Has Princess compensated you?

[ajl111]

I also remember reading Toto's story and thought that was just awful. It's terrible when that happens and it's obvious it could have been prevented.

 

I also think Carol's situation is outrageous. Having that specific cabin booked 6 months in advance and then having it yanked without any notice was bad enough, but having it yanked when they took the time to provide Princess with a doctor's letter is just wrong.

 

Unfortunately, I agree with the theory that change will come about only after a tragedy that will result in a multi-million dollar lawsuit. So sad.

[adbnva]

we had a terrible cruise on princess in dec. i sent a letter and my ta did also. we received a card 2 or 3 wks later. then a letter arrived which offered us a 50 credit each, which certainly will not encourage me to cruise them again. we were on the dawn and did not see half the shows. the theater is obviously too small. there was a dining rm fiasco the 1st morning.other tings followed which made it the worst of the 15 cruises we have taken. they addressed no issues in the letter.

[MaryPoppinz]

Slightly off-topic, but what *is* the attraction to the atrium stairs during debarkation?? There's food in Horizon Court -- isn't that a better place to be? There are lovely open decks when the weather is good. And, if all else fails, I've never had a Cabin Steward who didn't let me hang out in the cabin or on the balcony, if my color wasn't relatively early.

[Toto2Kansas]

The passengers on the Atrium stairs seem to want to be as close to the exit as possible so they can run to get off the minute their color/number is called. It has never made any sense to me at all as most of them are sitting there reading, which actually makes it worse. They don't want to look up for anything or they will loose their concentration in their book. Why? Who knows, but I do know that it is time they do something about this. I don't want to see some poor sole end up in the hospital or worse over something that is so totally preventable with just a word from staff members or a few announcements.

[MaryPoppinz]

While there are a lot of very legitimate complaints (ie: passenger safety issues) being raised, I wonder if Princess sometimes offers little or no compensation when they sense that a particular passenger is so dissastisfied that, while he might be willing to take another cruise if there were a relatively large compensation, it would likely be one last cruise at (primarily) Princess' expense.

 

It may not be at all what a particular passenger has in mind....but, I just wonder if some vague issue with loyalty is part of how they make these decisions.

[MaryPoppinz]

I don't want to see some poor sole end up in the hospital or worse over something that is so totally preventable with just a word from staff members or a few announcements.

 

 

I have heard this announcement made *repeatedly* on every cruise I'm on. At least three times, the purser is asking people to clear the stairs.

 

I just think there are some people who are overly-committed to ending their cruise. And that is just plain nuts!

[Toto2Kansas]

While there are a lot of very legitimate complaints (ie: passenger safety issues) being raised, I wonder if Princess sometimes offers little or no compensation when they sense that a particular passenger is so dissastisfied that, while he might be willing to take another cruise if there were a relatively large compensation, it would likely be one last cruise at (primarily) Princess' expense.

 

It may not be at all what a particular passenger has in mind....but, I just wonder if some vague issue with loyalty is part of how they make these decisions.

 

In our case, I really doubt it. We have sailed on 13 Princess cruises with 14, 15, & 16 that were already booked at the time. I actually think they won't admit there is a problem, as if they did, they might be open for a call from an attorney. That is why I told them immediately in my letter that I was not looking for any compensation, just wanted to alert them to a potentially dangerous practice that seems to be getting worse on the larger ships.

If they admit to a problem openly, well, they are opening themselves up for possibly court cases down the road. Just my feelings.

[MaryPoppinz]

I actually think they won't admit there is a problem, as if they did, they might be open for a call from an attorney.

 

That is a real possibility in your case, even though it doesn't sound like you have ever given them reason to believe that you actually *had* an injury and you were just trying to alert them to the very real possibility of it happening at some point.

 

The minute they start to pay out when there *is* an injury, they become very vulnerable.

[WCAB]

I am just not having good luck with Princess lately. While on board in April, I did an open booking. I received a "share the wealth letter". On Memorial day I booked a March, Mexico cruise. My parents and sister are going on the same cruise. I filled in the share the wealth letter and sent it certified, two days later. Last night my sister went on the personlizer to check excursions and saw that their booking was cancelled. Our TA tried to straighten it out but had no luck so she suggested I also call. I asked to speak to the Captains Circle and explained what had happened. They in turn, transferred me to reservations.

