Princess let me down badly

[pris993]

2 minutes ago, Gettingwarmer said:

Peoples welfare can be helped by others. 

Yes, but counting can lead to disappoint at the very least.   It is always better to be pleasantly surprised vs disapppointed.  

[cruising sister]

I am sorry you are having to read such negative comments against you.  I am appalled that people feel Princess had no responsibility to you because it was your aunt not you sick but in the next breath say you should have paid the charges no question.  You can't be responsible for her and then they have no responsibility to you..  You have been very gracious in replying to this nonsense.  You were failed on many steps in this process.  I will continue to pray your Aunt improves.

[Daniel A]

32 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

I am now going to retire politely from this discussion as it is serving little purpose now that we are moving on.

Please keep us informed of your aunt's condition.

[Daniel A]

1 hour ago, voljeep said:

medical billing and collections has a job to do, and the leverage is while still on board, and 'may' try to coerce someone into signing for the charges, even if not 'legally' responsible.

But threatening to detain a person against their will unless they fork over some cash would constitute the crime of extortion.  Especially when it's not even your debt they're trying to collect.

[PescadoAmarillo]

1 hour ago, Megabear2 said:

Thank you all who have offered suggestions such as the card reversal and contact details.  I am now going to retire politely from this discussion as it is serving little purpose now that we are moving on.

I am very sorry you’ve gone through what sounds like, from every analysis possible, a most difficult situation. I applaud you for handling things as well as you did in the moment, and for documenting it so clearly here for others to learn from. I wish your aunt a full and speedy recovery, and many more wonderful cruises in the future. 
 

Ignore the naysayers and cheerleaders and Monday morning quarterbacks on this board. Ignore them. They love nothing more than to feed on the misfortune of others and your sad circumstances have given them much fodder. 

Please do keep us updated on your aunt’s condition if it seems appropriate. 

 

[Level six]

1 hour ago, pris993 said:

    You warned us.  Thank you.  You don't need members of cc to validate how you feel or what you did.  Your welfare is in your hands.   Hope you enjoy travel in the future when you get beyond this incident.  

 

If this had happened to you, I am sure you would be here telling your story.  Let her tell her story without making it your story or your interpretation of it.  She was the one there and she knows what happened, you don't. 

[caribill]

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

And how do you do that, if in an ambulance, awaiting admission to hospital ?

Obviously would not apply in this case. I was discussing in general how it can be done without a cell phone being involved.

[brisalta]

5 hours ago, geocruiser said:

Megabear2,

Very sorry to hear all of this.  I pray that your aunt recovers.  I don't know if this would be any help (I am not from the UK), but is there any thing that your Embassy could do?  May dealing with the hospital, being that you don't speak Italian?  Just a thought. 

 

Sad to say but in the past 10 years or so the UK government has turned the consular services into a money making business. There are ridiculous fees for everything.

[brisalta]

5 hours ago, memoak said:

So people there are forced to own a cell phone to have a credit card ?  I would think that would prompt a class action law suit. Many people cruise but don’t have smart phones

 

You do not need a  so called smart phone for SMS messages. Inexpensive feature phones have SMS capabilities.

[ontheweb]

3 hours ago, Daniel A said:

I don't see how Princess can refuse to disembark a person because they owe money to Princess (Or in this case think someone should pay someone else's bill) I would think that would constitute unlawful imprisonment.  Just wondering, what if one were to flat out refuse to pay?  Would that person become a "Flying Dutchman"?  

Reminds me of what I witnessed in Jamaica in 1997. (I know the date since the trip was for our 20th anniversary). It seems there was an exit tax. (I don't remember how much, except it was not too much.) The woman just ahead of us in line said she had spent all her money and had none left to pay to exit. The next thing she said was please make me stay. Instead they let her depart.

Edited July 12, 2022 by ontheweb
punctuation.

[brisalta]

3 hours ago, Daniel A said:

What happens if you travel to Alaska, Mexico, Japan etc...?  Do you need to incur roaming charges just to use your credit card?  If you lose your phone or damage it while travelling and want to purchase a new phone how does one pay for it?

 

I have never been charged for SMS texts no matter which continent I have been on.

[pris993]

3 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

Reminds me of what I witnessed in Jamaica in 1997. (I know the date since the trip was for our 20th anniversary). It seems there was an exit tax. (I don't remember how much, except it was not too much.) The woman just ahead of us in line said she had spent all her money and had none left to pay to exit. The next thing she said was please make me stay. Instead they let her depart.

Once when getting off a ship in SF, Customer Service refused to let us of at gangway saying our credit card charge was denied.  It was on my card, had to get my husband's card.  Went home called my credit card company, because I knew there was no reason for the charge to be denied.  Credit Card company said they never denied the charge.  Suspect Princess made a mistake clearing charges.   From that point on I have made it a point to carry more than one credit card just in case.  Mistakes are made, cards sometimes don't work, even happens when shopping for groceries.  

[ontheweb]

Just now, pris993 said:

Once when getting off a ship in SF, Customer Service refused to let us of at gangway saying our credit card charge was denied.  It was on my card, had to get my husband's card.  Went home called my credit card company, because I knew there was no reason for the charge to be denied.  Credit Card company said they never denied the charge.  Suspect Princess made a mistake clearing charges.   From that point on I have made it a point to carry more than one credit card just in case.  Mistakes are made, cards sometimes don't work, even happens when shopping for groceries.  

