Then when the lawsuits start, the lawyers want to see that paper trail to be able to attack or defend the case. These days, we see those lawyers quite regularly. The first thing they usually want to see is the bar bill. Alcohol cards have very little control. You can sell them, lose them, give them away.

Alcohol cards have another flaw. Like soda cards, the staff selling the card gets the tip. Then when you try to use the card, the barman who serves you gets no tip. He is not entirely happy to do this. Anytime we start another card scheme, passenger service complaints go up, and passenger satisfaction ratings go down.

 

2) Interactive television is on a few cruise lines already. My ship has it. The cruise lines learned the hard way that this is a bad idea:

--It costs nearly $2 Million per ship to install.

--It breaks down frequently, resulting in many complaints.

--It is only barely cost effective if bundled with pay for view porno.

--When passengers can easily monitor their bills, they spend less money.

Revenue Managers hate this system.

 

3) The masses keep demanding cheaper and cheaper cruises. Our costs keep escalating. We are able to deliver cheaper cruises most of the time. But to do it, we have to make cuts somewhere. An easy cut is shoreside staff. Call Centres and Passenger Relations staff have become an entry level position in the USA. For many this is their first real job. Most have never seen a cruise ship nor the ocean. Turnover is very high; 100% every few months. When McDonalds is hiring, everybody goes.

I am frankly amazed that these offices perform as well as they do under the circumstances.

One line has now opened their call centre in Idaho. Lovely employees there - with no clue about cruising.

Another line is opening a call centre in India. Good luck.

[tetleytea]

I've got one gripe that I really hope Princess mgt takes to heart:

 

PLEASE staff your breakfast in the Main Dining Room on disembarkation day better. And just on that last morning, don't be as strict about serving everybody at the same time. We're all trying to meet our disembarkation times; that is the single day we need prompt service the most. We ended up having to walk away without breakfast, and we DID pack the night before and we DID show up when the MDR first opened.

[fathercop]

I know that Princess Corp and Fleet personnel read these messages.

 

The Captain of the Ruby on her inagural cruise had picked up on comments made by CCers on the boards and he even said that he got the information of Cruise Critic.

 

I have chatted with CD's who have read these messages and a couple of them had made adjsutments to the ship's entertainment based on these posts.

 

I suppose if you want to be a good company you try to listen to you customers - that does not mean you have to implement every idea, but listening is good.

[Live4Vacay]

Actually I don't work for Princess. But all the mass market lines have the same clientele and the same problems/issues/complaints.

 

I agrere completely about the photos and selling on Formal Night in the dining room. If I had my way there would be no photos on ships. But you may be surprised to learn that the highest number of photos sold are from Fromal night in the dinnig room. The highest number of wine tasting tickets are sold on Formal Night in the dining room. So long as the masses are willing to buy something - no matter how tacky - we are willing to sell it to them. If the masses agreed with me and you that things like formal night dinner photos and wine tasting tickets, art auctions, refrigerator magnets, and penny slot machines were really tacky and stopped supporting them, all to those nasty things would be gone tomorrow. But the public loves them. They vote with their wallets. None of those things is going to disappear anytime soon.

 

Why force people to wait in line at the Purser's Desk to see their bills? Because we know that a relatively high percentage of people will not do it. Once you see your bill in the middle of the cruise, spending drops off dramatically. If you don't see it, you keep on spending and get the sticker shock on the final day. People who monitor their onboard spending, spend between 20% and 30% less than those who do not monitor it. We don't want you to know or think about how much you are spending.

 

1) Alcoholic drink cards don't really work very well. They allow you to control your spending (keeping it lower), and do not allow us to monitor your consumption. Most of the mass market lines face Billions of dollars in frivolous lawsuits every year from people who smuggle alcohol onboard, get drunk, fall overboard, breaks bones, etc, or parents of children who get their hands on booze and get into trouble. The US Courts are only willing to dismiss these suits if the cruise lines can prove that they are making serious efforts to control alcohol consumption onboard their vessels. So we have introduced RSA Courses (Responsible Service of Alcohol) for all bar staff, enforce the 21 drinking age rule - even though we are not required to do so, confiscate most alcohol brought onboard by passengers, and we have nearly eliminated 2 for 1 deals and happy hours. We also need a paper trail for all drinks sold to each passenger. Then when the lawsuits start, the lawyers want to see that paper trail to be able to attack or defend the case. These days, we see those lawyers quite regularly. The first thing they usually want to see is the bar bill. Alcohol cards have very little control. You can sell them, lose them, give them away.

