Nice Changes Coming...

[caribill]

I have never understood the desire to prepay for items on a cruise

 

Especially since OBC cannot be used to pay for anything you pre-paid for.

[karena1]

We consider NOT having to prepay for booked excursions a Princess perk! I hope they don't change it, but thanks to the OP for the head's up!

 

I love pre-paying for excursions - not that I do that many. One more thing paid ahead of time and I don't have to worry about it. I ALWAYS pre-pay my tips. Love that it is done before we get on the cruise and all we have to do is give extra cash to those we feel deserve it. Will never do it any other way.

[Happy2cruise]

On Celebrity, if you choose anytime dining you have to pre-pay gratuities when you pay for your cruise. Traditional diners can have their gratuities billed day by day. I know there are some people who like to have everything paid in advance, but I like to keep my money until I'm ready to spend it. This idea of pre-paying for things reminds me of Celebrity. They want you to pre-pay for things.

I personally do not mind pre-paying the gratuities. I consider them part of the cruise fare.....they are a mandatory, not optional, fee so why not include them in the total cruise fare and be done with it at final payment......just my opinion:D.

 

Now pre-paying excursions, specialty restaurants is another story:eek:

Edited July 25, 2014 by Happy2cruise

[oskidunker]

I am with you, I don't understand all that pre-pay fuss, one way or another it comes out of my wallet. I know how much I can afford to spend before I book my cruise,so there are no big surprises when I get the final bill.I use a credit card that has no outstanding charges on it and a decent credit line. Send one check to pay off the charges and get it over with...no fuss. no muss

 

You can fool yourself and think you don't owe anything, I suppose.

[Sea Day Cruiser]

I DO NOT like the idea of prepaying shore excursions at all. I know other cruise companies do this, but it makes it difficult if you are like me and change my mind several times before the cruise. Plus if the excursion is cancelled( I've seen this happen also) by Princess then you have another issue.

 

I also want to know where you heard about this?

 

I agree. I want the flexibility to be able to change my mind without going through the hassle of trying to get a refund. Also until I'm on the ship and know when formal nights are I won't know what nights I want to eat in a specialty restaurant.

[Pam in CA]

I love pre-paying for excursions - not that I do that many. One more thing paid ahead of time and I don't have to worry about it. I ALWAYS pre-pay my tips. Love that it is done before we get on the cruise and all we have to do is give extra cash to those we feel deserve it. Will never do it any other way.

On Princess, all you're doing is sending yourself OBC which can be used for anything. Nothing is actually pre-paid. Your folio reflects the credits at embarkation. Then, the daily auto-tip, excursions, drinks, etc. are deducted from the credit.

 

Unlike many other lines, Princess is very generous with OBC plus it can be combined. For my upcoming cruise, I'll have $550 in OBC.

[cruiserus]

We consider NOT having to prepay for booked excursions a Princess perk! I hope they don't change it, but thanks to the OP for the head's up!

 

We so agree.

[kruisey]

Given myself gift vouchers.

They are in my cabin when I board.I go to the pursers office pop them on my account. Gratuities and Excursions paid :).Then I only have the on board spending to pay For.Think there is nothing worse than to have a wonderful cruise then wake up on the last morning to find a huge financial bill at your door

destroying ones marvelous vacation within minutes:eek:

Edited July 25, 2014 by kruisey

[KruzPrincess]

I personally do not mind pre-paying the gratuities. I consider them part of the cruise fare.....they are a mandatory, not optional, fee so why not include them in the total cruise fare and be done with it at final payment......just my opinion:D.

 

Now pre-paying excursions, specialty restaurants is another story:eek:

 

For one thing, I use my OBC to pay them. Secondly, I don't see why the cruise line should use my money. I don't consider it as part of the cruise fare. I never have removed it and I always pay extra to the staff, but I feel it's my choice, as it is yours, to pay it as it's billed or when you want. I completely don't understand why traditional diners on X can pay day by day when anytime diners have to pre-pay. Are anytime diners not trustworthy enough to get auto-billed gratuities? This is a pet peeve of mine on Celebrity and is why you don't see me booking with them. Lucky we all have choices.

