Why You Should Bring Hard Copies Of Your Cruise Documents

[Jadn13]

Why you should bring  hard documents of your cruise booking -Story Time

 

We have had a huge issue with our drink packages not being recognized  by our Medallions on the CB the last 2 weeks.
Visited guest services 7 times trying to get it resolved and was given the run around. They even “opened an investigation”  and tried to tell me that we didn’t have a package for this voyage (we did).  It was on me to explain to them that the package worked in other areas on the Premium Desserts, Crew Appreciation and Wifi but not on drinks before they decided to find an actual solution. 

Funny thing-Every time you print your charges from the kiosk your available packages are listed but they were still willing to deny that we had drinks 

 

All was resolved today (Thursday) we disembark on Saturday. It definitely created a bit of stress as we know once you leave you’ll never recoup those charges

 

📃🚢-Bring hard copies of your booking docs that shows any packages, OBC, transfers or any pre cruise bookings.

 

***They did ask us to bring our booking docs to guest services 

 

-

[Bemidji Ty]

Good advice.

 

[azbirdmom]

Sorry it turned into such a hassle for you, it shouldn't have to be that way.  Could you see Plus listed under packages on your Medallion?  Given all of the issues with casino bookings I check there and in the Personalizer frequently to make sure it is still listed.  And it's good advice to always take hard copies of documents along.  In fact every time we change something that is listed on the Travel Summary I download a new version and save it to a file on my computer.  That has been helpful at times when I've had to prove out that I had certain perks and then they mysteriously disappeared.  It doesn't hurt to be overprepared!

Edited May 11, 2023 by azbirdmom

[EDDY0827]

Absolute gold star advice! I lost $700 with them because I couldn't back up

my claims of not getting any of the promised money back (400 dep. and $300 in casino play) on a casino cruise.

Hard lesson learned.

[Jadn13]

1 minute ago, azbirdmom said:

Sorry it turned into such a hassle for you, it shouldn't have to be that way.  Could you see Plus listed under packages on your Medallion?  Given all of the issues with casino bookings I check there and in the Personalizer frequently to make sure it is still listed there.  And it's good advice to always take hard copies of documents along.  In fact every time we change something that is listed on the Travel Summary I download a new version and save it to a file on my computer.  That has been helpful at times when I've had to prove out that I had certain perks and then they mysteriously disappeared.  It doesn't hurt to be overprepared!

It was listed on our Special Services section…turns out the package had not been “activated” at least that’s what they are saying. 

[azbirdmom]

3 minutes ago, EDDY0827 said:

Absolute gold star advice! I lost $700 with them because I couldn't back up

my claims of not getting any of the promised money back (400 dep. and $300 in casino play) on a casino cruise.

Hard lesson learned.

 

Oh my, I've had to prove my free play at times but have never had a problem with getting the deposit that turns into OBC credited.  Hope they made it right for you at some point.

[azbirdmom]

3 minutes ago, Jadn13 said:

It was listed on our Special Services section…turns out the package had not been “activated” at least that’s what they are saying. 

 

And it took them a long time to figure that out?  Yikes.

[rjack22]

I always have hard copies of everything with me.   Travel summary, tours, hotels, etc.    I think it is risky to rely on your phone entirely.    What if something happens to your phone and it isn't useable?   I had a phone "blow up" on me recently.  The battery swelled and popped the case wide open.   If that had happened on a cruise I wouldn't have had any documentation with me.  I always have backup.  If I don't need it I don't need it.

[memoak]

We always print out the “travel summary” and bring with us. We seem to always have trouble with them recognizing our casino cash and having the summary with the amounts shown is helpful

[Paula_MacFan]

7 minutes ago, azbirdmom said:

In fact every time we change something that is listed on the Travel Summary I download a new version and save it to a file on my computer.  That has been helpful at times when I've had to prove out that I had certain perks and then they mysteriously disappeared.  

I do the exact same thing!  I also print out our Travel Summary and bring it along.  Better safe than sorry.

[fabby50]

I take hardcopies of documentation for any type of vacation.  Biggest hassle was a reservation in Hawaii that they somehow put under my middle name, tried to check in and they kept insisting they couldn't find my reservation and we were at the wrong hotel.  It was pre-paid and if I hadn't had the hard copies, I know they wouldn't have kept looking.  Took at least an hour and several people for them to finally find it, then they tried to blame a 3rd party booking site, when the emails I had were directly from the hotel and I didn't use a 3rd party.  Never would admit it was their problem, not someone else's.

