Future Cruise : Booking On-Board vs TA vs On-Line Direct

[sunviking90]

36 minutes ago, wallyj said:

Future cruise agents on the Discovery in January, Crown in May and the ones on the Sapphire this month were adamant, the 50% off promo is not combinable with using a FCD. I am fortunate to have been able to sail those months and see the promo evolve.

 

Also, in January and May, 50% off also applied to plus or premier add on, but when the agents tried to add Premier on my solo sailings this month on board, plus would price at $30/day, Premier priced at a discount but higher than $40/day, closer to $50/day.
 

What ship were you on? So as you have stated, consistently inconsistent.

I was on the Crown end of June/beginning of July. I was also told the plus and premier were at 50% off. We don’t do the packages, so I don’t know if that would have worked out to be true.

[SCX22]

56 minutes ago, wallyj said:

Future cruise agents on the Discovery in January, Crown in May and the ones on the Sapphire this month were adamant, the 50% off promo is not combinable with using a FCD. I am fortunate to have been able to sail those months and see the promo evolve.

 

Also, in January and May, 50% off also applied to plus or premier add on, but when the agents tried to add Premier on my solo sailings this month on board, plus would price at $30/day, Premier priced at a discount but higher than $40/day, closer to $50/day.
 

What ship were you on? So as you have stated, consistently inconsistent.

The Future Cruise rep in June on the Majestic, who was old stock (not part of ONE yet), said that Premier was pricing $47.20 per day under the 50% off offer.  She explained that there was a glitch in the way Princess programmed this promotion.  For Premier,  it was including the 18% gratuity ($80 + 18% = $94.40) and then taking the 50% off.  For Plus, it was programmed to not include the 18% gratuity, making it $30 per day with the 50% discount.

[wallyj]

28 minutes ago, SCX22 said:

The Future Cruise rep in June on the Majestic, who was old stock (not part of ONE yet), said that Premier was pricing $47.20 per day under the 50% off offer.  She explained that there was a glitch in the way Princess programmed this promotion.  For Premier,  it was including the 18% gratuity ($80 + 18% = $94.40) and then taking the 50% off.  For Plus, it was programmed to not include the 18% gratuity, making it $30 per day with the 50% discount.

Princess IT did make some sort of change as both Plus and Premier priced at 50% off for the previous promos. For me, $47.20/day for Premier was not the number coming up so the ‘glitch’ in my case is not so easily explained p, maybe because solo? and then with Future cruise calling shore side and them telling her ‘plus’ and ‘premier’ are not supposed to be discounted.

 

I was then told if I wanted to upgrade to premier I would be charged the computer fare shown. I declined and have plus, but if I decide I want premier, will call and see if they will honor 50% off .

 

Did Future cruise say Princess now knows about the ‘glitch’ and is going to correct?

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, sunviking90 said:

I was on the Crown end of June/beginning of July. I was also told the plus and premier were at 50% off. We don’t do the packages, so I don’t know if that would have worked out to be true.

I'd do Plus at $30/day.  $23.50 gone for me to CA and Internet, so seems a no-brainer.  The Premier at $40 might be worthwhile too even though I never went for Plus when it used to cost $40/day.  But Premier has some extra goodies.  I don't see how PCL makes money selling these packages at 50% off.

[wallyj]

5 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

I'd do Plus at $30/day.  $23.50 gone for me to CA and Internet, so seems a no-brainer.  The Premier at $40 might be worthwhile too even though I never went for Plus when it used to cost $40/day.  But Premier has some extra goodies.  I don't see how PCL makes money selling these packages at 50% off.

I agree, which is why even though I am a light drinker, plus at $30/day is a no brainer for me. I upgraded to premier for $40/day for my last 2 seven day promo cruises, tried one yoga class and was done. I posted in another thread, many of the fitness classes were scheduled ‘early’ in the morning and that did not work for me. I guess some passengers would not mind 8am and 9am classes. Saw very few ordering the sundaes. Will be interesting if the ‘benefits’ evolve or remain the same since fitness classes and extra desserts do not seem like they are getting heavy use.

 

The lead Future cruise consultant on Sapphire did tell me shoreside said plus and premier are not supposed to be discounted, when we saw premier was not showing 50% off rate, so will it be corrected?

 

I board the Emerald this Saturday and will check if plus and premier are still being discounted with the 50% fares. 
 

 

[sultan_sfo]

27 minutes ago, wallyj said:

I agree, which is why even though I am a light drinker, plus at $30/day is a no brainer for me. I upgraded to premier for $40/day for my last 2 seven day promo cruises, tried one yoga class and was done.

....

The lead Future cruise consultant on Sapphire did tell me shoreside said plus and premier are not supposed to be discounted, when we saw premier was not showing 50% off rate, so will it be corrected?

 

Thanks to all who added a lot more info.

