Free Cruise is Back

[Woobstr112G]

I got my email too. 100% fare credited as FCC, so tempting. Just wish they would offer it from SF and not just LA. I would do it in a heartbeat!

 

L.A. Is just fine by me. I'm only 84 miles from San Pedro.....:):):)

 

Bob

[Astro Flyer]

Oh, boy: I really want to do the four day out of LA on Jan 16! Because Monday is a holiday, would only have to take two days off work. Some great prices on airfare, too.

 

The problem is that I don't see any way we could also do a seven day in 2014. . .we have three weeks blocked out for Europe and a TA in the fall, plus other stuff planned.

 

So am I reading the fine print that the credit must be USED, as compared to BOOKED in 2014? I'd love to use the credit on an Alaska cruise summer of 2015!

 

Thanks

Read the Terms & Conditions on the Princess website & the 100% FCC is for a 7 day or longer cruise sailing by 12/31/14. So if your fall TA is on Princess you can use the FCC before final payment but not in 2015.

Edited December 5, 2013 by Astro Flyer

[kath00]

Boy! Every suite is sold out for every LA sailing except March. We just booked March 27th on the Sapphire. One of the last trips out of LA before we kiss her good bye forever. Glad we can be back on one more time.

 

We sailed Golden in November for a 4n getaway and we have NOT gotten our FCC $ even though we booked Alaska for June 25th of 2014.

 

So it's definitely not automatic for all...

 

Will call tomorrow to make sure these FCCs are stackable and that we can make it before our final payment for the June cruise.

 

Kath

[Pia1913]

I booked a "getaway" today and found out something from my TA that I think people should know and be aware of. What's happening is that TAs are getting almost no commission on these sales. Maybe $10-15. When the 100% for our getaway cruise is applied towards a future cruise and reducing the amount due, Princess is basing the TA's commission on the reduced fare, not the original fare. That sucks. She's taking it as far up the chain as she can because she's been working 16-hour days booking these getaways for almost no commission.

 

So, have patience with your TA if they're not jumping for joy when you're booking a getaway cruise in January.

 

Pam, after I booked my cruise and before I paid for it, I spoke to one of the TA's I use. When she told me the above, I kept my booking directly with Princess. I'm not going to make her lose money to save 10 bucks.

[Frugalist]

I booked a "getaway" today and found out something from my TA that I think people should know and be aware of. What's happening is that TAs are getting almost no commission on these sales. Maybe $10-15. When the 100% for our getaway cruise is applied towards a future cruise and reducing the amount due, Princess is basing the TA's commission on the reduced fare, not the original fare. That sucks. She's taking it as far up the chain as she can because she's been working 16-hour days booking these getaways for almost no commission.

 

So, have patience with your TA if they're not jumping for joy when you're booking a getaway cruise in January.

I was speaking to my TA at length about this issue. She said she gets the full commission on the qualifying cruise. Then when someone books a future cruise and applies the FCC received on the qualifying cruise, that's when she get's a reduced commission (based on the reduced fare actually paid by the customer).

 

Since we have a FCC from a qualifying cruise in November, I asked her if we should just book directly with Princess when we are ready to book the cruise where we will use the FCC, since we don't want her to work for peanuts. She said we can still book that future cruise with her since she will still get credit for the booking from Princess and it will improve her overall numbers with them.

 

I am not at all sure how the relationship between Princess and a TA works. I'm just reporting my conversation with my TA on this topic.

[YumYumSweetiePie]

I am not trying to be rude, this is a genuine question from an uninformed person: isn't some commission better than no commission for a TA? Also, does the stress of the job come from the volume of bookings, not an individual booking? It just seems that when I book my own cruise through Princess it's a pretty easy process: choose room, fill in information, provide credit card. I can't imagine TAs do anything greatly different (again, I don't really know, so correct me if I'm wrong). Discounts they have for customers are pre-established for the firm, they're not calling and negotiating with Princess for every customer, right? Anyway, if I had to book 75 getaways a day because of a promotion and had to deal with 75 different customers, then I could see it being quite trying!!

[cruzsnooze]

What a TA earns ( or anyone else for that matter) is none of my business. I'm sure they want all the bookings they can get for the volume and perks they receive for that volume.

