DJ Cruisers

That is what I was wondering. The person on the HAL boards who posted said she talked to Steve at the tripinsurancestore who I have heard others talk about as being very knowledgeable. It sounded like you need to verify when you buy insurance, it's not a given. She also said the fine print of her Chase Sapphire card said the insurance would not cover the cruise cost if it was paid by a certificate. Wouldn't want to be surprised if I had to cancel a cruise after final payment and find out the insurance doesn't cover it. It's always in the fine print......

There was a discussion on the Holland America boards about what happens if you cancel a cruise after final payment, will your insurance cover the cruise cost if you pay with gift certificates. Someone called an insurance company to clarify what would happen and was told no. They will not cover the amount that was paid by the AARP gift cards. She also said her credit card insurance would not cover the cost paid with gift cards. If true, would using them on a Princess cruise be any different...

That is ridiculous. I definitely suggest you call back. Same thing happened to me. I knew I had done this many times in the past. Called back the next day and got a different person who did it with no problem. Used my husbands OBC to book both our excursions. It is frustrating when they tell you with such confidence that it can't be done. As a matter of fact I just did it again a couple wks ago, no problem.

Thanks I do know I can check my personalizer for it. But I just read a previous poster who got a response today that you could not combine it with the Military anymore. So....we may have missed out because they say we didn't send the shareholder attachment with our request last Friday, even though we did. Frustrating.

Thanks for the info. We haven't been with Princess since 2021. Did get a quick response today but they said they were missing the shareholder statement. Huh, it was attached. Well we just resent it and will see what happens.

Wow. I'm impressed. As a relative newbie at the game I was ready to be satisfied with just getting a purchase to go toward the sign-up bonus. You've taken it to a new level by being able to change the category of purchase. This would be handy for the Citi Custom Cash card where your highest category each billing period gets a 5% rebate; but you probably know all of this already and are doing it. Maybe you should give seminars on board our cruise. Anyway, thanks a lot for your post.

Thanks again for your reply. It looks like the transaction goes through as either AARP or gift card - not as a travel purchase; so it would not qualify for any special rebate associated with travel but does count towards getting the cash bonus from signing up for a new credit card. Thanks for the tip regarding purchase of gift cards through the grocery store; Citi's Custom Cash at least has that category listed so I can get some kind of 5% rebate on something. It's a shame the grocery stores don't sell the cruise line discounted cards so we could "double dip" for 10% off the purchase price coupled with 5% rebate from the credit card.

Thanks for your reply. It looks like the transaction goes through as either AARP or gift card - not as a travel purchase; so the transaction would not qualify for any special rebate associated with travel but does count towards getting the cash bonus from signing up for a new credit card.

Thanks for that info. I used to do exactly that if we had a stray one left.

Thanks for the replies. They used to last for 4 yrs, then went to 2 yrs, now 1 yr. We have taken over 70 cruises, at least half of those on Princess. One year just isn't enough for us, we may chose another favored cruise line some years. Just used our last one which was for 2 yrs. Will have to buy 1 in September on board and see what happens. Guess we won't be buying in quantity like we used to.

I have read the Future Cruise Deposit you buy now is only good for one year. In the "old days" (pre Covid) I was able to extend one right before it expired. Has anyone been able to get one extended lately?

Thanks for your detailed reply. I've read that if the Merchant Category Code goes in as 4411, as shown on your monthly statement, this means it was processed as a "cruise line" item and not as a gift card and you get the rebate associated with a travel expense. I guess the best way to proceed is to just buy one with a certain card and see what happens. The card I hope works for me is a CitiBank card that gives 5% back for whatever category expense is the biggest for each monthly billing; so with a little bit of keeping track of things you can maximize your rebates. The limitation is that, if you want the 5%, you can only buy $500 worth each month. I'm envious of your 8% rebate card; I'm sure you'll want to hang on to that one.

We just submitted the form for receiving the Shareholder's OBC for our December cruise. Got an automatic response "due to high demand, it will take up to 21 days to process". Our last submittal was just a few days. Looks like word is getting out!

OK, thanks for the info.

Has anyone had favorable experience using a credit card that gives rebates to buy these gift cards?. I've read the fine print on some of my credit cards and some exclude purchases of gift cards as qualifying for a rebate and some are silent on the issue. Ideally, I would like to use a card that touts itself as a "travel credit card" as that would give the best rebate.

We are on Barcelona-Barcelona September 9. Will be following you on your cruise. Have a great time!

Agree they can't with the current ship design. It appears they are committed to small balcony cabins with no place to sit inside except in a desk chair. Now it is even difficult if impossible to pick out a "Deluxe" cabin to book if I want that little extra room and sofa. I'm just not interested in doing guarantees and hoping we get a location we are OK with. For me the small savings on an expensive overall trip isn't worth it.

It seems all the Deluxe Balconies have the capability of holding 3 or more people. This policy of making me book one as a guarantee because we are only 2 people just makes no sense. If I were to book a guarantee (which I won't) they are committing to giving me one eventually but annoying me by not letting me pick it out now when I see one I like. So 3 people are given priority to be able choose a cabin they like now and I am supposed to be fine with whatever location they give me at some future point. I too wish that all balconies had a sofa in them like some other cruise lines do. And gosh, they aren't even called "Deluxe".

Thanks for your replies. We will keep trying. Going to put my husband on it Monday maybe he will have more luck. It wouldn't be the first time he does better than me.

Well I am not happy with this new system either. I just tried to book a Deluxe Balcony (DB) and it showed only Guarantees for any category. So I changed the number of passengers to 3 instead of 2 and cabins showed up available. I called Princess to try and book one of the available ones. The agent was very nice and contacted his supervisor to try to get me the cabin. She gave him a tip on how to book it but it didn't work. So I was told I could only book it as a Guarantee. I told him I wasn't interested in doing that, I want to know I have a cabin I like. What a ridiculous policy. I'll try calling our TA on Monday and see if she has any luck. Has anyone had any success with this recently?

I called a second time, got a different person who knew what she was doing. She booked the excursions we wanted for both myself and my husband and took the OBC only out of my husband's account. No problem. I knew I had done it many times pre Covid. Thanks for all the replies. Thanksmany times in the past (pre Covid). At least that hasn't changed.

That is exactly what I was trying to do. I have done it many times pre Covid, no problem. Guess I will call again and hope to get a different person that gives me an answer. Thanks for everyone's replies.

Milolii, I called Princess direct to have them book both mine and my husband's excursion from his OBC since he had over $500 left. I didn't have enough in my OBC account left to book mine. In the past, pre Covid, this has been no problem. Now I was told it couldn't be done. Don't know whether this person at the Princess Excursion phone # just didn't know how to do it or they won't do it anymore. I was left hanging on the phone while she tried to verify her position and then was disconnected.

If they are not allowing us to book an excursion in advance using one person's OBC for both of us this is something new. I know I couldn't do it myself on their site but I could call Princess and they were able to do it. On board we have had both our accounts combined into one.

I called the Princess excursion desk today and wanted to book a shore excursion for my husband and I using my husband's OBC for both of us.. He has way more than me. I remember doing this pre Covid without a problem. The person told me it couldn't be done that way. She left me on hold to make sure and after a long time I was disconnected. Of course she didn't call me back even though she confirmed my phone # in case we got disconnected. That was a wasted 45 minutes. Has anyone been able to do this recently?