Princess Promotions

[back-at-it]

Hello, We are new to Princess and have booked our first cruise with them.  They offered an package from Princess Promotions that included a large FCC, on board credit, and a bunch of Hotel credits.

Just wanting to see what other people have done.  It sounds good, as long as you can use the Hotel credits to their fullest.  

 

[TRLD]

Think of it as cruise line meets time share marketing company.

 

The deal is being offered by Open Network Exchange.  They are a contractor that staffs Princess on board future sales department and well as doing other direct sales functions. The owners of ONE inc used to own a company that would allow time share owners to trade weeks for cruises.  They sold that business and started ONE.  Their previous business gave them good contacts in the cruise industry and led to their current business arrangement with Princess.

 

 

The problem is how much value are the hotel credits?  As the saying goes the devil is in the details and there is language that indicates that the credits might not be accepted for particular dates, or for the entire value of the stay, they might also not be equivalent to what one could book a hotel for directly not using credits.  In other words a lot of ways where the hotel credits might not have the value that the offer would seem to indicate.

 

The following is a link to a Reddit post where someone describes their experience with the package

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/Cruise/comments/187qiy0/i_bought_a_princess_promotions_vacation_package/

Edited March 22 by TRLD

[SCX22]

It's not a scam and is validated by Princess on their website.  Whether or not the package price's value holds true or not is up to you.  Also note that once paid and the initial grace period has passed, the entire amount becomes non refundable, so if you're unable to use one aspect of the package, kiss your money goodbye.  You can also kiss your FCC/hotel credits/hotel discounts goodbye once they expire.  The topic been discussed ad nauseam on this board.  

[Mud_Shark]

OK, It's as close to being a scam as possible while still being a "legit" offer.  I would not touch this, but then I would not touch a time share either.

[sns1]

I am currently on the ruby and yesterday, an envelope was slipped under the door with information on purchasing this product.   It went right in the trash can. 

[dog]

I would not deal with them.

[hpeabody]

@back-at-it   I'm so sorry

Edited March 22 by hpeabody

[memoak]

I won’t go near them even on board ship. I only deal with my longtime CVP. 

[RaineyPark]

I have had no problem with Princess Promotions. Just ask questions, get details, know the expiration date, book the trip and relax. I book with Princess, notify them of the promo, they pull it up from my account, apply it and done. 

[memoak]

11 minutes ago, RaineyPark said:

I have had no problem with Princess Promotions. Just ask questions, get details, know the expiration date, book the trip and relax. I book with Princess, notify them of the promo, they pull it up from my account, apply it and done. 

Have you actually tried to use the supposed hotel deals ?  Frankly I find my casino deals much better and am able to do everything though my CVP

[cr8tiv1]

18 minutes ago, RaineyPark said:

I have had no problem with Princess Promotions. Just ask questions, get details, know the expiration date, book the trip and relax. I book with Princess, notify them of the promo, they pull it up from my account, apply it and done. 

 

Would you mind describing a "typical" package trip you have used?  Many of us are curious as to how a trip went for someone who purchased a Princess Promotion.

[sfaaa]

Too many restrictions. No deal.

[RaineyPark]

My package was about $3K and got the no big deal On Board Credit plus $350 toward a hotel which worked as promoted. If someone is a hard core do it yourselfer and looking to grind down to the fine details then I would suggest not bothering. Personally, I like working every available angle to maximize the vacation money. 

[batterup]

I bought a Princess promotion package on board and canceled it after noticing it did not post as a “cruise line”  purchase- thus losing the 2% back on my credit card. It posted as an “internet software” purchase. No one on board- or after the cruise- from both Princess and Princess promotions could tell me why it wasn’t a “cruise” purchase. It was not easy to get my money back either even though I canceled about 16 hours after purchasing it.

[TRLD]

11 minutes ago, batterup said:

I bought a Princess promotion package on board and canceled it after noticing it did not post as a “cruise line”  purchase- thus losing the 2% back on my credit card. It posted as an “internet software” purchase. No one on board- or after the cruise- from both Princess and Princess promotions could tell me why it wasn’t a “cruise” purchase. It was not easy to get my money back either even though I canceled about 16 hours after purchasing it.

Probably because ONE is also a software company.  If you lookup the company it shows its primary business as software.

[back-at-it]

I am in the process of canceling my Promotion.  I tried to use the Hotel certificates and the 7 Day Free Stay still cost you to use.  I did a mock lookup and a Normal rate of $1140 hotel stay was still $400 plus my 7 night stay certificate.  

[memoak]

ONE is a 3rd party vendor   They are not Princess I believe they sell many things for various companies 

[CynCyn]

When I asked for more info on the hotels, the sales lady offered to zoom with me but wouldn’t give me access.  That’s a no for me.

[Samkirch]

Very frustrating and very shady. It was "sold" as a way to make automatic payments for our cruise... turned out the payments were for the package, not the entire cruise fare. I fixed that mess with a bunch of phone calls and then realized that they didn't apply the entire $3000 to the cruise and left credits (several hundred dollars worth) in the account, and nobody was able to tell us why or credit them to the cruise. Then, airport transfers were added to our reservation at some point - they weren't on our original receipt. So..., I called Princess to remove them, and they were returned as future cruise credits instead of a refund... So... Buyer beware. Also - the cancellation window for Princess Promotions is VERY narrow - if there is a chance you'll cancel, you'll still be on the hook for the whole purchase.