TonyM99

Have booked our first River cruise (although done several Ocean ones )on Polaris going to cancel and rebook due too better pricing - There is also an offer on the Luxury option cost approx £2K more  - My guess is we would spend approx £600 on extra trips and drinks with Polaris so Price wise still doesn't appear to stack up especially bearing in kind Polaris a newer ship - Any comments appreciated Need to do something soon 

Thanks 

Picking up on this thread are there any updates - We are travelling in August with Princess Premiere which shows a medallion accessory as included - But what does that mean Each time I look at an option to complete my ocean ready for example Sport Band it wants ti change me - Is this just a cheap gimmick or maybe something I have to do once onboard ??

6 minutes ago, konatyme said:

Just checking to be sure a previous answer was correct: if I use OBC to reserve a shore excursion, then cancel it before the cruise, will the amount be refunded to my OBC? (I want to know because if Princess, or one of the countries on our Sept. Med. cruise, requires ship excursions, I'd use what I reserve; if there are no restrictions, I'll probably reserve private ones.)

My understanding is that it would be credited back to your OBC on that cruise -

Also only as I have recently looked this up - IF you book a ships tour before cruise and pay by credit card and cancel before cruise it gets refunded back to your card - If you cancel on board it gets refunded as OBC

11 minutes ago, Tedferg said:

Good news. Did the converted FCD show up in your account to be used against a future booking? 

It was never an issue of the FCC but of lost OBC which has now been resolved to my satisfaction 

12 minutes ago, Tedferg said:

In the US we had a choice of reinstating FCD or let it slide and convert to FCC with say 10% bonus. There was a time limit, and the default was convert to FCC. Ours converted to FCC but on a subsequent booking it was applied as FCD and we received the OBC bonus. Used a TA so do not know if she was responsible for FCD.

Yes it apparently was similar here-  apparently TA made call to get it converted  - As I had already used a another FCD on this booking they cannot give you two lots (4) OBC but I have a resolution that I am now happy wish - Always seems it pays to not give up 

Excellent points made but let me add a question into the pot -

We had 4 lots of FCD (2 each) - First was used for a cruise in April 2022 But this has been cancelled 

WE then booked another cruise for Feb 2022 using one each 

On checking the status of my FCD's expecting to see one remaining still ie the first cancelled cruise being refunded. I actually found out Princess on the cancellation had converted the FCD to a FCC and in doing do added a notional £25 worth of FCC each. So the second booking and I wasn't actually aware of all of this at the time used both the FCD and FCC - problem is can I would assume most people are the same in that we buy the FCD for the benefit of OBC- OK we got OBC for the second cruise form the FCD used BUT by converting the first lot we had lost the benefit of OBC. 

Ive telephoned Princess which didn't help and emailed customer services with no response except the initial auto reply.

I am sure that I read in a thread somewhere members in the USA raising the same concern and by complaining were able to get a gesture of some additional OBC

If this rings a bell to anyone and they can give me a better email address - Much appreciated  

1 hour ago, dog said:

My TA & myself had to make several attempts to get my FCD back to reuse as a deposit from my cancelled March 2020 cruise. Princess returned it to me as a FCC , losing the OBC 

I

got FCD back and it is now on my next cruise as a deposit with OBC 

Interesting I've been looking at my FCD's today following a email form Princess saying it was ready to use (assuming it was my cancelled cruise returned) However trying to understand my account as we did have two lots each One was used for a cruise that has subsequently been cancelled which I expected back as same and hence when I booked our next cruise with TA a few days ago I just assumed one of them was used. Looking at my Princess account today I couldn't really work out what had happened. Phoning Princess (50 mins holding) I found out that both our £75 FCD from cancelled cruise had been transferred to a cash value FFC along with an addition £25 each listed as Goodwill cash FCC. 

So apparently our one remaining FCD was used for new trip and the reallocated FCC had been used to apparently reduce the cruise price. Im currently querying with TA also asking to see if they can get Princess to add more OBC to booked cruise to compensate for the effective loss of. 

My Mistake in terminology having checked back on my emails - And as put so clearly by Caribill above 

I was referring to FCD 

which then in turn after you have booked a cruise using it you then also gain some OBC

4 minutes ago, Cuedon said:

They can be applied towards deposit? I thought that FCCs (Are they the same as FCDs?) could only be applied towards cruise fare, thus excluding deposit and port fees/taxes.

