writing to Princess Executive Board

[Shipkicker]

For someone who is always bashing Princess for their" lack of concern for their passengers problems....they can fill the ships anyway", why do you continue to sail Princess.

 

I disagree with your statement that I am “bashing”. I believe I have prefaced most (if not all) my posts regarding customer no-service at Princess with some statement about it being my opinion. The level of service on Princess Ships has declined dramatically and significantly. Apparently you don’t agree. I have personally experienced and observed their deliberate indifference to anything approaching decent customer service. Again, it’s my opinion, not bashing, and I’ll continue to express my opinion where appropriate.

 

As to your question about why I am sailing (continue) to sail Princess. I like cruising. I have 20 cruises with Princess, I enjoy the perks afforded their most travel passengers, etc.. I don’t think the lack of customer service and regard for their passengers is unique to Princess (please note I wrote “think” as I have no first person experience with other lines in recent years).

[Shipkicker]

While I don't post very often I do enjoy reading the threads on a fairly regular basis. I must admit you confuse me. For someone who is always bashing Princess for their" lack of concern for their passengers problems....they can fill the ships anyway", why do you continue to sail Princess. Surely there must be another line out there whose concern for their passengers would better suit you.

 

Are you suggesting the OP contact Judge Judy???

:D

 

That being said, I suggest you sue Princess corporate in small claims court. Most likely they won’t show up and you have a default judgment. If they do show up, win or lose, you at least provided a small amount of the frustration that they cause on a regular basis.

 

I bet that would be a good episode...

[Shipkicker]

Why would you continue to sail with Princess and give them your money if you truly feel that they don't care AT ALL about customer satisfaction and say the hell with anyone?

 

Since it appears that Princess is able to fill most if not all their ships, there is no incentive to provide customer service. It’s cheaper to not provide customer service and treat their customers badly. Although this is off topic, I frankly think that decent, good customer service is almost nonexistent nowadays, anywhere. Princess is no different than most other businesses. That being said, that does not excuse their lack of customer service and as I have stated many times before, I realize they don’t care.

[tcast]

I disagree with your statement that I am “bashing”. I believe I have prefaced most (if not all) my posts regarding customer no-service at Princess with some statement about it being my opinion. The level of service on Princess Ships has declined dramatically and significantly. Apparently you don’t agree. I have personally experienced and observed their deliberate indifference to anything approaching decent customer service. Again, it’s my opinion, not bashing, and I’ll continue to express my opinion where appropriate.

 

[FONT=Calibri]As to your question about why I am sailing (continue) to sail Princess. I like cruising. I have 20 cruises with Princess, I enjoy the perks afforded their most travel passengers, etc.. I don’t think the lack of customer service and regard for their passengers is unique to Princess (please note I wrote “think” as I have no first person experience with other lines in recent years).[/font]

 

Since it appears that Princess is able to fill most if not all their ships, there is no incentive to provide customer service. It’s cheaper to not provide customer service and treat their customers badly. Although this is off topic, I frankly think that decent, good customer service is almost nonexistent nowadays, anywhere. Princess is no different than most other businesses. That being said, that does not excuse their lack of customer service and as I have stated many times before, I realize they don’t care.

 

Just want to see if I have this right...in your opinion Princess has customer no-service but that is not unique to them, no different then most other businesses. But this shouldn't really be an issue since you point out that the perks are what are really important. Whether I agree with your viewpoint about customer service or not is really beside the point. My question was based on someone who has a negative outlook about Princess-it could in fact have been any cruise line- continuing to sail with the lines. I guess a followup question would have to be: Since in your opinion, Princess has no customer service and doesn't care about their customers,(and to this I will add that they are certainly not the cheapest cruise line out there) why is it that they have no problem filling their ships? This question is especially interesting since as you must know, with the number of times you have sailed Princess, that each cruise has a larger and larger number of returning Princess cruisers on board.

[rdsqrl]

Since it appears that Princess is able to fill most if not all their ships, there is no incentive to provide customer service. It’s cheaper to not provide customer service and treat their customers badly. Although this is off topic, I frankly think that decent, good customer service is almost nonexistent nowadays, anywhere. Princess is no different than most other businesses. That being said, that does not excuse their lack of customer service and as I have stated many times before, I realize they don’t care.

Wow, such negativity -- it's so tiresome. Frankly, you're just bringing us down, dude. Cheer the heck up already.

[G'ma]

My TA has not been sucessful booking my favorite balcony room on a future Princess Cruise. I received a flyer from Princess with a promotion for "any balcony same price as inside room". I xeroxed the flyer to my TA and she called Princess to book the room -- the room IS AVAILABLE according to the internet.

 

The Princess representative said: "the offer is capacity controlled and could not offer me that room.