[kokopelli-az]

If you have a problem with your onboard account not reflecting all the perks or OBC you are supposed to receive, your back-up documentation will basically be the only way you can prove what you are supposed to get.   We have had numerous occasions (the last one in April on the Caribbean Princess) where part of our OBC was not listed.    I had all our printouts showing what we were supposed to get and it finally was added to our account.   But it was still a pain.   Had I not had the printouts, I'm sure we would have never seen the missing OBC.   

 

So check your onboard account at the very beginning of the cruise (and throughout the cruise) to be sure it is correct.   

[phabric]

I purchase the soda package, WiFi and tips  for each cruise.  When I have a B2B cruises, the first cruise I had no problem with the soda package. On the second cruise of the B2B, the server told me I had to pay for the soda.  I go to Guest Services, no record showing I purchased the soda package for that cruise.  I went to get my copy of my Travel Summary that shows everything that I purchased. He added the soda package to my account.  He even said I had not purchased WiFi again showed him the Travel Summary.  This has happened on 2 cruises.

 

 I bring a copy of my Travel Summary, pre cruise purchases and everything I booked for that cruise.

Edited May 11, 2023 by phabric

[Shelly97060]

1 hour ago, Jadn13 said:

It was listed on our Special Services section…turns out the package had not been “activated” at least that’s what they are saying. 

On my last cruise my package was activated but DH package was not.  I agree it’s always a good idea to print and bring your Travel Summary.

[memoak]

45 minutes ago, Shelly97060 said:

On my last cruise my package was activated but DH package was not.  I agree it’s always a good idea to print and bring your Travel Summary.

Even better. On some devices my plus package show up on the app and on others  it does not. Another reason I always bring a hard copy of travel summary

[Sprocket]

You can always go to the Internet Cafe if you have wifi and print them there if you forget.

[MissP22]

You must have had on heck of a bar tab until they straightened things out. 😮

[phabric]

1 hour ago, Sprocket said:

You can always go to the Internet Cafe if you have wifi and print them there if you forget.

If you are talking about printing your Travel Summary, your cruise on your Personalizer disappears once on the ship.

[Sprocket]

Just now, phabric said:

If you are talking about printing your Travel Summary, your cruise on your Personalizer disappears once on the ship.

 

Should still be in the email though that they sent when I booked it.

[Napagirl]

I needed to see this! My husband likes to have hard copies of everything when we travel and I was thinking - everything is digital now, we don't need this. I was wrong. Don't tell my husband though.

[Steelers36]

4 hours ago, azbirdmom said:

Sorry it turned into such a hassle for you, it shouldn't have to be that way.  Could you see Plus listed under packages on your Medallion?  Given all of the issues with casino bookings I check there and in the Personalizer frequently to make sure it is still listed.  And it's good advice to always take hard copies of documents along.  In fact every time we change something that is listed on the Travel Summary I download a new version and save it to a file on my computer.  That has been helpful at times when I've had to prove out that I had certain perks and then they mysteriously disappeared.  It doesn't hurt to be overprepared!

Okay, so you can all call me anal, but your post made me think of my file folder from our Mediterranean voyages from last Fall.  Every time I made a change to booking for fare reduction, or whatever, I saved off doc's for that voyage, or all of them.  Here is my File Folder content from Windows:

 

