Deposit for future cruise?

[mbrock800]

I am going on a cruise with my husband in September on CB Eastern. This will only be our second cruise. I keep seeing people talking about putting money down for a future cruise. How does that work? What are the benefits? Do you have a book a specific cruise and ship?

 

Merideth

[Katie333]

We have done this ... basically you put $100 pp down as a deposit. If you know the ship/sailing you can earmark it towards that vacation, or you can do as we did and make your deposit open ended. This gives you up to 4 years to use against any Princess cruise.

 

The benefit? Reduced deposit vs what you would normally pay (upwards of $500 pp depending on the itinerary) + Princess gives you shipboard credit when you use the deposit towards your cruise. The shipboard credit will vary depending on the length/cabin of the cruise you book but I believe the minimum is $25 pp.

[mbrock800]

Thanks for your help. Other than the fact that someone might not be able to afford the deposit, are there any reasons why someone might not want to do this?

Merideth

[cherylandtk]

Only if they never expect to take another cruise.

[98Charlie]

We have done this ... basically you put $100 pp down as a deposit. If you know the ship/sailing you can earmark it towards that vacation, or you can do as we did and make your deposit open ended. This gives you up to 4 years to use against any Princess cruise.

 

The benefit? Reduced deposit vs what you would normally pay (upwards of $500 pp depending on the itinerary) + Princess gives you shipboard credit when you use the deposit towards your cruise. The shipboard credit will vary depending on the length/cabin of the cruise you book but I believe the minimum is $25 pp.

We did the deposit on CB last December. I thought they told us we had 2 years.

 

Charlie

[Toto2Kansas]

We did the deposit on CB last December. I thought they told us we had 2 years.

 

Charlie

 

If memory serves me correctly, it used to be 2 years, but it is now 4. Check the date on your future booking, it states it on there.

[Nana G]

We do the future cruise every time we sail! It is great and I can't see why anyone, except for shortage of money, would not take advantage of it. the cruise credit does depend on what catagory, inside-outside-balcony-etc, you book. We have booked cruises later at home and how great not to have to pay a $700 down payment then! Have also cancelled a booking and were able to keep the future cruise credit. Such a deal!!!!

[K&M2CRUZ]

So if my husband and I are on the Dawn Aug. 5 and want to book a future cruise but we want our 3 children to come with us next time would I have to pay a dep. for the kid's at that time also, or just the $100.00 a piece for my husband and I?

[Toto2Kansas]

This question might be best answered onboard the ship. I know up until recently you could add others to your booking later for $100 each and still get the same benefits such as shipboard credit. But I have read that this is now changing and Princess is not allowing this anymore.

 

If you are sure your kids will be going with in the next 4 years, it would be safer to just pay the deposit for 5 while on the ship. These darn rules change constantly and what might be excepted last week could change next week.

[dreaminkel]

So if my husband and I are on the Dawn Aug. 5 and want to book a future cruise but we want our 3 children to come with us next time would I have to pay a dep. for the kid's at that time also, or just the $100.00 a piece for my husband and I?

 

last March, we could only put down $100 for each person activily on the ship. (I was planning for my entire family of six, but my DH and I were the only ones on the ship at the time.) So, we were only able to put down $200 at the time. When I booked the cruise in December, I only had to pay $100 deposit for the others in the cabin. (We had two cabins with three in a cabin and only had to pay another $400 which equals to $100 per person.)

 

I have since changed that (in June) and just my daughter and I are going in August. They credited me back my extra $400.00 (instead of posting towards the cruise) switched my husbands $100 credit to her name, and still gave us our onboard credit of $50 per person for an outside catagory.

 

WHEW!! Did you follow all of that!?!?!

 

I will be going on Aug. 5 and booking the pre-cruise, then booking as soon as I get back for the rest of my crew, I will let you know if it has changed.

 

Also, keep in mind that you have to pay the pre-booking up front. You can not charge it to your shipboard account, so either bring cash or credit card with you when you go to book.

 

Hope this helps some!

Kel

[nho9504]

IAlso, keep in mind that you have to pay the pre-booking up front. You can not charge it to your shipboard account, so either bring cash or credit card with you when you go to book.

