You truly will not believe this!!!!

[CitizenD]

This is a really good point...they should come up with a process so this type of thing does not happen again. As for compensation, and upgraded stateroom or a few hundred dollars of shipboard credit seems fair to me.

[Toto2Kansas]

I feel that anyone that doesn't check on their own booking, no matter how they book the cruise, is open for problems. I don't care if it is booked direct or through a TA.

With the Princess Personalizer readily available it is very simple to check your own booking. If you book through a TA, you will receive a confirmation. If it doesn't arrive, it is up to you to contact the TA and make sure it does.

Case in point. I booked our next cruise through a TA. A few weeks later I changed the stateroom and deck number. The TA never sent a new confirmation, but when I added another change to the booking a while later, and the new confirmation was sent, the original stateroom was still on the confirmation. BUT, since I had checked the Princess Personalier, I knew the change had gone through for the new stateroom number with Princess. I brought it to the attention of the TA and she realized it had never been changed in HER paperwork. But since Princess had the change, it wasn't a problem.

I would not even consider what was told over the phone was accepted without making sure I got exactly what I booked/ordered.

 

You really need to be pro-active with things you request, no matter how it's booked. If not, you can run into problems when it's too late to rectify the situation. ;)

[librarian1]

If nothing else, I'm sure this thread had a few people going to double-check their bookings. We're paid in full, so I don't see that we'd have a problem like this. I've added some shore excursions, but since those don't get paid until onboard, I'm fine.

 

But, I'll still keep checking just because I like seeing the countdown. :p

[TonyFred]

Lets make your example more relevent. Assume Walmart sold the item that was shipped to the store but had inventory on the shelf and the customer left with the item that was ordered.

 

I'd hope Princess would have either upgraded the OP, or another passenger to free up a cabin, if his cabin had been re-sold. A bottle of wine sounds fair. I'd be interested in hearing what other posters think would be fair compensation. Two bottles of wine? $50 on board credit? upgraded stateroom? free cruise?

 

We'll never know but a better question is what is Princess doing so this situation won't come up in the future.

 

I honestly dont think any compensation is in order and the OP should have been happy with the wine. Princess fixed the problem and there was no harm done.

I am tired of hearing about "WHAT IF, WHAT IF"....

What if the boat sinks? Can I get compensation for that upfront....just in case it happens?

[Lookingforfacts]

I honestly dont think any compensation is in order and the OP should have been happy with the wine. Princess fixed the problem and there was no harm done.

I am tired of hearing about "WHAT IF, WHAT IF"....

What if the boat sinks? Can I get compensation for that upfront....just in case it happens?

 

Good point, the OP is entitled for "compensation" for the inconvenience and time spent making the phone call. A bottle of wine sound reasonable. He's not entitled to "what if" compensation for what could have happened.

[nschurr]

Since the OP canceled the Princess cruise and went with Celebrity, do they still get the bottle of wine:p?

[G'ma]

I understand what you are saying but the potential for disaster was great and what if I didn't go back and check. Believe me I am not a complainer. We cruise every year and I have never had a problem anywhere. But when I think of what would have happened if I had not checked that day....non refundable airfare, loss of cabin category, inability to book similiar cabin on another ship because of lateness in the game. I was very upset that Princess would be so casual about the whole thing when they were at fault.

 

Well, frequent cruisers know that it's always wise to keep track of your reservation on the website or by phone. Ship happens.....frequently....and if you're taking care of business by watching out for your reservation, you won't be caught unaware....

 

You've lost nothing.....your reservation was returned to it's original....that's what being observant is all about. It's not about wanting something for nothing. You weren't damaged.

 

As for "what might have happened"....well, I suppose the ship could explode or a freak hurricane might make for a cancellation, or your airline could cancel or change your flights, or Princess might go out of business or aliens from Mars might land in Miami.......

[TonyFred]

Well' date=' frequent cruisers know that it's always wise to keep track of your reservation on the website or by phone. Ship happens.....frequently....and if you're taking care of business by watching out for your reservation, you won't be caught unaware....

 

You've lost nothing.....your reservation was returned to it's original....that's what being observant is all about. It's not about wanting something for nothing. You weren't damaged.

 

As for "what might have happened"....well, I suppose the ship could explode or a freak hurricane might make for a cancellation, or your airline could cancel or change your flights, or Princess might go out of business or aliens from Mars might land in Miami.......[/quote']

 

Trust me, if aliens from Mars land in Miami, they will turn back around and head for home asap.

