Don't order Princess gift cards!

[shellfish5]

I ordered a $100.00 gift card on line for family members going on a Princess Cruise . . 8 days later . .  no card which was supposed to be delivered via US Mail . .  alas , no gift card.  I called twice and was first told to email them . . .okay, the cruise has already sailed.  Called again and was told that due to the holiday, no gift card support people would be in the office until Nov.Monday Nov. 26th.  We are in the  midst of holiday gift giving . . but Princess has gift cards . . . but no support.  don't do it!

[neverbeenhere]

You didn’t have a good experience with purchasing Princess gift cards eight days prior to a cruise? 

  We have purchased and used them a number of times and had no issues. I agree, it might be best for you not to buy Princess gift cards. 

 

Enjoy your next cruise. 

 

 

 

[miss prairie girl]

Our experience with Princess gift cards has been positive. We ordered Princess gift cards for ourselves. We are Canadian. Our gift cards are bought at the same rate of exchange that was in effect when we booked our cruise. It was beneficial to us as our Canadian dollar was worth less at the time, but by purchasing Princess gift cards, we were able to "make a few cents"! 

When we boarded for our cruise, there was a paper in our cabin indicating that we were the recipients of a gift card purchased for us by ourselves! The funds had been credited to our onboard account.

OP, please check to see if your credit card was, indeed,  charged for the gift cards. Are you able to check with your cruising family members to see if there was a gift card in their cabin and/or the gift card was credited to their on board account?

[pris993]

When I know someone is going on a cruise, I call Princess and have them give them an obc as a gift from me... works like getting a gift from a TA.  Person gifted with have the money on the account and get a note they have been given a gift... works well. 

[CruiseGal999]

I bought Princess gift cards to pay the balance of my cruise. The offer at the time was additional FREE gift cards in varying denominations pending the amount of the gift card purchased. 

 

ALL were emailed to me and I phoned and had the extra gift cards applied to my account as OBC.  Worked perfectly.  

 

[Optotronics]

3 hours ago, shellfish5 said:

I ordered a $100.00 gift card on line for family members going on a Princess Cruise . . 8 days later . .  no card which was supposed to be delivered via US Mail . .  alas , no gift card.  I called twice and was first told to email them . . .okay, the cruise has already sailed.  Called again and was told that due to the holiday, no gift card support people would be in the office until Nov.Monday Nov. 26th.  We are in the  midst of holiday gift giving . . but Princess has gift cards . . . but no support.  don't do it!

I feel bad for you, but princess did nothing wrong. If you read the princess gift card page FAQ it states the normal delivery is "5-7 business days". Business days do not include Saturday and Sunday, so 7 business days is 9 days actual time.

 

in the next FAQ question someone asks about their cards not arriving in time. They again give the 5-7 business day or expedited in 2-3 business days. They also ask to please note the delivery times are only estimates and cannot be guaranteed.

 

i know they weren't available in the grocery stores a few weeks ago, but today I looked in the gift card rack and sure enough plenty of princess cards for sale.... I know what I want in my stocking:)

[caribill]

4 hours ago, miss prairie girl said:

Our experience with Princess gift cards has been positive. We ordered Princess gift cards for ourselves. We are Canadian. Our gift cards are bought at the same rate of exchange that was in effect when we booked our cruise. It was beneficial to us as our Canadian dollar was worth less at the time, but by purchasing Princess gift cards, we were able to "make a few cents"! 

When we boarded for our cruise, there was a paper in our cabin indicating that we were the recipients of a gift card purchased for us by ourselves! The funds had been credited to our onboard account.

OP, please check to see if your credit card was, indeed,  charged for the gift cards. Are you able to check with your cruising family members to see if there was a gift card in their cabin and/or the gift card was credited to their on board account?

 

This sounds like purchasing OBC, not purchasing gift cards which are plastic with value attached, much like a debit card from a bank.

[puggleperson]

I echo the positive experiences... I never got a plastic Gift card but they emailed the gift card to my mom and it applied to her account. It was so easy I even scheduled it to be delivered to her email on her actual birthday. 

 

The one funny thing though, I wrote my mom a little funny poem that had the word Sh^T or something like that in it and Princess told me I couldn't use that word in the note. I thought that was a really weird policy.... it was a personal PRIVATE note to my mom and I was spending MY money buying a gift card and they are telling me I can't say what I WANTED to say in the note....like WHAT? I should be able to say whatever I wanted to say if it was between me and the person receiving the GC.....  I found that to be a little annoying but oh well... I sent them an email telling them I thought that policy was stupid and that's all I could really do. She used the GC at the Spa with no problem at all. 

[miss prairie girl]

5 hours ago, caribill said:

 

This sounds like purchasing OBC, not purchasing gift cards which are plastic with value attached, much like a debit card from a bank.

 Yes, caribill, on second thought, it was perhaps OBC that we purchased....thanks for refreshing my memory! 

 

OP:  Perhaps, purchasing OBC for a cruising friend or family member might be an alternative to purchasing a gift card!

[Colo Cruiser]

4 hours ago, puggleperson said:

I echo the positive experiences... I never got a plastic Gift card but they emailed the gift card to my mom and it applied to her account. It was so easy I even scheduled it to be delivered to her email on her actual birthday. 

I agree. When it works it works well.

Sorry that the OP had a bad experience with this.

[shellfish5]

Thanks for all the feedback!  It was a plastic gift card to be delivered to my home; perhaps I didn't note the 5-7 days as carefully as I should have.  OBC may be the way to go . .  thanks again and sorry if I was a little "peeved"!

[DrivesLikeMario]

I wouldn't be surprised if someone stole the gift card while it was in the process of getting to you.  We've had 1 envelope ripped open that had a gift card in it and another, completely ripped open and the flash drive that was in it stolen.  The USPS still sent the envelope though (gee, thanks). 
The horrible person that stole the flash drive will be quite disappointed when they realize all they got were pictures of two middle-aged women on tour in the British Isles. 

[cruisequeen4ever]

That really sucks. I wouldn’t think a week would be enough time to have one sent to someone. We order ours way early to allow processing and shipping time. E-cards work well, too. One year, my DH didn’t bring me a present to Christmas at his parents’ house, and then he told me to check my email while we were opening presents. There was a Princess e-card awaiting me! 😬