Ruby Princess-- awful guest relations crew. Help!

[dickinson]

I'm sorry for what happened to you.  Some people really fell down on the job by not responding.  I really feel that you could have had a different response if different people were involved (different ship or another time when crew members were different).  We once had an issue on a Carnival ship that in no way compares to your issue.  I found a bug in my bed.  We notified guest services.  They put us in a different cabin for the night while they "sanitized" our cabin.  The next night I received a phone call from guest services telling me that for my troubles I would be receiving a large sum of refundable OBC.  It was about 50% of the price of the cruise.  I was shocked as I had not asked for anything.  So it really does matter who is in charge and how they handle certain situations.

[kiwimum]

3 hours ago, nwualum said:

Stateroom number E632.  I really doubt it was a wine bottle as it was deafening.  But you never know.  

 

And let me clarify JimmyVWine-- we do not want future cruise credits.  That makes us spend another few thousand dollars to save $1000.  No thanks.  We want our money refunded.  

We were in E414 with a lot of noise.   An obvious issue with this stateroom as there were shims around the door frame and molding.    A great stateroom that we would book again as for an obstructed view there was no obstruction.

Sorry you had issues but I would not book so far aft on lower decks.

 

Edited March 21 by kiwimum

[TRLD]

The Ruby, just like other of the Grand Class ships, can be very noisy during rough weather.

 

 

The noise is generated by the stabilizers, as they deal with the waves. The noise is especially noticeable on deck 5 in the Piazza at the IC, but can also be load in some of the cabins, including some balcony cabins over the stabilizers.  They will be fairly consistent in timing, usually 10 to 30 seconds apart depending upon conditions and can be quite load crashing and groaning sound. Hard to describe the exact sound.

 

Have seen the same on the Ruby, the Emerald  the Grand and a couple of others of the grand class.

 

On deck 8 it could be the cause of what you were hearing if the weather was rough. If it was the stabilizers nothing they could do.

Edited March 21 by TRLD

[JimmyVWine]

3 hours ago, nwualum said:

I am not exaggerating

I don’t think anyone is doubting your story. And I don’t think anyone is disagreeing that the amount offered to you is a bit light. But what is clear is that you are never going to get a cash refund and that you did get some benefit out of the cruise so a refund seems extreme. Simply put, if you ate all of your appetizer, all of your main course, and drank the bottle of wine that you ordered, you don’t get a full refund if you find a hair in your dessert.
 

You paid for the transportation that the ship provides getting you from place to place. You received that. You paid for copious amounts of food. You received that. You paid for entertainment. You received that. You paid for a resort-like experience around the pools and MUTS. You got that. If you paid for a Package that provided for drinks, you got those. What you didn’t get was a good night’s sleep. No one is questioning that. Not sure what the capacity was on board and how logistics played in to moving you. Maybe Princess had few options. I think that most would agree that a bump up from $250 in FCC would be appropriate. But there isn’t any basis for a refund. As noted before, Princess could up its offer to $1,000 in FCC and it appears that you still would be dissatisfied. So I’m not sure what can or should be done. Princess simply does not pay cash back to people who completed their cruise. 

Edited March 21 by JimmyVWine

[TRLD]

5 hours ago, nwualum said:

This was our 15th cruise and our 2nd with Princess. We've been to all 50 states and 50 countries, so we are well traveled. This was by far our worst experience ever. We had horribly loud banging noises that were causing our door and walls to vibrate whenever the ship moved. These noises were happening hundreds of times per night and we could not sleep. We called guest services multiple times and even went there in person twice. Once someone came up to check on it and said he would get back to us. He never did. They kept telling us it was waves, even though we were on the 8th floor. Sure. Finally on the sixth night of a 10 night cruise, someone came up and then called up the night hotel manager because they knew it was a serious issue. She realized there was indeed a problem (not waves) and told us they would call engineering immediately and get them out of bed if necessary. They moved us to an inside cabin for two nights, even though my wife is claustrophobic. We had no choice as the sounds were deafening and constant when the ship moved. Finally on day 8 we were allowed to talk to someone from guest services who apologized. We told them we wanted to be refunded for the cruise. We were disappointed that it would have only taken one person to respond to us and correct the issue but they did not. We never did hear what the issue was. Princess' solution was to give us partial credit for a future cruise? Really? We never want to cruise with them again the way they treated us. They only offered $250 credit since they put us in a cheaper cabin for a couple of nights. We will never cruise princess again. Their response is a joke.  We've gone to their service team and my travel agent but they aren't even responding now.  Anyone have any suggestions?  Thanks.

