Is there any benefit to book future cruises on aboard besides the $100 deposit OBC?

[ccheng6401]

I always saw people in line booking cruises on board in the future cruise office. Is there any additional perks to book with an onboard agent? I mean it is easy to purchase the $100 future cruise credit in the app and then book online. Why spend the time to wait in line to book with the agents? 

 

Btw, I am considering booking a cruise from LA to Vancouver and from Vancouver to Seattle next year. Two seperate bookings but same ship. WIll this violate the Jones Act? Is disembarkation/re-embarkation required at Vancouver ?  Thanks.  

[FancyPants21]

Sometimes they do an offer but not normally nowadays. 

 

We always book through a TA but you can book on board if they are doing an offer and then transfer the booking to your TA when you get home.

The $100 is a Future Cruise Deposit. It is different from a FCC as it is refundable if not used after 2 years IIRC. It is also a refundable deposit for most cruises even when the normal deposit is larger.

 

Personally, we prefer to take our time and pick the right cruise, cabin etc and do it at home 🙂 

[wallyj]

@ccheng6401, future cruises currently has a list of sailings that are 25-50% the listed fares on Princess.com, so if one of these sailings would work for your schedule, then the savings are worth booking on board, as they can not be booked once you leave the ship. Most of these sailings leave within the next 90-100 days, but there are a few with further out dates.

 

Future cruise deposits are now valid for only 1 year, meaning you have 1 year to book a cruise in the future and that cruise can be as far out as the schedule is released. You can request the FCD to be refunded early if you change your mind, or if not used within the year, it is automatically refunded to the original form of payment.

 

You would not be able to book a back 2 back sailing on the same ship that first does LA to YVR and then does YVR to SEA, this is a violation of the PSVA, not the Jones Act. The system might allow you to initially book these sailings, but eventually you will be contacted to cancel one of the sailings as you would not be able to sail both.

[dog]

No advantage for me. Told us to buy on app. No OBC from them. Many errors and misinformation given on Regal from FC staff.

[Cruisemeister2002]

Sometimes I believe there's a misconception that the prices offered onboard are better than you can get elsewhere. They rely on a feelgood factor. Hopefully you are having a wonderful experience, de-stressed and in holiday mood so you go and book a future cruise. The cruises on offer are tempting and I am not saying that the deals aren't good and the OBC helps. However our upcoming cruise I booked direct and now it's £1,600 more for the same grade cabin and plus package. Or around $1990.

[ccheng6401]

9 hours ago, FancyPants21 said:

Sometimes they do an offer but not normally nowadays. 

 

We always book through a TA but you can book on board if they are doing an offer and then transfer the booking to your TA when you get home.

The $100 is a Future Cruise Deposit. It is different from a FCC as it is refundable if not used after 2 years IIRC. It is also a refundable deposit for most cruises even when the normal deposit is larger.

 

Personally, we prefer to take our time and pick the right cruise, cabin etc and do it at home 🙂 

I heard that you can book on board and then transfer to your TA in a given amount of time like a week or so. What if the TA has a better price and I have to cancel and rebook? Will I just lose the perks I receive from booking on board if there is a promotion? 

 

I rarely book direct with cruiselines because I find TAs usually have better pricing. 

[doghog]

15 minutes ago, ccheng6401 said:

I heard that you can book on board and then transfer to your TA in a given amount of time like a week or so. What if the TA has a better price and I have to cancel and rebook? Will I just lose the perks I receive from booking on board if there is a promotion? 

 

I rarely book direct with cruiselines because I find TAs usually have better pricing. 

30 days from the booking date is the window to transfer to a TA. In my experiences no requirement to rebook if the booking is transferred to a TA and even if they are offering a better deal. No lose of any perks offered by Princess when transferring to a TA. I have always received the TA perks also. That's my incentive to transfer to a TA. I never let the booking(s) go automatically/directly go to the TA on record. 

Edited April 24 by doghog

[skynight]

10 hours ago, ccheng6401 said:

I always saw people in line booking cruises on board in the future cruise office. Is there any additional perks to book with an onboard agent? I mean it is easy to purchase the $100 future cruise credit in the app and then book online. Why spend the time to wait in line to book with the agents? 

 

Btw, I am considering booking a cruise from LA to Vancouver and from Vancouver to Seattle next year. Two seperate bookings but same ship. WIll this violate the Jones Act? Is disembarkation/re-embarkation required at Vancouver ?  Thanks.  

