shareholder credit

[Daniel A]

48 minutes ago, steelers36 said:

I agree with that.  It really should not have changed since someone might sell the shares before sailing.  But many report getting it early.  I always wait until after final payment and then do it.  It doesn't take them long at all to apply it and within 90 days leaves plenty of time.

I just re read the fine print on this years announcement and I found two items of interest:

 

They relate on the sheet that the benefit is only good on sailings up until July 31, 2020 (They're never enforced that cutoff date in my experience) but they state it's only applicable to bookings made before February 28, 2020 (also interesting as 2020 is a leap year so there's a Feb 29, 2020)  The point I am making is that they seem more to care if you have the shares at time of booking rather than sailing.

 

The second thing I've not noticed before, is that the current announcement of Shareholder Benefits states you can submit your proof of ownership to either the cruise line or your travel agent.  I don't recall ever being able to bring my proof of ownership to my TA.

[Steelers36]

3 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

I just re read the fine print on this years announcement and I found two items of interest:

 

They relate on the sheet that the benefit is only good on sailings up until July 31, 2020 (They're never enforced that cutoff date in my experience) but they state it's only applicable to bookings made before February 28, 2020 (also interesting as 2020 is a leap year so there's a Feb 29, 2020)  The point I am making is that they seem more to care if you have the shares at time of booking rather than sailing.

 

The second thing I've not noticed before, is that the current announcement of Shareholder Benefits states you can submit your proof of ownership to either the cruise line or your travel agent.  I don't recall ever being able to bring my proof of ownership to my TA.

They just keep updating the same document/announcement each year and bump the dates up.  And why make the TA do more work that has nothing to do with their business of advising and booking travel.  Would not think of asking my discount TA to do something I ought to be handling myself  (not suggesting you would either).

Edited January 17, 2020 by steelers36

[Daniel A]

11 minutes ago, 8dimsum said:

My take away about Australia's accepting current brokerage statements no earlier than 3 months prior to sailing and not later than 14 days, may have to do with 1) personnel  in the office to oversee requests, 2)keeping within the guidelines that the stocks are still current; and 3) the Carnival corporation board votes to continue the benefit.

It's a good thought, but I didn't see any guidelines that relate to whether or not the proof of ownership needs to show that the stocks are still current as of the sailing date.  I did get that they are interested in the date booked.  It looks to me that this is typical Princess inconsistencies and someone in Australia is inventing their own guidelines.  (Also, the real Carnival Corp guidelines state you have to submit proof of ownership no later than 3 weeks prior to sailing.)  Somebody seems to be making up their own rules but I don't really have a dog in this fight.

[Daniel A]

13 minutes ago, steelers36 said:

They just keep updating the same document/announcement each year and bump the dates up.  And why make the TA do more work that has nothing to do with their business of advising and booking travel.  Would not think of asking my discount TA to do something I ought to be handling myself  (not suggesting you would either).

I use a TA in a brick & mortar location.  I end up booking my vacations face to face with the TA anyway so handing the proof over to her at the time I make a booking saves me the hassle of finding a fax place or writing a letter and sending it to Princess in the mail.  Her commission will more than cover her effort.

[nnps]

21 hours ago, Aus Traveller said:

Of course I realise the shareholders credit comes because of my shares in Carnival Corporation. However, in Australia we have to apply separately to P&O and to Princess or the other lines owned by Carnival Corporation. Our application to Princess has to be posted or faxed to their address, and the one to P&O has to be posted or emailed to P&O.

 

Like it or not, Princess Australia and P&O Australia require that the brokerage statement be no older than three months. On one occasion when I was speaking to a staff member at P&O regarding my shareholder's benefit, she told me she could apply it to my next cruise, but not the following one. I would have to wait another week before applying for that because it was beyond the three months.

Hi Aus Traveller,

I share your frustration with the inconsistencies of Princess. I have an upcoming cruise in Japan with Princess and was wondering, do you send the shareholder benefits request to the Princess Australian or U.S. office?

 

 I tried calling the Sydney office with the same question but got nowhere.

[jondfk]

As others have written, fax or mail it whenever you like after booking.  I've no experience using the credit for specialty dining, but I can tell you that credit can be applied to Shore Excursions bookings (in fact I'm not sure how to PREVENT it from being used).  I booked excursions last week for a cruise in September and all of my shareholder credit was applied towards it leaving me only a very small balance to pay by credit card - perfect!

 

I've had trouble getting the documents through via fax (that's one busy fax machine) so nowadays I just drop a letter and my statement (redacted of personal information) in the mail.  It sometimes takes up to 2 weeks, but the credit always appears without fail.  I've never once used the official form, just a short cover letter with my name, record locator, ship and embarkation date.  

