First (second) impressions of Princess

[TopofWorld]

Hi ev1. As the countdown for my summer cruise with Sun Princess continues, I thought I would share my (subjective) impressions of Princess Cruises. This is our second cruise with them but admittedly many years have gone by ever since. So, overall to me Princess does not seem to be knowing what is doing at least IT-wise and customer service wise. 

1. Too many issues with their app - usually not working correctly, completely down, wrong information ....

2. Constant changes in my booking - they cancelled the reservation 3 times (their mistake) and my TA kept rushing to put it back on.

3. Dismal website and the need/command to only use their app for certain functions (checkin, dining reservations ....) makes it even more frustrating.

4. Booked a D2 cabin, and all of a sudden it became a D0 category with Signature benefits -now they say they made a mistake, no Signature benefits. No biggie (since when I originally booked I was not expecting such benefits) but still these constant "mishaps"do not instill trust.

 

As I said, these are my first impressions pre-cruise. I certainly hope I am proven wrong and happily surprised once on board.

[PMGS247]

Just my own 0.02 from my experience....

 

1. App's never been perfect but I've not had the extent of issues you describe here.  Works pretty well most of the time.  Similarly imperfect to apps on other cruise lines, albeit in a situation where Princess is more forcible about what must be done on the app without giving alternative options like using the website.

 

2. Never experienced this.

 

3. Similar to #1 and as I pointed out Princess has really gotten restrictive with what you can do on the web site vs what must be done on the app.  While I haven't really had any overly memorable problems with the app over the years I definitely find myself wishing I could just do it through the website sometimes.  Having said that you can do more through the website than you might actually think, including specifically check-in and dining reservations.  I'll paste a screenshot with brief instructions at the end of this.

 

4. I got nothing here other than specifically with the Sun princess I've seen few accounts of room-type confusion with the new ship.  I think this is a symptom of it being a new ship. With humans involved mistakes are always possible but I think these types of things are happening a little more frequently with the brand new ship layout.

 

Check-in & dining thru the website...

 

Here's the "Manage Booking" screen where they push you towards the app. Click on the "Try our web version" link, screen shot below.

 

The system it will take you isn't perfect either and I get the feeling you're going to find yourself frustrated at some point, but it is an alternative to the app you don't seem to like, and the only annoying part is getting logged in....once you've navigated a bit of a login puzzle it's fine. 

 

After clicking the link below It may ask you to "Link Your Booking" which you can try entering your booking ID if you want but it will probably just give you an error, in which case just hit the cancel button and it will take you back to the main "Ocean Ready" login screen.  Enter your main princess login information if it's not already pre-populated.  Here's where it gets a little weird. After you click login it will probably take you back to the "Link Your Booking" screen right back where you started.  You have to click cancel AGAIN to get back to the Ocean Ready login, then click login AGAIN.  This will feel like doing the same thing twice expecting a different result but you WILL get a different result, on the second Login click it will take you to a screen with your travel checklist on it where you can go through all the check-in items and you can click "Dine My Way" at the bottom to manage dining reservations.

 

Main link to web version:

 

 

Link your booking screen, always click cancel when this comes up:

 

Travel checklist & other website based options screen:

 

 

Edited March 20 by PMGS247

[2and2]

1 hour ago, TopofWorld said:

Hi ev1. As the countdown for my summer cruise with Sun Princess continues, I thought I would share my (subjective) impressions of Princess Cruises. This is our second cruise with them but admittedly many years have gone by ever since. So, overall to me Princess does not seem to be knowing what is doing at least IT-wise and customer service wise. 

1. Too many issues with their app - usually not working correctly, completely down, wrong information ....

2. Constant changes in my booking - they cancelled the reservation 3 times (their mistake) and my TA kept rushing to put it back on.

3. Dismal website and the need/command to only use their app for certain functions (checkin, dining reservations ....) makes it even more frustrating.

4. Booked a D2 cabin, and all of a sudden it became a D0 category with Signature benefits -now they say they made a mistake, no Signature benefits. No biggie (since when I originally booked I was not expecting such benefits) but still these constant "mishaps"do not instill trust.

