Cruise Planner experience- BAD!

[onboard2005]

I called my cruise planner today to add my daughter on my cruise. He was out on vacation so I spoke to someone else.  This girl was so hard to understand and repeated herself on everything she did. She was confusing to understand. I wanted to add my daughter and add the Plus pkg. Simple enough. She added my daughter and then asked about transfers. I told her we were driving to the port. She then said she would take my payment while I had her on the phone. I said we would make payments online. She said that is not possible anymore. Well,  I knew that was wrong and I just wanted to get off the phone by this time. When I got off and looked at the email of the booking confirmation, I couldn't figure what a $65 charge was for a package.  I went on the website travel summary for more detail. She added a transfer from ship to airport! Now I ask you, if I stated we were driving to the port,  how would you figure we were going home! I removed the transfers and everything looks correct now. I just can't believe the incompetence of someone that is a planner and supposed to be knowledgeable and helpful. I felt exhausted after talking to her!!  Anyone else have negative experiences?

[SiliconCruiser]

I'd suggest speaking to a travel agent  and abandoning any services from Princess.  Sounds like you got sent to an off-shore call center (probably Philippines.)

 

[sunviking90]

My cruise planner always wants to take my payment personally. I think she told me she doesn’t get the full credit if I pay online? Something like that. 
I think their systems default to add transfers and insurance and that may be how the errors happen. She always mentions having to take them off. 
Having said that, I’ve never quite felt like I “gelled” with her, and I was annoyed last week when I left her a message to book a cruise, a specific cabin number, etc. I got an email hold with a different cabin number, insurance, and transfers when we also live at the port, AND I never buy Princess transfers. I think she was rushing to get it done, but to me that’s sloppy. I called her and she said the cabin I requested wasn’t available, and I checked and it was. She apologized, took off the extras, but I decided not to book as I was just not feeling good about it, by this point.

She has been helpful at times (moving a guarantee assignment to another available cabin I wanted), etc, but I decided to move on. 
I ended up booking with a TA.

 

[onboard2005]

That's what I was thinking. She definitely was not familiar with any of it.  I'm platinum and have become very familiar with how bookings go. I should have waited for my regular planner, he's been there for years.

[cr8tiv1]

It really is too bad that Cruise Critic does not allow sharing of TAs.  I would not even consider using a Princess agent.  Been there, done that.  
 

With current technology, it is so simple to work with my agent. I have never met her face to face, but we are in constant contact.  At least we live in the same state. HaHa.  She is more than my TA, she is a friend.  

[mlgb]

I agree that the cruise line reps are beyond awful and they have no authority to do anything. Better to just take a guarantee cabin booked online!

[cr8tiv1]

2 minutes ago, mlgb said:

I agree that the cruise line reps are beyond awful and they have no authority to do anything. Better to just take a guarantee cabin booked online!

My guess is the demand is there (by passengers), but Princess would see right through our reasonings.  Maybe a cap of x number of cabins per category/per voyage.  Bet they would have a lot of takers. 

[Mary loves to travel]

We have an excellent Princess Vacation Planner!    She's responsive, friendly, and knows her stuff.

 

I've asked about how she gets "credit" for the booking, two key points:

 - If I make the booking myself on the web site & transfer to her, she gets no credit, but still helps me.   If I find a cruise we want, I put it on a Courtesy Hold, then email her to actually make the booking (she works well by phone, too, just whatever people prefer).

 - She's told me it's fine for me to make any payments beyond the deposit on the website; doesn't affect her getting credit for making the booking.

 

Hope this helps,

Mary

[Gwendy]

Have used Vacation planner twice from Australia.  Disinterested and useless are about the kindest things I can say.  

[Fortunate 2 travel]

I had a vacation planner call me after I had made a couple of bookings to see if he could help me.  He mentioned that he had been assigned as my VP. I chatted with him for a few minutes.  He had no idea what the Sanctuary is, had never been on a cruise and had never traveled out of the state he lived in.  We had a fantastic VP for years that was amazing.  I think she retired.  My husband gets emails from a different VP at least 3 times per week.  They list his cruise member number but it is incorrect.  That kind of help I don’t need.

[Yehootu]

I normally book our travel online ,then transfer to a TA. My TA can get me interline fares which have to be booked outside Princess. I just used a Princess PVP who contacted me after I'd done a blast mailing to Princess about new cabin booking procedures. I'm very impressed and this will not be a booking I move outside Princess.

[Lady Arwen]

I’m one of the lucky ones.  Our CVP is outstanding!  Always returns calls or emails within a couple of hours.  She’s always on top of everything and no request is ever denied, maybe just tweaked a bit.  I wouldn’t even think of booking a cruise without her.  Last week I made final payment on a cruise and all of a sudden we have $400 OBC!  She is the best and I wish I could share her name with you.

[memoak]

35 minutes ago, Lady Arwen said:

I’m one of the lucky ones.  Our CVP is outstanding!  Always returns calls or emails within a couple of hours.  She’s always on top of everything and no request is ever denied, maybe just tweaked a bit.  I wouldn’t even think of booking a cruise without her.  Last week I made final payment on a cruise and all of a sudden we have $400 OBC!  She is the best and I wish I could share her name with you.

