Future cruise deposit refund from pause cancelled cruise

[Bizziecruzer]

Hi. We had our Cruise cancelled by princess. We had used a future cruise deposit to book the cruise. That's all we paid. We opted for princess to retain our deposit and we would then get an additional $100 credit to use in the future. Our future cruise deposit was refunded as a future cruise credit, so in effect if we book a cruise we are not able to take advantage of the OBC that comes with the future cruise deposit. Has this happened to others? Thanks in advance for your responses.

[Astro Flyer]

My cruise that was canceled in the most recent pause shows a total of $200 of FCC (sail by 5/1/22) for our $100 FCD we used on that canceled cruise. The downside is we’ve lost the $100 FCD & would need to make a full deposit which likely would be more than the $200 FCC.

• Cash Value Fcc-voy Xxxxx-100% - $100
• Used For Goodwill Fccs - $100

[hpeabody]

2 hours ago, Bizziecruzer said:

Hi. We had our Cruise cancelled by princess. We had used a future cruise deposit to book the cruise. That's all we paid. We opted for princess to retain our deposit and we would then get an additional $100 credit to use in the future. Our future cruise deposit was refunded as a future cruise credit, so in effect if we book a cruise we are not able to take advantage of the OBC that comes with the future cruise deposit. Has this happened to others? Thanks in advance for your responses.

It appears that way for me too.  No double anything, (My understanding from the cancellation email)  just the single FCC.  An FCD is more value that the FCC.

Edited July 31, 2020 by hpeabody

[caribill]

7 hours ago, Bizziecruzer said:

Hi. We had our Cruise cancelled by princess. We had used a future cruise deposit to book the cruise. That's all we paid. We opted for princess to retain our deposit and we would then get an additional $100 credit to use in the future. Our future cruise deposit was refunded as a future cruise credit, so in effect if we book a cruise we are not able to take advantage of the OBC that comes with the future cruise deposit. Has this happened to others? Thanks in advance for your responses.

 

Basically, you have received an extra $100 for your $100 FCD that has become an FCC.

 

$100 is more or equal to the OBC from an FCD unless your cruise is 17 or more days long.

 

So for voyages 16 days or less you have received either a better value from the bonus FCC or an equal value.

 

In other words, for example, the FCD OBC for a 7-day cruise in a full suite is $50. This compares to the bonus $100 FCC you now have. The difference is you need to spend the $100 on the cost of the cruise instead of having $50 to spend while on the cruise.

[wallyj]

Please read the general FAQ's about FCC's and one of the last FAQ specifically addresses OBC lost from using a FCD on a cruise that has been cancelled by Princess. If you are out of FCD's in your Princess bank, then Yes, you will lose the potential of possibly more than $100 OBC depending on the length and cabin category booked. Princess directs you to write customer relations to hopefully get your lost OBC transferred to another sailing or as Goodwill credit.

[caribill]

19 minutes ago, wallyj said:

Please read the general FAQ's about FCC's and one of the last FAQ specifically addresses OBC lost from using a FCD on a cruise that has been cancelled by Princess. If you are out of FCD's in your Princess bank, then Yes, you will lose the potential of possibly more than $100 OBC depending on the length and cabin category booked. Princess directs you to write customer relations to hopefully get your lost OBC transferred to another sailing or as Goodwill credit.

 

The phrasing is " In most cases, the original FCD will automatically be available to apply to your next cruise from your My Princess account. In the event an FCD had reached its expiration date since being applied, please contact our Customer Relations team to have the OBC reinstated."

 

To me this says this applies if the FCD had been restored as an FCD, not converted to an FCC.

[wallyj]

My personal experience was I used a FCD for an April cruise that was cancelled during pause 1. I selected getting higher value instead of refund, so my FCD was not returned but rolled into the FCC given. Upon reading the FAQ, I emailed Customer Relationas and the OBC I should have received for the April sailing for using a FCD was given as Goodwill credit to be used on a future sailing. Assume Princess is making you do the extra work to request, instead of automatically checking if a FCD was used and then posting the OBC lost as Goodwill or they might be using some sort of metrics to decide who they will grant the lost OBC so they make you put in a request to Customer Relations. 

[wallyworld583]

I spent almost an hour yesterday with a very nice lady getting all the refunds and extras sorted out.  When it came to the Onboard Credits section of My Account we had one item listed as FCD in the amount of "$15.00 (USD) to $150.00 (USD)".  This is the OBC we will get depending on the length of cruise we book.  This was OBC we got from purchasing a FCC on board during the last cruise we were able to take.  It had been applied to a cruise cancelled this past spring and is now back in our account for use on the next cruise.  So, not really lost just didn't call it what I was expecting.     