My feeling is that it is better to purchase future cruise deposits wait until you get home when you have time and are not excited about the cruise to search and book. I feel it is better to book through a T.A. then on line yourself. TAs usually have some extra benefits and if there is an issue they can contact their contacts at Princess rather then you trying to get through on the impossible customer service line.

You can not board in L.A. and then disembark in Seattle. It is a violation of the Passenger Vessel Service Act, PVSA. It does not matter if it is two separate bookings. What matters is that you are sailing between two different U.S. ports without stopping a distant foreign port. Princess will not allow the bookings you suggest.

 

[LACruiser88]

[ccheng6401]

9 hours ago, wallyj said:

@ccheng6401, future cruises currently has a list of sailings that are 25-50% the listed fares on Princess.com, so if one of these sailings would work for your schedule, then the savings are worth booking on board, as they can not be booked once you leave the ship. Most of these sailings leave within the next 90-100 days, but there are a few with further out dates.

 

Future cruise deposits are now valid for only 1 year, meaning you have 1 year to book a cruise in the future and that cruise can be as far out as the schedule is released. You can request the FCD to be refunded early if you change your mind, or if not used within the year, it is automatically refunded to the original form of payment.

 

You would not be able to book a back 2 back sailing on the same ship that first does LA to YVR and then does YVR to SEA, this is a violation of the PSVA, not the Jones Act. The system might allow you to initially book these sailings, but eventually you will be contacted to cancel one of the sailings as you would not be able to sail both.

FCD used to be 4 years. I didn't know it is 1 year now. Thanks for the info. 

 

I assume I won't violate PSVA if I switch to a diffrerent ship at Vancouver?  

[Steelers36]

11 hours ago, ccheng6401 said:

Will this violate the Jones Act?

Impossible on a cruise ship.  The PVS Act is what applies to cruise ships.

[Steelers36]

9 hours ago, wallyj said:

You would not be able to book a back 2 back sailing on the same ship that first does LA to YVR and then does YVR to SEA, this is a violation of the PSVA, not the Jones Act. The system might allow you to initially book these sailings, but eventually you will be contacted to cancel one of the sailings as you would not be able to sail both.

Correct - except it is the PVSA.

[DCThunder]

It was alluded to upthread, but the Future Cruse Consultants on the ships, no longer work for Princess Cruise Lines.  They are employees of a third-party company that has a contract with Princess to sell cruises on-board.  

 

I had an interesting discussion with the sales manager late last year and we were talking about the difference between "buying" a cruise and having it "sold" to you.  He didn't want his salespeople to simply be "order takers" for people who knew what cruise they wanted to take, but wanted them to "sell" cruises to people by stressing the various benefits of packages and itineraries and that whole advance payment for hotels with a cruise thrown in program they were/are pushing.

 

Also, in my limited experience, anything booked on the ship is automatically transferred wo whatever TA is linked to your account, be that a Princess PVP or a big-box TA.

[Steelers36]

9 hours ago, wallyj said:

, future cruises currently has a list of sailings that are 25-50% the listed fares on Princess.com, so if one of these sailings would work for your schedule, then the savings are worth booking on board, as they can not be booked once you leave the ship. Most of these sailings leave within the next 90-100 days, but there are a few with further out dates.

If voyages are listed for sale on Princess.com, there is no need to book them on board.

 

PCL was offering some deep discounts on near-term voyages after the re-start, but since ships are sailing full again, I have not seen any of these kind of deals mentioned.

[Steelers36]

50 minutes ago, ccheng6401 said:

I heard that you can book on board and then transfer to your TA in a given amount of time like a week or so. What if the TA has a better price and I have to cancel and rebook? Will I just lose the perks I receive from booking on board if there is a promotion? 

 

I rarely book direct with cruiselines because I find TAs usually have better pricing. 

Right.  Just buy the OBC and book with your usual TA.  No need to bother with on board booking.  You aren't getting anything special on board.  They try to fool you with marketing, but the extra is just the OBC from the FCD you purchase.

[Steelers36]

9 minutes ago, ccheng6401 said:

FCD used to be 4 years. I didn't know it is 1 year now. Thanks for the info. 

 

I assume I won't violate PSVA if I switch to a different ship at Vancouver?  

Technically, you are violating it I suppose, but no one knows since you are on two different cruise lines.  (PVSA).  Been a long time since FCD expiry was 4 years - it had been 2 years for a long time before the change to 1 year last year.  We have FCD's purchased in Nov 2022 that will expire this coming Nov because they were purchased prior to the change to 1 year.  

