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Princess Gift Card Promotion

Ombud

By Ombud,
in Princess Cruises

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rodndonna

rodndonna

Posted
Posted
10 hours ago, traceytd said:

It says on the link that Canadians cannot use the virtual gift cards to pay off there balance if they booked in Canadian dollars. Do you know if there is a way around this?

 

On a HAL booking where I had the same issue (they do the same promo with cards) I just called in and had my cruise rebooked in US dollars.

 

Knowing Princess would likely have gift card promo coming up, I also booked our Princess cruise in US dollars.

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traceytd

traceytd

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, rodndonna said:

 

On a HAL booking where I had the same issue (they do the same promo with cards) I just called in and had my cruise rebooked in US dollars.

 

Knowing Princess would likely have gift card promo coming up, I also booked our Princess cruise in US dollars.

I will try that. Booking in US dollars

thanks

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Steelers36

Steelers36

Posted
Posted
11 hours ago, traceytd said:

It says on the link that Canadians cannot use the virtual gift cards to pay off there balance if they booked in Canadian dollars. Do you know if there is a way around this?

Another reason why it is convenient to book in USD. 

 

We also book with US agency(ies) that provide a generous cash discount off the cruise fare.  Most of them do not have nor offer the facility to charge in CAD, but you can charge to a USD credit card (readily available in Canada) or to a card that doesn't assess a currency conversion upcharge (several available in Canada - and I know of one that is also has no annual card fee).  You cannot get these discounts from Canadian agents - maybe it's like a close-knit club.

 

I always book in USD because I can manage when it makes sense to acquire blocks of USD.  We actually have significant portions of funds and investments in USD since US is well the US when comes to business, commerce, GDP, markets, etc.  We travel quite a lot and spending winters in USA.  Always have need of USD.  For those who don't need it much, you can book in USD and buy the USD you will need to pay for the cruise - or wait until closer to sail time.  Princess is getting better at it, but they have often been out of step with market rates when converting the USD fares to CAD fares. 

 

The on-board currency is USD anyway (unless sailing in local Australia area), so it is wise to have a USD card or one that doesn't upcharge the conversion rate. 

 

That said, you may be able to get Princess to re-fare your booking to USD.  IDK if a local TA would do that in Canada, just like most US TA's aren't interested in booking in CAD.  IDK if it is possible to make a special request to convert the gift card with Princess.  You can use it to pre-purchase OBC in Cruise Personalizer.  That will be refundable OBC, so you should get it back after end of cruise.  I'd rather have the funds in hand, however.

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traceytd

traceytd

Posted
Posted
4 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Another reason why it is convenient to book in USD. 

 

We also book with US agency(ies) that provide a generous cash discount off the cruise fare.  Most of them do not have nor offer the facility to charge in CAD, but you can charge to a USD credit card (readily available in Canada) or to a card that doesn't assess a currency conversion upcharge (several available in Canada - and I know of one that is also has no annual card fee).  You cannot get these discounts from Canadian agents - maybe it's like a close-knit club.

 

I always book in USD because I can manage when it makes sense to acquire blocks of USD.  We actually have significant portions of funds and investments in USD since US is well the US when comes to business, commerce, GDP, markets, etc.  We travel quite a lot and spending winters in USA.  Always have need of USD.  For those who don't need it much, you can book in USD and buy the USD you will need to pay for the cruise - or wait until closer to sail time.  Princess is getting better at it, but they have often been out of step with market rates when converting the USD fares to CAD fares. 

 

The on-board currency is USD anyway (unless sailing in local Australia area), so it is wise to have a USD card or one that doesn't upcharge the conversion rate. 

 

That said, you may be able to get Princess to re-fare your booking to USD.  IDK if a local TA would do that in Canada, just like most US TA's aren't interested in booking in CAD.  IDK if it is possible to make a special request to convert the gift card with Princess.  You can use it to pre-purchase OBC in Cruise Personalizer.  That will be refundable OBC, so you should get it back after end of cruise.  I'd rather have the funds in hand, however.

