Free Cruise is Back

[ASeaPrincess1]

I called Princess to see if my booking, on which final payment was made Monday, would qualify for the 100% back on a future cruise.

She told me that, yes, it would qualify, and that all bookings of the eligible cruises made before December 31 would get the deal.

 

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

[ORbeachlover]

I live in Oregon and received the email. My parents, who live in FL, did not. I sent them a link to the promotion, they called Princess and had it apply to their already paid in full cruise in January so it seems that it is open to anyone who knows about it and just asks.

[goodie2shoes]

We are in Kern County, and I got the email - but my husband didn't, and neither did my daughter. Makes you wonder. . . Anyway, we are booked, and will use the credit on our June Alaska cruise. All confirmed by my TA with Princess. He said he is going to try to do one himself. You can't pass up an opportunity like that.

[FritzG]

How can Princess do this? Are we going to be served hot dogs and orange jello for every meal-lol? I can't figure out how they are going to make any kind of profit with this program unless they hope that a lot of people won't take advantage of the credit.

[cotatica]

We live north of SF and received it. TA has now booked us for the Jan 16 and Jan 20. She did explain that the port fee is included in the price and that is subtracted so don't forget about that. We are applying ours on our booked Alaska cruise June 3 out of SF. We will drive down to Santa Barbara and stay before and after for a visit with relatives. We will catch the Airbus to the Cruise Terminal so won't have to drive in LA traffic or pay for car parking! Yahoo.

[chamima]

How can Princess do this? Are we going to be served hot dogs and orange jello for every meal-lol? I can't figure out how they are going to make any kind of profit with this program unless they hope that a lot of people won't take advantage of the credit.

 

We took advantage of a similar offer they made in October and sailed on a 3 day in November.

From my on board observations the casino and bars were WAY busier than normal. Specialty restaurants were sold out every night. My guess is that because everyone was getting something for nothing they spent way more on board and Princess probably came out ahead.

[TM]

I wouldn't have known about this without all the great info here on Cruise Critic so thank you. I just booked a full suite on the January 16th cruise out of Los Angeles. Kind of a no-brainer to book a suite when Princess is going to apply the price minus port fees and taxes to my next cruise in the fall.

 

Tom

[Astro Flyer]

Probably haven't done enough Princess cruises to suit them. LOL

Joe, maybe it's because we've cruised enough that they feel they don't need to entice us? :p

We got an email and we're in the San Francisco Bay Area.

 

I was looking around at 'My Princess' last night and there was something in my profile where I had signed up to receive 'last minute standby offers' from San Francisco and LA. That may be why I got the email.

We were watching the rates for January but it was nothing we "had" to do. The rates were more than we wanted to pay & when checking our options noticed that very few cabins on the 3/4 day January cruises were booked so we decided to wait for a "fire" sale. ;) I didn't get the email but once again a big thanks to those on CC for making us aware of it. When I signed in to My Princess & checked prices it now shows the "Princess Getaway's Sale" fares.

 

We were considering a cruise from LA late next year if prices were as good as this year to Hawaii with no flights necessary. We took the "bait" & booked a 4 day to SB where we can park our car in SP & walk to the SB wine tasting rooms not too far from the pier. :)

 

The "Princess Getaway's Sale" FCC won't help us pay for our March cruise because full payment is due before our January cruise when we earn the FCC at the end of the cruise. Now we'll need to book at least a 7 day cruise departing by the end of 2014 to use our 100% FCC from January's 4 day cruise.

 

There were a few other promotions to generate bookings but with the "Princess Getaway's Sale" think they've found a marketing tool to fill cabins. We'll have to pay taxes, fees & tips but our various OBCs will cover most of those expenses. By practically giving us a "free" cruise they may sail full of passengers who can take advantage of it by simply driving to the Port of LA. :D

 

It will give us a final chance to enjoy the Sapphire during a West Coast cruise before she sails to Asia.

[helenb]

I wouldn't have known about this without all the great info here on Cruise Critic so thank you. I just booked a full suite on the January 16th cruise out of Los Angeles. Kind of a no-brainer to book a suite when Princess is going to apply the price minus port fees and taxes to my next cruise in the fall.

 

We did the same thing! See you onboard, Tom!

 

I think these ships are sailing with a great deal of empty rooms. The cruise we just booked is less than 2 months away, and there were rooms available in every category, including suites. Yes, Princess isn't making any money off of your cruise fare, but once onboard, you are paying gratuities (at a minimum). Additionally, you are likely to make other onboard purchases, such as shore excursions or alcohol/sodas/coffees or spa treatments or casino, etc. And you come away with a good feeling about Princess, more cruise credits, etc.

