As of April 1, 2007 Princess has modified the their free internet access perk for Platinum and Elite members. The free access at the Internet Cafe is no longer completely free. From their website:

Free Internet Access
Credit Towards Internet Café Packages (effective April 1, 2007)
$75 for voyages of 7 days or less
$100 for voyages of 8-20 days
$200 for voyages of 21 or more days

I encourage everyone to let Princess know you feeling about this change of policy. It was one of the last remaining perks that really meant something & if enough people complain they might reverse their decision.

Well this is a little disappointing. I do use the internet while on their ships. If it does go into effect I will just use them less and keep withing the credit limit. I do agree it is worth notifying Princess of the disatisfaction but then again I have seen people spend hours on the computer everyday, which I never understood.

Although those credits seem reasonable it is a shame they are modifying the perk. No doubt the official reason is "to more effectively control internet usage" or words to that effect.

Perhaps Platinum and Elite members were using it to the point that it was cutting into revenues gained from the passengers who had to pay for their internet access? Nah! What am I thinking? http://cruise-chat.com/groupee_commo...on_biggrin.gif

Not to mention Platinum and Elite members allowing others to use their cards because it's free; which I have seen advocated here numerous times.

I didn't know that. That is nothing but abuse of the membership privilege - by both parties. To me it is no different than theft of services.

That would have been easy to control by the use of an allotted number of minutes rather than completely eliminating the perk.

I am confused. Your initial post indicates they are still offering internet credits for high level members. Isn't that the same as offering an allotment of minutes?

The way I read it is that they offer a $75 per week package for Platinum & Elite members which gives you unlimited use. All others pay on a per minute basis.

It doesn't sound that way to me. The word "credit" in the original post leads me to believe that everyone pays something, but those in Captain's Circle will have $75 to $200 subtracted from their bills.

We may have to wait until the April cruisers return to find out what will happen in practice. I also wonder if the credit is per Captain's Club member or per cabin.

I didn't know that. That is nothing but abuse of the membership privilege - by both parties. To me it is no different than theft of services. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Would that be similar to the issue of people buying Crown & Anchor coupon books on Ebay?