Whoops. Emerald Greenland deals revoked.

[dog]

18 hours ago, walkingsoon said:

Emerald Princess - Voyage E421

May 3, 2024

"Dear Princess Guest:

Earlier this week an inadvertent error resulted in an incorrect offer for Emerald Princess voyage E421, which allowed you to book a sailing with us for no cruise fare cost.

Please accept our sincerest apologies for this mistake.

In recognition of our error, we will honor the price you have already paid and apply it to an interior stateroom. Should you prefer the original stateroom type, you may purchase an upgrade at a specially-reduced rate. Be sure to act soon as this offer expires May 6, 2024. Please be aware that if you cancel your voyage after that date, the $200 per-person deposit you paid upon booking becomes non-refundable.

In further recognition of the inconvenience, we will convert your original $200 deposit into an onboard credit (non-refundable). You can use this credit for purchases in our bars, boutiques, or photo gallery, as well as for dining, spa treatments, and shore excursions.

To manage your booking
Please call us at 1-800-774-6237 for assistance with your reservation and all related arrangements.

We appreciate your patience and understanding, and look forward to your sailing with us.

Best regards,

Jen Wright
Vice President, Contact Center Operations
Princess Cruises"

 

At least they're sincerely apologetic.

Call 1-800-   
jen wright by email got quick results 

[hpeabody]

36 minutes ago, memoak said:

I do nit understand why people call the 800 number.  Why doesn’t everyone have a CVP or TA ?  They will have much more information than any call center

 

Regarding using a TA in this debacle, It has to do with who has the rights to the specific booking.  If the $0 booking was made on line (as mine)  my TA can not help and gets nothing if it were to be turned over to her. So I never did.  But, yesterday when I was dealing with Princess on chat my TA was right beside me via email the whole time. Oh, and it was 9-10 pm at night.   How's that for a great TA.  This is just my experience YMMV.  I have never had a CVP, so I can't comment about how that might work.

[PescadoAmarillo]

I’m confused by this entire thing. Didn’t Princess make an announcement last year that their roll out pricing was going to be their best pricing, period, and that prices would only go up after that? Did I imagine that?  Because we still see periodic promotions and certainly last minute sales just prior to sailing. 

[Lyndonn]

5 hours ago, Host CJSKIDS said:

 Did you receive an email offer from Princess with this deal as "bait" or was it from reading on line? If you booked it because you read about it in here and not from a direct offer from Princess, then there isn't any bait and switch. 
 

We all knew we were taking the chance when deciding whether or not to book. The terms for Princess are clear that if a mistake like this is made, it does not have to be honored. 
 

I feel that Princess is being fair is allowing the booking to remain but with an inside. Nothing had to be offered and it could have just been a straight cancellation. 
 

Many who booked discussed hoping it would be honored. The words too good to be true were on here. I had a cabin set aside and all I had to do was hit the last button to book but realized it would be canceled. As exciting as it was to think I could have such a great deal and I have had some decent casino deals on the past, I knew that this was too good to be true and decided not to gamble. 
 

Sorry for all of those who are very disappointed. 

I saw the Casino offer for the Emerald upon signing into my Princess Cruises account and that’s when I booked the cruise online at their website.  As I mentioned earlier, we have received free casino cruise offers in the past…so, I thought it was a valid offer.  All the boxes were checked for us …so, we booked the cruise.  I had no knowledge of the CC conversations until after I had booked.
 

 

[Lyndonn]

2 hours ago, pkster said:

 

Has anybody received the upgrade pricing options for the August 2024 Greenland cruise?

 

 

48 minutes ago, memoak said:

I do nit understand why people call the 800 number.  Why doesn’t everyone have a CVP or TA ?  They will have much more information than any call center

Since the cruise was a Casino offer at 0 there is no interest for a TA to book or take  over the booking from Princess for someone.  

[villageidit]

3 minutes ago, Lyndonn said:

I saw the Casino offer for the Emerald upon signing into my Princess Cruises account and that’s when I booked the cruise online at their website.  As I mentioned earlier, we have received free casino cruise offers in the past…so, I thought it was a valid offer.  All the boxes were checked for us …so, we booked the cruise.  I had no knowledge of the CC conversations until after I had booked.
 

 

I didn't find any of these threads until after I booked and joined the roll call for the Emerald cruise.

