Future Cruise Credit-Ask a friend!

[septrack]

I was under the impression that if you asked a friend to join you on a future cruise, and you are elgible for the FCC onboard credit, your friends get the same onboard credits. I was filling out the postcard they give you to send to your friend, which states such. I noticed in the small print it states that the offer is only valid for onboard bookings. (we booked through our TA once we returned.)

 

Does anyone know if they are firm on this. It puts me in a bad position since I have already told my friends they would get the onboard credit.

 

If it is true, why even give the postcard since they already knew I was not specifying the cruise onboard!

 

TIA for your comments.

 

 

Also I noticed that this time the capt circle rep did not fill out the voyage number (of the cruise we purchased the FCC) blank, which has always been filled out in the past. Will this create any problems!

[Beryl]

If you booked a future cruise onboard and received a Share the Wealth coupon your friend will also receive the credits if they book the same cruise as you do when they send in the coupon. You did not need to specify a particular cruise while onboard....you just needed to have made the deposit onboard. You would have received a booking number at the time you made the deposit.

[pamwinn]

Does the friend have to be a first time princess cruiser? It does not specify this on the card.

[septrack]

If you consider the time of deposit, the time of booking, that does make sense. However, I did not receive a booking number until I applied the Future cruise credit. I did receive a FCC ID number when I put down the deposit onboard.

 

Did you ever have this situation happen to you?

 

Thanks again!

 

Mark

[WCAB]

If using a share the wealth card be sure to give to your TA to submit at time booking is done. We almost lost our booking because my sister mailed in her own coupon and if they cannot match to the actual booking they throw the coupon away and then the party that thought they had a $100.00 deposit, looses their cabin because Princess records will show the deposit is short. Timing is everything here so best to have your TA submit it all at the same time.

Carol

[Lynda90]

STW coupons no longer are associated with the $100 deposit. The person using the coupon will still get the FCC, but not the lower deposit. This changed about 6 months ago.

[spongerob]

Lynda is correct, you cannot get the reduced discount rates when using the coupons. Some of the Future Cruise salespeople on board were using older cards and just blacked out that part of the information on the card. The new cards don't make any mention of reduced deposits.

 

I think this policy changed about a year ago.

[GottoCruise]

Does the friend have to be a first time princess cruiser? It does not specify this on the card.

 

If this is a first time cruiser - REFER them before you book them and you will both get $25 off your booking as REFERRAL CREDIT.............:D

[pamwinn]

But do they have to be a first time cruiser? That is the part I can['t figure out from the card.

[Lynda90]

But do they have to be a first time cruiser? That is the part I can['t figure out from the card.

Pam, absolutely not. I only had one open booking remaining when I booked my upcoming b2b Alaska cruises. I had enough for first leg, but used a stw coupon from someone else traveling in our group, for the second leg. They were still allowing the reduced deposit when I booked this, so I got that, plus the obc.

[septrack]

that by putting a future cruise deposit onboard, and booking later, that it satisfys the "only good for onboard bookings" clause in fine print.

 

Thanks

[Lynda90]

that by putting a future cruise deposit onboard, and booking later, that it satisfys the "only good for onboard bookings" clause in fine print.

 

Thanks

Yes, it satisfys the clause. I never book a specific cruise while onboard. I purchase "open bookings" and use them as I need them. What the clause means is that you have to put your $100 deposit down while onboard. This constitues an "open booking" that can be used anytime up to four years after making the deposit. You certainly can book a specific booking, but not necessary to comply. I usually purchase from 2-4 open bookings at a time and use as needed. On board bookings can be specific or for some time in the future. Hope this helps.

[septrack]

Thanks Lynda, I too have booked onboard open bookings without any problem for us. My question was specific to the ask a friend postcard which had the "clause." Have you ever had a friend use the postcard to match your onboard credit offer, after doing an open booking onboard.

