Princess complaint

[bobk57]

My fiance and I recently cruised on the Ruby in the Mediteranean, May 4-16th and we had a most incredible cruise. Absolutley a wonderful ship and a great crew. All the ports were absolutely wonderful and all worth visiting again for a longer stay. Now on to my complaint. I had order flowers from Princess to be delivered to our cabin the first day. My credit card was charged a few days before the cruise so I figured the flowers would be there the first day as asked for. My plan was to ask my sweetheart to marry me on the first day, with a proposal, ring and flowers. Well the proposal and ring was there, but no flowers. It took until Friday, five days later to get the flowers. Numerous calls to passenger relations got me no where except a message has been left with customer relations so they can verify the purchase. the day the flowers arrived we never received a call from anyone to appologize that the flowers were late or to make sure we were satisfied with the flowers. All I was told was to call customer relations after we got back and take it up with them. After the cruise was over I called customer relations and complained to them. All they would say is since I got the flowers, they provided the product and they did their part. I asked to talk to a supervisor and after being on the phone with Princess for 1/2 hour, mostly on hold, I finally told the rep that I cannot stay on hold any longer. The only option they gave me was to write a letter to Princess and tell them once again about my complaint. It has been 11 days since I emailed them a letter and have heard nothing from them. What is a reasonable amount of time to expect to wait for a response? If I get no response or a response that does not satisfy me what should I do next? Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Yes, I did ask Robin to marry me on the first day of the cruise and she did say yes. I have cruised Princess 5 times and have always had a great opinion about the cruise line. Each and every cruise had been great. Again any opinions and suggestions are greatly appreciated on how to procede.

 

Bob

[Toto2Kansas]

Normally, ordered flowers are delivered the day of sailing, but I don't think it is in the order anywhere which guarantees that. When did they actually deliver them?

 

As for writing to Princess, it can take up to 6 weeks to get a response. If I email a valid complaint and they receive it, I have received an email back within about 24 hours alerting me that they are looking into the problem. Then it is usually followed up anywhere from 3-6 weeks by regular mail.

 

I am going to guess that either 1-your email didn't go through, or 2-they didn't feel the complaint was actually a complaint (as you did receive the ordered flowers, just not on the day you thought you would).

 

If you want to push this, I would send a letter by regular mail or another email and see what happens. But I honestly don't think you have much of a complaint here. They did deliver what was ordered. And unless there was a promise that they would be delivered shortly after boarding, there isn't much they will do.

 

Glad it all worked out well though, and congratulations. ;)

[kooljamming]

First congrats on your engagement. Honestly, I would let this go. You didn't get the flowers which would have been nice. However you had a great cruise and more importantly a fiancée. You have a wedding to plan and a life ahead, this is behind you. Outside of an apology what would make this better? Yes, an apology should have been issued by now because of the special occasion.

[dog]

It'd be nice for you if you could just let it go and move on.

 

However, someone on that Princess ship was NOT doing their job and it would be a service to the rest of us who order items to be delivered to our cabin, and pre pay for them with an expected delivery date, if you did let them know that you were not satisfied.

 

The last couple of times, I've had cards waiting in the room for me and had to call to get the items delivered. These were paid for before the cruise, and then a room service charge for the delivery was on my final bill.

 

I don't order anymore.

[Cruisin' Chick]

I would definitely send a snail mail letter. Email can get lost thru cyberspace or accidentally deleted.

[captainron]

Hi Bob,

Firstly congratulations on pulling off the deed with such great aplomb even tho' the flowers were absent for the occasion.

 

In order to ensure that the letter is received by the party to whom it's addressed, you might consider registering the letter. That being said, I think you were precise, concise and to the point with what you had posted to open this thread, and as such, what has previously been written here should be conveyed to the correct person at Princess.

 

If I were you, I would make a concerted effort to obtain the name, position of the CEO/President of the line in Santa Clarita and apprise him/her of the lack of service that took away from your special occasion while onboard the Ruby.

