Refund Timeline

[kes601]

We have a cruise booked for next June.  We went ahead and paid in full because we wanted to book our dining and excursions.  I am really tired of trying to get something fixed on our Travel Summary (not showing all of the Princess Premier items).  I'm about ready to just cancel and book us on a separate cruise line.  For a cruise paid in full but cancelling many months out can anybody give an average timeline for refunds?

[dog]

2 minutes ago, kes601 said:

We have a cruise booked for next June.  We went ahead and paid in full because we wanted to book our dining and excursions.  I am really tired of trying to get something fixed on our Travel Summary (not showing all of the Princess Premier items).  I'm about ready to just cancel and book us on a separate cruise line.  For a cruise paid in full but cancelling many months out can anybody give an average timeline for refunds?

There is no one timeline. However, I suggest cancelling each purchase on app and in personalizer that you can and watch for refunds.  Excursions, spa, wifi specialty dining etc.

 

My individual purchases usually get refunded in 3-5 days.

[kes601]

3 minutes ago, dog said:

There is no one timeline. However, I suggest cancelling each purchase on app and in personalizer that you can and watch for refunds.  Excursions, spa, wifi specialty dining etc.

 

My individual purchases usually get refunded in 3-5 days.

Thanks.  I figured I would do excursions first since they should be more or less automated refunds.  The dining was all "free" since we had the new Premier applied (which is what has caused all our issues).

[dog]

14 minutes ago, kes601 said:

Thanks.  I figured I would do excursions first since they should be more or less automated refunds.  The dining was all "free" since we had the new Premier applied (which is what has caused all our issues).

The app has been really screwed up for some of us for some time now. The travel summary also has many errors in my case. I won’t cancel for that reason. It does not matter.  If you can book Specialty dining in app make sure it shows $0 . Or call first thing in morning and ask agent to reserve for you.  Take screenshots and print out proof- receipt etc. take with you.

[kes601]

9 minutes ago, dog said:

The app has been really screwed up for some of us for some time now. The travel summary also has many errors in my case. I won’t cancel for that reason. It does not matter.  If you can book Specialty dining in app make sure it shows $0 . Or call first thing in morning and ask agent to reserve for you.  Take screenshots and print out proof- receipt etc. take with you.

Thanks, so if I have the email from Princess w/my booking and the PDF attachment that states Premier is applied to the reservation we should be good?  Somehow when they upgraded us from old to new Premier we ended up with a $700 credit (overpayment)....hence why I feel like things weren't done in the correct manner.

[dog]

2 minutes ago, kes601 said:

Thanks, so if I have the email from Princess w/my booking and the PDF attachment that states Premier is applied to the reservation we should be good?  Somehow when they upgraded us from old to new Premier we ended up with a $700 credit (overpayment)....hence why I feel like things weren't done in the correct manner.

  I think you need to contact:   customerrelations@princesscruises.com

-give booking number. photos of issue and ask about refund.  doesn't sound right--was credit on your credit card yet?

[kes601]

4 minutes ago, dog said:

  I think you need to contact:   customerrelations@princesscruises.com

-give booking number. photos of issue and ask about refund.  doesn't sound right--was credit on your credit card yet?

Not yet.  I did inquire about that part today and they said it would credit this week.

[dog]

12 minutes ago, kes601 said:

Not yet.  I did inquire about that part today and they said it would credit this week.

Go to personalizer. Click on payment tab. It shows exactly what you paid.  $0 balance at top.?

I would give it a few days. Go to app. Does it show premier when you click on packages?

[Paula_MacFan]

1 hour ago, kes601 said:

We went ahead and paid in full because we wanted to book our dining and excursions.  

 

Maybe I'm misunderstanding your comment, but you don't have to have the cruise paid in full to make dining reservations and book excursions.  

 

To your primary question - in my experience we've received refunds for any cancelled items within about a week.  

