No receipts?????

[PescadoAmarillo]

I just read that you must ask for a receipt for on board purchases on the Crown...is this true on all Princess ships now? This is dismaying news...I can't imagine any valid purpose for doing away with receipts except to reduce the number of rebuttals on shipboard accounts. I'm sure we've all heard of (or experienced) instances where charges were mistakenly made to an account.

[WeBeGone]

On all our cruises we've always gotten receipts without asking, and never once have had an error on our room folio.

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

I think it's a great idea! All that wasted paper that I carry around with me for 7 days. I hate getting the receipts with every drink purchase! If you want a receipt, by all means get one. But I always refuse the receipt.

 

My tab was $1,700 and every charge was accurate. I have never had a mistake on my account.

[cynbar]

We were on the Crown in August, and yes, it was true we had to ask for receipts in the bars or we couldn't get them. But we never had a problem getting one when we asked, and as the waiters got to know us, they just automatically brought them for us. It really wasn't a major issue....

[huskerdan25]

It's simple enough to ask for a receipt. I did so on my Sapphire cruise and I also went and got a copy of my on-board account every 2-3 days and compared the charges to the receipts and everything was recorded correctly. I have heard that some other cruiselines allow you to see your account information on a tv like many hotels do now and I would like to see that implemented, but it doesn't take much effort to get a copy of your shipboard account to make sure that inaccurate charges aren't being charged to your account.

[bbqbrad]

I have ALWAYS received a receipt regardless of what ship I've been on. I believe it's policy for them to give you one. I can not stress enough that I have ALWAYS gotten one. I was just on board last week.

 

It's a good way to keep track of your expenses so you have an idea of what you're spending.

 

Brad

[flamomo]

I've never made a purchase onboard a Princess ship and not received a reciept, whether for a beverage or a gift shop purchase.

I save all mine and use them to reconcile my shipboard account when it is provided at the end of each cruise. Each account has been completely accurate.

[Colo Cruiser]

Mostly in the bars, have had to ask on the Crown, Diamond and the Island this year. :(

 

Always received one from the gift shop.

[PhoneGoddess]

We were on the Crown in October and we did not receive receipts at any of the bars. There were no mistakes on our account either. No problem!

[Ruthless714]

I always make sure I have receipts and then compare them on a daily basis to my account. You can get a copy of your cabin charges from the purser's desk whenever you want. Unfortunately I have found account discrepancies on every cruise I've been on but the purser is more than happy to try and resolve them. Often it takes them 1-2 days to figure it out, but I have yet to be held responsible for a charge that I claimed was not mine. It's usually on the handwritten receipts (bar tabs) which can sometimes be hard to read.

[AZAaronBoy]

I never had a problem getting a recipt. Ususally I just seperated the 2 copies myself when I signed for it and kept the top portion.

 

However finding what I did with my copy was another story. It was just a matter of what pocket I stuck it in and they were found eventually.

 

One person in our group was mistakenly charged for 22 martini's at Crooners instead of 2. A quick visit to the purser's desk corrected it but another example that it is good to keep track or check your final bill.

[willysgrandma]

On the Crown, if we didn't ask for a receipt, we didn't get one. We already knew about that issue, so we asked and I think there was just once we did ask and it was never brought to us.

 

My husband is meticulous about verifying the shipboard account and it makes it a lot easier having the receipts to do so.

[PescadoAmarillo]

We have had errors on 2 of our 7 Princess shipboard accounts. In one of the errors, we were charged an incorrect amount; in the other, we were erroneously charged for drinks on Princess Cays. I really wish the default would be that they provide the receipts, unless requested otherwise (and it seems as though that is still the case on some ships); also, I wish that we could view our shipboard account on the cabin TVs. It can't be that they are trying to "save" paper....just think of all those photos and bingo cards!

 

We are meticulous too...we take long cruises, and check at least once a week, but even after 7 days, the only way to remember everything is to go back to the receipts.

[Pam in CA]

I always ask for receipts and ALWAYS check the amount before signing the slip. Some will try to get you to sign it before you get your drink but I just hand it back and tell them I'll sign when I get my drink.

 

Like the others have said, it's easy enough to ask for a recept. Whether you get one automatically or not might depend on the ship.

[critterchick]

We save all of our receipts, stuffed in a drawer, until the end of the cruise and then we toss them. They're wasted on us. I'm assuming you still have to sign for everything, so if you have a disputed charge, it would be up to the ship to show you the signed receipt. I'm with you, Pam - I wouldn't sign the receipt until I get what I'm signing for.