Thank you very much. I do have a US credit card and account. 😊

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chubbypiggy

chubbypiggy

Posted
Posted
On 5/23/2021 at 8:24 AM, Justprettynpink said:

I use them for paying for cruises through my TA and for using them onboard.

If I buy the "physical" card, do I need to send the cards to my outside TA to apply my gift cards toward paying for a portion of my booked cruise?

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Justprettynpink

Justprettynpink

Posted
Posted
12 minutes ago, chubbypiggy said:

If I buy the "physical" card, do I need to send the cards to my outside TA to apply my gift cards toward paying for a portion of my booked cruise?

Just give them the numbers on the back…. Don’t throw them away after you use them in case any funds are refunded

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chubbypiggy

chubbypiggy

Posted
Posted
On 5/23/2021 at 8:25 AM, Jadn13 said:

You can use them to pay for your passage or OBC.

You can load them on to your account ahead of time. Below is a message from gift card support when I asked about booking excursions prior to boarding.

 

Thank you for contacting Gift Card Support!

 

Yes, you can use these gift cards to reserve shore excursions prior to the sailing. The best and easiest way to do this is purchasing Shore Excursion Credit (similar to On-board Credit) using the Gift Cards. Once purchased the Excursion Credit is ready to use and can be seen in your Cruise Personalizer. Should you need assistance you can call General Reservations at 1-800-744-6237.

I did a "trial" purchase for On-board credit, and when time to pay, it only gave me the option of paying by credit card or Paypal.  Can't find where I can use my gift card to pay for the OBC purchase.

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Steelers36

Steelers36

Posted
Posted
14 minutes ago, chubbypiggy said:

I did a "trial" purchase for On-board credit, and when time to pay, it only gave me the option of paying by credit card or Paypal.  Can't find where I can use my gift card to pay for the OBC purchase.

Yes.  Order over the phone.

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Jadn13

Jadn13

Posted
Posted
38 minutes ago, chubbypiggy said:

Can I use the gift cards to pay for the daily gratuities? If so, then I plan to buy another $1,000 (28 days cruise coming up in March 2022) gift cards during the Black Friday promotion.  

Yep! 

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bjkTX

bjkTX

Posted
Posted
56 minutes ago, chubbypiggy said:

Can I use the gift cards to pay for the daily gratuities? If so, then I plan to buy another $1,000 (28 days cruise coming up in March 2022) gift cards during the Black Friday promotion.  

How is the "Black Friday" promotion advertised/announced?  Hadn't seen it before so just wondering :-)

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chubbypiggy

chubbypiggy

Posted
Posted
53 minutes ago, Jadn13 said:

Yep! 

Do I need to buy the mail-in (physical card) gift cards to bring it to the ship's Passenger service to apply the credit to my account to pay for the gratuities or I can still buy e-cards andjust give Passenger service the e-card # and pin #?  

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Jadn13

Jadn13

Posted
Posted
10 minutes ago, chubbypiggy said:

Do I need to buy the mail-in (physical card) gift cards to bring it to the ship's Passenger service to apply the credit to my account to pay for the gratuities or I can still buy e-cards andjust give Passenger service the e-card # and pin #?  

Either work and if you wanted to you could call Princess ahead of time and add them as OBC or you could just take them to guest services at any point and ask to have them added to your account. 

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Ombud

Ombud

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  • Author
Posted
On 5/22/2021 at 3:29 PM, Jadn13 said:
On 5/22/2021 at 3:07 PM, Ombud said:

Turns out I need another 3k. Anyone know when the next promotion is?

Not a bad problem to have 😁

Turns out I've refared so often I only need another $1144 plus $150 internet through 2022 (3 upcoming cruises)

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Ombud

Ombud

Posted
  • Author
Posted
On 5/22/2021 at 3:29 PM, Jadn13 said:
On 5/22/2021 at 3:07 PM, Ombud said:

Turns out I need another 3k. Anyone know when the next promotion is?

Not a bad problem to have 😁

Turns out I've refared so often I only need another $1144 plus $150 internet through 2022 (3 upcoming cruises). Needed by June but I would like to get it out of the way. Hate owing anyone

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