Unhappy with Princess

[swedish girl]

We recently returned from a British Isles cruise on the Royal Princess, 12 nights, with another couple. Our cruise was uneventful but I am very unhappy with the way Princess treated our friends. They are in their mid 70's and Platinum tier. Their cabin flooded 3 times! Two of these they were told was due to a broken pipe in the laundry room and one time their toilet overflowed, which I'm sure must have been due to laundry room pipe issues as too much of a coincidence. Their cabin was across from the laundry. Their personal items were not damaged but they had to put up with wet carpet and loud fans to dry it out. They were told they couldn't move as it was a sold out cruise. The only thing Princess did for them was to give them a free ($25) dinner in a specialty restaurant and the couple had to pay for their own wine. I think this was very cheap of Princess and that they should have been compensated more....like a big discount on another cruise. I was wondering if anyone has had problems on Princess or another cruise line and if it was handled better. Thx for your input.

[Thrak]

We recently returned from a British Isles cruise on the Royal Princess, 12 nights, with another couple. Our cruise was uneventful but I am very unhappy with the way Princess treated our friends. They are in their mid 70's and Platinum tier. Their cabin flooded 3 times! Two of these they were told was due to a broken pipe in the laundry room and one time their toilet overflowed, which I'm sure must have been due to laundry room pipe issues as too much of a coincidence. Their cabin was across from the laundry. Their personal items were not damaged but they had to put up with wet carpet and loud fans to dry it out. They were told they couldn't move as it was a sold out cruise. The only thing Princess did for them was to give them a free ($25) dinner in a specialty restaurant and the couple had to pay for their own wine. I think this was very cheap of Princess and that they should have been compensated more....like a big discount on another cruise. I was wondering if anyone has had problems on Princess or another cruise line and if it was handled better. Thx for your input.

 

If your friends are upset they should contact Princess customer service directly. They may well receive further compensation but, if they say nothing to the headquarters folks, they will receive nothing more than they have already received.

 

I'm sorry they had such a negative experience. It would certainly be unpleasant when they had likely been looking forward to a relaxing and enjoyable cruise.

[Coral]

Yes - I had friends on Princess who had a flooded cabin. They had a balcony cabin. Princess was able to move them to a lesser cabin (inside). They did receive compensation for the inconvenience while on the ship.

 

I would strongly urge your friends to contact Princess or have their TA contact Princess. Have them explain how everything happened and what they received in return and also have them include what they think is acceptable as far as compensation.

[sunshine nana]

Which cabin? We are on the same cruise on Royal in July.

[bagney]

We had similar issues in 2013 on the Crown Princess - we had an aft Vista Suite and the toilet backed up 3 times in 4 days. After many calls to hotel manager/supervisor, customer service etc., we were moved one night to an empty cabin and the next day while we were on a shore excursion, they repaired the issue and put in all new marble tile/grout in the bathroom as we could not get rid of the raw sewage smell. We were told that someone put a diaper in the system upstream from our cabin. We had absolutely NO follow-up from Passenger Services or the Customer Service manager. Eventually, after many complaints and frequent visits to Passenger Services, we received some on board credit compensation for that cruise as well as they provided a meal in a specialty restaurant and comped us any bottle of wine we wished on the menu. When we returned home, we wrote a very detailed letter to Alan Buckelew (then in charge) highlighting the positives and the negatives. We made sure to get names of ALL on board crew/staff/officers we dealt with and included these in the letter we emailed to Princess Customer Service. The next day we had a call from a lady in Customer Service who took all the information again and profusely apologized and said they had had many complaints regarding Passenger Services staff on this ship. A few days after this, she called back and indicated they had provided us each with a substantial amount of on board credit for our next cruise which was booked on the Royal Princess later in the year. We were satisfied with what was offered and provided. Yes, it was an ordeal and a hassle however we never let it spoil our vacation!

[peety3]

Are your friends as upset with Princess as you are?

 

My personal advice in any scenario even remotely close to this: write to Princess. Detail everything you can. Tell them what you (they) think is reasonable compensation AND WHY. Do NOT leave the door open to their interpretation of what they think is reasonable...communicate expectations so they can attempt to meet them.

 

That said, I would also suggest to you that you simply ignore and forget anything you've been told regarding WHY the plumbing problem occurred. From your post above, it sounds like you're trying to make your own conclusions why the third event happened, and the reality is simple: IT DOESN'T MATTER. If there was a plumbing problem, do not bother to figure out why - it's not your job to figure it out. Any guessing as to why is silly, and any time that you claim they were lying to you will put them on the defensive, as well as undermine your case. Stick to the facts, and let them react.

[swedish girl]

which cabin? We are on the same cruise on royal in july.

 

m623

[Colo Cruiser]

What's the deal lately with all these overflowing toilets/busted pipes/flooded cabins and public spaces on several different ships?

 

OP the other couple need to do the complaining to Princess since it was their issues. I hope they made it known to the staff onboard that they were as upset as you appear to be now. I know I would have. :(

[Loonbeam]

Three incidents in one trip definitely merits a little more than that in my book. It IS possible the toilet issue is related to the laundry issue if it was the pressure in line (which is not a true overflow but sure looks like one!). Not saying it was mind you.

