Extremely disappointed in princess

[caligirlfashionista]

Sooooo here it goes.... I had a horrible day today. I decided to ring up princess to see if perhaps I could get a complimentary upgrade or some birthday perks for my husband during his birthday cruise. The agent helping me was extremely nice, she notated my account to let the MDR know that we would be celebrating my Dh bday which was nice, but I know that isn’t really a perk , nonetheless I showed gratitude for her time. She told me ‘Unfortunately she didn’t she any complimentary upgrades at the present but she would notate my account that I was interested in a mini suite upgrade from a balcony’. I thanked her and right before I was going to end our hour+ conversation ,I asked if in the future of my cruise if I wanted to call and pay for an upgrade would it be possible?’.She Said yes, and told me to hold a second to check the rates .She informed me that I was in luck! That  she found a mini suite for the same price that I booked my balcony and said that she would upgrade me. I thanked her several times because I could not express how elated I was. She began the process and my phone alerted me of a princess email .I assumed it was from her with my new confirmation so I just continued to thank her and not get into anymore questions ,(not even about the new cabin) because I was willing to take any mini suite I could get regardless of the cabin number, I was just grateful and couldn’t believe my luck... Anyway as soon as hung up I went straight to my email to check my new confirmation. To my disappointment it was a princess ad and not a confirmation. I immediately called back and was told my new booking was never processed but the notes said that I had been upgraded. The agent told me basically there was nothing that he could do ,so I asked to speak to a supervisor for further assistance.... I waited an hour on hold before hanging up and going through the same situation 4 more times for a a total of 4 1/2 hours with waits lies and excuses.Long story short I didn’t get the upgrade 😔😢😭 I was so upset but princess didn’t fix their mistake and said someone else probably got it while she was trying to book the suite for me

[Aus Traveller]

So, are you disappointed that you spent more than an hour on the phone unsuccessfully trying to get a complementary upgrade or birthday perks for your husband? BTW, That was 1+ hours of a Princess employee's time. Or are disappointed that you didn't get a free upgrade even after spending 4.5 hours on the phone? 

 

I don't know why you would think you are entitled to anything free for your husband's birthday, other than a sign on your stateroom door and a tiny cake at dinner. Sorry if I sound unsympathetic.

 

As far as upgrades are concerned, the 'upgrade fairy' seems to smile on some people and not so much on others. We are in the latter category. 🙂

[Ombud]

Changing response:

 

 Are you upset because you cannot request an upgrade or because you spent 4.5 hours trying to convince them to give you a mini-suite?

Edited December 28, 2019 by Ombud

[Bruin Steve]

Okay...so, we are cruising on the Royal Princess next week...

At full occupancy, it holds 4,360 passengers...The cruise lasts seven nights...so, it spans eight days actually...

Divide 4,360 by 365--the number of possible birthdays per year (assuming even leap year babies celebrate on one particular day every year)...Now multiply that by eight...

Rounding off the fraction, that means, even if cruise booking was completely random, chances are 96 people on board my cruise will be celebrating birthdays on board...

Of course, cruise booking is not completely random...Many people actually purposely choose certain sail dates in order to celebrate onboard...

And, some people, may choose to celebrate their birthdays with a cruise even though the real date is actually a few days off...For example, I am celebrating MY birthday onboard even though it really occurs four days prior to our sail date...

So, in reality, I am guessing there may be as many as 200 people celebrating their birthdays onboard any random 7 night cruise...

Now, the Royal Princess has exactly 314 mini-suites...So, I suppose that, by the OP's logic, we should all call Princess and ask for that free upgrade to a mini-suite and Princess should upgrade all 200 of us to mini-suites, thereby filling two-thirds of the mini-suites with free birthday upgrades?

 

Okay...seriously, now...

The real answer is that, if you want to have a mini-suite...or even a full suite...in order to make your birthday really special, the best way to insure that is to just book it that way in the first place.

Or, whatever type of cabin you've booked, it pays to constantly monitor the prices...and if prices drop so that you can actually upgrade yourself to a better cabin at the same price, the best thing to do is to CALL (or have your TA call) IMMEDIATELY...and just upgrade the cabin yourself (I've done this several times myself)...Don't play around with asking for freebies.  You are entitled (unless you are beyond the final payment date or have a nonrefundable deposit deal) to upgrade to a better deal...BUT, you often have to move fast...because, yes, while you are talking away, other people may beat you to that deal...

 

Edited December 28, 2019 by Bruin Steve

[crystalspin]

I would add, follow that banner you got when you self-booked originally and establish a relationship with your CVP, so that you will be talking with the same person each time you call.

[Skai]

I suppose the admonition here is to purchase the level of cabin one desires.  Expecting a complimentary upgrade seems like a recipe for disappointment.

[Slugsta]

2 hours ago, Bruin Steve said:

Okay...so, we are cruising on the Royal Princess next week...

At full occupancy, it holds 4,360 passengers...The cruise lasts seven nights...so, it spans eight days actually...

Divide 4,360 by 365--the number of possible birthdays per year (assuming even leap year babies celebrate on one particular day every year)...Now multiply that by eight...

