Big Brother (Princess) Is Watching!

[EllieinNJ]

It seems all this social networking and internet usage connect to each other.  If I just click on an ad on fb then i am bombarded with emails.

[JF - retired RRT]

6 hours ago, dockman said:

I never answer a call from unknown caller as I have learned in past that most are scammers, robocall scammers or wrong numbers.  They are getting better as most now show up as being from my same area code.  Problem is I have an east coast tel number but am usually in hawaii so with six hour time difference i get calls at 4 am HST.  So I have to turn off phone ringer at night.  If I change to hawaii number then i get calls late at night east coast time.  I average blocking 2 or 3 calls a day everyday.

I refuse to participate in forms that require you leave a tel number to get a quote on insurance etc as you just know you will get another call from somebody trying to sell you something.

 

One of the prices we pay to use "free" internet and "smart" phones. 

When we lived in Kauai, the number I was assigned for HI had (apparently) been owned previously by a prostitute. Oh, the calls I got. 

Finally started answering with, "Honolulu Police Dept., how may I help you?"...CLICK

Then after I got tired of the fun & games, I changed my number.

[LACruiser88]

1 minute ago, JF - retired RRT said:

When we lived in Kauai, the number I was assigned for HI had (apparently) been owned previously by a prostitute. Oh, the calls I got. 

Finally started answering with, "Honolulu Police Dept., how may I help you?"...CLICK

Then after I got tired of the fun & games, I changed my number.

Funny story!!!😄

[JF - retired RRT]

2 minutes ago, LACruiser88 said:

Funny story!!!😄

Yeah, but...it wasn't funny at 3AM.

Most of the calls were from the East coast.

[Musky Ike]

A " next available passenger will be with you shortly" message along with endless drab hold music would be a fair turnabout.

[Thrak]

I visit the Princess web site frequently. Only once did I get a call as a result of a visit. Some eager beaver Personal Cruise Planner (or whatever they are called) called me and had "noticed" that I had viewed the Princess web site. The guy then went on to tell me that he was now my Personal Cruise Planner. He had set me up as a never-before-sailed new member and had assigned me a Captain's Circle number. He seemed quite surprised when I told him we already have Captain's Circle numbers, are Elite with Princess, and had several cruises booked.

 

I was not impressed.

[LACruiser88]

12 minutes ago, Thrak said:

I visit the Princess web site frequently. Only once did I get a call as a result of a visit. Some eager beaver Personal Cruise Planner (or whatever they are called) called me and had "noticed" that I had viewed the Princess web site. The guy then went on to tell me that he was now my Personal Cruise Planner. He had set me up as a never-before-sailed new member and had assigned me a Captain's Circle number. He seemed quite surprised when I told him we already have Captain's Circle numbers, are Elite with Princess, and had several cruises booked

We are on the Princess site all the time and we have never received a call from them.  But, we do book thru a TA.

[QuantumCat]

This tracking is pretty standard procedure for most every website.

 

Here's what I do avoid unwanted tracking:

 

1) Use DuckDuckGo instead of Google for your searches.

2) Use a Private Browser Window for searching/researching, then use a normal window when you actually want to be tracked.

3) Clear your cookies every now and again.

4) Use browser extensions like AdBlock and Ghostery to limit cross-site tracking.

5) Use a VPN when you REALLY don't want to be tracked, as some sites will store your IP address and track that.

6) Don't use Facebook or Instagram logins, and it's generally best to log out of Facebook (and Instagram) if you're not actively using it. Their entire business model is based on selling stuff to you based on your behaviors.

 

If you're on Princess in a normal browsing window, they WILL collect data on what you're doing, and know that it's you, even if you aren't logged in (as long as you once logged in and haven't cleared your cookies).

 

Sometimes you WANT to be tracked. For example, Amazon will sometimes add stuff you're looking at to Lightning Deals. But otherwise, it's generally best to be anonymous.

