Princess let me down badly

[Daniel A]

I don't see how Princess can refuse to disembark a person because they owe money to Princess (Or in this case think someone should pay someone else's bill) I would think that would constitute unlawful imprisonment.  Just wondering, what if one were to flat out refuse to pay?  Would that person become a "Flying Dutchman"?  

[caribill]

3 hours ago, JimmyVWine said:

I don't think that the luggage handlers outside of the ship are Princess employees.  They handle all the ships that come through the port.  It could just as easily happened to a Disney ship had one been there on the same day at the same time. 

 

They are Princess contractors.

 

Princess is responsible to the passenger.

 

Princess can try to get their expenses back from the contractor.

[caribill]

3 hours ago, Pink-belle said:

From reading your report do I think Princess could have been empathetic, yes, but I don’t think in their actions they can be found at fault  in that regard.

 

 

Then Princess should not have told her a representative would be on shore to help her and when that rep did not show, say another rep would meet her (which also did not happen).

[gubby]

To OP: While a much minor case than yours, I also had a similar incident with Grand Princess in Alaska in May. My spouse was taken to medical center with breathing problems. The staff took good care if him, but decided he needed to be hospitalized. The ambulance waited over 40 minutes for my bill to be paid. The CC was on file, the medical centre contacted the insurance company, so why the delay? We all know we must pay the bill according to our contract. To this day, almost 2 months later, we are still awaiting delivery of items I neglected in my haste to pack. Little things, but this is mega company and we are elite passengers. I lost a lot of trust in them over this incident. However, as far as medical care goes, they were first rate. My spouse spent a week in Anchorage hospital before flying home, and is back to normal. Good luck to your aunt.

[caribill]

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

You dont need a smart phone, just a standard mobile phone.  When an unusual transaction is made on your card,  you are sent a one time password (OTP) to verify that the transaction is valid. 

Used throughout the world,  apart from the US it would seem ! 

 

Still, it requires a cell phone and one that has service when you are out of country.

 

I do not have a cell phone, and if I did, it might only have in country service.

 

On credit card I have will send an E-mail message if it suspects a transaction is not valid. That I can see on a cruise ship when I sign in to my E-mail on my laptop.

[Coral]

49 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

To those who asked for updates on the health of my aunt, I have further news and an update from Italy.  The insurance company has agreed for my aunt to be moved to a specialist cardiac facility in central Rome.  Apparently she was awake for a few minutes while they started the preparations for the move and she mumbled she had been kidnapped.  Great news.

So glad to hear! Thanks for the update.

[pris993]

2 hours ago, trvlwrld said:

Unfortunately this scenario is not new since Covid.  We were put off the ship mid-cruise in Buenos Aires 5 years ago with absolutely no help arranging hospitalization, transportation, or finally scheduling flights or getting luggage to the pier.   My DH had a kidney stone blockage and was in extreme pain, so the med center drugged him up and sent us on our way.  My takeaway from that experience is that I now know when I travel I am on my own, and not to believe anything that those “in charge” tell me...yes, we had Princess insurance and 4 months later they did reimburse us.   The OP’s experience is not unique, unfortunately!

Thanks for sharing.  You validate my point, be prepared to manage yourself!!  This is not unique to Princess.  Cruise ships are in port for a day.   We fool ourselves if we think someone is going to hold our hand through an emergency.   Travel prepared and you will not be disappointed. 

[Coral]

11 minutes ago, caribill said:

 

Still, it requires a cell phone and one that has service when you are out of country.

 

I do not have a cell phone, and if I did, it might only have in country service.

 

On credit card I have will send an E-mail message if it suspects a transaction is not valid. That I can see on a cruise ship when I sign in to my E-mail on my laptop.

I remember being on a trip to Russia in 2007 or 2008. There was a large % who were Australians and they were all prepared and the river boat ship was prepared for this as well. I don't know where they got their pin but they all knew they had to enter this in. They were treated differently than the Americans and Canadians as we could just sign when we finalized our bill at the end of the trip.

Edited July 12, 2022 by Coral

[caribill]

1 minute ago, pris993 said:

Thanks for sharing.  You validate my point, be prepared to manage yourself!!  This is not unique to Princess.  Cruise ships are in port for a day.   We fool ourselves if we think someone is going to hold our hand through an emergency.   Travel prepared and you will not be disappointed. 

 

That is one function of the Port Agents. They should be able to guide a person through an emergency situation after the passenger has left the ship.

