Not choosing Princess for next cruise…..

[Sea Hag]

4 hours ago, datone said:

The snark is real.   On our last Princess cruise we boarded on the 26th January.   The next day we came back to our cabin just before lunchtime to find a letter stating that we should visit the Guest Services Desk as there was an issue with our credit card.   So off we go to Guest Services to find out that our credit card wasn't valid as the expiry date was Feb 2023 and they wanted another credit card which we didn't have.   After trying to patiently explain that it was good to the end of February 2023 we asked to speak to a supervisor.   He was the most rudest person I have ever come across on Princess.   Actually told me that he had already spoken to us about this the night before.   I don't know how this was possible when that would have been the 26th and the letter was dated and received on the 27th.   I said no you haven't and he was most insistent I had already spoken to him as he remembered my name?   I actually ended up saying to him "are you calling me a liar" and he virtually implied I was lying as he was adamant I had spoken with him the night before.   I certainly would have remembered doing so.   No need for the rudeness and smirking.   In fact - put a damper on the whole cruise.   He then told me if I didn't have another credit card we couldn't put anything on our onboard account as the card wasn't valid.   He then came up with the solution that I should put my card in the money machine they had on board, withdraw some cash and put that on my account.   So he's asking me to use my card in their machine, which he says is not valid, and get cash out!   Didn't make sense at all.     Gave up trying to solve the issue, got some cash out at the first port,  and put some on my card.   It was their loss - our onboard bill was only $54.   Had wine and soda so just drank that in public places including taking my own wine to the dining room.   I know you are not supposed to do that and the first time I have, but I was just so fed up with the whole thing.  If Princess treat me like crap I'm not going to stick to the rules.

Wow! Looks like you got a whole nother level of snark than what we got! Not acceptable. So sorry this put a damper on your cruise. 

Edited March 16, 2023 by Sea Hag
I screwed up - again

[ontheweb]

13 minutes ago, Sea Hag said:

Wow! Looks like you got a whole nother level of snark than what we got! Not acceptable. I can see where he was coming from, since on March 1 the card wouldn't have been valid, but he didn't need to act like that. So sorry this put a damper on your cruise. 

I don't understand. Unless the cruise was so long that it went from 1/25 to  3/1 or later, why would this matter?

 

Are they now going to say your credit card must have at least 6 months until expiration (like some countries do with passports)?

[a.madruga]

On 3/7/2023 at 1:58 PM, voljeep said:

Having a choice of different cruise lines is a beautiful thing...at least we can all agree on that.

 

Hope you have great cruises.

 

Was this your first terrible experience on Princess? or has it been a gradual thing (I'm guessing) and this was just over the top bad?

totally agree with being able to choose and shop other cruise lines...it seems to me IMO that so called ELITE CLASS are the ones i see complaining most of the time....we cruised more than 20 plus sailings but have learned that loyalty doesn't mean a thing to cruise lines or other large companies...when vacationing we go where more bang for our hard earned money takes us

[Sea Hag]

3 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

I don't understand. Unless the cruise was so long that it went from 1/25 to  3/1 or later, why would this matter?

 

Are they now going to say your credit card must have at least 6 months until expiration (like some countries do with passports)?

I screwed up on this. I was thinking he boarded on 2/26. I really need to pay better attention. Sorry, OP! 😳

[ontheweb]

Just now, Sea Hag said:

I screwed up on this. I was thinking he boarded on 2/26. I really need to pay better attention. Sorry, OP! 😳

No problem, I just wondered what you meant by your post. Hey, we all make mistakes, we're human.

