Overbooked Sapphire Princess

[Cpn Pugwash]

Booked to sail from Singapore on the 4th March on a far eastern cruise. Got a phone call on Thursday from princess to say the cruise is overbooked and would we like to get a refund and book another cruise on a sailing of our choice at no extra cost. Upon further phone calls with them we would not actually be given a refund. The air fare would go towards the new flights and the cruise cost would be added to our onboard account. Any remainder left at the end of the cruise would be refunded. Quite tempting, but we are really looking forward to this cruise as it's an area we have not travelled to before. Princess are not travelling to this area again until August and we can't go away then. So we have not taken them up on this offer. Has this happened before to anyone else? If the cruise is overbooked someone will have to take up this offer.

My husband asked them to refund the cost of the cruise in full and give us a credit for a cruise of our choice so we can book when we want and not be hurried to book that day. Princess declined this idea.

[rkmw]

Booked to sail from Singapore on the 4th March on a far eastern cruise. Got a phone call on Thursday from princess to say the cruise is overbooked and would we like to get a refund and book another cruise on a sailing of our choice at no extra cost. Upon further phone calls with them we would not actually be given a refund. The air fare would go towards the new flights and the cruise cost would be added to our onboard account. Any remainder left at the end of the cruise would be refunded. Quite tempting, but we are really looking forward to this cruise as it's an area we have not travelled to before. Princess are not travelling to this area again until August and we can't go away then. So we have not taken them up on this offer. Has this happened before to anyone else? If the cruise is overbooked someone will have to take up this offer.

My husband asked them to refund the cost of the cruise in full and give us a credit for a cruise of our choice so we can book when we want and not be hurried to book that day. Princess declined this idea.

 

this happens a fair bit that they over book and ask people for a move over offer, someone will take the offer but they wont give money away for nothing in you asking to be refunded the whole cruise and after credit for another cruise

[bobfish]

hi , we are on the previous cruise on the sapphire. Reading on here I think its something that happens, perhaps they hope there will be cancellations. you state your cruise is the 4th march, but we don't dock in Singapore until the 6th march?

[Pink-belle]

Yes, just like airlines, cruise companies oversell based on expected cancellations.

 

As sailing date approaches they make move over offers if needed. I have heard that some people get great deals, they sweeten the incentive if they aren't getting much of an uptake on the original offers.

[Darcy15]

I was booked on Sapphire for an Asia cruise this year

 

....in fact, the one that is returning to Singapore today :)

 

 

About 10 days before I was due to fly I had a phone call from Princess with a 'move over' offer as the cruise was overbooked.

 

The offer was very attractive to me, and I took it.

 

I'm now going to the South Pacific in September instead :D

[denatravels]

It's great if you are flexible in your scheduling!!

[astera]

The offer was very attractive to me, and I took it.

 

I'm now going to the South Pacific in September instead :D

 

What did it take to agree to the switch? A complimentary move to a big suite for taking the latter cruise? :)

[Darcy15]

What did it take to agree to the switch? A complimentary move to a big suite for taking the latter cruise? :)

 

Well, let's just say I'm very happy and thousands of pounds better off :D

 

I'm still going to Asia too - just moved it to April 2017 :)

[lindauk]

We got a call this Tuesday for overbooking on the 6th March SE Asia cruise. We bit their hand off after having a look for a couple of hours. We are now going next Feb to NZ in an mini suite upgrade from a balcony!! The money we spent on this cruise has been transferred over with a bit extra OBC to the value of $2500 and the cruise would have cost us £3000 more than the SE asia cruise. Luckily we are quite flexible. We're still going to SE Asia because the Singapore hotel and flights were already booked. We've added a week in Ko Samui and some days in Bangkok.

Very generous of Princess I've got to say.

[Colo Cruiser]

Booked to sail from Singapore on the 4th March on a far eastern cruise. Got a phone call on Thursday from princess to say the cruise is overbooked and would we like to get a refund and book another cruise on a sailing of our choice at no extra cost. Upon further phone calls with them we would not actually be given a refund. The air fare would go towards the new flights and the cruise cost would be added to our onboard account. Any remainder left at the end of the cruise would be refunded. Quite tempting, but we are really looking forward to this cruise as it's an area we have not travelled to before. Princess are not travelling to this area again until August and we can't go away then. So we have not taken them up on this offer. Has this happened before to anyone else? If the cruise is overbooked someone will have to take up this offer.

My husband asked them to refund the cost of the cruise in full and give us a credit for a cruise of our choice so we can book when we want and not be hurried to book that day. Princess declined this idea.

 

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

Princess has 18 ships and wants them full for all sailings.

They do this week in and week out and have it down to a science.

