Warning About Using Up Onboard Credits

[PescadoAmarillo]

Does this new system mean that we will each be credited with $325 OBC and will have to ensure that we alternate our spending?

We always start Day 2 of a cruise (the first full day) printing out our account balance to see where the OBCs lie (and to make certain we have received them). By now, we kind of know what to expect (i.e. which are DH's and which are mine), but I think it's even more important now, so that you know whose card to use for onboard purchases.

[sunshine nana]

Back to the OP's original warning. Because most of our OBC is in my name and I had put the Excursion reservations in DH's name, I was going to change the excursion reservations to my name. BUT, the prices of 2 of them have gone up from $10-$20 apiece and another one was waitlisted. So I am going to have to wait until we get onboard to try to prevent losing my OBC while DH is charged more than his OBC. I hope this is changed by our cruise in June.

[earljr]

needless to say I am now confused. (this is new?)

 

Were you able to roll your accounts balances from the

first leg to the second leg?

[Toto2Kansas]

needless to say I am now confused. (this is new?)

 

Were you able to roll your accounts balances from the

first leg to the second leg?

Earl, we could roll over the credits from one cruise to the next, but you had to of course alert the purser's desk and then make sure it was taken care of. But make sure you each use all of your shipboard credit up by the end of the second cruise, as if one has credit left, and the other a balance, you will be billed for the balance and the credits forfeited as unused. :( Even though you are both in the same cabin, and using the same credit card, both of your shipboard accounts will be treated totally seperate at the end of the voyage. Although when you get a print out of your accounts during the cruise, it will have them merged together at the end of the print out, they will not be handled this way at the end of the cruise.

And Earl, just a word of warning. The purser's desk on the Royal has about the worst staff I have ever run into, they seem to have no clue what is going on or what they are doing, and I am not joking at all.

They issued me two large credit refunds on my credit card, and they have never been put through, so don't depend on a refund of any kind, and if you are do one, get it in cash. Right now, my credit card company is looking into this and is going to see that my credit slips are applied, even though Princess never did forward them to the cc company (which they can't do, if they issued them).

Stacie is the head purser (blonde) and she is as clueless as the rest, she seems to have no idea what she is doing behind that desk, so watch yourselves with your accounts. ;) If you have any questions or problems you can't seem to get straight with the purser's desk, find Arturo the Hotel manager, he is fantastic and can fix anything. And have a great cruise. ;)

[caribill]

They issued me two large credit refunds on my credit card, and they have never been put through, so don't depend on a refund of any kind, and if you are do one, get it in cash. Right now, my credit card company is looking into this and is going to see that my credit slips are applied, even though Princess never did forward them to the cc company (which they can't do, if they issued them).

 

"Never" is a strong word. Credit refunds from a Princess voyage take 60-90 days to process as they are done manually back at HQ. If I remember correctly, it has not been that long since your cruise ended.

 

Yes, charges to your credit card are usually reach the credit card company before you have reached your front door after the voyage. Charges seem to be done automatically by computer.

 

In this day and age should credit refinds be able to be processed automatically? Yes. Why aren't they? I do not know.

[Toto2Kansas]

"Never" is a strong word. Credit refunds from a Princess voyage take 60-90 days to process as they are done manually back at HQ. If I remember correctly, it has not been that long since your cruise ended.

 

Yes, charges to your credit card are usually reach the credit card company before you have reached your front door after the voyage. Charges seem to be done automatically by computer.

 

In this day and age should credit refinds be able to be processed automatically? Yes. Why aren't they? I do not know.

 

Yes, you are right, never is a very strong word. I guess it is still a real 'hot topic' with me as it was the first time I have ever left a Princess ship after a glorious cruise with a really bad taste in my mouth. I guess fighting with the purser's desk for an hour the final morning is something I am just not used to, or have ever had to do before. :o (and I might add, hope to never do again).;)

[westcoastguy]

They send you a cheque from Carnival Corporation after 3 months.

 

i received a cheque 3 months after sailing on the Golden Princess whatever remaining cabin credit.

 

 

 

i used my amex gold when i registered on that cruise.

[caribill]

They send you a cheque from Carnival Corporation after 3 months.