All I can say is that in the past I have used as the deposit and in fact at that time it covered the deposit 

Think its worth while doing if you are likely to cruise with them again. The £75 pp just an be used as deposit (or part of) and you get OBC thrown in - So I look at it as minuscule loss of interest (pence or cents) to Free money onboard Like our upcoming cruise giving us $300 

On 11/25/2019 at 10:56 PM, Lady Arwen said:

We have L102 booked on Enchanted.  That and L101 are our fave cabins on Royal class ships.  Balconies are  HUGE!

 

I was intrigued by these posts and stated to have a look at these forward facing deluxe balcony cabins on Enchanted - However when I was looking to maybe book - There is a note on selection implying access to balcony only when in port - Any comments please 

2 minutes ago, upwarduk said:

Personally I wouldn’t bother spending the extra, if you keep your 1A status. I like the balcony on 1A.

You could then spend what you have saved on Speciality dining.

Thanks

I don't actually intend to now - Thought I was just helping out by replying !

1 minute ago, LuvCruzn4Evr said:

When our move up bid from a sky suite to a royal suite was accepted in 2019, we received the unlimited specialty dining, 2 bottles of liquor and monogrammed robes.  I think maybe mini bar too.  I've heard they no longer provide these robes, unless it's the penthouse and then you get pj's instead of robes.  You should receive all the amenities that come with a royal suite.  I don't think this has changed.

All I can only say is that after querying the following statement which you have to agree to 

 I acknowledge that the upgrade does not include any additional promotions, that the stateroom will be assigned based on space availability, and that once accepted, the upgrade is final and non-refundable.
I acknowledge that I will keep the same amenities that I have on my current booking; no additional amenities will be added as a result of my upgrade.

Celebrity told me in a phone conversation this morning that you would not get those benefits - Maybe things have changed ? maybe She was wrong (although she did go away and check) ? 

I'd just be careful if you are considering based on the perks 

Having had a similar question when looking at the "move up" offers for our cruise on the 27th. I emailed Celebrity with no answer but was speaking to them on another subject today and so asked - The answer was you only get the perk that may or may not have been included in your original booked - ie we have Aqua with a Classic drinks package - they explained it as a way to see the room but not the perks - so even if we had been successful we would not have got those Restaurant , Internet or Premium drinks benefit 

19 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

I'd be open to checking them out for value proposition as we sailed them in the past.  But, need to use up all the money I have tied up in the Bank of Princess first.

Interesting a number of people have suggested moving to Celebrity over these changes - Yes as my previous list we are frustrated with the changes especially not been able to cruise with them since we gained Elite status ! Princess as you will see is our most cruised line - we have done one with Celebrity  and got another planned in a few months to use the FCC from our cancelled one with them last year - But the equivalent Princess cruise would have been a LOT cheaper without the FCC - So if selecting that particular itinerary would have gone with Princess still 

Well received my email form Princess today with changes to Elite benefits - Like !! the way they try and sell the benefit of having to pay for internet benefits as opposed to getting for free !!

Updating your loyalty benefits

Your loyalty means the world to us. To show our thanks we've made sure your Elite member benefits reflect our latest offerings, including Dine My Way reservations and MedallionNet Wi-Fi. We hope you enjoy these updates to your perks — because you deserve it.

What's new?
* Exclusive, early access to Dine My Way reservations (ability to make them before final payment!)
* 10% off shore excursions
* 10% off Lotus Spa treatments
* 10% off Photo Gallery offerings
Discounts will be applied onboard.

What's changing?
You’ll get a 50% discount on unlimited, premium Wi-Fi with MedallionNet. Enjoy the best Wi-Fi at sea (also included with PrincessPlus) instead of limited, free internet minutes. (No need to worry about logging on or off anymore!)

You'll notice a lot less paper. We're moving to electronic invites and announcements as part of our health protocols and commitment to protecting the environment.

We'll no longer offer onboard credit based on the number of cruises taken. What hasn't changed is our commitment to earning your loyalty.

Our return to service
As part of our commitment to safe sailing, some loyalty events and offerings may be updated.

We appreciate all the cruises you’ve taken with us over the years and look forward to sailing with you on another adventure soon!

That is not good news and I'm certainly surprised we have not been told by email asa we get bombarded with everything else - Although I note they haven't updated their open website !

https://www.princess.com/cruise-tips-vacation-ideas/cruise-destinations/cruise-tips-advice-and-information/cruise-membership-benefits.html

5 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

If you had first checked Review Bookings and Individual Days Booking, you would have seen the default dining booked for you as part of the conversion from Cruise Personalizer to MC App.  Looks like Princess team took the earliest possible Late TD time.  Seems early to me - even with a 5PM Early TD default.  

 

I wonder how many other people have double bookings and don't realize it yet. 

 

My advice is to decide which one you prefer and then delete the other.  You will have go through day-by-day and delete each individual booking as there is no "Delete All" option. 