 

If ever RCI drops their similar benefit no doubt Carnival will as well.  Meanwhile though this is one of the truly rare shareholder benefits of value.  

 

Painless.

[By The Bay]

23 hours ago, Aus Traveller said:

That would be easier than what we have to do in Australia. If we could apply well ahead, I could apply for a few cruises all at once, but as it is, I have to get the statement then apply for one cruise at a time. I feel the 'Goldilocks' syndrome applies - not too early and not too late. We have to be less than three months before the cruise, but more than 14 days.

 

The next cruises we have to apply for the credit are in April, July and November. Maybe when I apply for the April one, I will also include the two later cruises. If I get it, great. If not, I can apply later for those.

This is what I did. They knocked it back, so I rang them and said that nowhere did it say anything about 3 months. The next day I received this from Princess:

 

"Thank you for contacting Princess Cruises.

This policy has been updated as cruises can be booked up 2 years in advance and shares can be sold within this time. As you are a valued Elite member of Princess Cruises, please provide your latest shareholder statement and I will pleased to add this benefits for the cruises you have booked with us for the remainder of this year."

[Sarah Jane Smith]

1 hour ago, nnps said:

Hi Aus Traveller,

I share your frustration with the inconsistencies of Princess. I have an upcoming cruise in Japan with Princess and was wondering, do you send the shareholder benefits request to the Princess Australian or U.S. office?

 

 I tried calling the Sydney office with the same question but got nowhere.

Hi nnps

I sent the required info for a Japan cruise to Sydney office, on the same fax as info for an Australian cruise. The Shareholder credit was applied for the Australian cruise within a day but the credit for the Japan cruise was not. A fortnight later I faxed Japan cruise info to US. Within a day the credit was applied for the Japan cruise. The Sydney office never responded as to why they did not apply credit for Japan cruise.

[By The Bay]

7 minutes ago, Sarah Jane Smith said:

Hi nnps

I sent the required info for a Japan cruise to Sydney office, on the same fax as info for an Australian cruise. The Shareholder credit was applied for the Australian cruise within a day but the credit for the Japan cruise was not. A fortnight later I faxed Japan cruise info to US. Within a day the credit was applied for the Japan cruise. The Sydney office never responded as to why they did not apply credit for Japan cruise.

Thanks for that Sarah. I wondered if sending a fax to the USA office would work. Plenty of free fax online services, but the ones I found are only free to send to USA numbers.

[Sarah Jane Smith]

1 hour ago, By The Bay said:

Thanks for that Sarah. I wondered if sending a fax to the USA office would work. Plenty of free fax online services, but the ones I found are only free to send to USA numbers.

I used a free online service to fax within Australia, but found the same issue faxing to the US. Remembered that the "multi-function" printer also claimed to be a fax machine, plugged it into the land line (yes I still have one but don't usually use it - hahaha) and sent said fax. Even remembered that the international dialling code was different for faxing! 0015 instead of 0011.

[nnps]

Thanks very much Sarah, very helpful.

[NMTraveller]

9 hours ago, ontheweb said:

Yes, I believe it does mean that. I'm sure if I am wrong someone will correct me.

I just got OBC for two cruises with the Shareholder benefit.  I was able to book excursions with the OBC.  I would guess that you could also book specialty dining.

[Astro Flyer]

25 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

I just got OBC for two cruises with the Shareholder benefit.  I was able to book excursions with the OBC.  I would guess that you could also book specialty dining.

 

OBC can only be used to book tours before a cruise...nothing else.

 

During a cruise OBC is usable for any type of purchase.

Edited January 18, 2020 by Astro Flyer

[NMTraveller]

Just now, Astro Flyer said:

 

OBC can only be used to book tours before a cruise...nothing else.

 

During a cruise OBC is usable for any type of purchase.

Thanks.

[ontheweb]

7 hours ago, Astro Flyer said:

 

OBC can only be used to book tours before a cruise...nothing else.

 

During a cruise OBC is usable for any type of purchase.

As I posted earlier, the only reason they allow OBC to be used pre-cruise is to counter the negative reaction when they changed their policy about pre-booking excursions and not having them show up as a charge until you were aboard the ship. OBC cannot be used pre-cruise for anything else.

[pcsunlover]

I had a cruise booked for this past December and one for this March.  I sent a separate shareholder benefit request for each cruise this past September.  The benefit was applied to the December cruise which was within the 3-month guideline.  They did not apply the benefit to my upcoming March cruise, so I just recently re-submitted it since I am within the 3-month timeframe now.  I’m in the USA.  

