Back to back shipboard credit

[Cruise frenzy]

On back to back cruises, does unused shipboard credits follow to the next cruise?  Thanks for your comments.

[Lucky TGO]

5 minutes ago, Cruise frenzy said:

On back to back cruises, does unused shipboard credits follow to the next cruise?  Thanks for your comments.

Yes. 
Tony

[paul929207]

ours always carried over

[Cruise frenzy]

We were recently on the Discovery for 4 cruises.  After the first cruise, I was looking at the shipboard account and noticed that we lost $50 shipboard credit that we didn’t use.  Went to the pursers desk and was told their new policy was “use it on the cruise or lose it” , even if on back to back cruises.  Nothing in writing to support that statement, of course.

 

If there is anyone currently sailing and on back to back cruises, please let us know if your unused shipboard credit was moved to the next cruise.  

 

Thanks for the comments.

[skynight]

30 minutes ago, Cruise frenzy said:

We were recently on the Discovery for 4 cruises.  After the first cruise, I was looking at the shipboard account and noticed that we lost $50 shipboard credit that we didn’t use.  Went to the pursers desk and was told their new policy was “use it on the cruise or lose it” , even if on back to back cruises.  Nothing in writing to support that statement, of course.

 

If there is anyone currently sailing and on back to back cruises, please let us know if your unused shipboard credit was moved to the next cruise.  

 

Thanks for the comments.

Wow. Never before. Princess has really disappointed. Instead of attracting customers during this difficult time they seem to be moving customers toward a one and done. Does not seem to be a good marketing plan.

Edited July 9, 2022 by skynight

[Ombud]

2 hours ago, Cruise frenzy said:

We were recently on the Discovery for 4 cruises.  After the first cruise, I was looking at the shipboard account and noticed that we lost $50 shipboard credit that we didn’t use.  Went to the pursers desk and was told their new policy was “use it on the cruise or lose it” , even if on back to back cruises.  Nothing in writing to support that statement, of course.

 

If there is anyone currently sailing and on back to back cruises, please let us know if your unused shipboard credit was moved to the next cruise.  

 

Thanks for the comments.

Might be alone in this thought but I find it more important  / helpful to know the policy so that I can work with it and not rock the boat. So let me ask you a followup. If it is a B2B and liquor bought, brought to room night before disembarking #1, does it stay in room for #2?? Or is it confiscated again?

[skynight]

8 minutes ago, Ombud said:

Might be alone in this thought but I find it more important  / helpful to know the policy so that I can work with it and not rock the boat. So let me ask you a followup. If it is a B2B and liquor bought, brought to room night before disembarking #1, does it stay in room for #2?? Or is it confiscated again?

If the liquor is delivered to your cabin on the last evening of the first leg it's yours to keep. Sometimes this happens, sometimes the shop retains the bottle(s) until your actual last evening before you disembark. Guess it depends on how attentive the shop keepers are. 

[Cruise frenzy]

You’re right - depends on how attentive the shop keepers are.  They are “suppose” to hold all liquor/cigarettes until your actual disembarkation date.  We have seen it both ways.  On the Discovery in April, they held  our purchased liquor until the day before disembarking.  We were on 4 back to back cruises.

[beach bunnie]

We did 4 B2B cruises on the Regal in Jan/Feb.  They told us there was no carryover but it did carryover for all 4 cruises.  For the first cruise we left just a few dollars to test it.

[Lucky TGO]

9 hours ago, skynight said:

Wow. Never before. Princess has really disappointed. Instead of attracting customers during this difficult time they seem to be moving customers toward a one and done. Does not seem to be a good marketing plan.

I have been on at least 6 BB cruises and my shipboard credit has always followed over to the next cruise. If they are keeping it now? I totally agree with you. Is Princess Cruises trying to become a Second Class cruise line??

Tony

[skynight]

51 minutes ago, Lucky TGO said:

I have been on at least 6 BB cruises and my shipboard credit has always followed over to the next cruise. If they are keeping it now? I totally agree with you. Is Princess Cruises trying to become a Second Class cruise line??

Tony

We have been on at least 30 to 40. Credit balances have always carried over until our final disembarkation. If this is no longer company policy that's sad and a poor business decision. If it was a mistake then the hotel manager requires trainning.