If you will never cruise with them again they have exactly zero reason to respond anymore.

Edited March 21 by TRLD

[memoak]

We were on the Crown last month on Aloha deck and yes the stabilizers do make noise especially at high speed or during weather and seas. Just part of cruising did not affect our cruise

[DallasGuy75219]

17 hours ago, suekel said:

I've heard stories of people going to Guest Services in their PJ's and not leaving until something was done.  I'm sorry you had such a bad experience.  

And bringing their pillow and sheets/blanket and sleeping in front of Guest Services until the problem is addressed. 

[sfaaa]

Cut your loss and take the $250 FCC on the table. Once you calm down, you can then decide if you want to give Princess a second chance.

[ljhershey]

Booking an obstructed view cabin, E632, always risks lifeboat shifting noise, as well as an obstructed view.  Additionally crew walk around outside the lifeboats to adjust or fix issues.  Unfortunately your concern was likely unfixable. Those are reasons your cabin cost less less to book than a true oceanview.

Edited May 12 by ljhershey

[Knickearth]

On 3/20/2024 at 1:53 PM, nwualum said:

This was our 15th cruise and our 2nd with Princess. We've been to all 50 states and 50 countries, so we are well traveled. This was by far our worst experience ever. We had horribly loud banging noises that were causing our door and walls to vibrate whenever the ship moved. These noises were happening hundreds of times per night and we could not sleep. We called guest services multiple times and even went there in person twice. Once someone came up to check on it and said he would get back to us. He never did. They kept telling us it was waves, even though we were on the 8th floor. Sure. Finally on the sixth night of a 10 night cruise, someone came up and then called up the night hotel manager because they knew it was a serious issue. She realized there was indeed a problem (not waves) and told us they would call engineering immediately and get them out of bed if necessary. They moved us to an inside cabin for two nights, even though my wife is claustrophobic. We had no choice as the sounds were deafening and constant when the ship moved. Finally on day 8 we were allowed to talk to someone from guest services who apologized. We told them we wanted to be refunded for the cruise. We were disappointed that it would have only taken one person to respond to us and correct the issue but they did not. We never did hear what the issue was. Princess' solution was to give us partial credit for a future cruise? Really? We never want to cruise with them again the way they treated us. They only offered $250 credit since they put us in a cheaper cabin for a couple of nights. We will never cruise princess again. Their response is a joke.  We've gone to their service team and my travel agent but they aren't even responding now.  Anyone have any suggestions?  Thanks.

I am so very sorry this happened and the princess staff had no real sympathies for what you are going through.  I speak from experience where there was such awful noise all night long I couldn’t sleep.  I solved the problem after the ship staff did nothing by standing in front of the mgr of the front desk and declaring out loud to my husband that if I can’t sleep no one will.  I told my husband I would walk up and down the halls starting with suites and sing at top of my lungs and bang on doors.  When I went back to cabin they suddenly had a nice quiet cabin available.  Sleep is important.

[memoak]

3 hours ago, Knickearth said:

I am so very sorry this happened and the princess staff had no real sympathies for what you are going through.  I speak from experience where there was such awful noise all night long I couldn’t sleep.  I solved the problem after the ship staff did nothing by standing in front of the mgr of the front desk and declaring out loud to my husband that if I can’t sleep no one will.  I told my husband I would walk up and down the halls starting with suites and sing at top of my lungs and bang on doors.  When I went back to cabin they suddenly had a nice quiet cabin available.  Sleep is important.

You are probably lucky you didn’t follow through on your threat as we most likely would have been stopped ny security and confined to quarters 

[startedwithamouse]

3 hours ago, Knickearth said:

I am so very sorry this happened and the princess staff had no real sympathies for what you are going through.  I speak from experience where there was such awful noise all night long I couldn’t sleep.  I solved the problem after the ship staff did nothing by standing in front of the mgr of the front desk and declaring out loud to my husband that if I can’t sleep no one will.  I told my husband I would walk up and down the halls starting with suites and sing at top of my lungs and bang on doors.  When I went back to cabin they suddenly had a nice quiet cabin available.  Sleep is important.

