Should I ask for onboard credit?

[Pennipops]

Hello! I have been booked on the Star Princess for nearly a year now, for my Hawaii cruise in April. However now I have noticed if I were to book today I would have $100 each on board credit. Should I ring Princess to ask for this also? People comment on this site about phoning Princess when prices have dropped. I would feel rude to call them but wouldn't turn down $100, it would pay for one of my excursions ;)

[Nan_Sea]

It never hurts to ask. What is the worst that could happen?

[Pam in CA]

You lose nothing by calling. As this is before final payment, you wouldn't get the fare difference in OBC. Your fare would just be lower. That's if you qualify for the promotion. Many promotions are for new bookings only in which case, you'd have to cancel and rebook. You may lose your cabin if you do.

 

To be honest, you're far better off booking with a TA even though you're relatively close to sailing. You could save more than $100/pp and get OBC and perks.

[drakes2]

I always book my cruises with a TA, never with the cruiseline directly. Prices are slightly better plus significant obc's. For my upcoming cruise next month, I booked a guarantee balcony for a phenomenal price and was assigned a "deluxe" balcony, midship. Quite happy with that and saved more than a few $$$ plus the obc's will cover gratuities and a couple excursions.

You lose nothing by calling. As this is before final payment, you wouldn't get the fare difference in OBC. Your fare would just be lower. That's if you qualify for the promotion. Many promotions are for new bookings only in which case, you'd have to cancel and rebook. You may lose your cabin if you do.

 

To be honest, you're far better off booking with a TA even though you're relatively close to sailing. You could save more than $100/pp and get OBC and perks.

[Happy2cruise]

Definitely call and ask....you have nothing to lose and $100 to gain:D

[paul929207]

Call is free, give it a try

[caribill]

Check if the new promotion also means that the deposit is non-refundable in case you need to cancel the cruise.

 

If so, decide if changing to the new promotion is what you want to do.

[Ren1216]

Definitely call and ask - shoot, why not!

I didn't read all of the replies, so pardon me if this is a repeat... but sometimes those offers are for new bookings only. Check the fine print if you want to save yourself some time. But heck yeah, I'd check into it.

 

Enjoy your cruise!!

[SwissDave]

OP is from UK so needs to be carefull about the whole cancel/refund/rebook thing.

 

In the past Princess UK has always denied price drops or other reductions avialable to US based cruisers but fairly recently it seems they are now more willing to do so.

 

OP, call Princess in Southampton and ask. Especially if the fare is lower now than when you purchased the cruise. If the fare is higher now, but they are offering $100 OBC then it is very doubtfull you will get anything.

 

The worst they can say is 'no'.

[hansi]

You lose nothing by calling. As this is before final payment, you wouldn't get the fare difference in OBC. Your fare would just be lower. That's if you qualify for the promotion. Many promotions are for new bookings only in which case, you'd have to cancel and rebook. You may lose your cabin if you do.

 

To be honest, you're far better off booking with a TA even though you're relatively close to sailing. You could save more than $100/pp and get OBC and perks.

 

 

Can't agree with you there Pam. We booke direct with our own Personal Cruise Asistant at Princess, and on our next cruise, we have never had so much OBC. Checked with a TA here, and they wouldn't give anywhere near that much. So it doesn't always pay to use a TA.

[Orlando Vic]

I would feel rude to call them but wouldn't turn down $100, it would pay for one of my excursions ;)

 

What is rude about asking???

 

If you don't ask...you don't get.

[Happy2cruise]

Can't agree with you there Pam. We booke direct with our own Personal Cruise Asistant at Princess, and on our next cruise, we have never had so much OBC. Checked with a TA here, and they wouldn't give anywhere near that much. So it doesn't always pay to use a TA.

How does a regular TA compare with a Personal Cruise Assistant at Princess? :confused:

[caribill]

Can't agree with you there Pam. We booke direct with our own Personal Cruise Asistant at Princess, and on our next cruise, we have never had so much OBC. Checked with a TA here, and they wouldn't give anywhere near that much. So it doesn't always pay to use a TA.

 

It does pay with the right TA, not just any TA.

 

A good discount TA can match any offer Princess has (price + OBC) plus give a discount from that.