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Princess cancelled my reservation...and didn't tell me....


FraudBroad
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This morning I went to my cruise personalizer (as I do every morning) to look at my next cruise scheduled for February 2nd on the Star to Hawaii.

 

Imagine my shock when my cruise wasn't listed. I then when to the personalizer log-in where you put your booking number. When I did this I received an error message that the reservation was CANCELLED! I originally booked this sailing in September of 2016.

 

I immediately called Princess who told me that the reservation was indeed "CANCELLED" and that I'd need to speak with my travel agent. BTW...I paid the cruise in FULL on November 6th....

 

My travel agent spent over an hour on the phone with Princess trying to get the booking back (cabin, airfare, ALL OF IT WAS GONE). When she finally called me to tell me it was fixed she was absolutely flabbergasted. In her almost 30 years of working she said she'd never seen anything like this. And worst of all, Princess tried to blame it on HER.

 

I called Princess back myself and was told to write a letter (shocking, I get to spend more time on this). The rep I spoke with told me it was a "Cruise Line System Error." When I asked what that meant, she couldn't tell me. She said she had NO IDEA.

 

And BTW...I'm now WAIT LISTED for my requested dinning time, all of the pre-bookings (extra internet, soda packages, water packages) were cancelled and I have to re-book EVERYTHING once Princess refunds my money. I'm really ticked about the dining time as my parents are also traveling and we'd requested a table TOGETHER. I'm NOT looking forward to standing in line waiting to speak to the Maitre d' once on-board and begging for a table together. And before you suggest that I contact Princess, I DID...they wouldn't do anything about it. They told me that it could ONLY be fixed ON THE SHIP.

 

I'm just absolutely stupefied that this occurred. This will be my 12th cruise with Princess, my parents have over 30 and have never ONCE had ANYTHING like this happen. Has anyone EVER had a similar situation? What did Princess do to rectify?

 

Oh, and you might want to check your bookings....you never know when they'll be cancelled without your knowledge!

 

Natalie

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Princess should provide you with lots of Goodwill OBC and upgrade you to a really nice cabin. If you have Facebook I would contact them on that site and request everything back plus ask them what they plan to do to rectify the problem they created. Why Facebook? They seem to pay attention to Facebook.

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This morning I went to my cruise personalizer (as I do every morning) to look at my next cruise scheduled for February 2nd on the Star to Hawaii.

 

Imagine my shock when my cruise wasn't listed. I then when to the personalizer log-in where you put your booking number. When I did this I received an error message that the reservation was CANCELLED! I originally booked this sailing in September of 2016.

 

I immediately called Princess who told me that the reservation was indeed "CANCELLED" and that I'd need to speak with my travel agent. BTW...I paid the cruise in FULL on November 6th....

 

My travel agent spent over an hour on the phone with Princess trying to get the booking back (cabin, airfare, ALL OF IT WAS GONE). When she finally called me to tell me it was fixed she was absolutely flabbergasted. In her almost 30 years of working she said she'd never seen anything like this. And worst of all, Princess tried to blame it on HER.

 

I called Princess back myself and was told to write a letter (shocking, I get to spend more time on this). The rep I spoke with told me it was a "Cruise Line System Error." When I asked what that meant, she couldn't tell me. She said she had NO IDEA.

 

And BTW...I'm now WAIT LISTED for my requested dinning time, all of the pre-bookings (extra internet, soda packages, water packages) were cancelled and I have to re-book EVERYTHING once Princess refunds my money. I'm really ticked about the dining time as my parents are also traveling and we'd requested a table TOGETHER. I'm NOT looking forward to standing in line waiting to speak to the Maitre d' once on-board and begging for a table together. And before you suggest that I contact Princess, I DID...they wouldn't do anything about it. They told me that it could ONLY be fixed ON THE SHIP.

 

I'm just absolutely stupefied that this occurred. This will be my 12th cruise with Princess, my parents have over 30 and have never ONCE had ANYTHING like this happen. Has anyone EVER had a similar situation? What did Princess do to rectify?

 

Oh, and you might want to check your bookings....you never know when they'll be cancelled without your knowledge!

 

Natalie

 

What a nightmare. :eek: Agree. Or changed. That's why I periodically check any reservation (hotel, cruise and flights) we have.

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I am sorry that this happened to you. But as you had booked through a Travel Agent you should not be personally contacting Princess at all. Any TA with a decent relationship with Princess should know exactly who on the inside to speak to to get your dining preference immediately back to confirmed status (and linked to your parent's booking). And possibly get your pre-sail purchases reinstated without having to go through the machinations of crediting and paying again.