 

What I need is the Senior Executive at Princess, their name, address, title etc.

 

I will NOT let this rest.

 

I'm confused.

 

What part of "capacity controlled" don't you understand???

 

There are always terms and conditions for promotions and sales. If you are interested in taking advantage of them, it's a good idea to read these terms, understand them and don't get your knickers twisted when you can't get what you want.

 

Good luck with the "Senior Executive" thingie..... I'm sure you'll get a nice form letter/email response.

 

Hopefully, that will completely clean out the spleen for ya.

[RickEk]

Since it appears that Princess is able to fill most if not all their ships, there is no incentive to provide customer service. It’s cheaper to not provide customer service and treat their customers badly. Although this is off topic, I frankly think that decent, good customer service is almost nonexistent nowadays, anywhere. Princess is no different than most other businesses. That being said, that does not excuse their lack of customer service and as I have stated many times before, I realize they don’t care.

 

To the OP... good luck!

 

To Shipkicker: wow, dude... now, I certainly do not have your years of experience sailing with Princess, but in my limited number of cruises, I have been provided with top-notch customer service, from the home office to the shipboard crew. I've never been treated badly. I understand that you have your opinion and I respect that. But, having worked in customer service, I've found that, if approached by someone with a bad attitude, it is much harder to find an equitable solution for them. Any solution, even the one they want, isn't good enough. Try to lighten up... :rolleyes:

[Davey Interweb]

That being said, I suggest you sue Princess corporate in small claims court. Most likely they won’t show up and you have a default judgment. If they do show up, win or lose, you at least provided a small amount of the frustration that they cause on a regular basis.

 

Aww, you're so cute. The correct answer would be to file a complaint with the California Attorney General's office if you felt Princess was engaging in deceptive trade practices. It can be somewhat difficult to win a small claims action if one is unable to prove actual damages.

[Nylsor]

Since it appears that Princess is able to fill most if not all their ships, there is no incentive to provide customer service. It’s cheaper to not provide customer service and treat their customers badly. Although this is off topic, I frankly think that decent, good customer service is almost nonexistent nowadays, anywhere. Princess is no different than most other businesses. That being said, that does not excuse their lack of customer service and as I have stated many times before, I realize they don’t care.

Sorry, I disagree. After our recent cruise, we had an issue with Princess re the delay in processing our onboard account which resulted in us paying more as the exchange rate changed. We e-mailed Princess and asked them why had it taken six weeks to process payment. We did not ask for compensation. After a month, when we had quite given up on the idea of hearing from them, we received a very nice letter of apology and three days later a cheque for £152.00. I posted on this board at the time as we were very satisfied with Princess Customer Service. I wouldn't use a company if I felt as strongly as you do because I would be afraid that in an emergency they would let me down.

Ros

[Copper Lanterns]

I have to say that Princess did their best to accommodate us on a cruise that I wished never happened.

 

My problems were taken care of, in regards to a very noisy cabin. They

switched our cabin in a timely manner.

 

Also, my husband had noro virus and they took us off the ship, to the doctors, and brought us back, after it was determined that his heart was

not effected by his falling in the shower, upon passing out.

 

The did everything possible and we were not billed for a thing.

 

Although my husband refuses to cruise again, I do not blame Princess

for a minute. He simply doesn't want to so far away from hospitals.

 

I would cruise with Princess (on a smaller ship, personal preference)

in a minute.

[jhannah]

Deleted

 

There is a good Q & A article on Airfare Watchdog about the volatile sale fare process. Basically like cruise fares. But the link I copied and pasted doesn't work! Maybe you can search for it on the site.

[Shipkicker]

Wow, such negativity -- it's so tiresome. Frankly, you're just bringing us down, dude. Cheer the heck up already.

No, not negativity, in my opinion, it's fact! Doesn't bring me "down" at all. I know what to expect (substandard customer service) and therefore am not disappointed.

[Shipkicker]

To the OP... good luck!

 

To Shipkicker: wow, dude... now, I certainly do not have your years of experience sailing with Princess, but in my limited number of cruises, I have been provided with top-notch customer service, from the home office to the shipboard crew. I've never been treated badly. I understand that you have your opinion and I respect that. But, having worked in customer service, I've found that, if approached by someone with a bad attitude, it is much harder to find an equitable solution for them. Any solution, even the one they want, isn't good enough. Try to lighten up... :rolleyes:

As for attitude, I have seen and heard the folks (that I believe) you characterize as having a bad attitude. I don’t place myself in that category. I have very rarely (maybe half a dozen times over 20 cruises) had an issue that elicited a “complaint” from me. I’m just stating what is obvious to me. As compare to 20 cruises and some 20 years ago, customer service is virtually non-existent nowadays on Princess.