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\ISLAND - 2022-10-31 - EZ-Air 7.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\ISLAND - 2022-10-31 - EZ-Air 9.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\ISLAND - 2022-10-31 - EZ-Air 10.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\ISLAND - 2022-10-31 - EZ-Air 11 - eTickets.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\ISLAND - 2022-10-31 - Onboard Credits 1.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\ISLAND - 2022-10-31 - Onboard Credits 2.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\ISLAND - 2022-10-31 - Onboard Credits 5.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\ISLAND - 2022-10-31 - Onboard Credits 6.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\ISLAND - 2022-10-31 - Onboard Credits 7.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\ISLAND - 2022-10-31 - Onboard Credits 8.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\ISLAND - 2022-10-31 - Onboard Credits 9.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\ISLAND - 2022-10-31 - Onboard Credits 10.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\ISLAND - 2022-10-31 - Reservations & Purchases 1.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\ISLAND - 2022-10-31 - Reservations & Purchases 3.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\ISLAND - 2022-10-31 - Reservations & Purchases 5.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\ISLAND - 2022-10-31 - Reservations & Purchases 6.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\ISLAND - 2022-10-31 - Reservations & Purchases 7.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\ISLAND - 2022-10-31 - Reservations & Purchases 8.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\ISLAND - 2022-10-31 - Reservations & Purchases 9.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\ISLAND - 2022-10-31 - Reservations & Purchases 10.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\ISLAND - 2022-10-31 - Travel Summary 1.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\ISLAND - 2022-10-31 - Travel Summary 2.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\ISLAND - 2022-10-31 - Travel Summary 3.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\ISLAND - 2022-10-31 - Travel Summary 4.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\ISLAND - 2022-10-31 - Travel Summary 5.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\ISLAND - 2022-10-31 - Travel Summary 6.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\ISLAND - 2022-10-31 - Travel Summary 7.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\ISLAND - 2022-10-31 - Travel Summary 8.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\ISLAND - 2022-10-31 - Travel Summary 9.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\ISLAND - 2022-10-31 - Travel Summary 10.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-01 - EZ-Air 6.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-01 - EZ-Air 7.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-01 - EZ-Air 8 - eTickets.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-01 - Onboard Credits 1.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-01 - Onboard Credits 2.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-01 - Onboard Credits 5.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-01 - Onboard Credits 6.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-01 - Onboard Credits 7.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-01 - Reservations & Purchases 1.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-01 - Reservations & Purchases 3.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-01 - Reservations & Purchases 5.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-01 - Reservations & Purchases 6.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-01 - Reservations & Purchases 7.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-01 - Travel Summary 1.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-01 - Travel Summary 2.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-01 - Travel Summary 3.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-01 - Travel Summary 4.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-01 - Travel Summary 5.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-01 - Travel Summary 6.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-01 - Travel Summary 7.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-01 - Travel Summary 8.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-08 - Onboard Credits 1.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-08 - Onboard Credits 2.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-08 - Onboard Credits 4.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-08 - Onboard Credits 5.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-08 - Onboard Credits 6.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-08 - Onboard Credits 7.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-08 - Reservations & Purchases 1.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-08 - Reservations & Purchases 5.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-08 - Reservations & Purchases 6.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-08 - Reservations & Purchases 7.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-08 - Travel Summary 1.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-08 - Travel Summary 2.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-08 - Travel Summary 3.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-08 - Travel Summary 4.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-08 - Travel Summary 5.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-08 - Travel Summary 6.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-08 - Travel Summary 7.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-15 - Onboard Credits 1.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-15 - Onboard Credits 2.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-15 - Onboard Credits 4.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-15 - Onboard Credits 5.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-15 - Onboard Credits 6.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-15 - Onboard Credits 7.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-15 - Onboard Credits 8.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-15 - Reservations & Purchases 1.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-15 - Reservations & Purchases 5.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-15 - Reservations & Purchases 6.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-15 - Reservations & Purchases 7.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-15 - Reservations & Purchases 8.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-15 - Travel Summary 1.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-15 - Travel Summary 2.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-15 - Travel Summary 4.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-15 - Travel Summary 5.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-15 - Travel Summary 6.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-15 - Travel Summary 7.pdf"

"C:\...\Princess Booking Docs\REGAL - 2022-10-15 - Travel Summary 8.pdf"

😁

 

PS - I only brought hard copies of the latest versions, but I had all the history on my laptop.

Edited May 11, 2023 by Steelers36

[Paula_MacFan]

57 minutes ago, Sprocket said:

 

Should still be in the email though that they sent when I booked it.

Right, but you don't get an updated Travel Summary email every time you book an excursion or make other changes or purchases.  That's why I keep an updated copy after any changes or purchases are made and bring the final with me on the ship.  

[malba2366]

They must have a bunch of clueless people working on the ships.  How would it be possible for you to have the unlimited deserts without the drink package.  I don't work for Princess, and know that it is not possible.

[Lady Arwen]

I print a copy of virtually everything to do with our trip.  I have a document holder with individual tabs that I label accordingly.  Goes in my carryon, so it’s always handy.  Makes me feel secure knowing I have all of our ducks in a row should something goes awry when we board.  

[Sea Hag]

I'm not arguing against bringing printed copies of all relevant documents. I do that, and I'll continue doing that. Not arguing against it. But. On our last cruise, we had a problem with our obc, and the customer service desk absolutely refused to look at the printout. More than one of them. They absolutely refused to even look at it so we could point out what we meant. I found that odd at the time, and I still do.