Alcohol cards have another flaw. Like soda cards, the staff selling the card gets the tip. Then when you try to use the card, the barman who serves you gets no tip. He is not entirely happy to do this. Anytime we start another card scheme, passenger service complaints go up, and passenger satisfaction ratings go down.

 

2) Interactive television is on a few cruise lines already. My ship has it. The cruise lines learned the hard way that this is a bad idea:

--It costs nearly $2 Million per ship to install.

--It breaks down frequently, resulting in many complaints.

--It is only barely cost effective if bundled with pay for view porno.

--When passengers can easily monitor their bills, they spend less money.

Revenue Managers hate this system.

 

3) The masses keep demanding cheaper and cheaper cruises. Our costs keep escalating. We are able to deliver cheaper cruises most of the time. But to do it, we have to make cuts somewhere. An easy cut is shoreside staff. Call Centres and Passenger Relations staff have become an entry level position in the USA. For many this is their first real job. Most have never seen a cruise ship nor the ocean. Turnover is very high; 100% every few months. When McDonalds is hiring, everybody goes.

I am frankly amazed that these offices perform as well as they do under the circumstances.

One line has now opened their call centre in Idaho. Lovely employees there - with no clue about cruising.

Another line is opening a call centre in India. Good luck.

 

Phillip,

 

So you don't work for Princess, but it is apparent you work for another line. While you continue to make great arguments, you just convinced me to spend more of my money on land at luxury all-inclusives. Why?

 

1) I don't need to worry about my stateroom account, I know what I am getting. The fact that cruise companies purposely want people to not know what they spend and would rather see "sticker shock" as they push them off the ship is unethical to me, personally.

 

2) No days at sea - just beach days.

 

3) No inconvenience of signing for EVERYTHING because they figured out how to pay people, and the tips are at MY discretion, when deserved.

 

Sure, I'll still cruise to places that I have no desire to spend too much time at but am curious, a "taste" to see if worth going back to. I'll also take advantage when you are down and out and snag those flash deals.

 

What next for the cruise lines? Rig the casino?

[cruisinalong001]

Dear Princess,

 

If you really do read these boards PLEASE

 

1. Don't shut down activities the last night of the cruise. You advertised MUTS in the patter. Yes the movie was there, but no cocoa, popcorn, blankets, waiters etc., cushions etc. Several of us sat huddled under layers of beach towels on lounges all of which we procured ourselves. The cruise ends in the morning, not the night before :mad: Our telephone was even programmed with a welcome aboard ecall instead of our wake up call in the morning. The fitness center was closed for cleaning. This all left a very feeling at the end of what was a wonderful cruise (Summer Greek Isles Emerald 2008).

 

2. On hands and knees I beg for better coffee.

 

3. Please enforce the dress code.

 

4. How about a full room service breakfast like your competition RCL.

[Live4Vacay]

If you were paying attention to Phillip, you would have figured out that they really could care less about you so close to disembark. Just pay and go. Oh, and don't bother with your comment card, we know everything already!:mad:

 

Still amazes me how poor and even not-so-poor countries can get great service who work on tips, yet the cruise lines need to force you to tip them. Truth is, I give generously when happy drunk on vacay. They never get an extra dollar out of me on cruises though. It's the concept of forcing the tip on me that I dislike and you can tell the difference in service levels too!

[elsje]

Actually I don't work for Princess. But all the mass market lines have the same clientele and the same problems/issues/complaints.

 

I agrere completely about the photos and selling on Formal Night in the dining room. If I had my way there would be no photos on ships. But you may be surprised to learn that the highest number of photos sold are from Fromal night in the dinnig room. The highest number of wine tasting tickets are sold on Formal Night in the dining room. So long as the masses are willing to buy something - no matter how tacky - we are willing to sell it to them. If the masses agreed with me and you that things like formal night dinner photos and wine tasting tickets, art auctions, refrigerator magnets, and penny slot machines were really tacky and stopped supporting them, all to those nasty things would be gone tomorrow. But the public loves them. They vote with their wallets. None of those things is going to disappear anytime soon.

