On Board Credit - Have I been Conned!!

[ibfern]

We are about to embark on our first cruise (April 09 - Emerald Princess, Eastern Caribbean) and we have been told that because our previous booking (also in April on board the Sea Princess) had been cancelled - that if we booked another cruise with Princess we would get $250 per person on board credit. So we have booked the Emerald. However after reading some of the threads on this website - it appears the OBC could be in the form of 'worthless' coupons - has anyone been in this situation before...it's put a little damper on something we've been looking forward to for a while....we are also due to pay for the cruise this weekend!!!

 

Any information would be really appriciated

 

Also a BIG thankyou to all of you who replied to my previous question ref 'What to wear on the ship'

 

You think you were conned, when they bumped us we only got $100 pp OBC! We got gypped (but we did get that OBC)!

 

Amelia

[donaldsc]

Have you actually made the effort of calling Princess and asking them? Or was it too much trouble to do a bit of work yourself to solve your problem?

 

DON

[Pam in CA]

They seriously don't have this yet? I could have sworn that they did when we sailed Golden 4+ yrs ago. I know Royal Caribbean and Celebrity allow you to look up your account via the T.V. Say you're kidding man:confused:

Nope. This is not available on Princess. I wouldn't check my bill on my TV even if it were available as I'd prefer a printout that I can check and make notes on. It takes only a minute to ask for a copy so it's not a big deal nor is there any demand for it.

[RickEk]

You think you were conned, when they bumped us we only got $100 pp OBC! We got gypped (but we did get that OBC)!

 

Amelia

 

You just have to hold out... the offers get better the more desperate they are to get folks moved over to another sailing. I've heard the best offers are at the dock... ;)

[Tmfinch13]

I originally booked a 7 day with Carnival leaving San Jaun with a new port everyday. About two weeks after apparently someone had chartered the whole ship, so there was bump one. Oh and let me not forget to mention Carnival offered NO compensation at all. Then I found that Princess had a similar itinerary and I wouldn't have to change my flights. Well needless to say about a month later we got the same call, someone had chartered that whole ship as well. At this point I was becoming really ticked. I have to give Princess alot of credit, they stepped up to the plate paid the difference and penalty to change our airfare, put us on a 10 day for the same price as the 7 day and gave us the onboard credits. I know they are sister companies, but we will Never sail with Carnival again.

 

 

So there you have it the nightmare to our dream vacation. Oh and I almost forgot the timing couldn't, have been worse. My mom was loosing her fight to cancer on her death bed, and I was trying to spend as much time with her as possible when all this took place.

 

 

:) Thank You Princess!

[Live4Vacay]

Nope. This is not available on Princess. I wouldn't check my bill on my TV even if it were available as I'd prefer a printout that I can check and make notes on. It takes only a minute to ask for a copy so it's not a big deal nor is there any demand for it.

 

It's not a big deal nor a cruise wrecker by any stretch, but a "nice-to-have" and I would like to see it added. So, there is demand! I doubt I am the only one. I like checking the account while wife is getting ready for the evening and it IS an inconvenience to have to make a stop at Purser where there could be a line.

[Tmfinch13]

It's not a big deal nor a cruise wrecker by any stretch, but a "nice-to-have" and I would like to see it added. So, there is demand! I doubt I am the only one. I like checking the account while wife is getting ready for the evening and it IS an inconvenience to have to make a stop at Purser where there could be a line.

 

 

Live4Vacay ...... Totally agree, it is a convenience, that we will miss as well. So yes there is a demand.

[agabbymama]

Good luck trying to get a $20 bottle of wine - there's nothing at that price anymore - at least on Coral. We also got a photo, and don't do pictures (the new film shows a lot of wrinkles) - 20 years ago they had much better film.

 

Nope, no such luck. I think the cheapest was $30 and we paid the difference. Same with the photo (the coupon said free 6x9 photo valued at $10) but the actual photo cost was $14.99 so again had to pay the difference.

 

I think my TA was either using old prices when they had the coupons printed, because everything was higher cost now. OR they are in cahoots with Princess and want to be sure Princess still gets some cash too. That way they can say they gave me the $50 onboard credit, so I'm happy, but Princess still makes some cash too.

 

Only I thought of OBC as cash, and it isn't always. I thought it would be helping pay for my "hotel charge" and it didn't.

[spongerob]

We are about to embark on our first cruise (April 09 - Emerald Princess, Eastern Caribbean) and we have been told that because our previous booking (also in April on board the Sea Princess) had been cancelled - that if we booked another cruise with Princess we would get $250 per person on board credit. So we have booked the Emerald. However after reading some of the threads on this website - it appears the OBC could be in the form of 'worthless' coupons - has anyone been in this situation before...it's put a little damper on something we've been looking forward to for a while....

OBC's are never in the form of coupons. They will show as a credit on your on-board account.

 

Just make sure that every individual who has the credit makes enough charges to their account so that it gets used.

[caber]

Depending on where you live you will be able to view your onboard credit. We are from the UK and can`t do that but a quick phone call to Princess UK and we found out that we had our onboard credit on our account. You can spend as you please.

Have a lovely cruise.:)

[rcacace]

OBC's are never in the form of coupons. They will show as a credit on your on-board account.

 

Just make sure that every individual who has the credit makes enough charges to their account so that it gets used.

 

On the last two cruises they gave me back credit card reimbursements for unused OBC. It might have had something to do with the refunded fuel surcharges but the total reimbursement was more than that. If it had been under $25 they would have given me cash.

[spongerob]

It depends on the form of the credit. I hate to take chances (and who wants to get close to the purser's desk at the end of the cruise anyway) so I just have the wife order a few rounds of cocktails if she's a bit under the total. It's a win-win solution in my book.

[Bibi]

Live4Vacay ...... Totally agree, it is a convenience, that we will miss as well. So yes there is a demand.

 

Ditto here too. I was disappointed to hear that Princess is "behind the times" with this technology. There is a demand for it. I like to check it daily as I sail with 3 other people who are attached to my account as well. :cool:

[Bibi]

Film???? No film.. they have digital cameras.

 

You are kidding right??? It was a joke, and a good one at that!

[Bibi]

We asked for Asti and paid the difference. ;)

 

We got OBC and a bottle of wine with our booking. Do we get to choose the wine? Or is it in the cabin when we get there?

[Colo Cruiser]

We got OBC and a bottle of wine with our booking. Do we get to choose the wine? Or is it in the cabin when we get there?

 

There will be a voucher in you cabin that you take to the dining room, tell them what you want.

We dealt with the MD on ours because we don't drink wine and the voucher was several dollars less then the Asti we wanted.

We did that twice during the cruise for both our vouchers. :)

[Bibi]

Thanks Colo Cruiser! Very much appreciated.

[caribill]

We got OBC and a bottle of wine with our booking. Do we get to choose the wine? Or is it in the cabin when we get there?

 

 

You get a card in your cabin stating the value of the wine gift.

 

You can then use the card to appy to wine you order in the dining room or from room service. You get to choose the wine and will pay any difference between the price of the wine and the value listed on the card.