Thread: Do you purchase Future Cruise Credits?

While on a cruise, do you purchase Future Cruise Credits?

Reasons Why?
Reasons Why NOT?

I don't know anything about them so that is something I will talk to my travel agent about. What are they for and how do you buy one during your cruise?

I always suggest purchasing them if you know you want to do another cruise with the same cruise line.

There are some variances, normally they provide a reduced deposit and onboard credit if you purchase Future Cruise Credit or other similar products. An example would be where you put $100 down per person, instead of the usual $250, and you get $100 onboard credit. And no, you do not have to select a specific cruise or a specific date at the time of purchase. Most of the time you have a limit, like 3 years, to use them, but can cancel at any time and get a full refund. Just be sure when you purchase one that you let them know you want your TA to service the reservation. Then, when you get back from your cruise, let your TA know what you did so they can make sure everything is good. For example, had a client recently do this and the onboard rep did not put me down as the agent, even though they were told to do so, plus they added gratuities, insurance, and transfers - none of which my client wanted. So we finally got in transferred to us and made all the changes for the client. And yes, if you do buy one of these and do not have an agent, you can transfer it to an agent. Each cruise line has different types and different policies, but they are always a good deal.

Pete

Do I have to use them for any particular product or service on the ship?

It's to be applied towards the purchase of a future cruise and so is the onboard credit that goes with it.

On Princess we always do the "Future Cruise Deposit" because we know we'll be planning another Princess Cruise! Often, we already know which we'll probably be booking when we return home.

Our TA always calls before we leave to remind us to do it. On Princess the form has a box to check noting you want your "TA of record" to also receive a copy on the comfirmation numbers. We do two each in case we decide to book a B2B.

On other cruise lines ... even ones we like ... we don't do it. We probably will book another ... but not absolutely sure.

In the past I did a lot of them on RCL. On one cruise I bought 5. Since they changed all their rules a couple few years back, I stopped buying them. The onboard credit was no longer combinable with other OBC so they were of little value. Since we are currently exploring what our next favorite line will be I have been reluctant to buy more of them. I still have one from Princess that I need to use next year.

I feel the same way, John. We still have one credit with them that we could have used on our last cruise but we decided not to waste it since we could not combine it with our stockholder's credit. It holds a place for us and can be used whenever instead of a deposit, but that is its only value.

On our last NCL cruise we purchased a 250 deposit on any cruise in the next four years and got an immediate 100 onboard credit. There is no where I could legally earn 100 on 250 in 4 years and will probably use in 2 years. great savings.

We like the Celebrity Future Passages for the $100 deposit and the OBC which is geared to the length of the cruise. Also, it has no expiration date.

Example...our last cruise was bought with a Passages certificate. It was 17 nights...$100 depositPP instead of the normal $450PP. $300 OBC. Can't beat that!!