Players Club offer

[memoak]

17 hours ago, Kathyrd said:

I received a casino offer can I pay the difference to upgrade

We have always been able to upgrade from the “free” balcony to a full suite and add Princess Plus. We do 2-3 of these cruises every year. In fact we are embarking today in San Francisco for a 10 day Mexico trip. Full suite, Princess Plus and $1,250 free play between us

 

[WAvoyager]

It usually depends on the upgrade.  We’ve been told that the Casino is provided specific quantities of rooms to offer in the promo, and also specific categories of allowable upgrades.  If you’re trying to upgrade into one of the categories which they have available, they’ll have a discounted rate for the upgrade.  If you’re trying to upgrade to a category they don’t have access to, they can’t provide a discount on the upgrade, and they also cannot apply the original promotion value to the booking.

 

we’ve found the mini-suite, and suite upgrade options are usually available, but Club class mini-suites are not.

Edited November 22, 2022 by WAvoyager

[mfanderso]

I just booked a "Sail and Play" offer for next month.  Cruise is paid in full.  When I try to bid to upgrade, it says This reservation is not eligible for Princess Upgrade at this time. Is there a chance I will be able to bid to upgrade later?

[roxievegas]

5 hours ago, mfanderso said:

I just booked a "Sail and Play" offer for next month.  Cruise is paid in full.  When I try to bid to upgrade, it says This reservation is not eligible for Princess Upgrade at this time. Is there a chance I will be able to bid to upgrade later?

we have a casino cruise for next month and we were sent an email about bidding up for upgrade, which I did put in a bid, have not heard anything yet.  Maybe your cruise is too full to have rooms available to upgrade to (?)

[mfanderso]

9 minutes ago, roxievegas said:

we have a casino cruise for next month and we were sent an email about bidding up for upgrade, which I did put in a bid, have not heard anything yet.  Maybe your cruise is too full to have rooms available to upgrade to (?)

The cruise still appears to have lots of availability.  When I asked the players club about free play, they said I wasn’t eligible for free play since I booked a “Sail & Play” fare, but got OBC instead. I thought maybe that was why I couldn’t bid to upgrade. 

[joe/jack]

The best Casino offer we have gotten is a free baloney cabin

400$ OBC

400$ free casino play

No tax’s

No port charges

After 11 Princess Cruises 

Free is a sweet gift 🎁 

[CasinoInvitee]

Most sailors don't pay the PP because it's comped as a part of their casino voyage. A huge majority of cruisers you see on any cruise sailing are there on comps, discount vouchers or guests of the casino. These sailings also include PP so the higher fees does not really impact those cruisers so not sure if this is something to be concerned about.

[roxievegas]

2 hours ago, joe/jack said:

The best Casino offer we have gotten is a free baloney cabin

400$ OBC

400$ free casino play

No tax’s

No port charges

After 11 Princess Cruises 

Free is a sweet gift 🎁 

very unusual not to have to pay the taxes or port charges - we have always paid that no matter the cabin category or free play amount.  lucky you.

[WAvoyager]

9 hours ago, joe/jack said:

The best Casino offer we have gotten is a free baloney cabin

 

Usually they only comp the veggie tray cabins!

 

😉

[margie1221]

Hi folks - new to Princess - just received “free” cruise offers from land casino - one each, same household. What’s Princess policy on using two vouchers on the same cruise for two separate cabins, or combining the two certificates to get a free upgrade. Any experience on this?? I have done both on Celebrity Norwegian and Carnival - all have different policies, TIA.

[jwattle]

6 hours ago, margie1221 said:

Hi folks - new to Princess - just received “free” cruise offers from land casino - one each, same household. What’s Princess policy on using two vouchers on the same cruise for two separate cabins, or combining the two certificates to get a free upgrade. Any experience on this?? I have done both on Celebrity Norwegian and Carnival - all have different policies, TIA.

Two cabins=yes if the offers were to different people in the household and you register those people in the household. Free upgrade =no.

[cranch39]

So, I have a question...My husband and I received our first offer for a  free cruise from Princess. We decided to take advantage of the offer. We called Princess Players Club to book, we were told there was a $200 deposit for each of us and were charged for the transfers, vacation protection, and the taxes and fees, etc. Our payment came to all the above plus the deposit. I thought I was being over charged and when I subtracted things out, it came to the above total and the deposit. We were also, on paper, charged for the entire cruise. The rep we were working with said the full price would drop off in 10 days and we would be able to upgrade our cabin at that time. Is anyone familiar with the charges and upgrade option. I feel as though something isn't correct but I have no idea. Should I just hang on for the 10 days and see what happens then?? We've got 100+ days until our cruise so I realize I have time but I was just wondering if someone could help me understand the way the free cruise through the Player's Club works. I hope this makes sense and someone can explain how it works. Thank you in advance.  🙂

[Jadn13]

