Princess offering Free cruises? Am I reading it wrong?

[faiz23]

I guess that means we will be doing 2 balcony cruises for free versus 1 mini suite for free. I plan to book my cruises in a couple months after more members have attempted to apply the FCC to multiple bookings.

[faiz23]

I got off Nov 1st from Golden Princess and received my Future Cruise Deposit Letter that I filled out on board and turned in on the 2nd day of the cruise. I am sure they were bogged down with everyone take advantage of the 100% FCC promo and most of those put a deposit since that was a no brainer. We are planning on doing 2 of the 7 day cruises and will be visiting Carribean and Alaska for our 2 trips. On our Alaska trip we will be inviting my wife's mother to spend time with us since she always wanted to check out Alaska and she will get to spend time with her grand son.

 

This will be beneficial for princess allowing FCC to be applied to multiple 7 day bookings since this will generate more revenue. In this scenario my MIL will have to buy a ticket for herself as a 4th passenger since she has no FCC. We will be doing crown grill on both cruises along with I will be buying Alcoholic drinks on board and MIL will be purchasing pictures on board / duty free cosmetics.

Edited November 9, 2013 by faiz23

[caribill]

An FCC can only be applied to a single booking number.

 

This is incorrect. Read my post above, #241.

 

I was referring to the traditional Future Cruise Deposit (pay $100, apply it to a future cruise), not the credit from the get-100%-back promotion.

[JF - retired RRT]

I was referring to the traditional Future Cruise Deposit (pay $100, apply it to a future cruise), not the credit from the get-100%-back promotion.

 

The difference is: Princess calls the 100% credit a "Goodwill" credit, not a FCC.

[Mare10]

If I read it right they're doing this sale again but with 50% of the total cruise amount given back as FCC.

 

Anyone else seeing that?

[san diego sue]

I was on line and was doing a mock booking (just to see final costs) and

my credit FCC from the Golden cruise was immediately subtracted from the cost. I thought that Princess had somehow misspriced the cruise,

so I booked it. Well, it was because of the huge credit I had. I decided to keep the booking as it was a really well priced cruise anyways.Had I not done that, I think the credit would have come off the next cruise we are taking in Feb when we would go to pay for it.

Loved our 4 day "free cruise" and would do it again in a heartbeat. Wish they offer it on another ship next time. The Golden is getting a bit tired and we have sailed her numerous times.Still a lovely ship. Next year we get the Crown Princess, one of my favorites. Hope they do this again on that ship.

[bigenna]

That has never happened to me while doing a mock booking. Maybe I didn't follow it all the way to the end?

But I have now got a very nice credit applied to my upcoming Mediterranean cruise next year, after calling princess to book. What a great deal.

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Forums mobile app

[chamima]

I was on line and was doing a mock booking (just to see final costs) and

my credit FCC from the Golden cruise was immediately subtracted from the cost. I thought that Princess had somehow misspriced the cruise,

so I booked it. Well, it was because of the huge credit I had. I decided to keep the booking as it was a really well priced cruise anyways.Had I not done that, I think the credit would have come off the next cruise we are taking in Feb when we would go to pay for it.

Loved our 4 day "free cruise" and would do it again in a heartbeat. Wish they offer it on another ship next time. The Golden is getting a bit tired and we have sailed her numerous times.Still a lovely ship. Next year we get the Crown Princess, one of my favorites. Hope they do this again on that ship.

 

 

Sue

The same thing happened to me except all I was doing was checking out the cruise we already had booked for a price drop. When it showed that all i owed was $68 I quickly booked it and printed out a copy.

THEN I realized it had not only applied my "Goodwill FCC" from the Golden cruise but also used one of my Future Credits from my account to pay the taxes.

Ended up having to call and cancel and then just asking my TA to apply the money from the Goodwill FCC to the cruise we were booked on.

We actually loved the Golden and found the service to be superb.

My only wish is that we lived closer to a cruise port and didn't always have to figure airfare into the budget.

My husband has a LOT of eating restrictions and I was concerned that on a short cruise no one would care about getting his meals straight but they were certainly as attentive as on any longer cruise we've been on. I'm hoping it'll be ok on the Royal next year - with 3600 passengers I hope the attention to detail we've gotten spoiled by in the past will still be there.

