Mademypoint

11 hours ago, caribill said:

 

 

My comment was about already booked cruises. Your experience was to book a new cruise.

 

But, as Coral said, you should have been allowed to use your FCC towards a deposit.

She is mistaken and again go look at the invoice. Regardless of what a travel agent says it's there in black and white. In fact, I'll paste it here for you. Our FCD's WERE used towards it but did not count for ALL of it.

From our original invoice.

Deposit Received. Total Amount Received: 400.00 . Final payment is due by January 5, 2020 .
Future Cruise Credits cannot be used towards payment of deposit (excluding Future Cruise Deposits).

Here's another one.

Deposit of 800.00 is due by March 15, 2020 . If the deposit due date falls on a weekend, booking will not cancel until the next business day. Total Amount Received: 0.00 .
Final payment is due by August 10, 2020 .
Future Cruise Credits cannot be used towards payment of deposit (excluding Future Cruise Deposits).

We decided we didn't want that cruise so we rebooked on the one out of LA

Deposit of 200.00 is due by August 5, 2020 . If the deposit due date falls on a weekend, booking will not cancel until the next business day. Total Amount Received: 0.00 .
Final payment is due by September 22, 2020 .
Future Cruise Credits cannot be used towards payment of deposit (excluding Future Cruise Deposits).

and ON the invoice itself if shows the use of the FCC:
Future Cruise Credit : 

So if you have an invoice that shows you can use your FCC share it. I will keep a copy of it and use it in the future and say "they were allowed to"

thanks.

15 minutes ago, casofilia said:

The other problem might be that you might not be allowed to use two FCCs on a single cruise.

You can because we have six and all would be used for the three of us in one suite. Now that they canceled we want our money back.

11 minutes ago, caribill said:

 

 

My comment was about already booked cruises. Your experience was to book a new cruise.

 

But, as Coral said, you should have been allowed to use your FCC towards a deposit.

 

Okay so to repeat myself as apparently I wasn't clear enough.

We were booked on a cruise in March. It was canceled. We received TWO Fcc's. One for the full value one for 75% we put THOSE towards another cruise. We were told that by August 4 we HAD to come up with $400 CASH as the terms were the FCC could NOT be used for the deposit. Trust me I have zero interest in passing along false information. We were not going to offer up the credit card until THAT day because it was obvious the cruise was likely to be canceled. We also had TWO original FCC's from the time we took a cruise two years ago that was supposed to mean we did not owe a deposit but in a SUITE apparently they require one.

So again, this is not a new booking and hasn't been since around mid March. And rather than assume what someone else tells you if you read your own invoice you would see it does tell you FCC's cannot be used as deposits. Its' there in black and white and its even bolded.

12 minutes ago, caribill said:

 

Although it may not have been for full payment, many have posted that their new FCCs were automatically applied to an already booked cruise without Princess asking if that is what the passenger wanted.

I'm sharing my experience which was that even though the two FCC's we had were MORE than enough to pay the entire cost of the cruise princess insisted we had to pay a cash deposit. 

22 minutes ago, voljeep said:

MY CRUISE was cancelled today ... bummer

 

when can I expect my FCC to be posted to my account ?

can I use that FCC as a 'deposit' and payment on a future cruise for 4/2021 ?

booked directly with Princess

day 0

maybe I will call Princess tomorrow, huh ?

Just be aware that they still may REQUIRE cash even if the entire amount of your FCC would cover the cost of your fare as they do not allow the FCC to be used towards the deposit nor will they allow you to pay it off early using those FCC's. 

So with the "short notice" cancellation and the huge FCC they offered when they canceled Australia on us in March, now what? We want our money back.  Not willing to let them keep thousands for at least another year.

3 hours ago, Outerdog said:

 

Folks with this type of flippant and dismissive attitude about personal safety and responsibility in public places are the ones getting their stuff snatched, being assaulted, or having their car windows smashed in.

 

Sure, you don't have to walk around in full SEAL mode all the time, but SargassoPirate gives good advice. It is wise to remain vigilant and maintain awareness of one's surroundings.  I don't see how anyone could reasonably promote not doing so, which is what you seem to be advocating with your one-liner quip.

I can't count on one hand the number of times I've gone back to my cabin and had anyone near me or even in the hall. I am far more likely to have people around when I leave my cabin because it is either around mealtime, showtime or happy hour. That being said, I'd still be more concerned being alone with someone in an elevator because you can't get out until it stops. 

And in terms of being in any foreign port, it's always a good idea to be vigilant. That's a whole different story though, those people can grab and go, ones on cruise ships don't escape quickly. Even when crime was horrible in NYC, the subways were always safe (we were teenagers) because it's hard to get away unnoticed. And I get back to the point of seeing a single name written on a door and say that I don't think someone is going to spend the time to not only notice which cabin has one name but will write it down so they remember. They would be more in tune to a potential victim they hit up at a bar when they see them sitting alone. 

On 7/21/2019 at 5:21 PM, Outerdog said:

 

I assume the poster is questioning the sensibility of posting names on doors of single women (for example) traveling alone as it could increase their vulnerability as it relates to assault or other violent crime.

 

Although rare, that stuff does happen.

 

I have traveled solo and gone to/from my cabin alone many times over the years and never once gave it a thought. I mean you could have a problem if you're alone with someone in an elevator too... I'd prefer to think people with evil intentions don't really like the confines of a cruise ship because they can't escape. Of course getting shipfaced and losing control of one's ability to walk upright can lend itself to unhappy endings. 

2 hours ago, Chiliburn said:

West bound you loose a day.

The jet lag is worse eastbound for some reason.

Going east I have a stop ,a sleep and a shower.