 

[doghog]

5 minutes ago, DCThunder said:

hey are employees of a third-party company that has a contract with Princess to sell cruises on-board.  

I believe the company is called "One". 

[doghog]

7 minutes ago, DCThunder said:

Also, in my limited experience, anything booked on the ship is automatically transferred wo whatever TA is linked to your account, be that a Princess PVP or a big-box TA.

Unless you tell them not to transfer the booking(s). 

[wallyj]

9 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

If voyages are listed for sale on Princess.com, there is no need to book them on board.

 

PCL was offering some deep discounts on near-term voyages after the re-start, but since ships are sailing full again, I have not seen any of these kind of deals mentioned.

At the end of the 50% off promos last October 2023, there was a few months of very few on board promos. Just off Sapphire in April 2024 and Ruby earlier this month and future cruise has a list again with extra discount from Princess.com fare of 25-50% off. Most are sailings 90-100 days out, a few were further out.

[ccheng6401]

43 minutes ago, skynight said:

My feeling is that it is better to purchase future cruise deposits wait until you get home when you have time and are not excited about the cruise to search and book. I feel it is better to book through a T.A. then on line yourself. TAs usually have some extra benefits and if there is an issue they can contact their contacts at Princess rather then you trying to get through on the impossible customer service line.

You can not board in L.A. and then disembark in Seattle. It is a violation of the Passenger Vessel Service Act, PVSA. It does not matter if it is two separate bookings. What matters is that you are sailing between two different U.S. ports without stopping a distant foreign port. Princess will not allow the bookings you suggest.

 

Very good suggections!  I already did my search and there are 2-3 cruises I am eager to book but I ran out of FDC. I will be on board this Sat so I am going to buy some FDCs and book either in their office (if any promotions) or on my laptop. 

 

It seems many people have designated TAs. I keep using the same TA site and book online. My trips are all on the cheaper side so I never really established a relaitonship with a TA person.     

[ccheng6401]

35 minutes ago, DCThunder said:

It was alluded to upthread, but the Future Cruse Consultants on the ships, no longer work for Princess Cruise Lines.  They are employees of a third-party company that has a contract with Princess to sell cruises on-board.  

 

I had an interesting discussion with the sales manager late last year and we were talking about the difference between "buying" a cruise and having it "sold" to you.  He didn't want his salespeople to simply be "order takers" for people who knew what cruise they wanted to take, but wanted them to "sell" cruises to people by stressing the various benefits of packages and itineraries and that whole advance payment for hotels with a cruise thrown in program they were/are pushing.

 

Also, in my limited experience, anything booked on the ship is automatically transferred wo whatever TA is linked to your account, be that a Princess PVP or a big-box TA.

I didn't know TA can be linked to our account profiles. I just looked and can't find that info.

 

Does Princess transfer the booking automatically to the TA you used on that cruise you are on when you book the future cruises? How do they know which TA you usually work with?  What if people use multiple TAs on different itineraries?  This is quite interesting.   

 

 

[dog]

9 minutes ago, ccheng6401 said:

I didn't know TA can be linked to our account profiles. I just looked and can't find that info.

 

Does Princess transfer the booking automatically to the TA you used on that cruise you are on when you book the future cruises? How do they know which TA you usually work with?  What if people use multiple TAs on different itineraries?  This is quite interesting.   

 

 

It was not always automatic for me.  Tell them.

[FancyPants21]

52 minutes ago, ccheng6401 said:

Very good suggections!  I already did my search and there are 2-3 cruises I am eager to book but I ran out of FDC. I will be on board this Sat so I am going to buy some FDCs and book either in their office (if any promotions) or on my laptop. 

 

It seems many people have designated TAs. I keep using the same TA site and book online. My trips are all on the cheaper side so I never really established a relaitonship with a TA person.     

Clearly you are having a bit of a typing nightmare so this is not a criticism of that but I did want to clarify for others... you mean FCD, Future Cruise Deposit... not FDC.

[DCThunder]

46 minutes ago, ccheng6401 said:

I didn't know TA can be linked to our account profiles. I just looked and can't find that info.

I didn't know it was automatic either as a booking I made on board went to a TA I'm not really using anymore but was when the cruise I was on was booked in early 2023.

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, wallyj said:

At the end of the 50% off promos last October 2023, there was a few months of very few on board promos. Just off Sapphire in April 2024 and Ruby earlier this month and future cruise has a list again with extra discount from Princess.com fare of 25-50% off. Most are sailings 90-100 days out, a few were further out.

Sure, but aren't those the same ones on Princess.com under Last Minute Cruise Deals?