Pros and Cons of Future Cruise Deposits

[Colo Cruiser]

4 hours ago, Daniel A said:

Am I to understand that if you book a cruise using FCD and you back out, it is automatically refundable?  I get that If you don't use it within two years they refund the deposit, but if you apply it to a reservation and back out of that reservation, it is refunded back to you?

If it is a refundable deposit cruise the times when I have canceled a cruise it went back into my Captains Circle account to be used again.

[NavyVeteran]

5 hours ago, denmarks said:

There is no negative assuming you plan to go on a cruise in the next 2 years. If not used you get a refund. When used it is the entire deposit plus you get additional on board credit depending on the cruise length.

You don't have to go on a cruise in the next two years to use a FCD. You just need to book the cruise within the next two years before the expiration date. The cruise itself can be a couple of years after the expiration date.

 

Princess used to sell FCDs with "Sail by" expiration dates, but they have changed them to now have "Book by" expiration dates.

[geoherb]

I'm currently on the Crown and have two FCDs left. I'll buy another. I like to keep three on hand, but we tend to book last-minute cruises instead of far in advance.

 

Back when Carnival had a similar program, I made the mistake of buying certificates for us. Unlike Princess, though, Carnival did not refund the money automatically when the certificates expired and won't refund it after the expiration date. It's still there if we ever book another Carnival cruise, but that's not looking very likely. At least they were only $50 per certificate instead of $100.

Edited September 26, 2019 by geoherb

[BigGuy25]

We buy two on every voyage to always have them on hand. Also agree that there are no cons ... except the $1.25 you’ll lose in interest in two years if you don’t use them.

[skynight]

13 hours ago, Daniel A said:

 

I'm looking at a cruise in 2021 and it looks like almost all of the cabins I would like are not available.  Are a good number of these 'placeholders'?  I probably won't be in a position to reserve that cruise until late winter/early spring of 2020.  Do you think these may come available at  a later date?

What ship(s) & voyage(s)? There should be lots of cabin availability for all categories for all 2021. "Placeholders" will not take up very many cabins, and it's probably too early for T.A's to block their groups. The exception might be the small ship, Pacific Princess.

Edited September 26, 2019 by skynight

[GonzoWCS]

All Pros

 

Zero Cons

 

Cheers

[SeaGoIn]

Sorry to be dense, but if someone could clarify:  If I put $100 on a FCD (Oh, say while we're on the Crown on 10/8...) and book a cruise within 2 years, does that FCD cover ALL of the deposit of a future cruise (which otherwise would be a deposit of 10% of the total cruise fare) or do you apply the FCD and make up the difference in deposit out of pocket?  If the future cruise booking is a non-refundable deposit and you have to cancel -- is the FCD $100 returned to your "account" to be used at another time (within the 2 years or reimbursed) and you've lost the remainder?  Thanks.

[Steelers36]

7 minutes ago, SeaGoIn said:

Sorry to be dense, but if someone could clarify:  If I put $100 on a FCD (Oh, say while we're on the Crown on 10/8...) and book a cruise within 2 years, does that FCD cover ALL of the deposit of a future cruise (which otherwise would be a deposit of 10% of the total cruise fare) or do you apply the FCD and make up the difference in deposit out of pocket?  If the future cruise booking is a non-refundable deposit and you have to cancel -- is the FCD $100 returned to your "account" to be used at another time (within the 2 years or reimbursed) and you've lost the remainder?  Thanks.

YES it covers deposit 100%.  If the booking code you use has a NRD, then generally, the $100 is forfeited.  However, if you are cancelling and intend to book, or are booking another cruise, Princess seems pretty amenable to transfer that FCD to the other cruise.  I would say long-time repeat customers are going to get some consideration as they are very likely to book again.

[Steelers36]

2 hours ago, skynight said:

What ship(s) & voyage(s)? There should be lots of cabin availability for all categories for all 2021. "Placeholders" will not take up very many cabins, and it's probably too early for T.A's to block their groups. The exception might be the small ship, Pacific Princess.

Not necessarily as Princess may be throttling inventory by releasing a certain amount when new dates are released and then hold back a lot of inventory as they also want to sell more current voyages.  Depends on itinerary.  For example, WC and WC segments on Island for 2021 are rampant with held-back inventory.

 

[shorefolks]

After comparing experiences with several cruise lines buying FCDs, we now only buy them from Princess. Their terms are much superior to what you find elsewhere. We sail about 2-3 times a year on 5 different lines (Princess, Celebrity, HAL, NCL, and Oceania) depending on itinerary and price, so it is not unusual to go a few years without being on a given line. Princess will happily extend or refund the FCD as you wish. They are perfect for us. I can not think of a drawback for the purchaser.

