pcjty

Thanks for your replies

We heard from Princess yesterday and they said that they'd been in touch with the ship and yes the incident did happen..although she said they were told that the map that was given away was not signed...luckily we had taken photos of the other map straight after the auction, so I was able to email one to prove it too was actually signed and identical to the one we bought at auction. After discussions with her Manger, the lady on the phone said that if we sent the map back to them by Friday then they would get it signed for us by Gavin MacLeod (The Love Boat Captain) and Ann Sherry (Princess Cruises AU CEO) and would also send us a photo of it being signed.

The map was was express posted to them yesterday

Carol

Hello,

Thanks for all your replies

We heard from Princess yesterday and they said that they'd been in touch with the ship and yes the incident did happen..although she said they were told that the map that was given away was not signed...luckily we had taken photos of the other map straight after the auction, so I was able to email one to prove it too was actually signed and identical to the one we bought at auction. After discussions with her Manager, the lady on the phone said that if we sent the map back to them by Friday then they would get it signed for us by Gavin MacLeod (The Love Boat Captain) and Ann Sherry (Princess Cruises AU CEO) and would also send us a photo of it being signed.

The map was was express posted to them yesterday

Carol

jollyjones..no of course not, we knew from the beginning of the cruise that the map was 'pre-plotted', but the route marked does look as though it was done by hand - it is not exactly the route we took either, because we missed Dunedin and Milford Sound, so we knew full well that they didn't update it - we are not naive just wanting what we paid for

Pushka - exactly, and it was presented as the only one available to passengers which is why we're so upset

Carol

The idea of Princess matching the amount of money for the charity is a good one, but that doesn't help me with my present for my Dad for whom the map was bought.

Over the past couple of days I've also been thinking about what they could do to rectify the situation and i don't know if it's feasible but if they could supply me with another signed, hand marked navigational map that was definitely an original one-off I'd be happy - I just want what we paid for.

I don't mean to sound heartless, but we paid the money in good faith of receiving what was advertised and didn't get it, and even though I don't want to take money away from the charity, its still money that we paid out for a present that wasn't what it should have been.

Carol

I would like to add, nobody from princess Cruises has contacted us about this and we were told on the ship on 22nd January we would be contacted within a couple of days. I emailed them a week ago and rang last Friday and was told they hadn't received my message (even though I got a receipt number from the automated response within minutes of sending the email) this is when the lady told me we had no proof as to what had happened and only we would know it wasn't a one-off, my Dad wouldn't know - I then wrote to the CEO at the end of last week and still so far nothing.

Carol

cr8tiv1 - we paid our on board account in cash.

Carol

Hello,

Thanks for the replies,

The money is really not the issue - we were happy with the amount we paid for the one-off map and that it was going to charity, and we certainly would not want the money back from the charity

Our problem is that it is no longer the one-off that it was auctioned as, and we feel cheated - we bought it for my Dad because it was a one-off and we wanted a really special present for his 80th, and if there's only one then it's special, but regardless of how nice it might be, it's not the one-off that we bought... if the ship can and do give identical ones away then why are they auctioning them as the one and only?

Yes, Colo Cruiser, we received the map; the issue is it was auctioned as a one-off, and then an officer gave an identical one to one of the other passengers - we would not have bid at all if we had known this was going to happen.

These maps are supposed to be the Navigational maps and are signed by the captain and senior crew, so they're not just any old map, ours was auctioned as the one and only signed navigational map.

Carol

Hello, I am posting this here following advice from the Australian Boards, and will put a link to that thread at the end of the post so you can see the updates

Carol

Hello,

I would like your thoughts and hopefully some advice on something that happened on our recent Princess cruise to New Zealand please.

We knew before the cruise that the navigational maps were auctioned for charity on the last sea day, and had decided that we would bid on the map as a present for my Dad's 80th birthday this year.

Having not cruised with Princess before, we were somewhat surprised to see two identical navigational maps, one on deck 6, and the other was on deck 12 near the bar, and we did discuss the possibility that they may do two auctions; but come the day of the auction there was only one map auctioned which was advertised as being a limited edition of one available, so we assumed the other would be filed with the ships records.

We won the auction, with a final bid of $550 and when my husband went to sign for the purchase the Assistant Cruise Director Phil, told him that the map on the previous New Zealand cruise only went for $450; but we were just happy that we’d won because the map would be a completely one off present for my Dad, and the money was going to the seaman’s charity.

After the auction we went to Deck 12 and the other identical map was still in situ, so we took some photos of our son in front of that map.

The next morning we were sitting on Deck 12 and the other map was still there, but then we went down to get our suitcases and when we went back up to Deck 12 to wait the 20 minutes or so before we could get off the ship the map had gone and some friends that we made on the cruise told us that they’d seen one of the other passengers looking at the map and then a young officer had come along, they’d had a quick conversation and then the officer had removed the map from behind the perspex, rolled it up and given it to the passenger, who walked away with it.