[capriccio]

4 hours ago, datone said:

The snark is real.   On our last Princess cruise we boarded on the 26th January.   The next day we came back to our cabin just before lunchtime to find a letter stating that we should visit the Guest Services Desk as there was an issue with our credit card.   So off we go to Guest Services to find out that our credit card wasn't valid as the expiry date was Feb 2023 and they wanted another credit card which we didn't have.   After trying to patiently explain that it was good to the end of February 2023 we asked to speak to a supervisor.   He was the most rudest person I have ever come across on Princess.   Actually told me that he had already spoken to us about this the night before.   I don't know how this was possible when that would have been the 26th and the letter was dated and received on the 27th.   I said no you haven't and he was most insistent I had already spoken to him as he remembered my name?   I actually ended up saying to him "are you calling me a liar" and he virtually implied I was lying as he was adamant I had spoken with him the night before.   I certainly would have remembered doing so.   No need for the rudeness and smirking.   In fact - put a damper on the whole cruise.   He then told me if I didn't have another credit card we couldn't put anything on our onboard account as the card wasn't valid.   He then came up with the solution that I should put my card in the money machine they had on board, withdraw some cash and put that on my account.   So he's asking me to use my card in their machine, which he says is not valid, and get cash out!   Didn't make sense at all.     Gave up trying to solve the issue, got some cash out at the first port,  and put some on my card.   It was their loss - our onboard bill was only $54.   Had wine and soda so just drank that in public places including taking my own wine to the dining room.   I know you are not supposed to do that and the first time I have, but I was just so fed up with the whole thing.  If Princess treat me like crap I'm not going to stick to the rules.

This deserved an escalation above the guest services shift supervisor while still on board. 

 

But now that your are no longer on the ship, I think it is worthy of sending to customer services at headquarters (customerrelations@princesscruises.com IIRC).  State the facts and try (and I know that may be difficult) to keep it calm and business like explaining what happened and asking if their credit card validity determination has changed and if so, when, why doesn't it match the issuer's validity, and, most importantly, why was it originally accepted in the App?  Only then suggest that the staff needs additional training.  Do not state that you will never sail with them again.  Leave it open so they will (hopefully) feel compelled to respond.

[tonit964]

Funny, I just became Elite after my last November cruise, this year I don't have one Princess cruise booked. It just kind of worked out that way, not intentional.

 

We have a big family cruise to Alaska on NCL this summer and I really wanted to sail on Carnival Panorama so I have that booked for October. Maybe I'll sail with Princess next year. 

I would never be loyal to any cruise line.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

7 hours ago, MissP22 said:

I'm not sure what a Navigator is but for our next cruise I tried to make reservations for the 5 PM slot, entire cruise, and it indicated that only other times were available. I went to making reservations for each day & yes, it was available. 

Not that I believe it makes much difference at that time but I'll play their game.

Thank you for the suggestion, but I have tried both ways. So much for dining our way, ha ha. First time I’ve ever had this problem and hopefully it’s the last time this happens.

[MissP22]

Just now, MsSoCalCruiser said:

Thank you for the suggestion, but I have tried both ways. So much for dining our way, ha ha. First time I’ve ever had this problem and hopefully it’s the last time this happens.

To be honest I don't believe it makes much difference if you arrive early since theirs isn't much of a line to get in. The restaurant was packed when we were leaving all the time between 6:15 and 6:45. 

I imagine the service must have slowed to a crawl at that time.

So much for arriving at 7 to 7:30 PM if you want to see a show. 

Our sailing was filled to capacity at 3,600+ and it showed everywhere from the DR, bars and lounges to the pools on sea days.

[Lady Arwen]

27 minutes ago, tonit964 said:

Funny, I just became Elite after my last November cruise, this year I don't have one Princess cruise booked. It just kind of worked out that way, not intentional.

 

We have a big family cruise to Alaska on NCL this summer and I really wanted to sail on Carnival Panorama so I have that booked for October. Maybe I'll sail with Princess next year. 

I would never be loyal to any cruise line.

Totally agree with you.  We have a couple in 2023 with Princess, because we like the itineraries, and the rest are with Celebrity and HAL for 2024 and it’s doubtful we’ll book Princess again anytime soon.  It’s not that Princess is bad (although there are a few things that just don’t sit well with us at all) but it’s that other lines are offering more for our money and  a much better experience.   We’ll see what the future holds for us.

[JimmyVWine]

5 hours ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

I paid $7000 including gratuities (but no beverage package) for 10 days rt Miami with stops in Bahamas, Bermuda (cancelled due to weather) Charleston and port Canaveral. 

 

5 hours ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

the room has a comfortable loveseat and a desk with.a chair. 
it’s comparable to a mini suite on princess in layout and price but far, far better. 