Good way to get kicked off at the next port. 

[sfaaa]

I got off Ruby last week. On the 6th day of the cruise, there was a chemical odor coming from the air vent likely from crews doing maintenance around the ship. I called guest service and in 20 minutes, a housekeeping supervisor showed up to investigate. The smell was gone after an hour or so. I was happy with the response time.

[waltd]

At the end of the day the OP deserved a better response and quicker.   

From past experience Prncess customer service has been known for not doing anything till the end of the crusie then offering some compensation.

We have learned from past experience  that you get things resolved while still on the ship OR nothing will happen.

 

[Outerdog]

12 hours ago, Knickearth said:

I would walk up and down the halls starting with suites and sing at top of my lungs and bang on doors.

 

[TRLD]

Keep in mind we are getting one side.

 

Not unusual to have some noise issues that are not fixable. Cabins on C right over the open space of  stage, cabins near the stabilizers, sometimes cabins near the lifeboats. That is why those of use that cruise a lot are very particular about the cabins we choose.

 

Highly likely the OP was in one of those rooms. If so the CS knows what rooms they are and that it is not "fixable".  CS will give responses to placate including what is probably the actual reason. Keep complaining and one will get more responses, I cluding in this case movement to an inside. 

 

Pretty clear the OP did not like the answer they were originally given. Pretty clear the only acceptable response would have been to fix it. As such any other response, even if they were explaining the situation in detail would not have considered to be responsive.

 

E632 is just behind the last lifeboat across the hall way from the service space that includes the vertical runs up to the smoke stacks. Lots of potential causes for noise, especially in rough seas.

Edited May 13 by TRLD

[Bemidji Ty]

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Edited May 13 by Bemidji Ty
Duplicate

[MacMadame]

10 hours ago, memoak said:

You are probably lucky you didn’t follow through on your threat as we most likely would have been stopped ny security and confined to quarters 

Or the brig. They do have one after all. 😉

[TRLD]

One other point. It would be rather unlikely that just one cabin in that area would experience the kind of noise described by the OP. So what about cabin E630 or E634. Would be interesting to know if they had similar complaints.

[BamaVol]

I’m a light sleeper.  That sort of noise throughout the night would prevent me from sleeping as well.  I’m pretty well able to flex but even 1 night without any sleep would be more than I could handle.

 

I’ve not experienced anything like the OP.  But if I had, the key to success is being persistent and polite.  I would have been mollified with a change of cabin and FCC.  I’m claustrophobic too, but don’t have a problem with inside cabins. The $250 sounds light to me.  I would have politely asked for more. If the rep had told me that’s all that he/she could do, I would ask to speak with someone who has higher authority.

Edited May 13 by BamaVol

[ljhershey]

21 hours ago, BamaVol said:

I’m a light sleeper.  That sort of noise throughout the night would prevent me from sleeping as well.  I’m pretty well able to flex but even 1 night without any sleep would be more than I could handle.

 

I’ve not experienced anything like the OP.  But if I had, the key to success is being persistent and polite.  I would have been mollified with a change of cabin and FCC.  I’m claustrophobic too, but don’t have a problem with inside cabins. The $250 sounds light to me.  I would have politely asked for more. If the rep had told me that’s all that he/she could do, I would ask to speak with someone who has higher authority.

Sounds like a very wise approach.

[Kay S]

This brings to mind the lady who had a cabin directly over Vista Lounge who demanded they "move" the band playing at night so she could sleep.  Another reason to research cabin location before you book.

[BamaVol]

5 minutes ago, Kay S said:

This brings to mind the lady who had a cabin directly over Vista Lounge who demanded they "move" the band playing at night so she could sleep.  Another reason to research cabin location before you book.

And avoid guarantee cabins. 

[TRLD]

7 minutes ago, Kay S said:

This brings to mind the lady who had a cabin directly over Vista Lounge who demanded they "move" the band playing at night so she could sleep.  Another reason to research cabin location before you book.

When the Royal first came out we made the mistake of booking a forward cabin on C deck. Two decks above the theater and multiple decks below Lido, so one would think no problem. That is when we learned that there is a 2 deck high opening above the stage for scenery to be raised. Basically putting the cabin right above the stage. The music was as loud in the room as it was in the theater. It was when we also learned that the stage crew and musicians like to play music well into early morning.