 

Princess prides themselves in "CRUISE", (Courtesy Respect Unfailing In Service Excellence). In this case I'd submit that they were in fact failing as opposed to unfailing.

 

Wishing you many years of joy and happiness...

 

Ciao for now!!!

[California Native]

Congratulations!

You are just engaged...

wait until the wedding planning starts and the craziness of depending on vendors to have their act together...

you need to learn to let this go FAST or you will never survive the next months until your wedding because let me tell you from personal experience ...

it will probably get worse with other companies along the way.

Dispute the charges on your credit card, that will solve it immediatly.

Yes it stinks they dropped the ball, yes it wasn't exactly how you wanted the proposal to be...but honestly it's only flowers

Focus your energy on creating your LIFE together not on this slip up by Princess...

Now, I know you have cruised Princess 5 times and you expected more of them...

I have walked in your shoes...really I have...

Princess totally dropped the ball on our honeymoon which was my DH's 1st cruise... A FRICKING NIGHTMARE...

as very long Elite passenger (I'm 43 and have been cruising for over 30 years) I couldn't believe they could do this to me...the letter reached Alan Buckelew himself and I was told one of VP's who read about the story said HOLY SH"T...Princess made it right to a tune of $$$$ never seen before...

This was after our entire wedding planning fiasco...

9 months before the wedding the Catholic Church says we can't be married in the church, since we can't have children...and we as a couple need to promise to go forth and procreate...this is true..I've read Vatican Law

6 months before the wedding 1st reception place which is a very sophisticated place is sold and becomes a Mexican Cantina...speciality...jello shots (which I needed, but wasn't quite the vision i had for a reception

3 months before the wedding 2 Episcopal churchs will marry us if we pay either a $1,000

2.5 months before the wedding our 2nd reception place calls me and lets me know that they will be closing in 1 week for a complete renovation and will not be able to accomadate our reception...

I still need to order invitations I have no church and no reception place

My long term hairdresser decides to retire and I have no one to do my hair for my wedding

9 weeks before our wedding my mom takes me on the Dawn Princess mexico run to get away and regroup...

spa treatments daily...

We go to the Future Cruise Consultant to book another cruise..and I check my honeymoon booking to just confirm our dining preferences...the look on the onboards cruise consultants case said it all ...the booking had been cancelled...apparently only a 12.00 deposit had been applied not a 1200.00 deposit....the ship is sold out

Well we got the honeymoon fixed, found a reception place, shelled out 1,000 to church

We have been happily married since.. because through it all that was our focus...our life together

and the actually honeymoon....

Well, here are just a FEW HIGHLIGHTS! So much stuff happened it was a 4 page letter!

we were in the infamous cabin B621 on the Star Princess, on the sailing that the Spa flooded, then moved to L244 where the cabin door mechanism never locked and people walked in on us from L224..yes, I mean WALKED IN ON US

it took Princess 3 days to fix it, so we had to lock all of our belongings up each day and put a night stand in front of our door

and then the following night crew entered the cabin next to us to have knock down screaming fight in the middle of the night,

and through it all they forgot to put up balloons, a door sign, send our flowers

So, as my dear buddy dog said above it would be nice if you could just move on...

I also want to point out before my honeymoon and all cruises afterwards with Princess everything was and has been fabulous...that cruise was such a fluke!!!

 

Sadly, the fluke happened on our honeymoon

[j!m]

fergetaboutit!!

 

you hada great cruise

 

you are engaged

 

why worry about flowers that didnt arrive on time

 

life is too short

 

CONGRATS!!!!!

[pablo222]

Princess prides themselves in "CRUISE", (Courtesy Respect Unfailing In Service Excellence).

 

I always thought that stood for Can't Really Understand Italians Speaking English.

 

...learn something new every day.

[paul929207]

I always order flowers for our cabin and they have always shown up on embarkation day until our last cruise. We are on the Pacific Princess and insead of flowers, we got a certificate for the flowers. Unfortunately, we got it after we sailed. There is no flower shop on the Pacific. It took two days at sea and 3 ports to get the flowers and then they charged our onboard account for them. Yes, I finally got that straightened out.

