I Am Steaming Mad

[SargassoPirate]

29 minutes ago, krufrank said:

On the phone with Casino Department (so they say) and they said that the Princess fellow who made the booking and offer made a mistake.  I said, why is that my problem - I paid exactly what was quoted but did not get what was offered?  They said they could do nothing about it.  But if they rebooked me without the credits and premium package it would $600 LESS than what I paid. So basically the guy overcharged me.  I said, just rebook me with that price and credit me that $600 as onboard credit. They said, not can't do that.  We have to cancel your booking and re-book it with a $400 charge. Can you believe this crap!

 

No supervisor is willing to call me back.

 

I finally got the name of the original booking agent and got them to connect me him directly.  Currently on the phone with him.

Sounds like situation FUBAR.

[cr8tiv1]

Posted right after I got off Live Chat with Princess.  Still in "recovery" mode.  Thanks @PacnGoNow for setting me on the straight and narrow.  I really should pay more attention to what I am reading and not comprehending.  

 

3 hours ago, SargassoPirate said:

I booked a 2025 cruise last week.  I put it on a courtesy hold since She Who Must Be Obeyed is going on this one and she had not yet risen for the day.  I received a confirmation email from Princess within minutes.

 

On the day that the deposit payment was due, I logged into my Princess.com account and made the payment.

 

Easy breezy.

 

In a few days, I transfer the booking to my warehouse club travel department and if any needs arise, such as a price drop, I'll call my TA and they can arm wrestle with Princess.

 

BTW, I'm a bit hard of hearing and couple that with a foreigner using a headset while working from home and I'll stick with doing it myself online.

 

1 hour ago, cr8tiv1 said:

I thought you couldn't transfer a booking after you made final payment to Princess.  Good to know.

 

[suekel]

3 hours ago, Shippy said:

To book with a casino discount....You NEED to book through the casino department !

Not true.  My TA gets me the casino discount.  And of recently, if you have a fully comped cruise you can now book online.  

[Hlitner]

All this just make me appreciate using an excellent cruise agency/agent (we actually use 2) that handle all this stuff and always put it all in writing (with a detailed invoice) before any payment is processed.  Just another example of a consumer working direct with a cruise line because they somehow think it "gives them control!"  

 

Bottom line is that you represent a single booking and have no clout!  A major high volume agency/agent has a little more clout and personal contacts.  That being said, finding a decent high volume agency and a good agent is not easy.

 

Hank

[CynCyn]

5 hours ago, Shippy said:

To book with a casino discount....You NEED to book through the casino department !

I book with my cruise planner.

[krufrank]

5 hours ago, PacnGoNow said:

He made a deposit not FP.

Wrong. I made FP.

[krufrank]

Ok. After talking with original booking agent, having himself and his supervisor go over the recorded phone call we had on Saturday they all agree - yes that was the offer we should be getting.  They claim "someone" accessed the account and "wiped" out the Premium Plan and onboard credits. Seems fishy to me. Anyways, they put me through to customer service who made all the corrections necessary. Total time on phone with Princess today? 6 hours. Yep, 6...hours!!!  Geesh. But everything is the way it should be with our booking. What a weekend!! 

[LibertyBella]

But you got it all worked out, and sometimes six hours is what it takes so you can have a worry-free cruise!

[Expat Cruise]

Happy you got this taken care of, very sad Princess made you waste six hours plus of your time. That seems to be the new norm with many cruise lines, make it so hard to correct many will just give up. This thread is one of the reasons we would never have a Travel Agent involved in any cruise booking. Errors, mistakes, and lying does happen and when it is time to fix issues having a third party between the guests and Princess Cruises is just going to cause problems. 

[negn]

When I booked my last comped cruise, I was also comped the Princess Plus amenity.   The agent I spoke with could not add that and said it would be sent up to be “escalated”. I was a bit leery.   Everything did eventually show up though.  I found it under “ print luggage tags and summary”

[ontheweb]

4 hours ago, Expat Cruise said:

Happy you got this taken care of, very sad Princess made you waste six hours plus of your time. That seems to be the new norm with many cruise lines, make it so hard to correct many will just give up. This thread is one of the reasons we would never have a Travel Agent involved in any cruise booking. Errors, mistakes, and lying does happen and when it is time to fix issues having a third party between the guests and Princess Cruises is just going to cause problems. 

Have you been reading the thread? HE DID NOT USE A TRAVEL AGENT, HE BOOKED DIRECTLY WITH PRINCESS!