[rebeccalouise]

It seems odd to me that with so many new ships in service, Princess isn't up to speed on the interactive room statements on the TV. Most cruise lines I have sailed have these and they are very helpful and eliminate much of the work at the pursers desk.

[chasetf]

Sorry to hear it is going that way. Guess I will have to remember to ask when signing. I like to see what I am signing for. I do not like it when they ask to sign the blank form that does not have the cost rung up and printed.

[susanNjay]

We were on the Grand Princess last month and the large majority of receipts were hand written. One of our table mates at dinner said that the wait staff asked them to sign a blank receipt, and she asked them to print it up first. Several people on our cruise commented that they prefer the printed receipts, but for some unknown reason, the printed receipts were mostly absent. The onboard shops did have receipts that were printed by machine and then presented for our signature. We checked our account carefully and there were not any errors, but we have in the past had an error.

On our cruise last month, my husband received someone else's card back with his receipt, and when he told the server that it was not his card, the server (in the Snooker's bar) said he should take it to the purser's desk. After taking care of getting a new card and going back to the bar to finish watching the football game, another guy in the bar said that he was given someone else's card...yep, you guessed it, it was my husband's card.

 

--Susan

[bdjam]

I can't imagine any valid purpose for doing away with receipts except to reduce the number of rebuttals on shipboard accounts. I'm sure we've all heard of (or experienced) instances where charges were mistakenly made to an account.

How about the waste attributed to paper? How about having to deal with the waste on board (because I would venture to guess most people toss their receipts)? How about the damage to the environment that unnecessary paper waste causes? I think all of those are valid purposes.

I think it reaching a bit to assume that Princess has a hidden agenda for taking this action - especially with no proof.

[MGremmer3608]

How about the waste attributed to paper? How about having to deal with the waste on board (because I would venture to guess most people toss their receipts)? How about the damage to the environment that unnecessary paper waste causes? I think all of those are valid purposes.

 

I think it reaching a bit to assume that Princess has a hidden agenda for taking this action - especially with no proof.

 

While I agree with your stance, I think it's funny that you bring up "damage to the enviornment." Do you think a massive cruise ship loaded with 3,000 passengers is any less damaging to the enviornment than small pieces of paper?

 

Just a thought.:)

[Princess Chatterer]

If Princess were serious about reducing paper they would start using resusable cardboard Bingo cards rather than the throwaway paper Bingo sheets. BTW I hate signing an unpriced bar ticket. From now on I will ask and get a priced receipt before signing.

[JLC@SD]

........I do not understand.........if there is no receipt........how do you sign for the charge.....:confused:

 

When I sign......I will take a copy......even if it is the only copy...:)

[NorcalGuy]

I always ask for receipts and ALWAYS check the amount before signing the slip. Some will try to get you to sign it before you get your drink but I just hand it back and tell them I'll sign when I get my drink.

Thanks for pointing this out Pam,

I have signed sometimes without a total and didn't feel comfortable...but did it anyway. I'll do as you suggest from here on out. Sounds like a reasonable request now that I know I'm not the only one that has a problem with signing without a total.

BTW, I love that photo of the heavy seas outside your porthole!

[bdjam]

While I agree with your stance, I think it's funny that you bring up "damage to the enviornment." Do you think a massive cruise ship loaded with 3,000 passengers is any less damaging to the enviornment than small pieces of paper?

 

Just a thought.:)

I'm not quite sure why you make the assumption that I think such a thing - I never said that, did I? Small pieces of paper have to be disposed of somehow – if there’s a way to reduce the waste generated from a ship of 3000 people, why not do it?

If Princess were serious about reducing paper they would start using resusable cardboard Bingo cards rather than the throwaway paper Bingo sheets.

Perhaps you should suggest this to them – of course every ship with a norovirus outbreak would have to curtail bingo (or sanitize the cards after every play).

[MGremmer3608]

I'm not quite sure why you make the assumption that I think such a thing - I never said that, did I?

 

In your previous post you seem so confident in defending Princess by making suggestions an environmentalist would make. So I wanted to point out that cruise lines obviously have disregard for the environment as they produce waste streams containing bilge water (which can contain oil and grease), sewage (ever wonder what these "bad smells" are that we read about so often in these forums?), gray water (water from showers, sinks, kitchens and laundry facilities), ballast water and solid waste (food waste and garbage). I know there are many studies being performed on these issues and they are becoming more strict, i.e. Sewage and Gray Water Standards Development and Cruise Ship Discharge Assessment Report.

 

Hey, you were the one that brought up the environment. :p