cheezenip

21 hours ago, skynight said:

I have never seen this in almost 50 Princess cruises.  It has always been non refundable first, then refundable. 

What is more relevant...the fact that you have almost 50 Princess cruises or people like myself who have DIRECTLY EXPERIENCED Princess taking refundable credit before non-refundable?? I have provided a separate post with my OWN EXPERIENCE in great detail this past Jan-Feb on Discovery Princess. It took me approx. 4 months before Princess was able to acknowledge and address the problem. Sadly it hasn't been fixed on Discovery as some have reported similar experiences on Discovery after my cruise.....are they to be discounted b/c they haven't been on close to 50 cruises with Princess??  🤨

1 hour ago, grimace95120 said:

Wondering if it would just be easier to buy the new package outright, then cancel the old... but from what I've seen so far on the "support" lines it may be an expensive gamble 

Not worth the gamble if you value your time...I had to deal with customer support for a few days on a problem after my cruise and it was worse than going through government bureaucracy.

1 minute ago, memoak said:

On the Grand over the last few weeks we actually canceled one night at Crown Grill because the food and service in Reserve Dining were so good. Probably better than anything I have experienced since restart 

Do you recall who the Executive chef was on the Grand on your sailing??

1 hour ago, ColoradoMom!! said:

I hope so!  Went today to reserve dining for the Coral in late Feb 2025 - we are over 6 months out, and I can't get a private table for 4 anytime after 5pm until 8pm.  Traditional dining is only 5 pm and 7:30pm.  So I reserved for 6pm for party of 4/ willing to share.  They make it very clear that you will be sharing your table with others outside your complete party of 4.  Really?  They have that many huge tables they can't fill?  I will keep checking, or hope we can get a private table for 4 around that time.

Ridiculous that paying passengers have to put up with this. It's not that difficult to implement a fair system but Princess management is only concerned about the bottom line. Good luck!!

41 minutes ago, Wishing on a star said:

Seriously..  Both the food and the service were a problem.  What a waste of almost 3 hours of our time and our money.  How can you send back bad steak that you already sat there and waited forever.  

 

Princess continues to disappoint me, and really messed everything up and frustrate me until I am at the point of walking away.  The chaotic roll out of the new ship... Cutbacks after cutbacks, while trying to double the amount one will end up paying with all of their changes and packages, etc...

 

If there was another option that was not far worse (floating amusement park), or that was any better, at a reasonable price point.

I am empathetic to your sentiment. John Padgett (current CEO) IMHO has been largely responsible for these changes the last few years.

I too have been looking at alternatives. The only redeeming quality Princess has over the other options is "reasonable price point". Overall quality has abandoned this once proud company many years ago.

3 hours ago, 555 said:

We'll be traveling with no package & enjoying all the free stuff. 

In theory, those of use who travel with no package will get an added bonus for "free"....less passengers in the MDR means quicker service and better prepared entrees (kitchen prep / cooking time improves since more of the workload burden will be moved to the casual / specialty dining venues). That's the hope. 😉

On 5/5/2024 at 6:48 AM, BamaVol said:

I don’t do SD myself because I don’t see the value for money. Others must or the lines would be trying something different. 

Same here..if I want top of the line food, I'll pay more for it by dining at a high end land-based restaurant or cruise on a higher end cruise line known for their food (Oceania or something comparable). I travel on Princess b/c of the value.

1 hour ago, peagreenid said:

... so we ate the rest.  So, I believe that they handle overpayments and refunds differently then they would gifts or the credit back from the excursions.  I clearly don't think this is right.  But it is obvious they are trying to circumvent giving every passenger their <deleted>  credit...

Sorry you experienced this. Very well written.

On 7/28/2024 at 2:26 AM, key39 said:

Thank you Cheezenip for sharing your experience. I was just off Princess Discovery and experienced the exact same thing as you stated. 

 

This completely sux.

I'm sorry you are going through the same situation. Use my post as an accelerated guide to reaching the proper channels. A few additional points I'll bring up now:

1) I requested that the lady who resolved my problem send an e-mail up the chain of command so they could see the multiple weak links where the system was broken (no one following-up by e-mail, poor customer service from the outsourced Philippine call center, fixing the darn accounting system problem aboard Discovery Princess, etc). Needless to say Discovery is still plagued with the software problem based on your experience.

2) I recently booked a future cruise with a new TA who use to work for Princess as a customer service representative who dealt with problems the outsourced people couldn't handle.  I went over my situation with her and she was not surprised. She sarcastically said it wouldn't change because Corporate management is indifferent preferring to focus on budget cuts and penny pinching strategies to  maximize profits.

3) Speaking of problems, my future booking has an unauthorized and unexplained wine charge that I cannot remove myself on the website (I DON'T even drink). My TA is trying to fix the problem with Princess as well as get a price adjustment as as my cabin rate has dropped in $. All her CSR contacts have quit and she's having problems with customer service who seem to be clueless.

