Tell me about the Princess stock and OBC/benefits

I've read about this here but can't find the posts now and can't find anything on the princess website. Everyone mentions this in passing in other threads but to ask questions there would be a hijack. :) Alas, I'm left with nothing but questions. :)

So, wondering what it is....what the benefits are....what the general investment cost is....is there a minimum shares to purchase....

Any information would be great...

We sail in 3 weeks, so I'm assuming it's too late to get any credit for that cruise...right?

Minimum is 100 shares, investment is whatever you buy the stock for. Three weeks isn't too late as long as you purchase ASAP and have documentation that you own the stock, not just the purchase order to buy.

Here's the link to the info on how much OBC you get:

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=140690&p=irol-sharebenefit

A quick search brought up numerous threads on this, here is one...

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1991866&highlight=stock

I faxed in my request last Monday and by Monday afternoon the credit had posted to my account.

I faxed in my request last Monday and by Monday afternoon the credit had posted to my account.

Me too :D This is so easy and so worth it :)

I don't know if I searched right, but I saw the share value for Carnival Corp at $40 and some change each.

Did I do this wrong or is a $4000 investment needed to get in on this? Do they accept kids as payment? :P

I don't know if I searched right, but I saw the share value for Carnival Corp at $40 and some change each.

 

Did I do this wrong or is a $4000 investment needed to get in on this? Do they accept kids as payment? :P

Yes, it would cost you around 4K to buy in. I got "lucky" and bought mine the monday after the Costa Concordia wreck for $29 and change....

Right now the stock is doing quite well, so it will cost you.....

Has anyone else found that their shareholder credit no longer appears on the personalizer? It was there a few days ago, and now it's gone on my account.

Yes, it would cost you around 4K to buy in. I got "lucky" and bought mine the monday after the Costa Concordia wreck for $29 and change....

 

Right now the stock is doing quite well, so it will cost you.....

I can't see ourselves going on a cruise more than every couple of years for now. We have 2 young boys and that represents a pretty significant sum, so maybe later if we decide to cruise on a regular we'll look into that.

Thanks for confirming, though, I appreciate you chiming in!

I can't see ourselves going on a cruise more than every couple of years for now. We have 2 young boys and that represents a pretty significant sum, so maybe later if we decide to cruise on a regular we'll look into that.

 

Thanks for confirming, though, I appreciate you chiming in!

Yes, it will cost you about $4,000 to purchase the 100 shares to get the OBC. If you are going on a cruise every few years, if it is less than 14 days, you would get either $50 or $100 for each cruise. Probably not enough to justify the investment. However, if you look at it as an investment, it may be a good deal. Currently Carnival Corp pays a 25 cent per share dividend each quarter. You would get $100 (about 2 1/2% at the current price) plus appreciation if the stock goes up. Of course you can loose money if it goes down.

I can't see ourselves going on a cruise more than every couple of years for now. We have 2 young boys and that represents a pretty significant sum, so maybe later if we decide to cruise on a regular we'll look into that.

Yes, it will cost you about $4,000 to purchase the 100 shares to get the OBC. If you are going on a cruise every few years, if it is less than 14 days, you would get either $50 or $100 for each cruise. Probably not enough to justify the investment. However, if you look at it as an investment, it may be a good deal. Currently Carnival Corp pays a 25 cent per share dividend each quarter. You would get $100 (about 2 1/2% at the current price) plus appreciation if the stock goes up. Of course you can loose money if it goes down.

My personal opinion is unless you are taking at least two cruises a year and at least one of them is 14 days or more (i.e. you receive a $250 OBC) it's not necessarily such a great investment. The dividend at a dollar a share (currently a 2.5% yield) isn't bad. However, the stocks performance is somewhat lackluster. It did well in 2013 but not nearly as well as the S & P 500.

Obviously this is a personal decision and judgment call. The OBC is a very nice benefit. However, once you crunch the numbers it seems to be best suited for folks that cruise often and take longer cruises.

Again, just my opinion. :)

Two other comments - first, if you have a 401K plan that allows stock purchase this is a perfect place to buy. We started with about a 3200 investment several years ago and it rose to 4400, plus the OBC from cruising (at least twice a year for us). Even our financial advisor likes the 2 1/2% return/dividend. Not sure you could do this in three weeks, though. Note that this is Carnival stock, not Princess, and you get a credit sailing on any of the corporate lines.

For the other poster, this now does show up on the Cruise Personalizer once you send in the documentation, but everything does vanish about five days before the sail date.

I was also fortunate to buy my shares when they were trading in the low $30 range in August 2011. Since then, we've sailed on five Princess cruises, two Holland America cruises, and a Carnival cruise. Some of the cruises were short ones. In total, I've received $600 back in onboard credit for my investment plus $250 in dividends. The fact that the stock price has risen makes me feel better, but I bought it for the onboard credit and don't plan on selling.

I booked a princess cruise after booking they offered a sale with OBC. My question is can I still get the Shareholders OBC?

I booked a princess cruise after booking they offered a sale with OBC. My question is can I still get the Shareholders OBC?

Yes.

Thanks Colo. I was just going to post a nevermind as I read it on another thread.

I booked a princess cruise after booking they offered a sale with OBC. My question is can I still get the Shareholders OBC?

Princess allow you to combine all (most) OBCs so Stock, special deal, TA and Military can really add up.

CCL seems to go down to the $34-$35 range at least once a year. You can put a buy order in for a hundred shares at $35. It has recently gone as high as $49 per share.

I'd been watching for a couple of years and last year finally jumped in at $36. We've received $100 in dividends and $350 in OBC, $250 more to come later this year. The value of the shares themselves is about $900 more as well.

The stock credit like the military credit that you can get is in addition to any other credit that Princess offers. The question that has been raised is how many cruised you might take in one year. One 14 day cruise gives you $250 OBC so you can weight that against how much you will gain in one year. I will have done 3 cruises this year, one on Carnival for 4 days, 10 days to Alaska and 14 days on the Princess Anniversary cruise for a total of $400 OBC. A good value for one year.

Tom:)

Hi,

Our Carnival stock is in my husband name. I'm going on a cruise with my mother. Has anyone had a similar experience and know if I can get the stockholder credit?

Thanks,

Stacy

Hi,

 

Our Carnival stock is in my husband name. I'm going on a cruise with my mother. Has anyone had a similar experience and know if I can get the stockholder credit?

 

Thanks,

Stacy

Your name or your mother's name must be on it in order to get the stockholder OBC.

Thanks, caribill. I guess that's what I get for leaving my husband at home.:D

You could always transfer the stock between spouses :)

Hi,

 

Our Carnival stock is in my husband name. I'm going on a cruise with my mother. Has anyone had a similar experience and know if I can get the stockholder credit?

 

Thanks,

Stacy

No you cannot. The stockholder must sail.