[cruzsnooze]

it was seamless applying my "goodwill" credit to my Spring cruise. I also hope Princess runs more these fabulous speicals.

o

[cvpends]

it was seamless applying my "goodwill" credit to my Spring cruise. I also hope Princess runs more these fabulous speicals.

o

Me too!:D

[RetiredNTraveling]

We sailed on the Golden Oct. 28 to Nov 1 in a Penthouse Suite. We also received a complimentary specialty restaurant dinner on the first night. We chose the Crown Grill... it's our favorite. We also received $1299 each toward another cruise 2013/2014. P.S... breakfast at Sabatini's was wonderful.

 

Sandy, we sailed on the Golden Mar 27, for a 14 day Hawaiian and Caribbean Oct 12, for a 7 day N E & Can.. Both were booked in Penthouse Suites. How did you receive the $1299 towards another cruise?? I must be doing something wrong?????

 

We are:

[san diego sue]

Your cruise wasn't eligible for this. There was a special (to fill up the ship) that whatever you booked on certain date 3 or 4 day cruises, the price you paid would be credited towards a future cruise .

This was for a couple in Oct and Nov. For Dec. they have it for 50% refunded on these same cruises on Golden.Only offered on the Golden.

[Baatman]

We also cannot take advantage of it, but I hope they run this deal again!

[caribill]

Your cruise wasn't eligible for this. There was a special (to fill up the ship) that whatever you booked on certain date 3 or 4 day cruises, the price you paid would be credited towards a future cruise .

This was for a couple in Oct and Nov. For Dec. they have it for 50% refunded on these same cruises on Golden.Only offered on the Golden.

 

I get the impression Princess is having a problem filling up the ships for these shorter cruises.

 

Witness the latest promotion when you refer a new Princess customer who takes a 3,4 or 5 day Caribbean cruise:

 

"Both you and the referred person, will receive a total of $50 each ($25 referral reward, plus $25 bonus reward) referral cruise credit only when referred person sails on a 3-, 4- or 5- day Princess® Short Cruise Getaway in a Balcony or above by May 31, 2014."

[RDC1]

I get the impression Princess is having a problem filling up the ships for these shorter cruises.

 

Witness the latest promotion when you refer a new Princess customer who takes a 3,4 or 5 day Caribbean cruise:

 

"Both you and the referred person, will receive a total of $50 each ($25 referral reward, plus $25 bonus reward) referral cruise credit only when referred person sails on a 3-, 4- or 5- day Princess® Short Cruise Getaway in a Balcony or above by May 31, 2014."

 

I suspect that it also includes a longer term strategy of attracting new people to the line. I did one of the 3 day cruises out of LA. I ran into large number of people that had never sailed Princess before. For some it was there first cruise, for others they had primarily sailed other lines. Quite a few were used to taking the low cost Carnival cruises out of LA. Most of the ones I talked with in those groups were impressed by Princess and were planning to do more Princess cruises in the future.

 

So the FCC offerings seem to be a good marketing program.

[jarand]

A few questions:

 

Are these FCCs per person on the future cruise, or per cabin? In other words, if both of us get the FCC, can we both use it on a future 7 day cruise? Or can only one of our FCCs be applied to the cabin on the future cruise?

 

Are the FCCs usable on any fare for the Future 7 day cruise, or only the published launch rate? Are they combinable with sales, discounts, etc...?

 

If we did two of these short cruises, can we combine both FCCs on a single future 7+ day cruise?

 

Are these FCCs combinable with the $100 FCC's purchased onboard from a previous cruise?

 

Thanks!

Edited November 29, 2013 by jarand

[chamima]

A few questions:

 

Are these FCCs per person on the future cruise, or per cabin? In other words, if both of us get the FCC, can we both use it on a future 7 day cruise? Or can only one of our FCCs be applied to the cabin on the future cruise? Its all per person.

 

Are the FCCs usable on any fare for the Future 7 day cruise, or only the published launch rate? Are they combinable with sales, discounts, etc...? YES, combinable with everything. (Princess is really good about this)

 

If we did two of these short cruises, can we combine both FCCs on a single future 7+ day cruise? Yes

 

Are these FCCs combinable with the $100 FCC's purchased onboard from a previous cruise? Yes, that will not only be your deposit but you can combine the OBC you get from that with this offer.

