Princess has gone from first to worst in our eyes

[MoneyGuy]

We've been on seven cruises and our eighth is in a few days. I'm excited.

 

Up until our cruise last year, Princess was our favourite line. We've had good experiences with them. Half of out cruises have been with Princess. Financially, we're set and intgend to cruise a lot going forward.

 

Last year we took out two adult children on a cruise through the Caribbean. It was to be a once-in-a-lifetime adventure so we booked two balcony rooms next to each other. For the most past it was a great cruise, except for one big (to us) problem. The kids' room was fine. Our room, however, was not. Much of the time when we opened our balcony door the air movement caused a loud buzzing in the wall right beside out bathroom. It sounded like bees in our wall. Despite several attempts to get the maintenance staff to fix it, they were unsuccessful.

 

We booked a balcony room so that we could sit outside and enjoy the warm Caribbean air and we wanted to keep the door open mostly all the time. We wanted to have the door open while we were sleeping. We had to keep the door closed most of the time, which seriously detracted from our enjoyment of this cruise and took away much of the benefit of havng a balcony room.

 

I can't over-emphasize how much losing much of the benefit of our balcony detracted from our enjoyment of our cruise. We should have just booked an inside cabin and saved the cost of the balcony because we hardly used it.

 

I don't complain a lot. I'm an accepting kind of guy. However, when we left the ship for the last time, I put a letter into the comments box (with my contact info), thinking I'd hear back from Princess. After weeks of nothing, I sent an email to their head office. Nothing. I sent a second email, again nothing.

 

I can accept that things go wrong. Mechanical problems occur. I accept that.

 

HOwever, I feel there is no excuse for a company not caring. Princess is the company we've had more cruises with than any other line. We've enjoyed crusing with them and had hoped to do many more with them. Unfortunately, my wife have discussed this again recently and have decided that because of Princess's apparent disinterest in us, we've decided to cruise on other lines. There are lots of choice out there and we'll be looking at other lines from now on. OUr next cruise is booked with Norwegian. We intend to be frequent cruisers. We did two last year, one with Princess and another with another line.

 

I see a thread in this section from a first-time Princess customer. I may be a last-time Princess customer. I'm not saying for sure because I may get over this. With time.

 

If someone from Princess wants to contact me, my email address is wrothe at shaw.ca.

[Toto2Kansas]

Are you referring to the suction/noise that is caused when it's windy outside and you have your balcony door open? This happens all the time to us, and what it does is pull the air through your main entrance door and causes a noise. Nothing to do with the bathroom walls, it is the main door to your stateroom. If you are referring to the loud noise that comes from that area, I would guess that would be it.

 

So, because of this noise, it totally ruined your cruise? Or am I reading this incorrectly?

 

Sorry it ruined your cruise, hopefully the next one will be better, on whatever line you choose. ;)

 

Not sure about the request with your email, I don't know of anyone on this board that works for Princess.

[Tak8]

Everyone reacts differently, but it seems like a small thing to take Princess from first to worst. As you explain it it also seems like something Princess doesn't want you doing.

If you do hear from Princess, I imagine they would tell you not to leave the door open all the time. When you run your air conditioner at home, do you leave your door open letting in all the hot air and increasing your electric bill.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Huh? I hesitated to read this as many with extreme titles such as this usually appear to be someone with an axe to grind and are not consistent with the cruise experience of the majority of people. Now I wish I had skipped it!:eek: If a rattling wall is going to keep you from cruising Princess, then so be it. You aren't suppose to sit with the door open anyway. It messes up the a/c. All cruise ships will have a big suction created when the ship is underway and the balcony door is open. I don't see a Princess Rep hurrying to give you a big OBC for this inconvenience.

[cjpj]

Being originally from Edmonton, I'm surprised to see some one from Spruce Grove complaining about this! It's not environmentally correct or friendly to leave your balcony door open anyway... disrupts the air conditioning/temperature of the ship. You could still sit on your balcony - just close the door like everyone else.

[bplazo]

I didn't think that leaving the balcony door open was recommended.

 

If this was your only problem, I cannot see how it would ruin your cruise and make you think twice about cruising.

[Billy and Charlie's Mum]

Oh! What a shame to lose you to another cruise line:rolleyes:

 

Enjoy the other cruise line.

