Prepaid excursions using OBC on Princess

[Tranquility Base]

Interesting development.

Just booked an excursion on Diamond Princess for November.

 

To have it confirmed it required prepayment.

It automatically used OBC for this, but if no OBC then it would have needed a credit card.

[Brisbane41]

That is funny I also have a cruise on the Diamond Princess this November, I have over $500 of on board credit and have booked some excursions and it did not take the credit and the cruise personaliser has the notice at the bottom that I have the option for it to be charged to my account on board in which case the credit will cover it or to pay in advance.

 

I wonder why the rules are so different for you?

[Tranquility Base]

The process was to add an excursion to shopping cart, then proceed to payment.

At that stage it said in red something like " Status, payment required", and also "not confirmed until payment received".

Once I selected pay now it indicated OBC would be used and the status changed to confirmed.

 

The OBC list in cruise personaliser remains unchanged.

[Brisbane41]

Mine are all confirmed without having to go through those steps at all.

[MicCanberra]

The option to use OBC to pre purchase shorex's is a good one but it is still relatively new. Perhaps it is having some teething issues.

[Tranquility Base]

Perhaps as this is a relatively recent cruise booking that is why it's using this new system.

 

However the other change with it is: if you didn't have enough OBC left, any further confirmed bookings would have required prepayment by credit card.

[Brisbane41]

Possibly the basing issues of the ship. I am doing a cruise while the ship is based in Japan and the payment for any on board expenses will be handles by Princess office in Japan as was the case last year. If the cruise they are booking on is relocating then the cruise could be managed by another international office and as such the rules may be different.

 

On some cruises it appears you can pre reserve specialty restaurant places. I currently have four cruises booked with Princess and all are different with the set up.

[MicCanberra]

The one thing that cruise lines do very well is being consistently inconsistent.

[joejoe 59]

Advice please. ... so how would you go about booking a specialty dinner online , so that you can use your bonus special dinner voucher from the promotion a while ago?

 

Sent from my SM-T310 using Tapatalk

[Sportfisher]

Advice please. ... so how would you go about booking a specialty dinner online , so that you can use your bonus special dinner voucher from the promotion a while ago?

 

Sent from my SM-T310 using Tapatalk

 

 

You can only use your voucher if you book on the ship.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Brisbane41]

Advice please. ... so how would you go about booking a specialty dinner online , so that you can use your bonus special dinner voucher from the promotion a while ago?

 

Sent from my SM-T310 using Tapatalk

 

Book it, pay for it and then turn up on the ship and get them to refund it to you for on board credit.

[joejoe 59]

Book it, pay for it and then turn up on the ship and get them to refund it to you for on board credit.

Thank you.

I did wonder if i could do that & just get reimbursed.

 

Sent from my SM-T310 using Tapatalk

[MicCanberra]

Thank you.

I did wonder if i could do that & just get reimbursed.

 

Sent from my SM-T310 using Tapatalk

Good luck. Make sure you have documentation with you.

[joejoe 59]

Good luck. Make sure you have documentation with you.

Thanks will do[emoji4]

 

Sent from my SM-T310 using Tapatalk

[Womble99]

The online reservations for specialty dining has an annotation on the page to inform you that it is not for use with promotional offers or obc. If you choose to prepay be prepared for the possibility that they may not reimburse.

[Aussieflyer]

I see over on the Princess board that posters (from the US) are reporting that shore excursions are now pre-paid without the ability to use OBC. Not sure what the situation is like for AU cruisers though.

[Brisbane41]

The online reservations for specialty dining has an annotation on the page to inform you that it is not for use with promotional offers or obc. If you choose to prepay be prepared for the possibility that they may not reimburse.

 

You can cancel up to 24 hours on board the ship and have the funds credited back to your on board account. If by chance you decide to do it like this you have saves a reservation for yourself before it becomes fully booked. That way when you cancel the one you paid for make sure they immediately give you a new booking at the door when you are speaking to them.

[GUT2407]

That's a great step.

[mrs and mrs]

That's a great step.

yep, sure helps every-body else.

[MicCanberra]

You can cancel up to 24 hours on board the ship and have the funds credited back to your on board account. If by chance you decide to do it like this you have saves a reservation for yourself before it becomes fully booked. That way when you cancel the one you paid for make sure they immediately give you a new booking at the door when you are speaking to them.

That would work unless there is a waiting list.

[joejoe 59]

The online reservations for specialty dining has an annotation on the page to inform you that it is not for use with promotional offers or obc. If you choose to prepay be prepared for the possibility that they may not reimburse.

Thanks for that info.

 

Sent from my SM-T310 using Tapatalk

[Brisbane41]

That would work unless there is a waiting list.

 

The waiting list is irrelevant once you are on that ship. They bend the rules like that all the time. Besides the online booking of specialty restaurants prevents a fair and equal chance of all passengers getting a booking because many passengers including those in full suites get free passes to these restaurants all the time. My thought is that the waiting list will not be honoured because it is all done on paper on the ship and not by computer.

[MicCanberra]

The waiting list is irrelevant once you are on that ship. They bend the rules like that all the time. Besides the online booking of specialty restaurants prevents a fair and equal chance of all passengers getting a booking because many passengers including those in full suites get free passes to these restaurants all the time. My thought is that the waiting list will not be honoured because it is all done on paper on the ship and not by computer.

What is the point of the waiting list then.:confused:

[Kiwi Kruzer]

What is the point of the waiting list then.:confused:

 

Waiting lists are important...

they indicate a demand and give a sign that its OK to increase the price.;p;p

[OzKiwiJJ]

I've never been to speciality restaurant on a Princess cruise out of Australia that has been more than 1/4 full. However I've never tried to go on the first couple of nights, we usually go later in the cruise, and rarely book more than a day ahead. Sometimes we just make a last minute decision if the MDR menu isn't appealing and have always got a table.