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Should I (or has anyone else) book a backup cruise?

emerald3582

By emerald3582,
in Princess Cruises

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emerald3582

emerald3582

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My MXR cruise is in March 2021, but I found another one in March 2022 with the rooms I want. Should I go ahead and put the deposit down now? If the original gets cancelled, would they be able to apply any FCC to the new booking? FYI, the new booking would be with Expedia. They have a great deal right now.

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Coral "Live from...." Rare

Coral

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Posted (edited)

I think it is a good idea to book the cruise in 2022. Just make sure there are no cancellation fees with whoever you book with.

 

They should be able to move FCC from 1 booking to another booking.

Edited by Coral
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dog

dog

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34 minutes ago, emerald3582 said:

My MXR cruise is in March 2021, but I found another one in March 2022 with the rooms I want. Should I go ahead and put the deposit down now? If the original gets cancelled, would they be able to apply any FCC to the new booking? FYI, the new booking would be with Expedia. They have a great deal right now.

You could do this. I wouldn’t. 
with so much uncertainty I would only put a deposit down using  a FCD or small deposit $1.00 - $100 pp. 

since you might want to move the FCC. I would book directly with Princess and watch for any price drops. 

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Treasure Hunter

Treasure Hunter

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I would book the 2022 now so you can reserve the room you want. Once the ships start sailing, prices will go way up. You probably will not be able to transfer fcc . I had a cruise with a non refundable deposit and $1,000 credit that I used for free excursions. It was in Europe for October We cancelled and picked same cruise October 2021. Because we always use a travel agent she made the transfer of our deposit but made it refundable . Got a great suite but lost the $1000 excursion credit as Princess was not offering that perk for 2021. Princess eventually canceled the cruise anyway. Who knows if we’ll go but if we do , at least we have a great room. And something to look forward to.

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trbarton "Live from...." Rare

trbarton

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1 hour ago, CarelessAndConfused said:

If they took bets, I would happily put down a decent chunk of money that Mar 2021 is not a go.

 

For anyone who has used the FCC (not FCD), can one use the FCC thru a travel agent? 

The FCC, Future Cruise Certificate, can be applied by your travel agent. Mine does this all the time. 
 

Tom😀

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dog

dog

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3 hours ago, emerald3582 said:

It’s a $1460 difference between Princess and Expedia. 


contact Princess and tell them the difference in pricing and ask them to price match     It could be an error or non refundable. 
what ships & exact dates of sailing? What country are you in?

i also use a TA most of the time. With uncertain times and booking with a FCC I prefer to deal directly with Princess. 

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caribill

caribill

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48 minutes ago, dog said:


contact Princess and tell them the difference in pricing and ask them to price match     It could be an error or non refundable. 
what ships & exact dates of sailing? What country are you in?

i also use a TA most of the time. With uncertain times and booking with a FCC I prefer to deal directly with Princess. 

 

Princess never price matches what a TA may charge. They do not compete with their TAs.

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Coral "Live from...." Rare

Coral

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5 hours ago, dog said:


contact Princess and tell them the difference in pricing and ask them to price match     It could be an error or non refundable. 
what ships & exact dates of sailing? What country are you in?

i also use a TA most of the time. With uncertain times and booking with a FCC I prefer to deal directly with Princess. 

Princess doesn't price match.

 

In uncertain times, I still book with an agent. I use a real agent through, not a website.

 

There often is quite a bit of savings with an agent. Plus other benefits of using an agent over direct. Direct is the last way I would book.

Edited by Coral
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Coral "Live from...." Rare

Coral

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30 minutes ago, susancruzs said:

I'm with others here, I book with an agent and her price is always better than Princess, others places I check.  I wouldn't hesitate to book a cruise for 2022 as long as it isn't a deposit higher than $100.  

I would agree. I would hate to put a larger deposit down.

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frugaltravel

frugaltravel

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1 hour ago, dog said:

My understanding for rebooking using the FCC is that TA’s will be paid $50. Is this in addition to their regular commission?

