AIBP/Shareholder Credit Issue

[ssawjo]

My DW, DS, and I are just off the Caribbean Princess, Jan. 10-17. This is not a review of the cruise which was "OK". But some history first about my problem.

 

We booked this cruise many months ago because we wanted the family suite. It had to be booked under two different booking numbers for some reason. My DS and I were on one booking and my DW under another. My DW and I are elite and my DS is on his second cruise (his first was 19 years ago). In September 2015 I saw a promotion for a free AIBP and called. I got it for all of us and received email confirmations (two separate confirmations because of the two different booking numbers).

 

On or about Dec. 9, my DW applied for and received her shareholder credit of $100. All well and good.

 

As we were checking in for the cruise I noticed that my DW did not have a sticker for the AIBP on her cruise card. The lady checking us in knew nothing and suggested we meet with Passenger Services onboard. After a long embarkation delay, we boarded at 5:30 PM, we immediately went to PS about this issue. In short, we were informed that my DW's AIBP was cancelled on December 9 by me. I would never do such a thing. They sent a message to Princess HQ and after two days, nothing was resolved and we would have to personally contact Customer Relations after returning. In the meantime, my DW purchased her own AIBP hoping that it would be credited on board. That did not happen.

 

Today, I contacted Princess (not Customer Relations) and was informed that since DW applied for her shareholder credit it caused the fare to be "rebooked" and she lost her AIBP. I reviewed the form for the shareholder credit and I see nothing about "rebooking". I paid prior to the cruise the gratuities, so that wasn't it. This was also after final payment.

 

As suggested by the Princess rep on the phone today, I had my DW email all of the particulars of this situation to Customer Relations asking for a reimbursement of the $394.45 AIBP. A rote return email said that it was received and someone will contact us in 2-3 business days.

 

I am at a loss to understand what happened. I received no new booking confirmation or anything stating that the AIBP was cancelled. If we had known that this was a possibility, DW would not have applied for her shareholder credit.

 

Question: other than contacting Customer Relations, does anyone have a suggestion on how to proceed? Also, has anyone had this experience before and is what Princess did correct?

 

Thank you,

 

Bill and Kathi

[Pam in CA]

Weird. What did they say when you showed them the email confirmation you received when you ordered and paid for the AIBP?

 

The shareholder credit is totally separate from anything else.

 

Did you go to the Captain's Circle host with the problem? They can resolve an awful lot, particularly the shareholder credit situation.

 

If it were me, I'd have, 1) gone to the CC host; and, 2) emailed my TA to help resolve this.

[ssawjo]

Weird. What did they say when you showed them the email confirmation you received when you ordered and paid for the AIBP?

 

The shareholder credit is totally separate from anything else.

 

Did you go to the Captain's Circle host with the problem? They can resolve an awful lot, particularly the shareholder credit situation.

 

If it were me, I'd have, 1) gone to the CC host; and, 2) emailed my TA to help resolve this.

 

I did show the P/S staff my email confirmation and they took a copy of it. They just said that it was cancelled according to their records. I did not think to visit the CC host. I did not have a TA or I would have called him/her. Never, ever, had a problem with anything like this before. Next time, I will visit the CC host. thank you for your suggestions.

[skynight]

Question: other than contacting Customer Relations, does anyone have a suggestion on how to proceed? Also, has anyone had this experience before and is what Princess did correct?

 

Thank you,

 

Bill and Kathi

 

Well you are correct. The Carnival Shareholder OBC has absolutely nothing to do with the AIBP and a booking is never re-fared or re-booked after application of the Shareholder OBC. Here is Princess' fine print regarding the shareholder OBC:

"Restrictions • This offer is good for only one cabin occupied by the shareholder. Only one benefit OBC can be applied to a cabin, even if there are multiple shareholders in the cabin. • This offer can only be applied to bookings under deposit. • This offer cannot be used for casino credits/charges and gratuities. • This offer is combinable with most cruise fares. Some restrictions apply. • This offer is combinable with most onboard credit offers. • This offer is non-transferable. • Applications to receive this benefit must be made no later than 14 days prior to the cruise departure date"

 

Princess made an error when they removed it. It may take time, but don't accept a no answer. They are wrong. If it does not get resolved in a few months you may consider writing a letter to the California Consumer Affairs Dept in Sacramento with all backup documentation and send a copy to the CEO at Princess.

 

[moki'smommy]

Very odd, and as you said, you would never have canceled it.

 

Our situation--I purchased a soda and more package for my daughter and paid for it in advance. I had the confirmation on a phone so it could be viewed but did not print it out.

