Princess Customer Service Reps

[Astro Flyer]

This may not be news to you but it was something new for me.

 

I called the Princess toll free # today & it was unusually quiet in the background. I asked if the rep was in a private office & they said "no, I'm at home".

 

She answered my questions & booked an Ultimate Balcony Dinner for our next cruise...a great job by Michelle from her home.

 

It's a win-win situation...great for the rep, great for Princess & great for the environment. What a great way to do business by allowing reps to work from home...way to go Princess! :)

[Coral]

I spoke with someone in the Seattle area that worked from home last time I called. She said that she had to work for so many months (I think she said 9 months??) at the call center/office (Princess has an office in the Seattle area) before she was allowed to work at home. She did express her appreciation that Princess is very accomodating to their employees. I say kudos to Princess for allowing this!

[Loonbeam]

With VOIP Phones and most people having high speed internet, its becoming more and more common for the customer service industry. It's generally a win win as long as the associate maintains a professional home office environment.

[Abercrombie2007]

Happy employees make for happy customers. :)

[Pam in CA]

Several years ago, cruiselines realized that they needed to de-centralize their CS centers. Hurricanes in FL, earthquakes in CA, etc. so they opened small centers in the northwest and Midwest. Some are shutting these down except for a small office and the CS reps are working from home. The cruiselines provide the computers and high-speed communication systems so it's a win-win for everyone.

[Coral]

Several years ago, cruiselines realized that they needed to de-centralize their CS centers. Hurricanes in FL, earthquakes in CA, etc. so they opened small centers in the northwest and Midwest. Some are shutting these down except for a small office and the CS reps are working from home. The cruiselines provide the computers and high-speed communication systems so it's a win-win for everyone.

 

Regent (used to be Radisson) has a call center in Omaha, NE (which is one of the largest telemarketing/call center places in the US) and last I knew RCCL/Celebrity has a call center in Kansas. Though, both of these offices have had to close at times (a day here and there) due to our wonderful midwest weather we have in the winter.

 

Many of these companies have call centers in various places which does help out during natural disasters - they can easily shift the calls to another location.

[CruisinNewbie2010]

This may not be news to you but it was something new for me.

 

I called the Princess toll free # today & it was unusually quiet in the background. I asked if the rep was in a private office & they said "no, I'm at home".

 

She answered my questions & booked an Ultimate Balcony Dinner for our next cruise...a great job by Michelle from her home.

 

It's a win-win situation...great for the rep, great for Princess & great for the environment. What a great way to do business by allowing reps to work from home...way to go Princess! :)

 

 

I thought I had read somewhere that the UBD had to be booked once you were aboard. This is great if you can do it pre-cruise. Do you happen to know what the earliest time is that you can request? i.e. does it have to be after 6pm?

[CruisinNewbie2010]

This may not be news to you but it was something new for me.

 

I called the Princess toll free # today & it was unusually quiet in the background. I asked if the rep was in a private office & they said "no, I'm at home".

 

She answered my questions & booked an Ultimate Balcony Dinner for our next cruise...a great job by Michelle from her home.

 

It's a win-win situation...great for the rep, great for Princess & great for the environment. What a great way to do business by allowing reps to work from home...way to go Princess! :)

 

I thought I had read somewhere that the UBD had to be booked once you were aboard. This is great if you can do it pre-cruise! Do you happen to know what the earliest time is that you can book? i.e. does it have to be after 6pm?

[rdsqrl]

You can indeed only book it onboard; I assumed the OP was merely miscommunicating and meant to say that they pre-paid for it, which you can do in advance.

No clue as to how early you can do it but I'd be surprised if it were bookable any earlier than the earliest dining room opening time, which is usually 5:30.

[CruisinNewbie2010]

You can indeed only book it onboard; I assumed the OP was merely miscommunicating and meant to say that they pre-paid for it, which you can do in advance.

 

No clue as to how early you can do it but I'd be surprised if it were bookable any earlier than the earliest dining room opening time, which is usually 5:30.

 

Ah, ok. That makes sense. Thank you for your help!

[bhopal21]

I thought I had read somewhere that the UBD had to be booked once you were aboard.

 

You are correct. One can only book a credit equivalent for the UBD before boarding. You still have to call Room Service to schedule after boarding and should do that pronto to assure you get the date and time desired.