 

The vast majority of the cruise ship's running costs are fixed, so it doesn't really cost Princess much to let you on the ship 'for free'. And the benefit is that you might spend onboard, plus you're practically guaranteed to sail Princess again. Not ideal for Princess, but certainly making the best out of a bad situation (that the ship is relatively empty).

[yvr49]

I just called Princess and booked a 5-night Eastern Caribbean January 27 from Fort Lauderdale. The entire $1498 cost of a suite will be applied as a future cruise credit for our Baltic cruise next May AND we get a $25 OCC as well. I was calling just to inquire initially but was told I have until Friday to confirm, so a suite is being held until then. Seems like a no-brainer.

 

Now all I have to do is figure out how to get to Fort Lauderdale on points :)

[critterchick]

These aren't limited to residents of any area. Princess is not stopping you from booking. We are always seeing very low priced sailings from Florida. Rarely from California.

 

They only fire sale cruises when they aren't selling well. Mom and Sis went on the Golden last week and there was approx 1300 pax on her. She was sailing empty.

 

I just got off this morning and we had 2900+ passengers. The onboard revenue on the short sailings is tremendous. And I would bet that a large number of passengers won't be re-booking in 2014 - we sailed four times, on three cruises that qualified for either 100% or 50% FCC, but will only be able to apply one to a 2014 sailing as we've already planned our year and Princess isn't offering anything that is worth switching to.

 

I took an October 28th cruise on the Golden and was told that 100% would be credited to my C/C. My T/A recently spent almost 1 hr. on the phone with Princess and I'm still waiting for the credit on my C/C.

 

Tom:)

 

Is it being credited to a cruise that's already paid in full? Otherwise they just deduct it from the cost of the longer cruise.

[lovevacadays]

These aren't limited to residents of any area. Princess is not stopping you from booking. We are always seeing very low priced sailings from Florida. Rarely from California.

 

They only fire sale cruises when they aren't selling well. Mom and Sis went on the Golden last week and there was approx 1300 pax on her. She was sailing empty.

 

It is too bad that these short cruises aren't selling well. I like having the option should I want to do one. I live about 45 minutes from the port. I do wonder if Princess will do away with these in 2014/2015. Or perhaps, they will only have a few of these cruises in the future.

[dorisis]

There are some out of Ft. Lauderdale.

 

I just finished checking all of the free cruises out of FLL>>>Nothing that would work for us. I am so disappointed.

[Vexorg]

I seriously considered one of these the last time the deal came up, especially since we already have an Alaska cruise booked in May to apply the credit to. The main problem is that there's really no way to do one without taking at least three days off work (even if 2 of the 4 days are a weekend, the early fights out of LAX to here are too early, and then you pretty much have to wait until afternoon.)

[Astro Flyer]

It is too bad that these short cruises aren't selling well. I like having the option should I want to do one. I live about 45 minutes from the port. I do wonder if Princess will do away with these in 2014/2015. Or perhaps, they will only have a few of these cruises in the future.

Michelle, with January generally being a slow month for travel maybe they'd get higher prices if they had a ship sailing 3 & 4 day cruises during the summer from LA. There are no such cruises now & I would think they'd be packed with families who could only get away for a few days during the summer.

 

It's a wide open market & maybe deploying a summertime ship would generate higher 3 & 4 day fares than those in January. Even Alaska has been having some very cheap short-notice fares...2 weeks on the Coral during the peak month of July cost us $660/pp. for an inside & even after adding the $220 in taxes & fees it was still a good price. :D

 

That's up to their marketing department to decide but it seems to be an untapped market & one we'd do with our grandkids.

Edited November 28, 2013 by Astro Flyer

[Pia1913]

I just finished checking all of the free cruises out of FLL>>>Nothing that would work for us. I am so disappointed.

 

I booked a Penthouse suite. Why not? I'm getting all my money back. Only have to pay $80/pp taxes and gratuities for five day cruise.

[Pia1913]

We received that offer but already have 3 cruises booked for 2013. I don't know if we can fit in the Princess cruise by 31 December. :(

 

If I can, you can. :D That is, if you don't have a job. :)

[helenb]

We received that offer but already have 3 cruises booked for 2013. I don't know if we can fit in the Princess cruise by 31 December. :(

 

The cruises are actually in January. You have to BOOK by Dec. 31.

[Astro Flyer]

I booked a Penthouse suite. Why not? I'm getting all my money back. Only have to pay $80/pp taxes and gratuities for five day cruise.