 

Do not for a second feel bad about asking your TA to do this work for you; they are still getting their commission. And despite all the double-talk Princess has given you (which again you should not have to listen to--your FIRST call should have been to your TA) you should still be suspicious about an error from your TA--such as a failure to attach your booking number to a payment--which easily could have been the cause of your trouble. Which they were certainly notified of as soon as the phantom "cancellation" began to process; again, their responsibility to suss out, correct and notify you of.

Your TA should offer your some largess out of their points for your time and effort wasted; again let them fight with Princess to be recompensated.

 

Thus why I have long ago stopped using TAs and book all my travel direct.

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Did you make your payment to Princess or to your travel agent? You say you made your payment on Nov. 6 and the due date was Nov. 19; that's cutting it pretty close. Maybe your TA didn't get the payment in on time, or as the previous poster noted, omitted something important from the paperwork that caused a delay and subsequent cancelling of your booking.

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Paying 13 days in advance is NOT "cutting it pretty close." Do not blame the OP for paying only 13 days before the deadline!!!
I agree! Quite often we pay ours on the due date or a day prior.

 

If this cancellation had been caused by final payment not being credited properly, cancellation would have occurred long before today. Final payment was due on November 19th; today is December 12th. Natalie states she checks her personalizer every morning; she would have caught a cancellation for non-payment long before today.

 

As for calling her TA and not Princess directly, if this were to happen to me I'd be on the phone with anybody and everybody who I thought could be of assistance.

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I agree! Quite often we pay ours on the due date or a day prior.

 

 

 

If this cancellation had been caused by final payment not being credited properly, cancellation would have occurred long before today. Final payment was due on November 19th; today is December 12th. Natalie states she checks her personalizer every morning; she would have caught a cancellation for non-payment long before today.

 

 

 

As for calling her TA and not Princess directly, if this were to happen to me I'd be on the phone with anybody and everybody who I thought could be of assistance.

 

 

 

Thanks Lew!

 

As an FYI...final payment to my TA was due on November 8th. I paid two days in advance. Lew is correct, if this had been a non-payment issue I would have seen it long ago. And the charge on my credit card at final payment went directly to Princess, not my TA.

 

This morning I called Princess immediately when I saw the cancellation because I knew my TA wasn’t open yet...and I was in a panic.

 

My TA has been amazing today. She’s spent HOURS on the phone with Princess trying to get everything worked out. My cabin and flight have been reinstated, but now Princess is saying that I didn’t pay for everything I pre booked. I did send my receipt to my TA so she’s calling them back AGAIN to get that fixed as well.

 

The second Princess rep that my TA spoke with admitted that PRINCESS is at fault. Neither my TA nor myself have any wrongdoing in this situation. What’s scary to me is that they can’t tell either of us WHY it happened.

 

I called Princess on my own AFTER my TA was able to get the cruise and airfare reinstated because I wanted PRINCESS to explain to me what had happened. Princess has been unable, or unwilling to let either us know the root cause of the issue.

 

Which leads me to believe that it could happen to anyone regardless if you book through your TA or directly with Princess.

 

I’ve used my TA since 1994 and NEVER had any issues. This was not now or ever a result of any wrongdoing by my TA. This is solely the responsibility of Princess.

 

And btw....for all of my time and frustration they’re giving me a full $50 OBC...and I’m still waiting for the pre-booked/pre-paid items to be credited either to my credit card or placed back on my reservation.

 

And my personal thought is that a $50 OBC for this level of frustration is a total joke.

 

 

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Has anyone EVER had a similar situation? What did Princess do to rectify?

 

 

Yes -- Happened to me several years ago.

 

I THINK that it was a case of GIGO (Garbage in - Garbage Out)

 

From what my TA and Princess found out was that some one cancelled their Cruise.

The Princess Rep cancelled the wrong Cruise (mine).

Many Res. Nos are letters.

So, easy to mistake on the phone.

Got my Cabin back.

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I see this problem reported occasionally on the Royal board but this is the first time I have seen it on Princess. More common on that line that any change made to the equivalent of the Cruise Personalizer reprices the cruise, adds prepaid gratuities or wipes out all the existing dining/excursion reservations.

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Natalie,

Saw your post with your CC name, so had to read it. We were on a cruise with you and your parents on the Royal. You did a great job in organizing the M&G-even though you had to stand on a chair to be heard-ha.

We are booked on upcoming Princess cruises soon and have spent a lot of time on phone resolving issues with Princess. By chance did you contact customer service or speak to a representative that answered the phone?

Best of luck and hope to see you on another cruise.

Pat

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...

 

And my personal thought is that a $50 OBC for this level of frustration is a total joke.

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Totally agree about the $50. I think you should decide what you want, what's fair, and push for that. More OBC, a cabin upgrade, dinner at the steakhouse, or something like that. Thank you for posting this cautionary tale -- I just went & checked my res. (for the 6th time today ha ha!).