 

i received a cheque 3 months after sailing on the Golden Princess whatever remaining cabin credit.

 

 

That's right. I forgot that it was a check I received, not a credit to the credit card even though on board they said it would be posted to the credit card.

 

Also, the envelope gives no hint of where it came from, and, if I remember correctly, the check did not say Princess or Carnival as the payer.

[donna5]

"Never" is a strong word. Credit refunds from a Princess voyage take 60-90 days to process as they are done manually back at HQ. If I remember correctly, it has not been that long since your cruise ended.

 

Yes, charges to your credit card are usually reach the credit card company before you have reached your front door after the voyage. Charges seem to be done automatically by computer.

 

In this day and age should credit refinds be able to be processed automatically? Yes. Why aren't they? I do not know.

 

However if you wait to long to contest the amount with the c.c. company then you are out of luck.

[Toto2Kansas]

My CC company said that up to two months later, they can still protest the charge (even if you have paid it), but they would rather take care of it right now. If it takes up to 90 days, then donna5 is correct, you are out of the grace period to protest, at least with my CC.

It makes no sense that they would issue a CC refund and give you a receipt, and then send you a check later on (very strange, as there would be no reason for the CC refund receipt). I am not doubting that is how it's handled, it is just a strange way of doing things IMHO.

[kaybeeeeeee]

Yes, I was talking about the PnE Skywalkers each evening. From what I have read on this forum, this event will only be held on Port Days.

As for the $2.99 drinks after 8pm, that is a big question mark since many people have not seen or heard about it and even the bartenders have not, too. But, some people say they see the info on the back of the bar drink menu or in the Patter.

 

Just got off the Caribbean Princess and we had $2.99 drinks after 8 pm on a couple of nights. They were certainly mentioned by the CD in his morning show but I'm not sure if they were in the Patter or on the bar menus.

 

I also seem to recall (tho I'm not 100% certain) that the remainder of my OBC was eaten up by the transfer of my wife's debit to my account, leaving a small balance on my credit card. I'll try to find the paperwork when I get home tonight and post back.

 

Please also remember the differences between refundable and nonrefundable OBCs. If your OBC is nonrefundable then it's use it or lose it.

[earljr]

Earl, we could roll over the credits from one cruise to the next, but you had to of course alert the purser's desk and then make sure it was taken care of. But make sure you each use all of your shipboard credit up by the end of the second cruise, as if one has credit left, and the other a balance, you will be billed for the balance and the credits forfeited as unused. :( Even though you are both in the same cabin, and using the same credit card, both of your shipboard accounts will be treated totally seperate at the end of the voyage. Although when you get a print out of your accounts during the cruise, it will have them merged together at the end of the print out, they will not be handled this way at the end of the cruise.

And Earl, just a word of warning. The purser's desk on the Royal has about the worst staff I have ever run into, they seem to have no clue what is going on or what they are doing, and I am not joking at all.

They issued me two large credit refunds on my credit card, and they have never been put through, so don't depend on a refund of any kind, and if you are do one, get it in cash. Right now, my credit card company is looking into this and is going to see that my credit slips are applied, even though Princess never did forward them to the cc company (which they can't do, if they issued them).

Stacie is the head purser (blonde) and she is as clueless as the rest, she seems to have no idea what she is doing behind that desk, so watch yourselves with your accounts. ;) If you have any questions or problems you can't seem to get straight with the purser's desk, find Arturo the Hotel manager, he is fantastic and can fix anything. And have a great cruise. ;)

 

Thanks Sue ---

 

Yes Arturo, Il mio amico, have sailed with him before, he is a great talker, singer,and person.

Thanks again.

[Marmaduke]

I had a similar experience to Toto back in December on the Sea Princess. As the shareholder I always have more OBC than my husband. I always register my credit card to pay for both accounts. My husband signs for most things on board and when ever we checked our accounts during the cruise his total had been passed over to my account, in effect my OBC was being used to pay off his bill, which is what we wanted. As per the other posters on here, the final account on the last morning showed my husband as owing money, and my account still being in credit. I therefore spent 45 minutes arguing at the pursers desk along with several hundred other disgruntled passengers with the same problem. I was also given a manual credit card refund slip (probably to shut me up) which has never been processed and refunded to my card, but then the amount on my husband's bill was never added to my card. So to date we are even and not owing Princess anything. This experience soured what had been a most enjoyable cruise and I certainly let Princess know about it when I filled in the on line questionnaire when I got home.