[tcast]

[/color][/color]

 

Since it appears that Princess is able to fill most if not all their ships, there is no incentive to provide customer service. It’s cheaper to not provide customer service and treat their customers badly. Although this is off topic, I frankly think that decent, good customer service is almost nonexistent nowadays, anywhere. Princess is no different than most other businesses. That being said, that does not excuse their lack of customer service and as I have stated many times before, I realize they don’t care.

 

Just want to see if I have this right...in your opinion Princess has customer no-service but that is not unique to them, no different then most other businesses. But this shouldn't really be an issue since you point out that the perks are what are really important. Whether I agree with your viewpoint about customer service or not is really beside the point. My question was based on someone who has a negative outlook about Princess-it could in fact have been any cruise line- continuing to sail with the lines. I guess a followup question would have to be: Since in your opinion, Princess has no customer service and doesn't care about their customers,(and to this I will add that they are certainly not the cheapest cruise line out there) why is it that they have no problem filling their ships? This question is especially interesting since as you must know, with the number of times you have sailed Princess, that each cruise has a larger and larger number of returning Princess cruisers on board.

 

Shipkicker: but with all you have said you still haven't answered the question I posed in this post: I guess a followup question would have to be: Since in your opinion, Princess has no customer service and doesn't care about their customers,(and to this I will add that they are certainly not the cheapest cruise line out there) why is it that they have no problem filling their ships? This question is especially interesting since as you must know, with the number of times you have sailed Princess, that each cruise has a larger and larger number of returning Princess cruisers on board.[/

[RickEk]

As for attitude, I have seen and heard the folks (that I believe) you characterize as having a bad attitude. I don’t place myself in that category. I have very rarely (maybe half a dozen times over 20 cruises) had an issue that elicited a “complaint” from me. I’m just stating what is obvious to me. As compare to 20 cruises and some 20 years ago, customer service is virtually non-existent nowadays on Princess.

 

Allrighty then, no worries. :) We just have different opinions.

[Sandytoes]

Have you realized the OP hasn't come back? :cool:

Guess she really didn't need the Senior Executive name, address, title etc. after all. :rolleyes:

[custompcsys]

It is MY opinion (having cruise Princess 20 times in some 20 years) that Princess does not care at all about customer satisfaction. It appears they are able to fill their ships and the he** with anyone that does not like the way they provide customer no-service.

 

That being said, I suggest you sue Princess corporate in small claims court. Most likely they won’t show up and you have a default judgment. If they do show up, win or lose, you at least provided a small amount of the frustration that they cause on a regular basis.

 

Sue them for what?? While you might be able to come up with a cause of action, you can't quantify damages until the OP actually books another cruise and pays more than they would have if they had been given the flyer price. And ok, they don't show and you get a default judgement. Then what? By the time you pay for an asset search, get a writ of execution, and pay the fees to execute it, you will most likely have spent more money than the judgement is worth. Its just not worth the time and money unless you have an unlimited amount of both. And I would also be careful and check the frivilous tort claims statute in the appropriate jurisdiction before I filed anything.

 

By the way, if you feel this badly about Princess, why have you cruised with them 20 times??!!:rolleyes:

[stuNYC]

After much digging I called Cunard's corporate office and asked to transferred to the VP Customer Service. I had booked a Queens Grill suite on the QE2. What I didn't realize was the suite had an obstructed view (which was hard to see from the deck plans. The same suite one deck higher did not have an obstructed view. What really got my goat was they were both the same price.

 

I called my TA initially who called Cunard who put me on a waiting list. After speaking to their Corporate Office within 24 hours I got a call from my TA that I had cleared the waiting list and now had a cabin with an unobstructed view.

 

Sometimes you get lucky!

 

In this case I did!!!!!!!!!!

[Shipkicker]

I see my fan base is growing! (that’s meant to be humorous).

 

Some don’t seem to understand why I would write about the substandard level of customer service and then continue to cruise. I’ll try one more time.

 

I understand what the level of Princess Service (or as I like to call it customer no-service) is nowadays. I have no grandiose service expectations when I embark a Princess ship. I know what to expect. I don’t think the service decline I have noticed with Princess is exclusive to Princess. I believe (although I cannot speak with authority on other cruise lines) the competing cruise lines also have significantly lower levels of service as compared to past years. I really enjoy Princess cruises and that’s why I continue to cruise. There are many things I like about Princess. I don’t like the level of customer service they provide, but as I have stated numerous times, I realize what the level of service is going to be. I also realize Princess could care less if I or others are happy with the level of service they provide. Just because I said I didn’t like their customer no-service does not mean I hate the line and would never cruise with them. I still think their customer no-service sucks. I think their deliberate indifference to decent customer service sucks. I also know I’ll enjoy my back-to-back cruises in a few weeks and will almost assuredly make a future cruise deposit while onboard the Caribbean Princess.