From that representative, I learned Mom and Dad's booking had cancelled out on June 4th. When I said that this did not allow for mailing time, the representative said the letter should have been submitted by the TA. This does not follow the instructions as given on the letter, which tell the customer to fill in and return to the address already pre-filled in. The rep. said if they got my letter on June 6th and there was not a booking (by then it was cancelled) they return the letter to the customer and then we could re-submit it. I heard that if they can not match the letter to a booking, the letter is thrown away and since today is the 12th, I should have gotten it back in the mail by now. It is going to turn out OK because two days from now our TA will have a special, which allows anyone to book a cruise for just $100.00, so this is what we will do for my parents and my sister. It is just making me nervous to have had the incident with not getting the handicapped cabin we booked and no notification ahead of time and now this. I really do want to stay loyal to Princess, so I sure hope this will end my recent streak of no customer service.

 

Carol

[lesharona]

Our problem with Princess on our April cruise was actually 2 fold.

The first was learning they had given our handicap cabin to someone else.

We made up our minds to make the best of it, and not let it ruin our cruise.

On disembarkation day we had booked a tour of the everglades with a transfer to the airport. The day before I stopped by the pursers desk to

ask about the tour, I was told we should go to one of the dining rooms and

wait for Green 3 to be called. This dining room was where people with

mobility problems were told to wait. We sat and waited, the first mention

of "green 3" was a call of "final call" for green 3. Of course we went directly

to disembark. By the time we collected our luggage went through customs

and got out to the curb, our tour bus was gone. Another couple in line told

us they were waiting for Green 3 to be called also and missed the tour too.

We ended up spending the better part of the day sitting on a hard bench at

the airport. Our parents were very disappointed, because at their ages, 85 and 80 they

didn't think they would ever have the opportunity for this tour again. At the

very least Princess should have credited us the price of the tour/transfer.

Carol wrote them as soon as we got home to deal with the missed tour

issue. We have heard nothing on this yet either.

Then to find out what they did with the Share the Wealth coupon, I couldn't

help thinking, Oh Great, here we go again!! We were very loyal to Princess

prior to these events, but now I am seeing them in a whole new light!

[bphawk64]

Good luck getting any compensation from Princess. We brought 50 people with us for our wedding and Princess really mucked a few things up ( even though overall it was an awesome cruise ). One of our rooms even had to be vacated because the people in the cabin on the previous cruise had kids who dumped yogurt behind the fridge and it spoiled. They couldn't find the problem for two two days and my niece got quite sick from it. They also messed some things up that cost us a decent sum of money. Plus they couldn't get the seating right and my teenage daughter was put into personal choice by herself. They eventually fixed that but what a hassle.

 

Anyway, long story short.........our T.A gave me the name of the VP of Princess but all we received back from them was a form letter telling how wonderful they are and they "look forward to cruising with us again." Basically they realize that many of us booked future cruises onboard so they really didn't seem to care. The sad part is that we were really only expecting an apology but didn't even receive that...quite disappointing!

[WCAB]

I think this is what happens when a company gets this big. Customer service suffers. I think all of the problems mentioned here have been deserving of at least a personal letter that lets you know that someone actually read your concerns and if warranted, channeled it to the department that can take up the issue and make needed changes.

 

Since Sharon and I were addressing seperate issues, she about the handicapped cabin and I about getting reimbursed for an excursion, that was not properly announced, when our letters back from Princess read line per line the same, I knew that we were just being paid lip service and that probably our letters were looked at only to the extent of getting our address.

 

Will this stop us from cruising on Princess, probably not, the actual on board experience is wonderful but I cannot help but be concerned about Princess Corporate and how they deal with their customers.

 

Carol

[ajl111]

bphawk64 -- I too would have been happy with an immediate and sincere written apology, but did not get one until several weeks after the cruise (from the attorney). At that point it was "FINALLY!" but my, um, advisers suggested that was too little, too late.

[WCAB]

Just a quick update on my share the wealth letter. I had faxed my certified receipt to my TA and she sent it to the head of the share the wealth program. I am happy to report that the credit has been applied to my parents and sister's booking. I got no where when trying to deal with Princess over this so it does point out the value of having a good TA to go to bat for you.

 

Carol