[Schonert]

On 1/16/2020 at 8:14 PM, Aus Traveller said:

Of course I realise the shareholders credit comes because of my shares in Carnival Corporation. However, in Australia we have to apply separately to P&O and to Princess or the other lines owned by Carnival Corporation. Our application to Princess has to be posted or faxed to their address, and the one to P&O has to be posted or emailed to P&O.

 

Like it or not, Princess Australia and P&O Australia require that the brokerage statement be no older than three months. On one occasion when I was speaking to a staff member at P&O regarding my shareholder's benefit, she told me she could apply it to my next cruise, but not the following one. I would have to wait another week before applying for that because it was beyond the three months.

This is how is USED to be in North America as well.  Glad it has changed.

[Daniel A]

21 minutes ago, pcsunlover said:

I had a cruise booked for this past December and one for this March.  I sent a separate shareholder benefit request for each cruise this past September.  The benefit was applied to the December cruise which was within the 3-month guideline.  They did not apply the benefit to my upcoming March cruise, so I just recently re-submitted it since I am within the 3-month timeframe now.  I’m in the USA.  

Where are people seeing this 3 month guideline?  I have a cruise booked for April 2021 and I just double checked and my shareholder credit is showing already on that cruise.  I'd really like to see that in writing somewhere.

 

BTW is your March cruse out of Australia or the U.S.?

Edited January 18, 2020 by Daniel A

[pcsunlover]

51 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

Where are people seeing this 3 month guideline?  I have a cruise booked for April 2021 and I just double checked and my shareholder credit is showing already on that cruise.  I'd really like to see that in writing somewhere.

 

BTW is your March cruse out of Australia or the U.S.?

I live in and am cruising from the USA.  I don’t know where the guideline is now, I believe it used to be on the benefit form. Maybe they removed it.  I can only tell you my experience, which is that they did not give me my shareholder benefit when I requested it in Sept. 2019 for a March 2020 cruise.  
 

If you received the benefit already then it just shows that Princess has an issue with consistency. The 3-month guideline makes sense when you think about it.  How would they know if you sold all of your CCL stock between now and April 2021 and were unfairly getting the shareholder benefit?  

[Ombud]

Schwab faxed it over for me in December and it was applied to 4 cruises [3/22/20,  3/29/20, 8/29/29, & 4/3/21]. It fell off 2 when I refared last week [3/22/20 & 8/29/30]. I just called the corporate # and it was back on. She said she can do it with a phone call if the fax is less than 6 months old. So easy here, hope it's eventually that easy for others

[NMTraveller]

1 hour ago, Daniel A said:

Where are people seeing this 3 month guideline?  I have a cruise booked for April 2021 and I just double checked and my shareholder credit is showing already on that cruise.  I'd really like to see that in writing somewhere.

 

BTW is your March cruse out of Australia or the U.S.?

I applied for mine about 3 months ago.  They are for cruises in July and December of this year.  One was for over a year out.  They showed up in my cruise planner in about a day.  I booked excursions with the credit right away.  I did not experience the time limits.  I faxed mine in.

Edited January 18, 2020 by NMTraveller

[Daniel A]

4 minutes ago, pcsunlover said:

If you received the benefit already then it just shows that Princess has an issue with consistency. The 3-month guideline makes sense when you think about it.  How would they know if you sold all of your CCL stock between now and April 2021 and were unfairly getting the shareholder benefit?  

I think that the shareholder benefit applies to ownership at the time of booking, not date of sailing.  If you think about it now, how could you book your excursions in advance using your shareholder benefit if you have to wait until almost sailing to get it?  I agree with you 100% about Princess being consistently inconsistent.  I wonder if Carnival or Cunard PAX run into the same issues? 

[Colo Cruiser]

1 hour ago, Daniel A said:

Where are people seeing this 3 month guideline? 

On the old forms. I think it said 90 days?

They have since removed it.

But still old forms being copied and pasted.

 

Sometimes they don't apply it right away if the cruise is quite aways away for some reason.

I have a couple in 2021 that I had no issue with.

[Daniel A]

6 minutes ago, Colo Cruiser said:

On the old forms.

They have since removed it.

But still old forms being copied and pasted.

 

Sometimes they don't apply it right away if the cruise is quite aways away for some reason.

I have a couple in 2021 that I had no issue with.

I don't even think Carnival publishes that form anymore.  It's probably obsolete.  They may still take old versions of the form as they contain all of the information needed but I've never used the form, rather I just put the info in a letter format.  Sounds like "The Ends of The Roast" to me...

Edited January 18, 2020 by Daniel A

[waltd]

Yes back in the day the form stated 90 days.    Here is one copied and pasted from 2016.

^ Shares certificate and brokerage statement should be dated no earlier than 3 months prior to cruise departure date.