[wallyworld583]

Oh, and one other thing, the bulk of the FCC and bonus refund from selecting option one does not show in the My Account section.  It is in a "hidden account". (this is for me.  I assume it is the same for others but obviously don't know that for sure)   When you book your next cruise the TA just needs your Captain's Circle number and that money can then be accessed.  So just because you don't see it doesn't mean it isn't there.  (Whew, had me worried for a bit when I didn't see it) 

[wallyj]

Please clarify, are you saying the FCD was redeposited into your account to be used for a future cruise, or the OBC you would have received from using a FCD is now in your account to be used for a future sailing. My uunderstanding  is you get a FCD returned only if you request a 'refund', if you select getting the higher value , your FCD is posted as a refundable FCC which when you use, you do not get the OBC associated with using a traditional FCD. FCD's will show OBC of 15-150 as that is the range of possible OBC given by Princess depending on length  of cruise and cabin stateroom booked. 

 

What I was trying to explain was when I booked a cruise using a FCD and Princess cancelled that cruise, the Princess given OBC for using a FCD is usually 'lost' unless you contact Customer Relations. If you request a refund then your FCD is returned , with the latest  pause, Princess says do nothing and you will automatically get the higher value with bonus Non refundable FCC. 

[wallyj]

For my April Ruby sailing that was cancelled, all of the FCC was posted in my account where I could see the 100% cruisefare amount and a seperate amount for the 50% bonus FCC. The only amount hidden is the Govt taxes and fees, which I am told I can request to be refunded. The FCD I used was not returned to my account but rolled into the 100% FCC for option 1. Friends who selected option 2 had thier FCD returned to thier accounts so they can use on a future sailing and get 15-150 OBC. 

[dreaminofcruisin]

8 hours ago, Astro Flyer said:

My cruise that was canceled in the most recent pause shows a total of $200 of FCC (sail by 5/1/22) for our $100 FCD we used on that canceled cruise. The downside is we’ve lost the $100 FCD & would need to make a full deposit which likely would be more than the $200 FCC.

• Cash Value Fcc-voy Xxxxx-100% - $100
• Used For Goodwill Fccs - $100

Boy...this is confusing. I hadn't thought this through prior to this thread.

My account looks like the above.

I DO have other FCDs, so I can book my next cruise with an FCD. (Unlike the OP who I think is saying they do not, so really end up not getting an 'extra' bonus I think.)

If I book my next cruise with an FCD, does this mean I will get the value the FCD normally provides in OBC---say it's 10 days...so that would be $100. Then would I also be able to use BOTH of the above listed FCCs? So, in effect I would have $300 OBCs? And would they be available prior to the cruise to use for Excursions? This sounds like one of those questions that calling Princess will result in many different answers.....anyone done this and can see it in their booking?

[dickinson]

I used a FCD for my cancelled cruise.  Final payment date had not arrived.  We did not elect to receive any additional FCC (I don't remember if it was offered).  I just looked at my personalizer.  I saw $100 listed as FCC but as I clicked on details I saw that it said it was a FCD, listed and ID#, and showed the OBC of $15-$150.  Also listed the expiration date.  Everything was listed just like the one I used for a cruise in October 2021.  

 

Maybe things are different only for people who elected to get additional credit from Princess.

[wallyj]

I believe what you have in your account is FCC not OBC from Princess cancelling your cruise where you only had FCD towards payment of your cruise. Princess exchanged your $100 FCD returned as a refundable FCC and then gave you a nonrefunable FCC of $100. 

 

As you say you still have unexpired FCD to use on a future sailI got, when you use it, you will receive the appropriate OBC depending on length and cabin , the FCC will then be applied to reduce the cruisefare.

 

You have the option to contact Customer relations to see what they will do with the OBC you lost from using a FCD on your cruise that was cancelled.

[Esprit]

12 hours ago, Bizziecruzer said:

Hi. We had our Cruise cancelled by princess. We had used a future cruise deposit to book the cruise. That's all we paid. We opted for princess to retain our deposit and we would then get an additional $100 credit to use in the future. Our future cruise deposit was refunded as a future cruise credit, so in effect if we book a cruise we are not able to take advantage of the OBC that comes with the future cruise deposit. Has this happened to others? Thanks in advance for your responses.

