Refare Policy Change?

[Steelers36]

On 2/24/2023 at 12:45 PM, cruisingrob21 said:

Yes, I've done it for myself and for my clients but its rare.  You have to understand that at any given time, any cruise line has about 3 or 4 promos or prices offered (or more).  In the case of Princess, you'll have a standard fare, group fares (only agencies offer these), promo fares (Best Sale Ever), and after final payment you may have Drop n go fares as well as resident rates.  Lately Princess has begun adding non refundable fares as well for a discount.  So there are a lot of options.  If you are booked under Best Sale Ever, and that price stays fixed after final payment but the Drop n go fare is lower (like it commonly is) you have to switch your fare type.  If the Drop n go fare is "New Bookings Only" then you will have to cancel and rebook.  If the Best Sale Ever fare drops (or any promo), then you can refare after final payment without rebooking, but this doesn't happen that often.

 

The trick is, for most passengers, when you log onto the Princess website or various online TAs, you'll only see 1 or 2 fare options and these are decided by the cruise line or agency to be "best value".  Best value, in their opinion includes things like Princess Plus and other promotions.  Some will also show "best price" which are usually going to be new bookings only or non-refundable deposits.  Of course, after final payment, NRD's are the norm so that is the price that will commonly be advertised, but of course, those are new bookings only.

Great post.  If guests have access to a good 3rd party booking website/engine, they can see all eligible fares once they self-identify with Name, Birthdate, and Captain's Circle Member Id.

[Steelers36]

On 3/24/2023 at 2:40 PM, suzyed said:

I asked about changing a booking to a B2B instead of one 25 day sailing and my TA said we would have to cancel and rebook.  Not sure why?  We are almost 200 days out.

That would be always necessary.  Two physical voyages in the new bookings versus a different virtual voyage in the original.

[trinitygirl]

4 hours ago, JoRoy218 said:

Had an issue lately, spoke to first person on Princess line. Her answer made no sense, asked her same question twice in a different way. She asked me if I wanted to speak to Customer Service, said yes. Proud to say after explaining my problem, it took her less than 5 min. to fix and said “Your booking was done incorrectly.” Problem solved! Might have to go “up the chain of command.” Good luck! Be assertive! 

I am still waiting…. About a month ago, a phone line person I spoke with sent an internal email message that seemed to promise action, and that same day I got a phone call from the Sydney office.  That woman seemed to understand the problem and asked me to send a copy of the credit card statement. I also sent my excursions receipt for good measure.  Heard nothing for a fortnight.  Then after I emailed again to say I was going to file a dispute with my credit card holder, I got an email saying sorry for the delay, she would get right onto it, and a fortnight later still nothing.  In total there is $2500 owing and I am beyond sick of waiting.  It really is enough to put me off the company for good, except that I have two cruises I am really looking forward to this year.

[caribill]

2 hours ago, trinitygirl said:

I am still waiting…. About a month ago, a phone line person I spoke with sent an internal email message that seemed to promise action, and that same day I got a phone call from the Sydney office.  That woman seemed to understand the problem and asked me to send a copy of the credit card statement. I also sent my excursions receipt for good measure.  Heard nothing for a fortnight.  Then after I emailed again to say I was going to file a dispute with my credit card holder, I got an email saying sorry for the delay, she would get right onto it, and a fortnight later still nothing. 

 

See, sometimes those in Australia are treated just like those in the USA.