Late on Sunday night I got a notification from Princess on Facebook of a response to my post. This is what it said: Hi Vickie, we apologize for the frustrating situation this weekend. We value your loyalty, and we take your concerns to heart. Based on the feedback we've received, for the time being both room service and Alfredo’s pizzeria charges being trialed on Regal Princess will be halted. We acknowledge we need to provide our guests prior notification of any such changes to our onboard experience, and we promise to do this in the future.
Note there was no comment from Princess about the added fee for mix in highballs.
Wow! Obviously Princess took all our comments/emails seriously and responded quickly. Is it the answer I want, no not 100% but I am willing to celebrate this victory. It seems Princess thinks the main issue was how they implemented the fee with no notice, but I am not sure they understood that the added fees was also a big issue. That all the nickel and dime fees that they are looking at adding is not what their loyal fans want.
The person (Av8tor) on Cruise Critic who is on the Regal’s inaugural cruise posted Monday that a letter was delivered to the cabin with the following comments: We did get a letter in our cabin regarding the Alfredo’s and room service charges. It said that the fees were part of a trial being conducted by Princess. They admitted that they’ve received negative feedback regarding the absence of pre-notification and due to that, the charges will be stopped!! It went on to say they would reverse the charges for people that already had the charges posted to their accounts. They said that in the future they will give guests sufficient prior notice as they continually review their on board product offerings and associated charges. I’m sure all the e-mails and FB posts helped to stop this (at least for now), so for all how helped: THANKS!
So for now it is a wait and see on what the future will hold.
But never underestimate the power of people and how they can quickly mobilize to make change.
Disappointed to say the least. I would ALWAYS get The Sanctuary for the two of us for the entire cruise. After sailing on the Crown in December and then the Emerald in January, I was rethinking it because the service was not what it used to be at all. We were ignored, forgotten, and just not cared about. When we boarded the Royal in March, we questioned getting the Sanctuary for the cruise. When I saw that the price was doubled and the chairs were practically on top of each other, we decided that it just is not worth the price. I understand Princess needs to make money, but the nickel-and-diming is a slimy business practice, especially towards Elite members such as ourselves with 26 plus cruises. I do not have a problem with paying for the Crown Grill or Sabatini's. Actually, I think it is a good deal for what you get.
ReplyDeletePrincess, please don't cheapen yourself by hiding fees with mixers or room service. I would rather you just raise the price slightly and call it a day. Brennivan
well said Brian, your experience in the Sanctuary is similar to what we have experienced lately too. too bad, i initially enjoyed it when they first rolled it out but it is definately not worth $40
Deletehere is my blog on my last experience in the Sanctuary http://vickieandbernietravel.blogspot.ca/2012/10/sea-day-last-day-of-leg.html
DeleteIf Princess is finding they need more revenue, they should raise the price of the cruise. Nickle and Diming people is not the way to improve their bottom line.FCC was such a good incentive to travel more so what do they do??? ...lessen the value.!!! I think they need to look at their top executives in head office. Someone is giving them bad advise.
ReplyDeleteIf Princess is finding they need more revenue, they should raise the price of the cruise. Nickle and Diming people is not the way to improve their bottom line.FCC was such a good incentive to travel more so what do they do??? ...lessen the value.!!! I think they need to look at their top executives in head office. Someone is giving them bad advise.
ReplyDeleteHi Vickie and Bernie - I know this is an old post but I am curious as to what Princess finally did about all of this. Are they making these new charges fleet wide? Did the extra 50 cents for the mix in your Rye get cancelled? We are on the Grand B2B out of SF commencing 1/9/16 and curious about what to expect. This will be our first cruise on a Princess ship since 2012 - we took a break from Princess after some very frustrating service issues - tried two Celebrity Cruises and were extremely happy with them. Anyway, curious what to expect on these pending cruises. BTW - met you both on the Star on a Hawaii return trip in 2012. Hope to see you on a future cruise!
ReplyDeleteStephany & Richard
Hi Stephany & Richard - as of today they have not reinstated any fee for dining at Alfredos. Nor did they continue to charge for any kind of mix for drinks. We have noticed drink prices have gone up over the years, but so has everything else. I have blog posts of drink/bar menus here - you can find links on the right side of the page. The drink prices are still quite reasonable I think, certainly in line with most restaurants at home and definately cheaper than other cruise lines we have been on.
DeleteThe Grand is lovely, we sailed that ship most recently. It is older but she has been taken care of. My favorite ship now though is the Royal and Regal - absolutely stunning. We will be back on her in January.
Thanks for reading the blog and posting.