Onboard credit will not be accepted for pre-reservations

[taxatty]

That is before the "summer 2017" timeframe that princess states.

We're on a non-Alaska July 2017 Princess cruise where we pre-booked Princess shore excursions online and took the choice of onboard payment. Others similarly situated should consider acting quickly.

[RDC1]

After reading all the posts, I thought I would try to reserve a tour for my upcoming March 2017 cruise. You can still reserve a tour without paying. I was given the choice to pay now or to pay later onboard. The text for paying later said that if I wait, "charges will be added to your onboard account which is settled at the end of the cruise."

 

March is too soon. Change is supposed to start in Summer 2017.

[honey8572]

I was just talking with my TA about something else and mentioned this. When she called me back she said she had spoken with a supervisor who told her that currently the prepayment for excursions is for Alaska only, but that we should be prepared for it to change at some point. Stay tuned---

[oskidunker]

My oct30 2017 cruise on the Pacific has no tours available yet

 

 

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[Potstech]

Just received this from Princess. Still will not convince me to prepay excursions and tie up money. Will go with non ship sponsored ones for now.

 

 

Thank you for your correspondence regarding your upcoming cruise onboard Regal Princess next October. We appreciate the time you have taken to share your concerns, and we welcome the opportunity to respond at this time.

 

Award-winning shore excursions have always made Princess cruises even more memorable. So it’s no great surprise that guests who purchase excursions directly through Princess rate their overall cruise experience higher than those who do not.

 

We are pleased to announce two important shore excursion developments that Princess Cruises will roll out fleet wide soon.

 

• Best Price Guarantee

o If you pre-purchase a shore excursion and finds the same excursion elsewhere at a lower price, you will receive 110% of the price difference in the form of a non-refundable onboard credit (restrictions apply).

o Best Price Guarantee will go into effect December 5, 2016 for all trades, excluding ports in Asia, Southeast Asia or Japan.

• Pre-Purchase

o Starting with Summer 2017 voyages, shore excursion reservations will require pre-payment.

o Moving to pre-purchase for shore excursions brings us in line with standard industry practice and ensures the spots are only held by guests with firm interest.

 

Please allow me to explain that our policies are based on extensive research done by our marketing team. We have a dedicated team of analysts who analyze the features of the policy before they are implemented. At the same time, we also respect the sentiments of our guests and welcome your comments as an attempt to improve our overall performance. This said, I have forwarded your comments to the responsible leadership team for further analysis and internal review.

 

Thank you once again for taking the time to share your concerns. We look forward to having you onboard Regal Princess in October for what we hope will be a completely enjoyable cruise vacation. Until then, we send our kind regards.

 

 

Sincerely,

 

Princess Cruises

Customer Relations Specialist

customerrelations@princesscruises.com

[Bowler Lady]

Just gotta love princess. ..lol..i think they "escaped completely" from reality with this idea that no one there at princess seems to know what is really going on. .lol. i have a classic Canada cruise October 2017 and will certainly post an update when i see mine open. .and personalizer still reads at 120 vs the new 180 they claim

 

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I am booked also on your Canada cruise. I sure hope this is just for Alaska cruises. I have way too much OBC credit, and I already have a free beverage package. Besides gratuities wouldnt have much to spend on..

 

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[Astro Flyer]

Thanks Potstech...that's the same form letter reply I've received in the past & they only added the other information from their shore excursions' webpage.

 

I've never been included in their marketing team's "extensive research" however I suspect it has more to do with researching ways on how to be more profitable than being based on what passengers desire.

 

Maybe their marketing team should create a definitive answer in writing about their changes. Currently it only states that beginning in summer 2017 we cannot pre-reserve tours & use OBC to pay onboard; passengers are verbally being told it's in Alaska only which appears to be true because passengers have posted being able to pre-reserve tours to other destinations without pre-payment.

 

Overall Princess is our best cruise option however it's frustrating when they too often give conflicting information. :(

Edited November 18, 2016 by Astro Flyer

[cruzrbachoua]

I am booked also on your Canada cruise. I sure hope this is just for Alaska cruises. I have way too much OBC credit, and I already have a free beverage package. Besides gratuities wouldnt have much to spend on..