[wizard-of-roz]

Trust me, if aliens from Mars land in Miami, they will turn back around and head for home asap.

 

I laughed til I almost wet my pants, on this one!!!!!!! :D

[kooljamming]

Since the OP canceled the Princess cruise and went with Celebrity, do they still get the bottle of wine:p?

 

If not, can I have first dibs on it? What if I don't like it, can I get OBC for Bahama Mamas.

[Pam in CA]

I'm astounded that many of you feel that giving Princess a pass is the way to go here. What if you ordered something from Walmart and decided to have it shipped to the store. Then, Walmart e-mails you and says that what your ordered has arrived. You go to the store to pick it up and Walmart tells you they decided to sell it to someone else. How would you feel? That is tantamount to what has happened here. The consumer should NOT have to police the vendor in my opinion. Labrador2 entered into an agreement and without warning had that agreement terminated. This COULD have had disasterous results. It did not, thankfully, but Princess should have fully acknowledged their mistake and shown a little more interest in satisfying a loyal customer than a bottle of wine that they probably pay $3.00 for.

Actually, your analogy is imperfect. If you'd ordered something from Wal-Mart and then changed your mind, canceling the first order and ordering something else, and you didn't get a confirmation for either the cancellation or the new order, wouldn't you double-check? I don't know of anyone who would just sit back and assume everything was fine. The point is that Labrador2 canceled something, ordered something else and didn't get a confirmation for either action. And, if the change was a different price, you would assume there would be a change in the deposit due. Yes, Princess made a mistake but you as the customer have a responsibility to double-check your order, particularly if you don't receive an order confirmation. A cruise isn't a $7.99 book from Amazon; it's a lot of money and most people pay attention when they're spending that much money. The OP chose not to use a TA who would have made sure the cruiseline followed through. Occasionally, TAs make mistakes but that's a different subject.

 

I don't think I'm defending Princess so much as saying that the OP, and all of us, need to take more responsibility for our actions and not blame someone else because we weren't paying attention to omissions that were staring us in the face.

[bhopal21]

You are correct Pam, just stating the facts.

 

Mike:)

[caribill]

Trust me, if aliens from Mars land in Miami, they will turn back around and head for home asap.

 

 

But not until they have bought art at the art auction.

[caribill]

I just had the same thing happen about a month ago with a Caribbean cruise I booked for October on the Emerald. I make a habit of checking "My Princess" and the Cruise Personalizer regularly, and when I did I noticed that I had an FCC I didn't have the last time I checked. When I tried to go into the personalizer it said that I couldn not view a canceled cruise :eek: Lo and behold, they had canceled my cruise, and in my case, there was no $36 difference or itinerary switch - their database just flat out canceled me for no reason.

 

It took me 2 calls to get a Princess rep with a few firing brain cells that understood the problem and was willing to help (this happened on a Sunday when my TA wasn't in). The end result was that by the next day when my TA called I had my cruise and my original cabin back. In my case there was profuse apology, an explanation that there was "glitch" in their database that caused it, but no offer of compensation nor did I ask or expect any. It happened, it was fixed, and that was that.

 

There may be others who are also the victims of that "glitch" who have no idea yet that their cruise has been cancelled.

 

What happens when they find out that it has happened and their reserved cabin is no longer available?

 

Should it really be necessary for passengers to check their personalizer daily to make sure Princess has not cancelled their reservatrion?

 

Is it necessary to check your airlines reservations daily to make sure the airline has not messed up?

 

Your hotel reservations?

[PtownGirlz-NH]

Did you ever go to the Princess cruise personalizer and look around? I go there a lot to find out how many more days till my cruise and send in my preferences like robes and fruit and such....

:D

 

I'm new to this, sorry for the stupidity... but what is the princess cruise personalizer!!!!!

[Pam in CA]

I'm new to this, sorry for the stupidity... but what is the princess cruise personalizer!!!!!

If you go to www.princess.com, look at the top of the page for the link "My Princess." You sign in there and from the page after logging-in, you can see all of your bookings and Captain's Circle account information. Under the info on your next Princess cruise is a link to "Cruise Personalizer" where you can check on the specifics of your booking, select your preferences, order excursions, etc. I strongly suggest you explore it. :)

 

FYI, where in Northern NH are you? My daughter is in Littleton. :)

[CitizenD]

The person's reservation was CANCELED without their knowledge or consent. This is not a "what if" it's an actuality. Based on feedback from this board, I guess this thing happens all of the time. If this is true, then that's really sad. I've made dozens of reservations at hotels and never had soemthing like this happen. I don't regularly check my hotel reservations after I've made them, why should this be different?