[geocruiser]

We were on a Caribbean cruise and were 6 people traveling together.  A friend of ours brought a friend with him.  This friend of our friend became near death ill and was in the ship's hospital. He was transported to a hospital in St Lucia, our port of call.  Holland American line was great with how they handled it. 

1. HAL sent a nurse to the hospital to as she said to me " to check out the care there".  They had a shore side person working with my friend and me.

2.  All phone calls made by us to the hospital and Island and Canada from the ship were free.

What happen was my friend was 90 years old and a priest, it was his friend who was sick.  Once at the hospital, l  had they contacted the local priest.  He came right away.  He offered for the 90 friend of mine (who was a priest) to stay with him.  But he thought it would be better for him to stay on the ship, because of less stress for him at 90.

The man who was sick, his family was able to get there the next day by air.  The priest ( who was well known at the hospital) was a go between the hospital and the family.

But HAL kept in touch with shore side and us.

The man was in the hospital for a few weeks there.  He live for about 10 more years to a good age.

At no time were we ever left on our own, HAL was there.  

[pris993]

Just now, caribill said:

 

That is one function of the Port Agents. They should be able to guide a person through an emergency situation after the passenger has left the ship.

Yes, I mentioned them in an earlier post, used wrong term, port authority but Port Agent is what I meant.  Thanks for clarifying, excellent resource, local, there after the ship leaves, would know about resources available to help for sure.  

 

[Coral]

While not an excuse - I have read countless times about people with COVID and they felt like they were not helped and on their own or they didn't know what the plan was and then it was hurry up and wait. I wonder if the cruise lines are so under staffed and it is chaos regardless of the emergency (like this). 

[Megabear2]

51 minutes ago, scooter6139 said:

So sorry that you had to go through this terrible incident.  Glad to hear your aunt is doing a bit better.  Hopefully this will continue in the near and far future!

 

Ok, I'm trying hard to just read through it all as a complete outsider.  Here's my thoughts/questions:

 

1.  Princess dealing with Aunt - well done.  Treated quickly and taken well care of.

2.  Dealing with niece during treatment -  Sounds like they were following their protocols during treatment.  Some were odd or even questionable, but I would blame that on communications issues with Medical/Princess staff.  

3.  Payment - Correct me if wrong, but Princess tried to charge the Aunt's card for medical and since the phone was out they could not do so.  Anyone know what Princess policy is regarding getting payment for medical when charge is refused?  Especially if that guest is getting taken off ship via ambulance?  Going straight to the niece sounds odd but, like most medical places, they want payment.  Not condoning this but not condemning it either as I don't know what the policy is.

4.  After/off ship - Poor communication and follow up.  Princess let the ball down here.  I wish they would have done more, but to be honest it is not Princess's job to get everything setup for a departing guests.  It would have been nice if they did.  (I've read so many post complaining about Princess or another cruise line not going above and beyond what is expected pre or post cruise.)  Not trying to be cold here, but Princess responsibility ends at the gangplank.  Without know their policy in this, especially when in different ports/nations and what they were in the process of doing.  I just need more info.  

 

 

The telephone had little relevance if Princess had done as I asked and claimed the money on the onboard account which they had an open line of credit and others here have indicated this is normal policy.

[wowzz]

24 minutes ago, caribill said:

On credit card I have will send an E-mail message if it suspects a transaction is not valid. That I can see on a cruise ship when I sign in to my E-mail on my laptop.

So, the cc company reject your credit card payment because it appears suspicious. How does seeing an e-mail message help ?

[caribill]

1 minute ago, wowzz said:

So, the cc company reject your credit card payment because it appears suspicious. How does seeing an e-mail message help ?

 

It lets me respond to say if the charge is legit or not.

 

When the charge is made, it was not rejected, but the CC was frozen. When I indicated it was legit, the charge was fully accepted and the card unfrozen.

[Jazzytelly]

35 minutes ago, gubby said:

To OP: While a much minor case than yours, I also had a similar incident with Grand Princess in Alaska in May. My spouse was taken to medical center with breathing problems. The staff took good care if him, but decided he needed to be hospitalized. The ambulance waited over 40 minutes for my bill to be paid. The CC was on file, the medical centre contacted the insurance company, so why the delay? We all know we must pay the bill according to our contract. To this day, almost 2 months later, we are still awaiting delivery of items I neglected in my haste to pack. Little things, but this is mega company and we are elite passengers. I lost a lot of trust in them over this incident. However, as far as medical care goes, they were first rate. My spouse spent a week in Anchorage hospital before flying home, and is back to normal. Good luck to your aunt.