1 hour ago, cranch39 said:

So, I have a question...My husband and I received our first offer for a  free cruise from Princess. We decided to take advantage of the offer. We called Princess Players Club to book, we were told there was a $200 deposit for each of us and were charged for the transfers, vacation protection, and the taxes and fees, etc. Our payment came to all the above plus the deposit. I thought I was being over charged and when I subtracted things out, it came to the above total and the deposit. We were also, on paper, charged for the entire cruise. The rep we were working with said the full price would drop off in 10 days and we would be able to upgrade our cabin at that time. Is anyone familiar with the charges and upgrade option. I feel as though something isn't correct but I have no idea. Should I just hang on for the 10 days and see what happens then?? We've got 100+ days until our cruise so I realize I have time but I was just wondering if someone could help me understand the way the free cruise through the Player's Club works. I hope this makes sense and someone can explain how it works. Thank you in advance.  🙂

Doesn’t sound correct.

You should only pay $200 Deposit(returned as OBC)

Taxes/Fees:Transfers and nothing else. 
 

[memoak]

43 minutes ago, Jadn13 said:

Doesn’t sound correct.

You should only pay $200 Deposit(returned as OBC)

Taxes/Fees:Transfers and nothing else. 
 

It is $200 per person returned as OBC and any fees 

 

[Mike45LC]

1 hour ago, cranch39 said:

So, I have a question...We've got 100+ days until our cruise so I realize I have time but I was just wondering if someone could help me understand the way the free cruise through the Player's Club works. I hope this makes sense and someone can explain how it works. Thank you in advance.  🙂

First of all, you need to pay the $200 per person deposit.  It is non-refundable but if you get on the ship, it becomes a $200 (times two people) On-Board Credit.  So you will et that money back.

 

Then, you have to pay the port fees, taxes, etc, charge, which in my experience runs about $130 to $200 per person.  

 

My up-front payment is exactly that, the $400 deposit plus the port charges, under $800.

 

If you want to upgrade the cabin, that is more $$$.

 

I don't take the Personal Protection Plan any more, but if you do, you need to pay that.

 

I don't know if your offer includes gratuities, beverage package and Wi-Fi, but those would not be required up front.

 

EZAir would probably be required up front if you want it.

 

[KarmaCruisers]

1 hour ago, cranch39 said:

So, I have a question...My husband and I received our first offer for a  free cruise from Princess. We decided to take advantage of the offer. We called Princess Players Club to book, we were told there was a $200 deposit for each of us and were charged for the transfers, vacation protection, and the taxes and fees, etc. Our payment came to all the above plus the deposit. I thought I was being over charged and when I subtracted things out, it came to the above total and the deposit. We were also, on paper, charged for the entire cruise. The rep we were working with said the full price would drop off in 10 days and we would be able to upgrade our cabin at that time. Is anyone familiar with the charges and upgrade option. I feel as though something isn't correct but I have no idea. Should I just hang on for the 10 days and see what happens then?? We've got 100+ days until our cruise so I realize I have time but I was just wondering if someone could help me understand the way the free cruise through the Player's Club works. I hope this makes sense and someone can explain how it works. Thank you in advance.  🙂

It’s more than $200 each.

We just finished a “comped” cruise (using a princess “come back soon” offer earned on our last cruise in November)

it cost $720 total up front (7 day on sky princess)

the way it broke down per person was:

$200 “deposit”

$160 taxes/portfees

 

once on board, we received the $200 each back, as OBC. So, technically, out of our pocket was $160 each.

[WAvoyager]

3 hours ago, cranch39 said:

So, I have a question...My husband and I received our first offer for a  free cruise from Princess. We decided to take advantage of the offer. We called Princess Players Club to book, we were told there was a $200 deposit for each of us and were charged for the transfers, vacation protection, and the taxes and fees, etc. Our payment came to all the above plus the deposit. I thought I was being over charged and when I subtracted things out, it came to the above total and the deposit. We were also, on paper, charged for the entire cruise. The rep we were working with said the full price would drop off in 10 days and we would be able to upgrade our cabin at that time. Is anyone familiar with the charges and upgrade option. I feel as though something isn't correct but I have no idea. Should I just hang on for the 10 days and see what happens then?? We've got 100+ days until our cruise so I realize I have time but I was just wondering if someone could help me understand the way the free cruise through the Player's Club works. I hope this makes sense and someone can explain how it works. Thank you in advance.  🙂

Yes, everything sounds normal.  As others have noted, the charges all seem correct.  What happens with the rate charged is that Princess ‘proper’ charges $$$ for the cruise.  The Casino group collects the necessary $ from you for customer responsible charges.  The remaining $$ is ‘paid’ to Princess by the Casino group.  (There may not be any actual payment, but there is some financial accounting transaction which the Casino is responsible for).  Once the casino takes care of their ‘payment’, the cruise is considered paid in full and is eligible for upgrade bidding.

