Has Princess compensated you?

[lesharona]

We had a few problems on our cruise in April, and sent a letter off to

customer relations as soon as we got home. We did receive a standard

form letter about 4 weeks later. It did not specifically deal with our issues,

but seemed to indicate the matter would be reviewed at a higher level.

We are at week 7 and have not heard anything yet. Has anyone had a

similiar situation and did you finally receive a letter addressing your specific

issues?

[Toto2Kansas]

Unless the problems were earth shattering, I think the one letter you received will be the last you will hear from them, sorry! Hope whatever happened didn't ruin your sailing.

[WCAB]

Toto2Kansas,

 

Since I was involved, my sister posted this question. We really wanted a specific response more to avoid the situation ever happening again. Mom and Dad booked a handicapped cabin six months prior to our cruise. We had sent a letter from Moms Doctor the cruise before this so that Princess would have it on record that this was due to a medical condition. Princess took them out of the handicapped cabin and put them into an inside cabin. They did not know this until we boarded the ship. It meant crowding a walker and a wheelchair into a small inside cabin. The ship was full, so there was no changing cabins. Our travel agent swears no one from their office authorized the change. After the initial shock, we adjusted and we did have a very nice cruise. Our next Princess cruise will be next March.

 

Carol

[Toto2Kansas]

This problem is something I think I would push further. I would continue to write letters to Princess, and make sure there is a receipt requested so you know that it arrived and just who signed for it. The letter you received is a basic form letter that they send out to anyone that writes to them. Since it did not address the specific problem, it just pretty much means someone has passed the buck.

 

Also, I would get my TA involved in this one, they seem to have more clout then passengers. Have her fax a letter to Princess also to alert them about what took place onboard and possibly an idea of the compensation that is due to your family for the problems that took place because of it.

 

Personally, I would think there should be some sort of compensation paid for this mix up.

 

Only problem I can think of is that I am not sure if Princess keeps those letters from the doctor 'on record' as I was lead to believe that this is something you needed to do each time you booked. Just wondering if you faxed a copy of it to Princess when booking this cruise, or if your Travel Agent did this for you?

Definitely get your travel agent involved in this one and don't delay. Make sure to include everything in the letter from the booking number, voyage number and a list of anyone onboard that you talked to about what happened.

 

And best of luck, sometimes you have to fight for your rights, but hopefully it will be worth it.

[Toto2Kansas]

Almost forgot to tell you. YES, we were compensated once for a long list of problems we had on our first Princess cruise, but it was in the early 90's that this happened. It was also a very expensive exotic cruise where anything that could go wrong with our cabin did go wrong, and they couldn't repair it. :(

It was a very long drawn out battle that went on for many months. Them sending an offer, us refusing, they would resend a better offer that we still refused. Finally they called us on the phone and made us an offer we couldn't refuse. ;)

 

It is difficult, or at least it seems to be, to get any type of compensation out of them anymore. BUT..............I would still try as this is totally unexcusable that they had this much needed handicapped cabin booked for this long and Princess moved them without notice. I again stress the fact to get your travel agent involved in this, it will do wonders and that is part of the travel agents job to fight for you when something like this happens.

[Casshew]

. Finally they called us on the phone and made us an offer we couldn't refuse. ;)

 

Inquiring minds want to know! What couldn't you refuse? :D

[Toto2Kansas]

I really don't want to say the specific amount, let's just say that my next cruise with Princess didn't cost me much. :D

But since this was our first time on Princess, at that time they really didn't want you to 'never sail on their ships again'. So they assured us that what we had put up with on our first cruise was not normal. They wanted us to try it again to see that they had a good quality product. It must have worked as in November this year we are scheduled to take our 15th Princess cruise.

The compensation was towards our next cruise, even back then they never actually gave you $$$'s but money towards your next cruise on Princess.

[sblahars]

We complained about noise from the dance club below during the cruise, and then by letter afterwards. That was all it took before they sent us a letter with $300 per person towards a future cruise.

[Splinter]

Where is your TA in all of this? If you have a complaint, it is their job to go to Princess and insist, and keep pushing until you get satisfaction. We were unfortunate enough to be on the maiden voyage of the Grand (we avoid maiden voyages due to all their problems, but they cancelled the maiden, and we were next). Many many problems (we were in a wheelchair accessible cabin with lots of problems such as no hot water, the sprinklers came on in my sister's cabin one night, our refrigerator never worked, etc.). There were 6 in our party in 3 cabins. Working with our TA, Princess first offered a $500 credit per person. Our TA said not good enough, and they came back with a $750 offer. We decided to take that, and all 6 of us went to Alaska the next year on the Regal. I suspect if we had tried to handle this on our own without a TA, we would have received nothing.