Obviously we are not happy with this, and we went straight to the Pursers desk and complained to a lady who told us the map would be different to the one we’d won – we told her it was identical in every way, and as we’d taken the photos the previous day showed her a photo to prove it; she then got an officer from somewhere out the back to come and talk to us, and he said that it definitely should not have happened and they would look into it…by then it was time for us to get off the ship, so we asked for someone to contact us and were told it would take a couple of days.

This was only last Wednesday 22nd, but so far nobody has contacted us, and we are still extremely unhappy about it; the one-off map for my Dad is not a one-off, and although we were happy to pay the $550 for the map when it was the only one available, we are obviously not happy that we paid that amount of money for something that somebody else was just given.

I don’t intend to let Princess just forget about this, and am hoping for some advice as to how we should proceed, and what, if any, outcome we should be requesting.

Thank you

Carol

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1978640

Thank you Kiwi Kruzer, I will have a look - is it ok to put a link to this thread on there

Carol

Yatchet, if they are imitation then they shouldn't be auctioning them as the cruise navigational map in the first place, and that's just so wrong to give one away that's the same as one somebody has paid a lot of money for.

If they were to put others up that don't have all the signatures of the captain and officers and give them away that would be fine, but to give identical ones away just makes a mockery of the auctions.

Did you see it happen with Princess or some other cruise line? We've cruised with P & O and Carnival, but only ever seen one map on those ships, which is the one they auction.

Carol

Thanks for the replies

Pushka, we knew that there were two identical maps on display, and thought that even though on other boats there was only one auction on Princess there might be two, in which case we wouldn't have bid on the map, but at the auction the map was advertised as the only one available.

Also, although our on board account was to be charged to our credit card, we paid everything off in cash the evening before we got to Brisbane, so we have no recourse that way

When we spoke to the Officer at the Pursers Desk, we said to him that we thought the other map might have been to be filed with the ships records and he said it should have been, so even though two identical maps were on display only one should have been available to the public which is the one we won at auction - we then told him that maybe the other one should have been removed from display as soon as possible after the auction. He said that it would be looked into and they would make sure it didn't happen again, and we asked for somebody to contact us to discuss how they could rectify things, but so far except for my phone call to them last Friday, we haven't heard anything from them. I suppose the only good thing is that if Princess bother to check with the records for that cruise, the map that should be there, won't be, so it will go someway to proving our case.

All I can say is that nobody we spoke to either on the ship or the phone seems to understand why we are so upset about the other identical map just being given away when ours was auctioned as the one and only available.

Like I said in an earlier post, we have contacted the CEO directly by email, and I will wait a few more days to see if he or one of his employees bother to reply, but we won't just let this go, the map was sold under false pretenses and if they don't care then we will take it even further to somebody who does

It might not matter to them but it matters to us

Kiwi Kruzer, I think you are being a little unfair saying it's buyers remorse -we were happy with paying the money and with the map until a member of the Princess crew gave away an identical map when the one we won had been advertised as the one and only available.

Carol

That is a good idea if Princess actually take responsibility - as it stands they have informed me we have no proof as to what happened to the other map, and unless the CEO decides to intervene I don't hold out much hope for anything from them.

I have to add though that my main concern isn't the money, it's the spoilt birthday present for my dad. 80 is a milestone birthday and I wanted something really different that I knew he'd love; for previous special birthdays we've bought him an original set of RAF badges cigarette cards and had them framed, and a 1967/8 mint condition boxed Chitty Chitty Bang Bang model, so it had to beat those - and as he really likes maps I thought that this was an ideal present. Obviously we wouldn't normally spend anywhere near $550 on a birthday present, but the map had been decided on because it was a one-off, so we had to go with the flow and let the auction decide the price. Now we're left with a map that is not a one-off, and even though, as Princess said, my Dad wouldn't know there were two identical maps, we would, and had we known it was not going to be a one-off then we wouldn't have bid on it in the first place - and I would still be in the position I am now trying to find a special birthday present but would be $550 richer.

Carol

You are correct in what you say Yatchet, both maps show the route we should have taken via Dunedin and Milford Sound, not the route we did take via Picton.

We have just looked at the map we bought again along side the photo we have of the map that was on Deck 12 and given away, and they are identical in every way.

Annabell, we have wondered if the other person that was interested in the map and bidding against us was the one that actually walked away with the other one...we were thrilled to win the bidding to get the map for my Dad, but knowing there is another identical map floating around somewhere has ruined both the birthday present and as far as we're concerned the cruise memories because when we think of the cruise we think of the map:(

I will update as soon as I hear anything else

Carol

Hello,

Thanks for your replies,

I have just gone straight to the top and sent an email to the CEO of Princess Cruises.

