RDC1

6 hours ago, caribill said:

 

I do not agree here.

a) Instead of communicating with the vendor one time, you want HAL to do it two times. If communicating twice with passengers is too complicated for HAL, this is no different.

b) So if a passenger had booked an independent excursion and communicates with the vendor to confirm it, what are you proposing that the vendor tell the passenger before HAL gives permission?  Lie and say that "everything is OK?"

c) It is simple for HAL to notify the passengers as soon as possible that the port has been cancelled and say either "the new port will be xxxx and you will be notified when shore excursions are available" or that the port has been cancelled and "you will be notified when a substitute port has been arranged."

in this case the OP did not contact the vendor  the vendor initiated the communications.  they did so based on information received as part of their business relationship with HAL.

What should take place is for the vendor to 1. have coordinated when the information was going to be made public and timed their notification accordingly or 2. obtained the info from another source, that was not due to their contractual relationship with HAL and make the  notification then.

6 hours ago, planb said:

So some W e have always done traditional s seating to get

to know people check night before we left all was correct change d

when we got our cards, waited 1 hour to talk to mattered he was all

over the place said all taken care of gave us a table number showed up to!d on this I anytime.

medallion is a joke you now need to caN both cars and medallion for on and off ship. Lost onboard credits and wait time for any in customer service desk and that no Answers just check later.Don't worry I have a list but no internet time have to go talk to them now.

 

 

As far as OBC goes if it is not in their computer onboard, they need to send back to corporate (a totally different system) as such they do not have a response until corporate responds so that is why they will ask for one to check back later if it does not appear on their account. Last time I went through that it popped about 2 hours later.  Some TA OBC's take until day 2 two so to appear.

As far a Medallion that is not a ship customer service issue. They can just junk Medallion as far as I am concerned.

57 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

In a customer-oriented organization, it doesn't take 5 days to inform customers of changes that have an impact on their travel plans. Yes, once the decision was made, HAL had a number of tasks to perform, but these should have been conducted concurrently by different responsibility centres. Instead, it appears that it decided to perform the tasks consecutively, leaving the job of letting passengers know to the end. As the $10-for-second-entrée trial and numerous other events of late clearly demonstrate, HAL really needs to overhaul its communications strategy to address the inclusion of its paying customers as more than an afterthought.

Are you sure?  Have you ever gotten a note from an airline saying we know your flight is going to be changed, but we are still working out the new schedule. No what you get is the notification after the details are worked out.   

In most cases all we as customers get is the final notification.  We have no view into the internal company workings between the start of a process and its conclusion with formal notification to the customers.

This was a rather unique  event in that someone that is part of that process was notified and then communicated.  

The only other times we get any view into the process is when a crisis of some kind happens (cancellation due to weather, maintenance failure, flight cancellation, etc.) and we get to see the crisis mode and actions taken real time.  We have also seen the postings about the communications and confusion that occurs in those situations.

Just now, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

So it's the tour operator's fault????????????

 

Tour operators take their reputations seriously, and one part of an operator's reputation that potential customers consider is communication. Any time I've booked an independent tour, the operator has been good about responding to questions promptly. 

 

As for putting a "gag order" on vendors, I don't see that happening. The cruise lines protect themselves by insisting that the vendor cannot take your booking directly, but they don't stop the vendor from answering your questions. I was able to identify a vendor for a tour in one of my Alaska ports, and I contacted them to see if one of their other tours was available. They said no, Cunard had booked only the one tour and they couldn't book me directly on their other tours. 

 

 

Only from the point of view that the angst in this discussion came about because the tour operator passed on information he received from another customer (in this case HAL who had booked excursions with him) prior to the official notification form the cruise line.

In this case the tour operator was not answering a question, he was acting upon information provided by HAL, as part of his business relationship with HAL, and used that information proactively  to notify another customer that the cruise ship would not be coming to that port.  A bit of a difference.  On one hand he was good in that he was notifying all of his customers. On the other hand he was abusing information given to him as part of a business relationship.  

Now usually this would not come up because in many cases the cruise lines consume most if not all of the capacity that an excursion vendor might have in port.  In places like Alaska the excursion operators work closely with the frequent cruise ships that come in.  In this case the port is one seldom visited by HAL.  As such there was a gap in process.

11 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

They were approved on Friday.  They were on the Port of Guernsey website already for coming.  I looked after finding out.  So they were approved.  

I guess it’s my fault then for using a tour guide that told me before HAL. 🙄 

 

HAL told him they were confirmed elsewhere so it was all done.  Personally, for the price this cruise costs, yes, this could have been done better.

