Princess failing out of the gate on Alaskan Cruise

[artb42]

Booked on Grand, 9/7-14.  Had a land portion booked also but that was outright cancelled due to lack of staff at Copper River lodge.  Not possible to book something else.  What was offered as compensation as a refund and OBC was lacking IMHO.  But, so be it.  We made lemonade from lemons, came to Anchorage a few days early and had a great time.  
 

Stayed at downtown hotel.  My booking confirmation says we can go to the convention center for bus to pier in Whittier, be there by 11:00 for noon departure.  We got to the center by 10:30, only to be told sorry, bus is full, you need to take different bus to the airport and catch transfer bus there.  Then, it was earliest bus available from airport is 3:00.  That gets us to ship around 5:00.  We were told by staff person we should have been at the center by 9:00 am, which we could have done.  I showed her the booking confirmation with the 11:00 arrival time.  Her only response was that we had “ bad information”

 

We are Elite, and staying in a suite.  This level of service is unacceptable, and this will likely be our last Princess cruise as a result.  In my mind they have been on double-secret probation since the land tour fiasco, and this is the last straw.

[voljeep]

7 minutes ago, artb42 said:

Booked on Grand, 9/7-14.  Had a land portion booked also but that was outright cancelled due to lack of staff at Copper River lodge.  Not possible to book something else.  What was offered as compensation as a refund and OBC was lacking IMHO.  But, so be it.  We made lemonade from lemons, came to Anchorage a few days early and had a great time.  
 

Stayed at downtown hotel.  My booking confirmation says we can go to the convention center for bus to pier in Whittier, be there by 11:00 for noon departure.  We got to the center by 10:30, only to be told sorry, bus is full, you need to take different bus to the airport and catch transfer bus there.  Then, it was earliest bus available from airport is 3:00.  That gets us to ship around 5:00.  We were told by staff person we should have been at the center by 9:00 am, which we could have done.  I showed her the booking confirmation with the 11:00 arrival time.  Her only response was that we had “ bad information”

 

We are Elite, and staying in a suite.  This level of service is unacceptable, and this will likely be our last Princess cruise as a result.  In my mind they have been on double-secret probation since the land tour fiasco, and this is the last straw.

welcome to CC ... enjoy your cruise on the Crown Princess

[twprincessfirsties]

The land part closing was likely beyond Princess' control with a lack of staff that is plaguing the entire travel and hospitality industry. I wouldn't get too upset at that - you were able to enjoy Anchorage instead and I am sure the local economy there enjoyed getting your dollars far more than Princess would.

 

As for your missed transit, I don't think you should cancel a cruise line because of bad advice. it is interesting how one person (the person who told you to show up at 11) can ruin an entire experience.

 

I hope you recover and enjoy the rest of your journey.

 

 

[memoak]

Heck the timing is minor. Especially when you are dealing with a one way at a time tunnel.  I would be more concerned with all the covid that has been coming on in Whittier. We are still in Canadian quarantine from the last Royal trip from Whittier

[PacnGoNow]

21 minutes ago, memoak said:

Heck the timing is minor. Especially when you are dealing with a one way at a time tunnel.  I would be more concerned with all the covid that has been coming on in Whittier. We are still in Canadian quarantine from the last Royal trip from Whittier

How are you all doing?  Aren’t you done with that quarantine stuff yet?

Hope you get home soon and feeling 

a lot better!

[memoak]

1 minute ago, PacnGoNow said:

How are you all doing?  Aren’t you done with that quarantine stuff yet?

Hope you get home soon and feeling 

a lot better!

In Canada it is 10 days from infection. So who are stuck in Vancouver till Friday. Once home we will start the effort to get reimbursed for hotel and food delivery costs 

[PacnGoNow]

14 minutes ago, memoak said:

In Canada it is 10 days from infection. So who are stuck in Vancouver till Friday. Once home we will start the effort to get reimbursed for hotel and food delivery costs 

Good luck to you all.

[Steelers36]

4 hours ago, artb42 said:

Booked on Grand, 9/7-14.  Had a land portion booked also but that was outright cancelled due to lack of staff at Copper River lodge.  Not possible to book something else.  What was offered as compensation as a refund and OBC was lacking IMHO.  But, so be it.  We made lemonade from lemons, came to Anchorage a few days early and had a great time.  
 

Stayed at downtown hotel.  My booking confirmation says we can go to the convention center for bus to pier in Whittier, be there by 11:00 for noon departure.  We got to the center by 10:30, only to be told sorry, bus is full, you need to take different bus to the airport and catch transfer bus there.  Then, it was earliest bus available from airport is 3:00.  That gets us to ship around 5:00.  We were told by staff person we should have been at the center by 9:00 am, which we could have done.  I showed her the booking confirmation with the 11:00 arrival time.  Her only response was that we had “ bad information”

 

We are Elite, and staying in a suite.  This level of service is unacceptable, and this will likely be our last Princess cruise as a result.  In my mind they have been on double-secret probation since the land tour fiasco, and this is the last straw.

