Why such a long line at the front desk on the last night?

[acegolfer25]

We had a fraud charge on our stateroom account at 6pm on the last night. Called front desk and was asked to come to the front desk to dispute the fraud charge.

 

When we got to the front desk, there was a long line. Had to wait in line for almost an hour frustrated.

 

Is it because everyone was trying to resolve fraud charges? Or is it because they didn't register the CC for express check out and had to pay manually?

[Fat Bottom Gurl]

I would say because people didn't register a CC and also because they were removing the autograt.

[fishywood]

In theory it is passengers who are settling their onboard charges with cash.

But the reality is that the line is full of people deleting the daily service charge.

[Turbofun]

We had a fraud charge on our stateroom account at 6pm on the last night. Called front desk and was asked to come to the front desk to dispute the fraud charge.

 

When we got to the front desk, there was a long line. Had to wait in line for almost an hour frustrated.

 

Is it because everyone was trying to resolve fraud charges? Or is it because they didn't register the CC for express check out and had to pay manually?

 

Let me be the first to suggest it might have been those who like to tip individuals rather than pay the hotel charge.

 

Edit, sorry I'm the third to suggest this, great minds etc.

Further edit, for the avoidance of doubt, my post was meant to convey my dislike for those who do this.

Edited October 29, 2014 by Turbofun

[acegolfer25]

Thanks.

 

In theory it is passengers who are settling their onboard charges with cash.

But the reality is that the line is full of people deleting the daily service charge.

 

I'm surprised that hundreds of ppl would remove service charges.

 

Let me be the first to suggest it might have been those who like to tip individuals rather than pay the hotel charge.

 

I really appreciate the services, but I wouldn't stand in line for an hour to tip individually.

[paul929207]

I would think that if you were tipping individually, you would have removed the autotip at a more leisurely time.

 

If you don't want your steward or wait staff to know you are stiffing them, then you do it the last night

[Turbofun]

Thanks.

 

 

 

I'm surprised that hundreds of ppl would remove service charges.

 

 

 

I really appreciate the services, but I wouldn't stand in line for an hour to tip individually.

 

Don't be surprised, especially if those people come from a culture where tipping is not the norm.

They're not standing in line to tip but to not tip.

At the ends of the reception desk there are comment cards and envelopes for you to use. The comment cards are for you to praise any members of staff you think deserve it, you can hand the cards into reception or give to the member of staff. The envelopes are for you to give tips to staff you want to reward for good service. I suspect the envelopes are more used by those who don't remove hotel charges than by those who do.

You're in danger of opening another one of the tipping threads.

[Cruisin' Chick]

I would think that if you were tipping individually, you would have removed the autotip at a more leisurely time.

 

If you don't want your steward or wait staff to know you are stiffing them, then you do it the last night

 

I would tend to think this is more the case than passengers deciding at the last minute to remove their tips in order to give individual tips.

 

And hopefully it's not people who are claiming the service was crummy -- why not go to the Passenger Services Desk right away to get the issue resolved?

[Pam in CA]

One time, I saw a woman at the PSD the last day going over every single line item of a 5-page folio, wanting to see a copy of every single charge slip. It seems that her teenage kids had been charging up a storm. She was there for two hours, tying up a purser from helping others. She was not very pleasant and seemed to blame Princess for allowing her kids to charge things. I don't think this is an isolated case. I know I've wondered what the heck a charge was because it was listed as something I didn't recognize when in fact it was a t-shirt or whatever I'd bought at one of the sale tables. I think mis-posts of charges are relatively few.

[Talisker92]

Plus, during the cruise you can go to a kiosk near the PSD and print out your charges. If you do this a couple of times during the cruise, it well help relieve last minute congestion.

Also, there are many people, for whatever reason, do not use a credit card. They then have to settle up on the last night with cash.

[Turbofun]

One time, I saw a woman at the PSD the last day going over every single line item of a 5-page folio, wanting to see a copy of every single charge slip. It seems that her teenage kids had been charging up a storm. She was there for two hours, tying up a purser from helping others. She was not very pleasant and seemed to blame Princess for allowing her kids to charge things. I don't think this is an isolated case. I know I've wondered what the heck a charge was because it was listed as something I didn't recognize when in fact it was a t-shirt or whatever I'd bought at one of the sale tables. I think mis-posts of charges are relatively few.

 

It's easy to check your onboard account as you go along, as I'm sure you know, your woman though, surely she could have either had her kids cards blocked from charging or set a limit on the cards.

Oh no, instead of taking responsibility for her kids, it's someone else's fault, in this instance Princess.

[Cruisin' Chick]

Unless it's changed from our 2012 cruise, you need to have all the cabin cards whose accounts are being charged to. So that woman would have needed her kids' cards to swipe at the kiosk, but I would think that would have been much quicker that way...and she would see the items being charged by each kid.

 

Fortunately for us, the only charges on my girl's account for our last cruise (other than the hotel daily charge) were for sodas and hot chocolates, but not that much. And the only overcharge was immediately corrected by the bartender probably before she got the drink.

[caribill]

Plus, during the cruise you can go to a kiosk near the PSD and print out your charges. If you do this a couple of times during the cruise, it well help relieve last minute congestion.