Rounding off the fraction, that means, even if cruise booking was completely random, chances are 96 people on board my cruise will be celebrating birthdays on board...

Of course, cruise booking is not completely random...Many people actually purposely choose certain sail dates in order to celebrate onboard...

And, some people, may choose to celebrate their birthdays with a cruise even though the real date is actually a few days off...For example, I am celebrating MY birthday onboard even though it really occurs four days prior to our sail date...

So, in reality, I am guessing there may be as many as 200 people celebrating their birthdays onboard any random 7 night cruise...

Now, the Royal Princess has exactly 314 mini-suites...So, I suppose that, by the OP's logic, we should all call Princess and ask for that free upgrade to a mini-suite and Princess should upgrade all 200 of us to mini-suites, thereby filling two-thirds of the mini-suites with free birthday upgrades?

 

 

 

 

Add to that the people celebrating other things - such as a wedding anniversary etc - and the number expecting 'freebies' would be even higher.

 

[MissP22]

Wow, if they ever start giving free upgrades for anniversaries & birthdays the headquarters in Ca. be swamped with calls from now on.

Sign me up now. 😅

[dog]

4 hours ago, caligirlfashionista said:

Sooooo here it goes.... I had a horrible day today. I decided to ring up princess to see if perhaps I could get a complimentary upgrade or some birthday perks for my husband during his birthday cruise. The agent helping me was extremely nice, she notated my account to let the MDR know that we would be celebrating my Dh bday which was nice, but I know that isn’t really a perk , nonetheless I showed gratitude for her time. She told me ‘Unfortunately she didn’t she any complimentary upgrades at the present but she would notate my account that I was interested in a mini suite upgrade from a balcony’. I thanked her and right before I was going to end our hour+ conversation ,I asked if in the future of my cruise if I wanted to call and pay for an upgrade would it be possible?’.She Said yes, and told me to hold a second to check the rates .She informed me that I was in luck! That  she found a mini suite for the same price that I booked my balcony and said that she would upgrade me. I thanked her several times because I could not express how elated I was. She began the process and my phone alerted me of a princess email .I assumed it was from her with my new confirmation so I just continued to thank her and not get into anymore questions ,(not even about the new cabin) because I was willing to take any mini suite I could get regardless of the cabin number, I was just grateful and couldn’t believe my luck... Anyway as soon as hung up I went straight to my email to check my new confirmation. To my disappointment it was a princess ad and not a confirmation. I immediately called back and was told my new booking was never processed but the notes said that I had been upgraded. The agent told me basically there was nothing that he could do ,so I asked to speak to a supervisor for further assistance.... I waited an hour on hold before hanging up and going through the same situation 4 more times for a a total of 4 1/2 hours with waits lies and excuses.Long story short I didn’t get the upgrade 😔😢😭 I was so upset but princess didn’t fix their mistake and said someone else probably got it while she was trying to book the suite for me

I am sorry this happened to you. Balcony cabins are very nice too Have a wonderful cruise. 

[bemis12]

It's hard to believe that with all of the time you spent asking for free things, that they didn't accommodate you.  They should have to give free mini suites to anyone with a birthday or anniversary.

Edited December 28, 2019 by bemis12

[pms4104]

Princess is a busuness, not a charity.

 

Book a mini if that's what you really want.

 

Order and pay for birthday goodies ... dinners, spa, wine pkg, etc

 

In other words, there is ni free lunch

[MissP22]

Just now, pms4104 said:

Princess is a busuness, not a charity.

 

Book a mini if that's what you really want.

 

Order and pay for birthday goodies ... dinners, spa, wine pkg, etc

 

In other words, there is ni free lunch

At least there's a free birthday cake, door sign and they'll sing for you. 😄

[pms4104]

7 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

At least there's a free birthday cake, door sign and they'll sing for you. 😄

Which should ve the extent of FREE surprises 

[voljeep]

to the OP... how far out is your cruise and what kind of promotion(s) did you book under ?

[caligirlfashionista]

Aaaahhhhgggg .... Let’s see here... CC has taught me all the techniques and guidelines to getting or attempting to get “perks or upgrades “ I’ve been following this forum since my very first cruise in 09 So save the responses criticizing simply because I called and asked about “free stuff” ... I’ve learned that from the best 😜😜😜 Now, the reason I was devastated Was because I was actually upgraded to the mini suite and for some reason princess didn’t bother to honor the agents notes, both she and I worked diligently only to be told ‘sorry there’s nothing we can do’ was disappointing for me . I would have rather them just say no from the beginning than have me excited for nothing. There is actually a lot more to this story but as you can see ,I’m a reader not a writer so I didn’t get into every detail and I still am not getting my point across 😩😫🤣 anyways this happened yesterday and today is a new day so I’m going to figure out how to get a mini suite 😉 if I can get a complimentary upgrade ,great if not I will pay.. because one thing for sure is , I’m not going to disappoint myself 😜

Edited December 28, 2019 by caligirlfashionista

[caligirlfashionista]

1 hour ago, pms4104 said:

Princess is a busuness, not a charity.

 

Book a mini if that's what you really want.