Kel

 

They can charge the same credit card you use for shipboard account. But the deposits would show up on your CC as a totally separate charge from Princess, i.e. would not be part of your shipboard account. You only need to bring your credit card if you want the deposit being charged on a different card.

 

It is best to do that on day 3 or 4 of your 7 day cruise - usually dont need to wait and the confirmation letter goes to your cabin before the last night of sailing.

[Member]

.... These darn rules change constantly and what might be excepted last week could change next week.

 

Ditto...

 

My US$100 Future Cruise Deposit was paid with no specific sailing fixed. When ask to apply it as deposit to my upcoming Sapphire sailing quoted in CAD$, my Canadian TA can't get it through because "Princess has the FCD shown in CAD$ in the system AND this sailing contract is in US$". It seems I've to use it on a "CAD$ contract" future sailing only.

[cbpanda]

last March, we could only put down $100 for each person activily on the ship. (I was planning for my entire family of six, but my DH and I were the only ones on the ship at the time.) So, we were only able to put down $200 at the time. When I booked the cruise in December, I only had to pay $100 deposit for the others in the cabin. (We had two cabins with three in a cabin and only had to pay another $400 which equals to $100 per person.)

 

I have since changed that (in June) and just my daughter and I are going in August. They credited me back my extra $400.00 (instead of posting towards the cruise) switched my husbands $100 credit to her name, and still gave us our onboard credit of $50 per person for an outside catagory.

 

WHEW!! Did you follow all of that!?!?!

 

I will be going on Aug. 5 and booking the pre-cruise, then booking as soon as I get back for the rest of my crew, I will let you know if it has changed.

 

Also, keep in mind that you have to pay the pre-booking up front. You can not charge it to your shipboard account, so either bring cash or credit card with you when you go to book.

 

Hope this helps some!

Kel

 

We just came back a week ago. While on the ship, we wanted to book multiple cabins (3 total) for extended family and take advantage of the low future cruise deposit. They also told us that we could only book (and deposit) for the persons actually physically on the ship. Meaning, my husband and I could deposit for a future cruise (our son didn't have to because he is a minor). They wouldn't let us book for the rest of my family.

 

The concession they did give us was to book the open ended future cruise, for which we had up to 4 years to use it. Then use the referral program to get our extended family future cruise credit on their bookings.

 

Bottom line is this: We booked at $200 deposit and received $50 pp shipboard credit, the extended family would have to book the normal way with $250 pp deposit on the cabins, but would receive $25 pp discount on the cost of the room at the time of booking.

 

I actually booked just this morning for the CB next year and received exactly that.

[K&M2CRUZ]

Interesting thanks for all of the info. now I only wish there was a room that could hold 5 people:confused:

[diraebrad]

So...can that credit be used with any travel agent used to book the future cruise, or does the booking have to be done through Princess?

[Jimsgirl]

I booked on board and thought the $100 was my deposit, but when I got down to confirming paper work after arriving home, I had to pay a further $519 deposit on top of the $100. My understanding is that the $100 is the deposit only if you are booking a 7 day cruise, since mine was a long cruise with a larger cost, I had to pay extra.

[rain_bowbrite]

you can also request "Share the Wealth" coupons when you make your FCC deposit. These are coupons that you can give to other members of your family or your friends. They still have to pay the regular deposit but the coupon intitals them to the same shipboard credits you receive when you do the FCC onboard.

[Toto2Kansas]

I booked on board and thought the $100 was my deposit, but when I got down to confirming paper work after arriving home, I had to pay a further $519 deposit on top of the $100. My understanding is that the $100 is the deposit only if you are booking a 7 day cruise, since mine was a long cruise with a larger cost, I had to pay extra.

 

I am assuming you used a Travel Agent that charged this correct??

 

The reason I am asking is that we have used our future bookings $100 deposit pp, on everything from a 7 day cruise to a 25 day cruise and the $100 pp future cruise booking was all that it was, nothing else charged.

 

I would be switching Travel Agents immediately if one tried to charge me extra for booking a cruise with a future booking credit.