 

On Sapphire, they have two separate DR's at mid-ship (never been on her) and I note the two you mention are on Deck 5.  On other ships, the Deck 5 mid-ship is normally all Anytime.

 

I am not sure what is going on with the Deck 6 Aft DR's. 

 

If you re check my comment whichever way I looked There was previously NO booking shown No default showing - It wasn't until I booked something that it appeared then showing both - I have been on the sapphire before but was in the International Dining room - Also since the recent refurb this year I'm not sure what either will look like - Most stuff written online always refers to previous arrangements so difficult to get any current info - So which one to chose is probably a lottery be nice to know if one was heading more towards cruisers changing daily to those wanting same - But hey ho

Well that was odd My April cruise was showing me no option after having initially booked TD second sitting - So on app today I managed under same time every night to book 19.40 which came up as table for two in Vivaldi - So booked that - Now having done that I can now see that I also have a booking in Savoy at 19.00 again table for two !!!

44 minutes ago, Thrak said:

We pretty much gave up on traditional dining. We've actually had some great dinner companions. One couple that we sailed with for 28 days we still keep in contact with and have not only sailed with again but also met several times during their winter migrations when they head south. We're booked on a cruise with them again in May. However, the last time we had TD we were at a table for 8. The other 6 people formed a bit of a clique and did everything together. It's annoying to be at a table for 8 and be the only 2 people who are actually at dinner. When the others were there they talked with each other about the things they had been doing that day, what they were doing later, and what they were doing the next day. It was not a good experience. After that we started doing anytime dining and it has worked out pretty well. Sometimes we eat at a table for two, sometimes we share, and sometimes we just eat at the buffet or grab a burger or something. We don't like late dining because that precludes any of the evening events such as Liars Club, Trivia, Pub Night, etc.

Thats certainly a shame - I must say on our 13 Princess Cruises to date we have only had one cruise where out table was not too good and even then it wasn't that bad - All the rest have been very good and met some really nice and interesting people as I said earlier a number we have seen again and one we meet up and stay with a number of times a year 

Someone earlier mention Main Show timings from our experience these have tended to be around 20.00 and 22.15 - So we enjoy a nicer relaxed second sitting (which seems a bit earlier these days and then often head to The Theatre 

Only found out today via the Crusie Critic thread for our cruise about these changes - Reading some of the comments on this thread er seem to be in the minority as we have always enjoyed TD late sitting and have always viewed it as a big part of our cruise experience - On virtually all of our Princess cruises we have lucky with the table selection normally 8 person and have met some great people from all over the world a number of which we still keep in touch with a one couple have become firm friends. So we would like to still have that same "Old" traditional dining But looks like that's changing - General opinion here seems to be even if we manage same table at same time our Dinner guests could well be different each night - So constant first night experience which will certainly dampen our enjoyment - So guess have to wait and see how this develops as out cruise which is virtually fully booked is not until April 22 

Also having today set up app etc - every time I try and log onto Dine My Way I just get a message that its not available right now !! 

Interesting subject - It now looks to me that The classic drinks package as been severely reduced in what it includes - This i am guessing is that as its almost continuously being offered as a "free" booking perk as we have received again.  My first experience of this package offer was very good as everything i wanted was included. But now looking at comparative list both beers and wine that i tend to drink are now all in the Premium package. I haven't looked to see if that can be upgraded but its not made easier as my wife basically doesn't drink mainly just slimline tonic so i wouldn't want to upgrade both - Ideal world swap my classic for premium and wifes classic for a soft drinks one - But I doubt if that's possible - Not cruising till Sept 21 so tme available 

On 10/7/2019 at 2:53 PM, Cliffholl55 said:

We to we’re on Dubai on 7th nov. Got refunded quickly. Booked on Marella (tui) on Discovery for same price for 14 nights all inc.  Dubai to India,happy days

We have managed to put together a very similar package trip that we had before India Golden Triangle then to Singapore to pick up Celebrity cruise to Dubai including Columbo Goa Cochin and overnight in Mumbai so also all good  

1 minute ago, tanzania2015 said:

The aqua and concierge cabins are a little larger than the balcony cabins on the M class ships. You could change to a concierge class cabin and eat in the MDR. Late seating in the MDR is normally available.  

Thanks Aqua was same price as Concierge (current Offer) so i thought extra benefits were worth it - Think we will stick with it always worth trying something different 

4 minutes ago, tgg said:

 

Sometimes booking Aqua is much more expensive than a balcony, so good for you.  The peaceful breakfast alone with be worth the few quid extra. Enjoy your cruise.

Thanks