Princess Medallion and elderly Elite

[Iainmac]

I recently cruised on Coral Princess and not having an iPhone I could not download the Medallion App.  There were no guide notes in the cabin or any form of welcome for an Elite.  No longer any toiletries, pen, paper or tote bag, just the usual shower gel and a little bar of hard (and useless) soap.  The mini-bar had been supplied, so someone new we were Elite, but the refrigerator did not work.  The cabin steward organized a replacement refrigerator.  We joined in Auckland and over the next few days notices were delivered to our cabin with other people's names and we let the steward know and remove them.  After Brisbane yet another package delivered to our cabin and yet another name.  Next day I went to the Customer Service Desk only to be told that the Loyalty desk dealt with this and was not manned that day and to come back tomorrow, which I did.  The lady at the Loyalty desk said they were having a problem with this and corrected it on her computer.  I don't think they knew who was in this cabin.  I will mention at this point that we were disappointed with the cabin ( A315 ) and it had to be the worst cabin on the ship and at nz$460 per night.  My fault for booking a guaranteed cabin and not fully realizing what I was booking, but I did mention the cost at the time of booking and before paying the final invoice and did not receive any reply.

 

With not being on the Medallion App it was fortunate that a paper copy of the daily activities was delivered to the cabin, but never any invites to Elite events, so we miss out on a lot these days unless you are really clued up.  Being elderly (82), scooter rider and with only limited hearing in one ear, communication can be very difficult.

On arrival home we both tested positive for covid the next day. There was quite a lot of covid on the ship and people in isolation.  We were pack to negative after four days but ir took me weeks to get back on my feet.

Soon after arriving home we requested a final statement as we did not agree on the refund and can't figure out where the money went.  I won't  go into the details of this total credit, but there was also $200 compensation to spend on board.  (Coral Princess was one of the first to have the hull cleaned before entering NZ and we missed two ports through this oversight ).  You would think this would be a simple request, but many emails sent over the last eight weeks and no replies suggests that they do not want to admit to the creative accounting used here.  Here in NZ we have laws governing this sort of behavior, but with Carnival not being a NZ company there is no way this can be enforced.

This is becoming a bit long winded so I will end by saying "this is a great way to treat elite guests with some 17 cruises with Princess and quite a few with P&O".

[OzKiwiJJ]

It's odd that you didn't get the usual Elite info in your cabin. We did last year, on all five cruises that we did. Based on your other comments that may have been linked to the issues they were having at the Loyalty Desk. No excuse though.

 

Ouch! An inside cabin on Alpha deck wouldn't be great although I think the Coral cabins are bigger than the old Sun Class inside cabins. They were tiny. 

 

Refunds get complicated. Port fees and taxes are often refunded directly to your onboard account while onboard so aren't included in any other refunds.

[MicCanberra]

There have been cut backs and significant efforts made in regard to paper usage.

[Aus Traveller]

My comments to the OP. Since cruising restarted there have been changes (another word for cut-backs). They don't now have the little bag of toiletries, pen, paper or tote bag for any passengers. I don't know if this was in your cabin or not, but on our last couple of Princess cruises we have had a sheet on the desk that outlines Elite events (evening drinks event, wine tasting, cocktail party). Because this is usually placed under the sheets that outline safety etc. it would be easy to miss. If your name was on the screen outside your door (and it would have showed elite), I am pretty confident that your room steward would have placed the proper paperwork in your cabin before your arrival. We have received a paper copy of the new version of the Princess Patter every day on each of our recent cruises.

 

BTW, if you have a refundable credit balance on your account at the end of the cruise, you should receive an email notification in a month or so advising you how this can be forwarded to your bank account. This message isn't a scam.