Refare with non-refundable deposit?

[islandwoman]

Princess' "Christmas in July" sale requires a non-refundable deposit.  If I refare a cruise I've already booked to take advantage of the lower price and accept the non-refundable deposit restriction, can I refare again later if the price drops again?  I used a Future Cruise Deposit to book this cruise.

[jasbo49]

I've refared a couple of times using the same Future Cruise Deposit, so I don't see any problem, but I don't see any downside in calling Princess for assurance.

 

Jim

[islandwoman]

That's good to know.  I also have a booking on a Princess cruise that's running a "Landmark" sale.  This one is under an $800 deposit.  (I ran out of Future Cruise Deposits 😧)  Can I refare that one without losing the ability to do it again?

[pompeii]

You should be able to refare in the future without losing your FCD as long as it doesn't require you to cancel and rebook.  I have  the princess saver fare (which is non-refundable) on a couple of mine and have refared each of them several times.  If you would need to cancel the existing booking to take advantage of a new promotion, then you might lose your FCD. 

 

If you're lucky when you call Princess you'll get a rep who knows their stuff, but maybe not.  Earlier this week I called regarding the Landmark sale and its refundable/non-refundable options.  The rep insisted that even though I was booked under the non-refundable deposit option I would get my FCD back if I cancel.  Since I didn't think that was true, I asked my PVP and it turns out that isn't true at all so I asked her to switch me to the refundable option.  Cost an extra $25pp for a 14-day cruise which I thought was worth it.

Edited July 26, 2019 by pompeii

[satxdiver]

I have transferred a booking to a non-refundable deposit and then been able to take advantage of further discounts on the cruise.  The only thing you cannot do is cancel the cruise and get your deposit back since it now will be non-refundable.  

[voljeep]

14 hours ago, pompeii said:

If you're lucky when you call Princess you'll get a rep who knows their stuff, but maybe not.  Earlier this week I called regarding the Landmark sale and its refundable/non-refundable options.

 

14 hours ago, pompeii said:

I asked her to switch me to the refundable option.  Cost an extra $25pp for a 14-day cruise which I thought was worth it.

this is the thing to do now on ALL promotions that have a NON-Refundable deposit as the default

[islandwoman]

14 hours ago, pompeii said:

Earlier this week I called regarding the Landmark sale and its refundable/non-refundable options.  The rep insisted that even though I was booked under the non-refundable deposit option I would get my FCD back if I cancel.  Since I didn't think that was true, I asked my PVP and it turns out that isn't true at all so I asked her to switch me to the refundable option.  Cost an extra $25pp for a 14-day cruise which I thought was worth it.

 

I can't find anything about a refundable option in the online information about the Landmark sale.  Where do you see that?

Edited July 27, 2019 by islandwoman

[voljeep]

11 minutes ago, islandwoman said:

 

I can't find anything about a refundable option in the online information about the Landmark sale.  Where do you see that?

it's not online ... and that's the problem ... you have to call to get that info ... also on some promotions, there may also be fares for accepting the perk (SNSail), or a non perk lower price

 

Enjoy !

[Steelers36]

Agree with Voljeep.  And on a cruise we have booked, the Landmark refundable rate was priced LOWER than the non-refundable.  I didn't switch to Landmark because our pre-existing pricing deal is better.

 

I can see Princess is trying to lock customers into NRD's (and I just recently discovered that the vast majority of cruises are going to a 90-day cancellation date instead of the old 75-days).  But it isn't customer-friendly.  That said, if most/all other main lines are doing essentially the same thing, then it may not hurt them.  It is certainly frustrating that there are several alternate pricing plans at times and they are all hidden and not explicitly noted and available for shopping/comparing online.  

 

[islandwoman]

I wonder if TA's can access these hidden refundable fares.  My bookings are through a TA, not directly through Princess.

[MCC retired]

For Landmark Sale you can choose a Refundable Deposit instead of a Non refundable Deposit with no loss of promos and at the same rates .

Book with a TA or ask Princess Rep for Rate Code N7A  or if your TA has a Speculative Group on your sailing , Rate Code Z7A will get you the Landmark promos as well as the Group rates , amenities and upgrades , with a Refundable Deposit.

 

If you merely book this Landmark Sale @ Princess.com , you will not see this Refundable option as a choice.

Buyer Beware!

[Coral]

6 minutes ago, islandwoman said:

I wonder if TA's can access these hidden refundable fares.  My bookings are through a TA, not directly through Princess.

Good ones can!

[Steelers36]

20 minutes ago, islandwoman said:

I wonder if TA's can access these hidden refundable fares.  My bookings are through a TA, not directly through Princess.

