Are You kidding ME?

[Living the Dream]

Please help a new cruiser - my wife and I just found out that her office is taking the company to Mexico for an all expense paid weekend - it is the SAME time as our cruise -

What are the options for taking our current cruise payment (paid in full over 4 months ago) of the Jan. 7 sailing and putting it toward the Jan. 21 sailing?

 

Does Princess allow this?

 

Someone please advise :)

Thanks

[merela]

Please help a new cruiser - my wife and I just found out that her office is taking the company to Mexico for an all expense paid weekend - it is the SAME time as our cruise -

What are the options for taking our current cruise payment (paid in full over 4 months ago) of the Jan. 7 sailing and putting it toward the Jan. 21 sailing?

 

Does Princess allow this?

 

Someone please advise :)

Thanks

 

I believe a company paid all expenses paid cruise is a taxable income. I would try to work it out with your wife's company and see if you can get a different cruise or monetary compensation for the cruise you paid yourself instead of working it out with Princess. Companies are usually more flexible to their employees than Princess since your payment has already been paid in full. I'm sure you are not the only employee who can't go on the cruise. But if the company is unwilling to help you out in this, there is no harm in explaining your situation to Princess and postpone your cruise to another date. You have nothing to loose. I guess the alternative is to call Princess first and explain your situation and if that doesn't work out, talk to your wife's company about it.

[LMCAT123]

Why not call Princess directly and ask them? While this board is a wealth of info there are some questions best answered by the cruise line themselves.

[PescadoAmarillo]

I hate to say this, but I think you are out of luck, since you are past the official final payment date (regardless of when you paid in full). Even travel insurance wouldn't help with this one, unless you purchased travel insurance through Princess, which will reimburse you for 75% (or 90% for Gold) of your cancellation penalty, in the form of a voucher to be used on a cruise within the next year. Of course, you can always ask, either through your travel agent or Princess directly, depending on how you booked.

[chrysalis]

the answer is "no", Princess will not let you cancel and rebook without paying a sizable penalty.

[marly]

Sometimes life just isn't fair! Too bad her company didn't give you notice of their plans!

[Iamthesea]

I believe a company paid all expenses paid cruise is a taxable income. I would try to work it out with your wife's company and see if you can get a different cruise or monetary compensation for the cruise you paid yourself instead of working it out with Princess. Companies are usually more flexible to their employees than Princess since your payment has already been paid in full. I'm sure you are not the only employee who can't go on the cruise. But if the company is unwilling to help you out in this, there is no harm in explaining your situation to Princess and postpone your cruise to another date. You have nothing to loose. I guess the alternative is to call Princess first and explain your situation and if that doesn't work out, talk to your wife's company about it.

As I understand it, the OP has not been offered another cruise. His wife's company is going to Mexico on an all expense paid land weekend.

 

Unless Princess will budge, or you can work around your travel insurance company, you will not be able to go with your wife's company. Look on the bright side...you will be on a cruise for a week and all of your wife's co-workers will be jealous! :D

[Nitemare]

It can't hurt to ask. Especially if you're moving from a popular date to a less popular date. Check with your TA, or with Princess directly and see what happens.

[Dreamer333]

Are you invited to the company trip to Mexico?

 

If not, than you should still go on the cruise, and take someone a brother or friend or someone (There will be a $50 change fee tho).

 

(However, if it were me, I'd rather go on the cruise than go on a company vacation!!!)

[sashas_mom]

I have found that I get different answers from different employees at Princess when I call with a question. For example, I was told if I do a b2b I would not be allowed to change cabins. The next time I called with the same question, I was able to book the cruise exactly as I wanted it. I was also told at first that I wouldn't be able to get the shipboard credit from the sweepstakes because my cruise was already booked. Another call from my TA and they gave it to me. Therefore, I suggest if you call Princess, and I think you should, you should ask for a supervisor. Or, perhaps have your TA call and ask for a supervisor.

sasha'smom

[Pam in CA]

If you've paid in full, then the cancellation refund schedule is in effect. If you purchased the Princess travel care gold, you'd be able to cancel for any reason and get almost all of your money back.

 

If your company is paying for a "vacation" trip and if the total value is $600 or more, you will (or should) receive a 1099-MISC from your company for the total trip value. It's income.

 

Any time someone wins a sweepstakes, contest or receives a gift from a company and the value is $600 or more, you will receive the 1099-MISC and it's reported to the IRS as income. There can be very serious repercussions if a company fails to send you a 1099-MISC or report it to the IRS.

[DougH]

My company used to reward top employees with similar trips. As long as they schedule "work" events they don't have to provide 1099's. Ours would schedule required attendance daily breakfast/dinner meetings to satisfy the work requirment. Rest of the time you were on your own.

 

FYI I missed out on a weekend at a resort in Arizona because I was on a 2 week cruise to Norway :)

 

Doug

[Dreamer333]

FYI I missed out on a weekend at a resort in Arizona because I was on a 2 week cruise to Norway :)

 

Doug

 

You have been on soooo many cruises!!!!!!!! I want to be you!!!!!

[Living the Dream]

Wow - you all are great - thanks so much for all of the responses...hard to say what will come out of it. ( i guess it is a "rough life" when you have the opportunity to go on such vacations...)

