Thinking about trying Princess again.

[RoperDK]

We were long time Carnival cruisers and then moved over to Royal.  We have been happy with them until pricing went sky high so we are looking elsewhere.  We have been on 2 Princess cruises several years ago.  One an Alaskan cruise on Coral and one an Eastern Caribbean on Regal.  We had a B2B Alaska that was cancelled because of Covid.  We always cruise in at least a mini-suite.  I have some questions, if you don't mind.

 

1.  Are all deposits refundable?  Does that also include the Plus package and casino offers?

 

2.  When are final payments typically due for cruises?  We won't be doing anything exotic. 

 

3.  Can TA's still refund part of their compensation back to lower your total cruise price?  If so, will Princess reps also do this?

 

4.  Any restrictions on casino offers?  On Royal you have to pay the full amount at time of booking even though the cruise may be a year out. 

 

Any other info on booking requirements is much appreciated. 

 

[Rick&Jeannie]

4 minutes ago, RoperDK said:

We were long time Carnival cruisers and then moved over to Royal.  We have been happy with them until pricing went sky high so we are looking elsewhere.  We have been on 2 Princess cruises several years ago.  One an Alaskan cruise on Coral and one an Eastern Caribbean on Regal.  We had a B2B Alaska that was cancelled because of Covid.  We always cruise in at least a mini-suite.  I have some questions, if you don't mind.

 

1.  Are all deposits refundable?  Does that also include the Plus package and casino offers?

 

2.  When are final payments typically due for cruises?  We won't be doing anything exotic. 

 

3.  Can TA's still refund part of their compensation back to lower your total cruise price?  If so, will Princess reps also do this?

 

4.  Any restrictions on casino offers?  On Royal you have to pay the full amount at time of booking even though the cruise may be a year out. 

 

Any other info on booking requirements is much appreciated. 

 

1) Cannot answer this one

2) Generally 90 days (I believe)

3) Princess reps will NOT rebate anything back...they just help you book

4) Have never done a casino offer...so can't comment

 

[Guest ldtr]

1. There are refundable rates and non-refundable rates depends upon which type you book.

[memoak]

Casino cruises are paid in full when booking

[Steelers36]

21 minutes ago, RoperDK said:

I have some questions, if you don't mind.

1.  Recently, PCL has taken their "lead-in" cabin categories from Inside to Mini-Suite and made the lowest level (nornally "F cabins, like "IF"... so OF, BF, DF, ME) as GTY-only, so guest does not select an actual cabin.  Most guests book these hoping to get an upgrade.  For these bookings, the deposit is Non-Refundable.  All other categories and situations like picking your own cabin do come with Refundable deposits.  Booking a voyage wiithin the Final Payment (FP) Date, requires full payment and deposit portion is non-refundable.  If you are including the Plus Cruise Package at time of booking, that will flow with the rules of the booking type you made.  You don't really pay a deposit on the Plus portion of the fare.  You can wait and book the Plus on embarkation day.

 

2. The FP Date is based on the length of voyage with the minimum now 90 days (was 60 pre-Covid pauses).  Look here: https://www.princess.com/legal/passage_contract/   for information on payments and refunds.

 

3.PCL doesn't match TA pricing.  You have to find the right kind of TA to get a cash discount off the fare.  Some rebate back OBC or their own gift cards.  I like a cash discount.

 

4. Cannot help with casino offers, but I do know you have to be invited and qualify in some way due to past play in the casino.

[voljeep]

20 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

2. The FP Date is based on the length of voyage with the minimum now 90 days

guess that changed from 75 for our 5 day cruise in October ...

[Steelers36]

10 minutes ago, voljeep said:

guess that changed from 75 for our 5 day cruise in October ...

Thanks for correcting the record.  I forgot about those shorties.  The linked reference above clearly indicates the short time frame for <= 5-night voyages.

[gamja]

You can get a refund on the $200 deposit per person on casino offers as long as its within the deadline.

[negn]

4 hours ago, gamja said:

You can get a refund on the $200 deposit per person on casino offers as long as its within the deadline.

I don’t believe that’s true.   The $200 pp is no refundable   They stress that when you book ( if you get to speak with a live person ..lol)

[Honolulu Blue]

15 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

2. The FP Date is based on the length of voyage with the minimum now 90 days (was 60 pre-Covid pauses).  Look here: https://www.princess.com/legal/passage_contract/   for information on payments and refunds.

The link was helpful, so thank you for it (and the rest of your post).  I have a couple of clarifications:

1. The direct link for cancellations, refunds, and final payments is at Standard Policy for Cancellations, Refunds & Final Payment - Princess Cruises
2. Key dates:  full refund period ends at 75 days for cruises of 5 days or less, 90 days for those 6-24 days, and 120 days for those over 24 days; final payment date is the same as the end of the full refund period; no refunds within 14 days for all but the longest cruises - for those the magic date is 42 days

[gamja]

8 hours ago, negn said:

I don’t believe that’s true.   The $200 pp is no refundable   They stress that when you book ( if you get to speak with a live person ..lol)

Oh really? I had to cancel mine last second and they ended up refunding me last November. Maybe I got lucky with speaking to the manager. I do give a bit of action in the casino.

[RoperDK]

3 hours ago, gamja said:

12 hours ago, negn said:

I don’t believe that’s true.   The $200 pp is no refundable   They stress that when you book ( if you get to speak with a live person ..lol)

 

3 hours ago, gamja said:

Oh really? I had to cancel mine last second and they ended up refunding me last November. Maybe I got lucky with speaking to the manager. I do give a bit of action in the casino.

This is what I am running into with Royal.  At some point they quietly changed the rules.  What used to be easy booking and rescheduling is now a nightmare of change fees and excuses why you can't do that anymore.  I understand that the ships are full now and casino revenue isn't as needed, but we have been blindsided one too many times and are looking for better alternatives.  

[gamja]

3 hours ago, RoperDK said:

This is what I am running into with Royal.  At some point they quietly changed the rules.  What used to be easy booking and rescheduling is now a nightmare of change fees and excuses why you can't do that anymore.  I understand that the ships are full now and casino revenue isn't as needed, but we have been blindsided one too many times and are looking for better alternatives.  

Yea sadly...... I used to go on 8-12 cruises a year on Princess. Now I only do about 4-6 targeting vip/ultimatevip/prestige cruises only