Military and shareholders OBC no longer combinable soon.

[nasa1974]

2 hours ago, benzimer said:

We booked our 5 upcoming cruises in 2022 and have yet to see our SOBC.  We are both military and the MOBC is there.  I chatted again today and no reason given for not giving us the SOBC.  So, I sent an email to both Jan Swarz and John Padgett this morning.  Stating my displeasure with Princess changing a policy without grandfathering their current shareholders and how incentivizing us to sell our stock is helpful to the company.  Maybe if more of us do that it will help.

I may have missed something. MOBC is automatically applied to your cruise once you have initially given Princess your military information. Your SOBC isn't automatic. You have to apply for it for every cruise booked.

[benzimer]

1 hour ago, nasa1974 said:

I may have missed something. MOBC is automatically applied to your cruise once you have initially given Princess your military information. Your SOBC isn't automatic. You have to apply for it for every cruise booked.

That is true.   I have sent the 5 Princess shareholders forms along with my current investor statement 5 times.  I called Princess twice to ask what the problem is and was told it was in process.  This has been going on for 3 weeks.  I have never had this problem before.   The SOBC has always been applied within a day.   I am not new to the process or the data requirements.   This is a new Princess thing.

[benzimer]

On 6/26/2023 at 5:36 PM, ldtr said:

Have you checked each of your cruises?  I have found credit to be applied within a couple of days during this last 6 months, provided all of the correct  information is provided.  In most cases for US applications  you never get a response it just shows up in the booking information in the payments area. I think I got one confirmation out of 8 approvals, but they all have shown up.

 

The reason why it applies to cruises at least 3 months after the effective date is that it is before the final payment due date.  As such anyone really upset enough to cancel does have the opportunity to get refunded.

 

So far the indications are that it should be grandfathered, but no way to know for sure.

All I can say is our 10th Princess cruise starts on Sep 8th.  We have never had a problem before getting our sobc within a day of submitting the data..   We booked the upcoming 5 cruises in 2022.  We have sent in all the correct forms.  Customer service tells us they have received it and it is in process.  Yes I check it daily.   Which only makes me more angry every day.  I wrote the ceo  and pres today expressing my frustration in getting any answers about my sobc.  

[benzimer]

On 6/26/2023 at 7:25 PM, trbarton said:

So that I understand this correctly cruise’s booked btw June 30th & September 11 can’t get both credit & they are working on the credit issues before & after those dates. 
 

Thanks!

 

Tom😀

All I can say is we booked 5 cruises  in 2022.  The first departs Sep 8 and after 2 calls to customer service and 3 chats we still haven't seen any sobc with our mocb.

[nasa1974]

4 hours ago, benzimer said:

That is true.   I have sent the 5 Princess shareholders forms along with my current investor statement 5 times.  I called Princess twice to ask what the problem is and was told it was in process.  This has been going on for 3 weeks.  I have never had this problem before.   The SOBC has always been applied within a day.   I am not new to the process or the data requirements.   This is a new Princess thing.

Yeah, I just miss read the post. Very strange having such a problem with your SOBC.

[Astro Flyer]

It’s now just past the reported 6/29, 0800 implementation time for cruises sailing after 9/12 that SOBC & MOBC are no longer combinable.
 

Does anyone with inside sources know if existing SOBC & MOBC issued to the same person before today & sailing after 9/12 will be grandfathered? Or will we need to reapply for SOBC to meet the previously posted unofficial information provided by Princess sources that would allow one person in a cabin to get SOBC and the other person MOBC?

 

[whitecap]

1 minute ago, Astro Flyer said:

It’s now just past the reported 6/29, 0800 implementation time for cruises sailing after 9/12 that SOBC & MOBC are no longer combinable.
 

Does anyone with inside sources know if existing SOBC & MOBC issued to the same person before today & sailing after 9/12 will be grandfathered? Or will we need to reapply for SOBC to meet the previously posted unofficial information provided by Princess sources that would allow one person in a cabin to get SOBC and the other person MOBC?

 

Astro Flyer;  I don't want to speak to soon BUT, we have four cruises booked and all of the Shareholder and Military OBC remains as it was prior to today including one cruise where the Military and Shareholder are under my name.  I had anticipated that one would drop the Shareholder and I would have to reapply for the Shareholder under the DW's name.

[Astro Flyer]

30 minutes ago, whitecap said:

Astro Flyer;  I don't want to speak to soon BUT, we have four cruises booked and all of the Shareholder and Military OBC remains as it was prior to today including one cruise where the Military and Shareholder are under my name.  I had anticipated that one would drop the Shareholder and I would have to reapply for the Shareholder under the DW's name.

Like you I checked our previously issued SOBC & MOBC in my name for cruises after 9/12 and they are currently shown.
 

