Princess Salmon Fishing Excursion in Ketchikan overbooked

We were on the Ruby Princess on a r/t from Seattle the first of August. We had our DS, DIL and DGD with us as a treat for them as we have been to AK several times both north bound and r/t. Our DS and his friend who also had booked the trip was looking forward to the Salmon Fishing Excursion in Ketchikan so I booked it for him three months before the ship sailed. When we boarded the voucher was in his room and all we heard was all the Salmon he was going to catch.

When we called on Ketchikan, he and his friend were off the ship, excited and headed to the fishing boat. They presented their vouchers to the boat captain and the captain said they were at the correct place after looking at the vouchers. Then he told them that the boat was overbooked and they would not be allowed to board. A discussion ensued (maybe more like argument) over the refusal to honor the vouchers when a Princess excursion representative (later found out she was the manager of the excursion desk) came over to see what the problem was. After the captain saying again that he would not honor the vouchers, she told my son and friend that Princess would refund the fee paid. There was no apology or attempt to book them on another excursion. They were devastated as both had been looking forward to this one excursion the most.

Across the pier was several kiosks including one offering salmon fishing trips. They talked to the representative and he called all the fishing boat captains he knew but unfortunately they had all left port. The Ruby was in port from 7 AM to 1 PM (12:30 PM boarding time). He then offered them other alternatives as at this point they had nothing to do. After a lot of discussion they decided to take the float plane trip to a remote lake high in the mountains. It was an exceptionally nice day in Ketchikan so they had an excellent trip.

We later found out that this particular captain (Baranoff Fishing) had done this before to Princess pax with confirmed reservations. Thanks to Mike at the kiosk, he found out who that captain was and was very helpful. Unfortunately Isabelle, Excursion Manager, refused to offer any assistance other than saying Princess would refund the money and did not even offer an apology. Later the ladies at the Excursion desk did apologize and sent a bottle of wine to each of their rooms - a little late and after they had returned to the excursion desk to again complain.

The moral to this is that Princess allows tour providers to intentionally overbook and continues to offer excursions with them. Buyer beware!

That would be most frustrating and upsetting. I was booked on the Princess Salmon fishing excursion from Ketchikan for my upcoming cruise in September but cancelled it yesterday (not because of your review but I had read you don't really fish, but reel the fish in after it has already been hooked). I'm glad they found an alternative excursion they were happy with, but still bad customer service from Princess! Makes you wonder doesn't it :/

Two sides to every story, and I don't think you've taken into account the other side. Sorry for your family's disappointment, but I really don't think it's as cut-and-dried as you make it out to be.

Two sides to every story, and I don't think you've taken into account the other side. Sorry for your family's disappointment, but I really don't think it's as cut-and-dried as you make it out to be.

Hmmm...not sure what other side you are referring to. If the excursion was booked and fully paid...either Princess or the excursion vendor is clearly at fault. Although its not possible to know which one, it does seem Princess might have handled it better.

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Hmmm...not sure what other side you are referring to. If the excursion was booked and fully paid...either Princess or the excursion vendor is clearly at fault. Although its not possible to know which one, it does seem Princess might have handled it better.

 

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I agree. Princess should have handled it better. No problem taking their $$ though

This is why we booked our fishing trip privately. In Ketchikan we used Rainy Day Charters at http://www.ketchikanakfishing.com Our captain, Jared, met the 4 of us at the gangplank. We were the only ones on the boat. We had a 4 hour trip. Unfortunately the salmon were late this year, but Jared seemed more upset than we were that we only caught 2 coho. He arranged for our fish to be cleaned, flash frozen, and shipped home. We really enjoyed our trip.

Hmmm...not sure what other side you are referring to. If the excursion was booked and fully paid...either Princess or the excursion vendor is clearly at fault. Although its not possible to know which one, it does seem Princess might have handled it better.

Sample scenario where it could become less clear: a few years ago, at the very beginning of the season, we took the excursion to see Misty Fjords by boat round-trip from Ketchikan, offered by Allen Marine. The boat holds 150 pax, and had a mix of Princess and HAL passengers aboard. We chatted with a gal from Allen Marine afterward, and she mentioned that the process works like this:

They offer 75 seats to Princess and 75 seats to HAL. A certain time before the tour date, the ships/lines are responsible for updating their forecast, as there are thresholds at which they have to commit. If Princess says we're selling it like hotcakes and HAL says it's not selling much, HAL can offer up some seats, and Allen Marine can offer them to Princess, or vice versa. At a certain point, the cruise line has to make their final commitment, and they'll end up paying for that many seats (at wholesale prices, of course) no matter what. However, if both cruise lines commit to an amount lower than what the boat can hold, Allen Marine can then sell to individuals and walk-ups. Now, if one of the other tours ends up cancelled, Princess (and perhaps HAL) could end up scrambling to put people on another excursion at the last minute. All of that back-and-forth could easily cause a mistake to happen regarding capacity, and although Princess should own up to it, perhaps Princess has played games with those numbers too often, and maybe the Captain is jaded because of that.

Did Princess treat you right? No. Is there much else they could do? Maybe, maybe not. Did they do what they're contractually obligated to do? I suspect so.

We were on the Ruby Princess on a r/t from Seattle the first of August. We had our DS, DIL and DGD with us as a treat for them as we have been to AK several times both north bound and r/t. Our DS and his friend who also had booked the trip was looking forward to the Salmon Fishing Excursion in Ketchikan so I booked it for him three months before the ship sailed. When we boarded the voucher was in his room and all we heard was all the Salmon he was going to catch.

 

When we called on Ketchikan, he and his friend were off the ship, excited and headed to the fishing boat. They presented their vouchers to the boat captain and the captain said they were at the correct place after looking at the vouchers. Then he told them that the boat was overbooked and they would not be allowed to board. A discussion ensued (maybe more like argument) over the refusal to honor the vouchers when a Princess excursion representative (later found out she was the manager of the excursion desk) came over to see what the problem was. After the captain saying again that he would not honor the vouchers, she told my son and friend that Princess would refund the fee paid. There was no apology or attempt to book them on another excursion. They were devastated as both had been looking forward to this one excursion the most.

 

Across the pier was several kiosks including one offering salmon fishing trips. They talked to the representative and he called all the fishing boat captains he knew but unfortunately they had all left port. The Ruby was in port from 7 AM to 1 PM (12:30 PM boarding time). He then offered them other alternatives as at this point they had nothing to do. After a lot of discussion they decided to take the float plane trip to a remote lake high in the mountains. It was an exceptionally nice day in Ketchikan so they had an excellent trip.

 

We later found out that this particular captain (Baranoff Fishing) had done this before to Princess pax with confirmed reservations. Thanks to Mike at the kiosk, he found out who that captain was and was very helpful. Unfortunately Isabelle, Excursion Manager, refused to offer any assistance other than saying Princess would refund the money and did not even offer an apology. Later the ladies at the Excursion desk did apologize and sent a bottle of wine to each of their rooms - a little late and after they had returned to the excursion desk to again complain.

 

The moral to this is that Princess allows tour providers to intentionally overbook and continues to offer excursions with them. Buyer beware!

Have the Captain fly or pay for a new Cruise in a Balcony to Ketchikan and offer a private boat to your son and friend using the Captains own personal expense. I am sure they will never deny another confirmed passenger ever again!