Princess Line future cruise deposits

[kayjaystrip]

Hi - can anyone explain whether they have been able to make use of a future cruise deposit paid while on a cruise, and can anyone explain just what the benefits are. I have asked Princess Line Customer Relations more than once by email but have never had a straight answer.

 

Our circumstances are: while on a recent Tahitian Princess cruise we were persuaded to pay a US$100 deposit each as a future cruise deposit. We understood that that deposit would secure us a $150 each? (not sure about this) on-board cabin credit and that the $100 deposit each would serve as sufficient deposit on any Princess cruise up to 4 years in the future. At the time we did not have a specific cruise in mind.

 

Shortly after completing the cruise we became interested in a May 2010 departure of the renamed Ocean Princess and rang Princess Line itself. We were told that we would have to pay over $1000 each as deposit (20% of the cruise cost) - and that the future cruise deposit did not apply in this case.

 

As mentioned above we received no satisfactory explanantion as to why and as a result we have not proceeded with any booking.

 

Grateful for members' feedback on this.

[Toto2Kansas]

The problem I think you are running into now is that the rules changed recently (back in September if I remember correctly), and you now will need one FCC PER PERSON to get those benefits that used to only take one FCC plus another $100 for the second passenger. One of you can still receive the shipboard credit attached, but not both.

[rkmw]

Hi - can anyone explain whether they have been able to make use of a future cruise deposit paid while on a cruise, and can anyone explain just what the benefits are. I have asked Princess Line Customer Relations more than once by email but have never had a straight answer.

 

Our circumstances are: while on a recent Tahitian Princess cruise we were persuaded to pay a US$100 deposit each as a future cruise deposit. We understood that that deposit would secure us a $150 each? (not sure about this) on-board cabin credit and that the $100 deposit each would serve as sufficient deposit on any Princess cruise up to 4 years in the future. At the time we did not have a specific cruise in mind.

 

Shortly after completing the cruise we became interested in a May 2010 departure of the renamed Ocean Princess and rang Princess Line itself. We were told that we would have to pay over $1000 each as deposit (20% of the cruise cost) - and that the future cruise deposit did not apply in this case.

 

As mentioned above we received no satisfactory explanantion as to why and as a result we have not proceeded with any booking.

 

Grateful for members' feedback on this.

 

hi, going by your profile you are from Sydney also but unless you have or know someone in the US or Canada with an address you have to use a local aussie TA to make a booking on a Princess ship

 

i cant comment on the US FCCL as i always have cruised on aussie ships and our FCL is only good for our ships and if you cruise over 28 days you have to pay full deposit and it could be $1500 each, it depends on the length of the cruise but you can still receive the OBC and allowed to cancel out and transfer to another cruise before final payment has been made

 

rkmw

[rkmw]

Hi - can anyone explain whether they have been able to make use of a future cruise deposit paid while on a cruise, and can anyone explain just what the benefits are. I have asked Princess Line Customer Relations more than once by email but have never had a straight answer.

 

Our circumstances are: while on a recent Tahitian Princess cruise we were persuaded to pay a US$100 deposit each as a future cruise deposit. We understood that that deposit would secure us a $150 each? (not sure about this) on-board cabin credit and that the $100 deposit each would serve as sufficient deposit on any Princess cruise up to 4 years in the future. At the time we did not have a specific cruise in mind.

 

Shortly after completing the cruise we became interested in a May 2010 departure of the renamed Ocean Princess and rang Princess Line itself. We were told that we would have to pay over $1000 each as deposit (20% of the cruise cost) - and that the future cruise deposit did not apply in this case.

 

As mentioned above we received no satisfactory explanantion as to why and as a result we have not proceeded with any booking.

 

Grateful for members' feedback on this.

 

this is from the p&o australian board, click on the link and have a read

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1092344

 

rkmw

[Toto2Kansas]

My apology to the OP, I didn't check where you lived, and didn't realize you were asking about Aussie future cruise credits. :o

[partybarbie]

The problem I think you are running into now is that the rules changed recently (back in September if I remember correctly), and you now will need one FCC PER PERSON to get those benefits that used to only take one FCC plus another $100 for the second passenger. One of you can still receive the shipboard credit attached, but not both.