Yes

[Tedferg]

We just let the FCD convert to increased FCC, though nothing shows up yet - the cancelled cruise shows as active. I suppose converting to FCC means Princess does not have to keep an amount on their books for potential refunds of expiring FCD.

 

To those who contacted Customer Services, was this email or snail mail ? I guess I can ask or TA to enquire about Goodwill OBC when we book next.

[Astro Flyer]

6 hours ago, dreaminofcruisin said:

Boy...this is confusing. I hadn't thought this through prior to this thread.

My account looks like the above.

I DO have other FCDs, so I can book my next cruise with an FCD. (Unlike the OP who I think is saying they do not, so really end up not getting an 'extra' bonus I think.)

If I book my next cruise with an FCD, does this mean I will get the value the FCD normally provides in OBC---say it's 10 days...so that would be $100. Then would I also be able to use BOTH of the above listed FCCs? So, in effect I would have $300 OBCs? And would they be available prior to the cruise to use for Excursions? This sounds like one of those questions that calling Princess will result in many different answers.....anyone done this and can see it in their booking?

I do have 1 remaining FCD to use but the one for my canceled cruise shows used without any OBC shown that would’ve been earned on my canceled 30-day cruise. My FCD was valid until May 2021 but it wasn’t reinstated to my account despite stating it would be returned.

 

The following statement from 7/22 reflects what their VP of sales said in a previous TA webinar (link was provided in a thread by a TA)...we should get the amount of OBC from a canceled cruise & if not to contact Princess to add that OBC. Not being listed in the Captain’s Circle account, I’m skeptical if calling would correct the problem. Even when my TA talks to a knowledgeable CSR that agent receives conflicting information when seeking a definitive answer. It’s frustrating & confusing for everyone including the Princess CSRs who also get conflicting answers from management.

 

As I recall, FCC is usable towards cruise payment & for deposits and OBC is available to prebook tours or to use onboard. It appears that the $200 FCC for a canceled cruise’s FCD should also include the appropriate level of OBC ($100 in your example). If using another FCD to book a cruise the amount of OBC based on duration should also be added. My conclusion is based on the information I’ve read from Princess so if I missed anything my apologies.
 

https://www.princess.com/plan/impacted-and-cancelled-cruises/

 

1. If I have an onboard credit (OBC) from a Future Cruise Deposit (FCD) on a booking that is cancelled, will the OBC be honored on my next cruise?
   Yes, it will. In most cases, the original FCD will automatically be available to apply to your next cruise from your My Princess account. In the event an FCD had reached its expiration date since being applied, please contact our Customer Relations team to have the OBC reinstated.

[Ken the cruiser]

12 hours ago, caribill said:

 

The phrasing is " In most cases, the original FCD will automatically be available to apply to your next cruise from your My Princess account. In the event an FCD had reached its expiration date since being applied, please contact our Customer Relations team to have the OBC reinstated."

 

To me this says this applies if the FCD had been restored as an FCD, not converted to an FCC.

Our 14 day July cruise got cancelled which was originally booked with FCDs due to expire in July 2021. We didn't get the FCDs posted back on our account, but instead got the $100 + $100 FCCs posted to our accounts with no mention of the $100 OBC we were supposed to also receive. As folks have suggested, we wrote Customer Relations today requesting the $100 pp OBC that we missed out on associated with the now "missing" FCDs be placed into our accounts. Now we'll just sit back and wait for their response. 

 

Update: After rereading all the above comments, when CR calls and expresses any issues with giving us the OBC, we'll just ask if we can have our FCDs back to simplify things.

Edited July 31, 2020 by Ken the cruiser

[Astro Flyer]

2 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Our 14 day July cruise got cancelled which was originally booked with FCDs due to expire in July 2021. We didn't get the FCDs posted back on our account, but instead got the $100 + $100 FCCs posted to our accounts with no mention of the $100 OBC we were supposed to also receive. As folks have suggested, we wrote Customer Relations today requesting the $100 pp OBC that we missed out on associated with the now "missing" FCDs be placed into our accounts. Now we'll just sit back and wait for their response. 

 

That link to contact them only shows their 800-774-6237 number & recently haven't received any replies for the couple of times I emailed Customer Relations...hopefully that works for you & looking forward to the outcome.

