Guaranteed Stateroom Not So Guaranteed?

[Dreamscaper]

Our booking with Princess states Guaranteed Balcony - Deck Group Middle, Ship Zone Midship.

 

A few days ago I noticed we were assigned a cabin way in the AFT.

 

I called Princess, they tell me that all the current mid ship balconies are waitlisted by others wanting the same category.  We can be placed on that waitlist.  I said I want a guarantee, as stated in our booking that we accepted in good faith and placed our deposit based on that guarantee.

 

TWO HOURS (literally, no exaggeration) on the phone with Princess trying to get this resolved yesterday.  At one point I say ok, if there are no guaranteed staterooms in our "guaranteed" location, what can you do for us?  I see mini-suites available mid ship, what can you do there.

 

At one point the rep says that he thinks he can get the difference in price comped.  I know this sounds too good to be true, but hey, he said it.  In fact, he *did* say it could be comped.  I'm pleased.  It's been a long, stressful time on the phone, but they came out with a solution that made all the pain worth it.

 

Then he puts on on hold for the gazillionth time.  Comes back.  Guest services says no.  They're not even offering a price break to upgrade, or free OBC, or anything at all to compensate us for our waisted time and stress.

 

Best he can do is say we'll be "on the top" of the waitlist for the mid-ship balconies in August.

 

Now, I see that he has moved us into the previously discussed mini-suite.  And billed us for the upgrade (around $1,100 extra).  We never agreed to move and pay for this.  If comped, yes.  For $1,100, no!

 

I spoke to our "cruise vacation planner" this morning.  He can't help, says to call client services.  I have a call back placed with them, but I suspect this will be the same level of people who couldn't help me yesterday.

 

Waiting to hear from them now, but I am SO frustrated.  I want to love Princess (this will be our first cruise with them, having sailed Norwegian previously), but this is putting me into frustrated tears and hubby is already saying "never again".

 

Waiting for the call back, but my faith is beyond zero at this point.

 

Any advice?  Thanks for letting me vent.

[Dreamscaper]

Oh, and we have to pay for this in full at the end of July, before they *might* get us moved into that guaranteed mid ship balcony in August.

[SiliconCruiser]

Never heard of a "guarantee" for a specific portion of the ship.  It has only been recently that Princess started to offer the lower prices for the 'guarantee' cabins, that had previously only been offered by discount consolidators.  Prior to that, you always had to select a cabin if booking online, as well as booking through most travel agents.  Was also told by a future cruise consultant that the 'guarantee' cabins will almost always be forward or aft, and most likely on the higher decks, i.e. the lower priced ones that people would not pay to reserve.  In our case, we have to reserve a cabin because we require an ADA cabin.

[jimdee3636]

@Dreamscaper

Assuming you're correct about the "mid-ship guarantee," I'd cancel, get my deposit back, and say "bye-bye" to Princess. There are other (and better) cruise lines out there. You don't need the hassle.

 

Jim

 

[PacnGoNow]

35 minutes ago, Dreamscaper said:

Our booking with Princess states Guaranteed Balcony - Deck Group Middle, Ship Zone Midship.

 

A few days ago I noticed we were assigned a cabin way in the AFT.

 

I called Princess, they tell me that all the current mid ship balconies are waitlisted by others wanting the same category.  We can be placed on that waitlist.  I said I want a guarantee, as stated in our booking that we accepted in good faith and placed our deposit based on that guarantee.

 

TWO HOURS (literally, no exaggeration) on the phone with Princess trying to get this resolved yesterday.  At one point I say ok, if there are no guaranteed staterooms in our "guaranteed" location, what can you do for us?  I see mini-suites available mid ship, what can you do there.

 

At one point the rep says that he thinks he can get the difference in price comped.  I know this sounds too good to be true, but hey, he said it.  In fact, he *did* say it could be comped.  I'm pleased.  It's been a long, stressful time on the phone, but they came out with a solution that made all the pain worth it.