[MoneyGuy]

Not much sympathy so far, I see. If Princess had at least apologized, I'd be fine. They didn't even do that. I was disappointed that three attempts to let them know of the problem passed without any result. That's what annoyed me. I'm in the service business. I think they should show that they care about this.

[awhcruiser]

How is you leaving your balcony door open the fault of Princess???

 

We've been on seven cruises and our eighth is in a few days. I'm excited.

 

Up until our cruise last year, Princess was our favourite line. We've had good experiences with them. Half of out cruises have been with Princess. Financially, we're set and intgend to cruise a lot going forward.

 

Last year we took out two adult children on a cruise through the Caribbean. It was to be a once-in-a-lifetime adventure so we booked two balcony rooms next to each other. For the most past it was a great cruise, except for one big (to us) problem. The kids' room was fine. Our room, however, was not. Much of the time when we opened our balcony door the air movement caused a loud buzzing in the wall right beside out bathroom. It sounded like bees in our wall. Despite several attempts to get the maintenance staff to fix it, they were unsuccessful.

 

We booked a balcony room so that we could sit outside and enjoy the warm Caribbean air and we wanted to keep the door open mostly all the time. We wanted to have the door open while we were sleeping. We had to keep the door closed most of the time, which seriously detracted from our enjoyment of this cruise and took away much of the benefit of havng a balcony room.

 

I can't over-emphasize how much losing much of the benefit of our balcony detracted from our enjoyment of our cruise. We should have just booked an inside cabin and saved the cost of the balcony because we hardly used it.

 

I don't complain a lot. I'm an accepting kind of guy. However, when we left the ship for the last time, I put a letter into the comments box (with my contact info), thinking I'd hear back from Princess. After weeks of nothing, I sent an email to their head office. Nothing. I sent a second email, again nothing.

 

I can accept that things go wrong. Mechanical problems occur. I accept that.

 

HOwever, I feel there is no excuse for a company not caring. Princess is the company we've had more cruises with than any other line. We've enjoyed crusing with them and had hoped to do many more with them. Unfortunately, my wife have discussed this again recently and have decided that because of Princess's apparent disinterest in us, we've decided to cruise on other lines. There are lots of choice out there and we'll be looking at other lines from now on. OUr next cruise is booked with Norwegian. We intend to be frequent cruisers. We did two last year, one with Princess and another with another line.

 

I see a thread in this section from a first-time Princess customer. I may be a last-time Princess customer. I'm not saying for sure because I may get over this. With time.

 

If someone from Princess wants to contact me, my email address is wrothe at shaw.ca.

[dresch25]

Are you referring to the suction/noise that is caused when it's windy outside and you have your balcony door open? This happens all the time to us, and what it does is pull the air through your main entrance door and causes a noise. Nothing to do with the bathroom walls, it is the main door to your stateroom. If you are referring to the loud noise that comes from that area, I would guess that would be it.

We had this same issue recently on the Ruby, In NO way did it ruin my cruise.

 

So, because of this noise, it totally ruined your cruise? Or am I reading this incorrectly?

 

Sorry it ruined your cruise, hopefully the next one will be better, on whatever line you choose. ;)

 

Not sure about the request with your email, I don't know of anyone on this board that works for Princess.

 

Can't wait to sail on her again.

[cruisingready]

Hope you come back to Princess as I think they are a great cruiseline.

[Cruise Junky]

Not much sympathy so far, I see. If Princess had at least apologized, I'd be fine. They didn't even do that. I was disappointed that three attempts to let them know of the problem passed without any result. That's what annoyed me. I'm in the service business. I think they should show that they care about this.

 

You want Princess to apologize for you leaving your door open? :rolleyes:

[katisdale]

The one thing I learned on these boards after the Star Princess fire was that I will never under any circumstances sleep with the balcony door open.

[RickEk]

Not much sympathy so far, I see. If Princess had at least apologized, I'd be fine. They didn't even do that. I was disappointed that three attempts to let them know of the problem passed without any result. That's what annoyed me. I'm in the service business. I think they should show that they care about this.