 

I’ll also continue to express my dissatisfaction with the customer no-service on Princess where appropriate.

[slotl]

I don’t think the service decline I have noticed with Princess is exclusive to Princess. I believe (although I cannot speak with authority on other cruise lines) the competing cruise lines also have significantly lower levels of service as compared to past years. I really enjoy Princess cruises and that’s why I continue to cruise. There are many things I like about Princess.

 

I have never had to experience "front office" service, since my TA usually handles that end of things.

 

I "spread my money around" to many cruise ships. In the last 2 years I have been on the Pacific Princess, Star Princess, HAL Amsterdam, and Azamara Journey. My future cruises are HAL Volendam, Azamara Quest, and HAL Prinsendam.

 

Because I have cruised extensively, I now cruise by itinerary. What ports have I not visited and is the price reasonable.

 

I would say the onboard service on all the ships I mentioned are first rate. I did have some tour problems being not worth the money. I wrote a letter to the cruise line to complain, and got form letter #7 in return. No customer service from the front office. Some ship ammenities have been cut back and there are now extra charges for things like brewed coffee (Princess serves syrup for coffee in the lido and dining room. If you want brewed coffee, you need to pay for it at the Java Bar).

 

With the poor economy, passenger cancellations, and cruise prices dropping like a rock, I cannot understand poor customer service from the front office. They should be jumping for joy when someone wants to book at an advertised price where the deal doesn't expire until March.

[Ken076]

slot1 - No further details/links of the offering? Still interested in the context of "any balcony for inside price". As I mentioned, if your interpretation is at all realistic/reasonable, I had excellent results when I wrote Princess and got a return call.

ken

[slotl]

slot1 - No further details/links of the offering? Still interested in the context of "any balcony for inside price". As I mentioned, if your interpretation is at all realistic/reasonable, I had excellent results when I wrote Princess and got a return call.

ken

 

I received a brochure for "small ships of Princess" in the mail. Exclusive savings for circle members (I am Platinum with 11 prior Princess cruises).

 

The deal is:

 

Free double upgrade to ANY Balcony. (I.e. balcony rooms for inside prices).

 

Fine print: Double Upgrades to any balcony. All BA to K categories for the same departure date and itinerary are priced a the same interior lead-in fares.

 

The offer is based on space availability, is capacity controlled and applies to the sailing dates and steroom categories shown for each itinerary (the itinerary I want is eligible for this).

 

I want a specific BA balcony room and I am being denied this particular room based on "capacity control".

 

Offer expires March 15th.

[cacy6893076]

maybe this is not helpful iinsight however lets say that 1000 people receive the offer and the offer is for k-ba at the same fare,logically if you could upgrade to a ba vs a bb, bc or bd etc, you would upgrade as high as you could based on capacity. the ba's would go first with the bb next etc...... you were ifnfact capacity controlled on the ba, because 99% of the folks would pick th highest cat (some night not though becuase they like a particular locale) Always act on these promos asap, regardless of expiration date, because "capacity controlled " "legally" trumps the exp date, on the promo. there is no legal recourse. etc. The marketing dept may only have allocated 20(i am pulling this # out of thin air) ba's, bb's etc on this promo. ....sooner or later folks get to the point where the highest they dan go is oceanview on the promo etc.....think of it like "while they last"

[Toto2Kansas]

I received a brochure for "small ships of Princess" in the mail. Exclusive savings for circle members (I am Platinum with 11 prior Princess cruises).

 

The deal is:

 

Free double upgrade to ANY Balcony. (I.e. balcony rooms for inside prices).

 

Fine print: Double Upgrades to any balcony. All BA to K categories for the same departure date and itinerary are priced a the same interior lead-in fares.

 

The offer is based on space availability, is capacity controlled and applies to the sailing dates and steroom categories shown for each itinerary (the itinerary I want is eligible for this).

 

I want a specific BA balcony room and I am being denied this particular room based on "capacity control".

 

Offer expires March 15th.

 

That old 'capacity controlled' has got cha. If they didn't offer you any other stateroom in the BA category (besides the stateroom you were really wanting), my guess is they have cut off up grading to the BA's and their 'capacity controlled' limits have been met. This can mean one or two staterooms in the category, and that is all they will spare for the upgrades. That small print always explains it and gives them the edge that is almost impossible to get around.

Good Luck though!

[Cruisin' Chick]

I don't think the OP has a basis either as there's that fine print that says they will honor the offer for so many bookings per sailing. If your TA couldn't get this cabin for that rate, he or she should know this and be able to explain it. Just because the cabin is still available, according to an Internet TA or even Princess's site, doesn't mean you can get the special rate.