[telecheck]

4 minutes ago, Lyndonn said:

I saw the Casino offer for the Emerald upon signing into my Princess Cruises account and that’s when I booked the cruise online at their website.  As I mentioned earlier, we have received free casino cruise offers in the past…so, I thought it was a valid offer.  All the boxes were checked for us …so, we booked the cruise.  I had no knowledge of the CC conversations until after I had booked.
 

 

 

True, I frequently receive comped or heavily discounted cruises also. For instance, today, upon signing into my Princess account, I noticed the $99 16-day Iceland/Greenland and $49 Alaska with Glacier Bay cruises. Are these deals too good to be true? I'm starting to doubt because I can't determine if they're legitimate or just a system glitch. There's no indication that they're casino deals either. While I'm tempted by the Iceland/Greenland cruise, I'm hesitant to book it now. I don't want to receive an email days later claiming it was an error, making it a hassle to cancel. When I booked the Barcelona cruise last Wednesday, I even called Princess, and they confirmed my booking was valid. We all know what happened afterward.

 

 

[TheMichael]

25 minutes ago, telecheck said:

 

True, I frequently receive comped or heavily discounted cruises also. For instance, today, upon signing into my Princess account, I noticed the $99 16-day Iceland/Greenland and $49 Alaska with Glacier Bay cruises. Are these deals too good to be true? I'm starting to doubt because I can't determine if they're legitimate or just a system glitch. There's no indication that they're casino deals either. While I'm tempted by the Iceland/Greenland cruise, I'm hesitant to book it now. I don't want to receive an email days later claiming it was an error, making it a hassle to cancel. When I booked the Barcelona cruise last Wednesday, I even called Princess, and they confirmed my booking was valid. We all know what happened afterward.

 

 

 

The positive is, if you book and it turns out to be an error, in the end the worst that can happen is they let you know, then you contact them and get your deposit back.

 

To me that's an incredibly reasonable gamble.

[cruisinsince75]

41 minutes ago, telecheck said:

 

True, I frequently receive comped or heavily discounted cruises also. For instance, today, upon signing into my Princess account, I noticed the $99 16-day Iceland/Greenland and $49 Alaska with Glacier Bay cruises. Are these deals too good to be true? I'm starting to doubt because I can't determine if they're legitimate or just a system glitch. There's no indication that they're casino deals either. While I'm tempted by the Iceland/Greenland cruise, I'm hesitant to book it now. I don't want to receive an email days later claiming it was an error, making it a hassle to cancel. When I booked the Barcelona cruise last Wednesday, I even called Princess, and they confirmed my booking was valid. We all know what happened afterward.

 

 

I'm not seeing those when I log in.  Worst that can happen is find out it was a mistake and they refund you the deposit.

[telecheck]

21 minutes ago, TheMichael said:

 

The positive is, if you book and it turns out to be an error, in the end the worst that can happen is they let you know, then you contact them and get your deposit back.

 

To me that's an incredibly reasonable gamble.

 

I tried to remain optimistic, but my confidence in this company has dwindled significantly. A few months ago, my friend, who had been comped an unobstructed balcony, was bumped to an obstructed balcony on the Emerald deck. He only found out upon reaching the pier and was suddenly notified of the change. The decision was apparently made by the corporate office, and he was left with no option but to sail or lose his deposit. Additionally, I've heard stories of people who believed they were comped the premier package from the casino, only to have the package rescinded later, with the company claiming it was a glitch.

[memoak]

1 hour ago, Lyndonn said:

 

Since the cruise was a Casino offer at 0 there is no interest for a TA to book or take  over the booking from Princess for someone.  

My CVP does all my casino bookings even bounce back offers 

[cruisinsince75]

57 minutes ago, villageidit said:

I didn't find any of these threads until after I booked and joined the roll call for the Emerald cruise.

We were booked on Celebrity on a TA crossing years back.  The way I found out there was a problem was on the Roll Call.  We all posted our stateroom #'s on the roll call and someone posted the same exact cabin # as us. 😮 We were originally booked on a 7 night Caribbean cruise, but the ships schedule changed and was to leave Barcelona now on the same day our cruise was to begin.  They offered our deposit back, or keep the booking and take the 14 day crossing for what we paid for the 7 day Caribbean.  Then they offered the folks that were originally  booked on the TA for two weeks earlier, a refund or, transfer to the new one with an OBC and a future cruise credit.  What a mess.  We were refunded our deposit and given a future cruise credit that we never got to use.  