 

 

Interesting, I booked two cruises for next year, one on 10/2/09 and the other on 10/14/09. I only needed one FCC for each cruise, not per person. I paid the $100.00 deposit for the second person on each cruise and we both got shipboard credits. Maybe the rules have changed back? Or did we just get lucky and make it before the deadline?:)

[Toto2Kansas]

I know my TA said a few are slipping through the cracks and still getting the OBC for both. But just to make sure, I would double check that you both got the credit, just in case. As it now stands, it takes one FCC per passenger to receive what we used to use only one FCC plus the $100 for. You booked just after the change, so there is a good chance that you will still get the credit for you both. Good Luck, I hope they keep yours on your account for you. ;)

[caribill]

The only May 2010 Ocean Princess cruise I see is a 31 day Cape Town to London (sounds like fun).

 

It is not part of a World Cruise where the $100 deposit does not apply.

 

I am surprised that you were sold a US$ Future Cruise Credit since you live in Australia. See below from the Princess website. I would assume that the "international program" would apply in your case.

 

It is my understanding that FCCs purchased with US$ cannot be used by people who do not reside in the USA. In your case, I would call Princess and ask to speak with a supervisor. Princess sold you these FCCs (I assume knowing where you live) and should be willing to honor the statements of the onboard future sales person.

 

From the Princess website-- be sure to see the last sentence:

 

Future Cruise Consultant

 

While onboard you can book your next escape with Princess. Future Cruise Consultants are on each vessel to advise you of future cruise itineraries, fares and incentives. By booking onboard, you will receive reduced deposits of $100 (USD/CAD) per person and up to $150 shipboard credit on your next sailing with Princess.

 

Simply make a deposit toward any cruise to secure this exclusive offer available only to our onboard passengers.

 

Unsure of future travel plans?

You can still take advantage of this rewarding program — just place a low deposit while onboard of $100 (USD/CAD) per person, and take up to four years to sail on your next escape with Princess.

 

CRUISE LENGTHSTATEROOM TYPEONBOARD CREDIT (USD/CAD)*

7-9 days Interior $25 Oceanview $50

10-15 days Interior $75 Oceanview $100

16+ days Interior $125 Oceanview $150

 

* Shipboard credit applies to the holder of the Future Cruise Deposit only, and is not applicable to upper berth passengers.

Check with your Future Cruise Consultant about offers for World Cruises and the International program.

[stki]

I am surprised that you were sold a US$ Future Cruise Credit since you live in Australia. See below from the Princess website. I would assume that the "international program" would apply in your case.

 

We have been able to buy US FCC, when we booked through a US online TA. (which we have used)

 

We have also got FCC, when we booked through a Aussie TA, but we didnt have to pay anthing. WE got a letter to say that when we book our next cruise(through OZ), we have to pay a $200 PP deposit, but we still get the onboard credit.

 

Wonder if this will change, since Princess doesnt want Aussies to book through the States now.:mad:

 

Cheers

 

Tanya

[partybarbie]

I know my TA said a few are slipping through the cracks and still getting the OBC for both. But just to make sure, I would double check that you both got the credit, just in case. As it now stands, it takes one FCC per passenger to receive what we used to use only one FCC plus the $100 for. You booked just after the change, so there is a good chance that you will still get the credit for you both. Good Luck, I hope they keep yours on your account for you. ;)

 

 

Yes, I do have a printed confirmation from Princess on both cruises. I would hope that they would honor our OBC, since it is in writing. Good information for future cruises though.

[AndyTheK]

...

 

I am surprised that you were sold a US$ Future Cruise Credit since you live in Australia. See below from the Princess website. I would assume that the "international program" would apply in your case.

...

Check with your Future Cruise Consultant about offers for World Cruises and the International program.