[cruisefreaks]

I always thought that stood for Can't Really Understand Italians Speaking English.

 

...learn something new every day.

 

 

That is really funny - I rarely can figure out what the Captian's name is or half of what he is saying!!!

[Happy2Cruise4Fun]

I agree with everyone else and say let it go. Just wait until the wedding. There will be something that goes wrong there no matter how much you plan. Something always does. DW and I always laugh about the one incident from our wedding.

 

Maybe with this flower issue your mishap has already happened.

[Live4Vacay]

It'd be nice for you if you could just let it go and move on.

 

However, someone on that Princess ship was NOT doing their job and it would be a service to the rest of us who order items to be delivered to our cabin, and pre pay for them with an expected delivery date, if you did let them know that you were not satisfied.

 

The last couple of times, I've had cards waiting in the room for me and had to call to get the items delivered. These were paid for before the cruise, and then a room service charge for the delivery was on my final bill.

 

I don't order anymore.

 

Well said!

 

To the OP, I understand why you are frustrated. It doesn't soudn like you want compensation, but merely acknowledgement that someone screwed up and they are sorry. If you do want compensation good luck, because as others - mostly the die-hards who will defend Princess like they are related - have said, "you got the flowers & should give-it-up," but keep it in mind. The days of "service with a smile" are slipping fast at sea. Fortunately, if it bothers you that much you can do something about it - don't book with Princess or just plain don't cruise with mass lines. Ever tried a 4 or 5-star resort? How about the luxury lines - Silverseas, Oceana, etc? Many hotels still know the value of customer loyalty. The mass cruise lines could care less these days. They know they could "flash" sale the ship and fill it in days. Good business practice, huh?

[Chat Noir]

Chalk it up to a minor annoyance in life.

 

Maybe you'll get the cost of the flowers refunded, and I hope you do. :)

 

But keep in mind... even though your unhappiness is understandable there are worse things that happen onboard than a late flower delivery.

[cacy6893076]

Normally, ordered flowers are delivered the day of sailing, but I don't think it is in the order anywhere which guarantees that. When did they actually deliver them?

 

 

Unlike most other "special services", (for others that consider this in the future, because it looks like you ordered them more than 72 hours ahead from your post)it is necessary to order flowers I believe 72 hours prior to sailing as they are delivered to the ship on embarkation day "per order" and are not made up in the flower shop onboard, and toto i believe you are right, i don't know if it states that under the gifts section on the website per se..... sorry for the confusion hope it worked out as best as possible.......72 hours is my best recollection( may be longer...5 days but i think it is 3) as it has been a while, but it is not something you order the night before sailing or during the sailing unless they have the additional supply onboard to make up something on the fly. Again sorry you were dissappointed. It sounds like you ordered them in plenty of time so i don't know what went wrong, but i am sure they will get back to you if you put it is sriting,,,it just takes the standard 4-6 weeks......

[elsje]

My fiance and I recently cruised on the Ruby in the Mediteranean, May 4-16th and we had a most incredible cruise. Absolutley a wonderful ship and a great crew. All the ports were absolutely wonderful and all worth visiting again for a longer stay. Now on to my complaint. I had order flowers from Princess to be delivered to our cabin the first day. My credit card was charged a few days before the cruise so I figured the flowers would be there the first day as asked for. My plan was to ask my sweetheart to marry me on the first day, with a proposal, ring and flowers. Well the proposal and ring was there, but no flowers. It took until Friday, five days later to get the flowers. Numerous calls to passenger relations got me no where except a message has been left with customer relations so they can verify the purchase. the day the flowers arrived we never received a call from anyone to appologize that the flowers were late or to make sure we were satisfied with the flowers. All I was told was to call customer relations after we got back and take it up with them. After the cruise was over I called customer relations and complained to them. All they would say is since I got the flowers, they provided the product and they did their part. I asked to talk to a supervisor and after being on the phone with Princess for 1/2 hour, mostly on hold, I finally told the rep that I cannot stay on hold any longer. The only option they gave me was to write a letter to Princess and tell them once again about my complaint. It has been 11 days since I emailed them a letter and have heard nothing from them. What is a reasonable amount of time to expect to wait for a response? If I get no response or a response that does not satisfy me what should I do next? Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Yes, I did ask Robin to marry me on the first day of the cruise and she did say yes. I have cruised Princess 5 times and have always had a great opinion about the cruise line. Each and every cruise had been great. Again any opinions and suggestions are greatly appreciated on how to procede.