 

We booked a 28-day Transatlantic with PLUS at half-price initially. Then I realized that for the two of us every night on all of our cruises the up-charge for wine was around $20 total (not pp) each day because we always ordered the higher end wines. So I asked the Lead Sales Officer whether the extra cost to change from PLUS to PREMIER per person per day would be $10 instead of $20. He said "yes" -- $10 if we had booked the Transatlantic cruise on our then current cruise. So we switched and paid the Xtra!

[SCX22]

1 hour ago, wallyj said:

Princess IT did make some sort of change as both Plus and Premier priced at 50% off for the previous promos. For me, $47.20/day for Premier was not the number coming up so the ‘glitch’ in my case is not so easily explained p, maybe because solo? and then with Future cruise calling shore side and them telling her ‘plus’ and ‘premier’ are not supposed to be discounted.

 

I was then told if I wanted to upgrade to premier I would be charged the computer fare shown. I declined and have plus, but if I decide I want premier, will call and see if they will honor 50% off .

 

Did Future cruise say Princess now knows about the ‘glitch’ and is going to correct?

 

Nope.  The Future Cruise Rep just said take advantage of it while it lasts.  Been paying $30 for Plus since they started this offer in January. 🤔  I'm pretty sure we're supposed to be paying gratuity on the Princess pacakages.

 

It's a no brainer...$16 for CA + $7.50 for Internet (P/E rate), meaning I'm only paying $6.50 for my beverages.

 

I'm glad my cruise buddies and I aren't the only ones taking advantage of this offer.  Like you one of our cruising buddies cruises solo, and this 50% offer has allowed him to go on all of our planned cruises because it has wiped out the single supplement.  Happy cruising!

 

 

[sunviking90]

14 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

I'd do Plus at $30/day.  $23.50 gone for me to CA and Internet, so seems a no-brainer.  The Premier at $40 might be worthwhile too even though I never went for Plus when it used to cost $40/day.  But Premier has some extra goodies.  I don't see how PCL makes money selling these packages at 50% off.

Yes, I see your point and I considered it for a brief moment but we’re non drinkers and generally have enough OBC from various sources to cover CA. I have also found cruise ship wifi too frustratingly slow to get anymore. We usually get Esims for in port use and take a tech break on the sea days. 

[wallyj]

@startedwithamouse and @atlast95, @Cruise Raiderposted a link to the 50% off cruises list on another thread ‘Onboard Booking Question’ started by @CruiserMickey.

Edited July 20, 2023 by wallyj

[Cruise Raider]

23 hours ago, sunviking90 said:

Yes, I see your point and I considered it for a brief moment but we’re non drinkers and generally have enough OBC from various sources to cover CA. I have also found cruise ship wifi too frustratingly slow to get anymore. We usually get Esims for in port use and take a tech break on the sea days. 

Just of note, and you may still want to take a break from being online, but the Starlink (I think that’s what it’s called) is so much faster now.  

[quadsplus1]

On 7/19/2023 at 2:41 PM, wallyj said:

When I was on the Crown in May, yes, the 50% applied to both ‘plus’ and ‘premier’, meaning if you wanted to upgrade your booking , plus would price at only $30/day and premier would price at only $40/day.

 

Just off the Sapphire last week and when the consultant priced the 50% sailings I was interested in with ‘premier’ it was not pricing at only $40/day although plus would price at only $30/day. As I posted, the consultant called shoreside and was told ‘plus’ and ‘premier’ are NOT supposed to be discounted. Just passing in my experience.

Do you happen to know the name of the Sapphire onboard agent?  I think it was Monica but don’t have her last name.

[quadsplus1]

On 7/19/2023 at 11:03 PM, wallyj said:

Princess IT did make some sort of change as both Plus and Premier priced at 50% off for the previous promos. For me, $47.20/day for Premier was not the number coming up so the ‘glitch’ in my case is not so easily explained p, maybe because solo? and then with Future cruise calling shore side and them telling her ‘plus’ and ‘premier’ are not supposed to be discounted.

 

I was then told if I wanted to upgrade to premier I would be charged the computer fare shown. I declined and have plus, but if I decide I want premier, will call and see if they will honor 50% off .

 

Did Future cruise say Princess now knows about the ‘glitch’ and is going to correct?

Who would you call?  That’s what I would like to do.

[quadsplus1]

Who would you call?  That’s what I would like to do.

[wallyj]

19 minutes ago, quadsplus1 said:

Who would you call?  That’s what I would like to do.

Hi @quadsplus1, Yes the lead Future cruise consultant was Monica, she has 2 new associates names Angie and Ree. They are now even busier as they have inherited Loyalty duties, checking Captain circle status and correction, invites to the CCP and most traveled events and organizing, besides the letters to each passenger letting them know what benefits they are entitled and the dates of specific events such as the free wine tasting for Elites and the hours and location of the PES lounge and the date of the Captain Circle Party.