 

 

I think they got their regular commissions on the cruises that were canceled - that generated the FCCs.

 

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dog

dog

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5 hours ago, Coral said:

Princess doesn't price match.

 

In uncertain times, I still book with an agent. I use a real agent through, not a website.

 

There often is quite a bit of savings with an agent. Plus other benefits of using an agent over direct. Direct is the last way I would book.


thanks for setting me straight on price match

. I have used a long time TA for most of my cruises, as well.

I was able to get a $400 lower fare with Princess on my most recent booking then my TA was offering. recently. Princess also offered me a much lower deposit while the TA asked for twice as much. 
so, that is my situation. 

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Coral "Live from...." Rare

Coral

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23 minutes ago, dog said:


thanks for setting me straight on price match

. I have used a long time TA for most of my cruises, as well.

I was able to get a $400 lower fare with Princess on my most recent booking then my TA was offering. recently. Princess also offered me a much lower deposit while the TA asked for twice as much. 
so, that is my situation. 

IMO - then your TA missed something.

 

Travel agents have access to all the pricing that Princess reps have access to. Additionally, for last minute sailings, there are times when agents have access to additional flash pricing that Princess direct doesn't offer. Then, if you are lucky, your agent can discount on top of that. If Princess is quoting a fare cheaper than Princess - your agent either forgot to look up your Captain Circle number or something else. This should not happen. Princess will never undercut a rate that agents have access to. If they do - agents would get really upset and steer their clients elsewhere. It is an agreement between Princess and agents.

 

As far as a lower deposit, there have been reports that Princess reps have gotten oks from supervisors for lower deposits. Agents can ask for this also. 

 

Agents also have the ability to run several $100 deposit weeks several times a year (it seems pretty frequent for my agent). So when Princess is even higher with deposits, my agent is often $100. I don't know what Princess is doing right now - I held a cruise that should have dropped off mid-May (through Agent) and Princess extended the hold until the end of August. Then they applied my FCC to that. Sort of stupid on a cruise with out a deposit.

 

I am fortunate to have an exceptional agent. She would get to the bottom of any pricing irregularities.

Edited by Coral
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caribill

caribill

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2 hours ago, frugaltravel said:

I think they got their regular commissions on the cruises that were canceled - that generated the FCCs.

 

 

They got their regular commissions on cruises that were paid in full, not on those that had not made a final payment.

 

In addition, when the FCCs are used, they will get their commissions on those bookings also. So for cruises that were paid in full and cancelled by Princess, TAs can earn a commission twice, on the cancelled cruise and on the cruise that uses the FCCs. Of course two earn that commission twice, the customer must use the same TA for the new booking. Other wiser the 2nd commission will go to what ever TA the customer chooses to use.

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dog

dog

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22 minutes ago, Coral said:

IMO - then your TA missed something.

 

Travel agents have access to all the pricing that Princess reps have access to. Additionally, for last minute sailings, there are times when agents have access to additional flash pricing that Princess direct doesn't offer. Then, if you are lucky, your agent can discount on top of that. If Princess is quoting a fare cheaper than Princess - your agent either forgot to look up your Captain Circle number or something else. This should not happen. Princess will never undercut a rate that agents have access to. If they do - agents would get really upset and steer their clients elsewhere. It is an agreement between Princess and agents.

 

As far as a lower deposit, there have been reports that Princess reps have gotten oks from supervisors for lower deposits. Agents can ask for this also. 

 

Agents also have the ability to run several $100 deposit weeks several times a year (it seems pretty frequent for my agent). So when Princess is even higher with deposits, my agent is often $100. I don't know what Princess is doing right now - I held a cruise that should have dropped off mid-May (through Agent) and Princess extended the hold until the end of August. Then they applied my FCC to that. Sort of stupid on a cruise with out a deposit.

 

I am fortunate to have an exceptional agent. She would get to the bottom of any pricing irregularities.


thanks again. Very valuable information here. 

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