Based on past experiences some changes are slowly made by their IT to their system. My hope is to get a definitive answer from Princess about whether these changes will be grandfathered for SOBC issued before today & sailing after 9/12. I have time before our Spring 2024 & 2025 cruises that are impacted by this change. If our cruises after 9/12 are not grandfathered, like you will reapply for SOBC in my wife’s name for our jointly owned CCL shares.

 

It’s frustrating when changes are made & they don’t anticipate pertinent questions passengers need to have answered.

 

Edited June 29, 2023 by Astro Flyer

[whitecap]

12 minutes ago, Astro Flyer said:

Like you I checked our previously issued SOBC & MOBC in my name for cruises after 9/12 and they are currently shown.
 

Based on past experiences some changes are slowly made by their IT to their system. My hope is to get a definitive answer from Princess about whether these changes will be grandfathered for SOBC issued before today & sailing after 9/12. I have time before our Spring 2024 & 2025 cruises that are impacted by this change. If our cruises after 9/12 are not grandfathered, like you will reapply for SOBC in my wife’s name for our jointly owned CCL shares.

 

It’s frustrating when changes are made & they don’t anticipate pertinent questions passengers need to have answered.

 

It appears to me that someone had an idea and that the idea was approved however, the implementation of the idea lacked the proper communication/instructions to properly prepare those who are responsible to implement the change and to be prepared to answer all the questions that should have been anticipated.  Not being located at Princess corporate office, I can only believe that the most efficient way to implement this type of change would be to make the policy effective for "bookings made on or after June 29th for voyages departing on and after September 12th."  The key phase being "bookings made on Jun 29th and after".  That alone would mean that every booking made prior to June 29th would be grandfathered.  The other thing I believe should have happened was communication with all Princess passengers to inform them of the coming change.  I don't recall the actual saying but it has to do with, "pee poor communication brings pee poor performance."  

[bjkTX]

We just got the email from Princess about this change.  It specifically states that any cruises already booked are grandfathered and only those booked after today will be effected.  I really don't expect a major change - I'll apply for military in my name and shareholder under Sue's.

[Italy52]

I got the same email from Princess about the OBC changes. I didn't see where one passenger could use military and one could use shareholder for credit.  I took it to mean one or the other.  Anyone else have specific clarification they can add to my confused mind?

[Guest ldtr]

On 6/27/2023 at 6:39 PM, benzimer said:

All I can say is we booked 5 cruises  in 2022.  The first departs Sep 8 and after 2 calls to customer service and 3 chats we still haven't seen any sobc with our mocb.

Very strange.  During the past 6 months I have applied for Share holder benefit for 8 Princess cruises, all the way until next Feb.  They have all been credited within 48 hours.  In all of them it was a letter with a page from my most recent brokerage statement (account number and other investments blanked out, leaving only my name and the CCL investment information).  In the letter it was cruise date, ship, voyage name, voyage number, booking number, cruise name.  Sent in by e-mail without a problem.

 

You can ask customer service to be transferred to booking support because you have an issue with the share holder benefit.  I did that once when I booked a cruise 6 days from departure to make sure that they would process it in time.

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

We just got the email as well. For those that haven’t, here’s what it says.

Edited June 29, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[nasa1974]

I got the email from Princess, it posted at 3:30pm DST. 

This is the first paragraph from the email:

For guests eligible for both the Shareholder and Military OBCs, each guest must now choose which OBC they would like to book; these two OBC will not be combinable with each other. This will not affect your onboard credit on your current booking with us, only future bookings.   I lost my SOBC on my 3 day out of Vancouver this October. Everything else still shows SOBC for the other 4 cruises through October 2024. I do get MOBC.

Edited June 29, 2023 by nasa1974

[Ken the cruiser]

I have to say with this update, as we both get the MOBC, we will have to include losing our SOBC perk in our calculations when it comes to refaring a cruise with a sail date after Sep 12. 

[Bwana Tom]

I got my email notice from Princess today concerning the changes to the Military and Stock OBC. Does anyone know whether Holland America is following suit with similar changes? I suppose they probably will, but in the chance they do not I just might have to try cruising with them.

[rosevew]

Interestingly enough, Cunard Military OBC is not refundable.

[Guest ldtr]

12 minutes ago, Bwana Tom said:

I got my email notice from Princess today concerning the changes to the Military and Stock OBC. Does anyone know whether Holland America is following suit with similar changes? I suppose they probably will, but in the chance they do not I just might have to try cruising with them.

Probably not.  They just added a veterans benefit, that you must be registered for before you make your booking.  The benefit is a fixed amount, independent of cruise length If I recall correctly.

[Guest ldtr]

2 minutes ago, rosevew said:

Interestingly enough, Cunard Military OBC is not refundable.

Is Cunards military OBC available to US veterans?  P&O's is not.

[rosevew]

6 minutes ago, ldtr said:

Is Cunards military OBC available to US veterans?  P&O's is not.