 

Future cruise on board called shoreside support and was told the Plus and premier are not supposed to be discounted. The computer program as when I left on July 12 was still discounting plus by 50% so that is what they will book. 
 

I board the Emerald tomorrow and will find out if the glitch is fixed or if anything is going to done about this so called glitch.

 

As a side note, one of my 50% off sailing has gone down in price. I called my TA as I am still before final payment. They called Princess and I told them to check the fare code as I am on a 50% off special, and they said they could not apply any discount code, so do not know if the 50% off code only work for the on board agents?

[Steelers36]

43 minutes ago, wallyj said:

Future cruise on board called shoreside support and was told the Plus and premier are not supposed to be discounted. The computer program as when I left on July 12 was still discounting plus by 50% so that is what they will book. 
 

I board the Emerald tomorrow and will find out if the glitch is fixed or if anything is going to done about this so called glitch.

Now there goes IT again, costing PCL real money.  Can they not fire the dummies and get a good CIO executive to clean house?

[quadsplus1]

23 hours ago, wallyj said:

Hi @quadsplus1, Yes the lead Future cruise consultant was Monica, she has 2 new associates names Angie and Ree. They are now even busier as they have inherited Loyalty duties, checking Captain circle status and correction, invites to the CCP and most traveled events and organizing, besides the letters to each passenger letting them know what benefits they are entitled and the dates of specific events such as the free wine tasting for Elites and the hours and location of the PES lounge and the date of the Captain Circle Party.

 

Future cruise on board called shoreside support and was told the Plus and premier are not supposed to be discounted. The computer program as when I left on July 12 was still discounting plus by 50% so that is what they will book. 
 

I board the Emerald tomorrow and will find out if the glitch is fixed or if anything is going to done about this so called glitch.

 

As a side note, one of my 50% off sailing has gone down in price. I called my TA as I am still before final payment. They called Princess and I told them to check the fare code as I am on a 50% off special, and they said they could not apply any discount code, so do not know if the 50% off code only work for the on board agents?

Thanks Wallyj.  If you can please find out Monica’s last name and/or contact info, I would like to reach her.  

[wallyj]

1 hour ago, quadsplus1 said:

Thanks Wallyj.  If you can please find out Monica’s last name and/or contact info, I would like to reach her.  

@quadsplus1, I just boarded the Emerald today for a 7 day Coastal. I have Monica’s card at home, I will ask on board if they have her contact info. Is there anything I can try to relay to her from the Emerald as I believe they have a way to contact crew on other ships. I believe Monica is still on the Sapphire.

[quadsplus1]

23 hours ago, wallyj said:

@quadsplus1, I just boarded the Emerald today for a 7 day Coastal. I have Monica’s card at home, I will ask on board if they have her contact info. Is there anything I can try to relay to her from the Emerald as I believe they have a way to contact crew on other ships. I believe Monica is still on the Sapphire.

I want to see if they will still honor  the onboard price for August Canada/New England sailing.  I didn’t realize that the plus package was also discounted.

[wallyj]

1 minute ago, quadsplus1 said:

I want to see if they will still honor  the onboard price for August Canada/New England sailing.  I didn’t realize that the plus package was also discounted.

@quadsplus1, go into your cruise Personalizer and check. In May, while on Crown, I booked 2, 50% off sailings. I normally do not get the packages, but happen to check after I booked. I went into my cruise Personalizer and both ‘plus’ and ‘premier’ were showing my upgrade fare was only 50%.
 

When I initially tried to upgrade to plus, it would not let me enter my credit card info, but showed a total that came out to be $30/day. I was still on board and the future cruise person called shoreside and they said , no it is not supposed to be discounted. The future cruise person did a mock booking with plus and it verified ‘plus’ pkg was also being discounted. She sent a screenshot to prove and they , shoreside, added the plus pkg @ $30/day. 
 

When I got home, for the other 50% off cruise, I booked, I decided I wanted premier pkg. went into my cruise Personalizer and the text before clicking said $80/day, but when I clicked to get the upgrade total for a 7 day sailing, it said $280 so $40/day. I clicked to purchase and it let me enter my credit card info and my travel summary was updated to show I now had the premier amenities on my booking. 
 

So, you may be able to add ‘plus’ or ‘premier’ even after you have gotten off the ship and even if after final payment, as both my sailings I had to pay in full on the ship as they were already less than 90 days from sail date.

 

For a new 50% off booking I made 2 weeks ago on the Sapphire, I was able to add ‘plus’ on board for $30/day. It will not give me a price/total to upgrade to premier. My friend booked the 34 day sailing on the same ship with plus. His cruise Personalizer gives him a price of $10.80/day to upgrade to premier from plus. It does not make any sense! My March 2024 sailing gives me a price of $14.80/day to upgrade to premier from plus. 
 

