Future Cruise Consultant

[Guest ldtr]

1 hour ago, theloo said:

Thanks.  Now I have to decide if it's worth the risk to wait to book.  (Probably not.)  If I wait until July, it would be worth $375.  

Next question: can I buy FCD in July and more in December and use them both on a single cruise in the future? 

You can use as many as you want, but you will only get the OBC for 1 FCD per passenger with the FCD having to be purchased in their name. (you cannot use an FCD purchased in your name for another passenger on your booking to get obc) As with applying after booking the only value of the additional FCDs would be the price you paid for them.

Edited April 30, 2023 by ldtr

[theloo]

That's a bummer.  I guess there's no incentive then to buy more than one.

[that]

No

[Guest ldtr]

1 hour ago, theloo said:

That's a bummer.  I guess there's no incentive then to buy more than one.

Only if you are going to book multiple cruises. Keeping one or two extras prevents the problem such as you are having by not having one when you want to book. We usually have 4 or 5 of them to make sure we do not run out as we book cruises.

[theloo]

1 minute ago, ldtr said:

Only if you are going to book multiple cruises. Keeping one or two extras prevents the problem such as you are having by not having one when you want to book. We usually have 4 or 5 of them to make sure we do not run out as we book cruises.

Wow, I guess you are cruising a lot!  This is our first cruise in 5 years.  Never would have thought we'd cruise twice in a year, but the timing and price are favorable 😊

 

[mtnesterz]

38 minutes ago, theloo said:

That's a bummer.  I guess there's no incentive then to buy more than one.

That would depend on how much you cruise. As I mentioned in post #21, we used to buy 2 FCDs each. They were good for two years and we cruise about once a year. If there are two of you cruising, you need to have two, one each, when you do your initial booking.

The incentive to buy FCDs (aside from the small benefit that it's your prepaid deposit) is that FCC is earned when doing your initial booking. Applying it later serves no added value, as ltdr posted. Then it is only worth face value of $100.

Recently, this has changed and FCDs are only good for one year, meaning your book by date. So if you only cruise once a year, then buying one each passenger makes sense. If you don't plan to book within the year, then don't bother buying. If you do buy and don't use it. The money is refunded.

Edited April 30, 2023 by mtnesterz

[that]

5 hours ago, Dlynna said:

Yes

Did email state “Cruise Vacation Planner”

?

[memoak]

1 hour ago, theloo said:

I have a question about FCD.  Can it be applied to an existing booking for which full payment is not yet due? 

I have an upcoming cruise in July.  I am thinking about booking another for December.  Can I put a deposit down on rooms now, buy the FCD on board in July, then apply it to my December cruise in September when final payment is due?

It is for a deposit not a payment

[Guest ldtr]

1 hour ago, theloo said:

Wow, I guess you are cruising a lot!  This is our first cruise in 5 years.  Never would have thought we'd cruise twice in a year, but the timing and price are favorable 😊

 

a little over 100 days on cruise ships this year on 4 different lines.

[cruiserdf]

With the changes to the FCDs only being good for one year, is this an indication the Future Cruise Deposit program is likely to end?  Why would they change the time frame from the original 4 years to two years and now one year. 

[Coral]

20 minutes ago, cruiserdf said:

With the changes to the FCDs only being good for one year, is this an indication the Future Cruise Deposit program is likely to end?  Why would they change the time frame from the original 4 years to two years and now one year. 

I spoke to a guy on the ship today. He specifically told me that they are doing this to encourage people to book cruises sooner. He did tell me if I call right before the 1 year time frame is up - to call Princess and they will extend it one additional year.

[cr8tiv1]

On 4/30/2023 at 8:08 AM, ldtr said:

You can use as many as you want, but you will only get the OBC for 1 FCD per passenger with the FCD having to be purchased in their name. (you cannot use an FCD purchased in your name for another passenger on your booking to get obc) As with applying after booking the only value of the additional FCDs would be the price you paid for them.

 

My TA has applied one of my FCDs to my cabin mate's reservation as a (reduced) deposit.  Cabin mate received NO OBC (and I don't get twice as much).  You can apply as many FCDs as you want to your booking, with only the first one granting you OBC.  

 

With the new one year expiration date, it may be a good way to use up your FCDs.  I prefer to have many in my CC "bank".  It's already paid for, so why not use them up?

[cruiserdf]

1 hour ago, Coral said:

I spoke to a guy on the ship today. He specifically told me that they are doing this to encourage people to book cruises sooner. He did tell me if I call right before the 1 year time frame is up - to call Princess and they will extend it one additional year.

Coral, thanks for your response.  There is no reason not to believe them, but with the lack of communication of many changes today, who knows what the future holds.  I will keep buying them and keep using them.  Worst case they get refunded to the credit card.  

[Expat Cruise]

On 4/30/2023 at 6:56 PM, Reina del Mar said:

I heard the Lady Future Cruise Consultant on Sapphire Princess was rude to some of our fellow cruisers. 

 

We were waiting to confirm how many FCDs we had. A gentleman consultant saw us waiting and enquired what we wanted. I explained..he checked with lady who said neither of us had any. Later that day someone phoned the cabin and said we had two each.

 

Does not inspire confidence !

Why would you need to check how many FCD you have? The information is right in your account online as so as they are processed. Last trip I went to deck 5 did the purchase when I got back to Deck 10 already in my account. Basic rule to follow, most Princess employees and contractors know almost nothing. If you can get the answer and confirm it yourself, that is the best way. 

[Reina del Mar]

23 minutes ago, Expat Cruise said:

Why would you need to check how many FCD you have? The information is right in your account online as so as they are processed. Last trip I went to deck 5 did the purchase when I got back to Deck 10 already in my account. Basic rule to follow, most Princess employees and contractors know almost nothing. If you can get the answer and confirm it yourself, that is the best way. 

I wanted to check with a human being because the internet has shown different amounts at different times and I am not sure how accurate their records are. Thanks for your concern though!!

[cruiserdf]

On 4/29/2023 at 1:37 PM, weedpindle said:

Does anyone know the name of the company that now employs the Future Cruise consultants on the Princess ships. ( It is not Princess or Carnival Corp as they now employ a private company as of Nov 2022 )

On the Diamond Princess 2/2023 the Future Cruise Consultant was a 16 year Princess employee.  We sat with her at a MTP luncheon.

[mevs904]

ldtr has posted some good advice here.  The best benefit is getting a FCD is receiving the money back as OBC on the cruise where you use it.  One small note, one of our FCDs expired recently due to our not cruising for a couple of years and we received our deposits back by way of a check, not a return to our credit cards.  That makes sense since credit card account numbers sometimes get changed when there is some kind of security breach at a large business.  (It happened to us twice.  We were not negatively impacted, but did receive new cards very quickly.)

[hpeabody]

It is my understanding that the tasks of the on board Princess captains circle loyalty person is being outsourced to a company called ONE, the sales force hired for on board future cruise sales and I believe also those awful phone calls.

[cruiserdf]

4 minutes ago, hpeabody said:

It is my understanding that the tasks of the on board Princess captains circle loyalty person is being outsourced to a company called ONE, the sales force hired for on board future cruise sales and I believe also those awful phone calls.

This should be interesting since the Events and Loyalty Manager (Formerly called Princess Captains Circle Loyalty Person) is now an officer of the ships company.

[hpeabody]

1 hour ago, cruiserdf said:

This should be interesting since the Events and Loyalty Manager (Formerly called Princess Captains Circle Loyalty Person) is now an officer of the ships company.

Yes, it will be interesting.  Princess has become all about sales and money grabbing with little very regard to their loyal guests.  IMO YMMV