Not a good first impression

[slavetoabunny]

I am not a new cruiser by any means, but I did just book my first Princess cruise for March 2025.  I purchased the Princess Premier, which includes unlimited specialty dining.  I made 4 reservations for my husband and I yesterday and my credit card was charged for all four for a total of $360.  I guess a call to customer service is going to be made in the morning.

[memoak]

3 minutes ago, slavetoabunny said:

I am not a new cruiser by any means, but I did just book my first Princess cruise for March 2025.  I purchased the Princess Premier, which includes unlimited specialty dining.  I made 4 reservations for my husband and I yesterday and my credit card was charged for all four for a total of $360.  I guess a call to customer service is going to be made in the morning.

What they will offer you is OBC

 

[slavetoabunny]

8 minutes ago, memoak said:

What they will offer you is OBC

 

That's not going to work.  With Premier everything is included.  I'll cancel the entire cruise if they don't refund.

 

[wallyj]

16 minutes ago, slavetoabunny said:

I am not a new cruiser by any means, but I did just book my first Princess cruise for March 2025.  I purchased the Princess Premier, which includes unlimited specialty dining.  I made 4 reservations for my husband and I yesterday and my credit card was charged for all four for a total of $360.  I guess a call to customer service is going to be made in the morning.

There are posts from passengers who have successfully made SD reservations with the ‘new’ premier package and not been charged. Since it has not officially rolled out on all ships yet, and your cruise is not till next year, I suggest you cancel your current SD reservations and try again in a few weeks. I would not want to deal with a lot of unnecessary OBC. 
 

Which ship? I know the SUN has especially had issues with dining reservations.

[Barter123]

I have found after booking Premier if I wait a couple of days to book Specialty Dining I have never been charged. If I try to do it sooner it will require payment. If it is requesting payment I just back out and try the next day.  Never have waited more than 3 days after booking.

[slavetoabunny]

3 minutes ago, wallyj said:

Which ship? I know the SUN has especially had issues with dining reservations.

I am on the Caribbean Princess.  It specifically said unlimited for my cruise.

[slavetoabunny]

3 minutes ago, Barter123 said:

I have found after booking Premier if I wait a couple of days to book Specialty Dining I have never been charged. If I try to do it sooner it will require payment. If it is requesting payment I just back out and try the next day.  Never have waited more than 3 days after booking.

Thanks. If I can't get satisfaction with customer service, I'll try that.  It did say on the reservation page "included with Premier".

 

[Barter123]

5 minutes ago, wallyj said:

Which ship? I know the SUN has especially had issues with dining reservations.

I had zero issues booking my Sun Princess Premier specialty dining for January 2025.

 

[Barter123]

4 minutes ago, slavetoabunny said:

Thanks. If I can't get satisfaction with customer service, I'll try that.  It did say on the reservation page "included with Premier".

 

Yes, correct it does and you do have it. I just find waiting a couple of days after making a new booking or adding Premier allows the system to catch up with itself and prevents it from asking for a payment.

[Donwoods123]

10 minutes ago, slavetoabunny said:

Thanks. If I can't get satisfaction with customer service, I'll try that.  It did say on the reservation page "included with Premier".

 

I suspect that when you contact customer service, you will be speaking to an  outsourced representative who will tell you to take the issue up with guest services on the ship and that you will get refundable OBC, which if not used will be refunded to by check a few weeks after the cruise.  This is obviously not what you are looking for, and I agree that it would be unsatisfactory.  If the cancelation of the SD reservations (refunded to your credit card) and rebooking doesn't work, I suggest that you send an email to:

 

Collin Steinke
Director, Customer Relations
24305 Town Center Drive
Santa Clarita, CA 91355
csteinke@princesscruises.com

 

His office has helped me resolve issues in the past.

 

I know it is frustrating, but it would be a shame to cancel your cruise over this.

 

[slavetoabunny]

4 minutes ago, Donwoods123 said:

I suspect that when you contact customer service, you will be speaking to an  outsourced representative who will tell you to take the issue up with guest services on the ship and that you will get refundable OBC, which if not used will be refunded to by check a few weeks after the cruise.  This is obviously not what you are looking for, and I agree that it would be unsatisfactory.  If the cancelation of the SD reservations (refunded to your credit card) and rebooking doesn't work, I suggest that you send an email to:

 

Collin Steinke
Director, Customer Relations
24305 Town Center Drive
Santa Clarita, CA 91355
csteinke@princesscruises.com

 

His office has helped me resolve issues in the past.

 

I know it is frustrating, but it would be a shame to cancel your cruise over this.

 

Thank you!  It's just really frustrating.  I'm still trying to get a refund from Holland America for an excursion (booked through the cruise line) that was cancelled by the tour operator one hour before the excursion.  That's over $1,000 and it's been 3 weeks.  Cruising just isn't what it used to be!

 

 

Edited August 30 by slavetoabunny
Added sentence

[Arizona Wildcat]

40 minutes ago, slavetoabunny said:

I am on the Caribbean Princess.  It specifically said unlimited for my cruise.

Yes,but the new program is still rolling out on the "wonderful " Princess website.

Cancell your reservations and wait a while.

Cruising is very different today and requires patience and flexibility. 

You might try moving your reservation to a TA or a CVP and let them handle stuff like this for you.

My TA takes care of things with an email or a quick call.

[Host CJSKIDS]

1 hour ago, memoak said:

What they will offer you is OBC

 

 

They will offer a full refund this far from the cruise if the dining is canceled.

[Donwoods123]

I agree that cancellation of SD reservations this far in advance will result in a refund to her credit card.  Her  goal seems to be to get advance SD reservations and not pay because it is included in her package.  With "unlimited" SD for this package, it may become more difficult to get SD reservations, especially for popular times.  It seems prudent to secure reservations at the first opportunity.

 

If, after cancelling and getting a refund, she is unable to secure her desired reservations without payment, I urge her to contact Mr. Steinke's office.

 

 

[slavetoabunny]

4 minutes ago, Donwoods123 said:

I agree that cancellation of SD reservations this far in advance will result in a refund to her credit card.  Her  goal seems to be to get advance SD reservations and not pay because it is included in her package.  With "unlimited" SD for this package, it may become more difficult to get SD reservations, especially for popular times.  It seems prudent to secure reservations at the first opportunity.

 

If, after cancelling and getting a refund, she is unable to secure her desired reservations without payment, I urge her to contact Mr. Steinke's office.

 

 

Thanks, I did go ahead and cancel.  I'll try again in a few days once I get the refund.  I appreciate everyone's help.

 

[reedprincess]

3 hours ago, wallyj said:

 
 

Which ship? I know the SUN has especially had issues with dining reservations.

Zero issues booking my specialty or MDR reservations for Sun for December and January.  Took maybe 10 minutes and all done..

The initial Sun issues were just that, initial due to being brand new and not in the system, etc.  That's all done..

[Nikita4]

No problem with booking gor a 16 days cruise speciality dining for 4 people on the Majestic for december/january. 15 minutes with the app.

[Cruise Raider]

18 hours ago, slavetoabunny said:

Thanks, I did go ahead and cancel.  I'll try again in a few days once I get the refund.  I appreciate everyone's help.

 

Just make sure it shows $0 due when you hit the confirm button, even if you go to change a reservation.  It does take anywhere from several hours to a couple of days to show up but it does show up eventually.  Keep us posted on how it works out.