 

Then he puts on on hold for the gazillionth time.  Comes back.  Guest services says no.  They're not even offering a price break to upgrade, or free OBC, or anything at all to compensate us for our waisted time and stress.

 

Best he can do is say we'll be "on the top" of the waitlist for the mid-ship balconies in August.

 

Now, I see that he has moved us into the previously discussed mini-suite.  And billed us for the upgrade (around $1,100 extra).  We never agreed to move and pay for this.  If comped, yes.  For $1,100, no!

 

I spoke to our "cruise vacation planner" this morning.  He can't help, says to call client services.  I have a call back placed with them, but I suspect this will be the same level of people who couldn't help me yesterday.

 

Waiting to hear from them now, but I am SO frustrated.  I want to love Princess (this will be our first cruise with them, having sailed Norwegian previously), but this is putting me into frustrated tears and hubby is already saying "never again".

 

Waiting for the call back, but my faith is beyond zero at this point.

 

Any advice?  Thanks for letting me vent.

No, that does not sound right.  The CVP is Exactly the one who should help you!

 

They work for PCL, who made the errors.

 

I’d call the CVP back and tell them, you need them to sort this out.

 

Since this was a GTY rate, is the deposit non refundable?  Sounds like the agent put in the mini suite cabin and called guest services to see if they would honor the mini suite, and instead of ignoring the transaction with the mini suite, they ended the record, which booked the mini suite cabin.  
 

The CVP should be able to check the history on this record and straighten it out.  They may not have midship open right now, they should put you back to GTY and honor the midship category later then.

 

Are you sure the category of balcony that you chose is only midship and not

other decks or areas?  You can look at the deck plans and check the decks that would be available in the category you paid.  You probably did already, but to be sure.

 

[Kay S]

The new Princess improvements in customer service. 😶

[Abercrombie2019]

1 hour ago, Dreamscaper said:

Our booking with Princess states Guaranteed Balcony - Deck Group Middle, Ship Zone Midship.

Did your original booking confirmation show the Category of Balcony Cabin, or did it just say the location?  A "midship" balcony should be a "BA" category.  Did the booking confirmation show a two letter category?

 

 

Edited May 30, 2023 by Abercrombie2019
tried to clarify

[Dreamscaper]

19 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

No, that does not sound right.  The CVP is Exactly the one who should help you!

 

They work for PCL, who made the errors.

 

I’d call the CVP back and tell them, you need them to sort this out.

 

Since this was a GTY rate, is the deposit non refundable?  Sounds like the agent put in the mini suite cabin and called guest services to see if they would honor the mini suite, and instead of ignoring the transaction with the mini suite, they ended the record, which booked the mini suite cabin.  
 

The CVP should be able to check the history on this record and straighten it out.  They may not have midship open right now, they should put you back to GTY and honor the midship category later then.

 

Are you sure the category of balcony that you chose is only midship and not

other decks or areas?  You can look at the deck plans and check the decks that would be available in the category you paid.  You probably did already, but to be sure.

 

I believe the deposit is non-refundable.  Unfortunately I can't access my Princess account right now (I'm getting an error) to be certain, but I'm almost positive.

 

Agreed, the agent put in the mini suite and didn't cancel it when they got the denial of the comp from guest services.

 

I definitely have it on our booking confirmation that we have a guaranteed balcony, mid level and mid ship.  It says they don't guarantee which level, but it does say we will be mid level.

 

I got my call back from Princess, will update the final "resolution" in a separate post.

[Dreamscaper]

23 minutes ago, Abercrombie2019 said:

Does your booking show the Category of Balcony Cabin?  A "midship" balcony should be "BA" category.

 

If you book a "guarantee" you should get any cabin in the category that you booked (or better).

Yes, definitely a BA category noted.

[Sprocket]

This is what you agreed to when you booked your cruise.  Personally we love the aft cabins and would be perfectly happy there.  

 

Spells out pretty clearly if you want a specific location to book a cabin in that location.  

 

f you create this booking for the selected stateroom type and fare, then the location of your stateroom will be assigned prior to embarkation. You will receive your room assignment within your requested stateroom type.