Reading all these cases all I can say is thank goodness for our wonderful NHS. If someone was taken ill off the coast of the UK they wouldn’t wait around for insurance details before they treated them. 
 

As per the Government website  Treatment in A&E departments and at GP surgeries remains free for all.

[RNRcruisers]

OP - I am sorry you had this terrible experience. I'm happy your aunt is doing better and that the ship personnel handled it well. It is too bad that they weren't more helpful to you though. They pride themselves on customer service, aren't we still a customer when our cruise is over? The least they could do is help you get in touch with someone who would be able to assist with the language and decisions regarding what to do next. And I must say it is pretty appalling that you were left without any food or water for so long.

[wowzz]

6 minutes ago, caribill said:

 

It lets me respond to say if the charge is legit or not.

 

When the charge is made, it was not rejected, but the CC was frozen. When I indicated it was legit, the charge was fully accepted and the card unfrozen.

And how do you do that, if in an ambulance, awaiting admission to hospital ?

[Daniel A]

1 minute ago, wowzz said:

And how do you do that, if in an ambulance, awaiting admission to hospital ?

My cards would make the payment and if I responded that I didn't authorize the charge, then the bank would reverse the payment to the vendor, or eat the payment themselves.

[pris993]

3 hours ago, JimmyVWine said:

I think things in Italy remain more strict.  

Could be but can't imagine ER would not provide directions, they are dealing with emergencies 24 hours a day and related family members.   I say this having worked for a doctor on call for ER emergencies for 20 years.    Providing medical services near San Francisco International airport, ER and the doctors   also deal with international passengers and emergencies.   Very common, can't image a lot different in Italy.  ER folks see it all.  

[Gettingwarmer]

3 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Thank you. I would just say if Princess had not told me there would be assistance ashore and provided me with two different names and three telephone numbers I would not have expected the help.  They assured me it was there.

 

On the bill I can only repeat they had an open line of credit on my aunt's credit card and could have requested the money there and then.  The whole payment issue would not have arisen if they had done that.

 

I'm afraid we will have to agree to disagree.  I'm just very grateful to live in a country where welfare comes before finance.

I’m sorry you have to keep on repeating yourself on the aspects of your distressing situation. Help was promised but not provided and the cc bill was very badly handled. 

[Megabear2]

4 minutes ago, pris993 said:

Could be but can't imagine ER would not provide directions, they are dealing with emergencies 24 hours a day and related family members.   I say this having worked for a doctor on call for ER emergencies for 20 years.    Providing medical services near San Francisco International airport, ER and the doctors   also deal with international passengers and emergencies.   Very common, can't image a lot different in Italy.  ER folks see it all.  

Italy is still in special measures. Following the tragedy covid recked upon them they are extra cautious. They still mask up, have testing stations on every corner and are ultra cautious.  I have no argument with their rules, they are what they are.

 

It has been confirmed by my aunt's sister that she has not been allowed through the door of the Civitavecchia hospital. We hope the move to Rome may allow better access but have been told no to raise Hope's.

[voljeep]

medical billing and collections has a job to do, and the leverage is while still on board, and 'may' try to coerce someone into signing for the charges, even if not 'legally' responsible.

 

I'll just leave that little nugget.

 

Edit: not saying Guido will go all break your fingers on you ... but - it's their job to 'persuade' someone to pay the bill, until they possibly break down your resistance.  

Edited July 12, 2022 by voljeep

[Gettingwarmer]

2 minutes ago, pris993 said:

    You warned us.  Thank you.  You don't need members of cc to validate how you feel or what you did.  Your welfare is in your hands.   Hope you enjoy travel in the future when you get beyond this incident.  

Peoples welfare can be helped by others. 

[Megabear2]

Thank you all who have offered suggestions such as the card reversal and contact details.  I am now going to retire politely from this discussion as it is serving little purpose now that we are moving on.

 

In closing I would say I have made official complaints via the emails people have kindly provided and written to Princess UK at Carnival House, Southampton.  There is apparently no telephone department available to Princess customers handling complaints so I cannot use this medium.

 

Ironically I needed to cancel a P&O cruise my aunt and I were booked on for which payment was due on Sunday.  They have been exceptional in their offers of help and have contacted me on several occasions to offer suggestions and help.  Strangely they are another company in the Carnival stable but apparently with different ethics.