Of course they can as they connect to POLAR system - same as Princess reps use.  Now, whether they communicate those well with potential customers, I cannot say.

 

With my TA, I can see all the pricing plans on their booking pages (this is where they also show their discounted rates, so these are not public-facing pages as I believe all travel agencies are required to advertise with Princess prices).

Edited July 27, 2019 by steelers36

[pompeii]

21 minutes ago, MCC retired said:

For Landmark Sale you can choose a Refundable Deposit instead of a Non refundable Deposit with no loss of promos and at the same rates .

 

The rate went up slightly ($25 pp) for my 14-day Europe 2020 when I went to a refundable deposit.  Some are reporting that the rate is the same or actually lower for refundable, so YMMV.  Just don't be surprised if the rates are not the same.

 

When I called though, the rep said it was non-refundable even when I asked about the refundable option.  I had to give her the code N7A before she found the refundable deposit, so not all reps fully aware of the options.

[voljeep]

39 minutes ago, MCC retired said:

For Landmark Sale you can choose a Refundable Deposit instead of a Non refundable Deposit with no loss of promos and at the same rates .

Book with a TA or ask Princess Rep for Rate Code N7A  or if your TA has a Speculative Group on your sailing , Rate Code Z7A will get you the Landmark promos as well as the Group rates , amenities and upgrades , with a Refundable Deposit.

 

If you merely book this Landmark Sale @ Princess.com , you will not see this Refundable option as a choice.

Buyer Beware!

 

21 minutes ago, steelers36 said:

Of course they can as they connect to POLAR system - same as Princess reps use.  Now, whether they communicate those well with potential customers, I cannot say.

 

With my TA, I can see all the pricing plans on their booking pages (this is where they also show their discounted rates, so these are not public-facing pages as I believe all travel agencies are required to advertise with Princess prices).

I guess my next question would be ... do all cruises under the Landmark sale use the same codes ...N7A, Z7A ... or do they change for the different cruises, but still under Landmark ?

[MCC retired]

4 minutes ago, voljeep said:

 

I guess my next question would be ... do all cruises under the Landmark sale use the same codes ...N7A, Z7A ... or do they change for the different cruises, but still under Landmark ?

Use the same Rate Codes for ALL Sailings covered under this Landmark Sale.

[Steelers36]

And when you see "K" codes, those have non-refundable deposits.

 

[voljeep]

14 minutes ago, steelers36 said:

And when you see "K" codes, those have non-refundable deposits.

 

Deposit of 10% per guest made under Christmas in July is non-refundable.

Offer expires: July 30, 2019

Reference promotion code: KG-/US-

 

so, the non-refundable code varies by promotion also ?.... ... ...

[Steelers36]

15 minutes ago, voljeep said:

Deposit of 10% per guest made under Christmas in July is non-refundable.

Offer expires: July 30, 2019

Reference promotion code: KG-/US-

 

so, the non-refundable code varies by promotion also ?.... ... ...

I have seen a "US" code before (not sure, but might have been a basic North American scheme with no perks??).  The "K" code is present.  Yes, the second letter/number will change.  

 

For a cruise we have an eye on, as well as a booking, Princess moved some trips off the Sun-Drenched and over to Christmas in July.  From our example, a Nov 2019 cruise, they took away the OBC and reduced the price.  NBD.  You can still book a basic refundable fare though for about $50/pp more (Inside sampling).

 

[eurodl]

4 hours ago, MCC retired said:

For Landmark Sale you can choose a Refundable Deposit instead of a Non refundable Deposit with no loss of promos and at the same rates .

Book with a TA or ask Princess Rep for Rate Code N7A  or if your TA has a Speculative Group on your sailing , Rate Code Z7A will get you the Landmark promos as well as the Group rates , amenities and upgrades , with a Refundable Deposit.

 

If you merely book this Landmark Sale @ Princess.com , you will not see this Refundable option as a choice.

Buyer Beware!

Thanks so much for posting this!  I was on the phone with my discount cruise broker while they were looking to refare us to the Landmark package.  When he came back on the phone I gave him the rate code and was able to refare with a lower price and still get the OBC.  We had already given them a $200 deposit so no additional deposit was needed. 🙂

👍

[islandwoman]

Thank you all for the very helpful information.  I contacted my TA and gave him the codes for the refundable deposit rates on the Landmark sale.  We two saved $96 and acquired $1,000 of onboard credits.  We lost our premier beverage package, but if we had taken full advantage of that, we'd have been seeing the Northern Lights even when they weren't out 🍷