Should you prefer to confirm your stateroom in your ideal location today, then please check availability in other ship locations. Select the option to choose your own stateroom.

[PacnGoNow]

4 minutes ago, Dreamscaper said:

I believe the deposit is non-refundable.  Unfortunately I can't access my Princess account right now (I'm getting an error) to be certain, but I'm almost positive.

 

Agreed, the agent put in the mini suite and didn't cancel it when they got the denial of the comp from guest services.

 

I definitely have it on our booking confirmation that we have a guaranteed balcony, mid level and mid ship.  It says they don't guarantee which level, but it does say we will be mid level.

 

I got my call back from Princess, will update the final "resolution" in a separate post.

Please do give us feedback.  Best

if you post your resolution in this same post, so others can see it.  TIA

[Dreamscaper]

 

 

Ok, all they could do for us is assure us we're top of the waiting list in August for the mid level, mid ship balcony we booked for.  They cannot give us a guaranteed stateroom number right now (well they could, but they'd charge us an extra $800 to do so!!!), but they assure us we will have the balcony we signed up for.

 

We cannot change from the mini-suite "booking" back to a balcony right now without paying an upcharge.  She could not tell me why this is, or else I didn't understand her fully.  But she said they're sending us an email and we will be able to change it back at our original price point later.  I'm not fully confident on this, it doesn't make sense.  She was difficult to understand.

 

No explanation on why my sister in law was assigned an actual stateroom in the correct location and we were assigned to the AFT and cannot have a stateroom assigned to us mid ship like sister in law was.  Just the way it is I guess.

 

But upshot is that we are assured to get our proper category, but not until August.  I might have to contact them again if I can't get back to our originally agreed upon booking price before final payment becomes due at the end of July.

Edited May 30, 2023 by Dreamscaper
spelling

[Dreamscaper]

7 minutes ago, Sprocket said:

This is what you agreed to when you booked your cruise.  Personally we love the aft cabins and would be perfectly happy there.  

 

Spells out pretty clearly if you want a specific location to book a cabin in that location.  

 

f you create this booking for the selected stateroom type and fare, then the location of your stateroom will be assigned prior to embarkation. You will receive your room assignment within your requested stateroom type.

Should you prefer to confirm your stateroom in your ideal location today, then please check availability in other ship locations. Select the option to choose your own stateroom.

We did book mid level, mid ship.  We did not get that when the assigned us to pretty close to the back of the ship.

[Dreamscaper]

3 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

Please do give us feedback.  Best

if you post your resolution in this same post, so others can see it.  TIA

Yes, sorry I meant I would post in a separate reply in this thread.  Posted now :)

[Abercrombie2019]

11 minutes ago, Sprocket said:

Spells out pretty clearly if you want a specific location to book a cabin in that location.  

 

f you create this booking for the selected stateroom type and fare, then the location of your stateroom will be assigned prior to embarkation. You will receive your room assignment within your requested stateroom type.

Should you prefer to confirm your stateroom in your ideal location today, then please check availability in other ship locations. Select the option to choose your own stateroom.

Yes, it does say that, but it also says this:

 

"Princess will assign your stateroom prior to sailing

Selecting this option will guarantee a stateroom assignment in this location or a comparable location prior to sailing."

 

 

I guess this would beg the question of what a comparable location would be.

[PacnGoNow]

8 minutes ago, Dreamscaper said:

 

 

Ok, all they could do for us is assure us we're top of the waiting list in August for the mid level, mid ship balcony we booked for.  They cannot give us a guaranteed stateroom number right now (well they could, but they'd charge us an extra $800 to do so!!!), but they assure us we will have the balcony we signed up for.

 

We cannot change from the mini-suite "booking" back to a balcony right now without paying an upcharge.  She could not tell me why this is, or else I didn't understand her fully.  But she said they're sending us an email and we will be able to change it back at our original price point later.  I'm not fully confident on this, it doesn't make sense.  She was difficult to understand.