If one is flexible and can take advantage of the offers its usually an excellent deal. In your case it did not work, so yes its is fairly common for Princess to do this. ;)

[Cpn Pugwash]

We got a call this Tuesday for overbooking on the 6th March SE Asia cruise. We bit their hand off after having a look for a couple of hours. We are now going next Feb to NZ in an mini suite upgrade from a balcony!! The money we spent on this cruise has been transferred over with a bit extra OBC to the value of $2500 and the cruise would have cost us £3000 more than the SE asia cruise. Luckily we are quite flexible. We're still going to SE Asia because the Singapore hotel and flights were already booked. We've added a week in Ko Samui and some days in Bangkok.

Very generous of Princess I've got to say.

 

We had already booked the mini suite so the category of cabin would be no different. We did look at other cruises but we specifically chose this as we hadn't visited Asia before. The only time it would be back in Asia would be August. We have a cruise booked to the Canaries in June and another booked for October when we cruise around Australia. Our flight cost would have been transferred to the new cruise so we would have only got the cruise fare added to our room. We are looking forward to this cruise. Hope you enjoy your new cruise. Regards Alison

[blkspy]

My buddy and I were on a 4 night Coastal, sailing as singles in seprate inside cabins. We were offered $225 each to give up our single inside cabins and 'Share' a Handicapped Balcony cabin.....on the SAME ship.:)

 

We jumped at the offer........I actually used the money to book my next cruise.

 

Some Move Over offers are quite amazing.......There is a gentleman in charge of the program. If called, he can tell you if move over offers will be extended for a particular cruise. :)

 

Its like the airlines.....if the offer is great--grab it.

[TracieABD]

I received what I fondly like to refer to as the "Mack-Daddy of All Move-Over Offers" from the Sapphire.

 

What we had:

* 10 days round trip to Indonesia from Singapore in a balcony cabin (BC)

 

We we were offered:

* One 15 day cruise anywhere in the World in a full suite.

* One 10 day cruise anywhere in the Caribbean, US, Canada or Mexico in a full suite.

* The cost of cruise in fully refundable OBC.

* Change air fees to $300 pp

 

We took the deal.

* We did a 10 day Southern Caribbean. We spent almost no money, so when we got home we each got a big old fat check. Also, at some point they increased the OBC by around $500 each. It was sort of bizarre, and we are not really sure what or why. Penthouse suite on the Royal.

*We did a 12 day British Isles cruise. Owners suite on the Royal.

 

These were the last two cruises I did with my mom. To be honest, she had broken her hip a few months before we were to fly (23 hours) to Singapore, and I sort of had no idea how she was going to get through that flight. Secretly, I was relieved for the move-over offer.

[astera]

I received what I fondly like to refer to as the "Mack-Daddy of All Move-Over Offers" from the Sapphire.

 

What we had:

* 10 days round trip to Indonesia from Singapore in a balcony cabin (BC)

 

We we were offered:

* One 15 day cruise anywhere in the World in a full suite.

* One 10 day cruise anywhere in the Caribbean, US, Canada or Mexico in a full suite.

* The cost of cruise in fully refundable OBC.

* Change air fees to $300 pp

 

We took the deal.

 

Wow, so for resigning from a 10-day balcony cabin cruise they gave you TWO cruises in a full suite... plus bonuses? :) Sweet...

 

What do you mean by "The cost of cruise in fully refundable OBC?" Did they give you the whole amount paid for the first cruise as refundable OBC?

[ar1950]

Wow, so for resigning from a 10-day balcony cabin cruise they gave you TWO cruises in a full suite... plus bonuses? :) Sweet...

 

What do you mean by "The cost of cruise in fully refundable OBC?" Did they give you the whole amount paid for the first cruise as refundable OBC?

 

TracyABD has related this story a couple of times before. They got the whole amount of the first cruise as refundable OBCs as well as the two free cruises and all of the rest. So, yes, in effect, the first cruise cost was totally refunded. We would love to have an offer half that good someday.

Edited February 7, 2016 by ar1950

[SusieS]

Wow, Tracy; that's fantastic!! How long ago was this?

[TracieABD]

The original cruise was scheduled to sail on January 12, 2015. We were scheduled to fly out on January 9. We got the call on January 8. So just a little over a year ago.

 

We took the Caribbean cruise on January 28. We really needed the break. When we got on the cruise ship, the entire cost of the first cruise had been divided and credited onto our on-board accounts. As we did not come close to putting a dent in that, the rest was refunded to us. About 3 weeks after we got home, we received checks in the mail.

 

Sometimes it pays to pick up the phone!:)

[jacketwatch]

hi , we are on the previous cruise on the sapphire. Reading on here I think its something that happens, perhaps they hope there will be cancellations. you state your cruise is the 4th march, but we don't dock in Singapore until the 6th march?

This is correct as we are on the sailing 24th. Feb. and it returns on March 6th.

Edited February 7, 2016 by jacketwatch