Excursion Credit

[jamesnnb]

Princess has a current promotion of $100pp Excursion Credit and I had my TA ask Princess directly if this credit can ONLY be used for excursions and the Princess answer was yes, only for excursions. So my question now is, if you book an airport transfer is that done at/through the Excursion Desk? And would the ship/airport transfer have to be done onboard or could it be in advance and shown as an ‘Excursion’ and thus be used through the Excursion Credit in your account? 

[JF - retired RRT]

That "yes" was almost certainly incorrect. The bookkeeping system doesn't isolate excursion credits. It keeps track of refundable & non-refundable OBC.

 

You would probably need to book the transfer on board to be able to use OBC.

Edited October 7, 2022 by JF - retired RRT

[skynight]

a) Excursion OBC. The OBC is posted on your account(s) and can be used for anything on board. Not restricted to excursions. Your TA is not correct. If you do not have pre-paid gratuities the OBC will be used up very quickly. 

b) Ship to airport transfer. You can book once on board at the excursion desk. It will be charged to your on board account and net against any credit(OBC) or debit balance. Princess may offer for pre-booking a disembarkation tour which drops you off at the airport. But, a plain transfer is just easier to book once on board. There are plenty of spaces on the busses.

Which port? For many ports and most U.S. ports it is just easier, private, quicker, and usually less expensive, to just take a taxi or Uber to the airport. 

[jamesnnb]

3 hours ago, skynight said:

a) Excursion OBC. The OBC is posted on your account(s) and can be used for anything on board. Not restricted to excursions. Your TA is not correct. If you do not have pre-paid gratuities the OBC will be used up very quickly. 

b) Ship to airport transfer. You can book once on board at the excursion desk. It will be charged to your on board account and net against any credit(OBC) or debit balance. Princess may offer for pre-booking a disembarkation tour which drops you off at the airport. But, a plain transfer is just easier to book once on board. There are plenty of spaces on the busses.

Which port? For many ports and most U.S. ports it is just easier, private, quicker, and usually less expensive, to just take a taxi or Uber to the airport. 

It wasn’t the travel agent’s take on the matter, she called Princess and Princess said in the case of this particular promotion, the credit can only be used for excursions not like usual OBC which can be used for onboard purchases, excursions, gratuities, etc. I also called Princess myself, separately, to see if another agent had a different take and was told this particular promotion isn’t just OBC, it is earmarked strictly for excursions. I don’t know from personal usage (yet) but reporting what I’ve heard thus far. Port is San Pedro, CA. If I have Excursions Credit and I don’t plan to purchase any excursions, seems like it would be a good idea to use for airport transportation 🙂. Rather than pay a taxi or Uber. Perhaps Princess is using a different approach re OBC Promotions than in the past?

[justafem]

I just had this promotion added to an existing cruise.  

 

My TA told it it's onboard credit.  Regular old onboard credit, which can be used as normal.  She had to call princess to add the promotion.  Basically telling them, I was before final payment and it would be foolish for me to cancel that booking and immediately make another to get the credit.  

 

So now I have $560 in onboard credit, with another $100 to be added for stock on a 10 day cruise.  What am I going to do with almost $700 in onboard when we already have princess plus?  There's no way I can eat specialty dining every night, they'll have to roll me off the ship.  

 

I also have $400 in casino cash. 

 

This is going to be a GOOD trip!  

[skynight]

" What am I going to do with almost $700 in onboard when we already have princess plus?"

Purchase some nice overpriced clothing that you may not need. Use it in the casino. Sign up for the Chef's Table, maybe balcony ding if offered, or wine maker's dinner. 

[JF - retired RRT]

16 hours ago, jamesnnb said:

It wasn’t the travel agent’s take on the matter, she called Princess and Princess said in the case of this particular promotion, the credit can only be used for excursions not like usual OBC which can be used for onboard purchases, excursions, gratuities, etc. I also called Princess myself, separately, to see if another agent had a different take and was told this particular promotion isn’t just OBC, it is earmarked strictly for excursions. I don’t know from personal usage (yet) but reporting what I’ve heard thus far. Port is San Pedro, CA. If I have Excursions Credit and I don’t plan to purchase any excursions, seems like it would be a good idea to use for airport transportation 🙂. Rather than pay a taxi or Uber. Perhaps Princess is using a different approach re OBC Promotions than in the past?

