Question about Captain's Circle advancement

[smixsell]

I noticed that Princess awards Capt. circle levels based on the total number of cruises you have taken. I also noticed that several cruises which I would be interested in taking have short 1 or 2 day repositioning immediately before or after the cruise.

 

My question is this: If I booked myself and my wife on a 7 or 10 day cruise and also book the 1-2 day repositioning cruise immediately before or after would that count as 2 cruises toward our captain's circle advancement? Or would Princess consider that this just 1 cruise?

 

I'm hoping this "stategy" will work, and would provide a good excuse to add a day or two onto our next cruise :D

 

Surely some of you cruise veterans out there must know the answer, so I thank you in advance. :)

[regnig]

As long as the bookings are separate they would both count. Just be carefull you don't get excited about putting 2 cruises together that would be deemed illegal by the Jones Act.

[blue cow dog]

a cruise is a cruise. That would count for two. but also you can advance your CC by taking longer cruises and go by days. We used a 2 day cruise to earn out Platinum status.

[cab519]

Yes, the short repositioning cruises do count, but you might be prevented by the US Passenger Vessel Services Act (called the Jones Act above) from booking this.

 

PVSA covers embarking in one US port and finally disembarking in another US port. Lots of threads about it, so won't detail it here, but here is a summary:

 

One US port --> back to same US port, just needs a visit to any foreign port (egs. in Canada).

 

One US Port --> back to a different US port, needs a visit to a DISTANT foreign port (South America, Aruba, etc.). Canada does not count.

 

Hence a Seattle to Vancouver (Canada) repositioning, then Vancouver (Canada) to Anchorage would be a net Seattle US to Anchorage US, not allowed. One of the reasons for these short cruises - gets around the PVSA. The one day cruises are almost always to get around the PVSA, so you could do one or the other, but not both.

[Toto2Kansas]

I noticed that Princess awards Capt. circle levels based on the total number of cruises you have taken. I also noticed that several cruises which I would be interested in taking have short 1 or 2 day repositioning immediately before or after the cruise.

 

My question is this: If I booked myself and my wife on a 7 or 10 day cruise and also book the 1-2 day repositioning cruise immediately before or after would that count as 2 cruises toward our captain's circle advancement? Or would Princess consider that this just 1 cruise?

 

I'm hoping this "stategy" will work, and would provide a good excuse to add a day or two onto our next cruise :D

 

 

Surely some of you cruise veterans out there must know the answer, so I thank you in advance. :)

 

Any cruise booked with a seperate booking number is counted as one cruise for each booking number. Even a B2B that is sold as either a 14 day or two 7 days. As long as there are two booking numbers and you booked two seperate 7 day sailings (even though sailing 14 total) they consider it two seperate cruises and you receive credit for two towards your advancement in the Captain's Circle. So yes, if you can book a 7-10 day cruise and then a one day repo cruise afterward, they would be considered two seperate cruises towards your status.

 

Edited, Opps, I typed way too slow today, I see your question has already been answered numerous times. lol

[smixsell]

Thanks for the info cruisers! :) I will try and implement "operation quick platimum" sometime next year! :D

[caribill]

Thanks for the info cruisers! :) I will try and implement "operation quick platimum" sometime next year! :D

 

You can get double credits by booking a suite. Call it "operation quicker platinum."

[smixsell]

You can get double credits by booking a suite. Call it "operation quicker platinum."

 

Hmmmm. Intriguing. :) Thanks for the tip!

[abbydancer2003]

Or, if there are two of you, book a second room, cheapest you can find, and put one of you in each. That's a double credit too. The two single supplements might be less than the suite.

[geoherb]

You will also get to count it as two cruises if you sail in a cabin by yourself. I'm tempted to leave DH at home next spring to be able to get to Elite quicker.

[Love.II.Cruise]

We did two 7 day b2b cruises. Unfortunately, Princess counted it as 1. They did the same thing to family members of ours. When I went to dispute it, they said we got a discount on the second cruise when we booked and at that point it was considered 1 cruise. We also had the b2b done under 1 booking number.

 

Perhaps you can get around it and book with 2 different booking numbers and decline the discount on the second cruise, but I haven't tried this.

[Toto2Kansas]

We did two 7 day b2b cruises. Unfortunately, Princess counted it as 1. They did the same thing to family members of ours. When I went to dispute it, they said we got a discount on the second cruise when we booked and at that point it was considered 1 cruise. We also had the b2b done under 1 booking number.

 

Perhaps you can get around it and book with 2 different booking numbers and decline the discount on the second cruise, but I haven't tried this.

Yes, all you have to do is to book it as two seperate cruises with two different booking numbers to get two credits. If it is booked under one booking number (even if sold either way), you will get credit for only sailing on one 1 day cruise. You will get the credit for the 14 days towards the days sailed, but not two for the cruise count. This is the way they handle this, so there was nothing actually to dispute on this one, you were incorrect and they were in the right. ;)

[Love.II.Cruise]

Yes, all you have to do is to book it as two seperate cruises with two different booking numbers to get two credits. If it is booked under one booking number (even if sold either way), you will get credit for only sailing on one 1 day cruise. You will get the credit for the 14 days towards the days sailed, but not two for the cruise count. This is the way they handle this, so there was nothing actually to dispute on this one, you were incorrect and they were in the right. ;)

 

In hindsight, I think I preferred the discount on the second cruise anyway. Plus we never take a cruise shorter than 10 days. So going toward the number of days sailed is good. You are right that there wasn't anything to dispute, but I needed an explanation. :o

[beg3yrs]

While the benefits of advancing in the Captain's Circle are nice, I really can't see why paying significantly more for a cruise (getting a suite or booking two cabins with single supplements) to get closer to a higher status makes sense. I hope those were really tongue-in-cheek comments! If not, I just don't understand.

 

Alternatively, looking at the price differences in B2B versus a combined sailing does make sense. In my experience though, it's been generally much less expensive fare-wise to book the B2B as a single cruise (if available).

[t60]

snip.... to be able to get to Elite quicker.

 

I always remember someone saying ¨but just think of all that money they paid just to get free laundry!¨ :rolleyes:

 

Sandy in Spain

[PescadoAmarillo]

You can get double credits by booking a suite. Call it "operation quicker platinum."

We met someone on our cruise in May who had a suite booked solo for a short coastal cruise just to get the three cruise credits. She was definitely on a mission, and now I know its name.