My days with Princess may be to coming to an end.....they really need to remove JP from his CEO position!!

Good luck!!

16 hours ago, Rick&amp;Jeannie said:

 

Round up JP and the gang then ship them off to another cruise line for them to destroy. 

Same here...each time I logged in I get someone else's booking...logged in 5 times and 5 diff people / voyages. Not good!!

7 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

GAH! Double GAH!! Triple GAH!!!

 

I have to wonder what clown came up with that idea. (Of course I blame J. P.  Any issue with Princess or on a Princess ship up to and including clogged toilets I blame J. P.)

Not going to mince words...it is DEFINITELY JP and his minions!! Think about it..I was excited when Rudi Sodamin from HAL came over to become first head of culinary arts of Princess in 2022. Right before COVID started, I was SHOCKED how good the food in the MDR and buffet was on HAL's Statendam and he was in charge of HAL's food department back then. Friends who travel on Oceania were also commenting how good HAL's food was and conceded HAL was quite competitive in quality to the more upscale line (can't comment after COVID though). You have to ask yourself if someone can do such a great job at HAL but resort to these petty cost-cutting measures on Princess, who is responsible?? I highly doubt it's Rudi Sodamin.

2 hours ago, crawford said:

I am not a buffet fan. Maybe Princess is attempting to upgrade the WFM, starting with the Sun

If you remove the fact that crew now serves passengers at the buffet, the Sun Princess's Eatery (aka buffet) is actually a DOWNGRADE from the Royal Class ships in the Princess fleet because of cost-cutting measures. Why?? With the exception of the meat carvings and desserts, the lunch and dinner options DO NOT change for the entire cruise. In other words, what you see on day 1 at lunch remain the SAME the entire cruise. DItto for dinner also.

4 hours ago, ssawjo said:

We have been on Princess numerous times, Oceania four times,

Could you elaborate on your impressions of the food on O? Very curious on the quality of O's buffet as well as the MDR.

12 hours ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

We have started sailing Oceania ... in addition to Princess. Of course we pay MUCH more for O

Could you comment on O's food? I'm very curious if the marketing hype is justified. I'm getting tired of Princess's penny pinching mentality under CEO Padgett (did you know at the Sun's buffet <aka Eatery> they don't change the lunch / dinner buffet selections <except for the meat carvings and dessert> at all? What you get at lunch remains the same the entire cruise ...same goes for dinner). The last straw for me with Princess will be if corporate management decides to make this a fleet wide decision. I'm beginning to explore other options.

25 minutes ago, LittleTinker said:

What annoyed me the most about the Eatery was food going cold. I maybe want lasagne and some chips   (example)   the lasagne is served in one spot and the chips are right round the other side and I might have to queue again.

Not to mention the plates are not warm to start with as they don't use plate warmers.

Cold dinner by the time I get back to my table

 

The plates are nice but are rough stone and make a terrible noise when scrapped  lol

Great points. Be sure to make these observations known to management. If people don't express areas of improvement, management will think everything is fine. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

4 hours ago, Esprit said:

I can never understand the attraction of buffets, but then I'm not a big eater and can't stand lukewarm food.

I think you just answered your own question.

11 hours ago, Jadn13 said:

Not a fan of the eatery at all, food was very repetitive

The Sun Princess Eatery (aka buffet) intentionally does not change their selections (except for the meat carvings and desserts); thus what you see at lunch will be the same ALL week and the same goes for dinner. Corporate management is watching to see how many people notice and actually complain. If you object to this “new concept” (quote from the managers manning the Eatery), speak up in your post survey and tell the managers on the ship to pass your complaint up the chain of command. If not enough people complain, this will be permanent!!

5 hours ago, ontheweb said:

NCL has found a different way of making sure all OBC refundable and non-refundable is spent on the ship. They do rightly use the non-refundable first, but then instead of mailing a check afterwards require the passenger with refundable OBC to come and get it refunded before leaving the ship.

Whoa...

Here is my own experience aboard the Discovery Princess in Jan of this year where this exact situation came up with problems.

Background: I was on a B2B in Jan/Feb 2024 on Discovery Princess with $200 onboard credit / week due to a promo (non refundable) and a $100 gift card (refundable) which I used on the 2nd leg of my cruise.