 

At check in, the sticker was not on the card. Same as you, they told us to take it up with guest relations on board. Lady there was sweet but said she would have to send an inquiry to shoreside, etc. We were able to show her the confirmation. She suggested that we re-purchase it and it would be refunded when they got the confirmation from shoreside. We held off, but within a few hours we got the cup delivered to the room and went back to guest relations. She told us to take the confirmation that came with the cup to "any bar" and they would apply the sticker. The bartender was totally blown away, but called his supervisor who took care of it. He also kept the confirmation that came with the cup AND the business card of the guest relations person.

 

We also had a shareholder OBC which, as above, was separate from everything else.

[ssawjo]

Very odd' date=' and as you said, you would never have canceled it.

 

Our situation--I purchased a soda and more package for my daughter and paid for it in advance. I had the confirmation on a phone so it could be viewed but did not print it out.

 

At check in, the sticker was not on the card. Same as you, they told us to take it up with guest relations on board. Lady there was sweet but said she would have to send an inquiry to shoreside, etc. We were able to show her the confirmation. She suggested that we re-purchase it and it would be refunded when they got the confirmation from shoreside. We held off, but within a few hours we got the cup delivered to the room and went back to guest relations. She told us to take the confirmation that came with the cup to "any bar" and they would apply the sticker. The bartender was totally blown away, but called his supervisor who took care of it. He also kept the confirmation that came with the cup AND the business card of the guest relations person.

 

We also had a shareholder OBC which, as above, was separate from everything else.[/quote']

 

What happened to you was what I was hoping the solution would have been onboard. I will await their reply to our email.

 

Thank you.

[ssawjo]

Question: other than contacting Customer Relations, does anyone have a suggestion on how to proceed? Also, has anyone had this experience before and is what Princess did correct?

 

Thank you,

 

Bill and Kathi

 

Well you are correct. The Carnival Shareholder OBC has absolutely nothing to do with the AIBP and a booking is never re-fared or re-booked after application of the Shareholder OBC. Here is Princess' fine print regarding the shareholder OBC:

"Restrictions • This offer is good for only one cabin occupied by the shareholder. Only one benefit OBC can be applied to a cabin, even if there are multiple shareholders in the cabin. • This offer can only be applied to bookings under deposit. • This offer cannot be used for casino credits/charges and gratuities. • This offer is combinable with most cruise fares. Some restrictions apply. • This offer is combinable with most onboard credit offers. • This offer is non-transferable. • Applications to receive this benefit must be made no later than 14 days prior to the cruise departure date"

 

Princess made an error when they removed it. It may take time, but don't accept a no answer. They are wrong. If it does not get resolved in a few months you may consider writing a letter to the California Consumer Affairs Dept in Sacramento with all backup documentation and send a copy to the CEO at Princess.

 

 

Agreed. The more I think about it the more p/o'd I get. I will not accept this but I do realize it will take time to fully resolve. If I get any information, I will post on this board. Thank you.

[Colo Cruiser]

Shareholder credit should have no effect on the fare whatsoever. :confused:

 

I always make sure the AIBP (promo or purchased) is listed on my booking in the personalizer.

 

It is true though that any fare adjustment forfeits the promo.

Did you request ANY fare changes/refunds?

Edited January 18, 2016 by Colo Cruiser

[ssawjo]

Shareholder credit should have no effect on the fare whatsoever. :confused:

 

I always make sure the AIBP (promo or purchased) is listed on my booking in the personalizer.

 

It is true though that any fare adjustment forfeits the promo.

Did you request ANY fare changes/refunds?

 

You're confused? So are we. No, I did not request any fare changes/refunds. And it was listed my DW's personalizer. Should have mentioned that earlier. The shareholder credit was applied AFTER final payment.

Edited January 18, 2016 by ssawjo

[Colo Cruiser]

You're confused? So are we. No, I did not request any fare changes/refunds. And it was listed my DW's personalizer. Should have mentioned that earlier. The shareholder credit was applied AFTER final payment.

 

 

Did you print your travel summary? The AIBP was on there.

It was listed on ours.

Edited January 18, 2016 by Colo Cruiser

[Astro Flyer]

Getting shareholder OBC isn't rebooking a cruise & maybe a call to the section who issues SOBC might help you.

 

800 872 6779 ext. 30317

[ssawjo]

Getting shareholder OBC isn't rebooking a cruise & maybe a call to the section who issues SOBC might help you.

 

800 872 6779 ext. 30317

 

Good idea, thanks for the suggestion and phone number.

