Praise Princess and DO buy Insurance!!!

[Ethel5]

I'll try to keep this as short as possible.

 

My DD and her DH and 2.95 yr old daughter were to meet us on the ship in SFO the same day as the cruise. Don't go on about how they should have flown in the day before etc. Sometimes you just CAN'T.

 

Anyway. AA was suppose to get them from St. Louis to SFO by 10:40am. Then they announced a delay of 2 hours because the plane was "missing a part." Still no problem. Then they announced a further delay at which point DD went to the counter and told them they had to be in SFO by 3pm to get on the ship. No problem-they put her on Frontier flight to arrive in SFO at 1:50. They are on the plane and it was announced that there wouldd be a 40 minute delay. This turned out to be 2 hours. They arrived in SFO at 3:50 with no chance of getting from the airport to the ship in time.

 

During this time there have been many cell calls between she and I with lots of tears. It's their 9th anniversary and since they live in Arkansas and I live in Florida, we only see each other 2-3 times a year. This is also their first cruise.

 

Anyway I told her to contact the port agent for Princess and she did. She contacted a wonderful lady (I think her name is Barbars) who made some phone calls and got them a night at the Crown Plaza at crew rates. She then assisted them in getting flights to Seattle the next day and Ketchikan on the 3rd day to catch up with the ship. Now they did have to pay for hotel and meals plus the flights but the insurance company is reimbursing them for all of it. It wasn't their fault that AA has planes missing parts and Frontier didn't even give an explanation.

 

 

The only possible glitch in the ointment is the darn "Jones Act" which states that a foreign flagged ship can not board American passengers until it has been to a foreign port-hence the visit to Victoria BC. There would be a $300 per person fine if they board before Victoria. She and DH decided the heck with it and would pay the fine, which wouldn't be assessed until return to SFO.

 

We had a great reunion in Ketchikan-they actually were there before us and stayed overnight. I can't say which major company they work for but this large company has a store in Ketchikan and they were treated royally.

 

When the ship docked, they were greeted by Phillip from the Purser's desk and an officer from hotel services. The luggage was handled for them and they were in the cabin in no time flat. We were all out sightseeing within an hour!!!!!!

 

Immigration didn't charge them the Jone's Act fines and Princess actually refunded part of the cost of the trip for the 3 nights they missed. What a company!!!! After all it wasn't Princess' fault they missed the ship.

 

Buy insurance!!!!

[Hello-Kitty]

well i am glad it all worked out in the end!!!! Sounded like a bumpy start, but i made it!!

 

I beleive in insurance its gotta help some where.

When i was in Alaska back in 1998 my husband came down with the Alaskan Flu it was an outbreak 400 people on board were sick, it was awful, princess refunded a partial of my husbands fare, i beleive they gave us 1,300 towards our nest trip. We found out that if we were informed prior to boarding we could have gotten a shot back home so this wouldnt have happened, i cant beleive they gave us money back b/c he got sick!! Good job princess

[3SDcruisers]

I'm so glad they were able to catch up to you and that you were able to make a great trip out of it. Some people would have let it ruin their whole time. Good thing it was a 10 day...you still got plenty of days together. :)

 

A job well done to Princess, too.

[Coolmama_1]

Glad to see that all worked out. Just one more story of the positive aspect of buying insurance. Sounds like Princess worked it out for you. Glad y'all had a good time!

[kryos]

I'm so glad they were able to catch up to you and that you were able to make a great trip out of it. Some people would have let it ruin their whole time. Good thing it was a 10 day...you still got plenty of days together. :)

LOL ... you turn it into an adventure is my philosophy!

 

I missed the boat on my first cruise last March on HAL. Same problem. Airlines. Only in my case, it was US Air. Luckily, the Jones Act didn't come into play as the ship's first stop was Costa Rica, but it was quite expensive to fly to Costa Rica, and then hang out there for three days until the ship arrived.

 

But, I turned it into an adventure ... toured the San Jose area, hung out at the hotel with some locals ... and even took a very pleasant taxi ride into the mountains to try bungee jumping off a 265-foot bridge.

 

Yeah, that was a great little vacation diversion. Can't say I would want to have it happen again, though. I missed three days on the ship ... nice relaxing sea days too ... and no, I wasn't as lucky as the OP. I did not get reimbursed for the days missed. I had travel insurance too ... through HAL ... and unfortunately they had a $500 max allowance for trip interruption coverage. Sadly, my little "diversion" cost me in excess of $1,100. But at least I had fun ... and a great adventure for my money!

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[JEMS]

Ethel,

Did your DD make her own airline reservations or through Princess? If not Princess, would the airline delay have been insured along with the cruise?

 

Princess insurance has come in handy for us. Once we had to cancel a tour @ the last minute due to medical reason. The ship's doctor wrote an excuse that enabled us to get our money back for that excursion. Glad we had it.

 

Thanks

[Gypsea]

When I hear some of the horror stories that people tell about problems encountered with customer service (with any line) I always wish I could tell them to try this. If you are not getting the answer you want or being treated the way you hoped just hang up and call back.

There is more than one person in that office, most likely, and sometimes what one person may be telling you is not necessarily the truth and nothing but the truth. Consider also, they may be cranky, sick or just unwilling to do their job at the moment. It is always worth a shot to make more than one call. Of course, always ask for the supervisor if all else fails. I think alot of these places play the good cop bad cop game. I feel like they do at the credit card companies anyway.

 

Did anyone out there read my favorite Grisham book, "The Rainmaker"? It was about this huge insurance company and the policy was that the first time a claim was submitted, no matter what, it was denied. The philosaphy being that many people would give up and go away. I always think of that when I feel liked I'm being raked over the coals.

 

Anyway, I am glad to hear that things are sometimes dealt with efficiently and cordially and I can't help but think she just got the right person on the line.

[LARGIN]

No problem with Princess Insurance.. I had to cancel a 15 day Hawaii cruise last April 19th becasue of a death in the family.. Insurance forms were sent for me to fill out and return and I received 100% of the cruise costs within 2 weeks. Not to have travel insurance is foolhardy.

[Ethel5]

Ethel,

Did your DD make her own airline reservations or through Princess? If not Princess, would the airline delay have been insured along with the cruise?

 

Princess insurance has come in handy for us. Once we had to cancel a tour @ the last minute due to medical reason. The ship's doctor wrote an excuse that enabled us to get our money back for that excursion. Glad we had it.

 

Thanks

 

She made her own air reservations and it was covered by the insurance. BTW, she purchased the insurance through the TA and not the Princess insurance.