 

Best to you.

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Natalie,

Saw your post with your CC name, so had to read it. We were on a cruise with you and your parents on the Royal. You did a great job in organizing the M&G-even though you had to stand on a chair to be heard-ha.

We are booked on upcoming Princess cruises soon and have spent a lot of time on phone resolving issues with Princess. By chance did you contact customer service or speak to a representative that answered the phone?

Best of luck and hope to see you on another cruise.

Pat

 

 

 

Hi Pat!

Good to hear from you! That was so much fun last year on the Royal! And I too hope we can sail again together one day!

 

When I called back the second time today I spoke with a rep named Mary who really did try and go above and beyond to get things fixed. She finally admitted to me that she has virtually no power to do anything and advised me to write a letter to Princess.

 

I’ve spent more hours on this today than I care to even add up, and bless her heart my TA has spent even MORE hours on it.

 

Most of its fixed, still waiting for them to take care of the pre booked items (and admit that I paid for them). It’s just so disheartening to have something like this happen and have ZERO response as to WHY??? Even scarier that I have a receipt for items I clearly paid for and Princess saying that I didn’t!!!

 

Cheers,

Natalie

 

 

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This was definitely a Princess problem that the Princess agent and customer relations rep could not explain. I too dealt with this in the morning. Interestingly enough the final payment was paid on November 6 for a December 30 Caribbean cruise. Everything was reinstated. It took an extra 20 minutes to get the dining back since it was now waitlisted. I spent an hour on the phone. Wait time to get through was long.

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There should be a paperwork trail somewhere to show what was paid and when. Also someone should be able to show when it was cancelled and a reason for the cancellation. Time to make copies of all paperwork and computer printouts showing what was paid for and get a hold of Customer Relations and see what can be done that way. It is hard to deny what is in writing from both your TA and Princess especially their website. Good Luck on your efforts.

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I find it amazing that so many want to blame the TA when the OP has stated that Princess has stated that the problem was on their end

 

One idea---if there are things that you have paid for on your credit card as you stated that they are now saying are not paid for, contact your credit card company and have them also go after Princess.

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How incredibly frustrating this must be for you. I'd be going out of my mind and personally I think $50 OBC is insulting. If they can't sort this out to your complete satisfaction, then I would be posting on their Facebook and Twitter. I have usually encountered very good results with social media when all else has failed.

 

 

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Your TA should have a business development manager she/he can call to get help. Or they can call Princess customer relations directly. Forget dealing with 1 800 princess since they have no power. You need to go to the top and get everything back the way it was before THEY messed up.

Good luck and let us know what happens.

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This morning I went to my cruise personalizer (as I do every morning) to look at my next cruise scheduled for February 2nd on the Star to Hawaii.

 

Imagine my shock when my cruise wasn't listed. I then when to the personalizer log-in where you put your booking number. When I did this I received an error message that the reservation was CANCELLED! I originally booked this sailing in September of 2016.

 

I immediately called Princess who told me that the reservation was indeed "CANCELLED" and that I'd need to speak with my travel agent. BTW...I paid the cruise in FULL on November 6th....

 

My travel agent spent over an hour on the phone with Princess trying to get the booking back (cabin, airfare, ALL OF IT WAS GONE). When she finally called me to tell me it was fixed she was absolutely flabbergasted. In her almost 30 years of working she said she'd never seen anything like this. And worst of all, Princess tried to blame it on HER.

 

I called Princess back myself and was told to write a letter (shocking, I get to spend more time on this). The rep I spoke with told me it was a "Cruise Line System Error." When I asked what that meant, she couldn't tell me. She said she had NO IDEA.

 

Well Natalie, You're not the only one they've done this to today. I logged into the Personalizer bright and early this morning to find that there is no booking associated with my account. Uh what the heck? I called Princess as they're open before my TA and after checking my account I was told there was a problem and that my TA needed to call them. I did call them not too long after and they look and yes we've been cancelled. They called me back and after talking they found out that since we did EZ-Air a couple of days after booking this January Regal cruise they never charged my credit card for the airfare. I'd done purchases for on board which went through fine but since no one completed the billing for the flights they cancelled the cruise. Now this was a booking in late October as we switched from a 14 day Carribean Princess cruise but I paid in full immediately so wth?

 

Fortunately our online TA has great staff and they were able to restore everything as long as I paid the airfare today which I did. The purchases had to be redone as they'd been credited back when the cancellation was processed... Grr At no time in the past month and a half was I contacted and both of them have my credit card on file. I do want an explanation as to what happened and I'd like some kind of an apology as who knows what would have happened if I hadn't logged in until January to print my luggage tags.

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