 

Why force people to wait in line at the Purser's Desk to see their bills? Because we know that a relatively high percentage of people will not do it. Once you see your bill in the middle of the cruise, spending drops off dramatically. If you don't see it, you keep on spending and get the sticker shock on the final day. People who monitor their onboard spending, spend between 20% and 30% less than those who do not monitor it. We don't want you to know or think about how much you are spending.

 

1) Alcoholic drink cards don't really work very well. They allow you to control your spending (keeping it lower), and do not allow us to monitor your consumption. Most of the mass market lines face Billions of dollars in frivolous lawsuits every year from people who smuggle alcohol onboard, get drunk, fall overboard, breaks bones, etc, or parents of children who get their hands on booze and get into trouble. The US Courts are only willing to dismiss these suits if the cruise lines can prove that they are making serious efforts to control alcohol consumption onboard their vessels. So we have introduced RSA Courses (Responsible Service of Alcohol) for all bar staff, enforce the 21 drinking age rule - even though we are not required to do so, confiscate most alcohol brought onboard by passengers, and we have nearly eliminated 2 for 1 deals and happy hours. We also need a paper trail for all drinks sold to each passenger. Then when the lawsuits start, the lawyers want to see that paper trail to be able to attack or defend the case. These days, we see those lawyers quite regularly. The first thing they usually want to see is the bar bill. Alcohol cards have very little control. You can sell them, lose them, give them away.

Alcohol cards have another flaw. Like soda cards, the staff selling the card gets the tip. Then when you try to use the card, the barman who serves you gets no tip. He is not entirely happy to do this. Anytime we start another card scheme, passenger service complaints go up, and passenger satisfaction ratings go down.

 

2) Interactive television is on a few cruise lines already. My ship has it. The cruise lines learned the hard way that this is a bad idea:

--It costs nearly $2 Million per ship to install.

--It breaks down frequently, resulting in many complaints.

--It is only barely cost effective if bundled with pay for view porno.

--When passengers can easily monitor their bills, they spend less money.

Revenue Managers hate this system.

 

3) The masses keep demanding cheaper and cheaper cruises. Our costs keep escalating. We are able to deliver cheaper cruises most of the time. But to do it, we have to make cuts somewhere. An easy cut is shoreside staff. Call Centres and Passenger Relations staff have become an entry level position in the USA. For many this is their first real job. Most have never seen a cruise ship nor the ocean. Turnover is very high; 100% every few months. When McDonalds is hiring, everybody goes.

I am frankly amazed that these offices perform as well as they do under the circumstances.

One line has now opened their call centre in Idaho. Lovely employees there - with no clue about cruising.

Another line is opening a call centre in India. Good luck.

 

Wow.. Philip I am truly amazed at your honesty detailing why Princess does not want cruisers spending bills displayed on their TV in the Cabin like RCL does.

First of all let me tell you how I know what I spend. I save ALL receipts I gather from wine tasting, bar drinks, photo shots and anything else I purchase. At the end of the evening I put all these receipts in a ziplock bag. I know exactly what I spend and it has not stopped me from buying more.

 

However on my last sailing in March on the Emerald Princess it was ridicilous to find out when you ordered a drink at the pool or wherever they did not have an extra copy for you. When I asked the waiters for "my" copy they were puzzled why I asked..yeah right! I made them give me a copy. Is that another trick Princess has up their sleeve by not giving customers a receipt, so they can not tally their daily expenses?

 

What I like about RCL's interactive account system is that I can check IF there has not been any errors. You know it is like having a bank account..you write checks, you charge your card and everyday you have access to "on-line" banking! Why would Princess not want us to have that offered to us?

 

You do want Princess to monitor the alcohol "smuggling" because of all the implications that might be involved with under age drinking or excess drinking, but you just explained that Princess does not want us to know if we are excess spending on our sail and sign card or whatever these cruise lines call these credit cards. Just double talk in my opinion.

 

I am going on my 10th cruise in October on the Star Princess 30-day and most people I have gotten to know since I first started cruising in 2004 spent many $$$ on shore excursions, pics, alcohol and the whole nine yards, so who ever came up with this marketing idea of not installing TV's for people to monitor their cruise account has it wrong IMHO.