 

In the Patter for the Island Princess 2 Oct 2009, linked to by http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1075612&highlight=pdf

 

the last line of the Future Cruise Consultant "blurb" reads "All international passengers are eligible for these programs."

Sorry I can't copy direct out of the PDF file, but it's there.

 

As an International passenger (US citizen but non-resident, not UK nor OZ) intending to use FCC's, I shall be checking the horse's mouth next month when I am on the Coral.

 

I wonder whether or not there is no real Princess POLICY, but simply a case of "speak to everyone until you hear the answer you want".

[goodie2shoes]

I hope you all have better luck than we seem to be having with this new rule. We booked a Hawaii Cruise using one FCC and $100 for the other more than a year ago. At the time, we both received the $100 OBC that we were promised. When it came time for final payment, the OBC for both still showed.

 

This week I was checked up (I never trust OBC to stay put) and found that only one of us is now being given the $100. The other has been taken away.

 

I don't know what the end of this story is, as my TA is working on it right now, but it certainly seems to me that Princess is out of line taking away something that had already been credited before and at final payment. I agree that they have the right to change the program, but I don't agree that they should be able to do it after the fact.

 

For those who have booked (and paid cruises) using one FCC and $100 for the other person, I would suggest you check and see if you too have had your OBC taken away.

[Toto2Kansas]

I hope you all have better luck than we seem to be having with this new rule. We booked a Hawaii Cruise using one FCC and $100 for the other more than a year ago. At the time, we both received the $100 OBC that we were promised. When it came time for final payment, the OBC for both still showed.

 

This week I was checked up (I never trust OBC to stay put) and found that only one of us is now being given the $100. The other has been taken away.

 

I don't know what the end of this story is, as my TA is working on it right now, but it certainly seems to me that Princess is out of line taking away something that had already been credited before and at final payment. I agree that they have the right to change the program, but I don't agree that they should be able to do it after the fact.

 

For those who have booked (and paid cruises) using one FCC and $100 for the other person, I would suggest you check and see if you too have had your OBC taken away.

 

Have your TA get busy on this and stick with it. Same thing happened to us on our last B2B cruise. Our TA had the OBC reinstated with only one call to Princess. Both the B2B's were booked before the change with the one FCC plus an extra $100 for the deposit.

Don't take no for an answer from your TA, if this was booked before the change took effect, your TA can get the credit back for you, ours did without a problem. Good Luck!

[Colo Cruiser]

Yes, I do have a printed confirmation from Princess on both cruises. I would hope that they would honor our OBC, since it is in writing. Good information for future cruises though.

 

 

I agree, I would keep checking as this policy has changed as noted in numerous threads.

We just booked and could use 1 FCC and $100 credit card for the second person but it was made very clear that the OBC was not valid for the 2nd person so we used 2 FCC's.

[kayjaystrip]

Hi again. Thanks to all who responded. We DID buy 2 uture Cruise Deposits at $100 each. My main concern was that the $100 deposit each was not recognised as valid for a booking deposit, but instead we were told we would have to pay the normal deposit (20%?). I am not certain whether the onboard credit promised - $150 - was per cabin or per passenger which is why I had a ? after it, but that is a secondary issue to me.

 

I would appreciate hearing of other's experiences in having the Future Cruise deposit refused as sufficient but instead were demanded the full normal deposit.

[Luckyroot]

I have a future cruise credit question please.

 

We both bought 2 FCC last time we were on Princess (Oct. 2008). One for a cruise booked at that time and one for future. We ultimately had to cancel the booked cruise, so now we still have 2 each.

 

Could we book 2 cabins with 4 CCs? One for us and one for another couple, or our adult kids?

 

tia

[Toto2Kansas]

If the FCC's are in your names, you will not be able to give them to someone else to use, they are non transferable. (fine print on your actual receipt).

[caribill]

I have a future cruise credit question please.

 

We both bought 2 FCC last time we were on Princess (Oct. 2008). One for a cruise booked at that time and one for future. We ultimately had to cancel the booked cruise, so now we still have 2 each.