 

No explanation on why my sister in law was assigned an actual statement in the correct location and we were assigned to the AFT and cannot have a stateroom assigned to us mid ship like sister in law was.  Just the way it is I guess.

 

But upshot is that we are assured to get our proper category, but not until August.  I might have to contact them again if I can't get back to our originally agreed upon booking price before final payment becomes due at the end of July.

Thanks for the feedback.  Do keep us updated.

[Dreamscaper]

2 minutes ago, Abercrombie2019 said:

Yes, it does say that, but it also says this:

 

"Princess will assign your stateroom prior to sailing

Selecting this option will guarantee a stateroom assignment in this location or a comparable location prior to sailing."

 

 

I guess this would beg the question of what a comparable location would be.

Just for reference in case anyone was wondering, the stateroom we were assigned was R702 - literally ten cabins from the very rear of the ship - I can't imagine any way that would be considered comparable.  My sister in law was correctly assigned her balcony right mid-ship by the panoramic lifts

[Dreamscaper]

6 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

Thanks for the feedback.  Do keep us updated.

Will do. We probably won't know anything further for another month or so now.  We can't change back to balcony class without paying the additional cost right now.

[voljeep]

1 minute ago, Dreamscaper said:

Just for reference in case anyone was wondering, the stateroom we were assigned was R702 - literally ten cabins from the very rear of the ship - I can't imagine any way that would be considered comparable.  My sister in law was correctly assigned her balcony right mid-ship by the panoramic lifts

same floor?

[Guest ldtr]

3 minutes ago, Dreamscaper said:

Just for reference in case anyone was wondering, the stateroom we were assigned was R702 - literally ten cabins from the very rear of the ship - I can't imagine any way that would be considered comparable.  My sister in law was correctly assigned her balcony right mid-ship by the panoramic lifts

What is the cabin type code.  If it is the same than as far as the cruise line it is comparable.  Basically if you choose guarantee  you can expect the same cabin type code or better, not necessarily in the same location.  If the cabin they are trying to put you in is a lower cabin code then you might have a complaint, the same or better not so much.

 

You can always cancel entirely.

[Dreamscaper]

4 minutes ago, voljeep said:

same floor?

Yes, same floor.

[Dreamscaper]

1 minute ago, ldtr said:

What is the cabin type code.  If it is the same than as far as the cruise line it is comparable.  Basically if you choose guarantee  you can expect the same cabin type code or better, not necessarily in the same location.  If the cabin they are trying to put you in is a lower cabin code then you might have a complaint, the same or better not so much.

 

You can always cancel entirely.

our code was BA, mid ship, mid level.  R702 is definitely aft, lower category.

 

We would prefer not to cancel entirely as we are booked to go with my sister in law, we just want what we contracted for at the price we contracted for.  Time will tell if we get it.

Edited May 30, 2023 by Dreamscaper

[voljeep]

2 minutes ago, Dreamscaper said:

our code was BA, mid ship, mid level.  R702 is definitely aft, lower category.

which ship is this? sorry if I missed that

[Sprocket]

Last year for my cruise to Alaska on the Crown I was in cabin R746 which is the last balcony cabin on the port side.  Huge balcony and incredible views.   I loved it back there, a few steps up to the pool, bar and buffet.  Rear elevators went straight up to Skywalkers which we really enjoy.  IMO not all aft cabins are a downgrade.

 

Maybe once you're onboard take a walk down that way and see for yourself.

 

  

[PacnGoNow]

9 minutes ago, Dreamscaper said:

our code was BA, mid ship, mid level.  R702 is definitely aft, lower category.

 

We would prefer not to cancel entirely as we are booked to go with my sister in law, we just want what we contracted for at the price we contracted for.  Time will tell if we get it.

Here’s the kicker…

They should give you the BA category or better…

 

They could assign you in a deluxe balcony and that could be in an aft area, but a bigger cabin.  So, that is possible or a mini suite aft or fwd would also be an UG.

 

Good luck!