Bwana Tom

The times I have used the Princess chat the operator has come back periodically online just to make sure I'm not dropped. I can't say all Princess operators do that and for that reason I believe your safeguard approach is probably a good one.

Had some rum tasting on one of our Caribbean cruises pre-pandemic, but nothing post-pandemic.

I wish they would have a scotch tasting event, but I've never seen either taking place on any of my many cruises. Are you listening Princess - it would a great event!

Sure like to hear any comments you folks might have on the new bidding system.

I’m curious, what is the percentage of the amount they are shortening you. I wonder if it is in the neighborhood of the usual 25 percent less than is owed you. I wish you all the luck. If all else fails you might want to call my contact noted earlier.

Good luck to you. I hope everything goes well for you.

Here is the latest info I have seen attached here. I do notice as usual at least one screw-up/typo, but it seems to explain the program fairly well. We will all have to see after the 6th. They are starting off with only a few (5 or 6) ships to see how goes and then a few weeks later all of the fleet is suppose to be added. Princess Bidding Process.PDF

Our cruise on January 6, 2023 on the Diamond Princess does not yet list the excursions in Hawaii. Not sure what is going on.

They always do that automatically. Always put the charges to the non-refundable first then when those dollars are expended it automatically switches over to the refundable.

We have always received 10 percent off non/sales items and have heard of this $100 issue.

We were told there was no elite discount on the medallion bracelet I bought. It would have been nice, but not a problem as far as I was concerned. We appreciate the discounts we get in other areas.

Not necessarily. It took multiple telephone calls, live chat, 2 long letters to Princess with all the appropriate attachments and 5 months before I received my refundable OBC. You may have stay on the case or be a donator.

YES!!

I am happy to inform that I finally got resolution to my problem of Princess holding back some of OBC. It took me nearly 5 months to resolve the issue, but finally I was successful. I was asked by PacnGoNow to keep everyone updated so here goes. After about 2 months from when I mailed my letter to John Padgett (with all documentation enclosed) and a month after sending an email (including all documentation) to Jan Swartz I finally received a telephone call from a person by the name of Peggy at (877) 888-1869 Ext. 44670. I was away from my phone and missed her calls, but I called her back a little while later. She immediately picked up (none of the usual one hour plus waiting to be connected). She apparently had all my documentation which I had included with both of my earlier letters) including copies of: particle payment check for $163.93, Princess vendor sheet, my account statement obtained on the last day of my cruise and a copy of my 6-28-2022 letter to Padgett. I started to go over the situation anyway and she cut in and said it looks like they still owed us $52.78 and she would have them cut us a check in that amount. While this was a few dollars less than what I thought was owed I wanted to see the end to this situation and kept quiet at that point. I did expressed my concerns that many people seem to be experiencing a similar situation and always the difference seems to be a payment of 75% of the owed amount. She didn’t seem to go along with that assumption. Maybe she didn’t think my own 74+% situation fit that criterion precisely. She only said that in the future I should just spend all my OBC on board to eliminate a future problem with reimbursement. That being the case I wonder why they even make a distinction between refundable and non-refundable OBC. The bottom line: My 5 month journey finally ended on August 24, 2022 and I received my check for the remaining funds. It does seem strange to me that apparently so many people have had a similar experience and it always seems their refund is only for about 75% of the owed amount. And possibly worst of all no one seems to want to get the bottom of the problem in order to prevent it from occurring again. My best advice to everyone that have refundable OBC exceeding $25 and not being able to get it refunded on board is to make sure you have all the documentation to prove what is owed to you. We always get a print out of our account on the last day before debarking. While my own situation wasn’t a great deal of money I still wanted to carry it to the ultimate end. I’m not sure whether Padgett or Swartz forwarded my documentation to “Peggy”, but I am going to personally keep her telephone number handy in the event this happens to us again in the future. She was actually pretty pleasant to deal with and actually came through for us in the end. Good luck to you folks.

It is very likely that no one on the CC board has a working knowledge of the internal programming and algorithms to be used in the new bidding program, but I will ask my question anyway. Let’s say you have purchased an ocean view cabin when they were priced very low. For example you may have paid around $65/person/day and you decide to place a bid for an upgrade to a balcony cabin. Another person wanting to bid on the same upgrade may have paid $100/person/day for the same ocean view category cabin. My question is: Does the programming/algorithms consider the amount paid on the original booking, thereby favoring the person that paid the higher price originally, or are both of these individuals on an even keel when it comes to winning the bid? Just something to think about and thanks for listening.

Words of wisdom from experience: If you have refundable OBC left over exceeding the $25 amount that you can get refunded on the ship make absolutely sure you print out your account balance on the last day of the cruise as a hard copy record. I've been trying to get my remaining refundable military credit from Princess for 5 months now. After several months they sent a particle refund (less 25% or a little over $50). Supposedly after many contacts and letters to and from Princess I am suppose to have another check coming for those remaining funds. The only reason they finally owned up to their error was the fact I had records of what they first paid me and what was actually owed me. Many people on Cruise Critic seems to have this same problem and it always seems to be less 25%. Maybe the answer to this problem is just spend all your OBC (refundable and non-refundable) and not be subjected to all this hassle. For me it just became the principle of the thing rather than the $50+ amount.

I think they need to fire their management personnel and hire people that are actually responsible and does what they are apparently being hired to do.

Out of San Diego both on the Diamond.

Not necessarily. We are booked on a 16 day Hawaii cruise in January with a b2b 7 day Mexico cruise following that one and trying to figure out what Princess' rules are today. For me I have a lot of time ahead of me and expect many vague changes and confusion to follow.

Not always American. Particularly since Covid customer services are in the drink. I’ve had problems also with Delta and Alaska. We won’t fly United. We live by the rule check the flights frequently.

I book on my own from the airlines website.

The airlines do not always notify you of changes and cancellations. We had this to happen to us many times over the last couple of years with no notification whatsoever. There will usually be a notice that your flight has changed when you log into their website, but often no emails, no telephone calls, no nothing. On one occasion American changed our flight and had us departing before we even were to arrive at our connection airport. The only way I knew about that change and eventually arranged for another change of flights was to pull it up on the internet. These days you simply can't count on the airlines to actually notify you of the changes they make. Sad I know, but it is reality in todays world. I would strongly recommend you pull up your flight periodically and check your flights.

We can only hope so!!

I believe Princess will be facing a class action suit in the future. Far too many cruisers are experiencing the same problem from them, including me with no answer from letters or emails.

I would strongly recommend a hard copy of your account statement on the final day of your cruise particularly if you have any refundable credit due back to you. Princess has been reducing that amount to many of us, including me on my March 2022 cruise by the seemingly typical of 25%. I have been challenging that reduction, but so far I haven't made in progress. It is always good to have a firm and solid record to refer to just in case you find yourself joining those of us that seem to being cheated out of what is due us.