[Pam in CA]

The person's reservation was CANCELED without their knowledge or consent. This is not a "what if" it's an actuality. Based on feedback from this board, I guess this thing happens all of the time. If this is true, then that's really sad. I've made dozens of reservations at hotels and never had soemthing like this happen. I don't regularly check my hotel reservations after I've made them, why should this be different?

Actually, the OP's reservation was cancelled because they cancelled one cruise and booked another, and there was an additional deposit required since the new booking was more expensive than the old. Princess didn't just arbitrarily cancel their booking without their knowledge or consent. Yes, glitches happen and Princess should make restitution but in this case, the OP didn't follow through with the additional required deposit amount. They say they didn't receive confirmation of the cancelled booking nor did they receive confirmation of their new booking. That should be a HUGE red flag. Instead, they assumed everything was fine and didn't double-check to make sure the original booking was cancelled and the new booking was completed.

 

If you've bought a $2,000 TV in Best Buy and didn't get a receipt, wouldn't you ask for it? Not an exact analogy but close. The OP didn't get a receipt and didn't question why or what was up. Yes, Princess screwed up by not sending the receipt but most people would have called or checked if they didn't get one. And, to use another anology, if you buy something online and return it in exchange for another item that's more expensive, wouldn't you assume you should pay the difference? In this case, the new booking was more expensive and the OP didn't pay the difference.

[Garn]

As a relative newbie, I seem to view this differently than a lot of the veterans here. I don't think it's unreasonable to assume that a company that sells cruises as their business knows what they are doing. I don't think it's unreasonable to assume that if a representative of that company says "everything is taken care of" then everything is taken care of.

 

Honestly, we were incredibly naive on our first cruise, and fortunately everything worked out ok. I've gotten much much wiser since I discovered cruise critic, and more paranoid, so I do triple-check everything, but when you're laying out that kind of money, you expect a certain level of competence, especially on a higher-end cruise line. Princess screwed up, it shouldn't have happened, and it was entirely their fault- I think it's a bit silly that there are so many people saying that it was the OP's responsibility to make sure that Princess didn't screw up.

 

I think the OP deserved a profuse apology (and the wine was a nice gesture), but that's about it, since no harm was done. If their cabin was gone, however, I think that Princess would have owed them a free upgrade or whatever it takes to live up to their commitment. Not a free cruise, or OBC, but whatever it took to "make it right".

 

Yes, a savvy traveller knows to confirm flights, car rentals, tours, insurance, hotels, etc., multiple times leading up to the trip- but it shouldn't have to be that way, and I think it's terrible to let the service provider off the hook for not doing their job.

[Toto2Kansas]

The person's reservation was CANCELED without their knowledge or consent. This is not a "what if" it's an actuality. Based on feedback from this board, I guess this thing happens all of the time. If this is true, then that's really sad. I've made dozens of reservations at hotels and never had soemthing like this happen. I don't regularly check my hotel reservations after I've made them, why should this be different?

 

But if you made a hotel reservation which required a Credit Card to secure that reservation past 6 PM for late arrival, and you didn't provide that credit card and arrived after 6 PM, would you still expect your room to be waiting for you?

 

The OP owed more of a deposit for the new booking, which wasn't paid. So, in turn, the cruise line cancelled the reservation.

[readytogo2]

Actually, the OP's reservation was cancelled because they cancelled one cruise and booked another, and there was an additional deposit required since the new booking was more expensive than the old. Princess didn't just arbitrarily cancel their booking without their knowledge or consent. Yes, glitches happen and Princess should make restitution but in this case, the OP didn't follow through with the additional required deposit amount. They say they didn't receive confirmation of the cancelled booking nor did they receive confirmation of their new booking. That should be a HUGE red flag. Instead, they assumed everything was fine and didn't double-check to make sure the original booking was cancelled and the new booking was completed.

 

If you've bought a $2,000 TV in Best Buy and didn't get a receipt, wouldn't you ask for it? Not an exact analogy but close. The OP didn't get a receipt and didn't question why or what was up. Yes, Princess screwed up by not sending the receipt but most people would have called or checked if they didn't get one. And, to use another anology, if you buy something online and return it in exchange for another item that's more expensive, wouldn't you assume you should pay the difference? In this case, the new booking was more expensive and the OP didn't pay the difference.