Actual Experience: On the 2nd leg of my cruise, I had guest services put the $100 gift card towards my account which I confirmed would be refundable if I didn't use the entire $300 ($200 promo on week 2 + $100 gift card). I did inquire how my $300 card would be subtracted from my onboard charges (gratuities, internet, etc.) and the service person nonchalantly said it was Princess' policy to first use the non refundable credit before targeting the refundable portion. I left thinking no more of it. However, I started to check my portfolio charges at the mid point of the 7 day cruise and noticed they were taking the refundable credit FIRST. I went to guest services to explain my situation asking them to fix the error and after 20 minutes of person #1 playing around with the computer system and speaking with the manager on duty (that person spent time on the computer also), they finally told me it was a "glitch" in the accounting software and that any left over credit would be issued to me as a check to my home address because that was Princess' policy. Although I did feel person#1 did try everything to solve my problem, I left with bad vibes. The next day I went back to speak to person #2 at guest services and that individual was equally fastidiously in trying to fix the problem and she also spoke with the manager on duty (diff person) and they ended up saying the EXACT same thing about the accounting software and that I would receive a check in the mail. I left again with bad vibes but was satisfied the 2nd duo (like the 1st) did try everything on their end. The final day I wanted to try my luck and talked to a 3rd person who also conferred with the manager on duty (again a different person) and after an extended period of trying to solve the situation gave me the EXACT same message. I left naively thinking if I'm getting the same identical message from 3 diff people (whom also talked w/ their managers) that this must be true. However, I make sure I got the names of the 3 diff guest services representatives I talked to (I should have gotten the names of the managers but didn't) PLUS I printed copies of the daily charges which I brought home for record keeping purposes (got 2 copies of the final statement form the ship's machine). I ended up spending the entire non-refundable credit but didn't use any of  the $100 refundable credit from the gift card.

Post-Cruise Experience: To my dismay while waiting for my flight at the airport, I was emailed the final invoice which DID NOT match the final statement I made copies of from the ship's machine. I knew my $100 credit was in jeopardy. I filled out the post-survey explaining my problem and REQUESTED someone contact me to resolve my problem). I reached out to my PVP quickly and she apologized for my problem but said I needed to fill out a post cruise service ticket on the Princess website explaining my situation. I did as instructed but never heard back. I called Princess customer service on 3 different occasions and got the dreaded Philippine phone reps each time and each one gave me a different non-helpful response (1 accused me of lying and the other 2 insisting the guest service reps on Discovery were WRONG and I was not entitled to the $100 check). I then sent a request for help to 3 different Princess e-mails that I obtained from different sources explaining my situation in detail (and including a scanned copy of the last account invoice I printed out on Discovery). I heard nothing back from anyone for 3 months. This was a matter of principle now as I was determined to fight. After posting on Instagram a plea for customer assistance (Facebook and X got me nowhere), a customer service rep left a message the NEXT day. To my surprise, she called me again on Sat. during  Easter weekend and we connected. After explaining the situation, she was skeptical at first unable to verify my story. However, I offered to e-mail a copy of the last invoice onboard Discovery which would back up everything I said. She actually found my e-mail with my invoice and was surprised how different the numbers were. After an additional 20 minutes of digging around, she acknowledged there was indeed a software problem / glitch and I was telling the truth. She said she could give me a $100 credit toward a future cruise but receiving a mailed check was a DIFFERENT department's responsibility. The lady was very kind and advised me that I might encounter the same type of problems talking with the other department as  I encountered on the phone with the 3 reps fr/ the Philippine center. She explained my situation was unusual and the person from the other department has to be "willing" to dig around Princess' internal computer system which took her 15 to 20 min of investigation to verify my story. I decided to take the future credit as I wasted so much time on this problem already. She was kind enough to add alittle more $$ for my troubles (not enough but I appreciated the gesture as I wasn't asking for any additional credit).

Lessons learned: I will let each reader come to his / her own conclusion but I for one will strongly advise my friends to NOT give me a Princess gift card to use no matter how well-intention the gesture is. If that doesn't work, I will force myself to spend ALL my onboard credit regardless of whether it is refundable or non-refundable. It's just not worth the hassle to fight the Princess bureaucracy!!

Sorry for the long post but I hope this written adventure helps others.

5 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

I do have them written down somewhere.  I will look for you and post it.  None of them sounded that interesting to me but your mileage may vary.  

No longer necessary as someone posted them on Discovery now in another venue. Thank you for willing to do this.

Do you recall the movies that were playing in the evenings on MUTS? The only one I know of is Barbie but my sister would like to know what other movies will be shown. We leave in 6 days!!

Hello,

I wish to make some dinner time reservation changes (as well as the # of people at a table) since the app is so fussy.

Are each of the 3 MDR open during embarkation upon arrival to talk to the Maitre-D / Host / Hostess in charge or is there only 1 MDR open to handle each all of the 3 dining rooms? I rather not wait til dinner time as it will be hectic.

4 hours ago, wallyj said:

Princess rotates where they assign the waiters, so do not be surprised if Haro is now not assigned to the section taking care of table 164. Better to ask if a table is available in Haro’s assigned section.

Thank you for the advice. 

9 hours ago, travelin.sisters said:

Ricky was able to change our reservations so that we had the same table for the next night as well. Haro remembered us, our names & our preferences (even BIL's beverage order). I have already changed our dinner reservations for our next cruise to Juneau & plan to ask for the same team next cruise.

Do you recall the table number you were at in Juneau? I might go ahead and request Haro for the entire cruise.