Cruise credits

[gburleigh]

We booked a Princess cruise for travel in April, 2020, of course that was cancelled.  Two weeks ago I received an email that I had two credit certificates for $816 ea. and that I had until Dec. 31, 2022 to use them.  To my knowledge I had not received any earlier emails about this or certainly no letter from Princess.  Problem is that my wife has a broken foot and cannot travel by then even if we could travel.

 

I spoke to Princess and they basically told me "too bad, you have had two years to use them" (oops, did they forget they weren't sailing for all of those two years?).  They are not transferable and cannot be used for a future cruise past Dec. 31.

 

So, I'm reaching out to fellow sailors if anyone has experienced this or knows of someone dealing with a similar situation.  I did think about using them on one of their cruise between now and then, cancelling it a few before with note from my wife's doctor that she cannot travel.  Any thought would be appreciated.  Thank you.

 

Gary & Becky

[travelin.sisters]

14 minutes ago, gburleigh said:

 

We booked a Princess cruise for travel in April, 2020, of course that was cancelled.  Two weeks ago I received an email that I had two credit certificates for $816 ea. and that I had until Dec. 31, 2022 to use them.  To my knowledge I had not received any earlier emails about this or certainly no letter from Princess.  Problem is that my wife has a broken foot and cannot travel by then even if we could travel.

 

I spoke to Princess and they basically told me "too bad, you have had two years to use them" (oops, did they forget they weren't sailing for all of those two years?).  They are not transferable and cannot be used for a future cruise past Dec. 31.

 

So, I'm reaching out to fellow sailors if anyone has experienced this or knows of someone dealing with a similar situation.  I did think about using them on one of their cruise between now and then, cancelling it a few before with note from my wife's doctor that she cannot travel.  Any thought would be appreciated.  Thank you.

 

Gary & Becky

I don't have any info or suggestions that are pertinent specifically to your issue, but I would try calling again & see if you can get a different answer (Princess recently is notorious for "the only thing consistent is the inconsistency") from a different agent. There are also some fairly recent threads llisting email contact info for Princess higher-ups that you might try reaching out to. 

 

Did you use a TA for your April 2020 cruise? they might be able to help you. 

 

Hope you find a solution & your wife's foot heals well.

[Babr]

The doctor’s note idea won’t work. Princess does not grant refunds or FCC on that basis.

 

There is insurance that will cover FCC’s as long as you paid cash for them originally, but you can’t insure pre-existing conditions if you are not able to travel on the day the insurance is purchased. Since your wife is not able to travel, that option is out.

 

 

[Shelly97060]

The information about having the credits should have been given to you when your cruise was cancelled back in 2020 when Princess paused operations. At that time people were offered refunds or Future Cruise Credit with bonus non-refundable Future Cruise Credits.   Princess has not been willing to extend the Bonus FCC- they expire Dec 31,  2022 

 

To be sure there aren’t any more surprises  I would check to see what you have on the books in both refundable and non- refundable bonus goodwill FCC as it is highly likely that you have both refundable and non-refundable if they are the result of the 2020 pause. The refundable FCC is what you had paid on your cancelled cruise and they have a different expiration date. You can check the type of credits you have by logging on to Princess and in the drop down menu you will see an option for future cruise credits, or your TA or Princess can check this for you.

For reference regarding expiration dates here is information Princess gave to Travel Advisors a couple of months ago regarding FCC: 

 

Future Cruise Credit expiration dates extended
We have extended the expiration date of a number of FCCs that were due to expire at the end of 2022 as follows:

·        Cash-backed, non-refundable FCCs: FCCs issued during Cruise with Confidence will have their expiration date extended to Sep 30, 2023

·        Cash-backed, refundable FCCs: Cash-backed refundable FCCs are extended to Dec 31, 2024. Note that we are happy to accommodate requests from any guests who want a refund on their cash-backed refundable FCC.

·        Bonus non-refundable FCCs issued during the pause in operations are not being extended and will expire Dec 31, 2022

 

 

 

[Ombud]

@gburleighwelcome to cruise critic!! Yes, the industry was shut down for 16 months but it's been back up & running fine for 17 months. 

 

Sounds like these are goodwill FCC -- either bonus ones because you received a cash refund for April 2020 cruise or just the extra FCC for the 1st round of cancelations.  Do go into your account as Shelly97060 suggests just so you know whether you have other FCC & where your FCC expiration dates stand. Then maybe a short cruise to burn through the 816FCC ? I've cruise with a broken foot before and whereas it hampered me off the ship, I was just fine onboard. That wouldn't stop me but we're all different

 

 

 

[memoak]

13 hours ago, gburleigh said:

 

We booked a Princess cruise for travel in April, 2020, of course that was cancelled.  Two weeks ago I received an email that I had two credit certificates for $816 ea. and that I had until Dec. 31, 2022 to use them.  To my knowledge I had not received any earlier emails about this or certainly no letter from Princess.  Problem is that my wife has a broken foot and cannot travel by then even if we could travel.

 

I spoke to Princess and they basically told me "too bad, you have had two years to use them" (oops, did they forget they weren't sailing for all of those two years?).  They are not transferable and cannot be used for a future cruise past Dec. 31.