 

If it was in fact an outflow reversal issue, they would have had to find them a new cabin at least for a day or two. I will leave the reasons to your imagination.

[iceleven]

I don't understand why a passenger would have to ask for any sort of compensation when their cabin has become unusable by standards offered to all passengers. An offer of a free specialty dinner is an insult and only makes Princess look insensitive. Not all passengers are members of CC and may not be aware they can (and should) make further complaints once they are home.

 

Last year we were on a short, local, 4-day cruise on another cruise line. It is one that is often maligned here on these boards. Our cabin had an occasional faint smell of cigarette smoke. We assumed it was coming through the AC vent that might be shared with crew quarters. Also our TV never worked. We made a call once just to ask someone to come out to check the TV. We mentioned the cigarette smell, at that time, as well.

 

It was a short cruise and everything otherwise went perfectly well. On the last day of our cruise we received an envelope with an apology for the lack of TV use and the smell of cigarettes. They termed it "unfortunate experience you encountered". They immediately took off 15% of our cruise fare and a nice discount for a future cruise. We only asked that someone come take a look at the tv, and never expected anything nor asked for anything. I have to say, the way they handled it really impressed us to the point we would consider cruising with them again.

[sfaaa]

Overflow toilet? Man, that's nasty and a health hazard.

[pcsunlover]

We had a flood in our cabin on the CB this past March. We had a large fan running for about 48 hours to try to dry the carpeting. Flooding happened around 3 a.m. We were told the ship was sold out and there were no empty cabins to move us to, but later found out that the people in the cabin next to us were moved for the night. That really ticked me off as we were left to wander the ship in the middle of the night while they extracted water from our carpet. They gave us a decent (to us anyways) amount of obc without us asking which was nice. All in all, despite the lie about the empty cabin, we thought we were compensated fairly.

[TwoBadKnees]

Does this (diapers messing up the system) happen a lot on ships catering to families (e.g. Disney)? If not, I wonder how the other lines have solved the problem.

[Kineticoh20]

What kind of a moron tries to flush a diaper on a ship? Very irrisponsible. If my stateroom flooded 3 times I would expect a lot more than $25 that's for sure. That's bordering on ruining my vacation.

[thinfool]

Does this (diapers messing up the system) happen a lot on ships catering to families (e.g. Disney)? If not, I wonder how the other lines have solved the problem.

 

It is very common and....they haven't fixed it. It is ongoing.

 

Cruise lines often remind passengers at the beginning of their cruise to NOT flush various items, including diapers down the toilet.

[easy_123]

Does this (diapers messing up the system) happen a lot on ships catering to families (e.g. Disney)? If not, I wonder how the other lines have solved the problem.

 

Do you know that it does not happen on other lines? My bet is that it happens on all the other lines as well (though I would expect Disney would be better prepared for such issues, given their primary clientele).

[Colo Cruiser]

I am sure most cruise ships use the same system and I would think it happens on all of them at some point. It has happened on other cruise lines that we have sailed. :(

[Loonbeam]

Oddly enough it seems to happen a bit less on Disney, maybe because of the clientele. They make MUCH more of a point of it than other lines might (been told that stewards who know a diaper age child is in the cabin and don't see the corresponding waste in the provided cans are supposed to give gentle reminders). There are also cards in the restrooms, etc.

 

It still happens of course, but not as much as you might expect given higher kid counts.

 

Do you know that it does not happen on other lines? My bet is that it happens on all the other lines as well (though I would expect Disney would be better prepared for such issues, given their primary clientele).

[pcsunlover]

Honestly, what is wrong with people? Would they flush a diaper down their toilet at home?

[TracieABD]

Honestly, what is wrong with people? Would they flush a diaper down their toilet at home?

 

It may not have been a child's diaper... Some adults are very embarrassed about their need for exra "support" and may try to hide the evidence of their need.

[beg3yrs]

It may not have been a child's diaper... Some adults are very embarrassed about their need for exra "support" and may try to hide the evidence of their need.

 

Excellent point.

 

We tend to forget that we often leave this world the same way we came in...

[iceleven]

Then each room should be supplied, upon request, large disposable trash bags. If they were available, perhaps people wouldn't be wondering what they should do with what needs to be disposed of. Throwing a diaper in an open trash can is NOT something most anyone would want to do. Flushing down the toilet is incomprehensible.

Edited June 9, 2015 by iceleven

[pcsunlover]

It may not have been a child's diaper... Some adults are very embarrassed about their need for exra "support" and may try to hide the evidence of their need.

 

While I feel compassion for their situation (having been in it myself before due to a chronic illness), if they are embarrassed to the point of flushing Depends down a cruise ship toilet and causing damage and potential flooding, maybe they should consider a different type of vacation.

[TracieABD]

While I feel compassion for their situation (having been in it myself before due to a chronic illness), if they are embarrassed to the point of flushing Depends down a cruise ship toilet and causing damage and potential flooding, maybe they should consider a different type of vacation.

 

I could not agree more. And while they are packing their Depends, they can pack a roll of "small garbage bags" (found at a Dollar store) to assist with a more discreet disposal.

[joeyancho]

Normally I am against people receiving compensation for small inconveniences, cabin flooding three times is no small thing. Your friends should have received much more. Fifty percent off a future cruise seems about right.