Cruise and air … separate reservations?

[behappy11]

Hi…if I am trying to adjust my cruise, do I have to cancel and rebook the air? 

[LACruiser88]

8 minutes ago, behappy11 said:

Hi…if I am trying to adjust my cruise, do I have to cancel and rebook the air? 

Not if you are only doing a refare.  If you have to cancel existing booking, then yes you lose your your EZair booking.

[behappy11]

Under what circumstances would they make you rebook the whole thing? I am before final payment and the cruise is a better price now. 

[behappy11]

Another follow up question 😀 does it make a difference on who at Princess you talk to to get the change one way or another?

[DHP1]

Not us. The price drop and Princess adjusted the price and we kept our AZ Air flight as is.  Princess did not change our AZ Air flight. This took placed last summer. Maybe things have changed since then. 

[DHP1]

45 minutes ago, behappy11 said:

Another follow up question 😀 does it make a difference on who at Princess you talk to to get the change one way or another?

We just call their 1-800 number. May I suggest you call “early” in the morning to avoid being put on hold 

[DHP1]

1 hour ago, LACruiser88 said:

Not if you are only doing a refare.  If you have to cancel existing booking, then yes you lose your your EZair booking.

True. If you cancel your existing booking. 

[donswife]

1 hour ago, behappy11 said:

Under what circumstances would they make you rebook the whole thing? I am before final payment and the cruise is a better price now. 

If the new fare says "new booking only". You would also likely give up any promotions that were linked to the cruise fare.

[portiemom]

EZ Air is linked to your cruise booking number. Your booking number does not change on a refare, which it seems is what you are looking for. If you booked with a travel agent, then you need to go through them to get a refare for a price reduction. If not, then you can call Princess on your own. Before you do, know that the promo you originally booked under, and all the benefits (OBC, specialty dinner, etc.) that went with it change to whatever promo is currently in effect at the time of the refare. Also check that your original booking had a refundable deposit. Sometimes when you look at the big picture, a refare is not a better deal. If you call Princess and you get an agent who won't do the refare, call back and try again. I've had better luck on a weekday, not the weekend, and either early or late in the day. Sometimes the person who answers the phone doesn't know how to process it.

 

If you rebook the cruise for any reason, then your booking number will change and you will have to rebook your flights and any excursions you paid for, etc.

Edited April 30, 2023 by portiemom

[behappy11]

Here’s my update. My TA tried to discuss with Princess this weekend, but had to call the service desk today. Lo and behold the price of the cruise went up by $500 while trying to resolve today. So, no point going any further. 

[Ombud]

On 4/30/2023 at 2:49 PM, DHP1 said:

On 4/30/2023 at 1:25 PM, LACruiser88 said:

Not if you are only doing a refare.  If you have to cancel existing booking, then yes you lose your your EZair booking.

True. If you cancel your existing booking

Not necessarily.  My CVP does a 'lift & shift' with EZAIR, excursions, and specialty dining.  From the old booking # to the new booking #. If she can, they all should be able to (i know she's very good but my retired one could do it also so it's not new ..... last done earlier this year .... just requires a few coordinated steps)

[LACruiser88]

1 hour ago, Ombud said:

Not necessarily.  My CVP does a 'lift & shift' with EZAIR, excursions, and specialty dining.  From the old booking # to the new booking #. If she can, they all should be able to (i know she's very good but my retired one could do it also so it's not new ..... last done earlier this year .... just requires a few coordinated steps)

Our longtime TA has never been able to do that.  🤔

[Steelers36]

On 4/30/2023 at 4:50 PM, behappy11 said:

Under what circumstances would they make you rebook the whole thing? I am before final payment and the cruise is a better price now. 

If the Fare Code you are booked under no longer in effect, you may need to re-book.  It depends on terms of the new Fare Code.  Also, it can depend on who at Princess fields the call, or who your TA speaks with.  TA's do have access to POLAR and there is a process to make a change in POLAR.  Whether it works all the time without a cancel/re-book, I cannot say. 

 

What I can say is that I did several changes to four cruises from last Fall in the months ahead of FP Date.  Sometimes it was a re-fare, sometimes a cancel/re-book.  It can be possible to preserve an EZ-Air booking while doing a cancel/re-book.  That said, the TA and Princess rep need to know in advance about the airfare and I don't suggest just anyone at Princess can make it happen.  But you can read above that it happens and I know it happened to me.  I do seem to recall on one occasion that a re-book to a new confirmation number did let an air booking go, but I knew before the cancel/re-book that the airfare had not changed and was not concerned about losing the booking for a few minutes or so. 

 

The best thing is to communicate clearly about your booking with TA and/or Princess and what you don't want to lose.  I have even had my Shareholder OBC benefit preserved if I think to ask and didn't have to contact that dept again to have it re-applied.  Another key factor to be aware of when re-booking is if you used a FCD for deposit.  If that FCD has since expired, it is lost and set for auto-refund.  You MUST have Princess extend the expiry date PRIOR to the booking cancellation in order to re-use that FCD as a deposit on the replacement booking.

 

Be aware and be prepared is the best practice I can suggest for any booking changes.

 

On 4/30/2023 at 5:00 PM, behappy11 said:

Another follow up question 😀 does it make a difference on who at Princess you talk to to get the change one way or another?

I would say so as you can get an inexperienced rep, etc.

 

Edited May 2, 2023 by Steelers36

[Ombud]

On 5/1/2023 at 7:25 PM, Ombud said:

Not necessarily.  My CVP does a 'lift & shift' with EZAIR, excursions, and specialty dining.  From the old booking # to the new booking #. If she can, they all should be able to (i know she's very good but my retired one could do it also so it's not new ..... last done earlier this year .... just requires a few coordinated steps)

I do want to add one oddity: if I go back in I notice that the original booking is still there but as a HOLD with a GUARANTEE room and no deposit on it. Just hanging out. The new booking has everything including the room over there. Didn't notice that until today 

 

 

Edited May 3, 2023 by Ombud

[behappy11]

Hi…we ended up having to cancel and rebook. When I go to the medallion app, it doesn’t show my new booking number. When I try to link it, it says the new one is already taken. I can see the old booking cancelled on the app. I did go online and rebook excursions and such, so it’s only the app giving grief. Any hints on how to fix this? Does it take a few days to catch up to the website?

[Steelers36]

23 minutes ago, behappy11 said:

Hi…we ended up having to cancel and rebook. When I go to the medallion app, it doesn’t show my new booking number. When I try to link it, it says the new one is already taken. I can see the old booking cancelled on the app. I did go online and rebook excursions and such, so it’s only the app giving grief. Any hints on how to fix this? Does it take a few days to catch up to the website?

Yes, it takes a couple of days for a res to get updated in the Princess App database.  And never attempt to use the Link a Booking option.  No one here knows why it is there.  It has no function for the guest and many posts have advised not to touch it.

[behappy11]

Thank you for the help! I’ll stop hitting that dang button now!

[nini]

We have always been able to receive the lower cabin rate if it decreases, is before final payment, and that Cabin category is still available. It does not affect our EZAir reservations.