MDP409 Posted Tuesday at 07:59 PM #1 Share Posted Tuesday at 07:59 PM We had booked our 23rd cruise, this time with Princess which we've sailed with a few time previously, but not recently. We received a confirmation PDF for our Reserve, Mini-Suite, and had begun planning our excursions. A couple of weeks later, I logged into Princess to book some excursions that we had decided on, and low and behold there was not an active reservation on our account. After a few chats & phone calls, all I could find out was that Princess never changed the provided credit card for the initial deposit, and subsequently canceled the reservation without notice... No phone calls nor emails. The best the Princess could tell me was that I could rebook the cruise again on their website. Which would have been fine if they still have a Reserve level suite available, which they didn't. A few days after my last unfruitful attempt to get Princess to correct their mistake, I get a phone call from Princess, and I have a nice guy on the phone asking why I canceled... So after going back over all the details that I didn't cancel, Princess did and didn't even have the courtesy to notify me before hand so the situation could be address -- Like telling them to simply process the credit card they had on file. So, we ended the call with him saying he would see what could be done, and that he would get back with me. He did, but said that Princess was unable to do anything. I understand that mistakes happen and that technical glitches occur. What matters is what companies do when mistakes/glitches happen, and in this case Princess didn't even try to make things right. There are plenty of choices for where to spend my hard earned dollars, and there is no point in doing business with a company that doesn't even attempt to fix their mistakes. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarky213 Posted Tuesday at 08:03 PM #2 Share Posted Tuesday at 08:03 PM If there are no Mini-Suites available, what do you expect them to do, throw someone else out! Best you could hope for is go on a waitlist for when someone cancels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDP409 Posted Tuesday at 08:14 PM Author #3 Share Posted Tuesday at 08:14 PM 1 minute ago, clarky213 said: If there are no Mini-Suites available, what do you expect them to do, throw someone else out! Best you could hope for is go on a waitlist for when someone cancels. My real issue is they canceled without attempting to notify me. And then didn't attempt to make things right. There a were mini-suites available, just not Reserve level that have slightly bigger balconies (no big deal) but come with other benefits. I offered to take a standard mini-suite if they would provide the other benefits which I would pay the Reserve level room price... forgoing the slightly better room. But their system wouldn't allow that... I'd even been happy with some specialty dining or other other non-room benefits... Mistakes happen, but the nature of the person/company is evident by how they handle their mistakes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pompeii Posted Tuesday at 08:54 PM #4 Share Posted Tuesday at 08:54 PM Did your confirmation show a deposit? I don’t think it’s possible any longer to hold a cruise without a deposit, and to the best of my knowledge Princess doesn’t keep credit card information on file on your account. Did you book the cruise yourself on the website or call in or have your TA do it? Strange situation. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Host CJSKIDS Posted Tuesday at 08:54 PM #5 Share Posted Tuesday at 08:54 PM Firstly, welcome to Cruise Critic. Did you book directly with Princess, via their website or on a call with them? I would call back and ask to speak with a supervisor. If you have the pdf proof and an email showing your booking, it will show the deposit taken as well as what the remaining balance is. Did you receive the booking email from them? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDP409 Posted Tuesday at 09:52 PM Author #6 Share Posted Tuesday at 09:52 PM I forwarded the confirmation PDF back to their rep and they escalated it internally, but I didn't speak to the supervisor myself. They came back with "nothing we can do". So, I'm done with Princess, plenty of other cruise lines to give our business to. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arizona Wildcat Posted Tuesday at 10:17 PM #7 Share Posted Tuesday at 10:17 PM Not sure what anyone here can do. Not enough details about your booking. You indicated our have a pdf. Is this a confirmation of your booking? Or? You said your credit card was never charged. Was the number you gave Princess correct or some other issue with payment of your deposit? Lots of other questions such as did you book on line? Why did you not contact Princess within a couple days if you did not receive an email confirmation of your booking? Next time you book travel suggest a TA or if with Princess a CVP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDP409 Posted Tuesday at 10:30 PM Author #8 Share Posted Tuesday at 10:30 PM The PDF referenced was confirmation PDF attached their booking confirmation email which I received a few minutes after finalizing the booking online... So I thought I was good to go. Princess had a back-end technical problem and never charged the card. But they failed to notify me before summarily canceling the booking without notice. They had the card info, and I authorized the payment when finalizing the booking -- Wouldn't have received the confirmation email with PDF if I hadn't... they just had a processing glitch and didn't run the CC. -- I checked with CC company and no charge was even attempted. Again problems happen, it is what you do when they happen that matters. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprocket Posted Tuesday at 10:38 PM #9 Share Posted Tuesday at 10:38 PM (edited) Our very first cruise with Princess was a casino comp offer. I paid on booking all the required taxes and fees etc and the casino was supposed to pay their portion within a certain time frame which they did not. I just happened to be checking our booking and like yours it was gone and our cabin was back in inventory. Fortunately I was able to hold it and call when they opened and had it reinstated. And no they did not notify me either and it was very stressful. The casino now pays when the reservation is made as it happened to quite a few people. You can try messaging Princess through Instagram though not much they can do if that cabin category is no longer available. But until our upcoming cruise sold out different Cabana mini suite cabins were popping in and out of inventory so keep an eye out especially around final payment date. I did ask for Specialty dining for the 2 of us and the agent on the phone was shocked when it was approved. We did lose some other benefits but we were on the ship. Edited Tuesday at 10:42 PM by Sprocket Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senga Posted 17 hours ago #10 Share Posted 17 hours ago @MDP409 Sorry but why didn't YOU check to make sure the deposit went through on your credit card? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ldtr1 Posted 15 hours ago #11 Share Posted 15 hours ago (edited) 22 hours ago, MDP409 said: The PDF referenced was confirmation PDF attached their booking confirmation email which I received a few minutes after finalizing the booking online... So I thought I was good to go. Princess had a back-end technical problem and never charged the card. But they failed to notify me before summarily canceling the booking without notice. They had the card info, and I authorized the payment when finalizing the booking -- Wouldn't have received the confirmation email with PDF if I hadn't... they just had a processing glitch and didn't run the CC. -- I checked with CC company and no charge was even attempted. Again problems happen, it is what you do when they happen that matters. If a booking is made, and a charge not credited against the booking the system will treat like a hold, that did not have a deposit on it and will cancel without any notification being made once the deadline, often 24 hours passes. Did the confirmation you were mailed show the amount of the deposit and remaining amount due? Edited 15 hours ago by ldtr1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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