 

Thanks

[Alaska05]

I don't want to beat this subject into the ground, but I want to be clear on the process BEFORE I invite our friends to join us.

 

I just booked an Alaskan cruise for July '07 using our FCCs.

 

I've filled out the bottom portion of the "Join us for our next cruise escape" that we received when we booked the FCC with the information on our upcoming cruise.

 

Now do our friends book FIRST, then complete the remainder of the card and then send to Princess to get their OBC? I'm assuming it has to be done this way since their booking number has to be filled in. They are already a Captain's Circle member so I can't use the referral program.

 

Does Princess need to have anything on "record" about me "inviting" them prior to receiving the card after they've booked?

 

TIA

 

Kathy

[Lynda90]

Thanks Lynda, I too have booked onboard open bookings without any problem for us. My question was specific to the ask a friend postcard which had the "clause." Have you ever had a friend use the postcard to match your onboard credit offer, after doing an open booking onboard.

 

Thanks

Yes, I have done this several times as both the giver and receiver. The only thing the "onboard booking clause" means is that you put down a deposit on a future (open booking) cruise. That future cruise can be booked anytime within 4 years. When you decide which cruise you want to take, book it and then give the "stw" coupon to friend you wish to invite. The only stipulation is that the friends book the same cruise you are on. Hope this helps.

[Lynda90]

I don't want to beat this subject into the ground, but I want to be clear on the process BEFORE I invite our friends to join us.

 

I just booked an Alaskan cruise for July '07 using our FCCs.

 

I've filled out the bottom portion of the "Join us for our next cruise escape" that we received when we booked the FCC with the information on our upcoming cruise.

 

Now do our friends book FIRST, then complete the remainder of the card and then send to Princess to get their OBC? I'm assuming it has to be done this way since their booking number has to be filled in. They are already a Captain's Circle member so I can't use the referral program.

 

Does Princess need to have anything on "record" about me "inviting" them prior to receiving the card after they've booked?

 

TIA

 

Kathy

You are absolutely correct! You don't have to do anything other than provide them with the card with your information on it. They should book the cruise and if using a TA, let him/her know they are sending in a stw coupon. After they mail the card to Princess, they should wait 2-3 weeks and call Princess to find out if the card has been processed. Or, they can ask TA to verify. When I used a friends coupon, my TA did the verification and included the onboard credit when she sent me my booking information. Tell friend to make copy of card in case it gets lost in the mail. My onboard credit did not show up in my cruise personalizer account, but was listed when I received my final docs.

[tennisobo]

I can't stress enough that you have the TA help you with this. I followed all the rules as stated on the Share the Wealth card and called Princess to see if I was doing it correctly. They said I did it right and our friends would get the credit. Months pass..... The week before the cruise I decided to check with Princess again to make sure they got the completed card. No record of receiving the card!!! They assured me that all would be well. I checked again the day before we left and Princess said the credit wasn't showing up yet, but it would be fine. I checked at the pursers desk when we were onboard. No credit for our friends. I talked with the future cruise desk twice and the pursers desk again. I must have spent two hours of standing in line, etc. to try and get this straightened out. Bottome line....NO CREDIT. I was extremely frustated with the entire process.

[pamwinn]

My booking is currently directly through Princess. I helped some friends book the same cruise also through Princess. The rep I talked to told me the Share the Wealth card was only good for reviewing first timers. That didn't make since to me since you do the referral credit thing (which also doesn't work well) for first timers. So I filled out the card and sent it in anyway. The OBC showed up in my friends account in 3 or so weeks...go figure.:)

[rwilk1129]

I had a problem getting the extra obc for our daughter and her family of 7 (2cabins) with a share the wealth card. Princess returned it saying current promotion passenger has gives higher obc than share the wealth promotion. (They also were getting $75ea obc through booking) Kim tried talking to several people at Princess but they wouldn't budge. We will enjoy our 10/21 cruise on CB anyway