[Arizona Wildcat]

You are expecting things to happen way too soon.  Sad as you booked the old Premier upgrade before the price went up.

We booked 18 months ago and cruise in 4 weeks. Things are still populating.  We booked everything through our TA.  They have handled all the reservations.

PS oner lines even slower and less willing b to accommodate on the phone.

[kes601]

4 minutes ago, dog said:

Go to personalizer. Click on payment tab. It shows exactly what you paid.  $0 balance at top.?

I would give it a few days. Go to app. Does it show premier when you click on packages?

It says -$700 (negative $700).  It does show Premier a the package.

[kes601]

3 minutes ago, Paula_MacFan said:

Maybe I'm misunderstanding your comment, but you don't have to have the cruise paid in full to make dining reservations and book excursions.  

That is not what the app / website said.  It specifically stated we could only book dining / excursions once the cruise was paid in full.  Perhaps because it is our first cruise.

[Paula_MacFan]

1 minute ago, kes601 said:

That is not what the app / website said.  It specifically stated we could only book dining / excursions once the cruise was paid in full.  Perhaps because it is our first cruise.

I have never had to be paid in full to book excursions.  In fact I have two cruises currently booked for 2026 with excursions booked for both.  Are you in the US?  Maybe it's different in other countries.  

[kes601]

4 minutes ago, Paula_MacFan said:

I have never had to be paid in full to book excursions.  In fact I have two cruises currently booked for 2026 with excursions booked for both.  Are you in the US?  Maybe it's different in other countries.  

USA.  Not sure why it was that way, but it said we could not book any excursions until paid in full.  Once we paid in full it opened up booking for excursions.

 

At any rate, that isn't the issue.  The issue, if you want to call it that, is getting a $700 refund while upgrading to Premier.  Something obviously was not done correctly.

[dog]

9 minutes ago, Paula_MacFan said:

I have never had to be paid in full to book excursions.  In fact I have two cruises currently booked for 2026 with excursions booked for both.  Are you in the US?  Maybe it's different in other countries.  

I have seen this on my app as well recently but only for dining. I have reported numerous problems like this. I am elite and cannot book dining right now.

Edited September 8 by dog

[dog]

1 minute ago, kes601 said:

USA.  Not sure why it was that way, but it said we could not book any excursions until paid in full.  Once we paid in full it opened up booking for excursions.

 

At any rate, that isn't the issue.  The issue, if you want to call it that, is getting a $700 refund while upgrading to Premier.  Something obviously was not done correctly.

Was there a price drop? Was it refare to add your upgraded package?  Are you dealing directly through princess?

[paddingtonbear]

5 minutes ago, Paula_MacFan said:

I have never had to be paid in full to book excursions.  In fact I have two cruises currently booked for 2026 with excursions booked for both.  Are you in the US?  Maybe it's different in other countries.  

No it’s not different for other countries. I’m from Australia and can book excursions for Sept 2025. I do have to pay for the excursions though with OBC or card. I have no status. I don’t want Premier but we have the Plus Package. 
 

If I were you, the OP, I would ring princess. People are booking dining with Premier on the phone. Also, there is availability on board. 

[Paula_MacFan]

10 minutes ago, dog said:

I have seen this on my app as well recently but only for dining. I have reported numerous problems like this. I am elite and cannot book dining right now.

We're Platinum and I'm able to book dining for both of our 2026 cruises in the app, in addition to excursions.  We've been on 2 other cruises this year and were able to book dining and excursions well in advance of final payment.  The app glitches must continue for some people, I know it's frustrating.  

 

I was just asking the OP if they thought they needed to make final payment in advance to book those items because that has never been our experience.

Edited September 8 by Paula_MacFan

[dog]

I think OP got the same message I did for dining.  The excursions say pay when booking- not pay balance of cruise.

 

They need to contact Princess to see what’s going on in a few days. Their Travel Summary could change, as well.

