FYI Using a FCC as a Deposit

[louden]

We booked a 2021 cruise through our TA today and tried to use our FCC ( From a cancelled cruise ) since we did not have a FCD to apply.  Princess would not allow this.  We had to pay for the deposit and the FCC was then applied to the remaining fare.  Frustrated that we were not able to use existing monies available in the FCC for the deposit.   Has anyone else encountered this?

 

Louden

[voljeep]

did you use a FCD to book the cruise that was cancelled ?

[louden]

1 minute ago, voljeep said:

did you use a FCD to book the cruise that was cancelled ?

We did not

 

Louden

[Cruise Raider]

16 minutes ago, louden said:

We booked a 2021 cruise through our TA today and tried to use our FCC ( From a cancelled cruise ) since we did not have a FCD to apply.  Princess would not allow this.  We had to pay for the deposit and the FCC was then applied to the remaining fare.  Frustrated that we were not able to use existing monies available in the FCC for the deposit.   Has anyone else encountered this?

 

Louden

 

Yes, I've heard this is the way they are doing this now.  Depending upon which option you chose, #1 or #2, you may have a holding account with some cash you should be able to use for that purpose.  

To make matters worse, some people are reporting they are getting their FCD back as FCCs instead of getting them deposited back into their captain's circle account.  

 

[Steelers36]

45 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

Yes, I've heard this is the way they are doing this now.

 

1 hour ago, louden said:

We booked a 2021 cruise through our TA today and tried to use our FCC ( From a cancelled cruise ) since we did not have a FCD to apply.  Princess would not allow this.  We had to pay for the deposit and the FCC was then applied to the remaining fare.  Frustrated that we were not able to use existing monies available in the FCC for the deposit.   Has anyone else encountered this?

 

Louden

 

This is SOP.  You could never use a FCC on account for a cruise deposit - just for paying off the balance owing. 

[ceilidh1]

1 hour ago, louden said:

We booked a 2021 cruise through our TA today and tried to use our FCC ( From a cancelled cruise ) since we did not have a FCD to apply.  Princess would not allow this.  We had to pay for the deposit and the FCC was then applied to the remaining fare.  Frustrated that we were not able to use existing monies available in the FCC for the deposit.   Has anyone else encountered this?

 

Louden

Did you choose option 1 or option 2? If you chose option 1 then the refundable amounts from the original booking can be applied for the deposit - the FCC cannot as this has never been possible for a deposit payment. If you chose option 2 then the original deposit you paid will be refunded to you (I get that you likely didn't receive it yet). Princess is also allowing TAs to extend the hold period for 30 days without a deposit being paid. Maybe your TA isn't aware of that yet?

[Cruise Raider]

39 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

 

 

This is SOP.  You could never use a FCC on account for a cruise deposit - just for paying off the balance owing. 

 

You are right ... I should have said that I just learned that this is the way they treat FCCs.  I've not had the opportunity to use them in the past.  I've learned soooo much since this suspension of operations began.  

[louden]

54 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

 

 

This is SOP.  You could never use a FCC on account for a cruise deposit - just for paying off the balance owing. 

Thank you for the explanation.  Wish Princess had explained this to us..  On another note we had cancelled another cruise that had been booked with a FCD and it was refunded as a FCC even though Princess had stated in a previous update FCD's would be returned in that format and extended if expired.  Oh well !  Happy they are trying do the best they can.  Must be a nightmare sorting through all the claims.  Stay well everyone.  Better days ahead.

 

Louden

[Cruise Raider]

2 hours ago, louden said:

Thank you for the explanation.  Wish Princess had explained this to us..  On another note we had cancelled another cruise that had been booked with a FCD and it was refunded as a FCC even though Princess had stated in a previous update FCD's would be returned in that format and extended if expired.  Oh well !  Happy they are trying do the best they can.  Must be a nightmare sorting through all the claims.  Stay well everyone.  Better days ahead.

 

Louden

 

Did you choose option #1?  I was told that this option would result in your FCD refunded as an FCC.  Only if you chose option #2 will it be redeposited into your captain's circle account.  But, that was today ... yesterday and tomorrow could be different.  

[Cruise Raider]

This article was just posted on the cruise critic site ... it taught me a thing or two.  I learned that is cannot be used for a deposit wasn't aware you couldn't use it for taxes and fees, etc.   However, it makes sense as Princess is now holding this as cash in accounts rather automatically refunding it.  It's worth a read since we are all seeking the details on FCC use lately:  

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=5209&et_cid=3327335&et_rid=16716670&et_referrer=NULL

[SJSchell]

5 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

This article was just posted on the cruise critic site ... it taught me a thing or two.  I learned that is cannot be used for a deposit wasn't aware you couldn't use it for taxes and fees, etc.   However, it makes sense as Princess is now holding this as cash in accounts rather automatically refunding it.  It's worth a read since we are all seeking the details on FCC use lately:  

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=5209&et_cid=3327335&et_rid=16716670&et_referrer=NULL

Thanks for posting this article. I didn’t realize FCC cannot be used to cover folio expenses/on board spending. 

[cruzsnooze]

I wan't informed of the FCC rules when I accepted this option. I will have to speak with customer relations and get it reversed back to a refund since I will not pay for deposit. I don't mind paying for the port fees but the deposit?

[Bgwest]

6 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

 

Did you choose option #1?  I was told that this option would result in your FCD refunded as an FCC.  Only if you chose option #2 will it be redeposited into your captain's circle account.  But, that was today ... yesterday and tomorrow could be different.  