 

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Forums mobile app

 

Same here with the cooler weather and only 1 sea day buying time or days at the sanctuary is not a good option, depending on when bingo is we could throw some cash around there. But we don't gamble other than bingo as we cant stand the smoke smell. We have no drink package so we have that as an option...either buy the package or pay as we go..will see what will spend more. Of course there are pics as we do like the embarkation and port pics as they are the covers and dividers for our memory book we make of the ship and some formal pics as I have 2 new dresses.......but alas we shall see when our excursions do open up...

[RDC1]

Just received this from Princess. Still will not convince me to prepay excursions and tie up money. Will go with non ship sponsored ones for now.

 

 

Thank you for your correspondence regarding your upcoming cruise onboard Regal Princess next October. We appreciate the time you have taken to share your concerns, and we welcome the opportunity to respond at this time.

 

Award-winning shore excursions have always made Princess cruises even more memorable. So it’s no great surprise that guests who purchase excursions directly through Princess rate their overall cruise experience higher than those who do not.

 

We are pleased to announce two important shore excursion developments that Princess Cruises will roll out fleet wide soon.

 

• Best Price Guarantee

o If you pre-purchase a shore excursion and finds the same excursion elsewhere at a lower price, you will receive 110% of the price difference in the form of a non-refundable onboard credit (restrictions apply).

o Best Price Guarantee will go into effect December 5, 2016 for all trades, excluding ports in Asia, Southeast Asia or Japan.

• Pre-Purchase

o Starting with Summer 2017 voyages, shore excursion reservations will require pre-payment.

o Moving to pre-purchase for shore excursions brings us in line with standard industry practice and ensures the spots are only held by guests with firm interest.

 

Please allow me to explain that our policies are based on extensive research done by our marketing team. We have a dedicated team of analysts who analyze the features of the policy before they are implemented. At the same time, we also respect the sentiments of our guests and welcome your comments as an attempt to improve our overall performance. This said, I have forwarded your comments to the responsible leadership team for further analysis and internal review.

 

Thank you once again for taking the time to share your concerns. We look forward to having you onboard Regal Princess in October for what we hope will be a completely enjoyable cruise vacation. Until then, we send our kind regards.

 

 

Sincerely,

 

Princess Cruises

Customer Relations Specialist

customerrelations@princesscruises.com

 

This seems to be rather clear that the change will be rolled out fleet wide, not just Alaska.

[Potstech]

So if more and more people let them know their opinion on this move and it happens over a long period of time it migh change somethng. I did inform them that I would not prepay for ships excursions and would go with private ones in the future. The email for others is at the bottom of their reply. Remember what happened with the Prncess Platters when they attempted to stop deliverng them nightly.

 

Let Princess know now and any chance you get of what you think of this change.

[Astro Flyer]

This seems to be rather clear that the change will be rolled out fleet wide, not just Alaska.

 

I'm unhappy about the change & it's even worse to receive contradictory information from Princess. Verbally they're saying it's only for Alaska; in writing (including the letter from their North America sales VP) it just states this change begins in summer 2017.

 

Princess is obviously confused about the change & so are their passengers. :eek: They need to get their stuff together & to let us know what to expect before deciding whether a Princess cruise is our best option or not.

[RDC1]

I'm unhappy about the change & it's even worse to receive contradictory information from Princess. Verbally they're saying it's only for Alaska; in writing (including the letter from their North America sales VP) it just states this change begins in summer 2017.

 

Princess is obviously confused about the change & so are their passengers. :eek: They need to get their stuff together & to let us know what to expect before deciding whether a Princess cruise is our best option or not.

 

The letter says will roll out, so that may mean that they have not informed their own customer service folks yet.

 

I have let them know of my dissatisfaction in two ways. First I sent both customer service and Captain's circle emails. The second is I canceled a back to back in Asia for this November and informed customer service that the change in policy was the reason for the change.

 

Last year spent 70 days on Princess, this year 10 (all before the change).

 

This policy has significantly reduced the value, to me, of OBC significantly. Enough to change my cost/benefit consideration for princess. In the case of the Asian cruise, I switched to a Celebrity cruise with better dates and better price.

 

Bottom line number of days on Princess will decrease due to change, number of days on other cruise lines, river cruises and land tours will increase.

