72 hour sale

[cruise2relax]

Good for you for being able to get through.  Tried multiple times but cannot wait on hold indefinitely.  After 45 minutes on hold twice, the deal is not worth it.  I am assuming since they are still on reduced hours that means they also have reduced staff.  I get it but not an effective way to gain or retain guests.

[Ombud]

18 minutes ago, cruise2relax said:

Good for you for being able to get through.  Tried multiple times but cannot wait on hold indefinitely.  After 45 minutes on hold twice, the deal is not worth it.  I am assuming since they are still on reduced hours that means they also have reduced staff.  I get it but not an effective way to gain or retain guests.

I'm confused. Help me understand.  3 ways to book:

1. TA -> TA gets or adjusts it for you 

2. PVP-> PVP gets or adjusts it for you via email

3. On Your Own -> 

3a. New booking -> automatic 

3b. Old booking -> utilize chat

[Tedferg]

Can this sale be applied after Final Payment ? Or is it just new bookings ?

[fluffybunny22]

5 minutes ago, Tedferg said:

Can this sale be applied after Final Payment ? Or is it just new bookings ?

New bookings only.

[Therese S.]

Thank you for posting about this sale.  I had just booked February 10, 2022 cruise to Hawaii a few days before this sale.  I contacted my TA and she was able to get us the additional onboard credit and cabin price was the same.    With previous on board credit and OBC from FCD we are now just $42.50 pp short of covering our daily gratuities.   I’m happy about that as we did not book the Princess plus fare.  

[Tedferg]

1 hour ago, fluffybunny22 said:

New bookings only.

Thank you - ours is a replacement cruise for a cancellation that had passed Final Payment. Our previous perks included $100 OBC so this would just be a slight reduction in fare. So no big deal for us.

[Cruisen Elf]

3 hours ago, cruise2relax said:

Good for you for being able to get through.  Tried multiple times but cannot wait on hold indefinitely.  After 45 minutes on hold twice, the deal is not worth it.  I am assuming since they are still on reduced hours that means they also have reduced staff.  I get it but not an effective way to gain or retain guests.

 

I called right after they opened this morning and still had to wait for a representative, but she was able to take care of it for me.  (Usually I book through our TA, but I had booked this on my own to take advantage of a previous sale, and hadn't transferred it to the TA yet.)  The rep told me they were still working from home and she had just been called back to work last month.  I realized upfront that it might take a while, so I was prepared - put phone on speaker and kept doing other stuff until someone was available.  I get the annoyance, but the reps are doing the best they can.  I can't complain since I got the result I wanted.

[Cruisen Elf]

2 hours ago, Ombud said:

I'm confused. Help me understand.  3 ways to book:

1. TA -> TA gets or adjusts it for you 

2. PVP-> PVP gets or adjusts it for you via email

3. On Your Own -> 

3a. New booking -> automatic 

3b. Old booking -> utilize chat

 

If I'd have know I could do it on chat, I'd have tried that!  Thanks for the suggestion.

[jwattle]

I called our big box TA yesterday for our 2023 B2B that we have had a deposit on since it came out; substantial time on hold, but they were able to add the OBC at the current rate, which was actually a smidge lower.

[Ombud]

25 minutes ago, Cruisen Elf said:

 

If I'd have know I could do it on chat, I'd have tried that!  Thanks for the suggestion.

Here's how to find chat on a smartphone:

and on a desktop:

Then it's a simple fill in your name / email address / what you want. Someone comes on from their end to respond to your request

[dreaminofcruisin]

Warning---RANT coming....

 

I saw the 72 hour sale and decided to book a cruise due to the extra onboard credit.

I have 2 cabins--one me, DH and adult DS, the other for DD, her DH and 2 grandkids who are 5 and 2. We booked all the adults with the Best Value package which includes drinks, wifi and gratuities. When Best Value came out, Princess came up with a way to book for the really little ones under Best Price even if the 2 adults are booked as Best Value, since they don't even drink soda. That is always painful as it doesn't seem like it is well advertised, but I have done it in the past. My TA finally found someone who could do that. Then I go and look at the OBC. DD and family didn't get the extra OBC. I contacted my TA. She again called Princess.

They told her:

Booking with Best Value (everyone in cabin): $100 OBC each person

Booking with Best Price (everyone in cabin): $100 OBC each person

Booking with "Mixed" Pricing (as I have done for DD): $50 each person

 

 Interesting enough, booking the 3rd option is of course more expensive than the 2nd option...so I think this makes no sense. There is also nothing in the fine print that indicates this.

 

So....what do you think? Should I just say "eh $200 one way or another", whatever...or should I nicely complain via email to someone at Princess?

 

Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[brisalta]

7 hours ago, Ombud said:

Here's how to find chat on a smartphone:

and on a desktop:

Then it's a simple fill in your name / email address / what you want. Someone comes on from their end to respond to your request

 

Interesting that I do not see "Live Chat" but that may be because it is after hours.

The wonderful Comcast had scheduled internet maintenance in our area without telling customers. Internet was off all day and screwed up working from home for many....Turns out there was a price drop on my booked cruise today...hope it is still there tomorrow!

Edited October 22, 2021 by brisalta

[brisalta]

On 10/21/2021 at 1:39 PM, Ombud said:

Here's how to find chat on a smartphone:

and on a desktop:

Then it's a simple fill in your name / email address / what you want. Someone comes on from their end to respond to your request

 

@Ombud Thank you that was very useful as I managed to get someones attention almost immediately via "Live Chat"and take advantage of a price drop and get re-fared.  I was warned that I would lose the $150 EZAir credit, but that is no big deal as I live 15 minutes drive from the port.

The person answering the chat said the web site only works correctly with Google Chrome after I explained that neither Safari or FireFox displayed the "Live Chat" button. That is one of the dumbest things ever as Google Chrome is notorious for security holes. Another indication that they employ clueless and incompetent web developers.

It also may explain why it is so quick to get a response from Live Chat as many people cannot use it.

[Steelers36]

From reading original posts on this thread and a couple on this page, it seems many guests kept their same booking and just got the additional OBC added - this should be the case IMO if already booked under the Fall Frenzy booking code.  Older codes would require re-faring and a new booking code AFAIK. 

 

In my case, I had two bookings under Fall Frenzy (N9B - Saver) and while I had no issues with TA getting the additional OBC, I ended up with new booking numbers (cancel/re-book).  I don't think this should have been necessary, but I guess he has the habit of doing this since he has experienced that "things get messed up" with re-fares in that things get dropped.  I think he is either conflating Princess with another line (perhaps), or rather it is when a cancel/re-book is done that things get lost.  Like EZ-Air if you have it, dining res, etc.  I am not likely to convince him otherwise and it didn't matter much right now since I didn't have air on these bookings and DMW is screwed up anyway for B2B's.

 

For sure if you have air, you have to make sure you know exactly what TA, and the person on Princess end they are working with, are going to do ahead of doing it, or you could have unintended consequences.  BTW, I even informed him that others were having the additional OBC added and it should be that simple.  (This is a new TA for me and I am working on the relationship - he is just fine otherwise, but seems to have this hang-up from being burned in the past).