That's great Cugina! :D

 

We don't cruise as often as you & Mike so we decided against a full suite which was very tempting. ;) If we had a 2014 cruise we could use the FCC on we too would have booked a suite just to try it once. We're waiting until fall & hoping for some 'godfather' deals that are hard to resist for a pre-Chrismas cruise...hopefully to Hawaii with only a drive to the Port of LA! :D

Edited November 28, 2013 by Astro Flyer

[earnied]

My question is whether the FCC may be applied to any 7+ day 2014 cruise that is not yet paid in full at the "time of booking" the promotional qualifying cruise or may the FCC only be applied to any 7+ day 2014 cruise that is not yet paid in full at "completion" of the promotional qualifying cruise.

 

We have a March 2014 cruise already booked with final payment due in December 2013. We want to book one of these promotional cruises in January 2014 and apply the FCC to our already booked March 2014 cruise which will already be paid in full when the January 2014 cruise is completed. If this were allowed Princess would have to refund us the money rather than provide the money as a FCC, something I'm not sure they would be willing to do but as of yet have not been able to get a clarification from Princess.

 

*Book a qualifying voyage by December 31, 2013 and 100% of the cruise fare will be available as a future cruise credit (FCC) that will be applicable to any 2013/2014 published future cruise that is 7 days or longer and can be combined with existing bookings that are not paid in full.

[bigenna]

Wish we could do one of these, but other plans make it unlikely.

We took advantage of one of these 'Free' cruises last month, booked one of the last suites, and now have that $1199 p/p credit applied to a Mediterranean cruise next year.

It was our first, and probably last, time in a suite and we loved the experience. Even with the cost of flying R/T Vancouver we are looking at it that we paid about $100 each per day to experience all those wonderful suite perks.

If we lived anywhere near several hours drive from LA I would be booking one of these in a heartbeat.

 

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Forums mobile app

[PotatoBug]

We are already booked (and paid) on the Jan 5 Sapphire 4-day. so I had my TA call to see if we could get the deal. She talked to a few agents and they all said no. I called and the agent I talked to said we *are* eligible. I'm not sure what to believe at this point.

[Pia1913]

My question is whether the FCC may be applied to any 7+ day 2014 cruise that is not yet paid in full at the "time of booking" the promotional qualifying cruise or may the FCC only be applied to any 7+ day 2014 cruise that is not yet paid in full at "completion" of the promotional qualifying cruise.

 

That's what it says

 

We have a March 2014 cruise already booked with final payment due in December 2013. We want to book one of these promotional cruises in January 2014 and apply the FCC to our already booked March 2014 cruise which will already be paid in full when the January 2014 cruise is completed. If this were allowed Princess would have to refund us the money rather than provide the money as a FCC, something I'm not sure they would be willing to do but as of yet have not been able to get a clarification from Princess.

 

*Book a qualifying voyage by December 31, 2013 and 100% of the cruise fare will be available as a future cruise credit (FCC) that will be applicable to any 2013/2014 published future cruise that is 7 days or longer and can be combined with existing bookings that are not paid in full.

 

You cannot pay for your March cruise with these monies if your final payment is due in December. What you get back from your January cruise will have to be applied to a future 2014 cruise. I think what you have quoted above is quite clear.

 

You're not going to get the monies credited to your account until AFTER you complete the January cruise.

Edited November 28, 2013 by Pia1913

[tothemall&beyond]

The cruises are actually in January. You have to BOOK by Dec. 31.

 

Actually, some are in Dec., like the Dec 14th Ruby sailing.

[Astro Flyer]

My question is whether the FCC may be applied to any 7+ day 2014 cruise that is not yet paid in full at the "time of booking" the promotional qualifying cruise or may the FCC only be applied to any 7+ day 2014 cruise that is not yet paid in full at "completion" of the promotional qualifying cruise.

 

We have a March 2014 cruise already booked with final payment due in December 2013. We want to book one of these promotional cruises in January 2014 and apply the FCC to our already booked March 2014 cruise which will already be paid in full when the January 2014 cruise is completed. If this were allowed Princess would have to refund us the money rather than provide the money as a FCC, something I'm not sure they would be willing to do but as of yet have not been able to get a clarification from Princess.

 

*Book a qualifying voyage by December 31, 2013 and 100% of the cruise fare will be available as a future cruise credit (FCC) that will be applicable to any 2013/2014 published future cruise that is 7 days or longer and can be combined with existing bookings that are not paid in full.

We're in the same situation as you & the Princess agent said what I highlighted in your post. She suggested that we call to ask about the FCC earned from our January cruise being applied to our March cruise after December's final payment. I doubt if they'll refund us that amount & even if they offered to add the FCC as OBC we might not do it because we already have enough OBC for our March cruise.

 

Guess it's a good excuse for us to book another cruise later next year! :D