 

It's easy to check your onboard account as you go along, as I'm sure you know,

 

Experienced cruisers know to do this several times during the cruise.

 

Inexperienced cruisers do not know this.

 

Picture of a last day line is shown below.

Edited October 29, 2014 by caribill

[GUT2407]

One time, I saw a woman at the PSD the last day going over every single line item of a 5-page folio, wanting to see a copy of every single charge slip. It seems that her teenage kids had been charging up a storm. She was there for two hours, tying up a purser from helping others. She was not very pleasant and seemed to blame Princess for allowing her kids to charge things. I don't think this is an isolated case. I know I've wondered what the heck a charge was because it was listed as something I didn't recognize when in fact it was a t-shirt or whatever I'd bought at one of the sale tables. I think mis-posts of charges are relatively few.

 

 

This is a big problem that must waste a lot of time, why if I buy a T-shirt doesn't mt bill say T-Shirt, or at least the shop name, why do I have to go through some sort of guessing game to work out what I'm being charged for.

[GUT2407]

Not all ships have the kiosks [or didn't last time I was onboard].

[satxdiver]

Unless it's changed from our 2012 cruise' date=' you need to have all the cabin cards whose accounts are being charged to. So that woman would have needed her kids' cards to swipe at the kiosk, but I would think that would have been much quicker that way...and she would see the items being charged by each kid.

 

Fortunately for us, the only charges on my girl's account for our last cruise (other than the hotel daily charge) were for sodas and hot chocolates, but not that much. And the only overcharge was immediately corrected by the bartender probably before she got the drink.[/quote']

 

I have never seen this problem at the kiosk. When I swipe my cruise card, it asks if I want to see my partner's folio as well as mine since both are secured by my cc.

 

I have had only one charge erroneously put on my folio. I went to the desk and contested it. They were not able to produce the signed charge slip so they dropped the charge. The funny part is that it was for hair care in the salon. I am a male and folicaly challenged!

[caribill]

This is a big problem that must waste a lot of time, why if I buy a T-shirt doesn't mt bill say T-Shirt, or at least the shop name, why do I have to go through some sort of guessing game to work out what I'm being charged for.

 

I keep track of all the on-board charges we make.

 

No matter how labeled on the account, if my receipts match the amounts charged, then I know it is correct.

 

By the way. It used to be that charges were added to accounts at the end of the day after all charge forms were tuned in to the Purser.

 

Now they will be posted automatically before you can walk from the shop to the printout kiosk.

[GUT2407]

I keep track of all the on-board charges we make.

 

No matter how labeled on the account, if my receipts match the amounts charged, then I know it is correct.

 

By the way. It used to be that charges were added to accounts at the end of the day after all charge forms were tuned in to the Purser.

 

Now they will be posted automatically before you can walk from the shop to the printout kiosk.

 

 

Thanks for that I once had purchases posted under the next day which really caused problems, we too keep our receipts but at times one can go missing.

[caribill]

 

By the way. It used to be that charges were added to accounts at the end of the day after all charge forms were tuned in to the Purser.

 

Now they will be posted automatically before you can walk from the shop to the printout kiosk.

 

I forgot to add that this is only true if you do not purchase at a sales table where they write out a receipt instead of using a register to ring up the sale.

[sonnenschein]

with every purchase I get a receipt and WRITE on the same what the purchase was for, never any confusion at the end of the trip.

[lx200gps]

We had a fraud charge on our stateroom account at 6pm on the last night. Called front desk and was asked to come to the front desk to dispute the fraud charge.

 

When we got to the front desk, there was a long line. Had to wait in line for almost an hour frustrated.

 

Is it because everyone was trying to resolve fraud charges? Or is it because they didn't register the CC for express check out and had to pay manually?

 

Fraud: wrongful or criminal deception intended to result in financial or personal gain

 

Wrong choice of words, methinks, and rather insulting to Princess and the ship's crew. No such charge we have ever had (and we've had a few) could possibly have been considered as wrongful, criminal or deceptive on ANYONE's part. Usually nothing more than a mistake on the part of a Princess crew member, none of whom deserve such an insult.

 

Sorry for the tirade ...

[Coolmama_1]

They could also be getting a cash refund. This happened to us when a port was cancelled so we had a credit balance on our shipboard account. I didn't catch it till we were almost ready to leave and had to stand in line to get my refund.

[vandalayceo]

Just to interject a note about the better side of human nature-

Last cruise lined up at desk, person ahead of me was there, with sales slip, to correct error that an item had NOT been charged, and wanted to ensure it would be.!!

And he had lined up for quite awhile to do so.

Edited October 29, 2014 by vandalayceo

[jak378]

Earlier this year on the Emerald I overheard a conversation in which the passenger was disputing a charge of about 2 dollars. It was an extremely long line, and I simply cannot imagine standing in line for a long time to dispute such an error.

 

I am also surprised at the number of people who have said that they save all receipts and compare them. I cannot imagine taking the time to do that. I do look at the statement every few days and between my wife and I we can usually identify most everything on there without too much difficulty.

[paul929207]

Maybe it is because we usually have a fair amount of OBC and don't charge a huge amount, but I just do a reasonableness check every couple of days.