 

Totally understand how your experience on Oceania is wonderful.  In my next life I want to come back as an Oceania customer.  But I take issue with the notion that the price you paid is comparable to a MS on Princess.  While Princess does not have an itinerary comparable to the one you are on, I did find an 11 day cruise from NY to FL with a number of great Caribbean ports and the Plus Package Price for a MS ranged from $4,800 to $5,300 (for two people),  And that includes gratuities and a drink package.  Your $7,000 will be close to $7,500-$8,000 after drinks for two people are added in for 10 days. So 10 days for $7,500 isn't really comparable to $4,800 for 11 days.  And generally speaking, I think that cruises to Caribbean ports such as St. Maarten, St. Kitts, Aruba and Curacao run more expensive than those to Bermuda and the Bahamas.  So if Oceania does have a similar cruise to the one offered by Princess, it may well be closer to $9,000 after drinks are added.  Again, I'm not dissing your cruise.  I'd love to get on an Oceania ship.  But the reason I don't is price difference and I think the difference is pretty substantial.

Edited March 16, 2023 by JimmyVWine

[Lady Arwen]

1 hour ago, JimmyVWine said:

 

 

Totally understand how your experience on Oceania is wonderful.  In my next life I want to come back as an Oceania customer.  But I take issue with the notion that the price you paid is comparable to a MS on Princess.  While Princess does not have an itinerary comparable to the one you are on, I did find an 11 day cruise from NY to FL with a number of great Caribbean ports and the Plus Package Price for a MS ranged from $4,800 to $5,300 (for two people),  And that includes gratuities and a drink package.  Your $7,000 will be close to $7,500-$8,000 after drinks for two people are added in for 10 days. So 10 days for $7,500 isn't really comparable to $4,800 for 11 days.  And generally speaking, I think that cruises to Caribbean ports such as St. Maarten, St. Kitts, Aruba and Curacao run more expensive than those to Bermuda and the Bahamas.  So if Oceania does have a similar cruise to the one offered by Princess, it may well be closer to $9,000 after drinks are added.  Again, I'm not dissing your cruise.  I'd love to get on an Oceania ship.  But the reason I don't is price difference and I think the difference is pretty substantial.

You are correct.  We have a mini suite booked for our next cruise on Regal Princess, 12 nights British Isles with the Plus Package and we paid (Canadian) $6580.00 for both of us using $600.00 FCC, so actual total would have been about $7200.00 (Canadian). Obviously, less in US dollars. We priced Oceania and it was much, much more all in. 

Edited March 16, 2023 by Lady Arwen

[Ken the cruiser]

9 hours ago, JimmyVWine said:

 

 

Totally understand how your experience on Oceania is wonderful.  In my next life I want to come back as an Oceania customer.  But I take issue with the notion that the price you paid is comparable to a MS on Princess.  While Princess does not have an itinerary comparable to the one you are on, I did find an 11 day cruise from NY to FL with a number of great Caribbean ports and the Plus Package Price for a MS ranged from $4,800 to $5,300 (for two people),  And that includes gratuities and a drink package.  Your $7,000 will be close to $7,500-$8,000 after drinks for two people are added in for 10 days. So 10 days for $7,500 isn't really comparable to $4,800 for 11 days.  And generally speaking, I think that cruises to Caribbean ports such as St. Maarten, St. Kitts, Aruba and Curacao run more expensive than those to Bermuda and the Bahamas.  So if Oceania does have a similar cruise to the one offered by Princess, it may well be closer to $9,000 after drinks are added.  Again, I'm not dissing your cruise.  I'd love to get on an Oceania ship.  But the reason I don't is price difference and I think the difference is pretty substantial.

What’s funny is that we jumped from HAL and their Vista suite cabins back in 2017 to try Oceania Concierge balcony cabins for about 10 cruises. Then we found we could book a Celebrity sky suite for about the same price as an Oceania Concierge balcony cabin. However, since 2019 we now mostly book either Princess vista suites or Club Class cabins or Celebrity Aqua cabins and have never cruised with Oceania since. For the price Oceania is asking for their veranda cabins along with their “small ship” entertainment, their cruises just weren’t worth it anymore for us.