[Thrak]

I am with you, I don't understand all that pre-pay fuss, one way or another it comes out of my wallet. I know how much I can afford to spend before I book my cruise,so there are no big surprises when I get the final bill.I use a credit card that has no outstanding charges on it and a decent credit line. Send one check to pay off the charges and get it over with...no fuss. no muss:D

 

Same here but... What is this "check" of which you speak? Perhaps it's something from the far distant past before online payments were possible? :D

[lovevacadays]

I don't understand the attraction. If I want to "pre-pay" I will just gift myself OBC. I don't see why anybody would want to give Princess their money in advance.

 

It's better to keep your own money rather than gifting Princess an interest-free loan by paying in advance.

 

I'm with you. I have no desire to pre-pay for shore excursions or specialty restaurants. I will keep my money until I pay my folio at the end. I always budget for my onboard expenses and don't feel the need to prepay for something I might end up cancelling and then waiting for my money back.

 

Maybe some people find it easier to budget for their cruise if the prepay? If that's the case then I'm sure this is a good option for them.

[rdsqrl]

Sorry Excursions. Don't want to kill any body.[emoji3]

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Don't be too hasty. You haven't met everyone yet.

 

[Cruisin' Chick]

To me, it's like some people are coming up with a problem to suit a so-called solution. Again, if you don't want a huge amount on your folio at the end of the cruise, buy yourself some OBC and have that applied toward your balance. IMO, the only real expense on the cruise that I don't feel is optional is the auto-gratuity that is placed on your account every night. Everything else is comes under the heading of "secondary on board revenue" that is your choice to spend (beverages, casino, photographs, spa treatments, shore excursions, specialty restaurants, etc.).

 

There's positives for many Princess regulars to keep the system as is with the actual charges for excursions, restaurants, etc. going on the account as incurred. As some have said, you can use your OBC to pay down what you owe. And, you can keep money in your checking account a bit longer.

[OCruisers]

To me' date=' it's like some people are coming up with a problem to suit a so-called solution. Again, if you don't want a huge amount on your folio at the end of the cruise, buy yourself some OBC and have that applied toward your balance. IMO, the only real expense on the cruise that I don't feel is optional is the auto-gratuity that is placed on your account every night. Everything else is comes under the heading of "secondary on board revenue" that is your choice to spend (beverages, casino, photographs, spa treatments, shore excursions, specialty restaurants, etc.).

 

There's positives for many Princess regulars to keep the system as is with the actual charges for excursions, restaurants, etc. going on the account as incurred. As some have said, you can use your OBC to pay down what you owe. And, you can keep money in your checking account a bit longer.[/quote']

 

Gosh, Patty, so agree!

Some must have been absent that day in Economics 101! :D

LuLu

[IECalCruiser]

As others have said, with OBC from many sources including FCC, CCL stock (if you own 100 shares of stock), military (if you are a qualifying veteran), Loyalty, TA and Princess promotions, you can have a lot of OBC to use up. Our auto tip is always covered by OBC and often most of our on board charges. Prepaying auto tip or specialty restaurants would not allow us to use the

OBC for that. At least for us, Princess is solving a problem that does not exist.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[sonnenschein]

Same here but... What is this "check" of which you speak? Perhaps it's something from the far distant past before online payments were possible? :D

 

Hi there Thrak, Online payments, are you kidding :confused: I would not trust the internet with a penny of my money, on the other hand I have done payments over the phone with out a problem, and yes I am old fashion when it comes to my mulla. I do need to use my checks once in a while, the bank is funny that way, they just keep sending me checks :p and I need to use them up before they get moldy :eek: Gloria

[satxdiver]

As others have said, with OBC from many sources including FCC, CCL stock (if you own 100 shares of stock), military (if you are a qualifying veteran), Loyalty, TA and Princess promotions, you can have a lot of OBC to use up. Our auto tip is always covered by OBC and often most of our on board charges. Prepaying auto tip or specialty restaurants would not allow us to use the

OBC for that. At least for us, Princess is solving a problem that does not exist.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

 

I will second that. I don't like parting with my few bucks before I have to. Keep the system as it currently is because it works.

[AE_Collector]

Yeah, listening to the bean counters...

 

The bean counters are going to be out if a job soon if they dont get the share price heading in the right direction soon. They cant help but see what RCI shares are doing in comparison to CCL.

 

Terry

[cruiserjanet]

The only thing I like to pre-pay is my cruise fare. We have a budget in mind for our on-board expenses, etc. and generally come out under at the end so we don't mind seeing our shipboard account bill because we had already planned it out in advance. One transfer when we get home and it's paid for.