We are stopping in Hawaii on the way back for a day and a half then going east. I don't get jet lag when I go to Europe so hopefully won't get it this time. I'll land back in NJ at 6:30 AM so I'll go stand outside for a bit, that usually resets my body clock. 😊

3 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

Yes you go back in time but you don’t feel younger 

Very true but in terms of how many days you're away it does matter. If you are deciding between being away 20 days and 21 days the 21st day is actually the 20th day because you get that time back.   

We are going down under one time in our lives so being away longer is secondary to an adventure of a lifetime. We are actually flying out of Auckland on a red eye the day we get off Ruby Princess and going to Hawaii for a day and a half. Since I can't get back to NY without stopping might as well do it someplace fun. Tahiti was my first choice but the timing to do that was not right.

Just remember you get time back when you leave so our flight leaves at 11:55PM but gets in at 1030 that morning. 

We went through Stayz to find a place for eight nights and reserved an awesome apartment. There are some nice properties available for as few as one night that you might want to take a look at. If you are staying for more than one night it may be worthwhile to take a look as I know I don't want to eat out every single meal for eight days before we board Ruby Princess next April.

Yes it turns out it has terrific reviews on Trip Advisor ☺️ 

We've also booked an apartment through stayz for the eight nights we'll be in Sydney before we get on the ship. A much better option IMO to a hotel because with three of us already sharing a suite on the ship it will be good to have a little space before hand lol. This far ahead of time there were so many choices and there are some great gems. We didn't want non refundable (some actually don't give you anything back if you cancel even this far out) and we didn't want to pay the entire thing today so we narrowed it down to four and the one least like the others was the choice. 

Now to figure out what we want to do in Sydney but with all the accommodations taken care of now there's plenty of time to sort that. 

Have a great night.

15 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

True, just offering suggestions.

I found one via the google machine that looks perfect for us  A nine hour private tour, picking us up from the cruise terminal and dropping us off at the airport that evening. Our flight to Honolulu isn't until close to midnight so we will have time on both ends to wait around so hopefully even if we have to be out of the cabin early, we can have some breakfast before we get off the ship and that will kill a bit of time.

I'll do a search here and on TA for this tour company before we finalize it. 

Thanks for the feedback. 

7 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

Try TripAdvisor, they have links to companies that may offer what you require.

I know them well and have been a long time member & contributor, but that doesn't mean people here don't have great suggestions either. 

Thank you. Would you happen to remember who they are?

We're looking to fly out from Auckland when we get off Ruby next April and would like to spend the day sightseeing and doing something fun. Does anyone have recommendations for "for hire" private car businesses? It's kind of hard to use the google machine because they cater to "paid" businesses not necessarily the best ones. I expect we'd have somewhere around nine hours before we'd need to go to the airport. There won't be a big group of us.

thanks in advance.

That all makes sense, I just didn't know about what they'd do with the luggage. 

Thanks 

We are booked on Ruby Princess next year from Sydney. We are getting off eight days later in Auckland where she will then continue her voyage north. 

Does anyone know what time you have to get off the ship? Are we allowed to do excursions booked through them, come back to the ship to get our things and then get off before she leaves port? It's looking like our best flight options back might be 7:30 that evening so if we don't have to tote our luggage around all day or get off the ship first thing that would be better. Of course I don't know what their process is for customs anyway so it could be possible we can't get off then get on the ship then get back off so thought I'd ask here to see what others might have done before.

Thanks in advance. 

On 11/6/2018 at 1:32 AM, CruiseGal999 said:

My question is ... were you and the friend in the same cabin?  Are you still going on the cruise?  If YES ... then there is no insurance refund.  You would have to pay double occupancy to sail alone in the cabin ... 

 

No cancellation ... no notifying the cruise line ... the friend is a no show.  No details are needed.  Taxes/port fees, etc. will be refunded to the original form of payment. 

 

 

The reality is the check was made payable to the estate because the INSURED is the person who the insurance is taken out on NOT the person who pays for the cruise. 

That's what I thought but they want to send a check to a stranger.... I was hoping someone might have some personal knowledge as to how to get the money to go to the person who made the payment. 

Thanks.

So if you pay for a friend to travel with you and you take out insurance and they aren't able to go because they wind up in the hospital and then pass away who gets the refund if you purchase insurance? 

My recollection might be over a longer period. There was actually a time there was a duty-free store just outside the ship where you could purchase and then you picked it up after the ship left the dock.

 

I know about the 375ml purchases on the ship, but they don't save any money over the bar purchase, it just makes it more convenient.

Our first Princess cruise was 2006 on Caribbean Princess and we were able to have two bottles of champagne and four bottles of wine brought on for a "celebration". We had the bottles sent from a local liquor store to the hotel we stayed at the night before and handed it to the porters along with our luggage. They were in an "open" box so there was no doubt what was in it. We drank all but one in the cabin and the one we didn't and had no problem paying a corkage fee.

So....not everyone in the cabin has to buy drink package anymore? That is a good thing!

Well since it's not truly unlimited it's probably not that big of a deal when someone uses all 15 per day, plus I wouldn't want to be getting a drink for me and then waiting 20 minutes to get a drink for my cabin mate. It's more hassle than it's worth :halo:

I tend to always get it just because it removes the need to micro-manage what goes on my account. I'm not a fan of how weak/watered down the drinks are so stick to things like vodka/tonic/club soda in rocks glasses otherwise you get 12 ounces of sugar filled mixes and 1.5 ounces of liquor. There is no such thing as a double and nobody I know (including me) does shots anymore...

The coffee drinks and the water are awesome deals though and do make it worthwhile. I like being able to get water to take back to the cabin at night.