 

Thanks!

 

Answers in body in red.

[jarand]

Thank you! One more:

 

If the resulting FCC exceeds the fare of my 7+day cruise, I understand I can't roll the extra over to another sailing. But will I be able to use it for on board spending?

[boca7]

NOW I SEE IT OFFERED FROM FLL ON THE SHORT CRUISES, BUT NOT THE SAME AS PREVIOUS OFFERS UNLESS I`M NOT UNDERSTANDING IT. speaking TO PRINCESS THEY TELL ME I CAN`T GET THE LOWEST PRICE OFFERED, PAY HIGHER, RECEIVER HALF CREDIT & MUST REBOOK BY END OF YR. HELP ME HERE, WHAT KIND OF A DEAL IS THIS?

[Frugalist]

NOW I SEE IT OFFERED FROM FLL ON THE SHORT CRUISES, BUT NOT THE SAME AS PREVIOUS OFFERS UNLESS I`M NOT UNDERSTANDING IT. speaking TO PRINCESS THEY TELL ME I CAN`T GET THE LOWEST PRICE OFFERED, PAY HIGHER, RECEIVER HALF CREDIT & MUST REBOOK BY END OF YR. HELP ME HERE, WHAT KIND OF A DEAL IS THIS?

HUCA - Hang Up & Call Again. That rep was flat out wrong.

 

And please turn off your CAPS LOCK. ;)

[Frugalist]

My ordeal with this promotion just doesn't want to end.

 

After taking a month to finally get part of the FCC my wife and I earned on our Nov. 1 cruise applied to our Dec. 7 cruise and refunded to our credit cards, we are now running into a stone wall trying to book another cruise and applying our remaining FCC to it.

 

For the Nov. 1 cruise on the Golden, we booked a Suite and received a $1249 FCC.

At the time we had a Dec. 7 cruise on the Crown already fully paid for at $499 each.

After about a month of runarounds, we finally got the refund we were promised, leaving a remaining FCC of $750 each showing in our Captains Savings accounts.

 

[rant]

 

Tonight, I called to book a 7-night cruise for this Spring at $819 per person. When the Princess rep. went into our accounts, she said she saw the $750 balances but they were marked "used." She couldn't apply the balance to the new booking. She put me on hold while she called up the chain and came back and told me she was told that the FCC I earned had been used up on our Dec. 7 cruise. She was told that the FCC had to be used in a single cruise. I told her that was incorrect. That the promotion did not have the restriction that the current promotion has. She tried to contact a supervisor in Customer Relations, but they had all gone home. I have no choice but to wait until tomorrow morning and call back and go over the story all over again. Right now I'm livid, and trying to calm down. I was told repeatedly that the FCC earned on the Nov. 1 cruise could be applied to multiple qualifying future cruises. We would never have taken the Golden cruise if we had even the slightest chance of not being able to use the FCC on multiple cruises. Right now, our $1500 has disappeared from our Captains Savings accounts.

 

[/rant]

[likeadisguise]

Tonight, I called to book a 7-night cruise for this Spring at $819 per person. When the Princess rep. went into our accounts, she said she saw the $750 balances but they were marked "used." She couldn't apply the balance to the new booking. She put me on hold while she called up the chain and came back and told me she was told that the FCC I earned had been used up on our Dec. 7 cruise. She was told that the FCC had to be used in a single cruise. I told her that was incorrect. That the promotion did not have the restriction that the current promotion has. She tried to contact a supervisor in Customer Relations, but they had all gone home. I have no choice but to wait until tomorrow morning and call back and go over the story all over again. Right now I'm livid, and trying to calm down. I was told repeatedly that the FCC earned on the Nov. 1 cruise could be applied to multiple qualifying future cruises. We would never have taken the Golden cruise if we had even the slightest chance of not being able to use the FCC on multiple cruises. Right now, our $1500 has disappeared from our Captains Savings accounts.

 

The change from the previous 100% FCC sale seems to be that this time they're specifying the credit has to be used on a cruise that hasn't yet been paid in full, not that the last sale let people split the credit between multiple cruises.

 

In fact, someone on the board quoted the promotion's terms back in October in this post, and "The FCC must be applied to a single future sailing departing before December 31, 2014" is clearly in there.