 

Bob

 

 

A good company wants to know from its customers if a particular service was not delivered. Unfortunately you did not seem to have luck with that onboard when you inquired about the flowers and upon your return when you were put on hold for 30 minutes. While it might not be a big deal for others I can understand that you were very disappointed that the flowers were not there, especially since you requested delivery on that day. Proposing to your sweatheart to marry you happens only once.

 

Anyway I hope you get a letter from Princess with an apology ~ congratulations on your engagement.

[elsje]

Bob ~ your post may be help to others when they order flowers to request if Princess guarantees delivery of the flowers on the day they want it. This way it may prevent disappointment.

[Bob Winters]

Bob, speaking as a fellow namesake and a true romantic at heart, I understand how you feel. I would not be happy unless I did receive some type of note from Princess. I would also be unhappy with the CSRs comment of at least you got the flowers. Bob, you paid a normally higher price to have the flowers for that special moment. Afterwards the flowers may be nice, but they are probably old and almost meaningless at that time. I would call Princess again and at the very least write them one more time.

Good luck to you and happy days ahead.

Bob

[dog]

If it was me, I'd just email customer services at Princess to let them know in writing that I was very disappointed with this situation. I wouldn't expect anything from them but an apology.

 

I have received responses back from them within a couple of weeks when I have contacted them by email.

 

dog

[Shogun]

Hi There,

 

Same thing happened on my last cruise, I soke to PSD flowers were in cabin with in hours then a note saying sorry but they could not find my orginal order, flowers were free.

 

yours Shogun

[Sandytoes]

I had order flowers from Princess to be delivered to our cabin the first day. My credit card was charged a few days before the cruise so I figured the flowers would be there the first day as asked for. My plan was to ask my sweetheart to marry me on the first day, with a proposal, ring and flowers. Well the proposal and ring was there, but no flowers. It took until Friday, five days later to get the flowers. Numerous calls to passenger relations got me no where except a message has been left with customer relations so they can verify the purchase. the day the flowers arrived we never received a call from anyone to appologize

 

Bob

 

Congrats are in order!!!! :)

 

If the flowers were that important to you

how come you didn't go directly to the Purser's desk?

Why all the phone calls?

Shouldn't you have spoken directly to the florist on board? :confused:

 

I can honestly understand why you would be upset

however, they are just flowers. Nothing more - nothing less.

 

You did receive them, you did propose, and she say yes.

Now, you should invest your time with all the marriage plans.

 

Good Luck and Best Wishes!

[kooljamming]

IMOP...there is no such thing as just flower, just bacon, just cream, or just butter:p

When these are added to any meal or occasion, they take things from good to simply wonderful:D

[bobk57]

Thank you everyone for all the great coments. I agree that I need to let it go. But that is hard for me to do. I would like an apology from Princess. I will be patient with them and wait a few weeks for a response back. If I hear nothing by the end of June, they may hear from me again.

Thanks again to all.

 

Bob

[LegalEagle2012]

Did you email the Princess CEO - Alan Buckelew?

 

K

[ggprincess2004]

It'd be nice for you if you could just let it go and move on.

 

However, someone on that Princess ship was NOT doing their job and it would be a service to the rest of us who order items to be delivered to our cabin, and pre pay for them with an expected delivery date, if you did let them know that you were not satisfied.

 

The last couple of times, I've had cards waiting in the room for me and had to call to get the items delivered. These were paid for before the cruise, and then a room service charge for the delivery was on my final bill.

 

I don't order anymore.

 

Room service doesn't charge to deliver - unless you left a tip on the receipt when you signed for the order.