wallyj

I think the OP is referring to the Future cruise program in Princess which are called Future Cruise Deposits. Future cruise credits are usually earned from cancelled cruises or customer relations issues, etc. @MNLIvin, Princess future cruise program is basically you put down a refundable $100 USD/deposit per person, as I assume you are US based. It is now only good for 12 months , used to be 2 years. If not used, it will be refunded to original Credit card and if that credit card not valid any more a check will be issued. You will receive OBC depending on the length and cabin type(interior, Oceanview, balcony, etc) booked. Ranges from $15-300/per person. Google is your friend.

Depends on when you are cancelling, I assume you are wondering if cancelled after final payment date, so cancellation fees would be in effect, read terms and conditions for your particular insurance policy. You normally purchase insurance for the cost of your cruise, no matter if it was paid by FCD’s and FCC.

Please review ‘luggage’ rules for Honolulu buses, you can find at thebus.org. It specifically states luggage must not block aisles and must fit under your seat and there are size restrictions. The city bus #20 does NOT have luggage racks, it is a regular city bus. The drivers have recently been a little lenient with allowing oversized luggage. I would not count on this. I suggest you use transfer or ride share services unless you have just carry on luggage.

Why? If the OP has one booking, the max shareholders is $250. Yes the WC can be bought in ‘segments’, but it seems the OP getting the discount and applying only one FCD each, it is only one booking so shareholders will only be $250.

You need to check with your travel agent or Princess UK as you have different ‘rules’ from USA/Canada bookings. It has been reported many times, UK bookings are subject to a processing fee to refare bookings and can only be done once? Whereas before final payment, most US bookings can be refared without ‘fees’ or other limitations.

Yes, I was on the Discovery in January and there was/is an ongoing promo for those currently on a sailing for cruises sailing up to mid May. It is not offered to persons not currently on the sailing, so you could not book for family or others not on the current cruise. The sale was 50% off the current fares, so substantially less as it is not just another 10% off current so called 40% off fares, which are based on ‘brochure’ rates. I am currently on the Majestic and the only ‘offers’ are the 50% off for sailings till mid May, so nothing new, and this 50% off fare is something that does not happen often. It is the first time, I have seen, Princess have this promo for on board bookings. Sometimes they may offer a little extra OBC in addition to what you normally get for using a FCD.

There is an exception to this rule. If you will reach the next level in one or two days into a LONG sailing, the Loyalty and Events Manager can bump you to the new tier for that sailing. What constitutes LONG is not clearly defined, but I would imagine at least 14 days. I saw this happen last year when a passenger was waiting to ask this question on a 25 day sailing as they were told they would reach ‘151’ days on the second day and to talk to the Loyalty Manager to get them upgraded to the next tier. I asked the Loyalty Manager about this and they confirmed they can and will do this. Need to be a long sailing and you need to be within 1 or 2 days of your next tier when you start the sailing.

I am pretty sure these are special ‘casino’ rates as my cousin was getting these same exact fares (interiors starting @$59)showing when I go check this ‘fast deal’ at that big online last minute 90 day ticker ‘site’. It will also have notation ‘Captain circle fare’. I was so excited thinking this was a special fare for all past passengers. When I called, they said oh it for passenger ‘xxx’ because his profile has my email address for this agency as we booked a cruise with this agency in the past, but used my email for both passengers. when I login to Princess, , I get the same higher fares as posted in post #16, with interior starting @ $309. So, the only people that can book at the ‘low’ fares are people who are eligible for this special ‘casino’ fare.

I have purchased FCD’s for people not on board for many friends and family. Just did it again while I was on Discovery Princess January 21-28 2023 sailing. So you should not have any problems purchasing them and you will have to do these in person. Had an issue where the ‘system’ would not accept my credit card. Fortunately, the head Future cruise person knew about this ‘glitch’, being they need to delete the credit card number and re enter it manually.

In all my sailings on Princess, the Loyalty and Events Manager always had office hours on the first day. More recently, I have noticed they will schedule a hour or so around lunchtime on boarding day, otherwise it was always after the old mandatory ‘muster drill’. I was told the Manager sets their own hours in coordination with the cruise director and the itinerary. There always seems to be a few passengers that were assigned ‘newbie/blue’ status because they or their travel agent did not provide current Captain circle account number, or the status is incorrect for other issues, so the loyalty event manager is correcting this on the first/embarkation day among the other questions.

There was another thread where it was stated the effective date was April 5, 2023, so I will find out when I board Majestic on April 4, 2023.

Please see more current thread with pictures of what is offered in 2023 ‘book’. Thread title Coupon books 2023.

Please clarify, as I thought as this silliness was winding down, you would never lose your Principle (what you paid to princess), but only the ‘bonus’ FCC in your case 25%? FCC’s and expiration’s have been discussed extensively on these boards, so you must have not be paying attention. So Princess restarted sailing here on the west coast September 2021, so sailings on Princess has resumed for at least 18 months! Yes, people were still hesitant to sail and many that did enjoyed very low occupancy sailings they will not likely experience in the near future. It is unfortunate you most likely have lost your ‘bonus’ FCC, and you have some responsibility to own up to it, I would be surprised if you lost your base cruise FCC, as if that expired should be refunded. There is no excuse for rude customer service. Sounds like you got one of those bad apples or someone having an off day.