 

So, I'm reaching out to fellow sailors if anyone has experienced this or knows of someone dealing with a similar situation.  I did think about using them on one of their cruise between now and then, cancelling it a few before with note from my wife's doctor that she cannot travel.  Any thought would be appreciated.  Thank you.

 

Gary & Becky

A broken foot would not keep me off a cruise

[phoebe2m]

Are you sure you have to USE them by 12/31/22 or BOOK by 12/31/22?

[voljeep]

27 minutes ago, phoebe2m said:

Are you sure you have to USE them by 12/31/22 or BOOK by 12/31/22?

Goodwill Fcc

09/17/20

Book By 12/31/22 and Sail By 12/31/22

[Kay S]

Yes.  This is also our situation.  The goodwill credits must be used by 12/22.  We had an a TA (with several port calls) booked in 2020, and we got lots of FCC, both kinds.  We used some of it right after the reopening.  Next week, we use up the rest.  The refund portion will be used in June since it had a different expiration date.   I keep waiting for Princess to thank me in person for letting them use my money during the pause.🙃  I know, don't hold your breath, etc.   

[gburleigh]

21 hours ago, travelin.sisters said:

I don't have any info or suggestions that are pertinent specifically to your issue, but I would try calling again & see if you can get a different answer (Princess recently is notorious for "the only thing consistent is the inconsistency") from a different agent. There are also some fairly recent threads llisting email contact info for Princess higher-ups that you might try reaching out to. 

 

Did you use a TA for your April 2020 cruise? they might be able to help you. 

 

Hope you find a solution & your wife's foot heals well.

 

[gburleigh]

Thanks much for your input.  I did go thru a TA and he even spoke to Princess but without any success.  Maybe another call to Princess but not holding much hope.  You would think they would want me to use it on a more expensive cruise, more money for them & crew.

 

Gary B

[hobbyfarmer2]

On 11/5/2022 at 10:38 PM, gburleigh said:

 

We booked a Princess cruise for travel in April, 2020, of course that was cancelled.  Two weeks ago I received an email that I had two credit certificates for $816 ea. and that I had until Dec. 31, 2022 to use them.  To my knowledge I had not received any earlier emails about this or certainly no letter from Princess.  Problem is that my wife has a broken foot and cannot travel by then even if we could travel.

 

I spoke to Princess and they basically told me "too bad, you have had two years to use them" (oops, did they forget they weren't sailing for all of those two years?).  They are not transferable and cannot be used for a future cruise past Dec. 31.

 

So, I'm reaching out to fellow sailors if anyone has experienced this or knows of someone dealing with a similar situation.  I did think about using them on one of their cruise between now and then, cancelling it a few before with note from my wife's doctor that she cannot travel.  Any thought would be appreciated.  Thank you.

 

Gary & Becky

We were in a similar situation with a b2b booked for March 2020.  The credit has been visible on the web site for well over 2 years expiring Dec 31 2022.  We booked a cruise leaving this Nov with it.  We also left some FCDs used for cancelled cruises with Princess.  Princess doubled the amounts and we also applied these to the Nov 19 cruise.

[Ombud]

8 hours ago, gburleigh said:

Thanks much for your input.  I did go thru a TA and he even spoke to Princess but without any success.  Maybe another call to Princess but not holding much hope.  You would think they would want me to use it on a more expensive cruise, more money for them & crew.

 

Gary B

Nope. Not going to get an extension. So where are you going? Are you aware of any other FCC? It's been a few weeks since you were reminded of them

14 hours ago, Kay S said:

 I keep waiting for Princess to thank me in person for letting them use my money during the pause

Too funny!! Think of it as 25% interest earned over 16 months of shutdown. That was a great deal. Miss those early days of restart where crew to pax ratio was 1:1. Won't see that again

 

Edited November 7, 2022 by Ombud

[BabySarge]

Is it possible to use those FCC's for someone else to take a cruise?  If so, might be a nice birthday, Christmas, "just because I have to use them" gift.

[Ombud]

1 hour ago, BabySarge said:

Is it possible to use those FCC's for someone else to take a cruise?  If so, might be a nice birthday, Christmas, "just because I have to use them" gift.

Great idea but they aren't transferable.  I tried with my granddaughters who will both lose almost 900. 1st my daughter said no to 1 going with me last August, the other couldn't receive the vax, now there's school. And the goodwill FCC cannot be extended to next summer or spring break. At least I received the cash back March 2020 (March 13 Grand Princess canceled / 1st batch refunds when it was mandatory $$+FCC)

[LoveThatCorgi]

We wanted to take a trip in February 2023, but Princess wouldn’t extend the “bonus” FCC expiration 45 days to allow that.  I asked multiple times from different people. Always no for the bonus. So, we are going in December instead of losing the FCC.  
 

Our son was booked on the cancelled 2020 cruise with us, but he’s in college now and can’t go in December or February. I asked if they would transfer his credits to me or his dad. That was a no also. We requested a refund of his FCC for the paid fare and forfeited his bonus FCC.