Warning About Using Up Onboard Credits

[Putterdude]

We always manage to use up our OBCs but will certainly have to watch in the future.

[jajohnson]

This has all of the makings of a VERY nasty public fight....since Princess gave us 50% of our Star move over refund ($5000) as an OBC on our upcoming Royal Princess cruise. Their statement was that we could get a check for the unused amount as a check on board at the end of the cruise. Now it appears it will just go away?:mad:

 

I have asked our TA to research this and will post the response.

 

John

[kruzinon]

Just another reason for Princess to come out of the Dark Ages and install a interactive TV system onboard like most of the other lines have done YEARS ago so you can monitor this from your room. Some here say its too expensive (NOT) so maybe they can use some of the money they have stolen with this new system from unsuspecting cruisers to pay for it.

[Toto2Kansas]

This has all of the makings of a VERY nasty public fight....since Princess gave us 50% of our Star move over refund ($5000) as an OBC on our upcoming Royal Princess cruise. Their statement was that we could get a check for the unused amount as a check on board at the end of the cruise. Now it appears it will just go away?:mad:

 

I have asked our TA to research this and will post the response.

 

John

John, Your situation is totally different than what is being discussed here, so I don't think you have a worry one. The credits we are talking about are ''non-refundable" credits such as those you get with stockholder credit, Military credit, TA credit, or Captain's Circle credit. The ones here are not refundable if you don't use them, yours will be refundable if you don't use it. Both are credits, but totally different how they are handled. ;)

[1 HappyCruiser]

Just another reason for Princess to come out of the Dark Ages and install a interactive TV system onboard like most of the other lines have done YEARS ago so you can monitor this from your room. Some here say its too expensive (NOT) so maybe they can use some of the money they have stolen with this new system from unsuspecting cruisers to pay for it.

 

That still wouldn't inform you of the money their going to steal from your one account on the last day.

[Toto2Kansas]

I just checked our final day print outs from both our B2B cruises. It seems on the first cruise, that ended on February 21, they did combine the credits and subtracted my charges from his credits. On the second cruise that ended on March 3, that must be when they changed to the new system and they did not combine them. (I know I talked to one of the pursers onboard, and they said the new software system was giving them absolute fits and nobody seemed to understand it).

Thankfully I kept my credit slips they issued me, so hopefully my TA can sort all of this out for me. Between the two of us, I am going to put up a good fight on this one. Princess, I am not sure what you are thinking here, but you have made a huge mistake on this one. Let's see if they correct the error, stay tuned. ;)

[Katie333]

So glad to know this! We are embarking on the Star next month and like so many of you, my onboard account will likely receive the stock and TA credit, while my spouse will receive nothing. Looks like we'll have to use my card for any onboard expenses which is annoying actually. We shouldn't have to do this. :mad:

[ONT-CA]

It would seem that even if you did not use one of the two cards for purchases, the OBC on both cards would be wiped out by the Hotel Charge would it not?

[bgbaird]

It's very straightforward (and a good TA would tell you), make sure that the purser combines your folios early in the cruise.

[Toto2Kansas]

It would seem that even if you did not use one of the two cards for purchases, the OBC on both cards would be wiped out by the Hotel Charge would it not?

That is the way it used to be handled (and was handled on the first leg of our B2B), but it seems that has now changed. Even though both cruise card accounts are linked to the same credit card in the same stateroom, each persons account is being treated totally seperate (even those sharing the same stateroom that give only one credit card to settle both accounts) and are not combined or deducted from each other at the end of the voyages. :(

[recyclelady]

So good to know!!!

[asctony]

It is always 'blame the software.' Well, Companies should have some idea of what the new software will do and won't do. They know how it will affect the company, but they are worried about the bottom line, profit! Then they cry and say, sorry, we can't do anything about it. It is a software problem.

 

Heard that for years and will continue to hear that for more years to come. However, if it affects their profit, watch how quick they fix it. LOL

[silvercruiser]

jajohnson...yes, you'll get the refund on the last day, but it may be in cash, not a check. We were told we'd be issued a check on the last day, but when I went to collect it, they started peeling off $100 bills, 40 of them! I was very very glad I had a money belt, because it would have made me nervous to be wandering around with that much cash.

[Tobermory]

Based on our recent experience on Holland America and postings already made re: Princess, you should be able to easily combine two separate accounts into one account for the same cabin by making a request at the purser's desk sometime before the end of the cruise. This solves the problem, although it should not require a request on our part when this automatically happened in the past. The separation of a cabin account into two separate accounts seems to be a very recent change by Princess and Holland America even though the same credit card is being used for both accounts. I would guess that many passengers have not noticed this change and, therefore, have ended up paying more than they should have. We were fortunate to have caught the change before the end of our Holland America cruise last week, and our two accounts were combined when we requested it to be done.

[Romy40]

I wonder if it would be easier to go to the PSD and have them put half the OBC's on the husband's account and half on mine?

 

Less problematic? :confused:

[Dayenu]

We got a good advice from Cruise Critics - get your cabin statement(s) early into the cruise, so we caught on to this right away using only the key card with credits for on-board spendings.

 

Don't know if they would transfer credits or combine accounts as we didn't have much.

[asctony]

I wonder if it would be easier to go to the PSD and have them put half the OBC's on the husband's account and half on mine?

 

Less problematic? :confused:

 

The PSD would have to check with the head office. When we didn't get our correct OBC, we had to wait days for the head office to check it out and then it took a couple of days to post it. Normally the FCC Cabin OBC and the Captain Circle Elite OBC (number of cruises) is posted to the main passenger who has the credit card. However, each individual who can use the credit card has their own running totals for Tips each day, purchases, etc., that they buy.