[sassyredhat]

I booked a "getaway" today and found out something from my TA that I think people should know and be aware of. What's happening is that TAs are getting almost no commission on these sales. Maybe $10-15. When the 100% for our getaway cruise is applied towards a future cruise and reducing the amount due, Princess is basing the TA's commission on the reduced fare, not the original fare. That sucks. She's taking it as far up the chain as she can because she's been working 16-hour days booking these getaways for almost no commission.

 

So, have patience with your TA if they're not jumping for joy when you're booking a getaway cruise in January.

 

Pam, I think we have the same TA. When I mentioned this, she very kindly told me not to worry about it. Bless her. :)

Pat

[triple7tahoe]

I had many of the same questions about TA commission. I then remembered that I was going to use the FCC's received for upcoming cruises that I had booked. I booked and talked 6 other members of my family into booking a couple of these "free" cruises. All booked thorough my usual TA. 4 of this group will probably not cruise again this year, so the TA should make full commission on their fares. Where he will lose out is the future cruise that we will be taking in April/May. At least by booking these and the future cruise through the same TA, whatever the total commission is, it will all go to him,

[DDDDale]

I booked a "getaway" today and found out something from my TA that I think people should know and be aware of. What's happening is that TAs are getting almost no commission on these sales. Maybe $10-15. When the 100% for our getaway cruise is applied towards a future cruise and reducing the amount due, Princess is basing the TA's commission on the reduced fare, not the original fare. That sucks. She's taking it as far up the chain as she can because she's been working 16-hour days booking these getaways for almost no commission.

 

So, have patience with your TA if they're not jumping for joy when you're booking a getaway cruise in January.

 

We just finished a "getaway" with a 50% FCC and will be doing one in January with a 100% FCC. I booked both directly with Princess. I plan to apply the first one to a previously booked April, 2014 7 day and the second to a previously booked 28 day in October, 2014. I had previously booked both of those with my discount TA and she had already provided invoices for both but now I'm concluding that she will be upping the price from which the FCC will be deducted in order to reflect her smaller than anticipated commission. If that's true, the net reduction due to the FCC will be considerably less for those of us who booked suites (since they are FREE) and use a discount TA. I hope this isn't true since I already deposited that money in my brain bank.

 

Dale

[seacruise9]

Hi,

 

I couldn't resist booking one of these cruises. I am booked on the four-day cruise (to San Diego and Ensenada) on the Sapphire Princess that departs on Jan. 9, 2014. Because I was able to get an excellent airfare from Chicago to Los Angeles and have other Princess cruises planned for 2014, this cruise is an incredible deal. Also, this gives me an opportunity to try the Sapphire Princess.

 

I did a similar four-day cruise (to Catalina Island and Ensenada) on the Golden Princess in September and had a wonderful time.

 

Chuck

[kath00]

Hello,

 

I called today to apply my Nov 7th 4n coastal to our June 2014 Alaska cruise. The lady says the sailing does not qualify as first sailing must be after 12/14. Can someone help me? It seems that everyone is getting their current sailings applied!

 

We sailed in a suite so it would be great if we can get this to work. Is there a prior promotion # perhaps that I can use? What should I say when I call back?

 

K

[chamima]

Hello,

 

I called today to apply my Nov 7th 4n coastal to our June 2014 Alaska cruise. The lady says the sailing does not qualify as first sailing must be after 12/14. Can someone help me? It seems that everyone is getting their current sailings applied!

 

We sailed in a suite so it would be great if we can get this to work. Is there a prior promotion # perhaps that I can use? What should I say when I call back?

 

K

 

Do you already have the FCC from your Nov cruise in your account? You should.

There's no reason you shouldn't be able to use that FCC for a cruise in June 2014 - maybe the CSR misunderstood you. Call back.

(We sailed Nov. 1 and the FCC is already applied to our Feb. 2014 cruise)

Edited December 5, 2013 by chamima

[chamima]

I booked a "getaway" today and found out something from my TA that I think people should know and be aware of. What's happening is that TAs are getting almost no commission on these sales. Maybe $10-15. When the 100% for our getaway cruise is applied towards a future cruise and reducing the amount due, Princess is basing the TA's commission on the reduced fare, not the original fare. That sucks. She's taking it as far up the chain as she can because she's been working 16-hour days booking these getaways for almost no commission.

 

So, have patience with your TA if they're not jumping for joy when you're booking a getaway cruise in January.

