Princess Cruise "Secrets" 2019

[JF - retired RRT]

11 minutes ago, draver said:

I just uploaded a photo of my DD-214 and within an hour or so the credit ($250) appeared on my booking for a Sept. cruise.  I was told via email that it would also automatically be added to all future bookings, with the amount depending upon the length of cruise.  I have 3 cruises set so far, so I'm getting a total of $750 in the next year.  19, 14, and 16 days on the Regal & Crown ships.  Quite accommodating of them I think.

Congrats!!

We've gotten several thousand over the last 6 years.

And if you buy Carnival stock, the amount is basically doubled.

Edited June 9, 2019 by JF - retired RRT

[2 cruises a year]

11 hours ago, Fairfield Nana said:

This may really be a "secret" was I've only seen it in a couple comments on this website and my TA knows nothing about it--Does Princess offer OBCs too veterans? Or if I try claim them will it just get me put on KP?

Here is the link to the Princess website with the the information you need.

 

https://www.princess.com/military_benefit_program/

 

 

[MakeItCount]

On 1/14/2019 at 9:38 PM, neverbeenhere said:

Other old advice...

 

future cruise deposits purchased while on a cruise. 

 

Princess allows re-faring your cruise up until at least final payment date. Watch out for change in perks/benefits.

 

Wine is fine, but liquor is quicker. 

 

It is likely Princess will offer a bonus gift card with the  purchase of a gift card at Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. You will need a coupon code at the time. Watch cruise critic boards for the code. 

 

Beverages available for free all day.

Water
Coffee like product
Hot tea
Hot chocolate - maybe
Iced tea
Lemonade

 

available for free in the morning 
Milk 
Chocolate milk
Juices - Tom, Orange, Apple, cranberry cocktail,
prune, others(ask)
Soy milk
Other beverages (ask)

 

 

Regarding the bonus gift card, does anyone know of this is available with Father’s Day coming up? As suggested, I searched the board for keywords related to it, and didn’t find anything or missed finding it. I’m curious how this “bonus” works? I went to the gift card section of the Princess site earlier today, and didn’t see it. Admittedly, I didn’t look for too long as I was pressed for time. 

Edited June 9, 2019 by MakeItCount

[neverbeenhere]

 

 

 

[Bwana Tom]

On 1/23/2019 at 3:04 PM, TwoCruisers said:

Yes, you can cash in OBC.

Here is an answer I gave recently to a question about cashing in OBC from stockholder credit: (This cruise was on the Pacific Princess 12/22/2018 to 1/5/2019)

 

“On my recent cruise on the Pacific Princess I had over $600 in OBC. Some of it was from the Princess promotion, some from the stock holder credit and some from other sources. All of the credit is lumped together and I can’t tell which is which.

I used some of the OBC to pay for Princess tours, some for the Steak house and I also took out $100 on each of two nights in the casino. One night I lost my money and the other night I cashed it in. So yes you can use the OBC in the casino.”

On my recent booking to Alaska and under Credits pertaining to the stockholder OBC it indicates: *Please enjoy using these credits onboard as they are not refundable. Typically as you make purchases they use up the non-refundable credit first then the refundable amount.

[Fairfield Nana]

Thanks to all who replied with great advice regarding my question about OBCs for Vets.

[Pierlesscruisers]

10 hours ago, JF - retired RRT said:

Easy Peasy...find the address to mail your DD214 to (Google is your friend) and it will be kept on file forever. Every time you book a cruise, the OBC will appear in your Credits in your Personalizer. Up to $250 depending on the length of the cruise.

As others noted, it's stackable, refundable and Princess is wonderful for recognizing our active, retired and just plain veterans.

 

One thing that you need to remember if you go through a travel agent, however, is to make sure that the agent includes your Captains' Circle number in the reservation as that is what your Veterans' OBC is linked to and if the agent doesn't put that CC number in, you won't get it for that cruise.

 

Tom

[happiness is cruising]

On 1/27/2019 at 4:16 PM, Idratherbeatsea said:

Pretty sure the MDR hours are 12-130 on embarkation day.

YES!!!