 

I have sailed Carnival 4 times, X once, RCL 2 times and this upcoming cruise with Princess will be the third time. I will not stop sailing cruise lines who do not have the interactive account on the in cabin TV but I highly recommend they offer it. BTW I love the casino..I am a sucker:p and I always tip more than the recommended because on ALL my cruises the staff have been more then attentive than anything we have ever gotten on all inclusives on land..or in restaurants and hotels..no comparison!

[cruisinalong001]

and please check cards so tradtional diners don't take advantage. Between the reservations and the traditional diners, you are well on your way to making anytime dining a real hassle instead of a pleasant experience.

 

You have rules for anytime dining, pool lounge saving, and a dress code, yet you seem to enforce none of these, or enforcement is erratic. When you have such inconsistent or nonexistent enforcement, you create problems were there should be very few. Get some backbone Princess! Mean what you say! It would make things more pleasant for everyone except for those who blatantly disregard what is expected and for them I have no sympathy whatsoever. Chair Hogs to the plank!

[Live4Vacay]

Wow.. Philip I am truly amazed at your honesty detailing why Princess does not want cruisers spending bills displayed on their TV in the Cabin like RCL does.

First of all let me tell you how I know what I spend. I save ALL receipts I gather from wine tasting, bar drinks, photo shots and anything else I purchase. At the end of the evening I put all these receipts in a ziplock bag. I know exactly what I spend and it has not stopped me from buying more.

 

However on my last sailing in March on the Emerald Princess it was ridicilous to find out when you ordered a drink at the pool or wherever they did not have an extra copy for you. When I asked the waiters for "my" copy they were puzzled why I asked..yeah right! I made them give me a copy. Is that another trick Princess has up their sleeve by not giving customers a receipt, so they can not tally their daily expenses?

 

What I like about RCL's interactive account system is that I can check IF there has not been any errors. You know it is like having a bank account..you write checks, you charge your card and everyday you have access to "on-line" banking! Why would Princess not want us to have that offered to us?

 

You do want Princess to monitor the alcohol "smuggling" because of all the implications that might be involved with under age drinking or excess drinking, but you just explained that Princess does not want us to know if we are excess spending on our sail and sign card or whatever these cruise lines call these credit cards. Just double talk in my opinion.

 

I am going on my 10th cruise in October on the Star Princess 30-day and most people I have gotten to know since I first started cruising in 2004 spent many $$$ on shore excursions, pics, alcohol and the whole nine yards, so who ever came up with this marketing idea of not installing TV's for people to monitor their cruise account has it wrong IMHO.

 

I have sailed Carnival 4 times, X once, RCL 2 times and this upcoming cruise with Princess will be the third time. I will not stop sailing cruise lines who do not have the interactive account on the in cabin TV but I highly recommend they offer it. BTW I love the casino..I am a sucker:p and I always tip more than the recommended because on ALL my cruises the staff have been more then attentive than anything we have ever gotten on all inclusives on land..or in restaurants and hotels..no comparison!

 

Interesting enough, we had the "no receipt" experience also on the CB in Feb. We too save all receipts. Sorry you haven't found the great all-inclusives yet. But they do exist and they are way better than cruising, if you want to stay put in one place. Might I suggest Secrets Maroma in Riviera Maya or Sandals Grande St Lucia.;) Better food, service, facilities... By the time you get done with paying for extras on the cruise, the price is the same & sometimes less at an all-inclusive.

[LunaMoon]

IF you are reading this Princess, then I want you to know that your customers do NOT appreciate paying the price of a cruise and finding that you expect us to continue to sleep on old, worn, threadbare, and frankly painful mattresses!

 

How can you bring a ship into dry dock, and do a complete overhaul and still leave years' old, pancake thin, hard-as-nails mattresses on the beds?! :(

 

Why didn't you, Princess, replace all of the very old and worn mattresses with brand new mattresses this past dry dock a few months ago? It is completely inexplicable to redo an entire ship and leave this most basic element of passenger comfort unchanged.

 

When we work hard all year to save for a once-a-year-cruise vacation, the least we can reasonably expect is to be able to sleep on a comfortable bed; one that does not leave us with back pain, and head-to-toe body aches and pains.

