seattlecruiser

4 hours ago, richwmn said:

I finished four cruises b2b the beginning of this month. All credits were rolled forward cruise to cruise. Possibly the difference was that all cruises were linked, 3 of them prior to starting the cruise and the last one on board when I realized that it wasn't already linked. This has been my experience with several b2b cruises, but all were linked.

 

Our cruises were linked as confirmed by the Neptune Concierge so it wasn’t that.   It totally baffles me why they would tick off a 4* Mariner in a Neptune Suite for $80 of non-refundable OBC. If I never spent it they would get it back anyway just a week later.  And then to tell us that it is HAL policy and that they never do that, when based on your experience that is a flat out lie, is just unbelievable to me.   I guess they are in the driver’s seat now with full ships and prices, but when the lean days come again and they are relying on their valuable past customers, they may not be there.  

To add another data point on rolling over refundable or non refundable OBC…yesterday was turnaround day on the Nieuw Amsterdam in Whittier, Alaska.   We are booked on the back to back cruise with two separate bookings and had both refundable and non refundable OBC at the end of segment one. We tried for a full day to get the OCB rolled to the next cruise working with the Neptune Concierge, and the finance department on board. The answer we got was ‘no, we never do that…it is HAL policy…no one on the ship has authority to make an exception…it would have to be approved by head office in Seattle and that can’t happen until Monday and if they don’t approve the OBC will be gone….’.  
 

We did the exact same cruise on the Nieuw Amsterdam two years ago and OBC was rolled automatically to the second segment.  We showed them our statement from that cruise….they said that must have been an exception since we never do that….it wasn’t an exception, we never asked for it to be rolled it just happened.   

It is stunning to me that, if true, no one on board has the authority to roll $80 of non refundable OBC from one cruise to the next.  

You will likely find availability if you book it as two seven day back to back cruises.  

We were on the June 23rd Crown Princess sailing and also were very disappointed that we sailed west of Vancouver Island on the return to Vancouver.  Northbound out of Vancouver we did go inland but the problem is that since you depart Vancouver in the afternoon is almost dark by the time you get to Seymour Narrows and by morning most of the inland passage is done.  Southbound on the last day it is daylight for most of the passage...at least up until Seymour.   I agree it is one on the best days of the trip and a beautiful way to end the cruise. I have been to Alaska on 5 or 6 cruises and this is the first time we have gone west of Vancouver Island.  I'm sure it is an easier day for the Bridge to be out in the open ocean and probably cheaper for princess,  but I feel that the advertising maps are bait and switch.  From here on out I will be sticking with Holland America since I think they are more reliably sailing the inside route from Vancouver.  

Hi Coral, I see from a ship tracker that you sailed on the west side of Vancouver Island from Ketchikan to Victoria.  Was that a surprise since the Princess booking maps show a route between Vancouver Island and the mainland in both directions?  

Thanks Coquitlam Cruiser that looks like a great option and considerably less expensive than Canada Place parking!

Does anyone have suggestions for parking in Vancouver for the duration of an 11 day cruise.   I have always parked at Canada Place in the past but unfortunately they are full and not taking reservations.   Thanks.

Pricing now up for me too.  You have to be signed in.

On 5/26/2022 at 8:48 PM, Expo67 said:

We are in VB4154 next month on the Koningsdam. The check in is still showing us in that cabin. Just wondering if that cabin will be a quarantine cabin and we should start searching for a alternative cabin. 🤔 We we’re on the Nieuw Statendam in Feb. and had that same cabin and were relocated. 

Hi Expo67,   I was wondering if you were able to stay in VB4154 for your June cruise?

Here is an update to our situation:  We sailed in December 2021 on the Ruby and had about $800 in refundable OBC.  We have not yet received the refund but believe it has been resolved.  

We had contacted Customer Support thru the Princess website numerous times with no response other than they received our request and would respond when they could.  We also called once (in March) and were told that the refund would be on our Credit card within the week (that never happened).

Someone suggested doing a "Live Chat" from the website which I tried last week. (took less than 5 minutes to get connected to a live person).  The rep looked up our booking number and told me a credit to a credit card ending in **** had been processed in January. The problem was I do not have a credit card ending in those digits.  He was kind of vague when I asked him the name on the credit card but kept suggesting I contact our travel agent.  

i contacted the TA (which I should've done first) and sent them a copy of the Chat.  They responded that yes, the card ending in **** was their card that they used to purchase OBC for clients and that the refund had been posted to their account in January.  They are sending me a check.

I don't know what happened at the travel agency but the agent we were using left the company about that time. I don't believe that anything nefarious was going on at the TA but somehow it fell through the cracks (granted it should not have if they had been reconciling that account).