We chose option number one. All of the FCC’s, cruise fare plus bonus, were placed in our accounts yesterday. The FDC‘s we used as deposits on this cruise were refunded to us as FCCs. 
Not what you wanted to hear and certainly not what we would have preferred happen. 

[Cruise Raider]

3 hours ago, SJSchell said:

Thanks for posting this article. I didn’t realize FCC cannot be used to cover folio expenses/on board spending. 

 I learned a lot as well.  This site oftentimes has very useful articles.  

[Cruise Raider]

3 hours ago, Bgwest said:

We chose option number one. All of the FCC’s, cruise fare plus bonus, were placed in our accounts yesterday. The FDC‘s we used as deposits on this cruise were refunded to us as FCCs. 
Not what you wanted to hear and certainly not what we would have preferred happen. 

I understood the FCDs were refunded as FCCs if option #1 was chosen ... they are only redeposited into your captains circle account if you choose option #2 ... same goes for gift card balances being converted to FCCs with an expiration vs being put back on your gift card without an expiration.  But, as mentioned, that could all change tomorrow.  They haven’t been very consistent but I’m sure their is a learning curve involved.    

[Iamcruzin]

8 hours ago, cruzsnooze said:

I wan't informed of the FCC rules when I accepted this option. I will have to speak with customer relations and get it reversed back to a refund since I will not pay for deposit. I don't mind paying for the port fees but the deposit?

Does the deposit cover the port taxes and other fees? If so the original deposit since it's cash will go towards those fees at final payment and the FCC will cover the rest of the trip if the FCC is equal to to remaining balance.

[cruzsnooze]

49 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

Does the deposit cover the port taxes and other fees? If so the original deposit since it's cash will go towards those fees at final payment and the FCC will cover the rest of the trip if the FCC is equal to to remaining balance.

My FCC is larger then the cruise I want to book so I don't see any reason to give Princess any more cash. 

[ICANDIGIT]

We booked our next cruise Dec 2020, right after our Apr. Cruise

[Iamcruzin]

36 minutes ago, cruzsnooze said:

My FCC is larger than the cruise I want to book so I don't see any reason to give Princess any more cash. 

Did they refund your taxes and service charges in cash when the previous cruise was canceled?  These FCC's seem to be a nightmare on the other lines. I don't see any complaints on Princess other than this post. There is an entire thread on the Royal Caribbean board. They can't seem to get the cash or the FCCs in a reasonable amount of time.

Edited April 24, 2020 by Iamcruzin

[cruzsnooze]

4 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

Did they refund your taxes and service charges in cash when the previous cruise was canceled?  These FCC's seem to be a nightmare on the other lines. I don't see any complaints on Princess other than this post. There is an entire thread on the Royal Caribbean board. They can't seem to get the cash or the FCCs in a reasonable amount of time.

It hasn't been posted yet so I don't know.

[ICANDIGIT]

Sorry about the messing up original post. Tablet thinks it's smarter than me.

We booked our next cruise for December 2020 after our Apr cruise was canceled. We chose option 1. Since the FCC had not been accredited to my account yet, I had make the deposit in cash. We received our FCC this week. I called my PCP and she was able to accredit the full cruise amount from the FCC. She than gave options for the cash deposit. I could apply to FCC, get cash refund (up 60 days to receive), or the one chose was to pay the taxes and port charges. The remaining amount was put in OBC. My one suggestion would be to contact your PCP if you booked directly with Princess. If not you have to work through your TA.

 

Mike

[voljeep]

FCC's and HOLDING ACCOUNT - both money grabs by Princess to 'hold' you to only cruising with Princess !!

[Musky Ike]

17 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

This article was just posted on the cruise critic site ... it taught me a thing or two.  I learned that is cannot be used for a deposit wasn't aware you couldn't use it for taxes and fees, etc.   However, it makes sense as Princess is now holding this as cash in accounts rather automatically refunding it.  It's worth a read since we are all seeking the details on FCC use lately:  

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=5209&et_cid=3327335&et_rid=16716670&et_referrer=NULL

Wow, I learn new stuff here all the time,  very informative, Thanks

[Cruise Raider]

44 minutes ago, voljeep said:

FCC's and HOLDING ACCOUNT - both money grabs by Princess to 'hold' you to only cruising with Princess !!

 

I questioned going with option #1 ... but now am learning of so many restrictions on how FCCs can be used and the fact that they expire, I just decided to go with option #2 instead.  Now, I am really glad I did.  

 

I'm not being overly critical of Princess, I think their compensation packages in the initial stages of this were really good.  Now, I think we are all getting anxious as time goes on without seeing a lot of refunds, calls are being dropped, procedures on compensation seem to be constantly changing or inconsistent, etc ... 

And, in reading about other cruiselines not doing much better, I still cut Princess some slack.  I don't really see where any cruiseline is doing this all any better.  Still, the communication as to what is entailed in actually using your FCCs or for having chosen option #1 has been rather scant.  

[Longwood50]

On 4/24/2020 at 12:45 AM, louden said:

We booked a 2021 cruise through our TA today and tried to use our FCC ( From a cancelled cruise ) since we did not have a FCD to apply.  Princess would not allow this.  We had to pay for the deposit and the FCC was then applied to the remaining fare.  Frustrated that we were not able to use existing monies available in the FCC for the deposit.   Has anyone else encountered this?

Louden

 

I was told in talking directly to the cruise line that if after your FCC are posted you can post them to your cruise.  If the amount of the FCC is more than necessary to cover the deposit, they will refund you in cash the difference or in total depending on how much FCC you have.  Assuming you have enough to pay off the entire cruise, you would of course receive a cash refund of the cash deposit you made.