Future Cruise Sales Office vs. Circle Desk Office?

[swdke]

Last year, while on the Caribbean Princess, we waited till the last day to take advantage of pre-paying $100 pp to be applied towards a future cruise. We were not "booking" a future cruise, just simply pre-paying the future deposit only. On the Caribbean Princess, we went to where we needed to pay our deposit and was not sure of the office to go. There seemed to be two, both side by side, one was the Future Cruise Sales Office and the other the Circle Desk office. When we arrived, there were a lot of people, about 6-7 waiting. I assumed they were like us, waiting to pre-pay their $100 deposits. Of these two offices, both had a Princess staff member, but only one was actually serving passengers. After a short while, I went up to the staff member who was not serving anyone, which I think was in the Future Cruise Sales office, and asked if this was where we would pre-pay our $100 future cruise deposit, and she confirmed that it was, and she was able to immediately assist us. I kind of felt guilty being served right away when there were so many people outside waiting. However, it turned out, they were not waiting for this person, but for the person in the other office, the Circle Desk office. My question is, what is the Circle Desk, and why would there be so many people lined up outside to meet with the Princess staff member in this office. I am just curious, that's all. Thanks!

[Toto2Kansas]

Some like to visit with the Captain's Circle Host/Hostess to straighten out problem or ask questions about the Captain's Circle program. I have seen this happen on many cruises.

 

One thing to keep in mind for the future though, you don't have to wait in any lines to book a future cruise 'credit'. There are forms you can fill out, drop in the box, and that is all you need to do. They will charge your credit card you have listed for that cruise as a seperate charge, and email you the receipt now...........very simple and takes only a minute or two.

[Colo Cruiser]

I agree there always sems to be a ton of people waiting for the CC host.

Fixing issues with their accounts mostly.

[shellbeachjim]

On the Pacific/Ocean/Royal Princess these two functions are often combined into a single position. On our cruises I usually talk to the future cruise consultant, but rarely need the help of the Captain's Circle host.

[DanJ]

I got the blue card on our second cruise, so I went to the CC Host and had it taken care of. I'm sure that people trying to ensure they have the proper cruise credits takes up a good chunk of the CC host's time. And I agree with Toto about how simple it is to fill out the form for the future cruise credit and slip it in the box. They've been doing it back at least as far as 2006 when we last did it. Once home, I forwarded the email to my TA so she could keep it on file for me in case I lost it LOL.