Charged twice for excursion?

[Kitty Ellas Mom]

I'm confused about what happened when I bought some excursions last night through Princess' website (if it matters, for a mid-Sept Caribbean Princess Canada / New England).  I had just recently PIF and now have a $200 onboard credit.  Prior to this I only purchased one other excursion, which I'm sure I put on my credit card or else they would not have reserved it for me. 

 

When I got to the screen for the final payment it said that I had my 3 new excursions, and one "prior reservation," and then took the $200 OBC off of that total amount.  I just don't understand why the previous excursion was part of that at all, since I had already paid for it.  Is there a rule that the OBC has to be used for the first excursion(s) you buy? 

 

I went ahead with the transaction b/c I really wanted to reserve the 3 new excursions.  but I am wondering if I am actually being charged twice for the first one and need to contact Princess to correct, or if I can expect them to simply refund me later as part of some policy I don't know about.  Thanks for any info.  I'm asking CC first before calling Princess b/c I am expecting to be on hold for a long time if I call.  I now wish I had just canceled the transaction and tried again later, in case the site was glitching.  It's my first cruise and I feel like there's something I don't know.

[Lady Arwen]

All you need to do is check your credit card purchases to see when you paid for this excursion.  Yes, I would then call Princess and tell them you have proof you paid for the excursion and the others can be applied to OBC.  It really should not be a problem for them to fix right away.  Good luck

[Steelers36]

6 hours ago, Kitty Ellas Mom said:

I'm confused about what happened when I bought some excursions last night through Princess' website (if it matters, for a mid-Sept Caribbean Princess Canada / New England).  I had just recently PIF and now have a $200 onboard credit.  Prior to this I only purchased one other excursion, which I'm sure I put on my credit card or else they would not have reserved it for me. 

 

When I got to the screen for the final payment it said that I had my 3 new excursions, and one "prior reservation," and then took the $200 OBC off of that total amount.  I just don't understand why the previous excursion was part of that at all, since I had already paid for it.  Is there a rule that the OBC has to be used for the first excursion(s) you buy? 

 

I went ahead with the transaction b/c I really wanted to reserve the 3 new excursions.  but I am wondering if I am actually being charged twice for the first one and need to contact Princess to correct, or if I can expect them to simply refund me later as part of some policy I don't know about.  Thanks for any info.  I'm asking CC first before calling Princess b/c I am expecting to be on hold for a long time if I call.  I now wish I had just canceled the transaction and tried again later, in case the site was glitching.  It's my first cruise and I feel like there's something I don't know.

How much was the first excursion?  Did you pay it with a credit card or did you pay with OBC?

How much OBC did you begin with?  How much OBC did you have when starting to book the 3 new excursions?  If you had insufficient OBC to pay for all the new excursions, did the balance go to your credit card?

 

How much did all four excursion cost in total?

How much OBC did you begin with and is it all gone?

How much was your credit card charged?

 

OBC Amount + Credit Card Charges = Total Excursion Cost.

 

If the above equation is not true, then either you have not paid for something, or you were under/over charged.

 

[CaptainPedantic]

Just to add to Steelers36's reply... If your OBC is not equally shared across passengers, this could be a little more complex - but the overall equation should be the same as long as all your OBC has been used... To explain...

By way of example, on a recent cruise I had $350 OBC (shareholder benefit + FCD) and my wife had $100 OBC (just FCD) - these OBCs being non-refundable. I booked an excursion for us before leaving priced at $129 each, and despite having enough total OBC in our cabin to pay for this in full, I had to pay $29 by card for my wife's trip. Our onboard account showed a total of $479 OBC, with $29 of that refundable (from the card payment), and the 2x excursions at $129 each. Overall still leaving a $221 total credit, with $29 of that refundable.

 

[LeeW]

Putting an excursion into the shopping cart doesn't buy it.  So you might not have already paid for it.  We NEVER book more than one excursion at a time - for one thing it causes refund problems if you cancel one later.  Pick an excursion, go through the complete purchase process, including applying OBC, and then go on to the next one.  And CaptainPedantic is correct - sometimes OBC is assigned to one or the other person in the cabin.  You can either call to combine these for a purchase or buy excursions with both accounts and pay with a card when you don't have enough in that account.

[Kitty Ellas Mom]

I definitely bought the excursion months ago. I specifically bought it early because it was the only one that looked like it might sell out, and it did by the time i bought other excursions. I didn't yet have any obc when I made the purchase and put it on my cc. There's no issue with others in the cabin because I'm solo.

 

I did not know that there could be refund issues if you buy more than one excursion at a time, oops. I wasn't 100% sold on one that I bought but didn't want it to sell out, since the pif date for everyone was about to happen the next day.

[Lady Arwen]

14 hours ago, Kitty Ellas Mom said:

I definitely bought the excursion months ago. I specifically bought it early because it was the only one that looked like it might sell out, and it did by the time i bought other excursions. I didn't yet have any obc when I made the purchase and put it on my cc. There's no issue with others in the cabin because I'm solo.

 

I did not know that there could be refund issues if you buy more than one excursion at a time, oops. I wasn't 100% sold on one that I bought but didn't want it to sell out, since the pif date for everyone was about to happen the next day.

Have you sent Princess a copy of your credit card purchase for this excursion?  

[Rick&Jeannie]

On 6/22/2023 at 2:20 PM, LeeW said:

We NEVER book more than one excursion at a time - for one thing it causes refund problems if you cancel one later.  Pick an excursion, go through the complete purchase process, including applying OBC, and then go on to the next one. 

Fully agree!  I keep hardcopy printouts/screenshots of each excursion/transaction and then when I get the confirmation email (assuming I had to use my credit card) I notate how much OBC was used and how much went to credit card (if any).  Thankfully, I've been lucky and never had any issues requiring this level of documentation...but paper is cheap insurance!