You'll find out which is correct when you're on the ship. Once on board, go to Pax Svcs and request a folio printout. If it says "refundable", "non-refundable", you're good to go. Use it for anything you want.

It is adds "excursion credit", buy a transfer (if allowed) or buy an excursion.

[txjim09]

My confirmation for a cruise booked with this credit just shows it as onboard credit. I don't see any reference to excursion only, but there could be there some tags to the credit that we don't know about

Edited October 8, 2022 by txjim09

[dreaminofcruisin]

On 10/8/2022 at 2:32 AM, justafem said:

So now I have $560 in onboard credit, with another $100 to be added for stock on a 10 day cruise.  What am I going to do with almost $700 in onboard when we already have princess plus?  There's no way I can eat specialty dining every night, they'll have to roll me off the ship.  

 

 

We had to 'burn' some OBC on the Ruby last week. We discovered that we were allowed to use it for alcohol and snacks in the Princess Shops. Good thing I brought that extra roll-a-board and was able to check 2 suitcases each for free.....  🥂

[justafem]

On 10/9/2022 at 12:36 PM, dreaminofcruisin said:

 

We had to 'burn' some OBC on the Ruby last week. We discovered that we were allowed to use it for alcohol and snacks in the Princess Shops. Good thing I brought that extra roll-a-board and was able to check 2 suitcases each for free.....  🥂

I'll probably do the casino trick.  Great, just remembered I also have $400 in casino cash.  This is going to be a cheap cruise.  I'll leave with money!

[cdrmer]

Speaking of excursions... Anyone ever do the air boat tour at the end of the cruise with the FLL airport transfer? How many people are on the air boat? 

[that]

26 minutes ago, cdrmer said:

Speaking of excursions... Anyone ever do the air boat tour at the end of the cruise with the FLL airport transfer? How many people are on the air boat? 

In our experience

Huge bus loads of people 

to three stops 

and about 30-50 per airboat

[ontheweb]

We once did a transfer that was booked as an excursion since it took us to Canterbury on the way back to Heathrow airport from Dover. We had another one booked that would have taken us to Stonehenge on the way back to Heathrow airport from Southampton, but it was for 2020 and the cruise never happened because of Covid.

[Ombud]

On 10/7/2022 at 12:18 PM, jamesnnb said:

question now is, if you book an airport transfer is that done at/through the Excursion Desk?

Yes. 

On 10/7/2022 at 12:18 PM, jamesnnb said:

Princess has a current promotion of $100pp Excursion Credit and I had my TA ask Princess directly if this credit can ONLY be used for excursions and the Princess answer was yes, only for excursions. 

Thats what they've always said in the past .... but just in case I've book an expensive small group excursion. Not really small but limited to 18 on raft instead of 50. Hate HATE big groups

 

 

Edited October 16, 2022 by Ombud
Fat finger typo

[Tedferg]

Any further clarification of this?

[bjkTX]

On 10/8/2022 at 6:51 AM, skynight said:

" What am I going to do with almost $700 in onboard when we already have princess plus?"

Purchase some nice overpriced clothing that you may not need. Use it in the casino. Sign up for the Chef's Table, maybe balcony ding if offered, or wine maker's dinner. 

Transfer it from your room account to your casino account and cash out!  Just did it last week :-)

[rwilk1129]

Any update on shore excursion obc being used as just regular obc from anybody onboard a ship?

[PRINCESS Sweet Pea]

I think this credit is offered on savings starting the first of next year.  So, nobody knows yet.   I am wanting to book a Princess excursion on our upcoming cruise, so it works either way for me.  

 

Unless somebody has been able to use this to book something else onboard in advance?  I have never heard of there being any different kinds of onboard credit.  But, Princess has been updating a lot of things.  According to another topic here, Casino credit used to be a separate thing, but they aren't there to buy for upcoming cruises.

Edited October 19, 2022 by PRINCESS Sweet Pea