 

Mike:)

[Astro Flyer]

You can indeed only book it onboard; I assumed the OP was merely miscommunicating and meant to say that they pre-paid for it, which you can do in advance.

No clue as to how early you can do it but I'd be surprised if it were bookable any earlier than the earliest dining room opening time, which is usually 5:30.

 

Sorry if there was any confusion, when I said "booked an Ultimate Balcony Dinner for our next cruise" we did prepay only for the UBD.

 

Info we've received on CC was that it's limited to 4 per night so we decided not to take a chance for our 1st time experiencing an UBD. We've been lucky (3 for 3) getting Chef's Table & hope to continue our streak. However we decided to guarantee UBD since it was available to pre-book.

 

Our PCS rep checked to confirm that it is no longer limited to days at sea. She said a card would be in our cabin & that they would contact us onboard to schedule a date & time. As soon as we're onboard we'll call the DINE line to get on the CT list & maybe we could schedule our UBD at that time.

 

We sail in a couple of weeks to Hawaii & since we've been to Honolulu enough times will want the UBD that evening when we're in port until 11:00pm. It'll be nice to see Diamond Head & Waikiki from our balcony (over the pier's warehouse) from our starboard side halfway covered BA cabin in case there's some rain & to dine without the wind & motion of the ocean.

 

I didn't ask about the available times but our excellent PCS probably could have told us if we had asked. Or maybe some CC members may be able to share their experiences because not sure if a PCS rep would have that info.

[bhopal21]

Don't assume that a slot will be held for you; but call soon after boarding to schedule your desired time.

 

And the customer service rep would not have a clue about available times since each ship operates independently and times vary from day to day. That is all handled by the ship's staff and not communicated to the land-based cs agents.

 

Mike:)

[Astro Flyer]

Don't assume that a slot will be held for you; but call soon after boarding to schedule your desired time.

 

And the customer service rep would not have a clue about available times since each ship operates independently and times vary from day to day. That is all handled by the ship's staff and not communicated to the land-based cs agents.

 

Mike:)

Grazie!

[mollyanne]

The UBD needs to be set-up just 24 hours ahead of schedule. We called the day we boarded and had it the next night.

[Astro Flyer]

The UBD needs to be set-up just 24 hours ahead of schedule. We called the day we boarded and had it the next night.

Mahalo!

[CruisinNewbie2010]

My thanks to all for the extra information. This will be our first cruise and this is definitely one "extra" we'd like to do to make it memorable.

[Astro Flyer]

My thanks to all for the extra information. This will be our first cruise and this is definitely one "extra" we'd like to do to make it memorable.

Watch out...cruising can be addicting! :o

 

By reading all of the CC members' posts, you'll realize how hooked we are on cruising. And these CC boards help us relive & share our experiences with others.

 

Hope you have a great cruise...bon voyage! :D

[Stevesan]

My daughter's the controller for a major energy provider. She works from home late evenings, weekends and when she's sick at home.

 

It shouldn't be a problem for a cruise line rep who probably has a hot line to a supervisor when needed.

[CruisinNewbie2010]

Watch out...cruising can be addicting! :o

 

By reading all of the CC members' posts, you'll realize how hooked we are on cruising. And these CC boards help us relive & share our experiences with others.

 

Hope you have a great cruise...bon voyage! :D

 

AstroFlyer - I see what you mean! I can't believe the # of cruises some members have been on. This site is awesome. I've read so much I almost feel like a pro & I haven't even stepped on board yet! Thanks again:D

[Comptech]

The CC board does take some of the fun out of exploring and discovering things for the first time.... Some surprises are nice, some are not... :)

 

AstroFlyer - I see what you mean! I can't believe the # of cruises some members have been on. This site is awesome. I've read so much I almost feel like a pro & I haven't even stepped on board yet! Thanks again:D

[lovevacadays]

It's great to hear that Princess allows their employees that have proven themselves to work from home. I work for a technical staffing company and do quite a bit of work from home. I do have the advantage of going into an office when need be but have days that I do work from home. It really is a nice perk and, for me, very efficient. Here's to happy employees! Maybe that's why I tend to get very good Customer Service when I call the Princess 800#.:):):)