[caribill]

Please also remember the differences between refundable and nonrefundable OBCs. If your OBC is nonrefundable then it's use it or lose it.

 

Does Princess subtract charges from refundable OBC first or from non-refundable OBC first?

[Toto2Kansas]

Does Princess subtract charges from refundable OBC first or from non-refundable OBC first?

 

That is the question that nobody, not even Princess, seems to be able to answer.

[g/d cruisers]

My better half and I usually place our excursions under one persons account, then the ships shops under the others account, this usually uses up the expenses, but it is wise for you to check on your onboard accounts on a daily basis, as this will let you know where you stand with your onboard expenses vs. the onboard credits.

[diane.in.ny]

I understand Princess is aware of this problem. The simplest way to handle this is to go to the PSD and have the accounts joined. (Of course we shouldn't have to take the time to do this but that's another issue.)

 

If last day you have a remaining credit that should have gone against charges on another account, call Princess Customer Service post-cruise. They will take care of the problem for you.

[hansi]

If you go to the Desk and ask to have all the OBC transferred to one keycard, will they do that?

[Toto2Kansas]

I just received a phone call from Princess Cruises about this problem (I had my TA contact them). The Princess Rep had our folios in front of her, and she said there definitely was a problem. SHE SAYS that both accounts SHOULD HAVE been combined at the end of the voyage. :confused::confused:

 

But the purser's desk added our credit card refunds to the wrong column of the folio, so she thought those were charges. OMG, this is such a pain, that purser's desk really needs some training onboard the Royal, but then we knew that right from the beginning of the cruise when nobody seemed to know what was going on.

 

Anyway, she had me email her copies of our credit card refund slips, and told me she would put a rush on them to finance and have them straighten this out within the next two or three business days, BEFORE I disallow the charge on my cc and send the credit slips to my credit card company.

 

Stay tuned................although this is no longer interesting, more of a pain in the 'you know what', we will see how Princess takes care of this. ;)

[jfgdbg]

Does Princess subtract charges from refundable OBC first or from non-refundable OBC first?

 

Can someone explain to me the difference between refundable and non-refundable OBC.

Thank you.

[Toto2Kansas]

Can someone explain to me the difference between refundable and non-refundable OBC.

Thank you.

 

Stock Credit, Military Credit, Credit from booking with FCC's, Captain's Circle credit (for sailing over 20-30-+ cruises) are non-refundable types of credits.

Onboard credit you have sent to yourself, credit for government and taxes that you overpaid that are refunded onboard, and move over offer credits are types of refundable credits.

[jfgdbg]

Stock Credit, Military Credit, Credit from booking with FCC's, Captain's Circle credit (for sailing over 20-30-+ cruises) are non-refundable types of credits.

Onboard credit you have sent to yourself, credit for government and taxes that you overpaid that are refunded onboard, and move over offer credits are types of refundable credits.

 

Thanks Toto for the prompt reply.

[sunshine nana]

We need to keep this thread going and on the first page to keep Princess's attention so the problem will be fixed. I am grateful to the OP and everyone who has posted. Can't help but think CC gets their attention.

[diane.in.ny]

If you go to the Desk and ask to have all the OBC transferred to one keycard, will they do that?

 

They won't transfer the OBC. The OBCs are non-transferable. They WILL transfer the charges.

 

http://www.travelsnippetsandmore.com/2011/03/followup-on-my-princess-and-hal-obc.html

[Marmaduke]

Hopefully this will be sorted by Princess and that I will continue to be able, by registering my card for both of us, to use my OBC to pay my husbands charges.

Surely it is obvious that the occupants of a cabin (no matter what their relationship) are happy to share their financies if they only register one card between them. Alternatively if Princess don't wish to play ball, let's all register one card per person. This would certainly give them more admin work to do.