[ontheweb]

6 hours ago, krufrank said:

Ok. After talking with original booking agent, having himself and his supervisor go over the recorded phone call we had on Saturday they all agree - yes that was the offer we should be getting.  They claim "someone" accessed the account and "wiped" out the Premium Plan and onboard credits. Seems fishy to me. Anyways, they put me through to customer service who made all the corrections necessary. Total time on phone with Princess today? 6 hours. Yep, 6...hours!!!  Geesh. But everything is the way it should be with our booking. What a weekend!! 

Glad it worked out, Six hours, wow. I think they count on most people not having your persistence. 

 

Lucky they did not "accidentally" delete the recording of your phone call.

[ontheweb]

11 hours ago, Hlitner said:

All this just make me appreciate using an excellent cruise agency/agent (we actually use 2) that handle all this stuff and always put it all in writing (with a detailed invoice) before any payment is processed.  Just another example of a consumer working direct with a cruise line because they somehow think it "gives them control!"  

 

Bottom line is that you represent a single booking and have no clout!  A major high volume agency/agent has a little more clout and personal contacts.  That being said, finding a decent high volume agency and a good agent is not easy.

 

Hank

And yet a poster in this thread took this experience as a reason NOT to use a ravel agent. 🤦‍♂️

[PacnGoNow]

7 hours ago, krufrank said:

Wrong. I made FP.

Sorry, this was In response to another poster on here, not your situation.

 

Totally happy that you were able to get this resolved.  What a mess it was for you.  
 

 

Edited June 6, 2023 by PacnGoNow

[SargassoPirate]

5 hours ago, Expat Cruise said:

Happy you got this taken care of, very sad Princess made you waste six hours plus of your time. That seems to be the new norm with many cruise lines, make it so hard to correct many will just give up. This thread is one of the reasons we would never have a Travel Agent involved in any cruise booking. Errors, mistakes, and lying does happen and when it is time to fix issues having a third party between the guests and Princess Cruises is just going to cause problems. 

This thread is EXACTLY why you want to have a good travel agent involved.  Re-read my post about my method of booking with Princess - or any cruise line for that matter - and pay special attention to this statement:

 

"I transfer the booking to my warehouse club travel department and if any needs arise, such as a price drop, I'll call my TA and they can arm wrestle with Princess."

 

I don't waste six hours with so-called "customer service" reps.  If my TA can't resolve it right away, they get it fixed and call me back when everything is resolved.

 

 

[Expat Cruise]

1 hour ago, ontheweb said:

Have you been reading the thread? HE DID NOT USE A TRAVEL AGENT, HE BOOKED DIRECTLY WITH PRINCESS!

Yes, I can read thank you, but no reason to shout in all caps. If anyone takes the time to read what I posted. It does not say he used a travel agent. It clearly says we never want any third party between us and the cruise line. Sorry, do not trust Travel Agents, to be able to handle anything to do with bookings. If others do use an agent, that is their choice. As our choice is never us an agent. 

 

58 minutes ago, SargassoPirate said:

This thread is EXACTLY why you want to have a good travel agent involved.  Re-read my post about my method of booking with Princess - or any cruise line for that matter - and pay special attention to this statement:

 

"I transfer the booking to my warehouse club travel department and if any needs arise, such as a price drop, I'll call my TA and they can arm wrestle with Princess."

 

I don't waste six hours with so-called "customer service" reps.  If my TA can't resolve it right away, they get it fixed and call me back when everything is resolved.

 

 

Sorry but do not need to re-read, again never want anything to do with a travel agent do not ever want a third party between us and the cruise line. Legal claims are already made hard enough by the cruise lines would never add another layer of problems. 

 

Like this cruise travel agent who has had almost 800 formal complaints filed against them in about two years. And now all cruises through the Summer are on hold. Because these customers used a Travel Agent, they have no standing with the cruise lines to settle this nightmare caused by another Travel Agent who is just looking for their commissions  

 

If others want to use Travel Agents that is their choice, for us, it will never happen. 

 

https://www.boston25news.com/news/local/embattled-boston-based-cruise-company-vantage-postpones-all-summer-trips/FQGJ2NEVDRDMTLGFDJ4XCGOSZM/

[Lady Arwen]

6 hours ago, Expat Cruise said:

Happy you got this taken care of, very sad Princess made you waste six hours plus of your time. That seems to be the new norm with many cruise lines, make it so hard to correct many will just give up. This thread is one of the reasons we would never have a Travel Agent involved in any cruise booking. Errors, mistakes, and lying does happen and when it is time to fix issues having a third party between the guests and Princess Cruises is just going to cause problems. 

This is exactly the opposite of the truth.  Booking with a TA or CVP would have eliminated the six hour phone marathon.  That’s their job.  