Same here I have had the same CVP for years and she not only takes care of everything but anticipates ,finds cruises years in advance she knows we would like and goes straight to customer relations for me. Example I got Covid and was isolated for 6 days. Forgot to keep the letter for FCC and ship didn’t have a record of it. I called her and now I have $1,700 in credits. It is now great she can book our casino comps for us

[Lady Arwen]

1 minute ago, memoak said:

Same here I have had the same CVP for years and she not only takes care of everything but anticipates ,finds cruises years in advance she knows we would like and goes straight to customer relations for me. Example I got Covid and was isolated for 6 days. Forgot to keep the letter for FCC and ship didn’t have a record of it. I called her and now I have $1,700 in credits. It is now great she can book our casino comps for us

Sounds like our CVP!  I would not be surprised if we share the same, totally awesome, person.

[BabySarge]

To the OP maybe send an email or make a call to your CVP if they are back from vacation and you can speak with them and tell them about the service you received from a member of their "support team".  If you have been happy with the service you received from your CVP previously, I would give them the chance to make it right with you and at the very least for them to possibly have that individual removed from their support team in future.  If nothing else they should be made aware that a member of their "support team" isn't being very supportive and may be costing them business.

 

I have had hit and miss experiences with CVP's at Princess over the years but for the last six years I have had a wonderful CVP with Princess and when he goes on vacation, I have to say his support team is just as good as he is. 

 

Hope you get it all sorted and have a wonderful cruise.

 

[donswife]

I had a great experience with a CVP support person regarding a move over to Discovery from a canceled Diamond booking last year. I was originally told my EZair flights were not part of the move-over,  but he was able to rebook us on the flights of my choice (which would have been several hundred more otherwise) with no additional cost to us.

[MissP22]

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Edited June 3, 2023 by MissP22

[onboard2005]

I left a detailed message for my cruise planner.  I'll see what his response is. Thank you all for your input. 

[Thrak]

I got a call from a Princess planner in 2018. He "welcomed" me to Princess and said he knew I would love cruising with them.  As a "new cruiser who was looking for their first cruise" he had gone ahead and assigned me a Captain's Circle number and would be my personal planner. The guy was an idiot. I told him I was Platinum, already had a Captain's Circle number, and had absolutely zero interest in his services. I told him to get rid of the new account and the new number and to never bother me again.

Edited June 3, 2023 by Thrak

[onboard2005]

Well, that's a wild story! 

I really wonder about the staff sometimes.  I've had some idiots and other times I've had some very helpful ones that really know the cruise business.  I guess it's a hit or miss.

[MissP22]

11 hours ago, Thrak said:

I got a call from a Princess planner in 2018. He "welcomed" me to Princess and said he knew I would love cruising with them.  As a "new cruiser who was looking for their first cruise" he had gone ahead and assigned me a Captain's Circle number and would be my personal planner. The guy was an idiot. I told him I was Platinum, already had a Captain's Circle number, and had absolutely zero interest in his services. I told him to get rid of the new account and the new number and to never bother me again.

I'm still trying to determine just what a Princess planner is going to do for me. 

I certainly don't need someone to pick my cruise for me.

I'm reading about additional OBC being granted but why would that happen for no reason? Confused?? 

Is there any reason to have someone try to sell me on a cruise?

[billco]

Over the years I have had good and bad experiences with both CVPs and TAs. I am very happy with my current CVP who I have been booking with since the pandemic ended. She has done a few things that I don't think a TA would be able to do. For example, when we had Covid last August on the Enchanted it seemed like it was taking forever to get our meal allowance from Princess. I asked my CVP to look into it. Seems she had a friend who worked in the Customer Relations office. I had a check in a couple weeks.

I've had equally good experience with TAs, but I decided to just stay with Princess CVPs after my last TA told me she wouldn't accept any more bookings since I was too high maintenance and she wasn't making any money over the time she had to spend on me. My CVP hasn't told me that yet. 

[memoak]

3 hours ago, MissP22 said:

I'm still trying to determine just what a Princess planner is going to do for me. 

I certainly don't need someone to pick my cruise for me.

I'm reading about additional OBC being granted but why would that happen for no reason? Confused?? 

Is there any reason to have someone try to sell me on a cruise?

My CVP can boook all my casino comp cruises so I don’t have to deal with casino group. She can go directly to customer relations and get issues dealt with quickly like getting FCC credits for Covid. And just so much more. 

[MissP22]

2 minutes ago, memoak said:

My CVP can boook all my casino comp cruises so I don’t have to deal with casino group. She can go directly to customer relations and get issues dealt with quickly like getting FCC credits for Covid. And just so much more. 

I don't have to concern myself with casino comp credits nor FCC credits for Covid but I'm still waiting to read about the other items. 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

On 6/3/2023 at 8:52 AM, Lady Arwen said:

Our CVP is outstanding!   Last week I made final payment on a cruise and all of a sudden we have $400 OBC!

not mine. She gave us $25 OBC. It's better than nothing, but nowhere near $400.