[Astro Flyer]

The letter says will roll out, so that may mean that they have not informed their own customer service folks yet.

 

I have let them know of my dissatisfaction in two ways. First I sent both customer service and Captain's circle emails. The second is I canceled a back to back in Asia for this November and informed customer service that the change in policy was the reason for the change.

 

Last year spent 70 days on Princess, this year 10 (all before the change).

 

This policy has significantly reduced the value, to me, of OBC significantly. Enough to change my cost/benefit consideration for princess. In the case of the Asian cruise, I switched to a Celebrity cruise with better dates and better price.

 

Bottom line number of days on Princess will decrease due to change, number of days on other cruise lines, river cruises and land tours will increase.

The statements in Potstech's customer relations letter states that the change is rolling out fleetwide & that starting in summer 2017 shore excursions will require pre-payment. Princess needs to research their changes before announcing them & to provide clear statements. In writing they state it's fleetwide; verbally it's only in Alaska.

 

I'm composing a letter to ask about their contradictory information & to express my unhappiness about this change & how it will negatively affect my future cruise bookings. Like Potstech I'll probably receive a form letter reply but hopefully it will lead to one clearly stated answer...fleetwide which is in writing or Alaska only like their reps are saying which may be old information because it was only on the Grand in Alaska last summer.

[Potstech]

More information from Princes. Confusing to say the least. Keep the letter to them going as I think they are seeing the pushback from customers.

 

The Customer Relations Department is in receipt of your email. Thank you for contacting our office. We appreciate the opportunity to respond.

 

Shore Excursions cannot be cancelled or added within 5 days through Cruise Personalize or over the phone. If a pre-paid shore excursion is cancelled 5 days or more prior to sailing and there is a balance due amount for the billing contact then the balance will be applied to that shore excursion. If there is no shore excursion balance for the billing contact on the reservation being cancelled, then the pre-paid amount will be refunded to the credit card used to pre-pay the shore excursion. Refunds in this instance will be made within 24 hours of cancellation. If the billing contact adds another shore excursion before the money is refunded to the credit card, the money will be applied to the newly made reservation.

 

If a pre-paid shore excursion is not cancelled within the above time frame or is cancelled during the voyage prior to the "Closing Time for Cancellation" listed for the particular excursion you wish to cancel, then the pre-paid amount will be refunded to the guest named on the pre-paid reservation as a shipboard credit on this guest's shipboard folio.

 

Many customers share their feedback with us, and these observations often form the basis for improvements in our service. We will be sharing your comments with the responsible leadership team.

 

Thank you once again for taking the time to share your concerns. We look forward to having you onboard Regal Princess in October for what we hope will be a completely enjoyable cruise vacation. Until then, we send our kind regards.

 

 

Sincerely,

 

Princess Cruises

Customer Relations Specialist

customerrelations@princesscruises.com

[cruzrbachoua]

 

If a pre-paid shore excursion is not cancelled within the above time frame or is cancelled during the voyage prior to the "Closing Time for Cancellation" listed for the particular excursion you wish to cancel, then the pre-paid amount will be refunded to the guest named on the pre-paid reservation as a shipboard credit on this guest's shipboard folio.

 

 

This is wrong....they better hope that OBC is refundable. IF I have to prepay and for some reason have to cancel and cancel on the ship before the "closing time" that money better come back to my card and not as another non-refundable obc cause then I will essentially be paying princess for nothing!! :eek:

[RDC1]

This is wrong....they better hope that OBC is refundable. IF I have to prepay and for some reason have to cancel and cancel on the ship before the "closing time" that money better come back to my card and not as another non-refundable obc cause then I will essentially be paying princess for nothing!! :eek:

 

I asked them specifically about the OBC from canceling a prepaid excursion. The response indicated that the OBC will be refundable.

 

However, there is still the issue that the person whose name is on the reservation will get the OBC, not necessarily the person who initially paid for it.

[jagoffee]

This is wrong....they better hope that OBC is refundable. IF I have to prepay and for some reason have to cancel and cancel on the ship before the "closing time" that money better come back to my card and not as another non-refundable obc cause then I will essentially be paying princess for nothing!! :eek:

 

Of course it will be refundable.