 

There are no eggcrates created by man that could have helped or mitigated the discomfort of these pitiful mattresses.

 

Replace the worn mattresses on the CB with new mattresses!

 

PLEASE.

[rdsqrl]

[quote name='Philip217;19735180"Why charge for sodas?"

For the same reasons that McDonalds charges for sodas and crack dealers charge for their products:

Americans are addicted to that garbage and can't stop.

Okay' date=' this made me laugh out loud! Now, what I want to know is when is Princess coming out with their crack card??!! [/color']

Some of those who've posted recently on this thread seem to believe that Princess should be a non-profit entity. I'm in awe of your deep resentment of any and all their attempts to separate you from that last thin dime you're clutching in your miserly claw. Seriously, you're shocked, shocked!!, to find that Princess would rather you didn't know how much you're spending so you'll spend more? Well, duh.

[elsje]

Interesting enough, we had the "no receipt" experience also on the CB in Feb. We too save all receipts. Sorry you haven't found the great all-inclusives yet. But they do exist and they are way better than cruising, if you want to stay put in one place. Might I suggest Secrets Maroma in Riviera Maya or Sandals Grande St Lucia.;) Better food, service, facilities... By the time you get done with paying for extras on the cruise, the price is the same & sometimes less at an all-inclusive.

 

We fell in love with cruising and honestly have had excellent service on all nine cruises so far. We have been at many of the all inclusives (Iberostar and the likes in Playa, Akumal, Tulum etc. and other resorts and while we enjoyed all of those as well, we enjoyed the dining setting on our ships better. I have never been to Secrets or Sandals so may be I should give that a try now you make me curious ;). Another thing we like about cruising is the various places we visit. Isn't it wonderful we have all these choices :rolleyes: I guess we are spoiled. Interesting you did not get receipts either on the CB in February.

[elsje]

Okay, this made me laugh out loud! Now, what I want to know is when is Princess coming out with their crack card??!!

Some of those who've posted recently on this thread seem to believe that Princess should be a non-profit entity. I'm in awe of your deep resentment of any and all their attempts to separate you from that last thin dime you're clutching in your miserly claw.

Seriously, you're shocked, shocked!!, to find that Princess would rather you didn't know how much you're spending so you'll spend more? Well, duh.

 

Well duh? Just because one wants to know what they spent does not mean they are not spending. May I ask what planet you are living on? Don't you want to know how your bank is applying your funds? It is the same in the "real" world.

[KansasScrapper]

Philip,

 

I too agree that your post makes a lot of sense. However, like the previous poster said about "nickle & diming," there are obviously ways to reduce the impression of doing so without eliminating the "have it your way" experience. For example, at dinner we are supposed to dress formally, but then you come around and interrupt our meal and conversation so you can sell us pics & wine tastings - how TACKY can you get? Not a deal-breaker here because I still love Princess, but thought you should know.

 

Phillip, if you work for Princess, I understand your need to explain. However, you come off a bit sarcastic and defensive. Here are my other suggestions. I don't think there is too much to debate about this, so you can go ahead and tell your superiors what would be appreciated by Princess's customers.

 

1) Alocholic drink cards. I hate signing every time I want a beer. Gets real old, real fast.

 

2) View account from t.v. in stateroom.

 

3) Train your home office customer relations dept. Too many inconsistent answers and can be rather rude.

 

I can't imagine anyone objecting to these requests. However, if there are arguments for waiting in line at Pursers desk to check account, and for waiting extra long to get drinks because bartenders have to print receipts after EVERY order, I'd like to hear them, please.

 

I second those!

[Atomica]

Interesting.

 

So far, no one on here has pointed out the various ways the consumer tries to screw the cruise line - everything from smuggling alcohol onboard to stealing items from onboard the ship, but hey, as long as it's you and not the cruise line, right?

 

Case in point: back in the days when you used to get actual silverware on flights, I had a friend who made a point to swipe the cutlery off every airline she went on - even if she already had a set. Her reasoning? She paid a lot for the flight and they could afford it. She was entitled to it.

 

A cruise line, surprisingly, is a business, that is there to - surprise again - make a profit. Thus, they charge you for sodas, spa services, and other things you might want. If you didn't know that, you didn't do your research. "No One Told Me" isn't good enough.