[kes601]

1 minute ago, dog said:

Was there a price drop? Was it refare to add your upgraded package?  Are you dealing directly through princess?

Dealing straight through Princess.

 

• Original package price was $7280 ($6500 was for the room, $700 was for the $50 special on Plus and then $280 for the upgrade to the old Premier )
• Upgraded to a Mini-Suite, price became $7602.00
• Asked to upgrade to the new Premier.  This was done within a minute and our total was suddenly $7462 ($140 credit).
• Asked them to look at it again since we were missing photos, prizes, and whatever else was unique to premier and suddenly the total was $6902 ($700 credit).

 

This makes me think they simply removed the original Plus purchase (hence the $700 credit) and left the "upgrade" to Premier on the booking.

 

Maybe I am overthinking things but I don't think upgrading my package should yield in that big of a credit to us.

 

Hopefully that all makes sense.

[kes601]

1 minute ago, dog said:

I think OP got the same message I did for dining.  The excursions say pay when booking- not pay balance of cruise.

No, we had no option to even book the excursions until we paid the cruise in full -- our names w/the radio buttons next to them were not there.  

[FLAlaska]

49 minutes ago, kes601 said:

That is not what the app / website said.  It specifically stated we could only book dining / excursions once the cruise was paid in full.  Perhaps because it is our first cruise.

Have you tried the web version of the personalizer instead of the app? I was able to book reservations through that while the app was saying PAY IN FULL.  As well, I have a cruise with Premier and my travel summary not list everything either. Ive confirmed I have premier but Im not going to sweat the TS...

 

To your point.. Refunds for excursions, dinners, etc  usually hit within a couple of days, and deposits as well. Not sure how a fully paid cruise would work.

[kes601]

3 minutes ago, FLAlaska said:

Have you tried the web version of the personalizer instead of the app? I was able to book reservations through that while the app was saying PAY IN FULL.  As well, I have a cruise with Premier and my travel summary not list everything either. Ive confirmed I have premier but Im not going to sweat the TS...

 

To your point.. Refunds for excursions, dinners, etc  usually hit within a couple of days, and deposits as well. Not sure how a fully paid cruise would work.

We tried both the app and web, both gave the pay in full message.

 

At any rate, I guess I'm glad to hear that your Premier doesn't show everything either.  For us, it's the combo of not showing everything and getting the $700 credit that gives me concern.

 

I will say that my wife just chatted w/them and they did confirm to her that the website was having many issues displaying things correctly for the new Premier.

[Boatmans Lady]

1 hour ago, Paula_MacFan said:

I have never had to be paid in full to book excursions.  In fact I have two cruises currently booked for 2026 with excursions booked for both.  Are you in the US?  Maybe it's different in other countries.  

I'm not in the US and also have a cruise booked for 2026 (deposit only paid) and I can't even see the excursions or dining, let alone book them!! 

[t&atravel]

48 minutes ago, kes601 said:

Dealing straight through Princess.

 

• Original package price was $7280 ($6500 was for the room, $700 was for the $50 special on Plus and then $280 for the upgrade to the old Premier )
• Upgraded to a Mini-Suite, price became $7602.00
• Asked to upgrade to the new Premier.  This was done within a minute and our total was suddenly $7462 ($140 credit).
• Asked them to look at it again since we were missing photos, prizes, and whatever else was unique to premier and suddenly the total was $6902 ($700 credit).

 

This makes me think they simply removed the original Plus purchase (hence the $700 credit) and left the "upgrade" to Premier on the booking.

 

Maybe I am overthinking things but I don't think upgrading my package should yield in that big of a credit to us.

 

Hopefully that all makes sense.

@kes601  what was the difference in the price of your original room and the mini suite (incl taxes and fees) without the package purchase and upgrades?   Leave out the package totals for now.  This might help you and others do additional math.  There may have been a price decrease in the room cost that we can’t see.  The only constant we have are the package prices.

 

i was an accountant in my previous life and love doing number crunching.  Lol