 

Are you suggesting a gifted TA's or purchased OBC is not refundable?

[cruzrbachoua]

I have been told that the obc i have us bon refundable and that includes ibc from our ta. But my point was if i have to prepay up to 180 days before the cruise and then sadly have to cancel i don't want obc when i have nothing to spend it on. I would hope they refund that obc but with their crazy system who knows how they would know. ..would just prefer it went back in my card like i originally paid.

 

Rdc1 for us that wouldn't matter as dh and I use same card,but can see how that can cause an issue for others not like us. It should go back on the card.

 

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[cruiselvr1]

I suspect that one of the major reasons is that Princess is trying to reduce the number of Elites. Long time cruisers don't provide the revenue they get from the newbies.

I agree. Even though, we don't cruise as much as you do. We have only cruise with Princess, they seemed a cut above the others. Now with the changes over the past couple years, why not try someone else. We're starting with our Alaska cruise in September, or our Panama Canal in 2018.

[cruiselvr1]

This is wrong....they better hope that OBC is refundable. IF I have to prepay and for some reason have to cancel and cancel on the ship before the "closing time" that money better come back to my card and not as another non-refundable obc cause then I will essentially be paying princess for nothing!! :eek:

Of course it's refundable, it's your money. It's not free obc that Princess gave you.

Edited November 22, 2016 by cruiselvr1
Spelling error

[Potstech]

No where in any of the replies does it say whether it is refundable or not. So how do you know it will be? After all look how they are planning to handle it in this convoluted way.

[Astro Flyer]

I asked them specifically about the OBC from canceling a prepaid excursion. The response indicated that the OBC will be refundable.

 

However, there is still the issue that the person whose name is on the reservation will get the OBC, not necessarily the person who initially paid for it.

 

No where in any of the replies does it say whether it is refundable or not. So how do you know it will be? After all look how they are planning to handle it in this convoluted way.

RDC1 was told that it's refundable but I haven't read that in any Princess statement on their website about their new shore excursions procedure.

[Cruiser411]

Does anybody read the website?

 

"Cancellation of Pre-Paid Shore Excursions:

If you have pre-paid a shore excursion and wish to cancel, the following shall also apply:

If a pre-paid shore excursion is cancelled five (5) days or more prior to sailing a refund of the pre-paid amount will be made in one of the following ways:

1) If there is a shore excursion balance for the guest named on the reservation being cancelled then the pre-paid amount shall be applied to this balance.

Or,

2) If there is no shore excursion balance for the guest named on the reservation being cancelled then the pre-paid amount will be refunded to the credit card used to pre-pay the shore excursion. Refunds in this instance will be made within 24 hours of cancellation. If the guest for whom the pre-paid excursion is being cancelled makes another shore excursion reservation within 24 hours of cancellation, the refund will be applied to the newly made reservation.

If a pre-paid shore excursion is not cancelled within the above time frame or is cancelled during the voyage prior to the "Closing Time for Cancellation" listed for the particular excursion you wish to cancel, then the pre-paid amount will be refunded to the guest named on the pre-paid reservation as a shipboard credit on this guest's shipboard folio. Please note this is done regardless of which guest pre-paid for the shore excursion."

 

And while the above policy does not specifically state that the OBC is refundable, it surely is as is any OBC that is purchased by the passenger...

Edited November 22, 2016 by Cruiser411

[caribill]

 

Rdc1 for us that wouldn't matter as dh and I use same card,but can see how that can cause an issue for others not like us. It should go back on the card.

 

 

It is an onboard cancellation that would be the problem as the OBC (refundable) goes to the passenger named for the excursion.

 

If, for example, you were traveling with family and you paid for their shore excursion that was cancelled, then the family member would get the OBC and not you.

[DrJohn]

I agree. Even though, we don't cruise as much as you do. We have only cruise with Princess, they seemed a cut above the others. Now with the changes over the past couple years, why not try someone else. We're starting with our Alaska cruise in September, or our Panama Canal in 2018.

 

Princess has been our favorite for many years but the negative changes have finally got to us. We will still sail Princess in the Caribbean but will be doing more land tours internationally. And we will be sailing what used to be our second favorite cruise line much more often.

 

John