 

I'm sorry that this happened to you. You say that the maintenance staff attempted to fix the problem, but failed. Were you given an apology then? A "sorry, but we can't fix this to your satisfaction"? I do agree with the other posters that you should have just left the door closed. You could have still enjoyed the balcony... was opening and closing the door that much of a problem? And hey, if the kid's cabin was quieter, I'd have just switched rooms! :) That was certainly possible to do...

[Genghis Khan]

I for one think it's terrible the way you have been treated! The noise in your head/bathroom sounds as if it was related to some duct-work that had a loose piece of metal vibrating. They could have easily dis-assembled your wall and fixed that. Not being able to keep your balcony door open is a big reason to have the balcony in the first place and they should have not kept coming to your cabin to see if you were leaving it open (I'm assuming that's what they did).

As far as not answering your e-mails, it sounds as if they may have singled you out for the "cold shoulder" treatment. I'm not saying this to take their side but, maybe you did something at some point to make them mad at you. Did you look at their girlfriend or something?

[Duck Duck Cruise]

A simple fix for something you aren't supposed to do anyway (although most everybody does)...put a towel at the base of the door where the air was being sucked through causing the noise and vibration.

 

It has worked for us in the past. Problem solved and you can use this fix on any cruise line.

[Perky1]

And don't ever have your room full of birthday ballons (surprise party) with balcony door open and then have someone open the cabin door. Balloons rush out and your chasing them up and down the hall:D:D:D

[nceyeguy]

We've been on seven cruises and our eighth is in a few days. I'm excited.

 

Up until our cruise last year

You're going on a cruise in 8 days, and all of a sudden you remember the wind tunnel you created on a cruise last year?

[LoveThisCruisingThing]

Did anyone else notice that this "unfortunate" cruise was last year? Why are you now writing about it? Also, if you haven't gotten over it by now, I doubt you ever will. Life is too short to let something minor like this occur. Heck, I even know that the balcony door is not to be left open at all times. (I think it is ok while in port but not while cruising)

[hubofhockey]

The only thing that makes my balcony unusable is when I get a heavy smoker next to me or beneath me. :mad: I guess that would really be annoying if you're enjoying the ultimate balcony dinner and every balcony passenger around you lights up. My take on the OP's situation is that Princess prioritized this near the bottom of their complaints list. They probably weren't too happy that OP caused maintenance staff to have to actually work on something like that.

[ptcruzers]

We will be on the Crown on April 19- please stay home and complain to someone who may care about your petty personal problem!!:confused:

[jagsfan]

OP is lucky. I had my balcony door open in Miami Beach, the chambermaid caught me,

and didn't say a word. Ten minutes after she walked out, up came the manager to

explain to me.....first the expense of overworking the AC, second, the wind tunnel/

suction effect that could cause an injury, and third, the damp air permeating the

room and the beds. He was nice, but dead serious, and it made a permanent impression.

Now I open the door, go out and sit and when I'm through, come in and close it.

[NSWP]

You cannot blame the wind as you cannot blame the seas! Even though our dollar is down, I stick with Princess as I find the 'middle of the road' style of cruising suits us. Anyway, I like the attitude and behaviour of most of their cruisers. Have never experienced much trouble.

[Toto2Kansas]

Not much sympathy so far, I see. If Princess had at least apologized, I'd be fine. They didn't even do that. I was disappointed that three attempts to let them know of the problem passed without any result. That's what annoyed me. I'm in the service business. I think they should show that they care about this.

 

Oh Please, you expected them to apologize because you had a windy cruise and leaving your balcony door open caused the suction noise? Come on now. I had a bit of sympathy for you since it seems that sleeping with your balcony door open was so very important to you (I was just hoping you turned off the AC, although I didn't ask). But expecting an apology, as said by others, for doing something you weren't really supposed to be doing anyway is a bit over the top don't ya think? :rolleyes::rolleyes:

 

 

The little bit of sympathy for you is now GONE! I can totally understand now why Princess is ignoring your complaint. My guess, they filed it in the 'ridiculous' file!

[Toto2Kansas]

And don't ever have your room full of birthday ballons (surprise party) with balcony door open and then have someone open the cabin door. Balloons rush out and your chasing them up and down the hall:D:D:D

 

Giggle Giggle, Yep, I remember that one. The balloon race to recover the runaway balloons. lol