 

They did it on Thursday, apparently.  They were in place in St. Peter’s Port on Friday.  We knew because we have a roll call member on board that went digging.  Shore Excursions told her.  So, it was definitely all “set” approved and complete information in hand on Friday.

 

they were approved on Friday at the latest (if not Thursday) and they had complete info then since our roll call member gave us our arrival and departure times.

 

5 days notice is fine when you don’t go for a year or a few months, but when you are days from leaving, it does make a difference - at least to a lot of us on our roll call., but heck, we’re just the ones cruising.  

 

The point of my thread originally was to let others know who might not be on the roll call (not everyone joins). I think that mission has been accomplished.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In many ways that is exactly the issue, someone involved in one of the early steps of the process.. An excursion operator, was notified about the cancellation and that the port was being changed.  It was all done as far as the decision to change and the cancellation of his excursion.  That does not say and all of the other details was done or the notification approved by corporate. He then proceeded to give out, for all practical purposes, incomplete information to let you, who booked independently with him, know that your excursion with would not happen.

Under normal circumstances, that communication would not have happened, and the first notice about the change would the notice would have come out smoothly on Tuesday with complete information. Now even with that the number impacted by a premature, incomplete, distribution of information from an unofficial source was limited to relatively few.

If they had sent out incomplete info the span of confusion would have been a lot wider.

If I was working for HAL in this process, I would make sure that all excursion operators had a non-disclosure agreement, and made sure that they did not prematurely release info until notified by HAL that it was ok to do so. Probably a good thing for that operator that HAL does not routinely call there, otherwise they might be having a discussion about his release.  Then again the span of impacted individuals is not very large in the scheme of things.

Just now, kazu said:

 

 

Nope - they knew they were going there - so why not tell us ?  A lot of us leave in a matter of days.  This is sold as a collectors and not just a single cruise.

 

I just would have liked to know.  Not to hard to tell us itinerary was changed - seriously

 

I wonder if you would feel differently if YOU were on the cruise and leaving in 3 days?

 

I guess we’ll agree to disagree.  

 

Yep we certainly will.  They did tell you, once they had complete information and an approved notice.

57 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

Thank you 🙂 

 

I don’t call it karma either 😉. Port changes we’ve had all the time including the last Prinsendam cruise due to tides.  But it was communicated.

That was my only concern.  The lack of communication.

 

 

Lets see they made the decision last Thursday and put out the notice on Tuesday for a port that will not be visited until 30 days later.  Considering that once they started the process they need to cancel everything at the old stop, make all of the arrangements for the new port including getting all of the times set and approved with the port, getting excursions in place. Drafting the notice, getting it reviewed and approved.  Then taking care of distribution.  

The notice went out within 5 days of the change, and two of those days were weekend when the functions would not have been working.  Pretty quickly for a change like that.

I guess instead of making sure everything was set before making the notice, they could have sent out multiple notices each with incomplete information, but I suspect we would have seen even more complaints.

8 minutes ago, Georgie562 said:

 

Yes, only a select few.

Oct 5, 15, 25 and Nov 4 and 14 all with an overnight in Bora Bora.

Then she makes her way to Florida after that.

Time to book a couple of B2B in Tahiti

Have seen a pretty wide range with passenger organized tours.  Have had some good ones and some bad ones.  One of the worst was organized by another passenger, signed up 8 people for a set itinerary, then while on the tour modified the itinerary based on where they wanted to spend time and when others complained about the deviation simply stated that they organized it, and they could modify it how they wanted since it was their tour.

It most cases the cost was simply split between the participants that want a small tour at a reasonable price. 

In a few cases it was clear that the organizers received a kickback such as a free tour, or a discount.  I have seen a couple of cases where the people seemed to be running a competing tour business up to bus size. Though I haven't seen those for a while.

Any Papeete to Papeete 10 day cruises like it used to do in the fall?

the most danger you are in during a cruise, is during your drive to the airport or cruise terminal. don't worry about it.

5 hours ago, Cruising-along said:

Good that your roll call member has gotten notice from HAL.  I just read the last page of your roll call and see that HAL made this decision on Thursday, so just the day before your tour company told you.  Still would have been good PR to let you all know before today, 6 days later.  😞  

I would expect them to make the notification after all of the details involved with the change is set. New port times, excursions, etc. Also the contents of the notification would need to be drafted and approved.

from their point of view the notification did go out 30 days before the port stop.

15 minutes ago, Colo Cruiser said:

Got it.......

Guess if I used my Costco Citi Bank card I could get the additional 2% or so in a rebate but I would rather use my Chase United Club card visa for the miles.

I use chase United club since they dropped the travel coverage with the standard united. get the extra 2% From premier membership. Worth the investment.