Cunard is pleased to offer a special military personnel onboard credit programme. This programme is available to active military, retired military and disabled military veterans with proper identification in the following service divisions: United States Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, National Guard or Reserves, Canadian National Defence, United Kingdom Military Personnel, Royal Australian Navy, Army, Air Force, and Royal New Zealand Navy, Army or Air Force.

[Astro Flyer]

47 minutes ago, nasa1974 said:

I lost my SOBC on my 3 day out of Vancouver this October. Everything else still shows SOBC for the other 4 cruises through October 2024. I do get MOBC.

 

Checking the Payments section in my Cruise Personalizer for our 3 future cruises (2-SOBC in my name; 1-SOBC in my wife’s name) that are sailing after 9/12 (Spring 2024 & 2025) I get a Sorry for the inconvenience notification without seeing our OBCs. Apparently changes are being made that makes our OBCs currently unavailable which is an indication to me that I cannot receive both OBCs in my name.

 

Thus their emailed statement (Again, we will honor your combined onboard credit for your upcoming booked cruise. We look forward to welcoming you on board!) appears to not be grandfathered for my 2 SOBCs in my name in combination with my MOBC. It appears that I’ll need to have our TA make my wife’s name first on our reservations & to reapply for SOBC. We always apply for SOBC in her name which gets issued to me as the first reservation name. Previously it didn’t matter because our onboard account combines our various types of OBC…until apparently now.

 

 

[Guest ldtr]

9 minutes ago, Astro Flyer said:

 

Checking the Payments section in my Cruise Personalizer for our 3 future cruises (2-SOBC in my name; 1-SOBC in my wife’s name) that are sailing after 9/12 (Spring 2024 & 2025) I get a Sorry for the inconvenience notification without seeing our OBCs. Apparently changes are being made that makes our OBCs currently unavailable which is an indication to me that I cannot receive both OBCs in my name.

 

Thus their emailed statement (Again, we will honor your combined onboard credit for your upcoming booked cruise. We look forward to welcoming you on board!) appears to not be grandfathered for my 2 SOBCs in my name in combination with my MOBC. It appears that I’ll need to have our TA make my wife’s name first on our reservations & to reapply for SOBC. We always apply for SOBC in her name which gets issued to me as the first reservation name. Previously it didn’t matter because our onboard account combines our various types of OBC…until apparently now.

 

 

Mine are all still showing.

 

Just to be clear she applies in her name only.  She shows ownership of the stock in her name (only her name shows up on the proof of ownership any other names are blacked out).  You are saying that it still shows up under guest invoice level under your name?  If so that is not correct. 

 

Should not make any difference on which name is first on the reservation.  If the MOBC is in your name.  Then your wife submits the request for shareholder OBC in her name, and shows proof of the shares in a valid account of which she is an owner.  Does not matter who is primary or who is secondary.  What matters is she applies in her name.

 

 

Edited June 29, 2023 by ldtr

[Astro Flyer]

15 minutes ago, ldtr said:

Mine are all still showing.

 

Just to be clear she applies in her name only.  She shows ownership of the stock in her name (only her name shows up on the proof of ownership any other names are blacked out).  You are saying that it still shows up under guest invoice level under your name?  If so that is not correct. 

 

Should not make any difference on which name is first on the reservation.  If the MOBC is in your name.  Then your wife submits the request for shareholder OBC in her name, and shows proof of the shares in a valid account of which she is an owner.  Does not matter who is primary or who is secondary.  What matters is she applies in her name.

 

 

That’s encouraging that yours are still showing. 👍

Your experience has been different than our experiences throughout the decades we’ve owned CCL shares. We request the SOBC in my wife’s name but with my name first on the reservation it’s always issued to me which that section told me was SOP. Our shares are jointly owned & for a recently booked cruise (after we knew about the change) for 2025 had my TA list my wife first & to apply in her name…it was issued to her.

 

 

[Princessfan20]

This is so unfair to couples like us who are both veterans and have served our country.  It makes no sense that Princess is not allowing couples who are both veterans and own CCL the benefit of the SOBC.  Does anyone have a recommendation or email address of someone at corporate that I could write to let them know how disappointed we are in Princess's lack of support for allowing all veterans's the same opportunity to use their CCL shares.

 

I cannot believe how many little benefits we have lost from Princess in the last year.  What is their end game?

Edited June 29, 2023 by Princessfan20

[Solara]

1 hour ago, Astro Flyer said:

That’s encouraging that yours are still showing. 👍

Your experience has been different than our experiences throughout the decades we’ve owned CCL shares. We request the SOBC in my wife’s name but with my name first on the reservation it’s always issued to me which that section told me was SOP. Our shares are jointly owned & for a recently booked cruise (after we knew about the change) for 2025 had my TA list my wife first & to apply in her name…it was issued to her.

 

 

FYI.  I’ve always had my name 1st on booking. When I send in the requests  for shareholders asking for it to me under me 9 times out of 10 they put it under my husbands anyway & then I have to send a request back to them again & tell him to put it under me.   Husband gets military.  No need to change her name to be 1st on reservation.