FCC OR REFUNDS

[Zanny]

Hi All. What is the best way to go for cancelled princess cruise.

Take the future cruise credits or refunds.

Can the fcc be used on any cruises and on specials.

Does anyone know if there is terms and conditions  connected to using them.

Can 1 person from the couple use all of them or does it have to be used by both people from the orignal booking.

Hoping someone can answer these few queries

Regards Zanny

[bazzaw]

I chose to get full refunds from Cunard cruises - and it took some months for them to arrive. I am happy that I did though because there are now people complaining that the same cruises that they had cancelled this year are considerably more expensive next year ( basically eating up all of their 125% FCC and more) - it is being said that this is because so many have moved their cruises to next year/ personally I recommend that you take a refund - the future of cruising is too uncertain now to take FCC. 

[NSWP]

Take money and run Zanny. 

[By The Bay]

As I could not see a early end to the pandemic, I took the full refund and bought a new car. 😷

[NSWP]

13 minutes ago, By The Bay said:

As I could not see a early end to the pandemic, I took the full refund and bought a new car. 😷

Good work, enjoy it 🚘

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Take the money.

An FCC is just a piece of paper and with the uncertain future of cruising,the conditions or benefits can be changed with just the stroke of a pen . .

[By The Bay]

And what happens, God forbid, if the cruise-line files for bankruptcy?🤔

[Zanny]

Thanks for all your replies. We are talking deposits only. With Princess.

Have to make up our mind today.

Thanks Zanny

[nnps]

With regards to your question as to whether one person can use both FCCs, the answer is no. Each FCC is put into each passenger's personaliser. I would agree with the others and take the refund, unless you are willing to take the risk of losing your deposit. 

[OzKiwiJJ]

There are conditions, Zanny. I think they have to be used for a new booking, not one you already have booked although I guess you could always cancel and rebook using the FCC. 

 

They can only be used by the person the FCC applies to, so one person on a two person booking couldn't use both FCCs.

 

I believe you do get an extra 25% if you choose the FCC so if it's not a lot of money and you're prepared to risk it (although I think the risk is low with Princess) and you intend cruising again with the same person then take the FCC, otherwise ask for a refund. Note the refund could take several months to come through.

[BRANDEE]

18 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

There are conditions, Zanny. I think they have to be used for a new booking, not one you already have booked although I guess you could always cancel and rebook using the FCC. 

 

They can only be used by the person the FCC applies to, so one person on a two person booking couldn't use both FCCs.

 

I believe you do get an extra 25% if you choose the FCC so if it's not a lot of money and you're prepared to risk it (although I think the risk is low with Princess) and you intend cruising again with the same person then take the FCC, otherwise ask for a refund. Note the refund could take several months to come through.

Princess offered us : 250% FCC or !00% refund with 100% cruise fare FCC that had to sailed by May 2022.  This was for the March 21 cancelled Fiji cruise on the Ruby .  Expecting only a 60 day suspension, many on the roll call reported that they took the 250%.  Now that there is likely no sailing until January at the best..many are asking for an extension to use the FCC, but so far Princess is saying no.  I took the refund with the FCC and just recently booked a March 2022 cruise for the Caribbean.  That cruise was more expensive than the Fiji..both 14 days..same category. It is also $1000 more than I paid for a 14 Caribbean cruise one year ago. (again the same room category).

 

You are right in stating that FCC can only be used on new bookings.

[OzKiwiJJ]

Yes, the early, short notice, cancellations offered much more in FCC and, yes, nobody then expected this damn virus to wipe out cruising for so long. In fact new Australian cruises on Sapphire Princess were sold only a couple of weeks before Ruby got hit with the virus. Up until then it was expected that cruising would still be safe down here but, of course, it wasn't. 😪

 

I had actually booked one of those Sapphire cruises which I cancelled a couple of weeks ago and had my FCD put back on my account.

 

I had already noticed cruise prices creeping up, at least in our region, before the virus hit. We did three Celebrity NZ cruises from 2015 to last year (Princess weren't doing as many one way itineraries in 2015) but when we looked at booking the next one for 2021 Celebrity had poor itineraries at much higher prices. We found a better deal on Cunard so booked that instead although I expect it will be cancelled. We also did a Hawaii/Tahiti cruise last year and decided to book that one again for 2021. It was over AU$1000 more for the same cabin category - about 15% dearer. So I don't think it's just the virus pushing prices up. Cruising was getting too popular so there was no need for the cruise lines to keep their prices low.

 

It will be interesting to see what happens in the future. Prices may rise initially if cruises start up with limitations on the number of cabins but could drop again if people prove reluctant to cruise at high prices. 

 

At least Princess is (was?) very good at honouring price drops before final payment.

[getting older slowly]

I will be taking my deposit as refund... and the FCC I used rolled over into FCC ( one can dream )

 

Cheers Don

[MicCanberra]

It is an individual choice, but I would take the money.