 

Could we book 2 cabins with 4 CCs? One for us and one for another couple, or our adult kids?

 

tia

 

If they are in each of your names, you could book one cabin in your name and one in your spouse's name. Then the other two people could be booked as the second passenger in each cabin. Once on board, you could straighten out who stays with whom.

 

If both of these FCCs are in the same name, then you could only book one cabin since the passenger named must be in the cabin reserved.

[spongerob]

The reason you cannot use your FCC's for the May/10 cruise is that it's a 31-day cruise. As has just been discussed at great length in another thread, cruises of 30 days or more have different booking rules. You weren't necessarily lead astray when you bought the FCC's; you just were not aware that there are some conditions where they cannot be used.

[Toto2Kansas]

"The reason you cannot use your FCC's for the May/10 cruise is that it's a 31-day cruise."

 

Actually, I just dug out my new FCC's to see what it says about 30 Day plus cruises. FCC's CAN be used for 30 day PLUS cruises (but not for World Cruises). The only difference in them is that when using an FCC for a cruise 30+ days in length, the cancellation timeframe is 120 days prior.

[flamingolover]

I just booked a cruise with Princess about 2 weeks ago and was able to use my $100 ($200 total-$100 for me and $100 for hubby) previously paid deposit for the booking and was also told I would be receiving an onboard credit.

[Toto2Kansas]

I just booked a cruise with Princess about 2 weeks ago and was able to use my $100 ($200 total-$100 for me and $100 for hubby) previously paid deposit for the booking and was also told I would be receiving an onboard credit.

 

If you only used one FCC to book, plus the extra $100, yes, there will be an onboard credit for the one using the FCC, but there is a very good chance that only the one using the FCC will get the credit, the other booking with the $100 will not. If they told you different, I would definitely be double checking this one just to make sure. ;)

[strobellayjam]

The problem I think you are running into now is that the rules changed recently (back in September if I remember correctly), and you now will need one FCC PER PERSON to get those benefits that used to only take one FCC plus another $100 for the second passenger. One of you can still receive the shipboard credit attached, but not both.

 

Toto2Kansas: do you know where I can find notice of this change on the Princess website? My DH and I just booked ourselves on the Golden to Hawaii in March and the TA didn't advise of this change. Thx.

[Toto2Kansas]

Toto2Kansas: do you know where I can find notice of this change on the Princess website? My DH and I just booked ourselves on the Golden to Hawaii in March and the TA didn't advise of this change. Thx.

 

There is no notice on the website that I know of, but from what I have been told, the TA's were notified of this change. If I am not mistaken here, I don't think the Princess website even discusses FCC's anywhere that I have seen before.

Originally, it was always supposed to be one FCC per person to get all the benefits, but we all found a loop hole to get around it. From what I understand, they have just tightened the loop hole is all. ;)

 

I am beginning to wonder if maybe the problem here is that those using older FCC's might still be able to slip through, as they are worded totally different then the newer ones.

I know we had an OBC taken away from us even when using an older FCC (and received absolutely no notice it was taken away, It was there one day, and gone the next, but thankfully I had asked my TA to check our credits a couple of weeks before our cruise.), that had to be reinstated, as we booked before the new rules took effect. Thankfully we had a good TA to make the fight easier on us as she took care of it all.

 

Here is a link to the the thread discussing this just after the change took place. (and I verified the acuracy of this both with my TA and the Future Cruise Rep onboard our cruise last month) http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1062411&highlight=fcc+change

[Toto2Kansas]

I did a bit of looking around on the Princess website and did find the info about FCC's.

You can locate it here about half way down the page under future cruise consultant: http://www.princess.com/learn/answer/during_cruise/board.jsp

 

If you notice, it says that FCC's must be purchases PER PERSON. Not sure if they have changed the wording since the change, or this is how it has always been written (that we just found a way around it in the past that they are no longer letting us get away with, unfortunately).