 

As I said, these are my first impressions pre-cruise. I certainly hope I am proven wrong and happily surprised once on board.

I had same issues as you. I did not and could not use the app for anything pre cruise. I used the laptop to get ocean ready and medallions set up, and phoned in to make specialty dinning.   The only time I even used the app onboard was to use the deck map.  I agree, it was frustrating, but once I got on board it was really nice.

[RNRcruisers]

I haven't had any of those problems but I know that can be frustrating. That being said, on board is totally separate. I am sure you will have a great time!

 

[TopofWorld]

Thank you so very much for your time. Really appreciated. Just an example of the inconsistency: The app says I have fully checked in and "Ready to Sail". The website says my checkin is Incomplete and the path you showed me (Try our web version) says I need to "Choose you Medallion wearable" with an orange exclamation point. Selecting that takes me to a page to Shop for a wearable. Selecting Shop takes me to a page with Medallion gadgets but no option to buy anything. Just says "Skip and Continue" and then takes me back to the Medallion wearables. Another example: Selecting Dine My Way from the path you suggested,takes me to a nice screen with the cruise itinerary on the left, and options Create New Reservation and Book Dining Plan. Selecting Create a New Reservation takes me to a page with various options that none is clickable. No error message, no informatory message (too early?? too late??? not yet available to your category??? - who knows?). So my point was, they have 2 avenues (web & app) with different info for the same reservation. Not user friendly etc etc. This does not instill customer confidence. But, they get the benefit of the doubt and wait until we are actually onboard.

Take care and happy sailings

[Esprit]

I've just followed the above instructions and when I click on "cancel" then click on "login" I get a window showing a complete stranger's name (a lady) and date of birth in1948. There's a profile picture of her too in the top right corner of the screen.

What on earth is going on!?!

Is this because I'm in the UK?

Edited March 20 by Esprit

[PMGS247]

1 minute ago, Esprit said:

I've just followed the above instructions and when I click on "cancel" then click on "login" I get a window showing a complete stranger's name (a lady) and date of birth in1948. There's a profile picture of her too in the top right corner of the screen.

What on earth is going on!?!

 

lol I got nothing....the cruise industry in general has some serious IT shortfalls and Princess is right up there with the worst of them.

Edited March 20 by PMGS247

[PMGS247]

19 minutes ago, TopofWorld said:

Thank you so very much for your time. Really appreciated. Just an example of the inconsistency: The app says I have fully checked in and "Ready to Sail". The website says my checkin is Incomplete and the path you showed me (Try our web version) says I need to "Choose you Medallion wearable" with an orange exclamation point. Selecting that takes me to a page to Shop for a wearable. Selecting Shop takes me to a page with Medallion gadgets but no option to buy anything. Just says "Skip and Continue" and then takes me back to the Medallion wearables. Another example: Selecting Dine My Way from the path you suggested,takes me to a nice screen with the cruise itinerary on the left, and options Create New Reservation and Book Dining Plan. Selecting Create a New Reservation takes me to a page with various options that none is clickable. No error message, no informatory message (too early?? too late??? not yet available to your category??? - who knows?). So my point was, they have 2 avenues (web & app) with different info for the same reservation. Not user friendly etc etc. This does not instill customer confidence. But, they get the benefit of the doubt and wait until we are actually onboard.

Take care and happy sailings

 

good luck....the online systems definitely aren't great, although you seem to be getting a particularly severe sequence of mishaps, the likes of which I haven't personally experienced. There is thankfully no connection between this and the on-board experience so I would maintain optimism there.

[Luv2CtheMouse9]

I agree that their app and website are awful. If you call customer service 3 times, you will get 6 different answers. 😕  

[voljeep]

13 minutes ago, Luv2CtheMouse9 said:

I agree that their app and website are awful. If you call customer service 3 times, you will get 6 different answers. 😕  

nothing wrong with that if you know the answer you are looking for 😉

[mamafun]

4 hours ago, TopofWorld said:

3. Dismal website and the need/command to only use their app for certain functions (checkin, dining reservations ....) makes it even more frustrating.

 

You can definitely check in and make reservations online via the website. I have done it in the last few weeks.