[Cruise Raider]

2 hours ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

I’m confused by this entire thing. Didn’t Princess make an announcement last year that their roll out pricing was going to be their best pricing, period, and that prices would only go up after that? Did I imagine that?  Because we still see periodic promotions and certainly last minute sales just prior to sailing. 

No, you were not imagining that!  We all read the same thing but I believe that pricing strategy quickly died.  I would imagine that many people book early to secure the room they want but once they heard the pricing would not get better than what was being offered, they may have stopped booking early.  
Princess was forced to claw that statement back .. never formally, but in practice, that’s what I’ve seen. 

I was annoyed a month or two back when I had an offer and they clawed it back.  It wasn’t a system glitch, like described in this thread but I was just shown that it was offered, even got my bookings and they took off all the OBC showing on my invoices.  I got it all put back on my bookings but it made me question my loyalty .. for just a short time, though.  Princess checks all the boxes in what we expect out of cruising, so all has been pretty much forgiven.  


 

[TheMichael]

2 hours ago, telecheck said:

I tried to remain optimistic, but my confidence in this company has dwindled significantly. A few months ago, my friend, who had been comped an unobstructed balcony, was bumped to an obstructed balcony on the Emerald deck. He only found out upon reaching the pier and was suddenly notified of the change. The decision was apparently made by the corporate office, and he was left with no option but to sail or lose his deposit. Additionally, I've heard stories of people who believed they were comped the premier package from the casino, only to have the package rescinded later, with the company claiming it was a glitch.

Comped balcony vs. comped obstructed balcony is not exactly a cruise-ruining difference, and if you think that’s bad, you should see how other lines move passengers around. 
 

As I said, taking a comp offer has virtually no downside if it turns out to have been in error. That point still stands. 
 

Anyone who gambles should understand the concept of +EV. And EV applies to pretty much every aspect of life. An “error offer” is the definition of +EV. 
 

Edited May 4 by TheMichael

[PescadoAmarillo]

2 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

No, you were not imagining that!  We all read the same thing but I believe that pricing strategy quickly died.

Gosh, I couldn’t have seen that coming. 
 

😆

[dog]

7 hours ago, villageidit said:

I didn't find any of these threads until after I booked and joined the roll call for the Emerald cruise.

Thanks for sharing.

Atleast others were seeing the offers besides my OMg thread!

[MsSoCalCruiser]

On 5/3/2024 at 9:18 PM, treesah said:

I saw that and I assumed it was a computer glitch.  Is it ethical to book a "0" fare knowing well that it's a mistake?  Very few things in life are free and certainly cruising is not.

I have received and booked an offer exactly like the one we booked for Greenland. I did not think it was an error. How would anyone know that it was a mistake.

[dog]

Hoping we can just skip over the suggestions that we should have known better.

I have had several excellent casino discounts show up during my online booking process. I went on All of those cruises.  I had no idea that the website was not functioning properly.

 

[MsSoCalCruiser]

On 5/3/2024 at 11:14 PM, dog said:

This is happening too frequently with Princess cruises.

The email does say there is a cancellation fee. Some say they will have it waived.

Yes, it was too good to be true, but some cc members are getting casino comps frequently.  No where on my booking receipt, travel summary did it mention casino. 
I am truly sorry for sharing the offer info.

 

Don’t be sorry. You did it out of the kindness of your heart and we thank you. 

[MsSoCalCruiser]

5 hours ago, TheMichael said:

 

Anyone who gambles should understand the concept of +EV. And EV applies to pretty much every aspect of life. An “error offer” is the definition of +EV. 
 

Am I the only one that doesn’t understand a single word of what I just read? 

[telecheck]

37 minutes ago, MsSoCalCruiser said:

I have received and booked an offer exactly like the one we booked for Greenland. I did not think it was an error. How would anyone know that it was a mistake.

 

Yes, the Boston to Greenland cruise had been listed for $99 on my Princess account for quite some time. $0 is not far off from $99, so I assumed it was a legitimate price.