[GottoCruise]

Princess will not allow a FCC for deposit on the Pacific Princess 102 Day Jan 2008 World Cruise! $4,000 pp Deposit only accepted !

 

Too bad - I was going to immediately book!! :D :D (NOT!)

[HockeyBoysMom]

We just paid the future cruise deposit on our cruise last week. It seemed like a great deal to me. I also asked about our son, as he was not on the cruise with us. What I was told, was that since he would be the 3rd person in our cabin, that he would not have to pay a deposit and would be covered under our $200 deposit that we had just paid. We did the open ended because we want to travel to Alaska again with him in 2008 and those bookings are not open yet. The agent told me we could book with Princess or use our travel agent. As I saw no benefit to booking with a travel agent this time, I did all our own reservations other than the cruise, I will likely simply book with Princess when the booking for the cruise we want. Also, we were told we had 4 years to use the booking and it was fully refundable if we didn't use it.

Dusty

[Toto2Kansas]

We just paid the future cruise deposit on our cruise last week. It seemed like a great deal to me. I also asked about our son, as he was not on the cruise with us. What I was told, was that since he would be the 3rd person in our cabin, that he would not have to pay a deposit and would be covered under our $200 deposit that we had just paid. We did the open ended because we want to travel to Alaska again with him in 2008 and those bookings are not open yet. The agent told me we could book with Princess or use our travel agent. As I saw no benefit to booking with a travel agent this time, I did all our own reservations other than the cruise, I will likely simply book with Princess when the booking for the cruise we want. Also, we were told we had 4 years to use the booking and it was fully refundable if we didn't use it.

Dusty

 

So they are telling you that your two deposits ALSO cover a third in your cabin when you book? Hummmmmmmmmmmmmm now that is very interesting as that is not what I have been told. Let us know if you are charged another deposit if you would please when you finally book this cruise as I just don't think this is correct at all.

 

Gotto-LOL, was thinking the same thing this evening, figured they weren't going to let a $100 FCC go for that one. :)

[Member]

When asking for the full refund of my Future Cruise Deposit (FCD), Princess told my TA that the amount can only be credited to my original credit card account which has been closed for a year already! Princess said it can't be credited to my existng credit card nor any thing else. It seems paying this FCD is the only easy part to the customer. Comment?

[cactusrose]

I booked on board and thought the $100 was my deposit, but when I got down to confirming paper work after arriving home, I had to pay a further $519 deposit on top of the $100. My understanding is that the $100 is the deposit only if you are booking a 7 day cruise, since mine was a long cruise with a larger cost, I had to pay extra.

 

As TotoToKansas said I would be finding a new TA and I would also report this TA to Princess. This is undermining their program and I'm sure they wouldn't appreciate it. Sounds to me like a TA that is using your money to shore up their cash flow problems. Run, don't walk to change to another TA.

[cactusrose]

When asking for the full refund of my Future Cruise Deposit (FCD), Princess told my TA that the amount can only be credited to my original credit card account which has been closed for a year already! Princess said it can't be credited to my existing credit card nor any thing else. It seems paying this FCD is the only easy part to the customer. Comment?

 

Contact your old credit card company and find our what their procedure is if they get a credit against a closed account. My guess is they will mail it to you if your account was paid in full at the time it was closed.

[bjkTX]

DW and I got a future cruise credit ($100 deposit with $50pp shipboard credit) while on the Grand in fFeb - figuring we would do the Canada/New England cruise in Oct 2007. We had 4 years to book another cruise or cancel for a full refund.

 

We decided to take the Canada/NE cruise this Oct instead of waiting - contacted a new TA we hadn't used before, mentioned we had the FCC - and we got the invoice saying the deposit had been paid, showing the onboard credit and all was well.

 

On this cruise we'll get 2 more because we want to do the full transit Panama Canal cruise in 2008 - should get good shipboard credit on that one :-)

 

If you think you're going to cruise on Princess again it's a good idea - if you book late like we just did it really doesn't make much difference since final payment was due pretty much right away - but if you book a year or so out it's nice to keep that extra deposit money in YOUR pocket for that time.