[Lady Arwen]

2 minutes ago, Expat Cruise said:

Yes, I can read thank you, but no reason to shout in all caps. If anyone takes the time to read what I posted. It does not say he used a travel agent. It clearly says we never want any third party between us and the cruise line. Sorry, do not trust Travel Agents, to be able to handle anything to do with bookings. If others do use an agent, that is their choice. As our choice is never us an agent. 

 

Sorry but do not need to re-read, again never want anything to do with a travel agent do not ever want a third party between us and the cruise line. Legal claims are already made hard enough by the cruise lines would never add another layer of problems. 

 

Like this cruise travel agent who has had almost 800 formal complaints filed against them in about two years. And now all cruises through the Summer are on hold. Because these customers used a Travel Agent, they have no standing with the cruise lines to settle this nightmare caused by another Travel Agent who is just looking for their commissions  

 

If others want to use Travel Agents that is their choice, for us, it will never happen. 

 

https://www.boston25news.com/news/local/embattled-boston-based-cruise-company-vantage-postpones-all-summer-trips/FQGJ2NEVDRDMTLGFDJ4XCGOSZM/

Good luck!  One day you may regret that decision.

[BnDcruisers]

Hi all, 

To start this reply we are both Elite and have been for a number of years, and I use a PVP and have had the same one for a number of years. 
He told me that if I have a question/concern about an upcoming cruise and can’t reach him to call 1-800-901-1172, but to call AFTER 11:00am ET, he said do not put in his phone extension but just to hold on the line and the next available Support Team member will assist you. NOTE, You must have your booking number available. 
I had a question about our upcoming cruise and used the 800 number in April and got all my questions answered. 😁
 

[memoak]

18 hours ago, Shippy said:

To book with a casino discount....You NEED to book through the casino department !

No you.can also book through a CVP. I have 7 casino comps booked (on one now) all booked through my CVP

[Fortunate 2 travel]

1 hour ago, BnDcruisers said:

Hi all, 

To start this reply we are both Elite and have been for a number of years, and I use a PVP and have had the same one for a number of years. 
He told me that if I have a question/concern about an upcoming cruise and can’t reach him to call 1-800-901-1172, but to call AFTER 11:00am ET, he said do not put in his phone extension but just to hold on the line and the next available Support Team member will assist you. NOTE, You must have your booking number available. 
I had a question about our upcoming cruise and used the 800 number in April and got all my questions answered. 😁
 

You are so lucky to have a good PVP.  We had a great one for years, but she must have retired.  I keep getting emails and calls from different PVP telling me that they have been assigned to me.  Unfortunately none of them have been  knowledgeable about the product they are supposed to help me with.  Wish I could get one with years of experience.

[Lady Arwen]

36 minutes ago, Fortunate 2 travel said:

You are so lucky to have a good PVP.  We had a great one for years, but she must have retired.  I keep getting emails and calls from different PVP telling me that they have been assigned to me.  Unfortunately none of them have been  knowledgeable about the product they are supposed to help me with.  Wish I could get one with years of experience.

I’m one of the lucky ones, too.  A big issue for me is trying to understand the Princess call reps who are Filipino.  No disrespect intended, but I just can’t communicate properly with them.  My CVP is a Floridian with many cruises under her belt.  I literally do nothing but choose the cruise and give her my credit card number.  Wish I could share her name with you.

[Fortunate 2 travel]

Just now, Lady Arwen said:

I’m one of the lucky ones, too.  A big issue for me is trying to understand the Princess call reps who are Filipino.  No disrespect intended, but I just can’t communicate properly with them.  My CVP is a Floridian with many cruises under her belt.  I literally do nothing but choose the cruise and give her my credit card number.  Wish I could share her name with you.

Me too!!  I would love to find an experienced PVP again.  I’m very happy for you 😃

[Fortunate 2 travel]

3 minutes ago, Lady Arwen said:

I’m one of the lucky ones, too.  A big issue for me is trying to understand the Princess call reps who are Filipino.  No disrespect intended, but I just can’t communicate properly with them.  My CVP is a Floridian with many cruises under her belt.  I literally do nothing but choose the cruise and give her my credit card number.  Wish I could share her name with you.

If anyone has any ideas of how to connect with an experienced PVP, I would love to hear them. 

[Lady Arwen]

Just now, Fortunate 2 travel said:

If anyone has any ideas of how to connect with an experienced PVP, I would love to hear them. 

Since we’re not allowed to share the names of our CVPs, it’s really hit and miss.  You could call and ask specifically for someone who has been with Princess a considerable length of time and who themselves have sailed on Princess ships.  I have no idea if this would work for you.  You could also use a travel agent who is recommended by your friends and family.  Good luck to you!