[cboyle]

more of an issue to use both Cruise Cards! I believe stateroom charges are accumulated from Cruise Card use, so even if both PAX each have a separate credit card, that does nothing to use up an OBC in either account.

 

I agree with the OP, that if this is really a policy change, sneaking it in under the cloak of silence may initially drive more revenue, but in the long run it does little to instill passenger trust or loyalty in Princess. Tell me the rules of the game, don't hide them and put me on "double secret probation".:mad:

 

Just another reason for Princess to come out of the Dark Ages and install a interactive TV system onboard like most of the other lines have done YEARS ago so you can monitor this from your room. Some here say its too expensive (NOT) so maybe they can use some of the money they have stolen with this new system from unsuspecting cruisers to pay for it.

 

That still wouldn't inform you of the money their going to steal from your one account on the last day.

 

Princess did not keep the new policy a secret, but people who did not end the cruise with a credit in their onboard account were not told about it. After dinner on the last night of the cruise, I received a letter saying there was a credit in my onboard account and to come down to the PSD to get a refund. My husband (whose onboard account showed a balance due) did not get a letter.

 

When I went to the PSD, I was told I could NOT get a refund and the credit in my account could NOT be applied to my husband's account. However, they COULD manually move some charges from his account to mine, thereby using up my credit. It was at this point that I was actually told this was a new policy necessitated by Princess' new accounting system.

 

If someone wants to periodically go to the PSD during his/her cruise and have charges manually moved to another account, that is certainly one way to handle this situation. However, that involves standing in yet another line and takes time.

 

I think it would be far easier to use your own Cruise Card some times and the other person's Cruise Card other times until both sets of onboard credits are used up. This is what we plan to do from now on.

 

Carolyn

[willysgrandma]

This is not the only change that Princess has made and opted not to publicize. They also made changes to the group tour conductor policy and purposely didn't tell travel agents.

[ONT-CA]

That is the way it used to be handled (and was handled on the first leg of our B2B), but it seems that has now changed. Even though both cruise card accounts are linked to the same credit card in the same stateroom, each persons account is being treated totally seperate ... :(

 

To our knowledge this is how it has always been handled. For example, all bar purchases are applied to only one card but the Hotel Charges to both cards separately. Hence neither card/account has a credit due to the Hotel Charge and the outstanding balances for each are bill to the same credit card as two separate debits.

[cboyle]

The PSD would have to check with the head office. When we didn't get our correct OBC, we had to wait days for the head office to check it out and then it took a couple of days to post it. Normally the FCC Cabin OBC and the Captain Circle Elite OBC (number of cruises) is posted to the main passenger who has the credit card. However, each individual who can use the credit card has their own running totals for Tips each day, purchases, etc., that they buy.

 

Even though we are joint owners of our Carnival stock, the Shareholder Benefit credit always appears on my husband's onboard account and so does the Captain's Circle Elite credit ($25 for us). The onboard credit I buy with points earned from our joint Princess credit card always appears on my onboard account. The FCC is per person and appears on our respective accounts. The OBC we receive from our travel agent is split 50-50 between our accounts.

 

The best way to know who got which credit is to get a printout of both accounts several times during the cruise (preferably when there is no one in line at the PSD).

 

Carolyn

[stunnedinva]

It sure is nice of Princess to inform us all of their new changes. Cruise lines are always quickly informing us of things that make us happy. However, when it is taking away something or changing the rules, they seem to forget to tell us.

Just this year alone, 2011, they have done away with the daily Elite Happy Hour unless you are in port.

 

They did away with the Elite happy hours unless you're in port? ACK! Is this fleet-wide and already in effect? I've been out of the country and didn't get the news.

[cboyle]

To our knowledge this is how it has always been handled. For example, all bar purchases are applied to only one card but the Hotel Charges to both cards separately. Hence neither card/account has a credit due to the Hotel Charge and the outstanding balances for each are bill to the same credit card as two separate debits.

Yes, an individual's Hotel Charges go on that person's onboard account. However, bar and other charges go on the account associated with the Cruise Card used to pay for the charge.

 

If you have a lot of onboard credit from various sources, it is not always possible to use it all up just with Hotel Charges. On our last cruise, I had only the Hotel Charges and two shore excursions on my account. I still had over $100 OBC left.

 

Carolyn

[cboyle]

It sure is nice of Princess to inform us all of their new changes. Cruise lines are always quickly informing us of things that make us happy. However, when it is taking away something or changing the rules, they seem to forget to tell us.

Just this year alone, 2011, they have done away with the daily Elite Happy Hour unless you are in port.

 

They did away with the Elite happy hours unless you're in port? ACK! Is this fleet-wide and already in effect? I've been out of the country and didn't get the news.

On our cruise, the Elite/Platinum/Suites Lounge was open every night except the night that the Captain's Circle Parties were held. There is a different drink special every night ($2.99).

 

We received a card at the beginning of the cruise that stated what the special would be each night.

 

Carolyn

[Potstech]

Blaming it on the software is the wrong answer. If there are software problems that cause these situations then one of two things should be done. 1.) go back to the old software that didn't have these problems or 2.) Change the current software to fix the problem. As a person who works with computers daily I wonder where they tested this program at?

 

Looks like Princess is field testing the software and a new charging program on paying customers without informing them of the changes. Time to notify other travel sites to be on the look out for this on all cruise ships. Definitely not right.