Anyway, the purpose of this post is to give others a possible avenue of action if you received OBC from a TA and have not received your refund.  I guess it makes sense that Princess would make the refund to the card that was originally used to purchase the OBC.

1 hour ago, 13cheermom said:

Just called today and finally got through to the correct department that could actually access our booking.  He confirmed the amount, over $500, and said it would arrive by check.  Our cruise ended 3/23/22, so it's been a month, he said to expect another month.  So looks like time frame is like 2 months or 8 weeks right now.  I remember when you used to receive the check within a week or so. 🤣  I just wanted confirmation that he saw the same amount I had and that it was still listed as refundable credit to be returned, only took 1 hour and 16 minutes on hold, 😱

Hi 13cheermom,  could you let me know how you got through to the correct department?  And what the name of that department is.   We have been waiting for over 4  months (our Ruby cruise ended December 17th) for a refund of our over $800 refundable OBC!  Thanks>

2 hours ago, Mary229 said:

That’s nice.  A much needed improvement 

I agree it looks nice, but it doesn’t provide the ability to search for a specific cabin that may be available but not shown.  My experience has been that HAL shows about 10 cabins to pick from even though a few or many more are actually available.  The old format gave me the ability to search and see if my favorite cabin was available.  The work around is to go to big TA site that typically shows all available cabins.

On 4/1/2022 at 10:05 AM, ColonyGirl2 said:

I am using Safari and I have the new format also.  No way to choose a cabin other than the ones they want to show you.

Also more clicks to get where you want to go.  

 

Are you using Safari on an iPad?   from what i can tell as of now the "new format" is unique to safari on an iPad.  I am still able to access the ability to search for a specific cabin not shown as available if I use Chrome on my iPad or Safari or Chrome on my MacBook.

So if I have unused non-refundable OBC remaining from the first leg, can i use that for purchases on the second leg?

We are still waiting for a OBC refund for a cruise that ended December 17th.

Just for another data point:   I did an online chat with HAL and asked what the cancellation fees would be for a May 8th Alaska cruise.   She responded with this:

If you book a refundable fare, the cancel structure:

09MAR22 50%,  27MAR22 75% 17Apr22  100%

One thing to keep in mind is that the 60 day final payment structure is only for cruises sailing by May 31st.

This is the only thing I could find on HALs website.    But I have no idea what "outside of payment 1" means.

Assuming current cancellation penalties are the deposit between days 76-90 and 50% between days 61-75 and final payment is at day 60, what would happen if I canceled the cruise before final payment but after day 75 (i.e. between days 61 and 75)?   HAL has my deposit and would not refund that, but how would they get the rest of the 50% penalty?  Charge my card?  Bill me?

On 12/11/2021 at 6:34 AM, flying boat said:

Can you tell me if the sauna/steam rooms in the sap are open?  The free ones, that I believe are located in the men and women’s changing/ locker rooms, not the Thermal Suite.

 

Thanks

Not sure about the Emerald but they are open on the Ruby

Has anyone been able to buy a Future Cruise Deposit and apply it to a future cruise that has already been booked?

Does anyone know if I buy a Future Cruise Credit on a cruise we are taking next month can I apply it to a May cruise that has already been booked?

31 minutes ago, PACD_JG said:

Oh hell no.

 

I just logged in and they replaced Glacier Bay with Hubbard Glacier.  This is on a northbound Vancouver-Whittier cruise.

PACD-JD,   if you are referencing the original 5/14 northbound sailing of the Sapphire, that was never scheduled to go to Glacier Bay for some reason and substituted Hubbard.  We noticed that when we booked but since we were doing the back to back roundtrip with the 5/21 southbound sailing visiting Glacier Bay that was not a deal killer for us. 

On 9/8/2021 at 4:08 PM, beavismom said:

Just to update, got a follow up call from Princess due to the cancellation.  They are going to see if they can get Princess to honor the price/promotion we had for a cruise on the Grand.  No guarantees, but they are at least doing more follow up.  I will let you know what I hear.

Hi Beavismom,   I am wondering whether or not you received any news from Princess on switching to the Grand with price protection.  We are in exactly the same situation and are getting close to cancelling if Princess is unwilling to work with us.   Thanks.

We are new to Oceania and getting ready to book for April 2022.  In reading the T&C I note an administrative fee of $250 if cancellation is between 91-120 days.  I am still searching for an Oceania Preferred TA so am doing my research with various online TAs.  None seem to mention the Administrative Fee.  Is this fee typically collected by Preferred TAs or can it be waived?  Thanks.

I am traveling as a single on a back to back under two different booking numbers.  How many bottles of wine will I be allowed to take on board without paying a  corkage fee?   One..and I would have to buy the other one on turnaround day?  Two...since I am traveling as a single and paid two fares?   Four...since I am traveling as a single and doing two cruises?