P&O cruise credits will no longer count towards Princess Captain’s Circle status (for

P&O cruisers will not go over to Princess for the itineraries from Southampton as they are the same every year and generally go to ports P&O use all the time. If you want Princess for itineraries then you have to fly.

 

I enjoyed our Princess cruise and as I have said before, it was 90% the same experience as P&O. We will go again but not for a couple of years as our cruising is a bit full.

 

 

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The main attraction to families with children is that Princess and P&O run the children's club rules very differently. P&O require parents etc. to sign all children in/out of the club on every occasion and parents are not all allowed to go ashore leaving children on board.

Princess allow children of a certain age to self sign in/out of the club, subject to parents agreement to this for each child. Parents sign other children in/out as the want, however on port days all children are "locked in" to the club, fed and looked after while parents can all go ashore.

This is not well known to potential passengers but I prefer the Princess system and so does my daughter. If it becomes more well known I foresee families moving across particularly as Princess prices drop a lot on some school holiday short cruises.

Regards John

Princess to my knowledge have never reimbursed any refundable OBC not used on the ship on the last morning of the cruise. We had some left on a cruise we did on Caribbean Princess but we didnt have to apply for it it was automatically sent to us by cheque about 6-8 weeks after the cruise.

I have never heard of this happening. Do P&O refund unused OBC? I have always presumed that it would be lost if not used, though I think it can count against tip contributions so it would likely be used anyway. Can anyone confirm that for me?

I had bought the OBC before the Princess cruise.

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I have never heard of this happening. Do P&O refund unused OBC? I have always presumed that it would be lost if not used, though I think it can count against tip contributions so it would likely be used anyway. Can anyone confirm that for me?

No it's use it or loose it

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I have never heard of this happening. Do P&O refund unused OBC? I have always presumed that it would be lost if not used, though I think it can count against tip contributions so it would likely be used anyway. Can anyone confirm that for me?

Opening a slight can of worms here but the refundable OBC if not use onboard and sent to your home address by cheque 6-8 weeks after the cruise was OBC compensation for the ship breaking down and missing a port of call(Dublin) but also because we missed Kirkwall due to weather conditions Princess reimbursed everybody port fees and taxes for both of these ports. The port fees/taxes and compensation was a considerable amount so we did not spend it all onboard. This is the can of worms becuase I have cruised nearly 30 times with P&O and missed ports for varying reasons and have never had port fees/taxes reimbursed even though everybody pays them in your cruise fare. Never known P&O refund any OBC if not used onboard.

Thanks for the replies, it is as I thought then. I knew port fees are returned by American lines as well as the fact the US passengers can cancel a cruise and get the deposit back within a certain time scale. Just a fact of life as far as I am concerned - after all we pay less for the tips and drinks on board the British based cruise lines as well as cheaper cruise prices in many cases.

As long as we book with the knowledge of what we will get (or not get) then everyone can make their own decisions what to book IMO and have no reason to complain.

We did have a particular problem on one P&O ship and were given a fair sum as compensation to use on another cruise we had already booked. With share benefit and OBC, which had come with the purchase deal of that cruise, we did have a lot of OBC, so I hit the jewelers and came back with a Tissot watch. Nice to have an excuse to treat yourself from time to time and it is the only 'good' watch I have ever owned. Much better than splashing the OBC on things like spa services and a lot of specialty meals etc. which are soon forgotten.

I have in the past queried P&O about why they keep port fees/taxes that passengers have paid when the port of call is cancelled and therefore they have not had to pay the fees/taxes. Initially they waffled a lot and said UK customers didnt pay port fees/taxes and then eventually admitted that they are included in the cruise fare where in US they advertise lower cruise fare + port fees/taxes. They gave no definitive answer why they keep these costs and not return them to the passengers which I think is grossly unfair as it is then clearly used as profit.

We got our Princess Cruise in just in time.

 

Happy cruising.

 

 

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Yes you did get in just in time :cool: apparently, regardless of how many points you have with P&O, they will not count towards Princess if you have never sailed with them, unless of course, like yourself you have booked with them before 12 December :cool:

Yes you did get in just in time :cool: apparently, regardless of how many points you have with P&O, they will not count towards Princess if you have never sailed with them, unless of course, like yourself you have booked with them before 12 December :cool:

No not booked, taken, Crown Princess in May this year. We enjoyed the cruise very much. Interestingly we found the experience very much like P&O. We felt that it was around 90% the same.

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I am thinking about booking a Princess cruise next year - wish I'd done it this year now! If I book one now for next year do my P&O points still count - I'm a bit confused! I haven't yet sailed with Princess but I have registered on their site and can see my P&O history on there.

