Reduced deposit required finally.

[ijkh]

We have been waiting to book our friends along with us on a 2005 Med cruise on the Grand next Sept and balked at the 1200 dollar deposit. Finally today in the paper the reduced deposits. Anyone elso had this happen sooner. Any other hot deals out there for 2005. Should I book? Should I hold'em or fold'em? Opinions please.

[HighRoller]

Sure hold a cabin on a reduced deposit basis and watch the pricing at all times and if you don't like the final price bail!...just make sure too read the fine print about any cancellation fees etc...and next time when your on board a Princess ship make sure to buy a couple of FCC's that way you'll have a reduced deposit option at anytime you wanna use it and not wait for a promo and also benefit from the ship board account credit you would get also which would be on a 12 day Med cruise $100.00 per person for any outside cabin or better cat....can't loose!

[PescadoAmarillo]

It is not unusual for us to have several bookings on different ships/cruise lines at the same time when we know that we will only be able to take one of the cruises. It's nice when, as with doing an on-board booking on Princess, it only takes $100pp to reserve a cruise, but we've had $450pp on several different cruises at one time. This is especially good if you're fussy about cabins, or traveling with a group of friends/family. VERY important to track the final payment date where cancelling starts costing you money though. But we need to stay so flexible, it's nice to have several things lined up just in case, and it costs us just the use of $2000-$3000 or so.

[ourlol]

Guess I must have got lucky. When I booked our cruise 6 weeks ago for the Grand (July 2005) our deposit was $100 pp. Plus we were given on board credit.

 

and watch the pricing at all times and if you don't like the final price bail!

Had I booked here in the UK (rather than via the USA) you don't really get the option to bail out without penalty. Your deposit is 10% of the total fare per person. This is NOT refundable if you simply change your mind. Neither is it really worth watching prices. Even if the cost of your cruise is reduced (i.e. goes down) by and large, the price you commit to at the time of booking is the price you have to pay.

 

Forever grateful therefore to CC for opening my eyes to alternative ways to book.

[coiran]

When you buy the FCC's on board be sure to ask for the share the wealth coupons.

 

Ron

[HighRoller]

Coiran they give them now automatically with each FCC booking as I just bought 2 before I got off the Star on September 1, 2004 in Venice!

[Perky1]

What are share the wealth coupons???? Just curious.

[HighRoller]

Thery are coupons/voucher that you receive when booking an FCC that allow you to share the same promotion with other people to benefit from the reduced deposit and onboard credit that you can give to them once you return back home.

[GloriaF]

I've never heard of share the wealth coupons before. Can you give them to friends for other cruises, or for those joining you on the same cruise?

[Coral]

Gloria - Share the Wealth coupons are to be given to friends who will join you on your cruise (same cruise).

[ijkh]

We are actually sailing on FCC deposit but the other couple with are first time sailors. We are planning on Sept 11 Venice to Rome 2005 and booked today. Happy birthday to me! Now about those coupons, it would be great to get the other couple some on board credit too.

[blndee77]

About a month ago I reserved an Oct 2005 cruise. Some web sites said $500 dep for the cabin some said $200. My TA's website said $200, but when I called she said that was a mistake and that she had called princess and the deposit was $500.

 

Did I get shafted? It's not a huge deal - but I could do a lot with the $300 in the meanwhile.

[HighRoller]

Blndee77, You didn't get "shafted per say", there are constently different promotions being offered on a rotational basis throughout the year by Princess with there designated TA's that sell there products...you just have to hit it right...it's all about the timming in the cruise business and that goes for everything from fare reductions, promos, combinability of past pax promos etc...

[blndee77]

I just think my TA should have honored the $200 dep as it was on her web site as such.

[HighRoller]

We'll thats a different situation then blndee77, she should have called Customer Relations to get an approval on your booking for a reduced deposit because it was there mistake....

[coiran]

Share the Wealth were not automatic on the Sun this past February - they made no mention of it and I didn't ask because I didn't know they existed until SRPHNX brought it up. They might be automatic on the Sun - I will test it next Feb.

One of my old bosses told me to "never assume" becaust it could make an "ass" out of "u" and "me".

Ron