Hey Pam..dontcha just feel like banging your head against the wall..You couldn't have told it any clearer on your posts but still some people just don't get it:rolleyes: I'm by no means a veteran cruiser but I know when I order or change an order over the phone..I want it in writing.

[flbeachmom]

Do you not think that the reservations agent should hold some responsibility here, it is their BUSINESS to know what is going on too. People change their reservations all the time and getting the missing deposit should be second hand to them. I worked at Marriott Hotels for years as a reservation agent and let me tell you that we would have at least sent a letter or called before canceling a reservation with $600 down and only missing $36!! Im not saying that op was owed anything i just dont think the op holds all the blame that some of you are heaping on his head.

 

Also for my most recent cruise with Princess 3/29 i got a letter stating i stilled owed $36 on one of my rooms. I called my travel agent asap as i though i was paid in full. It turned out to be a mistake and I was fully paid. Maybe i got the op's notice by mistake??

[kooljamming]

As a relative newbie, I seem to view this differently than a lot of the veterans here. I don't think it's unreasonable to assume that a company that sells cruises as their business knows what they are doing. I don't think it's unreasonable to assume that if a representative of that company says "everything is taken care of" then everything is taken care of.

 

Honestly, we were incredibly naive on our first cruise, and fortunately everything worked out ok. I've gotten much much wiser since I discovered cruise critic, and more paranoid, so I do triple-check everything, but when you're laying out that kind of money, you expect a certain level of competence, especially on a higher-end cruise line. Princess screwed up, it shouldn't have happened, and it was entirely their fault- I think it's a bit silly that there are so many people saying that it was the OP's responsibility to make sure that Princess didn't screw up.

 

I think the OP deserved a profuse apology (and the wine was a nice gesture), but that's about it, since no harm was done. If their cabin was gone, however, I think that Princess would have owed them a free upgrade or whatever it takes to live up to their commitment. Not a free cruise, or OBC, but whatever it took to "make it right".

 

Yes, a savvy traveller knows to confirm flights, car rentals, tours, insurance, hotels, etc., multiple times leading up to the trip- but it shouldn't have to be that way, and I think it's terrible to let the service provider off the hook for not doing their job.

 

Thank you. The experts know about red flags, confirmation, personalizer and the rest. For $36 it's a clear case of incompetence on the part of Princess. They probably use a computer system knowing this do happen and willing to deal with it when it does. I paid $222 as a deposit (family of 4) for our next cruise to Alaska. Some of us are still learning and don't know about red flags. I am sure someone is thinking how stupid it is for you to think only $222 is required a 7 days cruise. I am a bit concern that the lower amount could result in my cruise being cancel. The deposit should have been 20 percent or some set amount per person. I don't always require things in writing (dumb faith) or take the contact's name, but now I will. WHAT IF my cruise end up being cancel what do i want. Just for everyone on here to realize that we are not all as knowledgeable about the what's not of travel as they are;) Not saying anything is due the OP, just don't like that this can happen with the technology available. I get email notification when my bill is available to view online, when it's due and when payment has been received.

 

BTW anyone with such a strange deposit?

[readytogo2]

Do you not think that the reservations agent should hold some responsibility here, it is their BUSINESS to know what is going on too. People change their reservations all the time and getting the missing deposit should be second hand to them. I worked at Marriott Hotels for years as a reservation agent and let me tell you that we would have at least sent a letter or called before canceling a reservation with $600 down and only missing $36!! Im not saying that op was owed anything i just dont think the op holds all the blame that some of you are heaping on his head.

 

Also for my most recent cruise with Princess 3/29 i got a letter stating i stilled owed $36 on one of my rooms. I called my travel agent asap as i though i was paid in full. It turned out to be a mistake and I was fully paid. Maybe i got the op's notice by mistake??

Nobody is saying that it is the a Op's fault. Princess doesn't give away bottles of wine for nothing. But the OP should not have felt all that comfortable with not getting an email confirmation. But after all said..their cabin was still available..so nothing lost.

[CitizenD]

Part of the issue is that Princess said they sent an e-mail regarding the cancellation but it was not received. When pressed further they could not produce any evidence of the e-mail. The bottom line is that a family's yearly vacation came within an eyelash of becoming a disaster due to negligence on the part of Princess. In these diffciult economic times one would think that a company like Princess would care more than they showed.

They can do better and we should expect that for our hard earned dollars and our precious time.