[lesharona]

This is our latest correspondence from our TA:

 

Well,

I just got off the phone with Princess Customer Service and didn't get

much further than you.

They told me it can take 6-8 weeks to get a response back from their

resolution department. Since you sent it on 4/21, I guess they are going

to use the time they say it takes to respond....Amazing!!!!!

I asked if they had any information about the letter you wrote and was

basically told you would get a response from them and to wait and see

what that is.....

Sorry I don't have any more information for you. My contact person has

been on vacation and is now in some kind of training since they just

took over the operation of Cunard!

 

Please let me know when you hear from them.....

Bruce

[spongerob]

I suggest having you and your agent get in a conference call with Customer Relations and try to push to speak to someone higher up.

[lesharona]

Thank you for the suggestion of setting up a conference call. So far

all I feel I have gotten is a ration of finger pointing. I will wait out the

8 weeks and see what happens, if we do not receive any correspondence,

I will set up that call.

[Toto2Kansas]

If you do end up getting this resolved, we would love to hear if Princess does accomodate you to your satisfaction. Keep us posted please!

[lesharona]

Yes, I will.

[WCAB]

I suggest having you and your agent get in a conference call with Customer Relations and try to push to speak to someone higher up.

 

 

Spongerob,

 

Thanks for the suggestion. It is a direct approach and I like that. Letters do tend to go to the bottom of the stack, and if you call seperately, the responses do not always match up.

 

Carol

[ajl111]

I am in the process of having a dispute resolved. Immediately upon returning home, I wrote to customer relations using the certified mail, return receipt method and heard back from their attorney within a few weeks. I was told that my letter was never even put thru customer relations -- it went directly to their law department. I did have my travel agent involved from the beginning -- while onboard, I e-mailed her and a few other professionals. She, unfortunately, has told me that she is not able to get involved with this as because Princess is keeping it a legal matter (rightfully so!), and she's not allowed to be a part of the loop (it would have been different if it was resolved with customer relations). I've already received and refused their first two offers.

[Toto2Kansas]

Oh My, now that sounds serious. Never heard of their legal department jumping in so quickly before. :eek:

[Casshew]

I am in the process of having a dispute resolved.

 

Hi there, what could have gone so badly on your cruise? is there a thread somewhere explaining? or can you recap?

 

Thanks

[ajl111]

Toto -- Big problem, and Princess knows it. They won't admit it (or deny it), but they know they have a big problem.

 

Cashew -- As of now, I've been pretty quiet about it, but would love to tell the world!! That would be more fulfilling than any compensation, as then perhaps they would change their procedures and take passenger safety a bit more seriously so that what happened to me can't happen to others. But I need to give Princess one last chance to make good with me. They have until the close of business Friday to respond.

[Toto2Kansas]

Toto -- Big problem, and Princess knows it. They won't admit it (or deny it), but they know they have a big problem.

 

Thank you for responding and I understand completely that you must wait. Hopefully they will respond by Friday and resolve this issue.

 

I have to tell you, we had a minor incident on Princess last year that really urked me, mainly as they wouldn't do a thing to stop this from happening again and it was a safety issue.

 

The last morning as we were waiting to leave the ship they called our color/number. We were above the Atrium sitting in one of the public areas on the Sun Princess and the only way out was down. So we began to go down the stairs. Now, these stairs are above the pursers desk and were totally covered with 'stair sitters' and their carry ons. Princess does make the announcement that passengers are not allowed to sit on the stairs waiting for disembarkation but are requested to sit in one of the lounges waiting to be called. Problem is, they make this announcement only once and do nothing to stop the 'stair sitters'. With passengers on each side it is impossible to hold onto the railing as you decend. As we got about half way down the marble staircase one of them was adjusting their position with their carry on and they stuck their elbow out. You guessed it, I went flying down the marble staircase as I was tripped accidentally (I hope). Thankfully my husband was in front of me and caught me before I cracked my head on the marble at the bottom. When he asked me what happened, I told him I was tripped by someone sitting where they weren't supposed to be sitting. Believe it or not, a guy sitting near the bottom stood up and chewed me out for complaining about dozens of people blocking the exit stairs. Told me that was just tough and I should have found another way down to the exit.