 

Every cruise I take, I see people white as ghosts on the last morning as they look at their bill - but the cruise line didn't make you plow through 18 buckets of beer, holding your head back as they poured you another, did they? You should know how much those buckets of beer cost, and you don't need a $2million Interactive TV setup to tell you that.

 

Princess does read these posts - everyone from management on the ships to the guys in the head office, and you know what? I'll bet they laugh until it hurts over some of these posts. To read this, you'd think no one actually enjoys cruising - they're just onboard to gripe.

[Philip217]

Wow.. Philip I am truly amazed at your honesty detailing why Princess does not want cruisers spending bills displayed on their TV in the Cabin like RCL does.

First of all let me tell you how I know what I spend. I save ALL receipts I gather from wine tasting, bar drinks, photo shots and anything else I purchase. At the end of the evening I put all these receipts in a ziplock bag. I know exactly what I spend and it has not stopped me from buying more.

 

However on my last sailing in March on the Emerald Princess it was ridicilous to find out when you ordered a drink at the pool or wherever they did not have an extra copy for you. When I asked the waiters for "my" copy they were puzzled why I asked..yeah right! I made them give me a copy. Is that another trick Princess has up their sleeve by not giving customers a receipt, so they can not tally their daily expenses?

 

What I like about RCL's interactive account system is that I can check IF there has not been any errors. You know it is like having a bank account..you write checks, you charge your card and everyday you have access to "on-line" banking! Why would Princess not want us to have that offered to us?

 

You do want Princess to monitor the alcohol "smuggling" because of all the implications that might be involved with under age drinking or excess drinking, but you just explained that Princess does not want us to know if we are excess spending on our sail and sign card or whatever these cruise lines call these credit cards. Just double talk in my opinion.

 

I am going on my 10th cruise in October on the Star Princess 30-day and most people I have gotten to know since I first started cruising in 2004 spent many $$$ on shore excursions, pics, alcohol and the whole nine yards, so who ever came up with this marketing idea of not installing TV's for people to monitor their cruise account has it wrong IMHO.

 

I have sailed Carnival 4 times, X once, RCL 2 times and this upcoming cruise with Princess will be the third time. I will not stop sailing cruise lines who do not have the interactive account on the in cabin TV but I highly recommend they offer it. BTW I love the casino..I am a sucker:p and I always tip more than the recommended because on ALL my cruises the staff have been more then attentive than anything we have ever gotten on all inclusives on land..or in restaurants and hotels..no comparison!

 

elsje,

 

Just one error in your post - I don't work for - nor speak for - Princess. I really don't know what the people at Princess are doing or thinking about your spending patterns.

 

But industry-wide, the general idea on a mass market ship is to keep your mind off your spending totals

I do know that RCI ships with interactive television took a huge financial hit when they installed it. Onboard spending took a nose-dive and has never recovered. One of the reasons you usually pay more for an RCI cruise is covering the cost of those lost revenues. Another is paying for the installation of the interactive television that never pays for itself.

 

You need to understand that there are just two groups of people running cruise lines today; the Lawyers and the Accountants. These two groups rarely agree on how things should work. The Lawyers are paranoid about all the lawsuits from American passengers. They want to do everything possible to avoid liability and litigation. They are responsible for taking a lot of the fun out of mass market cruising in order to protect the companies. The Accountants worry only about profit and loss. They only want to decrease costs and increase revenues. We can blame them for whatever cut-backs we see - and for any tricks we use to get you to spend more money onboard than you planned. In a sense you are correct - it is double speak. One management group is pushing us in one direction (liability and risk); the other management group is pushing us in another (profit and loss). If you speak to someone working in another mass market industry; airline, hotel, auto manufacturer, you will hear pretty much the same story.

 

While I applaud your fastidious nature about spending (I am the same way), you should know that most mass market cruisers are not like me and you. That's why we have long queues at the front desk of my ship at the end of every cruise. We spend enormous amounts of time going over every item on the bills with passengers who have no memory of spending anything the entire cruise.

And at the end of the day, Mass Market cruising is not about you or me - it's about the Masses. Whatever the Majority of people on a mass market ship want to do and buy is of utmost importance.