21 hours ago, Colo Cruiser said:

You lost me.

All I am saying is using a TA (well ours anyway) you get ALL you are getting (promo OBC etc) plus the additional percentage off the cruise price given by the TA.

If you book direct you are missing out on that additional percentage.

 

I don't like playing the additional OBC game from other TA's.

I would just rather get all the money off up front.

let me put it this way instead of just plugging in a percentage. x$ discount = x$ rebate. I actually prefer the rebate because I get 2% of the full pre rebate fare at the end of the year and I use my airline cc where my points is another 2-3% in value. I would money through that all day long charge it on the cc and then get it rebates back, building points along the way.

in the end the value we seem to be getting, your discount and my rebates are similar 8-12%. but in return for waiting I get 2% more plus cc points on the rebates amount.

Just now, Colo Cruiser said:

Where are you getting the 10% from?

 

Used the 10% as just a mention that 10% off the top or 10% in rebates it is still that same, could have used 20% or 30% just as easily.

7 minutes ago, Colo Cruiser said:

I get all you are getting plus 8% - 12% more off the total cruise fare.

That is where you are overpaying.

Booking direct with Princess is no where close to the best deal. 

It is full retail.

Yes but if you get 10% off the top or 10% in rebates it is economically the same.

I have talked to TA that are "experts" that have promised great deals.  I have found that in the end that the big box total value is as good as anyone.  I prefer where anyone that answer the phone can execute my instructions and not need the unique "expert" that may or may not be accessible at a given instance.  

21 minutes ago, Coral said:

I don't - especially when I can get it 3 months earlier. Similar to rebates. Why pay more up front when you can get it cheaper in the beginning.

 

My TA will not "over charge me" to begin with.

 

My TA has traveled extensively - I consider myself lucky. I realized how important one was when a friend of mine encountered a unique situation. He is well traveled himself, his father was retired airline employee and mother was retired travel agent (so everyone more well traveled than myself)- when there was an earthquake in South America and his flight was cancelled. All flights going to the next few ports also went through this airport. It is times like these that I want an expert. He was one of the few that made it to the ship.

Who is over paying.  The amount is the same deal that I can get going to Princess.  All of the discounts, all of the special terms. On top of that I get 8-12% OBC.  In addition at the end of the year I get an additional 2% rebate. Princesses best deal minus an additional 10-14% seems like a pretty good action.

Prior to my retirement I had the services of many "experts".  Not once did they come up with anything that I could not do myself. During that time I also reached million mile status on 3 different airlines. You may need the services of an expert I, and for that matter some others do not.  If I really wanted someone to bounce things off of I have concierge access with AMEX  and a couple of other sources. 

Glad you have a solution that you are happy with.  I know many that are happy with the same solution I have selected.

8 minutes ago, lightink2 said:

I’m wondering if because I booked 17 months early that will give me less incentive offers?

Shouldn't matter I have cruise booked that far out in the 5 I mentioned.

17 minutes ago, lightink2 said:

Are you saying unused OBC from Princess will come back as cash?

Most of Princess OBC is non-refundable and you need to spend it on board.   Military OBC is refundable.  The OBC you get from a TA usually is (the BB store that I use is refundable)

I am also a Gate 1 customer.  Very happy with their river cruise product.  Very good value.

Have done multiple long trips with a carry on and a small backpack (back pack is for computer and camera).  Have done 45 days in Europe consisting of a land tour, a river cruise, and an ocean cruise.  Just got back from 32 days in Asia, and will be heading out on a 35 day trip in Europe.

Pack light weight, quick drying clothes.  For a 7 day trip no problem. You really don't need that much. Especially in the Caribbean. On longer trip travel clothes that you can wash out and be dry the next morning work very nicely.

I use a carry on, not due to aircraft luggage fees (nice benefit on many airline credit cards for anyone on your reservation if you pay with the airlines CC), but because it is far easier when using trains to get around Europe, instead of lugging a large heavy suitcase.  

yes

deleted

On 3/29/2019 at 2:17 PM, rucrazy said:

Looking for advice...

 

Princess has assigned me another PCC who is not up to my standards as far as Customer Service..This individual tries to hard sell me and on a number of occasions have str8up lied.

 

How do I go about changing my PCC with Princess?

 

Why even bother with a PCC.  Just deal with customer service. Have booked over 25 cruises with Princess and have just worked with who ever answers at customer service.  

38 minutes ago, VennDiagram said:

 

That's what I consider the OP's problem.  What do YOU consider the OP's problem?

That he is losing the value of the booked cruises since his rebooking window is much more limited than the HAL rep indicated indicated.  If it was not for that I doubt we would see his posting.