writing to Princess Executive Board

[slotl]

Yesterday, I called Princess directly. Corporate phone number is 661-753-0000. I pressed "1" for customer service, bookings, etc.

 

The first person I spoke with (Kelly), did not know about the promotion, so I had to tell her all the particulars (brochure name, promotion code, expiration date, etc.). She gave me the "capacity control" excuse. I asked to speak with a supervisor. Kelly transferred me to Kathleen Robinson, she also knew nothing about the promotion and I had to go thru it again. She also told me that they do not discuss prices with passengers. She told me according to the footnotes, that this price was for cruises on 3/13/10. The cruise I want is in Dec, 2009. Her eyes could not differentiate between an asterisk and the letter "a" (in small print). I argued nicely, that she was reading the footnote wrong and she switched me to another supervisor Mary Brink. After being kept on hold for quite a while, I was never transferred to Mary. Kathleen got back on the phone and said she would check with the Princess "yield" department and my TA would be called today with the results of their "review".

 

Well, my TA called first thing this morning. We got the BA room we wanted at the price advertised. Halleluya!!!! :):):)

[regnig]

Sounds like an "alls well that ends well" kind of story. A lot of us have experienced the same on Princess.

[Woobstr112G]

By the time you get an answer the cruise will be over. :o

 

So true...............:)

 

Bob

 

Future: Emerald Princess Northern Trans Atlantic 09/09

Diamond Princess Aus/NZ 01/09

Emerald Princess Med/Trans Atlantic 10/08

Celebrity Constellation British Isles/Norway 07/06

Celebrity Summit Alaska Repositioning 05/05

Celebrity Summit Panama Canal 10/02

Rhapsody Of The Seas Alaska 09/01

Spledour Of The Seas Baltic 09/99

HAL Veendam Eastern Caribbean 07/96

Carnival Holiday Western Carribean 07/93

[gertz]

This has been a horrible thread, IN MY OPENION.

For the op glad you got what you wanted.

And for the op and shipkicker. Hope we don't ever get the same dinner table, IN MY OPENION.

Have a great day.

Jack

for the

[newmexicoNita]

I agree!

 

It's like really cheap airline seats. They allot a certain number.

As soon as the sale is announced, you have to book it immediately.

Otherwise, your out of luck.

 

OP might not understand that "Promotions" are only on "select sailings" and specials are on a space-available basis.

Savings vary by departure and category.

She should read the fine print.

 

exactly, it doesn't make any difference if the cabin is available, if they allow only X number of cabins, that is all they will sell. They are usually gone within hours of the information being available. Between all the past guests that get these flyers, the emails that go out and the travel agents booking these, they are gone in a flash.

 

Well it looks like she got her way...

Nita

[slotl]

This has been a horrible thread, IN MY OPENION.

For the op glad you got what you wanted.

And for the op and shipkicker. Hope we don't ever get the same dinner table, IN MY OPENION.

Have a great day.

Jack

for the

 

Openion is spelled Opinion. Try open seating, if you want to vary your dinner partners.

 

I am sorry if you will accept "bait and switch" tactics from Princess when it comes to cruise and price promotions. The "sad" part of this experience is that the Princess reservations staff is not familiar with all the promotions Princess offers and gives "excuses" for not offering the TA what the OP has received from Princess as far as promotions.

 

The objective of hotel and cruise lines is to get people "in the rooms" and get the rooms filled. The cruise lines then make money on the tours, bars, shops, etc. Why do you think cruise prices drop 90 days prior to embarkation? A "bird in the hand" reservation at a lower price in the beginning (and a happy customer) should be considered when 90 days prior to the cruise departure, the prices drop like a rock to fill the "empty" rooms.

 

With the economy this depressed, I think Princess should think twice about how they handle past, current, and future passengers.

[Ken076]

Yesterday, I called Princess directly. Corporate phone number is 661-753-0000. I pressed "1" for customer service, bookings, etc.

 

The first person I spoke with (Kelly), did not know about the promotion, so I had to tell her all the particulars (brochure name, promotion code, expiration date, etc.). She gave me the "capacity control" excuse. I asked to speak with a supervisor. Kelly transferred me to Kathleen Robinson, she also knew nothing about the promotion and I had to go thru it again. She also told me that they do not discuss prices with passengers. She told me according to the footnotes, that this price was for cruises on 3/13/10. The cruise I want is in Dec, 2009. Her eyes could not differentiate between an asterisk and the letter "a" (in small print). I argued nicely, that she was reading the footnote wrong and she switched me to another supervisor Mary Brink. After being kept on hold for quite a while, I was never transferred to Mary. Kathleen got back on the phone and said she would check with the Princess "yield" department and my TA would be called today with the results of their "review".