[Travlin grrl]

On 8/30/2021 at 3:40 PM, Thrak said:

Facebook When I look at some things online my wife gets ads on Facebook for similar items. I don't have a FB account but they seem to to send the ads to my wife on that platform. I've noticed many times when a page was slow to load that the info showed in the bottom of the window indicated it was connecting to FB. When I remember to do so I can use my VPN to "be elsewhere" and then she doesn't get the adds.

Yes and sometimes when you are talking about something, it shows up on your feed. It's recording what you are saying too. Aggghhh. 

[Kamloops50]

On 8/30/2021 at 10:45 AM, bjkTX said:

My wife and I are Elite but haven't cruised in a couple of years - and have none booked or even seriously contemplated at this point.  But yesterday I was browsing here on CC and saw a thread that caused me to go on the Princess website and look at a few things.  While I was there I looked to see what kind of cruises they had planned for Hawaii - just for the heck of it.

 

This morning I received a call from Princess saying we noticed you were on our website yesterday and we wanted to reach out to you as my "personal cruise planner" and with my permission she wanted to send me an email of their current deals etc and even though I indicated I didn't have any immediate plans to cruise she wanted me to have her info to use when and if our plans changed.  I didn't see any "deals" on what she sent that I hadn't already looked at on the website.

 

Not sure if that's a sign of really great customer service - or desperation 🙂  But it is different!

Good PVP .

[dave_k58]

On 8/30/2021 at 12:45 PM, bjkTX said:

My wife and I are Elite but haven't cruised in a couple of years - and have none booked or even seriously contemplated at this point.  But yesterday I was browsing here on CC and saw a thread that caused me to go on the Princess website and look at a few things.  While I was there I looked to see what kind of cruises they had planned for Hawaii - just for the heck of it.

 

This morning I received a call from Princess saying we noticed you were on our website yesterday and we wanted to reach out to you as my "personal cruise planner" and with my permission she wanted to send me an email of their current deals etc and even though I indicated I didn't have any immediate plans to cruise she wanted me to have her info to use when and if our plans changed.  I didn't see any "deals" on what she sent that I hadn't already looked at on the website.

 

Not sure if that's a sign of really great customer service - or desperation 🙂  But it is different!

I have gotten the same emails and letters from Carnival, HAL and NCL - even phone calls from HAL and Princess. 0nce I got a call from my insurance company, that also has a travel agency - so all that information must be for sale

 

[as400guy]

On 8/31/2021 at 2:37 PM, JF - retired RRT said:

Finally started answering with, "Honolulu Police Dept., how may I help you?"...CLICK

 

I keep the local FBI office phone number on a Post-it on my monitor.  When I get the calls from "Microsoft" or "Apple" I ask them to please call me back at my office number and give them the FBI number.  For some reason I never get called back.

 

[Westsail32]

When I log in and look at cruises I usually go into the "pick a cabin" page to see what's available before I cancel out of it.  I almost always get a phone call within the next day from Anna-Lou my "personal cruise consultant".  I've got her in my contacts an she shows up when she calls.  I finally booked a cruise thru her for 9/25 (Grand Princess Cabo 5-day).  I was able to get a bit of a discount and some extra OBC.  

[ontheweb]

20 hours ago, Westsail32 said:

When I log in and look at cruises I usually go into the "pick a cabin" page to see what's available before I cancel out of it.  I almost always get a phone call within the next day from Anna-Lou my "personal cruise consultant".  I've got her in my contacts an she shows up when she calls.  I finally booked a cruise thru her for 9/25 (Grand Princess Cabo 5-day).  I was able to get a bit of a discount and some extra OBC.  

I do not believe according to cruisecritic's rules that you are allowed to post that name.

[CruiseMrB]

To avoid this, get a VPN service and use a different browser for use with that VPN and NEVER log into any site in that browser. 

 

Here's how I do it:

• Start up my ProtonVPN and connect to fastest random connection.
• After connected, I start FireFox in --private mode.
• Do travel research (or other stuff)
• Select a room that is close to, but not the room you want.
• Note pricing and real room request.
• Once I find what I want, I close Firefox and then shutdown the VPN
• Then I open my regular browser, log in to Princess, select cruise, date, and room, and compare price to VPN listing. If higher, book by phone and quote lower price.