[Ombud]

I fail to understand how "use it or lose it" is such a big deal as long as they use nonrefundable credit before refundable credit. At worst I use it up; at best get a check later.  I worked my whole life under "use it or lose it" so it just feels normal. 

[Steelers36]

3 hours ago, Ombud said:

I fail to understand how "use it or lose it" is such a big deal as long as they use nonrefundable credit before refundable credit. At worst I use it up; at best get a check later.  I worked my whole life under "use it or lose it" so it just feels normal. 

Don't encourage them!!!!  😲

[geoherb]

I had a problem with my OBC on my last b2b cruise. On the ship, it showed up as if the nonrefundable OBC I was receiving on the second leg would be used to cover my expenses on the first leg, leaving me with around $90 in refundable OBC. But the Princess rep I spoke with several months later said each cruise was treated separately in terms of nonrefundable credit. She said since the amount of nonrefundable OBC on my account at the end of each cruise segment was less than $25, I should have asked for it on the ship because they did not mail out checks for less. 

[Steelers36]

21 minutes ago, geoherb said:

I had a problem with my OBC on my last b2b cruise. On the ship, it showed up as if the nonrefundable OBC I was receiving on the second leg would be used to cover my expenses on the first leg, leaving me with around $90 in refundable OBC. But the Princess rep I spoke with several months later said each cruise was treated separately in terms of nonrefundable credit. She said since the amount of nonrefundable OBC on my account at the end of each cruise segment was less than $25, I should have asked for it on the ship because they did not mail out checks for less. 

Hi.  I think you might want to review and re-work the above.  Princess doesn't refund/give back non-refundable OBC.  It is use-it-or-lose-it.

[Ombud]

16 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

38 minutes ago, geoherb said:

I had a problem with my OBC on my last b2b cruise. On the ship, it showed up as if the nonrefundable OBC I was receiving on the second leg would be used to cover my expenses on the first leg, leaving me with around $90 in refundable OBC. But the Princess rep I spoke with several months later said each cruise was treated separately in terms of nonrefundable credit. She said since the amount of nonrefundable OBC on my account at the end of each cruise segment was less than $25, I should have asked for it on the ship because they did not mail out checks for less. 

Hi.  I think you might want to review and re-work the above.  Princess doesn't refund/give back non-refundable OBC.  It is use-it-or-lose-it.

Agreed. I've never heard of cashing in non-refundable OBC. But they will cash out up to $25 of refundable OBC at PSD.  And yes. I go to PSD around 11pm and collect if under $25. No line at that time. Plus I can still get a latte or vanilla tea at IC the final morning 

[caribill]

19 hours ago, Cruise frenzy said:

We were recently on the Discovery for 4 cruises.  After the first cruise, I was looking at the shipboard account and noticed that we lost $50 shipboard credit that we didn’t use.  Went to the pursers desk and was told their new policy was “use it on the cruise or lose it” , even if on back to back cruises.  Nothing in writing to support that statement, of course.

 

 

 

Was any of this refundable OBC?

[caribill]

8 hours ago, Ombud said:

I fail to understand how "use it or lose it" is such a big deal as long as they use nonrefundable credit before refundable credit. At worst I use it up; at best get a check later.  I worked my whole life under "use it or lose it" so it just feels normal. 

 

For us it was a big deal on a B2B because we had a use of all the OBC on the second segment and not much use for it on the first one. However, at that time it did carry over.

[geoherb]

9 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Hi.  I think you might want to review and re-work the above.  Princess doesn't refund/give back non-refundable OBC.  It is use-it-or-lose-it.

 

Before the cruise, I partially prepaid $74.95 for an excursion on my credit card before I had received my shareholder credit. The amount I paid showed up a refundable OBC. Other refundable OBC on the first leg was $20.10 from a change in the port fees and taxes. At the end of the first segment, I had $24.26 in my favor. On the second leg, the $24.26 had transferred over plus it looked like the nonrefundable OBC from the second leg had gone against the charges on the first leg and that my refundable OBC ended up at $90.09. I was expecting that as a refund. It's hard to understand without seeing the printouts from the ship, which I discarded after finally getting a resolution in the form of a goodwill credit. 

