Book-on-board vs. Future Cruise Credit

[pablo222]

I'm going to be on emerald next week, and wanted to buy a future cruise credit for a holiday cruise.

 

This made me wonder...

 

If I buy a future cruise credit, I'm then able to book with a reduced deposit, and promise of a shipboard credit (that varies based on cruise length and cabin type).

 

...so, if I book on board, do I get the same two benefits?

 

It sounds silly, but if not, I guess I'd want to buy an FCC early in the

cruise, and then book onboard later in the cruise using the FCC.

 

Don't really care about the reduced deposit, as it just makes the final payment larger, but I do like the shipboard credit.

 

Also, are there currently "share the wealth" cards, where if you buy

a FCC, a friend can use the "share the wealth" card, and get the same

two benefits?

[paul929207]

Yes, you get the same benefit for booking on board

[Pia1913]

Share the Wealth cards were eliminated a year ago and you now need one FCC per person.

[BobT172]

You don't even have to personally see the FCC consultant on the cruise. Outside his/her office will be forms to fill out and you just put them in the drop box. Before the end of the cruise, you will get a confirmation delivered toi your cabin.

[Toto2Kansas]

You receive the same benefits (OBC/lowered deposit) whether purchasing an FCC while onboard, or actually booking the cruise onboard. One thing though, check to see if they have any offers of double shipboard credit if you book onboard. Last couple of cruises, they were offering this for certain voyages, so if you booked onboard, you would receive double the shipboard credit attached to the FCC. ;)

 

I agree with Pia, they no longer offer the share the wealth coupons in any way, shape or form, they were discountinued quite some time ago. Enjoy!

[Colo Cruiser]

We book once back home. Never have seen any good deals onboard.

[luvs2travl]

We book on board to take advantage of the $100.00 pp booking fee and also getting the OBC's. You can have up to 4 years to change your booking and still keep the OBC's and the $100.00 pp booking fee. BIG advantage over having to put down 15% or more of your cruise fee up front.

 

If you decide to cancel, your booking fee is refunded to the credit card you used to book originally and you just lose the OBC's.

 

If you use a T/A, any other perks or discounts they can get you are applied as well. We have had some really great savings by doing this.

 

Just our opinion, but we've found that it works for us! :D

[bhopal21]

We book once back home. Never have seen any good deals onboard.

 

 

Agreed. Buy the FCC's onboard and then use them with your discount TA after returning home.

 

Mike:)

[geoherb]

We booked on board once back in 2003 and did not have any trouble. The cruise consultant had all the paperwork ready and credited our travel agent with it. We got a great price at the time. Since then, we have purchased the future cruise credits without booking a specific cruise. Those have worked out well. We know we'll be back on a Princess ship within a couple of years.

[Toto2Kansas]

We book on board to take advantage of the $100.00 pp booking fee and also getting the OBC's. You can have up to 4 years to change your booking and still keep the OBC's and the $100.00 pp booking fee. BIG advantage over having to put down 15% or more of your cruise fee up front.

 

If you decide to cancel, your booking fee is refunded to the credit card you used to book originally and you just lose the OBC's.

 

If you use a T/A, any other perks or discounts they can get you are applied as well. We have had some really great savings by doing this.

 

Just our opinion, but we've found that it works for us! :D

 

You do know you don't actually have to book a cruise, you can just purchase an unassigned FCC for each of you and book a cruise later with your Travel agent and receive the same exact benefits? And no standing in line, you just fill out the request form and drop it into the drop box and it will be charged to your credit card you have registered for the cruise as a seperate charge. The receipt is now sent in the form of an email instead of it being delivered to your cabin onboard.

[katisdale]

We have bought the credits and also booked on board. When booking onboard we just ignore the quoted price which is always way more than what our TA actually charges us. As soon as we are home we transfer the booking to our TA.

[luvs2travl]

You do know you don't actually have to book a cruise, you can just purchase an unassigned FCC for each of you and book a cruise later with your Travel agent and receive the same exact benefits? And no standing in line, you just fill out the request form and drop it into the drop box and it will be charged to your credit card you have registered for the cruise as a seperate charge. The receipt is now sent in the form of an email instead of it being delivered to your cabin onboard.

 

Yes, thanks, toto! Each time we cruise, we say we're just going to buy the FCC's, but we always end up finding something that catches our fancy. We have had to cancel (or move) bookings only twice - once on Princess and once on HAL, but have never had a problem in doing so. They just forward everything to our T/A & we let her handle it from there.

 

Guess we should quit going to those Future Cruise presentations in the theaters - too tempting!! :D

[Lynda90]

If you decide to cancel, your booking fee is refunded to the credit card you used to book originally and you just lose the OBC's.

If you decide to cancel, the FCC (booking fee) is put back in your cruise savings account for future use.

[1 HappyCruiser]

The deal they had going on the Emerald in May was booking on board for double the cabin credit you normally get with the FCC + transferring the cruise to a TA of your choice & getting their price if it were better + any cabin credit and perks that particular TA was offering. If you didn't want to commit to a specific trip you could also buy the normal FCC as in the past without the doubling of credit. There were numerous ships listed for sailings up till the end of this year. None of the ship or dates included trips during Christmas but the 7, 10 or 14 days just prior.

[luvs2travl]

The deal they had going on the Emerald in May was booking on board for double the cabin credit you normally get with the FCC + transferring the cruise to a TA of your choice & getting their price if it were better + any cabin credit and perks that particular TA was offering. If you didn't want to commit to a specific trip you could also buy the normal FCC as in the past without the doubling of credit. There were numerous ships listed for sailings up till the end of this year. None of the ship or dates included trips during Christmas but the 7, 10 or 14 days just prior.

 

Ooh - sounds great! We will be on the Emerald in October. Hope they have the same thing or something similar going on then. We'll check on the Diamond next week, too! Thanks so much! :D

[luvs2travl]

If you decide to cancel, the FCC (booking fee) is put back in your cruise savings account for future use.

 

Yes - but if you don't use them after the requisite time, (four years) they will be refunded to your original credit card used to purchase them on board. And then you lose the OBC's attached. Sorry if I wasn't clear in my previous post. :o

[cruisin36]

You do not have to book a specific cruise when purchasing an FCC onboard. Just leave that part of the from blank. You will get a confirmation and it will show up on your personalizer on the Princess website. You then have four years to book a cruise. You can book either with Princess or with a TA.

[1 HappyCruiser]

Ooh - sounds great! We will be on the Emerald in October. Hope they have the same thing or something similar going on then. We'll check on the Diamond next week, too! Thanks so much! :D

 

Shop around now at home so you're prepared to book if they still have the special going. They'll transfer to any agency you give them. I didn't know about the special deal & had to do my searching on-board & you know how slow it can be at times. Luckily the TA I normally use had the best prices as well as an online cabin credit.

 

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