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Last October we printed our final bill after going to the theater on the last night. It showed a non-refundable credit of $101. Stopped at guest services for confirmation of the bill and was told to “use it or lose it”…After DH and I discussed and refigured our “creative accounting” bill, we decided that we shouldn’t have any non-refundable credit and would not randomly “spend” the $101 OBC before disembarking. When we got home and received our final email bill, it showed we owed $12 and they had already charged my credit card. Called Princess and was told that we must have charged something on disembark morning (shops are closed)… long story short - I gave up since it was only $12, but glad I didn’t go on a final shopping spree to use up my “use it or lose it” $101…otherwise my final bill would have been $113!

Dispute the charges with your credit card company…that got immediate attention from Princess and they fixed our problem within 30 days

If you wait and buy it on board you pay half price with no on-board credit issued…or you can use any on-board credit to pay for it at half price (at least that was what happened to us last October)

I definitely wouldn’t worry about it. Princess still lets those with walkers and wheelchairs go on strenuous excursions that are clearly labeled no walkers or wheelchairs. Last fall we were on one of those excursions and had to miss our last 2 hour stop (a gorgeous waterfall and mini-hike) because there were 2 passengers that had wheelchairs which caused us to be running over a hour behind the other 2 busses on the same excursion. And no, the excursion desk wouldn’t even give us a partial refund.

Done this more than once and it was different instructions each time…maybe who Princess hires to be the local tour operator.

Your luggage will go with you and stay at your first hotel on the land tour. You will need a small carry-on or duffle for your overnight stay at Machu Pichu. You will be responsible for handling this small one on you overnight. Note that you will be boarding a crowded train with your stuff, so pack light…take rain gear! Everything is very casual (think camping) on your overnight…even for dinner. Get ready for an amazing overland!!!

When did gratuities become part of a salary, instead of an “extra” compensation based upon a service that has been rendered?

Good to know!

If you are using EZAir and have fully paid for your cruise, go to your flights page and there is a place to request early ticketing. When you request this, it will take a couple of days to propagate, but then you should be able to pick your seats.

They have indicated that even though I paid over $1100 on my CC, they will apply the OBC last (when refunding) and so will only refund as OBC. My other choice is now to cancel all excursions ( some are sold out) and start over again. This policy is so frustrating…I guess they chose to save money by substituting lunch for shopping and save $$$ to put back in their coffers!

The cruise is in June. They will not refund my money, will only give me OBC instead of a refund to my credit card

Princess just changed my $200 pp excursion to Brussels by removing lunch and substituting 2 hours of shopping but kept the price at $200. I would book a private tour but it is a 2 hour drive back to the port and I don’t want to have to worry about getting back in time (yes-I have seen them leave late comers running down the dock). When I called to cancel, their answer was to give me $400 OBC even though I have paid over $1100 total on my credit card toward excursions for this cruise. I know their refund policy, but when they change the excursion, it seems like the rules shouldn’t be applied in only their favor! I’m certainly going to think twice about booking anymore excursions with them!

You can wear as much or as little as you feel comfortable. There is a lot of upselling and that takes the enjoyment out of it, so I choose to schedule one right after I get home…great way to extend my vacation!

I feel your pain…went through the same thing when we hit 150 days in the middle of a B2B several years ago and the Circle host insisted it had to be 15 cruises in addition to the 150 days…I was so frustrated I finally just gave up and waited for Elite benefits on our next cruise.

We always attach our Princess luggage tags before leaving home. A gate attendant clued us in a couple of years back…if the airlines see a cruise tag or tour group tag attached, they will do their best to make sure your bag arrives with you because they don’t want to be responsible for trying to get it to you when you are a moving target on your vacation.