 

Regarding the Barcelona cruise, it was not unreasonable for them to offer it as a comped cruise for their loyal customers. After all, the Sun Princess' inauguration was a PR disaster, and the delayed Star Princess added insult to injury by canceling its first few cruises. Given this history, it is understandable that Princess might want to try something different this time. Perhaps they are aiming for a soft opening for the first one or two sailings, so in case things are not ready, customers will not be as upset, especially since they are comped and may be more accepting of any deficiencies. Additionally, they may be trying to attract customers who might continue the journey on the next TA sailing as these itineraries typically do not sell well. Compensating for the first leg could significantly boost sales for the second leg of the TA.

[dog]

1 hour ago, telecheck said:

 

Yes, the Boston to Greenland cruise had been listed for $99 on my Princess account for quite some time. $0 is not far off from $99, so I assumed it was a legitimate price.

 

Regarding the Barcelona cruise, it was not unreasonable for them to offer it as a comped cruise for their loyal customers. After all, the Sun Princess' inauguration was a PR disaster, and the delayed Star Princess added insult to injury by canceling its first few cruises. Given this history, it is understandable that Princess might want to try something different this time. Perhaps they are aiming for a soft opening for the first one or two sailings, so in case things are not ready, customers will not be as upset, especially since they are comped and may be more accepting of any deficiencies. Additionally, they may be trying to attract customers who might continue the journey on the next TA sailing as these itineraries typically do not sell well. Compensating for the first leg could significantly boost sales for the second leg of the TA.

Absolutely spot on.

I am done on this topic.

dog.   gone

[ProfMHC]

5 hours ago, telecheck said:

 

Yes, the Boston to Greenland cruise had been listed for $99 on my Princess account for quite some time. $0 is not far off from $99, so I assumed it was a legitimate price.

 

Regarding the Barcelona cruise, it was not unreasonable for them to offer it as a comped cruise for their loyal customers. After all, the Sun Princess' inauguration was a PR disaster, and the delayed Star Princess added insult to injury by canceling its first few cruises. Given this history, it is understandable that Princess might want to try something different this time. Perhaps they are aiming for a soft opening for the first one or two sailings, so in case things are not ready, customers will not be as upset, especially since they are comped and may be more accepting of any deficiencies. Additionally, they may be trying to attract customers who might continue the journey on the next TA sailing as these itineraries typically do not sell well. Compensating for the first leg could significantly boost sales for the second leg of the TA.

You shared a thought process identical to mine! That’s why I played the should I/ should I not game for a bit. Finally decided that it could be a soft opening and attract loyal Captain’s Circle folks to give positive feedback on media sources.

[insidecabin]

One thing I learned about any suspicious miss price is NEVER post on any social media call a TA or the cruise line if you can book on line.

Alerting the cruise line is the fast route to cancellation

(Same applies to anything the systems alert to unusual booking levels)

 

Few years back there was a solo suite misprice on the UK site, looked like a decimal point issue result 90% reduced.

 

It was available on line for 6 weeks before it got changed.

I was surprised they did not sell out.

 

Maybe not many check solo rates for suites

 

I passed on the find to a few other people 

 

Everyone got their booking honoured.

 

 

 

 

 

[pompeii]

37 minutes ago, insidecabin said:

One thing I learned about any suspicious miss price is NEVER post on any social media call a TA or the cruise line if you can book on line.

Alerting the cruise line is the fast route to cancellation

(Same applies to anything the systems alert to unusual booking levels)

 

Few years back there was a solo suite misprice on the UK site, looked like a decimal point issue result 90% reduced.

 

It was available on line for 6 weeks before it got changed.

I was surprised they did not sell out.

 

Maybe not many check solo rates for suites

 

I passed on the find to a few other people 

 

Everyone got their booking honoured.

 

 

 

 

 

We had the exact same thing happen in 2015 when the Regal was still new.  A full suite on their 23 day fall TA was offered for $1,089 instead of $10,890.  As comparison, interiors on that cruise were starting around $3900.  I have no idea how long it was advertised like that or how many people grabbed the fare.  We booked it quite a few months in advance and Princess never tried to correct or rescind our fare.  The trip was great and went off without a hitch. 

 

We spoke with Princess customer service several times leading up to the cruise for various reasons (that was in the good old days when customer service was worth calling) but no one ever batted an eye at the fare.  We didn't mention the fare beforehand on social media or even while we were on the ship to fellow passengers, because I had a picture in my head of management finding out and security pounding on my stateroom door demanding that we pay up or else!