 

Order and pay for birthday goodies ... dinners, spa, wine pkg, etc

 

In other words, there is ni free lunch

Tell my clients that 🤣 I need you to be my booking manager 

[caligirlfashionista]

1 hour ago, bemis12 said:

It's hard to believe that with all of the time you spent asking for free things, that they didn't accommodate you.  They should have to give free mini suites to anyone with a birthday or anniversary.

🤷‍♀️

[capriccio]

OP - If you have ever cruised Princess before you probably received their holiday email.  In it were lots of statistics (odd for a holiday email but I digress) including:

 

What the over 2,000,000 guests on Princess celebrated in 2019:

• 83,724 birthdays
• 257 weddings
• 92,150 anniversaries

You and DH are really not that special in the grand scheme of things!

[hllwdcruiser]

Although the OP was mistaken in the thought that Princess may give a complimentary upgrade to celebrate DH's bday, I think her frustration was because after she said she would PAY for an upgrade the agent found a mini for the same fare as her balcony but then failed to book and confirm it. OP thought that it was a "fait accompli" and was super excited. She then spent hours trying to just get what had been offered to her by the Princess agent. That is where her disappointment lay, not that she didn't get the upgrade for free. 

Of course, the title she chose to use for this post was sure to get a lot of views and the typical reactions we are seeing here....

 

[MissP22]

16 minutes ago, capriccio said:

OP - If you have ever cruised Princess before you probably received their holiday email.  In it were lots of statistics (odd for a holiday email but I digress) including:

 

What the over 2,000,000 guests on Princess celebrated in 2019:

• 83,724 birthdays
• 257 weddings
• 92,150 anniversaries

You and DH are really not that special in the grand scheme of things!

I've seen less & less birthdays being celebrated since they begun doing so.

Could it be that no one wants they're cake anymore??

It's not really that great & you can request one every night you want it, even if it's not your special night.

 

[caligirlfashionista]

8 minutes ago, hllwdcruiser said:

Although the OP was mistaken in the thought that Princess may give a complimentary upgrade to celebrate DH's bday, I think her frustration was because after she said she would PAY for an upgrade the agent found a mini for the same fare as her balcony but then failed to book and confirm it. OP thought that it was a "fait accompli" and was super excited. She then spent hours trying to just get what had been offered to her by the Princess agent. That is where her disappointment lay, not that she didn't get the upgrade for free. 

Of course, the title she chose to use for this post was sure to get a lot of views and the typical reactions we are seeing here....

 

My goodness 🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️You’ve got it🤣🤣🤣 thanks for the clarification. For everyone else read this... this is why I was up lol 

[taxmantoo]

1 hour ago, caligirlfashionista said:

Aaaahhhhgggg .... Let’s see here... CC has taught me all the techniques and guidelines to getting or attempting to get “perks or upgrades “ I’ve been following this forum since my very first cruise in 09 So save the responses criticizing simply because I called and asked about “free stuff” ... I’ve learned that from the best 😜😜😜 Now, the reason I was devastated Was because I was actually upgraded to the mini suite and for some reason princess didn’t bother to honor the agents notes, both she and I worked diligently only to be told ‘sorry there’s nothing we can do’ was disappointing for me . I would have rather them just say no from the beginning than have me excited for nothing. There is actually a lot more to this story but as you can see ,I’m a reader not a writer so I didn’t get into every detail and I still am not getting my point across 😩😫🤣 anyways this happened yesterday and today is a new day so I’m going to figure out how to get a mini suite 😉 if I can get a complimentary upgrade ,great if not I will pay.. because one thing for sure is , I’m not going to disappoint myself 😜

 

9 minutes ago, caligirlfashionista said:

My goodness 🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️You’ve got it🤣🤣🤣 thanks for the clarification. For everyone else read this... this is why I was up lol 

If you were so ready to pay for a mini-suite, why did you not do so in the first place when you booked??? 😏

[MJSailors]

caligirlfashionista-

          Here is some advice that I do not think has been mentioned in this thread so far. It has to do with due diligence on your part and something you may want to do if you again  contact Princess about arranging for a mini suite.

          Whenever I book a Princess cruise with a phone rep, I always write down the cabin number and the confirmation number. I do not rely on an e mail confirmation of the booking from Princess. It may be old school, but I want to have the information at hand if any discrepancy should occur. 

            You may want to check your Cruise Personalizer to see ,if in fact, the mini suite booking did go through before you contact Princess again.

 Good luck !

[milolii]

People change their minds all the time and often decide to upgrade. 
 

I agree OP’s concern is what she agreed to purchase did not go through.  Not the freebies. Mentioning the freebies is probably what got some attention. 

 

Also agree she should try again.  Good advice to check the Cruise Personalizer as well. 

[snowskier]

1 hour ago, caligirlfashionista said:

 Now, the reason I was devastated Was because I was actually upgraded to the mini suite and for some reason princess didn’t bother to honor the agents notes

 

Devastated --"cause (someone) severe and overwhelming shock or grief". I am so sorry OP has experienced such a severe reaction to a mistake / challenge related to a cruise. Sure hope things get better.