I am thinking about booking a Princess cruise next year - wish I'd done it this year now! If I book one now for next year do my P&O points still count - I'm a bit confused! I haven't yet sailed with Princess but I have registered on their site and can see my P&O history on there.

I think you are OK if you book a cruise before Dec 12th, that's how I interpreted it. Perhaos someone else will confirm that

I think you are OK if you book a cruise before Dec 12th, that's how I interpreted it. Perhaos someone else will confirm that

Oops, Sorry I think I have that wrong. See post 30, it seems you have to complete a cruise by Dec 12th to keep your P&O points with Princess

Oops, Sorry I think I have that wrong. See post 30, it seems you have to complete a cruise by Dec 12th to keep your P&O points with Princess

Aah thanks for finding that for me, I was getting confused if you had to travel by then or not. What a shame, I've missed the boat so it seems!

No not booked, taken, Crown Princess in May this year. We enjoyed the cruise very much. Interestingly we found the experience very much like P&O. We felt that it was around 90% the same.

 

 

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Sorry misread your previous post - glad you enjoyed Princess - we have cruised with Princess & P&O for 25 years now and although we love P&O we really do think that Princess have the edge, still love them both though :cool: some things we like better on Princess and the same with P&O. Definitely the way to holiday, in my view

Sorry misread your previous post - glad you enjoyed Princess - we have cruised with Princess & P&O for 25 years now and although we love P&O we really do think that Princess have the edge, still love them both though :cool: some things we like better on Princess and the same with P&O. Definitely the way to holiday, in my view

As I don’t fly, P&O have the edge as they cruise out of Southampton 12 months of the year. Also as I have looked at Princess more they do tend to repeat Cruises over and over in the same year.

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wondering where I stand with our points.

We are platinum with Princess and are sailing tomorrow on Ventura.

I can't complete all the days by the 12th as it's a 12 nighter.

So i'm wondering if the will not count any of the days.

or all of them as we get on before the 12th.

Or let me have 3 days of them;p

I have written to Princess and will wait to see what their reply is on my return to Blighty.

I don't check my emails while away so won't know till then what they say.

I'm hoping for option 2 all of them as we start it before the deadline.

Jules

wondering where I stand with our points.

We are platinum with Princess and are sailing tomorrow on Ventura.

I can't complete all the days by the 12th as it's a 12 nighter.

So i'm wondering if the will not count any of the days.

or all of them as we get on before the 12th.

Or let me have 3 days of them;p

I have written to Princess and will wait to see what their reply is on my return to Blighty.

I don't check my emails while away so won't know till then what they say.

I'm hoping for option 2 all of them as we start it before the deadline.

 

Jules

The way I read it is: under clause 1 P&O Cruises bookings that are booked by 12/12/2017 (inclusive) will still count towards Princess Cruises Captain's Circle Membership.

Therefore the cruise you have booked will count as 1 cruise and 12 days cruising as per the standard calculation basis. It should be noted that if you book further P&O cruises before the 12th these will also count in the same way, 1 cruise credit per cruise and number of nights as relevant to each cruise. This may start a P&O 2 nighter frenzy.

However not everyone can necessarily do this as it's not too clear regarding a few other issues. You say you are Platinum and other cruisers may be Platinum as they have sailed many P&O cruises and have a Princess Cruise booked. These people may fall foul of the last clause which excludes people who have not actually sailed on a Princess Cruise. I notice you have and therefore are in a good situation. Clause 4 talks about P&O and Princess "History" and it is not clear if booking a Princess Cruise before 12/12/2017 might save the day for long term P&O cruisers who have not actually sailed Princess. The Sapphire Princess three nighter might get booked up as it's price has dropped a lot. This is where it looks totally unclear but a three nighter against a huge number of P&O cruises completed is a reasonable gamble in my opinion.

I think your case is solid as your signature discloses that some Princess Cruises have been completed and a good outcome will follow.

P.S. You can phone Carnival House and talk to Captains Circle personnel.

Regards John

I am thinking about booking a Princess cruise next year - wish I'd done it this year now! If I book one now for next year do my P&O points still count - I'm a bit confused! I haven't yet sailed with Princess but I have registered on their site and can see my P&O history on there.

I think you are OK if you book a cruise before Dec 12th, that's how I interpreted it. Perhaos someone else will confirm that

I too think you will be okay as long as you book by the date given by beeves.

I booked my first Princess cruise some months ago for early next year (2018) and gave my P&O Peninsular loyalty ( Caribbean) number.

Now on my PRINCESS cruise personaliser I am clearly recorded as being 'ELITE' for my first Princess cruise.

At the end of the day I would still have booked the cruise but am of course grateful for the extras: who wouldn't be?

