Princess gift card question

[StarAFire]

Hi,

 

I think i read on this board that I can call to ask my TA to load my gift card and I can use it to pre-book shore excursions before the sailing.  What happens to the balance if I don't use all of it before the sailing?  Will it just become regular OBC?

 

Thanks

[cruzsnooze]

27 minutes ago, StarAFire said:

Hi,

 

I think i read on this board that I can call to ask my TA to load my gift card and I can use it to pre-book shore excursions before the sailing.  What happens to the balance if I don't use all of it before the sailing?  Will it just become regular OBC?

 

Thanks

Yes it will be refundable back to original payment method which was a gift card. 

[StarAFire]

Wait, so it will go back to the gift card, while i am on the sailing, so I will need to go back to guest service to put it back on?

[Steelers36]

27 minutes ago, StarAFire said:

Wait, so it will go back to the gift card, while i am on the sailing, so I will need to go back to guest service to put it back on?

I believe there was some misunderstanding in what your question was when the response was posted. 

 

You can purchase a PCL gift card today.

You can use that GC to pay your cruise fare by giving the information (card nbr and PIN) to your TA who applies the payment.

Your TA doesn't load your GC.

 

You can purchase OBC using a PCL GC.  I do not think that OBC is available to you until you are on he ship.

 

You can use OBC from PCL or TA (as long as posted to your booking credits today such as with a group OBC) to pay down towards cost of excursions in advance of sailing.  Note that some TA's grant cash back to clients using OBC and that isn't available until you are on the ship.  (I prefer to work with a TA that just does a cash discount up-front off the cruise fare). 

 

I think you can pay for an excursion using a GC - just like you can pay for your cruise fare.  But you cannot self-pay with a GC in the Cruise Personalizer, IIRC.  You need to call Princess or have your TA do it.  TA's don't really get involved with excursions.  It is up to guest to shop and select and book excursions via Cruise Personalizer or Princess App.  I should think you can then call Princess to make payment for the excursions since you book them yourself (and we can pay for them ourselves online - but not with a GC I believe).

 

You can take GC's with you on a cruise and cash them in at Guest Services who will then post Refundable OBC to your stateroom account.  Any Refundable OBC not used by end of voyage is refunded via a check sent in the mail some time following end of voyage.  If the amount is small - around $25 - the guest can obtain a cash refund at Guest Services.

 

I am not sure if answers for you are here or not as your inquiry reads a bit odd in terms of what you can do and how OBC can pay for excursions.

 

You can read more about GC's here:  https://www.princess.com/learn/cruise-gifts-celebrations/overview/gift-cards/

 

[Perky1]

17 hours ago, StarAFire said:

Wait, so it will go back to the gift card, while i am on the sailing, so I will need to go back to guest service to put it back on?

 

19 hours ago, cruzsnooze said:

Yes it will be refundable back to original payment method which was a gift card. 

We got ours in a refund cheque 3 weeks after we got home.  

[cruzsnooze]

23 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

I believe there was some misunderstanding in what your question was when the response was posted. 

 

You can purchase a PCL gift card today.

You can use that GC to pay your cruise fare by giving the information (card nbr and PIN) to your TA who applies the payment.

Your TA doesn't load your GC.

 

You can purchase OBC using a PCL GC.  I do not think that OBC is available to you until you are on he ship.

 

You can use OBC from PCL or TA (as long as posted to your booking credits today such as with a group OBC) to pay down towards cost of excursions in advance of sailing.  Note that some TA's grant cash back to clients using OBC and that isn't available until you are on the ship.  (I prefer to work with a TA that just does a cash discount up-front off the cruise fare). 

 

I think you can pay for an excursion using a GC - just like you can pay for your cruise fare.  But you cannot self-pay with a GC in the Cruise Personalizer, IIRC.  You need to call Princess or have your TA do it.  TA's don't really get involved with excursions.  It is up to guest to shop and select and book excursions via Cruise Personalizer or Princess App.  I should think you can then call Princess to make payment for the excursions since you book them yourself (and we can pay for them ourselves online - but not with a GC I believe).

 

You can take GC's with you on a cruise and cash them in at Guest Services who will then post Refundable OBC to your stateroom account.  Any Refundable OBC not used by end of voyage is refunded via a check sent in the mail some time following end of voyage.  If the amount is small - around $25 - the guest can obtain a cash refund at Guest Services.

 

I am not sure if answers for you are here or not as your inquiry reads a bit odd in terms of what you can do and how OBC can pay for excursions.

 

You can read more about GC's here:  https://www.princess.com/learn/cruise-gifts-celebrations/overview/gift-cards/

 

"Any Refundable OBC not used by end of voyage is refunded via a check sent in the mail some time following end of voyage.  If the amount is small - around $25 - the guest can obtain a cash refund at Guest Services."

This is not true if the refundable credit was from a gift card. The gift card is reloaded with remaining balance. If you lost or tossed the gift card they will issue you a new gift card.

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, cruzsnooze said:

"Any Refundable OBC not used by end of voyage is refunded via a check sent in the mail some time following end of voyage.  If the amount is small - around $25 - the guest can obtain a cash refund at Guest Services."

This is not true if the refundable credit was from a gift card. The gift card is reloaded with remaining balance. If you lost or tossed the gift card they will issue you a new gift card.

I will accept that.  I gather PCL must track how the OBC was purchased in the Cruise Personalizer.  If they are doing this (so they know if need to put cash back to a GC), then it would be just as easy to refund to a credit card if that was the method of payment.

 

I also wonder if there is a difference when guest purchases OBC ahead of the voyage versus going to GSD and presenting a GC to cash in and add funds to cabin account. 

 

Thanks for the correction.

[cruzsnooze]

9 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

I will accept that.  I gather PCL must track how the OBC was purchased in the Cruise Personalizer.  If they are doing this (so they know if need to put cash back to a GC), then it would be just as easy to refund to a credit card if that was the method of payment.

 

I also wonder if there is a difference when guest purchases OBC ahead of the voyage versus going to GSD and presenting a GC to cash in and add funds to cabin account. 

 

Thanks for the correction.

I use gift cards I buy  with a 10% discount so it makes sense nobody would refund the face value since you didn't pay face value. I had a cruise booked and cancelled during covid and had used a dozen cards. Princess combined them into one gift card for me. In May when I sailed I brought a gift card to guest services and they applied it to my OBC. I had no left over so it wasn't an issue getting the card reloaded with the balance. 

[no1racefan1]

6 minutes ago, cruzsnooze said:

I use gift cards I buy  with a 10% discount so it makes sense nobody would refund the face value since you didn't pay face value. I had a cruise booked and cancelled during covid and had used a dozen cards. Princess combined them into one gift card for me. In May when I sailed I brought a gift card to guest services and they applied it to my OBC. I had no left over so it wasn't an issue getting the card reloaded with the balance. 

Princess has no idea you only paid $45 for a $50 gift card. When presented to them, it is a $50 gift card. If you don't spend all $50, they are going to refund that back, from the sounds of it either back to the GC or by check.