 

Pam, I think we have the same TA. When I mentioned this, she very kindly told me not to worry about it. Bless her. :)

Pat

 

I think a LOT of us use the same TA. ;)

Pam, I think you must have misunderstood her. I'm sure Frugalist is correct that the TAs make their normal commission from the first cruise but then when it's applied to the future cruise there isn't any "fare" to make commission on.

I also think they still get credit from Princess for booking both cruises.

[kath00]

Do you already have the FCC from your Nov cruise in your account? You should.

There's no reason you shouldn't be able to use that FCC for a cruise in June 2014 - maybe the CSR misunderstood you. Call back.

(We sailed Nov. 1 and the FCC is already applied to our Feb. 2014 cruise)

 

No! She checked. She said the promo was not active then! UGH.

[chamima]

No! She checked. She said the promo was not active then! UGH.

 

I knew there was a promo for our cruise.

It sounds like you're saying that you cruised in November and now, in retrospect, are thinking there must have/should have been a promo for your cruise but you never knew that BEFORE the cruise!

[kath00]

I knew there was a promo for our cruise.

It sounds like you're saying that you cruised in November and now, in retrospect, are thinking there must have/should have been a promo for your cruise but you never knew that BEFORE the cruise!

 

Right. Does anyone have a promo code that I could use for it? I doubt mine was booked with that code but it sounds like it should be applied...

[chamima]

There were no promo codes.

Some cruises qualified (for EVERYONE on them) some didn't.

It sounds like yours didn't.

[kath00]

There were no promo codes.

Some cruises qualified (for EVERYONE on them) some didn't.

It sounds like yours didn't.

 

Ok so Nov 7th was the ONLY sailing that did not qualify. UGH.

 

They are saying promo is only for Jan sailings on the 3/4d CA Coastals. Our March booking for 2014 also doesn't qualify. SHeesh!

 

Anyone with later than Jan sailings able to do this promo?

[Gert2011]

Ok so Nov 7th was the ONLY sailing that did not qualify. UGH.

 

They are saying promo is only for Jan sailings on the 3/4d CA Coastals. Our March booking for 2014 also doesn't qualify. SHeesh!

 

Anyone with later than Jan sailings able to do this promo?

 

Read the fine print at the bottom and you will see that it is only for two ships on very specific dates.

https://book.princess.com/html/global/cruisedeals/100getaways/

[helenb]

Ok so Nov 7th was the ONLY sailing that did not qualify. UGH.

 

They are saying promo is only for Jan sailings on the 3/4d CA Coastals. Our March booking for 2014 also doesn't qualify. SHeesh!

 

Anyone with later than Jan sailings able to do this promo?

 

I wouldn't be surprised if this promo is extended to those sailings, but it isn't applicable right now.

[caribill]

Our March booking for 2014 also doesn't qualify. SHeesh!

 

 

March is the start of spring break times. They can probably fill up the ship without giving a 100% refund of the cruise price.

[Wehwalt]

Looking at one of the roll calls for the Ruby that are now on sale, I see comments from before the sale that the ship is only a third full.

 

I do not think they will expand this. These were short cruises that were unpopular away from the holidays, and Princess needed to fill them. Possibly they will cut back on these short sailings in future years in favor of seven day ones with better itineraries.

 

That being said, I booked three short cruises on the Ruby as a B2B2B. One tip that people may be interested in is that you can use your Future Cruise Credits (the $100 onboard deposits) to make part payment and pick up $25 OBC.

[Pia1913]

Looking at one of the roll calls for the Ruby that are now on sale, I see comments from before the sale that the ship is only a third full.

 

I do not think they will expand this. These were short cruises that were unpopular away from the holidays, and Princess needed to fill them. Possibly they will cut back on these short sailings in future years in favor of seven day ones with better itineraries.

 

That being said, I booked three short cruises on the Ruby as a B2B2B. One tip that people may be interested in is that you can use your Future Cruise Credits (the $100 onboard deposits) to make part payment and pick up $25 OBC.

 

 

Except that most people don't stockpile FCC's the way we do. :D As for shorr cruises, one that does not qualify for the rebate is the Xmas cruise; December 22nd to 26th; four nights. We got this one as a giveaway too. $249 for OV. Wanted New Years too, but that one was far from a "gimme."

[helenb]

I agree, Christmas is nice onboard a cruise ship, but New Year's is awesome!

Edited December 6, 2013 by helenb