Opening a slight can of worms here but the refundable OBC if not use onboard and sent to your home address by cheque 6-8 weeks after the cruise was OBC compensation for the ship breaking down and missing a port of call(Dublin) but also because we missed Kirkwall due to weather conditions Princess reimbursed everybody port fees and taxes for both of these ports. The port fees/taxes and compensation was a considerable amount so we did not spend it all onboard. This is the can of worms becuase I have cruised nearly 30 times with P&O and missed ports for varying reasons and have never had port fees/taxes reimbursed even though everybody pays them in your cruise fare. Never known P&O refund any OBC if not used onboard.

Wo9w, I was on that cruise too. Driting across the Irish Sea and almost reaching Anglesey before the engines sprang back into life again. We did that around Britain cruise every year for 5 years in a row so were not too disappointed at having to miss Dublin.;) We had about $500 between us for missing Dublin and extra for missing Kirkwall - on top of the OBC I had for future cruise credit and shareholder credit. I waited ages too for my refund (it was only a small amount) and ended up ringing Southampton.

On a recent transatlantic cruise, I pre-purchased a lot of OBC due to the good exchange rate they offered (locked in at time of booking) and we ended up not spending it all. This time, I withdrew most of it via the casino cos I knew of the hassle trying to get it back.

I get very little OBC on P&O compared to Princess. I like both lines - for different reasons. I am elite on Pricess and love their perks (especially free laundry) and a lot of cruises in my loyalty status have been taken with Princess. I often meet people on their first Princess cruise who are already elite.

Tracey

I too think you will be okay as long as you book by the date given by beeves.

 

 

 

I booked my first Princess cruise some months ago for early next year (2018) and gave my P&O Peninsular loyalty ( Caribbean) number.

 

 

 

Now on my PRINCESS cruise personaliser I am clearly recorded as being 'ELITE' for my first Princess cruise.

 

 

 

At the end of the day I would still have booked the cruise but am of course grateful for the extras: who wouldn't be?

Richard you may want to check post 30 on this thread which contradicts your view. I have to say I thought it meant what you think but now I am confused.

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Richard you may want to check post 30 on this thread which contradicts your view. I have to say I thought it meant what you think but now I am confused.

 

 

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I agree.

If you look at the wording given in post one it says if you have previously sailed with Princess, you will not drop in loyalty level. I suspect that may mean that cruises booked, but not taken by 12th Dec, may still have the loyalty level for that cruise, but will drop after that cruise to what it should be without the P&O points.

Just how I read it given the info earlier on this thread. A call to Princess may solve that confusion and a report back will clarify it for others reading this thread. That is if the member of staff spoken to knows the full details of course :) So perhaps better to ring (or better still email) Captains Circle rather than the sales staff.

Aah thanks all, I can't persuade my husband to book the September Scandinavian cruise as, unusally we have already booked 2 for next year. I did consider booking the 3 nighter in October but at the end of the day I'd rather save that money towards somewhere I really want to go!

Shame, glad I'm not the only one confused. I'm not elite with Princess but was a high enough "level" to get priority boarding - mad really!

Platinum Level is the minimum level required for priority boarding. That is for the 6th to the 15th cruise or 51 to 150 sailing days. The initial Levels are close together then getting beyond Platinum takes a lot longer. I think this is to encourage newbies to stay with the same cruise line.

Regards John

Platinum Level is the minimum level required for priority boarding. That is for the 6th to the 15th cruise or 51 to 150 sailing days. The initial Levels are close together then getting beyond Platinum takes a lot longer. I think this is to encourage newbies to stay with the same cruise line.

 

 

 

Regards John

Yes John, I believe it is Platinum level I have ‘reached ‘ not for much longer though!

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As I don’t fly, P&O have the edge as they cruise out of Southampton 12 months of the year. Also as I have looked at Princess more they do tend to repeat Cruises over and over in the same year.

 

 

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I think a lot of non-flyers look at doing a double transatlantic on QM2 with Cunard but this only gives you a part day in New York. Princess do a world cruise each year and run it well late in comparison to most other lines. In 2019 Sea Princess is doing Dover to New York 9 July to 21 July calling at Portland (UK), Cobh (Cork), Reyjavik, St. Johns and New York. This cruise sector is not popular with Americans and is always comparitively inexpensive per night.

This lines up with returning on Queen Elizabeth or QM2. Queen Elizabeth is doing 24 July 2019 New York calling at Halifax NS,St.Johns, Isatjader, Reyjavik, Glasgow (Greenock), Dublin and Southampton 8 August 2019. A quicker return is QM2 New York 28 July 2019 (giving a longer US stay) and direct to Southampton 4 August 2019.

Regards John