Cruise Raider

I am happy to report that @JAT0303 gave me a solution to my problem! I wasn’t as concerned with them returning the money to my original form of payment as I was not being able to see which card # my refund ended up on. I just wanted to see my balances and like I mentioned, that issue was solved, thanks to the fine folks here on CC!

Yes, that is where I’m getting my error, as well. I’m going to try this method. uodate! That worked .. thank you for the link!

We have actually befriended a few of the ones onboard and they are wonderful people. We have time to enjoy a couple of visits outside of their work duties and even keep in touch with a few of them while we are at home.

You are correct. While I was onboard the Crown earlier this year, I asked one of the future cruise consultants to specifically tell me about the promotion. I was very upfront and open to the fact that I just wanted to know about what was entailed and I had absolutely no intention of purchasing it. I really just wanted to hear about it so that I could answers questions right here on CC in case anyone had questions about it. He respected that we weren’t going to purchase it but did put in some subtle hints on what a good deal it was. We explained that while we love to cruise, we rarely fly far enough to use a hotel before or after the fact. His boss from corporate, however, who we met up with later, really tried the hard sell tactic on us. Truly, it really isn’t a deal for us as we just don’t stay in hotels and we tried to explain that to him but he argued the fact that we needed to try it. Well, that was a complete turn off to us. Just because we really just like to cruise from our own home port doesn’t mean we don’t love to travel .. we just do our travels differently than others. Anyway, then when we returned home, we started getting phone calls from the Princess promotions. The first one, I had explained we knew about it and because we just never stay in hotels, it just doesn’t work for us. Oh my goodness, that’s all it took and she was fine with my answer. The next one, I explained he was the fourth person to try to sell atht to me and he politely agreed to take me off the call in list. The third fellow to call, actually said he was replacing as my booking agent over my long time CVP for a month. Huh? He was polite and friendly enough, if not a little over the top with surprise with how many bookings we had. I explained that we like to choose how and through whom I book my cruises. I called my CVP and put me back as one of her guests. I guess that was part of their agreement at the time. So strange. Anyway, long story short .. no more calls!

I recently paid off a cruise with credit card as well as AARP gift cards having booked flexible air leaving me an overage paid on my booking. This was sent to finance and sent back to my gift card and credit card without issue. However, I have not been able to check my balances on each gift card number for over a week. It’s not just for the card in which the refund was returned to, but all of them, even ones that have a $500 balance. I shut down my iPad and back on but still no luck. I did get in touch with AARP and they sent me to Princess and the woman took down several of my gift card numbers as I didn’t know which card the refund went back on to and luckily, it was the first one she checked. But, I’m still unable to verify my balances now without calling in to the Princess gift card support line. I keep coming up with the following error: Has anyone else had this issue and if so, is there any solution you’ve found?

Now, that would be something to strive for! I know Celebrity gives access to Micheal’s club after they reach Zenith level. Maybe that’s a thing of the past but it is a wonderful perk with access much the same as the concierge on the Royal class ships on Princess for those in full suites.

Hmmm? Princess prizes is something you can purchase while on a cruise or else, it is included in the Premier Package. It’s more or less a lottery, not anything different than gambling. As a matter of fact, it’s only available while the casino is open. I have never received a call from ‘Princess Prizes’ but have been contacted through Princess promotions. Yes, the do know all bout your cruising record, who you book through, how you book and all the cruises you have booked in the future with Princes. As far as I’m concerned, it’s just not a deal for us. Princess Prizes, on the other hand, it’s fun and we, friends and family have won some big prizes.

I couldn’t figure that out either. The look on the faces of the recipients of the person who opens a package of small liquor bottles is priceless. It is a white elephant gift exchange, after all. 😂

We really never drink hard alcohol at home.

I think a $10 discount per day pp on the package for elites would go a long way, even though I never feel as though my loyalty is being overlooked. I’d be even happier if they upgraded us from the plus to the premier package for $10 a day pp. But, I always buy the package and make good use of the little mini liquor bottles they give us .. if our steward or one of our favorite crew members doesn’t drink, we’ve been known to take a box of them to our annual family white elephant gift exchange. They haven’t quite caught onto it yet what 50 mini bottles of liquor feels like in a package. 😂

I believe so but I think it may depend on the demographics you see on certain itineraries. We mostly cruise out of San Francisco and was surprised to hear that they would be happy if 30% of the passengers bought one of the packages. Perhaps it is higher in the Caribbean?

I don’t feel like my loyalty is being overlooked just because the cruise line is adding new loyalists.

Me, too!

Nice review and thank you for taking the time to post it. So happy you enjoyed (are enjoying) your trip! We have also had those window suites on the Grand and they are fantastic!

The onboard booking promo is not what we experienced in the past.

Your most recent TA, the one you used for the cruise you were on when you booked, still got the credit for the half off cruises you booked. Mine confirmed this.

And $40 per day pp for the premier .. just icing on the cake. I think we booked 7 cruises during that half off promotion. It was a heck of a deal! Oh well, back to the real world and time to say goodbye to those ‘oh so awesome’ deals. I finished my last one a month ago.

Aha .. you may be surprised with the new booking while onboard promo in that case. ???

Wow, that’s great to know. Have these been recent bookings?

Just curious ..are you able to go into your personalizer to add this package yourself? This cruise was booked through a travel agent and I can add one of the packages through this link. It may be disabled with that promo code but worth a shot.

It is my understanding that when you book those onboard discounted cruises, the package can only be added onboard once you are on that cruise.

You can most certainly request the head of the bed be elevated on one side. You may have very limited luck in finding they have a wedge pillow onboard so best to bring your own. If they have a couple of extra life vests onboard, those may also work for you.

I don’t believe the Princess ones were quite so generous but instead of a 33% statement credit, I think it was 25%. We’ve used them for a number of years, sometimes offered form Princess only but sometimes it is under any line under the CCL umbrella. I’ve read here on CC that the type of card you have may make a difference. The Everyday Blue card, which we each have, has always given us the offers.

The Amex offers we’ve gotten in the past were just on the every day blue card. There was an offer for $500 off for a $1500 payment for Celebrity. That was a darn good savings, considering my DH and I both have separate Amex accounts. We paid off one of our most recent cruises using an Amex offer for Princess. To me, it seems as though we might be due for one again soon.

Indeed!