So, what did you do?  I would have taken a taxi in the first place, but I would think that should have been your back-up plan.  Then, I would have visited Guest Services on board, shown them my reservation, the information as to when to show up, etc.  I would be asking/expecting them to comp my account for the cost of the transfer and I'd be ahead of the game.  It would take more than that for me to dump a cruise line.  Just sayin'

[Essiesmom]

50 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

So, what did you do?  I would have taken a taxi in the first place, but I would think that should have been your back-up plan.  Then, I would have visited Guest Services on board, shown them my reservation, the information as to when to show up, etc.  I would be asking/expecting them to comp my account for the cost of the transfer and I'd be ahead of the game.  It would take more than that for me to dump a cruise line.  Just sayin'

A taxi from where to where?  Not hotel to Whittier, surely?  I doubt you could get one to take you.  EM

[Outerdog]

5 hours ago, voljeep said:

welcome to CC ...

 

How is this helpful? OP joined 9 years ago.

 

smh

[Steelers36]

2 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

A taxi from where to where?  Not hotel to Whittier, surely?  I doubt you could get one to take you.  EM

Hmm... 60 miles.  I see what you mean.  Isn't there another option besides a Princess bus?  Seems odd there would only be one bus going.  Anyway, we have not done Alaska yet, so I forget the distances.

[geoherb]

My first stop on the Caribbean Princess last month was to guest services to request a refund for the transfer from LaGuardia. I waited five and a half hours for the shuttle bus. The purser wrote down my name and cabin number. The credit appeared on my OBC the next morning.

It was disorganized chaos at the airport. An earlier shuttle bus picked up some passengers. But the "Princess" reps weren't doing anything to ensure that people boarded the bus according to when they checked in. The only reason I was able to catch the shuttle bus I did was because four of us waiting upstairs by the luggage carousel as instructed decided to move downstairs instead and wait by the curb. 

[Torfamm]

3 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Hmm... 60 miles.  I see what you mean.  Isn't there another option besides a Princess bus?  Seems odd there would only be one bus going.  Anyway, we have not done Alaska yet, so I forget the distances.

There are private transfers available but booking one on the spur of the moment at 11:00 could be pretty tough. It’s not a straightforward 60 mile trip. Having the one-way tunnel shared by trains and cars makes timing tricky. We had a great experience with Salmonberry Tours this summer, I would definitely recommend considering them if you go.

https://www.alaskatravel.com/transportation/anchorage-whittier/

Edited September 8, 2022 by Torfamm
Typo

[Hlitner]

8 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

 

[RNRcruisers]

That's too bad, not a good start to a vacation. In my experience, things like this can happen on any line so I wouldn't write one off right away. It also seems like the port staff are not very helpful or friendly (also not just on Princess) which is such an odd difference from staff on board. 

 

We used Alaska Cruise Transportation and it worked great. Not sure how easy a last minute booking would be though, for someone is the same situation as you were.

[dog]

18 hours ago, artb42 said:

Booked on Grand, 9/7-14.  Had a land portion booked also but that was outright cancelled due to lack of staff at Copper River lodge.  Not possible to book something else.  What was offered as compensation as a refund and OBC was lacking IMHO.  But, so be it.  We made lemonade from lemons, came to Anchorage a few days early and had a great time.  
 

Stayed at downtown hotel.  My booking confirmation says we can go to the convention center for bus to pier in Whittier, be there by 11:00 for noon departure.  We got to the center by 10:30, only to be told sorry, bus is full, you need to take different bus to the airport and catch transfer bus there.  Then, it was earliest bus available from airport is 3:00.  That gets us to ship around 5:00.  We were told by staff person we should have been at the center by 9:00 am, which we could have done.  I showed her the booking confirmation with the 11:00 arrival time.  Her only response was that we had “ bad information”

 

We are Elite, and staying in a suite.  This level of service is unacceptable, and this will likely be our last Princess cruise as a result.  In my mind they have been on double-secret probation since the land tour fiasco, and this is the last straw.

Sorry this happened to you.

Not right.

share your disappointment with all those at Princess who might listen.—- many cc members have provided email addresses & phone numbers in other threads on here recently.

 

I had a similar experience being given wrong transfer time and had to find/ pay my own way to airport.  Taxis aren’t cheap.

 

you are owed compensation.

 

 

[cruisequeen4ever]

I’m sorry that happened. We had a fairly similar situation happen to us in Seattle when we needed the transfer to Vancouver. They said to get there around 9:00 or 10:00. We got there at 9:00, and we were on the last bus!!  It left almost 3 hours later.  It’s too bad they don’t advise that it’s first come first serve for bus appropriations, and you really should get there super early. I hope you end up having a fabulous cruise!