Lead future cruise person is supposed to research for me while I am on board.

[wallyj]

7 hours ago, quadsplus1 said:

I want to see if they will still honor  the onboard price for August Canada/New England sailing.  I didn’t realize that the plus package was also discounted.

@quadsplus1, would like to confirm, did you book onboard but did not add plus? Or are you trying to book now realizing ‘plus’ is also being discounted? If you did book, but did not add plus, you should still be able to add it at the 50% off, see my reply in the previous post.

 

If you did not book, but regret it now, I would not think you could book the 50% off now off ship, since the 50% off promo was for an on board booking only.

[Steelers36]

13 hours ago, wallyj said:

@quadsplus1, go into your cruise Personalizer and check. In May, while on Crown, I booked 2, 50% off sailings. I normally do not get the packages, but happen to check after I booked. I went into my cruise Personalizer and both ‘plus’ and ‘premier’ were showing my upgrade fare was only 50%.
 

When I initially tried to upgrade to plus, it would not let me enter my credit card info, but showed a total that came out to be $30/day. I was still on board and the future cruise person called shoreside and they said , no it is not supposed to be discounted. The future cruise person did a mock booking with plus and it verified ‘plus’ pkg was also being discounted. She sent a screenshot to prove and they , shoreside, added the plus pkg @ $30/day. 
 

When I got home, for the other 50% off cruise, I booked, I decided I wanted premier pkg. went into my cruise Personalizer and the text before clicking said $80/day, but when I clicked to get the upgrade total for a 7 day sailing, it said $280 so $40/day. I clicked to purchase and it let me enter my credit card info and my travel summary was updated to show I now had the premier amenities on my booking. 
 

So, you may be able to add ‘plus’ or ‘premier’ even after you have gotten off the ship and even if after final payment, as both my sailings I had to pay in full on the ship as they were already less than 90 days from sail date.

 

For a new 50% off booking I made 2 weeks ago on the Sapphire, I was able to add ‘plus’ on board for $30/day. It will not give me a price/total to upgrade to premier. My friend booked the 34 day sailing on the same ship with plus. His cruise Personalizer gives him a price of $10.80/day to upgrade to premier from plus. It does not make any sense! My March 2024 sailing gives me a price of $14.80/day to upgrade to premier from plus. 
 

Lead future cruise person is supposed to research for me while I am on board.

PCL IT Team strikes again!!!   What a mess.

[Cruise Raider]

On 7/24/2023 at 5:47 AM, Steelers36 said:

PCL IT Team strikes again!!!   What a mess.

 Sounds like a great deal for the passengers if you ask me!  

[cr8tiv1]

I didn’t read all of the posts.  Current up to yesterday afternoon, 7/25/23. Promotion was suppose to end in March.

 

Book on board for 2023…select cruises…..50% off.  Full payment due at reservation.

Book for 2024….select cruises…$200 non-refundable credit toward fare (no obc/no FCD)

Must be booked for person/s onboard only.
Not applicable to suites.  

OBC for shareholder or military can be applied. 

 

Sample:  Grand Princess repo Vancouver to SFO 2024, 3 days. Mini-suite reserve collection.  $1122 base, plus PVP and fees and taxes.

 

Sure did not seem like a bargain to me.

Can be turned over to a TA.

 

2 pages of cruises.  Maybe 100 to select from. 

[wallyj]

@cr8tiv1, I believe the current 50% off on board promo is not available for Reserve mini and above categories , which is why that reserve class quote is not a bargain.

[Ombud]

On 7/19/2023 at 6:21 PM, wallyj said:

Future cruise agents on the Discovery in January, Crown in May and the ones on the Sapphire this month were adamant, the 50% off promo is not combinable with using a FCD. I am fortunate to have been able to sail those months and see the promo evolve.

 

Also, in January and May, 50% off also applied to plus or premier add on, but when the agents tried to add Premier on my solo sailings this month on board, plus would price at $30/day, Premier priced at a discount but higher than $40/day, closer to $50/day.
 

What ship were you on? So as you have stated, consistently inconsistent.

Please understand their position. They are not part of Carnival Corporation so many things that I personally can do with a CVP or TA (book solo, use 1 FCD to secure any cruise, refare or rebook to capture a price drop) I cannot do onboard as their commission is diminished and that's not in their best business interests. So I select it onboard either by placing it on hold or sending a screenshot to my CVP in port. Then she gets it for me before I get back from wandering.  When I have wifi I just send her an email immediately. I can have it and secure it with 1 FCD I just can't utilize the ONE (Future Cruise Consultants) onboard

 

Its just like:

Some TAs give cash discounts or OBC, but not all

Some CVPs answer promptly & find hidden discounts, some are no better than the general 1800Princess or www.princess.com 

 

 

 

Edited August 7, 2023 by Ombud