[Frugalist]

The change from the previous 100% FCC sale seems to be that this time they're specifying the credit has to be used on a cruise that hasn't yet been paid in full, not that the last sale let people split the credit between multiple cruises.

 

In fact, someone on the board quoted the promotion's terms back in October in this post, and "The FCC must be applied to a single future sailing departing before December 31, 2014" is clearly in there.

Yes, the disagreement centers around the addition of the word, "single."

 

I looked at the post you linked to, and I don't know where the word, "single" came from, but it is not in the Terms and Conditions for this promotion that I printed out and have in front of me. Also, if you look at posts #46 and 84, also by the same poster, they quote the Terms and Conditions in full and they do NOT contain the word, "single." Also, look at post #16, which quotes the Terms and Conditions without the word, "single."

 

The 100% FCC refund promotion has been offered in 3 versions in the past couple of months. The first version, the one this thread is about, did not restrict the application of the FCC to a single future cruise and did not restrict the application of the FCC to a cruise that is not already paid in full. The second version, which was offered in November, added the single future cruise restriction. The third version, which is running now until the end of December, added the restriction to future cruises that are not already paid in full.

Edited December 17, 2013 by Frugalist

[chamima]

My ordeal with this promotion just doesn't want to end.

 

After taking a month to finally get part of the FCC my wife and I earned on our Nov. 1 cruise applied to our Dec. 7 cruise and refunded to our credit cards, we are now running into a stone wall trying to book another cruise and applying our remaining FCC to it.

 

For the Nov. 1 cruise on the Golden, we booked a Suite and received a $1249 FCC.

At the time we had a Dec. 7 cruise on the Crown already fully paid for at $499 each.

After about a month of runarounds, we finally got the refund we were promised, leaving a remaining FCC of $750 each showing in our Captains Savings accounts.

 

[rant]

 

Tonight, I called to book a 7-night cruise for this Spring at $819 per person. When the Princess rep. went into our accounts, she said she saw the $750 balances but they were marked "used." She couldn't apply the balance to the new booking. She put me on hold while she called up the chain and came back and told me she was told that the FCC I earned had been used up on our Dec. 7 cruise. She was told that the FCC had to be used in a single cruise. I told her that was incorrect. That the promotion did not have the restriction that the current promotion has. She tried to contact a supervisor in Customer Relations, but they had all gone home. I have no choice but to wait until tomorrow morning and call back and go over the story all over again. Right now I'm livid, and trying to calm down. I was told repeatedly that the FCC earned on the Nov. 1 cruise could be applied to multiple qualifying future cruises. We would never have taken the Golden cruise if we had even the slightest chance of not being able to use the FCC on multiple cruises. Right now, our $1500 has disappeared from our Captains Savings accounts.

 

[/rant]

 

Yes, the disagreement centers around the addition of the word, "single."

 

I looked at the post you linked to, and I don't know where the word, "single" came from, but it is not in the Terms and Conditions for this promotion that I printed out and have in front of me. Also, if you look at posts #46 and 84, also by the same poster, they quote the Terms and Conditions in full and they do NOT contain the word, "single." Also, look at post #16, which quotes the Terms and Conditions without the word, "single."

 

The 100% FCC refund promotion has been offered in 3 versions in the past couple of months. The first version, the one this thread is about, did not restrict the application of the FCC to a single future cruise and did not restrict the application of the FCC to a cruise that is not already paid in full. The second version, which was offered in November, added the single future cruise restriction. The third version, which is running now until the end of December, added the restriction to future cruises that are not already paid in full.

 

 

 

OH, John! Your saga with Princess doesn't seem to end. :(

I'm really sorry!

When I read your post I decided to check our Circle Savings account and the extra $300 from our cruise still shows as "active". We haven't tried to use it yet but I DID make a printout of the account in case it disappears when we try to use it.

Hopefully someone in Customer Relations with some brains and the power to put things right will fix it all in the morning.

[chamima]

John,

I just looked back at the posts everyone quoted.

The first one is from Oct. 13 and the second is from Oct. 17.

In between Princess seems to have changed the terms of the offer. :(

 

I checked my records and we booked Oct. 14th and if I remember correctly you had already booked before we did.

Edited December 17, 2013 by chamima