 

My bosses gave me some OBC for my birthday one time. Nice surprise when I got on the ship.

[two_black_dogs]

Prepayment sounds good to me. Currently the exchange rate is quite good for us although not back up to parity yet (AUD =0.94USD). Being able to pay now for something when the going is good means we MIGHT avoid having to pay double later on ( if the economic forecasts are correct). Ideally I'd like to be just buying onboard credit so I can actually use it on things we know we will have to pay but don't know the exact amount. Unfortunately the fax or phone call method doesn't suit us. I want my credit details floating around the real world as a fax transmission even less than I want my details going online via a secure server.

 

A change towards on line payments will be enthusiastically received here, and if the AUD manages to hit over parity, as it was for a while there, then we will certainly be paying as much as we can and advance and preloading travel money cards.

 

Not all cruisers are in the US!

[Agr8RN]

We consider NOT having to prepay for booked excursions a Princess perk! I hope they don't change it, but thanks to the OP for the head's up!

 

 

I agree. This is one of the things I like about princess.

 

 

Amanda

You're not Living, if you're not cruising.

 

Upcoming cruises:

Celebrity Summit - 6/29/14

Celebrity Reflection - 11/15/14 nursing cruise seminar

[Cruise Junky]

Prepayment sounds good to me. Currently the exchange rate is quite good for us although not back up to parity yet (AUD =0.94USD). Being able to pay now for something when the going is good means we MIGHT avoid having to pay double later on ( if the economic forecasts are correct). Ideally I'd like to be just buying onboard credit so I can actually use it on things we know we will have to pay but don't know the exact amount. Unfortunately the fax or phone call method doesn't suit us. I want my credit details floating around the real world as a fax transmission even less than I want my details going online via a secure server.

 

A change towards on line payments will be enthusiastically received here, and if the AUD manages to hit over parity, as it was for a while there, then we will certainly be paying as much as we can and advance and preloading travel money cards.

 

Not all cruisers are in the US!

 

So send yourself a bunch of OBC. That will take advantage of a good exchange rate. Being in the US has no bearing on this

[two_black_dogs]

So send yourself a bunch of OBC. That will take advantage of a good exchange rate. Being in the US has no bearing on this

 

Yes of course... But that can only be requested via fax or phone. If Princess change to give us the ability to do this online (which I believe was what was mentioned as well) we will do exactly that.

[muggo11]

I am having trouble understanding the problem, as well. I don't like having a big bill on the credit card so I do two things. I actually save a few hundred dollars from each paycheck and put it in a vacation account (shocking, I know). Then I withdraw it and when I get on board i deposit it to my cruise account. (I guess I could also transfer it to my credit card but I like to see a credit on my account throught the cruise). My other trick is to deposit, in cash, any winnings from the casino every night I am ahead on the cruise. My goal is to take home cash or at least have a credit card charge less than $100.

I love the idea of buying myself OBC. Same outcome and a lot simpler!

[Thrak]

Same here but... What is this "check" of which you speak? Perhaps it's something from the far distant past before online payments were possible? :D

 

Hi there Thrak, Online payments, are you kidding :confused: I would not trust the internet with a penny of my money, on the other hand I have done payments over the phone with out a problem, and yes I am old fashion when it comes to my mulla. I do need to use my checks once in a while, the bank is funny that way, they just keep sending me checks :p and I need to use them up before they get moldy :eek: Gloria

 

Heh, my cruise expenses go on my Discover card and I pay it off online. Actually all of my work expenses go on that card as well. I don't always manage to pay it of completely every month but I never leave any current stuff unpaid that will cause me to pay interest. I do "usually" pay it in full each month but sometimes...

 

I actually do all of my banking, etc. online. I don't have a problem with it. I'm not exactly old and not exactly young at 61. I know my father in law wouldn't even use an ATM but he would gladly hand a credit card to some kid in a restaurant who would take it in the back to run it. How that is more secure is beyond me.

 

I do find that checks come in handy sometimes. We enjoy camping and most campgrounds will take a check but very few can take a credit or debit card. I've only been to one campground that took a card and that was in Death Valley. There was actually a card reader right at the (unmonitored) campground entrance. I always keep a check folded up in my wallet behind a picture of my grandkids. One never knows when the past may come knocking and I will need to have one on hand.

Edited July 26, 2014 by Thrak