 

The customer service rep (CSR) my TA talked with got different answers from management on different days when our cruise was canceled. In the first pauses it was necessary to submit a request to have them keep our money in exchange for FCC. The most recent pauses were the opposite...get FCC unless requesting a refund. For the current pause, they quickly provided the FCC for our September cruise without allowing much time to request a refund.

[Tedferg]

Our cancelled Sept 2020 cruise still shows active, booked with FCD. I am pretty sure our account showed FCD as zero. It now shows FCD 'applied against booking XXXXX', the cancelled cruise. Also two new entries on 7/27 Cash Value Fcc-voy Xxxxx-100% and on 7/28 Used For Goodwill Fccs. Book and Sail by 05/01/22. So at least there has been an update to account.

[Thrak]

Princess hasn't cancelled our November/December cruises yet but, when they do (or when I cancel them myself as I know I can't sail to Australia and New Zealand this year) I will specify that I want my FCD returned and not doubled into FCC. I want my original form of payment back. If you don't specify that you want it done that way Princess will automagically give you twice the amount as FCC which, to my mind, is not worth as much. Final payment on the first segment of our B2B2B is due August 12th. If Princess hasn't cancelled the cruise by August 10th I will instruct my TA to cancel all segments and to get my FCD returned in original form.

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, Astro Flyer said:

 

That link to contact them only shows their 800-774-6237 number & recently haven't received any replies for the couple of times I emailed Customer Relations...hopefully that works for you & looking forward to the outcome.

 

The customer service rep (CSR) my TA talked with got different answers from management on different days when our cruise was canceled. In the first pauses it was necessary to submit a request to have them keep our money in exchange for FCC. The most recent pauses were the opposite...get FCC unless requesting a refund. For the current pause, they quickly provided the FCC for our September cruise without allowing much time to request a refund.

To be honest, we're not holding our breath. The $200 in FCCs we each got is fine as we doubled our money and we can put it towards our next cruise fare. But then we have plenty of FCDs stacked up in our account for future use before we go on our next cruise, whenever that might be.

 

We're just happy we had most of our future cruises booked before the pandemic hit as the cruise prices for the itineraries we have booked have definitely jumped up from when we first booked them.

Edited July 31, 2020 by Ken the cruiser

[Thrak]

There is no way I want FCC instead of my FCD. With the FCD I can use the $100 as full deposit for any cruise. With the FCD I often get $100 - $125 OBC in addition to the cheap deposit. With the FCC I would have to pay the full deposit and would get zero OBC. No freaking way will I agree to trade. With the B2B2B we have booked this winter, two of the FCD will expire and be refunded. The third will hang on for a while but may well expire. We have two more cruises booked that already use FCD and one "extra" apiece at the moment. Given the state of cruising that is enough. I don't need to let Princess have more of my money. I'm already sitting on over $6k in gift cards...

 

 

Our current FCD status is below. If we really feel we will be cruising more in the future we can always buy more on our June 2021 cruise.

 

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, Thrak said:

There is no way I want FCC instead of my FCD. With the FCD I can use the $100 as full deposit for any cruise. With the FCD I often get $100 - $125 OBC in addition to the cheap deposit. With the FCC I would have to pay the full deposit and would get zero OBC. No freaking way will I agree to trade. With the B2B2B we have booked this winter, two of the FCD will expire and be refunded. The third will hang on for a while but may well expire. We have two more cruises booked that already use FCD and one "extra" apiece at the moment. Given the state of cruising that is enough. I don't need to let Princess have more of my money. I'm already sitting on over $6k in gift cards...

 

 

Our current FCD status is below. If we really feel we will be cruising more in the future we can always buy more on our June 2021 cruise.

 

Just for future reference when our next cruise booked with FCDs gets cancelled, do we request a refund in order to get them returned to our account? With the last 2, we didn't do anything as we were under the false assumption we would get the FCDs back as well as get $100 pp back in FCCs.

[Thrak]

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Just for future reference when our next cruise booked with FCDs gets cancelled, do we request a refund in order to get them returned to our account? With the last 2, we didn't do anything as we were under the false assumption we would get the FCDs back as well as get $100 pp back in FCCs.

 

I will not trust Princess at all. I will insist on having my FCD returned. If I don't do that they will automagically turn them into FCC which is not what I want. It is in their best interest to double the amount and give it to me as FCC so they will do so unless I specifically request that they return my deposit in it's original form. If you want the FCD restored then, by all means, let them know in no uncertain terms. If you leave it up to them they will not do it that way.