[Fairfield Nana]

Cool. Princess replied within 48 hours of my direct submission by e-mail attachment of their online questionnaire and a copy of my DD214. Got a $100 OBC for my 11 day Alaska cruise. I do not know what a Captains Circle # is all about and only provided my reservation number. No involvement by my TA, and info'd him all this after all was a done deal. Piece of cake and also didn't get put on KP to my knowledge thus far. Other than my GI benefits for college in the 60's, and a VA home loan, this is the only other beni I have received from my  vets status....other than being alive with no side effects!

[Ep010835]

4 hours ago, Fairfield Nana said:

Cool. Princess replied within 48 hours of my direct submission by e-mail attachment of their online questionnaire and a copy of my DD214. Got a $100 OBC for my 11 day Alaska cruise. I do not know what a Captains Circle # is all about and only provided my reservation number. No involvement by my TA, and info'd him all this after all was a done deal. Piece of cake and also didn't get put on KP to my knowledge thus far. Other than my GI benefits for college in the 60's, and a VA home loan, this is the only other beni I have received from my  vets status....other than being alive with no side effects!

 

Lowe’s offers a military discount at the register.  

[josher_m]

One thing I learned and realized many don't know about is the Best Price Guarantee on shore excursions:

 

Once you have purchased a Princess Shore Excursion, if you find that same shore excursion elsewhere at a lower price, you can receive 110% of the difference in price in the form of a non-refundable onboard credit. This currently applies to select voyages. The Best Price Guarantee is not available in Asia, Southeast Asia or Japan ports.

 

https://www.princess.com/learn/faq_answer/pre_cruise/excursions.jsp?cid=om_email_promo_internal_portspecific_shorex_pe7ak004a_170518_juneau&fbclid=IwAR29Iyz4Y6q-d40HhfeUnfKIKlGgL0YpYSFHTx74lqAmMhc9I33mg119ek4

 

 

Now, it's tricky to find the EXACT match but if you do, it's worth it to get extra OBC.  I just submitted 2 for our upcoming cruise and one was accepted. 

Edited June 11, 2019 by josher_m

[Pierlesscruisers]

6 hours ago, Ep010835 said:

 

Lowe’s offers a military discount at the register.  

 

As does Home Depot

 

Tom

[Pierlesscruisers]

10 hours ago, Fairfield Nana said:

Cool. Princess replied within 48 hours of my direct submission by e-mail attachment of their online questionnaire and a copy of my DD214. Got a $100 OBC for my 11 day Alaska cruise. I do not know what a Captains Circle # is all about and only provided my reservation number. No involvement by my TA, and info'd him all this after all was a done deal. Piece of cake and also didn't get put on KP to my knowledge thus far. Other than my GI benefits for college in the 60's, and a VA home loan, this is the only other beni I have received from my  vets status....other than being alive with no side effects!

 

A Captains Circle number is a number that will be assigned to you upon the completion of your first Princess cruise. Since it directly identifies you to PCL , your Veterans' Benefit is "attached" to your Captains Circle number so that you'll never have to submit that paperwork again and you will automatically receive that OBC on every future Princess cruise that you take. Please note that if you ever go through a travel agent, you will need to make sure that he/she adds your Captains Circle number to your cruise reservation so that you will receive that OBC. There are only 2 other cruise lines that offer a similar benefit, Cunard and P&O, so if you ever go on one of those 2 lines, you will want to submit paperwork to them also.

 

Thank you for your service and I hope that you have a great cruise!. What port are you going to Alaska out of?

 

Tom

[julie3fan]

1 hour ago, Pierlesscruisers said:

A Captains Circle number is a number that will be assigned to you upon the completion of your first Princess cruise.

 

You actually get this number as soon as you book your first cruise.

[MixerDave]

4 hours ago, Pierlesscruisers said:

 

As does Home Depot

 

Tom

 

Unless you are retired or a vet on disability, Home Depot restricts the 10% to 4 times a year, and will not give the discount on "special buy" items , a tag they now use more and more.  Lowes does not have these restrictions.

[Ep010835]

30 minutes ago, MixerDave said:

 

Unless you are retired or a vet on disability, Home Depot restricts the 10% to 4 times a year, and will not give the discount on "special buy" items , a tag they now use more and more.  Lowes does not have these restrictions.

 

Well that’s cruddy of them. 

😡

Just another reason I prefer to shop at Lowe’s. 