Now, this would have been a minor incident except for the fact that when I fell, I also pulled a muscle in my back. 30 days of agony followed.

I decided it might be time to write a letter to Princess and alert them that they really needed to do something before some actually fell and broke something. I made sure to tell them that I was looking for no type of compensation, which I wasn't, I just needed to know they would address this problem so it would not happen to anyone in the future. I received one of their form letters back telling how sorry they were but they depend on passengers to follow the rules the final morning. I decided not to let this rest and got the name of someone higher up. I wrote again, including a copy of the original letter and response. Addressed it to the gentleman that I was told could possibly do something about this serious problem. Believe it or not, my letter was referred back to the original person that answered my first letter. :eek: She literally told me that there was NOTHING that could be done about this safety issue and they were far too busy that last morning to monitor the stairways. That there would be nothing done about this and was actually borderline rude about it all. I was horrified beyond belief. I could just picture some poor passenger without a husband to catch them before they fell and broke something. I had even suggested they make more announcements or possibly put some type of reminder notice on the main staircase that last morning if they did not have the staffing to cover the safety of these areas, but they more or less told me to get a life and leave them alone.

Needless to say, I decided that from now on, I will carry a huge purse that last morning. IF I have to go down the stairs, I will make sure not to be careful if that purse hits anyone in the head on the way down that thinks the rules are for everyone but them. It sounds terrible I know, but that is the only way I could think of to handle this problem.

What bothered me the most I think is that there were a dozen or so staff memebers at the exit bidding the passengers farewell as they left the ship in full view of the loaded down stair case. ARGH!

 

Just my bit of venting for this morning over a new 'cruising pet pieve ' of mine.

[psupa]

Needless to say, I decided that from now on, I will carry a huge purse that last morning. IF I have to go down the stairs, I will make sure not to be careful if that purse hits anyone in the head on the way down that thinks the rules are for everyone but them. It sounds terrible I know, but that is the only way I could think of to handle this problem.

What bothered me the most I think is that there were a dozen or so staff memebers at the exit bidding the passengers farewell as they left the ship in full view of the loaded down stair case. ARGH!

 

Just my bit of venting for this morning over a new 'cruising pet pieve ' of mine.

 

Toto, I remember reading your post about this last year. We were on the Sun in April, and again, people were all over the stairs and not just in the atrium. Our color tag was called and we were trying to get down from the Prominade deck. I did exactly what you are saying. As we were descending the stairs I said to DH look at this they should not be sitting in the stairways. They were sitting on both sides and in the middle that it was very difficult to make your way down, and since none of them wanted to move over so you could get through, I let my carry on bag just smack them as I descended the stairs. Maybe next time they will get the message, but I doubt it.

[Pam in CA]

ToTo... I sympathize with you. The stair sitters are dangerous. I just look as though I'm going to step on them and march right down, saying, "Excuse me" all the way. Trust me, they don't want to be stepped on by me.

 

Carol -- here's another suggestion. Send everything directly to the president and CEO of the company and let them know that this is a safety issue that needs to be addressed before someone gets seriously hurt. If you get the same response, write the Coast Guard and cc: the prez and CEO. THAT will get their attention.

[Toto2Kansas]

In March we sailed on RCI and we thought it was wonderful how they handled this problem the final morning. They made several announcements about not sitting on the staircases. Finally, the announced that they would hold up debarkation IF the stairways were not cleared. Amazing how quickly those people moved when they heard that. It took no extra staff, just a simple announcement to get all of the stairways cleared so it was safe to decend. Kudos to RCI, they did a great job.

[bjboothman]

Toto, Princess' lack of interest in your report on the Sun is appalling. I guess they will wait until some poor elderly (or not) passenger does fall on the marble steps, strikes her head and dies on the spot. Then they will reconsider their procedures for disembarkment. Why does it always have to take a tragedy to wake people up to the importance of safety?

[Toto2Kansas]

That is almost exactly what I wrote in my letters to them bjboothman. That what I was trying to do was to avoid a tragedy in the future. It was too late for me but I might be able to alert them to a serious safety problem BEFORE someone really gets hurt. I agree, I was totally shocked by their lack of interest and borderline rudeness in this matter.