 

Well, my TA called first thing this morning. We got the BA room we wanted at the price advertised. Halleluya!!!! :):):)

 

slot1 - I read the details of the advertisement that you posted and I could certainly read it the way you interpreted it - the wording really opened it up. If I learned nothing else in my Government Contracting stint, it was that it doesn't matter what you meant, it's how you worded it that ultimately matters. I don't think they ran that ad thru legal! Congrats on your persistence with the Carnival Reps and in finding the "ONE" who could see your point -and- is empowered to correct the situation.

 

I pursued a similar situation, and was in a "I understand you're telling me what Carnival meant in their offer, but that isn't what the offer actually says" situation. Any number of "front-line" reps repeated what the ad meant and even agreed that I had a point, but were not empowered to help me. After a polite, concise letter to Carnival, within 5 days I received a call from a Supervisor who basically said that the ad was incorrectly worded and that I had a valid point, and was able to give me something very close to what I was asking for. Finding the right (empowered) person and presenting your case in a documented, polite, concise manner is KEY!!!!!!!!!

 

BTW - I don't know how close your relationship is to your TA, but I'm thinking I would at least mention that you feel that this was really the TA's job, not yours, to straighten out!

 

ken

[LegalEagle2012]

LOL - Princess Reps in the UK are also unable to differentiate between icons/symbols in brochures - so much so that they have totally messed up my booking.

 

My complaint has now gone to the Association Of British Travel Agents for investigation after correspondence with Princess - which was, as were their brochure descriptions of my cabin, totally contradictory and inaccurate.

 

I await their decision.

 

Karen

[TonyFred]

I hate Ford Cars. They are the worst cars on the road and they have the worst customer service in the world. As far as they are concerned, their customers can go to he**. Customer service is non-existent.

 

Now I am going to go buy my 20th Ford car.

 

That was my impression of shipkicker if this was a car message board.

:D;):)

[gertz]

I hate Ford Cars. They are the worst cars on the road and they have the worst customer service in the world. As far as they are concerned, their customers can go to he**. Customer service is non-existent.

 

Now I am going to go buy my 20th Ford car.

 

That was my impression of shipkicker if this was a car message board.

:D;):)

 

Your so right. In my OPENION. Darn that Google:D;):p.

[slotl]

 

BTW - I don't know how close your relationship is to your TA, but I'm thinking I would at least mention that you feel that this was really the TA's job, not yours, to straighten out!

 

ken

 

I have worked with this TA for almost 20 years. SHE was the person frustrated with the Princess response from HER contacts with them. She even asked to speak to the supervisor. She got absolutely NOWHERE on the TA-only access phone numbers.

 

In reading the responses from the folks on this post, my TA and I decided that maybe from the PASSENGER side of the Princess organization, there maybe better results.

 

I really don't know which one of us was "successful" (ie the travel agent side of Princess or the passenger customer service), but I (we) did get what was requested.

 

It is a shame that we had to waste our time with Princess trying to get an advertised promotion that their customer service folks are not aware of.

[christydore]

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.

 

Out of interest... what do you expect them to do to raise their current standard of service.

 

I also think princess has terrible customer service... Can you believe I have to clean my own bum on a cruise...

[RickEk]

I have a friend who works for Princess. He says that, on average, they send out over 40 promotions a day. I think it'd be difficult for any customer service representative to keep track of every one of them...:rolleyes:

[caribill]

I also think princess has terrible customer service... Can you believe I have to clean my own bum on a cruise...

 

Obviously you do not tip enough onboard.

[caribill]

I have a friend who works for Princess. He says that, on average, they send out over 40 promotions a day. I think it'd be difficult for any customer service representative to keep track of every one of them...:rolleyes:

 

That's why they all have computer terminals.

 

And many of the promotions have a code from the promotion which the customer can tell them.

[slotl]

That's why they all have computer terminals.

 

And many of the promotions have a code from the promotion which the customer can tell them.

 

One of the problems we (the TA and I) had is that the Princess computer system for the promotion code Did not match what was written in the brochure. I had to fax my copy of the brochure (which I received in a direct mailing from Princess) to my TA. She, in turn, faxed it to her contact at Princess. That is when the discrepency was discovered and the problem started.

[lazycruzer]

Did anyone read that the cruiser called Princess and was happy with her results? She said Princess came through like "Champs" Take a look !