Once in Europe at a museum, we were told our card charge was not accepted. I later called the number on the card to make sure they knew where we were so we could keep using the card. They said that they did know, and in fact there was a pending charge for the museum that said the card was turned down. I said we were not allowed in as they said the charge was denied. I was then told by the card's phone representative that the charge would now disappear on Monday (called on a Saturday).

[sultan_sfo]

2 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

...

 I am now going to retire politely from this discussion as it is serving little purpose now that we are moving on.

...

I seldom post on Cruise Critic General Forums any more. But I do regularly read the posts on Princess Forums.

 

I would like to express my sincere appreciation for all your posts about your unfortunate experiences. All your posts have been polite but forceful.

 

As one who has had "many" cruises with Princess, your posts have been very helpful in making me realize how disrespectful and callous Princess Management can be. I will be eventually writing to Princess Management and perhaps even to the CCL Board Members that a change is required. I hope that some Senior Management from Princess responds publicly on Cruise Critic giving their viewpoints on the serious issues you have raised. Thank You.

Edited July 12, 2022 by sultan_sfo

[pris993]

1 hour ago, ontheweb said:

Once in Europe at a museum, we were told our card charge was not accepted. I later called the number on the card to make sure they knew where we were so we could keep using the card. They said that they did know, and in fact there was a pending charge for the museum that said the card was turned down. I said we were not allowed in as they said the charge was denied. I was then told by the card's phone representative that the charge would now disappear on Monday (called on a Saturday).

My call to my credit card company was on the same day, I live 30 minutes away from the port.   I learned my lesson always carry multiple cards just in case.    Someone made a mistake either Princess or the credit card company, who knows.   My credit was good on all cards.   Things happen. 

[ontheweb]

3 minutes ago, pris993 said:

My call to my credit card company was on the same day, I live 30 minutes away from the port.   I learned my lesson always carry multiple cards just in case.    Someone made a mistake either Princess or the credit card company, who knows.   My credit was good on all cards.   Things happen. 

We did have multiple cards, but the other one was Amex which was not accepted there or in many places in Europe.

[pris993]

1 minute ago, ontheweb said:

We did have multiple cards, but the other one was Amex which was not accepted there or in many places in Europe.

Another learning issue, thanks, very true.  I believe Visa is the best but I may be wrong, I have Visa and Mastercard.  

 

[caribill]

1 hour ago, pris993 said:

Another learning issue, thanks, very true.  I believe Visa is the best but I may be wrong, I have Visa and Mastercard.  

 

Always travel with at least one of each. Many places outside the USA might only accept Visa or MC, but not both.

[Guest ldtr]

5 hours ago, Daniel A said:

I don't see how Princess can refuse to disembark a person because they owe money to Princess (Or in this case think someone should pay someone else's bill) I would think that would constitute unlawful imprisonment.  Just wondering, what if one were to flat out refuse to pay?  Would that person become a "Flying Dutchman"?  

I expect that they would not/could not stop a person from actually leaving.  However, I would expect that what would follow would be a charge for failure to pay (not unlike what occurs if someone walks out of a restaurant or hotel without paying.

 

What is somewhat unique in this case is the relationship between the patient and the OP and the exact nature of the terms and conditions under which they sailed, which would be the UK version of the cruise contract.

 

Also there is the question if the OP made any decisions or authorize any treatment on the behalf of her aunt.

 

While Princess certainly could have handled things better, there are some issues that seemed to be enhanced because of the OPs reaction.

 

For those of us that have cruised it is pretty common knowledge that if you have insurance, other that that issued by the cruise line, that you will be responsible for any expenses in the medical center prior to departing the ship. The insurance companies then reimburse the passenger.   Some insurance companies will work directly with some land based hospitals, but not with cruise ship medical centers who basically do not want to deal with having to collect from insurance companies.

 

So one of the issues was when the OP refused to pay.  Which may have been their right to.  Technically if the patient was able to, she should have been charged before she left the ship to go to the hospital.  Now in most cases this is not an issue because family members take care of it or it will be automatically charged to the credit card on file.  Now if Princess had delayed he departure by having her authorize the charge I am pretty sure people would be upset about that.

 

Bottom line unless you get your insurance from the cruise line expect to pay out of pocket for any medical services, and get reimbursement from the insurance company.

 

Pretty common still in many countries that access to patients in hospitals are very limited due to Covid, so that is certainly not Princesses fault.

 

Another lesson is when something like this occurs never, ever let any key paperwork, such as ID, passports, insurance forms/cards etc. out of ones possession.  

 

[wowzz]

14 minutes ago, ldtr said:

Bottom line unless you get your insurance from the cruise line expect to pay out of pocket for any medical services, and get reimbursement from the insurance company.

 

 

You do realise that the cruise line do not supply insurance. They are merely a broker.  It makes no difference if you buy insurance though the cruise line or independently. 

I also think you do not understand how travel insurance and claims work. 

 

 

14 minutes ago, ldtr said:

Another lesson is when something like this occurs never, ever let any key paperwork, such as ID, passports, insurance forms/cards etc. out of ones possession.  

 

And exactly how do you do that  when you are unconcious ?