 

Bill

[denatravels]

Please come back and report, as I fear that I may encounter a similar issue.

[hansi]

What is AIBP please?

[hansi]

Sorry, got it now.All Inclusive Beverage Package. Right?:p

[Colo Cruiser]

Sorry, got it now.All Inclusive Beverage Package. Right?:p

 

 

 

You got it! :)

[Sonicsmash214]

What is the travel summary, and where can I find it on a booking? Trying to figure out when I should print these documents out just in case anything happens. I'm assuming when there's a promotion such as OBC or a beverage package? Thanks in advance!

[Elitein85days]

So I just went through this problem. It's a computer glitch they couldn't fix. We got 2 AIBP as a promotion for the cruise. They showed up on the cruise personalizer like normal. I faxed in my shareholder info and it was added to the cruise ($100 OBC). While lookin through the personalizer I saw one beverage package (under my name, which what the shareholder credit is under too) had been removed. Called princess and they said, "That's weird, I'll put the package back on." All fine and good. Looked the next day and the shareholder credit was gone.

 

Called again and she said no one there knew why the system was doing that, but even the department that is authorized to override "overlapping credits" couldn't get the system to do both. They ended up giving me a $100 "customer goodwill" credit instead of the shareholder credit.

 

So, long story short, Princess doesn't even know why their system was doing it, but I'm glad I caught it before our cruise on the 31st.

 

By the way, this is my first post, but I have been a long time lurker and all of you have provided a lot of great info. I look forward to being a member here.

Edited January 22, 2016 by Elitein85days

[partybarbie]

So I just went through this problem. It's a computer glitch they couldn't fix. We got 2 AIBP as a promotion for the cruise. They showed up on the cruise personalizer like normal. I faxed in my shareholder info and it was added to the cruise ($100 OBC). While lookin through the personalizer I saw one beverage package (under my name, which what the shareholder credit is under too) had been removed. Called princess and they said, "That's weird, I'll put the package back on." All fine and good. Looked the next day and the shareholder credit was gone.

 

Called again and she said no one there knew why the system was doing that, but even the department that is authorized to override "overlapping credits" couldn't get the system to do both. They ended up giving me a $100 "customer goodwill" credit instead of the shareholder credit.

 

So, long story short, Princess doesn't even know why their system was doing it, but I'm glad I caught it before our cruise on the 31st.

 

By the way, this is my first post, but I have been a long time lurker and all of you have provided a lot of great info. I look forward to being a member here.

 

Thanks for the "heads up". I hope Princess will have this fixed before my cruise in November. I really want my $250 Shareholder credit and my included drink package.

[pklein9747]

We have the AIBP for our April TA British Isles cruise. I will be keeping on eye on this post, and our booking, to determine if we have a problem once we apply for our Shareholder Credit.

 

Thanks for bringing this to everyone's attention.

 

Pat

[Colo Cruiser]

So I just went through this problem. It's a computer glitch they couldn't fix. We got 2 AIBP as a promotion for the cruise. They showed up on the cruise personalizer like normal. I faxed in my shareholder info and it was added to the cruise ($100 OBC). While lookin through the personalizer I saw one beverage package (under my name, which what the shareholder credit is under too) had been removed. Called princess and they said, "That's weird, I'll put the package back on." All fine and good. Looked the next day and the shareholder credit was gone.

 

Called again and she said no one there knew why the system was doing that, but even the department that is authorized to override "overlapping credits" couldn't get the system to do both. They ended up giving me a $100 "customer goodwill" credit instead of the shareholder credit.

 

So, long story short, Princess doesn't even know why their system was doing it, but I'm glad I caught it before our cruise on the 31st.

 

By the way, this is my first post, but I have been a long time lurker and all of you have provided a lot of great info. I look forward to being a member here.

 

 

Welcome to CC. :)

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the "heads up". I hope Princess will have this fixed before my cruise in November. I really want my $250 Shareholder credit and my included drink package.

 

 

:eek: :eek: It would be an ugly scene :eek: :eek:

[partybarbie]

:eek: :eek: It would be an ugly scene :eek: :eek:

 

:D Don't we know it! ;)

[ssawjo]

Sorry to see I am not the only one with this "problem". We have yet to hear from Customer Relations and will make calls on Monday. Does anyone have a direct line to Customer Relations? It would be appreciated and avoid a lot of phone time.

 

Thanks,

 

Bill and Kathi

[Pushka]

I wonder if they are trying out the Celebrity way where you can't stack one benefit on top of another and it is leaking out rather than an (ugly) announcement.