We have a call in to our TA and are waiting to hear back

In response to the 1099's - that is something that we did not even think about - however the company is asking that the employees spend at least one dinner together as a company so that might nullify that opportunity.

 

Not a huge deal

Thanks again

Shane

[HighLordDave]

We booked our cruise last year in March; it was the Star Princess for the last week in October. There were going to be six of us: my wife and I, my bother-in-law and his wife, and another couple we know.

 

Right after Hurricane Katrina hit the gulf coast, the US Army Corps of Engineers called my brother in law and offered him a lot of money to come out of retirement for 60 days and do damage assessment. Unfortunately, he was going to miss out on our cruise.

 

He called Princess and they told him that he could get 50% of his money back because we were in the 50% timeframe (60 day in advance or something like that). He didn't want to lose half his money, but in reality, what the US Army Corps of Engineers was paying him would more than make up for half of what he paid to go on the cruise.

 

So he calls back and is about to cancel, but this time he gets a different agent on the phone and she tells him that if he will book another cruise with Princess, she will refund them 50% of what they paid for this cruise and then apply the other 50% towards their next cruise. Since they were planning on doing this anyway, my BIL and his wife ended up not losing any money and just didn't get to cruise with us around Hurricane Wilma.

 

The worst that can happen is that you call Princess and they tell you you're only getting a portion of your money back. However, if you speak to the right agent, or ask for a supervisor, you might be able to work something out so you don't actually lose any money.

 

In the best case, you'll get to go on the company vacation to Mexico and you'll get to go on a cruise.

[surrocruiser]

What if you try to sell it to someone? There are internet sites that do auctions, then just pay the $50 pp to switch names and rebook for when you are able to go. Better yet, maybe you know someone who could take the trip and pay you for it. Otherwise, (going off memory, so this may not be right) there is a penalty phase. I think you should be in the 25% phase. It might be worth it to lose the 25% of your cruise fare to get the business trip out of it.

 

Enjoy both if you can, I'm so jealous.

[Dreamer333]

What if you try to sell it to someone? There are internet sites that do auctions, then just pay the $50 pp to switch names and rebook for when you are able to go.

 

Its a good idea, but Princess doesn't allow this... you can only switch one name on a booking.

[Pam in CA]

Dave... it's possible that Princess allowed your BIL the refund is due to the hurricane. Usually, cruiselines (and airlines) are much more accommodating. I'm just throwing this out because I wouldn't want someone to expect a refund based on what could have been hurricane-related.

[Pam in CA]

Its a good idea, but Princess doesn't allow this... you can only switch one name on a booking.

Correct. At least one name from the original booking must be on the booking, i.e., you can change only one name on the booking. In case you're thinking, "Well, I'll change one, get it rebooked and then change the other" - ya can't do that either.

[Dreamer333]

Dave... it's possible that Princess allowed your BIL the refund is due to the hurricane.

 

I was also thinking that perhaps they make exceptions for military reasons.

[Living the Dream]

Thanks again -

We will let you know what happens! :)

[Living the Dream]

Thanks again -

We will let you know what happens! :)

[HighLordDave]

Dave... it's possible that Princess allowed your BIL the refund is due to the hurricane. Usually, cruiselines (and airlines) are much more accommodating. I'm just throwing this out because I wouldn't want someone to expect a refund based on what could have been hurricane-related.

 

But how does Princess know Living the Dream doesn't also work for the US Army Corps of Engineers, the Red Cross or even their local city police/fire department who is participating in disaster relief. There are still lots of relief efforts going on and I think the Corps of Engineers is trying to get my BIL to sign on for another 60 days. They're also rotating some of their people who are currently in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama home and sending people here to the disaster relief areas (as well as Iraq and Afghanistan).

 

I'm not saying that someone should lie to Princess in order to get their money back, but there are lots of reasons employers can compel their employees to cancel vacation and if Princess would make an exception once, they'll probably do it again, especially if someone were to emphasise that they really want to cruise with Princess, but because of reasons beyond their control, they have to postpone their cruise.

 

Princess doesn't want to get a reputation as being hard to deal with. They want people to come off their cruises and book another one. Better yet, they want people to come off their cruises, book another one and tell all their friends what a fabulous experience they had.

 

They do not want their customers telling everyone they know, "I was going to cruise with Princess, but my boss sent me on a work trip at the last minute and Princess wouldn't give me any of my money back."

 

If you present it in a way that says, "I'd really like to do business with you guys, but something came up and now isn't a good time", they'll probably deal with you. You might not even get a refund on any of your money; they might allow you to use all the money you paid towards a future cruise, which wouldn't be so bad, either.

[Iamthesea]

Any time someone wins a sweepstakes, contest or receives a gift from a company and the value is $600 or more, you will receive the 1099-MISC and it's reported to the IRS as income. There can be very serious repercussions if a company fails to send you a 1099-MISC or report it to the IRS.

We have been on many company trips and have never had to use this form. My DH does have a couple of golf games with other executives during the trip, so I guess this counts. :D

 

Please do let us know how it turns out. Did you even purchase trip insurance? I could have sworn that there was a work clause in our insurance.

[T_Bird]

Princess will only refund military for getting called to active duty for a natural disaster. You will not get refunded for getting called to active duty to go to war. Also, insurance will only cover natural disasters as well (they do not cover war). If you are called to active duty for a natural disaster, Princess will require a copy of your orders.