Crown Princess out of San Francisco April 20

[jacketwatch]

We recently completed this cruise out of San Francisco with stops in Santa Barbara, LA, San Diego, and Ensanada Mexico. As usual everything on board, which is fine. I was very impressed with the service overall.
 

however, I was very disappointed with the service from my so-called Tripadvisor beforehand. He was assigned by Princess to us and he told us that the only place that we could have our meals without a cost was the horizon buffet. I couldn’t believe this I asked him to check with the supervisor and he said when he got back to me that is the case. I called again and spoke to somebody else and she also told me that the only free meals were in the horizon buffet. So I called my travel agent who called Princess and of course this is not true. We ended up having our meals in the Michelangelo dining room at 7 PM every day and we were treated very well.

 

I called My advisor back and I said you really need to double check this. This simply can’t be true. I told him to ask another supervisor. He did and he got back to me and he confirmed that indeed we can have our meals in one of the main dining rooms. However, I can’t believe that two separate people with princess would tell us the only place we can eat free is in the buffet. I really don’t know if this is general incompetence or that they’re trying to upsell dining packages.  
 

I must say that we’ve cruised other lines as well and my experience seems to be that once you’re on the ship, you’re treated very well though how you are treated when calling CS is spotty to say the least. 
 

has anybody else had this experience about being told you cannot eat free except and then horizon Court? 
 

Thank you. 
 

 

[PacnGoNow]

8 minutes ago, jacketwatch said:

We recently completed this cruise out of San Francisco with stops in Santa Barbara, LA, San Diego, and Ensanada Mexico. As usual everything on board, which is fine. I was very impressed with the service overall.
 

however, I was very disappointed with the service from my so-called Tripadvisor beforehand. He was assigned by Princess to us and he told us that the only place that we could have our meals without a cost was the horizon buffet. I couldn’t believe this I asked him to check with the supervisor and he said when he got back to me that is the case. I called again and spoke to somebody else and she also told me that the only free meals were in the horizon buffet. So I called my travel agent who called Princess and of course this is not true. We ended up having our meals in the Michelangelo dining room at 7 PM every day and we were treated very well.

 

I called My advisor back and I said you really need to double check this. This simply can’t be true. I told him to ask another supervisor. He did and he got back to me and he confirmed that indeed we can have our meals in one of the main dining rooms. However, I can’t believe that two separate people with princess would tell us the only place we can eat free is in the buffet. I really don’t know if this is general incompetence or that they’re trying to upsell dining packages.  
 

I must say that we’ve cruised other lines as well and my experience seems to be that once you’re on the ship, you’re treated very well though how you are treated when calling CS is spotty to say the least. 
 

has anybody else had this experience about being told you cannot eat free except and then horizon Court? 
 

Thank you. 
 

 

Absolutely not!  Where did this trip advisor cone from?  Was it Princess Promotions, a cruise tour representative?  Concierge?  Never heard of this.  Especially, since you had a TA.

Was this someone in the Philippines?

 

SMH

[jacketwatch]

Actually, he sounded like he was from Great Britain. 
 

He was assigned to me by Princess and the number he called from was a Princess number. This was not a third-party. And don’t forget I called Princess back myself and talk to another person there who said the same thing. These people are definitely from Princess. 

[suekel]

I sent an email to the guy in charge of customer service.  A woman named Janet called me back to reassure me that upper management is aware of how absolutely terrible their customer service is.  We'll see if anything changes.  

[Paula_MacFan]

I understand your frustration with being given incorrect information by a rep; however, Princess dining is explained on their website.  

 

Included dining:  https://www.princess.com/en-us/ships-and-experience/onboard-experience/food-and-dining/whats-included

 

Other tabs on that same page describe specialty dining and other options.  The website has detailed deck plans if there is any confusion over what venues are available on each ship.

 

I get that people like to talk to a real person, but at the same time there is a large amount of easily accessible information on the Princess website that might be a good starting point before calling someone on the phone. 

 

[jacketwatch]

It’s not just Princess. I’ve had horrible experiences with X and Royal  CS as well. 

May I know what email you used? I’d like to contact them as well.

 

Larry 

[jacketwatch]

2 minutes ago, Paula_MacFan said:

I understand your frustration with being given incorrect information by a rep; however, Princess dining is explained on their website.  

