diff --git a/USAGE.md b/USAGE.md
index 5b480b8..37f8267 100644
--- a/USAGE.md
+++ b/USAGE.md
@@ -125,7 +125,8 @@ usage: ck creds [OPTIONS] [CONTEXT]
 
     -f    Force operation if cluster is currently locked
     -p    Extract a single property, like password or api_url
-    -r    Refresh the credentials by fetching a fresh copy
+    -c    Use the current credentials without fetching
+    -r    Refresh the credentials by fetching a fresh copy (default)
 ```
 <sup><sub>[🔝 Back to top](#usage)</sub></sup>
 
diff --git a/lib/common.sh b/lib/common.sh
index 030259c..c25af9c 100644
--- a/lib/common.sh
+++ b/lib/common.sh
@@ -182,6 +182,10 @@ function createContext {
     return $?
   fi
 
+  # Make sure cluster is running
+  setPowerState "$context" "Running"
+  ignoreOutput waitForClusterDeployment $1 "Running"
+
   local kubeconfig kubeconfig_temp
   kubeconfig=$(getCredsFile "$context" "lifeguard/clusterclaims/${context}/kubeconfig" "true")
   verbose 0 "Preparing kubeconfig $kubeconfig"
@@ -756,8 +760,7 @@ function displayCreds {
 
 function getCreds {
   local powerState
-  setPowerState $1 "Running"
-  ignoreOutput waitForClusterDeployment $1 "Running"
+  ignoreOutput waitForClusterDeployment $1
   verbose 0 "Fetching credentials for ${1}"
   # Use lifeguard/clusterclaims/get_credentials.sh to get the credentionals for the cluster
   export CLUSTERCLAIM_NAME=$1
diff --git a/subcommands/creds.sh b/subcommands/creds.sh
index bf14a3e..b5e9f07 100644
--- a/subcommands/creds.sh
+++ b/subcommands/creds.sh
@@ -16,18 +16,21 @@ function creds_usage {
   errEcho
   errEcho "    -f    Force operation if cluster is currently locked"
   errEcho "    -p    Extract a single property, like password or api_url"
-  errEcho "    -r    Refresh the credentials by fetching a fresh copy"
+  errEcho "    -c    Use the current credentials without fetching"
+  errEcho "    -r    Refresh the credentials by fetching a fresh copy (default)"
   errEcho
   abort
 }
 
 function creds {
+  FETCH_FRESH="true";
   OPTIND=1
-  while getopts :fp:r o 
+  while getopts :fp:cr o 
   do case "$o" in
     f)  export FORCE="true";;
     p)  PROPERTY="$OPTARG";;
-    r)  FETCH_FRESH="true";;
+    c)  FETCH_FRESH="";;
+    r)  FETCH_FRESH="true"; verbose -1 "WARNING: -r option is deprecated and will be removed in a future release";;
     [?]) creds_usage;;
     esac
   done