[rjgdjg]

My only downside--keeping track of it! If it's far in the future and you have several trips planned, you can easily forget about it. - Musing About Cruising

[Thrak]

15 hours ago, Daniel A said:

I'm looking at a cruise in 2021 and it looks like almost all of the cabins I would like are not available. 

 

What type of cabins? If you would only "like" suites that can happen as suites tend to sell out before any other category.

[Daniel A]

12 minutes ago, Thrak said:

 

What type of cabins? If you would only "like" suites that can happen as suites tend to sell out before any other category.

Suites and mid ship balconies on the Star.  So maybe they aren't placeholders...

[skynight]

1 hour ago, Daniel A said:

Suites and mid ship balconies on the Star.  So maybe they aren't placeholders...

I see cabins available for 2021 on the Star. Exception is the 28 day South Pacific which already has and will be in demand.

[thinfool]

On 9/25/2019 at 5:40 PM, zalusky said:

Well you guys must be princess loyalists then.  My issue  is that we are spreading our wings with the next two being RCL and looking at maybe a high end after that.  If FCD were good for longer it might be different.  The next RCL cruise we are booked on,  we used a FCD that we purchased 6 years ago.  Yes I know Princess refunds the money and RCL does not but I figure I would eventually use it.

Many here have found that a tactful and polite note to the Captains Circle folks, written before any FCD expires will result in an extension of time for that FCD.  In my case, an extra two years was no problem.

[billco]

The only conceivable con I can think of is the FCD is charged to a credit card, not shipboard account. You can't use OBC to pay for it.

[hansi]

On 9/25/2019 at 8:46 PM, Daniel A said:

I've never purchased Future Cruise Deposits before and I'm interested in finding out what the benefits and pitfalls are connected with the program.  We are on the fence about purchasing them on our next cruise.

No pitfalls. You can't lose!

[hansi]

23 hours ago, rjgdjg said:

My only downside--keeping track of it! If it's far in the future and you have several trips planned, you can easily forget about it. - Musing About Cruising

How, if you make a booking they have it on record.

[Steelers36]

23 hours ago, rjgdjg said:

My only downside--keeping track of it! If it's far in the future and you have several trips planned, you can easily forget about it. - Musing About Cruising

Not difficult to keep track of at all.  Login to Princess and check your Captain's Circle account.  Complete history of your FCD purchases is there, plus any applications to future cruise bookings.  Once used and sailed, they drop off.  Expiry dates are shown.  Very easy.  In fact you can instruct your TA or Princess as to which FCD to apply to a new booking if you have a preference.

 

[hbrote]

The only problem I have ever encountered is running out before being on a ship again.......................

 

[jagoffee]

1 hour ago, billco said:

The only conceivable con I can think of is the FCD is charged to a credit card, not shipboard account. You can't use OBC to pay for it.

If the OBC is refundable it will not make much of a difference.

If the OBC is the non refundable type it is a smart of Princess to not allow it to be used.  (It would create a loophole).

 

I concur that Princess’s FCD program is a no lose proposition.  One of the best in the industry IMO due to the allowable stacking of other OBC programs; such as military and shareholder OBC.

Edited September 27, 2019 by jagoffee

[Ombud]

23 hours ago, rjgdjg said:

My only downside--keeping track of it! If it's far in the future and you have several trips planned, you can easily forget about it. - Musing About Cruising

My PVP always asks me if I want to use it but in a tone of "you should use your FCD and I can add ×." YEAH! OBC stacks up nicely 🤑 

[Thrak]

1 hour ago, steelers36 said:

In fact you can instruct your TA or Princess as to which FCD to apply to a new booking if you have a preference.

 

I've had to call Princess in the past when I booked directly and they applied a newer FCD to the deposit rather than an older one that would expire sooner. It seemed obvious to me to use the older one but, for some bizarre reason, Princess had applied the newer FCD as deposit.

[CRUZBUDS]

We also always buy more credits when we cruise.  We like at least three each.  We got caught once when a Sip'n Sail deal came around.  We didn't have enough credits for the cruises we booked.  We're not letting that happen again

 

We have a cruise coming up in January that we changed from a March Mexico to a January Mexico to a January Hawaii.  Princess and my TA had no problem moving our FCC.  The Hawaii has a non-refundable - so worst case and we just decide not to go, we're out just $200 -- on a $4250 booking  

 

We've gotten automatic refunds when we let them expire.  

 

As most people are saying -- there is no down-side for most people.  

[CountryCruiser]

The only con is that it will cause you to book your next cruise sooner. Or that could be a pro as well.