 

Included dining:  https://www.princess.com/en-us/ships-and-experience/onboard-experience/food-and-dining/whats-included

 

Other tabs on that same page describe specialty dining and other options.  The website has detailed deck plans if there is any confusion over what venues are available on each ship.

 

I get that people like to talk to a real person, but at the same time there is a large amount of easily accessible information on the Princess website that might be a good starting point before calling someone on the phone. 
 

Actually, they were the first ones to contact me. I was trying to make a dining reservation with them and this is how I got the information or should I say misinformation. 
 

I think that anybody in Customer Service for Cruises should know something so basic as to what venues are included for dining with your fare. 
 

Just imagine how many people they have turned off by giving such gross misinformation. 

 

 

[Paula_MacFan]

Someone else posted this helpful PDF recently here on CC.  It's a great overview of all the dining options on each ship, with pricing where applicable.  

Princess Dining Option.pdf

[Bemidji Ty]

• It appears that the issue is not that the correct info is readily available, but rather that false information is being given by phone support staff.  You can read that the OP dined in the MDR with the full understanding that this was included. 
•  
• If I ever get my brother on a cruise, it would be his first.  He is likely to accept without question whatever the incompetent phone support folks may tell him. 

Edited May 7 by Bemidji Ty
Govt Regulations

[jacketwatch]

2 minutes ago, Bemidji Ty said:

• It appears that the issue is not that the correct info is readily available, but rather that false information is being given by phone support staff.  You can read that the OP dined in the MDR with the full understanding that this was included. 
•  
• If I ever get my brother on a cruise, it would be his first.  He is likely to accept without question whatever the incompetent phone support folks may tell him. 

That is exactly the point. 
Thank you. 
OK I was the one who got the call first from Luke at Princess, him being the advisor. I was asking him about dining reservations, and that’s when he gave me the misinformation about the only venue being available for free dining was the buffet. 

 

 

[doghog]

1 hour ago, jacketwatch said:

has anybody else had this experience about being told you cannot eat free except and then horizon Court? 

No and I would have laughed and corrected the person that tried telling me that. 

[memoak]

No CVP I know would ever call themselves an advisor. This has all the signs of “Princess Promotions”. They are a 3rd party not Princess employees although there calls show up on your phone as Princess   They have absolutely no idea of what they are doing. Also Princess would not just assign a CVP if you have a TA

[ldubs]

I can see the confusion if I were new to Princess or not having been for many years.  Otherwise, I would simply shrug it off as the obvious wrong info it is.  I'm assuming you asked to confirm reservations and fees apply in the MDR as part of the discussion. That is a head shaker for sure.   I'm glad you took the time to raise the issue to someone higher up the chain. Seems call centers across the board are having issues.  

[Paula_MacFan]

22 minutes ago, jacketwatch said:

OK I was the one who got the call first from Luke at Princess, him being the advisor. I was asking him about dining reservations, and that’s when he gave me the misinformation about the only venue being available for free dining was the buffet. 

 

I understood that from your initial post, but was responding to this comment:  

2 hours ago, jacketwatch said:

I called My advisor back and I said you really need to double check this. This simply can’t be true. I told him to ask another supervisor. 

 

At that point I wouldn't waste time with someone you clearly thought/knew was misinformed, and would consult the source (Princess website).

 

Bottom line you ate in the MDR and appear to have enjoyed the rest of your cruise. It's good you shared your experience here as a cautionary tale about Princess reps, although I (like @memoak) have never heard a CVP use the title 'Tripadvisor'.

 

[jacketwatch]

10 minutes ago, Paula_MacFan said:

 

I understood that from your initial post, but was responding to this comment:  

 

At that point I wouldn't waste time with someone you clearly thought/knew was misinformed, and would consult the source (Princess website).

 

Bottom line you ate in the MDR and appear to have enjoyed the rest of your cruise. It's good you shared your experience here as a cautionary tale about Princess reps, although I (like @memoak) have never heard a CVP use the title 'Tripadvisor'.

 

I did call Princess again. They assure me they do not use third-party people to be an advisor or a rep or whatever term you want to use. 
 

Yes, in any case, it all worked out in the end. If you look at one of the messages above (Suekel) seems to be more a bigger issue. 
 

I always thought that once we got on board, things would be fine. The service was what I have become used to and it was excellent. 

[jacketwatch]

BTW this is the first time I have had experience using the Princess medallion. It worked very well. I really do like it.