I'll let you know the outcome

Carol

For those of you who wanted an update - I emailed princess on Monday, and hadn't heard anything so rang today and they said they hadn't received my email (even though I gave them the query number that the automated reply gave me) - I explained the situation and basically got nowhere with them; the lady on the phone said that my Dad wouldn't know it was one of two so what did we want her to do about it :mad:, and eventually offered a cruise discount of $550 - I refused the offer and told her we didn't intend to cruise with them again, and they were the only winners in that situation.

I told her that if it was the only option then we would accept the money back from them and they could pay it to the charity - which she said she couldn't do and we had no proof that the other map was given away and she would have to contact the ship and get details from them and get back to me- she didn't know how long this would take.

I am furious, so please, if anybody can offer any further advice,please feel free.

Kind Regards

Carol

Thanks for the replies - I had spoken to my son who had also said it was probably best to email due to the long message - I will email them tomorrow.

Kind Regards

Carol

Thank you, I'll get some advice re posting etiquette from our son and if I don't put it on Facebook tomorrow I will write to the email address you gave me.

Do you have any suggestions as to what outcome we should be looking for if Princess ask? I know it sounds stupid, but we really don't know what we want them to do about it - the map is from a cruise we took and was supposed to be a one-off to be framed for my Dad's 80th birthday in October - how do you rectify that? Another map wouldn't have the same meaning; we sent photos every step of the way to my Mum and Dad whilst we were away, and my Dad loves maps, so to get the original one-off from that cruise would have been really special, and I know we still have the map, but somebody else has it too and although it grates to know he got it for nothing, the worst thing is as far as we're concerned that it is no longer a one-off so not so 'special'.

Kind Regards

Carol

Hello,

I did have a look at the Princess Facebook page after your previous post but the page seems to be filled with short posts and I can't explain this without writing what almost amounts to an essay.

Our son should be over later today and I will ask him how to go about posting a message for the moderator tomorrow.

Kind Regards

Carol

Hi Nicki,

Thanks for your reply - I will definitely let you know the outcome; we don't want the money back from the charity, it's not their fault this has happened.

I was hoping to get some suggestions as to what outcome we should be looking for because the lady at the Pursers desk on princess basically asked what we wanted her to do about it and we didn't know; we just know we feel cheated and it has ruined what was to be a really special present for my Dad's birthday.

Kind Regards

Carol

Hello,

Thanks for your reply - I do have a Facebook account but don't really use it, but I do have a 19 year old son who is very proficient on it, so could get him to have a look at the site.

Kind Regards

Carol

Hello,

I would like your thoughts and hopefully some advice on something that happened on our recent Princess cruise to New Zealand please.

We knew before the cruise that the navigational maps were auctioned for charity on the last sea day, and had decided that we would bid on the map as a present for my Dad's 80th birthday this year.

Having not cruised with Princess before, we were somewhat surprised to see two identical navigational maps, one on deck 6, and the other was on deck 12 near the bar, and we did discuss the possibility that they may do two auctions; but come the day of the auction there was only one map auctioned which was advertised as being a limited edition of one available, so we assumed the other would be filed with the ships records.

We won the auction, with a final bid of $550 and when my husband went to sign for the purchase the Assistant Cruise Director Phil, told him that the map on the previous New Zealand cruise only went for $450; but we were just happy that we’d won because the map would be a completely one off present for my Dad, and the money was going to the seaman’s charity.

After the auction we went to Deck 12 and the other identical map was still in situ, so we took some photos of our son in front of that map.

The next morning we were sitting on Deck 12 and the other map was still there, but then we went down to get our suitcases and when we went back up to Deck 12 to wait the 20 minutes or so before we could get off the ship the map had gone and some friends that we made on the cruise told us that they’d seen one of the other passengers looking at the map and then a young officer had come along, they’d had a quick conversation and then the officer had removed the map from behind the perspex, rolled it up and given it to the passenger, who walked away with it.

Obviously we are not happy with this, and we went straight to the Pursers desk and complained to a lady who told us the map would be different to the one we’d won – we told her it was identical in every way, and as we’d taken the photos the previous day showed her a photo to prove it; she then got an officer from somewhere out the back to come and talk to us, and he said that it definitely should not have happened and they would look into it…by then it was time for us to get off the ship, so we asked for someone to contact us and were told it would take a couple of days.

This was only last Wednesday 22nd, but so far nobody has contacted us, and we are still extremely unhappy about it; the one-off map for my Dad is not a one-off, and although we were happy to pay the $550 for the map when it was the only one available, we are obviously not happy that we paid that amount of money for something that somebody else was just given.

I don’t intend to let Princess just forget about this, and am hoping for some advice as to how we should proceed, and what, if any, outcome we should be requesting.

Thank you

Carol