 

Please note : by upgrade, I mean the upgrade bidding process.  If you requested an upgraded cabin, it doesn’t sound right that you had to wait.  They’ve always been able to book an upgraded cabin from our offer at time of booking, within certain cabin categories.  When we were offered interior room, we booked a balcony.  Now that we’re offered a balcony, we always book a mini-suite, at the casino upgrade rate.  They don’t allow upgrades to certain categories.

 

This is the first I’ve heard of the Casino to Princess payment being made 10 days following your reservation.  This process is notorious for the Casino waiting until the last minute to ‘pay’ the remaining balance, or past the last minute to where Princess cancels the reservation.  But maybe it’s a new policy they’ve implemented recently.

 

I was surprised that my upcoming trip was upgrade bidding eligible pretty early on, which indicates the cruise has been paid in full, so that aligns with what you were told.

 

We’ve been on 5 casino comped cruises, and while there were a couple of hiccups, everything has worked out as expected, and we have a hard time considering paying for a cruise these days.

Edited March 21, 2023 by WAvoyager

[azbirdmom]

Did you make your reservation recently or a while ago?  I ask because they used to include what the casino is "paying" in the first line of the Booking Confirmation and the casino was supposed to "pay" the balance shown no later than a week before the cruise.  However in the last couple of months Princess has gotten rid of this approach, one that has occasionally caused bookings to cancel when the casino failed to live up to their side of the bargain.  Now the Booking Confirmations only show what you've paid along with a notation that you are paid in full.  If you booked this recently, you should probably call back and find out why your Booking Confirmation shows the casino portion and also why it doesn't show paid in full.  Once they fix this you will likely get a refund of your Princess Vacation Protection too since you shouldn't be paying insurance on the casino's share.

 

As for upgrade, if the casino has cabins in their inventory in the upgraded category that you want you can call at any time and ask them for a quote.  And if the cost is reasonable they will accept payment for it and move you immediately.  You can probably model this out by signing in to Princess.com and doing a mock booking for your cruise.  IF there are cabins available in that category you should see the cost shown (and you should see $0 fare for your comped category).

 

The other option is to wait until 85 days prior to your cruise and bid on an upgrade.  You won't find out for a while if you're successful, unlike booking the upgraded cabin outright.

 

Probably best to call!

[DallasGuy75219]

As @azbirdmom alluded, if you book an upgraded room above the category your offer is for, you have to pay the additional cost at the time of booking. This is unrelated to bidding for an upgrade. 

 

If you book EZAir on a casino offer, you also have to pay for that when you book it.

 

[Torfamm]

21 hours ago, Jadn13 said:

Doesn’t sound correct.

You should only pay $200 Deposit(returned as OBC)

Taxes/Fees:Transfers and nothing else. 
 

I think that charging for insurance is normal. The total on the booking confirmation shows what is due after all of that. The casino department makes the additional payment 

[Jadn13]

8 minutes ago, Torfamm said:

I think that charging for insurance is normal. The total on the booking confirmation shows what is due after all of that. The casino department makes the additional payment 

 I carry an annual policy so I’m unsure how that works, if you pay based on the amount of the cruise or your portion? 

[Torfamm]

43 minutes ago, Jadn13 said:

 I carry an annual policy so I’m unsure how that works, if you pay based on the amount of the cruise or your portion? 

Not sure, but it seems logical that passengers are only able to be insured for their costs. 

[azbirdmom]

1 hour ago, Jadn13 said:

 I carry an annual policy so I’m unsure how that works, if you pay based on the amount of the cruise or your portion? 

 

For Princess insurance you pay either 8% or 12% of the Fare (shown on the first line of the Pricing Details shown on the Booking Confirmation).  The percentage depends on the plan you select (note it's always 8% if you're Platinum or above).  I've gotten a refund equal to 8% of the casino portion on my last two cruises after they've paid which is a change from how they used to do it.  And for my most recently booked casino cruise the Booking Confirmation shows only my portion of the Fare so the insurance is 8% of that amount.

Edited March 21, 2023 by azbirdmom

[eclue]

1 hour ago, azbirdmom said:

 

For Princess insurance you pay either 8% or 12% of the Fare (shown on the first line of the Pricing Details shown on the Booking Confirmation).  The percentage depends on the plan you select (note it's always 8% if you're Platinum or above).  I've gotten a refund equal to 8% of the casino portion on my last two cruises after they've paid which is a change from how they used to do it.  And for my most recently booked casino cruise the Booking Confirmation shows only my portion of the Fare so the insurance is 8% of that amount.

We never use Princess insurance - it is inadequate - go to Squaremouth.com and choose what works best for you...Cheaper than Princess and more coverage.

 

[cranch39]

To everyone who gave me information on my question, thank you very much. I think you all helped very much. 

thanks again!