The four ships mentioned are part of ‘Grand’ class along with Caribbean, Crown and Grand Princess. Although Ruby, Diamond, Sapphire and Emerald are ‘gems’, I do not know where @VibeGuy or @wcflats got ‘gem class’ . I have heard of NCL ‘jewel’ Class as being the Jewel, Jade, Pearl and Gem.

I do not believe just ‘any’ passenger can go to PSD and request the coupon book. It must be an amenity your travel agent has attached to your booking during certain promotional periods. A carrot to entice you to book with that agency.

I believe if you are not buying for the whole voyage, then the cost for 1 device for 24 hours is $20, which you can share between devices, only one active at a time. Does not need to be in same stateroom.

The OP was quoting add on charges to your booking for the NCL ‘free at sea’ drink pkg. On NCL if you select the free drink pkg in your available bundle, you are still charged a daily gratuity, I believe it is now over $20/day per person, so I know many who will forgo this ‘free’ pkg, because they would not spent $20 a day on any types of drinks that were not included in base cruise fare. Also as NCL has increased the daily service charge to a minimum of $20/day per person, is where he is coming up with $600 in service charges.

On some previous ship and sailings, some of my friends and family never received the link, so guest services can see if you were entitled to one and had printed copies of the booklet to give you. As with Princess, YMMV. if you are not sure you will have WiFi on your sailing, print or make screenshot on a device you will have on sailing. I think I got the email link about 2 weeks before sail date.

Hi @caribill, I believe the 2023 coupons are the same with an expiration of December 31, 2023. This is how I was able to use the Platinum Studio coupon in January 2023. My reply post #13, was to let @Sea Hag, post #5, know there is a coupon that does not require any spend, which they might not have been aware. Thank you for posting the 2022 version, as I assume many are not familiar with the offers or understood this program. To repeat, these coupon ‘books’ are an amenity a travel agent ‘can’ add to your booking during some promotional periods. They are not the ‘booklet’ of offers of long ago that Princess used to provide almost every guest, that your room steward delivered. To receive, your travel agent must add to your booking, if during eligible booking period when promo is being offered. I think 2022 was the first year the Platinum studio coupon was offered. Assume Princess is evaluating how many ‘additional’ purchases it generates, if it will be continued to be offered.

I am surprised there are still people posting comments regarding what they assume was a ‘mistake’ fare when you were upgraded. As I posted in one of my previous replies in this thread, Princess has and obviously still does give complimentary upgrades during the booking process, but it seems mostly with accessible/handicapped cabins if the category you are looking to book is sold out. I know ‘handicapped’ is not used anymore but it seems when I have said accessible, some people do not know what I am talking about. The OP also shared, he eventually canceled the sailing where he was upgraded, so that is not the issue, as he did not sail, but I think it added to his frustration with Princess in getting them to ‘honor’ the fare. The straw that broke the camels back was being ‘double’ charged for the upgrade from Plus to Premium pkg after being refunded once for a double billing. The OP also posted in post #43, the issue was resolved. So it seems some people are making comments without reviewing all of the history/past posts regarding this thread! Please read my reply post #12.

Hi @Hui C Stanek, many first timers are surprised or did not do their research to understand most cruiselines, except for some very high end luxury lines, add a daily ‘service charge’ to your account either daily or at the end of the sailing. NCL currently has a minimum $20 per day per person, meaning for a party of 2 adults, that is $40/day billed to your stateroom, so yes, I can see depending on the number in your party and the length of the cruise, $600 in ‘service charges/tips’, is normal/expected. I think the minimum service charge on Celebrity is $17.50 a day per person, depending on cabin type booked, so be sure to budget or plan on this ‘cruising’ expense.

I guess maybe depending on who the Platinum artist is, but my experience was very easy on the Discovery and no pressure to purchase any additional pictures or sizes. It does take a little time to select which picture, depending on the number of initial pictures taken. I believe my appointment took about 20 minutes to review the slide show, select my picture, then review the ‘order’ the platinum artist needs to submit, and receive a printed copy of the ‘order’. Last year on the Majestic, my friend had over 30 ‘shots’ to review. We reviewed shots in groups of three, picking one or none in that group. No pressure or sales pitch to purchase additional on that occasion too. I have experience about pressure from a sales presentation as I have attended a few ‘timeshare’ presentations in the past.

Not so, yes the BOGO for 1st night specialty restaurant is gone but a ‘new’ coupon for a FREE 8x10 Platinum Studio portrait was in my last couple of books. No need to purchase any other prints and says it has a value of $150. Of course you do need to make an appointment for platinum studio sitting and take pictures, then once studio has assembled your photos for slide show he has created, you get to decide which photo you want. Photo is not printed on ship, but sent from NY? Turn around was pretty quick. Was on Discovery for January 21-28 2023 sailing, photo was delivered about 3 weeks later.

I believe your Medallion only has the date of your 1st embarkation date, no thru date. You only get one Medallion and it will work for any subsequent B2B’s on the same ship whether you stay in same cabin or move. Occasionally, the battery runs low so guest services might replace with a ‘new’ Medallion, but the date should still remain as the embarkation date of the 1st cruise.

Hi @mtnesterz, to try and be a littler clearer, the stream and saunas in the changing rooms were removed/remolded so the Spa could have some accessible/disabled treatment rooms installed in their place, not the entrance/access point when I wrote accessibility. If you are on Emerald for August are you on the 16 day Hawaii or the LA to NY trip? I am currently booked on the 16 day Hawaii as Princess normally does not sail to Hawaii in the summer, so looking forward to warm weather the entire Cruise hopefully.