[Steelers36]

49 minutes ago, geoherb said:

 

Before the cruise, I partially prepaid $74.95 for an excursion on my credit card before I had received my shareholder credit. The amount I paid showed up a refundable OBC. Other refundable OBC on the first leg was $20.10 from a change in the port fees and taxes. At the end of the first segment, I had $24.26 in my favor. On the second leg, the $24.26 had transferred over plus it looked like the nonrefundable OBC from the second leg had gone against the charges on the first leg and that my refundable OBC ended up at $90.09. I was expecting that as a refund. It's hard to understand without seeing the printouts from the ship, which I discarded after finally getting a resolution in the form of a goodwill credit. 

Interesting that they took and applied NR OBC from your second segment and applied to first segment balance owing.  I guess it kind of speaks to them just putting it all in a bucket, but you and I might think PCL would hold back on using that OBC until we for certain carried on with the second segment. 

 

I think something similar is happening in DMW for booking SD restaurants.  I have a total of five credits over three segments of our B2B2B.  I believe it will apply all credits on any date(s) I care to book. 

 

[skynight]

14 hours ago, Ombud said:

I fail to understand how "use it or lose it" is such a big deal as long as they use nonrefundable credit before refundable credit. At worst I use it up; at best get a check later.  I worked my whole life under "use it or lose it" so it just feels normal. 

Don't agree. When I book b2b's I think of that as a single vacation.  If one is onboard for 30 days then one would expect to be able to spend anytime during those 30 days and net against all of the credit balances granted. It has always been this way. Never in the past 25 years have we experienced anything else but full carryover of our credit or debit balances. Now it appears Princess has changed their policy which effects their customers. If they change their accounting policies then they have to be perfectly clear directly to their customers how their billing system works fleet wide.

I believe that Princess has done more with their IT systems than their own employees understand, and they have not properly explained actual procedures to their programmers. This is evident across everything  they are doing. They have messed everything up for their customers and their staff. 

[voljeep]

5 minutes ago, skynight said:

Now it appears Princess has changed their policy which effects their customers.

Is this a 'written' policy ... or just the way 'things have been done, now we are changing them ... much like the coffee card / package policy change ?

[Lucky TGO]

29 minutes ago, voljeep said:

Is this a 'written' policy ... or just the way 'things have been done, now we are changing them ... much like the coffee card / package policy change ?

Coffee Cards I like to know how much money Princess Cruises made when they made all the cards expire

Before a lot of people got to use them. People were told when they purchased them they would be good until you used all the punches on the card. 
Tony

[Ombud]

Here's the sad truth: although it was 'promised' that they would last forever if one remembered to leave just one punch on them, I couldn't find it in the passenger contract. Just like I cannot find refunding less than $25 non-refundable OBC in that contract. Actually I cannot find where it is written how to get refundable credit😲 I did find where it was stated that bonuses could be retracted. So yeah, you are 100% correct. Like those perks?? Use them now. 

 

CCL has figured out that they are booking more 1st time cruisers than frequent flyers. Half my last voyage. They also get 25-30% of their revenue from onboard purchases, which are done more by 1st & 2nd tiers category. And CCL needs $$s. Needs a lot of them. Like tens of B. 

 

So although they always say "thank you for being elite" I bet a lot of those bean counters wish I was a 1st or 2nd timer ... in need of medallion holder or maybe a full set of EFFY jewelry or yet another Rolex and tons of pictures. Buying the upgraded Princess Premier Plus but only having 1 latte & 1 glass 2oz pour wine a day. Yeah, it's just business 

 

Bottom line: until I decide cruising isn't worth it for me, I keep coming back. Spending 40 nights on Celebrity to get back to where I am, cruising on a modified amusement park (Disney / RCCL / Carnival -although I'm a fairly high tier on Carnival too), or going adults only (Virgin) I can kvetch all I want but they know I'll be back. 

 

Edited July 10, 2022 by Ombud

[Ombud]

48 minutes ago, Lucky TGO said:

 

Tony, someone on CC and FIRE stated that they submitted that card at PSD for something (think it was # of punches left). Provided you haven't bought Princess Plus or Princess Premier you might try that. If you purchased either of the enhanced fares then the card is not needed anyway

 

@skynightyou mentioned being onboard for 30 days and booked as 2 cruises. Is that so that you get 2 shareholder obc? $250 + $250 non-refundable? Or is it that it cannot be booked as 1 voyage. (Wish I could but alas probably never)

 

 

Edited July 10, 2022 by Ombud