[Fairfield Nana]

Thanks to all for the great tips, especially about the  Capt's Circle #-- I'd probably forget to claim this next time. New to Princess and we are really looking forward to our cruise. Also agree about the Home Depot vs Lowes comments. I am a Calif. resident and last year had to re-new my driver's license. My family suggested I get my new one coded to show my vets' status.  Oh boy, what a comedy of comments from our local DMV staff. I finally told them  to forget it, I surrender, just give me my normal license. As an ex-Vietnam vet, I should have expected no special recognition was forthcoming. Our motto (sadly) was "phooey on it, press on, Don't Mean Nothin". At 73, still happy to be alive and well, and having a super wife and wonderful family.

[julie3fan]

Well, I thank you for your service, Fairfield Nana!  I think it's disrespectful how our society in general turns a blind eye to the special circumstances so many of our vets find themselves in.

[trbarton]

On 6/10/2019 at 7:57 PM, Fairfield Nana said:

Cool. Princess replied within 48 hours of my direct submission by e-mail attachment of their online questionnaire and a copy of my DD214. Got a $100 OBC for my 11 day Alaska cruise. I do not know what a Captains Circle # is all about and only provided my reservation number. No involvement by my TA, and info'd him all this after all was a done deal. Piece of cake and also didn't get put on KP to my knowledge thus far. Other than my GI benefits for college in the 60's, and a VA home loan, this is the only other beni I have received from my  vets status....other than being alive with no side effects!

Your Captains Circle number is how you’re identified with Princess.  That’s how they know who you are & your history with Princess. If you talk to Princess they ask for this number. It’s good to keep this number on file. If you go to look at your history with Princess on their web site this number will help. 

 

I agree about bout having to go through many hoops with the California DMV. I recently got a new card where I was asked about adding the veterans status on my card but I would have had to make another appointment to bring in documentation so I said no.  

 

Tom😎

Edited June 12, 2019 by trbarton

[MixerDave]

10 hours ago, Fairfield Nana said:

Thanks to all for the great tips, especially about the  Capt's Circle #-- I'd probably forget to claim this next time. New to Princess and we are really looking forward to our cruise. Also agree about the Home Depot vs Lowes comments. I am a Calif. resident and last year had to re-new my driver's license. My family suggested I get my new one coded to show my vets' status.  Oh boy, what a comedy of comments from our local DMV staff. I finally told them  to forget it, I surrender, just give me my normal license. As an ex-Vietnam vet, I should have expected no special recognition was forthcoming. Our motto (sadly) was "phooey on it, press on, Don't Mean Nothin". At 73, still happy to be alive and well, and having a super wife and wonderful family.

 

I live in Florida - they asked me if I wanted the "V" on my license and I said OK.  They charged me $1.00 and no stores recognize it!

[Ken the cruiser]

On 6/9/2019 at 9:39 AM, draver said:

I just uploaded a photo of my DD-214 and within an hour or so the credit ($250) appeared on my booking for a Sept. cruise.  I was told via email that it would also automatically be added to all future bookings, with the amount depending upon the length of cruise.  I have 3 cruises set so far, so I'm getting a total of $750 in the next year.  19, 14, and 16 days on the Regal & Crown ships.  Quite accommodating of them I think.

It is a great perk. Both my DW as well as myself are retired military, so we both get the $250. It’s definitely a plus when we decide to book a Princess cruise. We also get the shareholder benefits OBC as the perk for buying 100 shares of Carnival stock was just too good of a deal to pass up. 

[martinclm]

On 1/19/2019 at 8:19 PM, FoghornLeghorn said:

When you use the Princess at Sea on your phone once you board:

You Can order your breakfast the night before (eliminating the door hanger)

See your account balance/expenditures

See the Patter and click on the event to make your own personalized schedule

Reserve shore excursions

 

Is this something that can be downloaded beforehand or just once you get on the ship?

[Dani24]

1 minute ago, martinclm said:

Is this something that can be downloaded beforehand or just once you get on the ship?

 

You don't need to download anything. It's basically like a website you can access on using the extremely limited "free" wifi on board (meaning it only lets you get to the Princess stuff).  

[neverbeenhere]

https://www.princess.com/ships-and-experience/onboard-experience/activities/princess-at-sea/

[EllieinNJ]

Do you still need Princess-at-Sea if you are getting the Ocean Medallion package?