Got A Surpise!

[Fishfindergirl]

Has anyone tried to down load there boarding passes and they told them they couldn't because you were not paid in full. What a shock! Called Princess they said yes you our not paid. I paid travel agent about 15 to 20 days ago.I sent him a bank check told me he got it. So I get to wait till in the morning to get ahold of him. I just hope they don't give away the room.:( The lady at Princess said there is a few days grace. It was due on Friday.

[JLC@SD]

Has anyone tried to down load there boarding passes and they told them they couldn't because you were not paid in full. What a shock! Called Princess they said yes you our not paid. I paid travel agent about 15 to 20 days ago.I sent him a bank check told me he got it. So I get to wait till in the morning to get ahold of him. I just hope they don't give away the room.:( The lady at Princess said there is a few days grace. It was due on Friday.

Checks take longer to clear than credit cards.

 

If you wrote your TRA a check........and your TA wrote Princess a check.......all of that can take 15 to 20 days.......for everyone to wait for the other's check to clear.

[Coral]

Actually - yes.

 

I was on the phone with a friend and she received that error. She had paid off her cruise months in advance (via credit card). In her case, it was a Princess error that resembled a tangled web. She is definitely glad she caught it quickly. And in her case, Princess screwed up.

[Fishfindergirl]

I thought that with a counter check from the bank there is no waiting. But princess didn't say they are waiting they said they haven't gotten anything.

[lovebug33]

That's awful! Good luck!

[sjbdtz]

I thought that with a counter check from the bank there is no waiting. But princess didn't say they are waiting they said they haven't gotten anything.

 

A "counter" cheque is simply one that you received at the counter (as opposed to in a booklet of 200, when you opened your account).

 

A "certified" cheque guarantees the funds (it actually removes the funds from your account, and the cheque "becomes" the money.

 

However, if your TA didn't write a certified cheque, then it doesn't matter that you did.

 

Good luck.

[Giorgi-one]

Not criticizing, but why would anyone use a check? If you use a credit card, the card is charged directly to the cruise line. Not only is it quick, but you are totally protected by the credit card company if either the TA or cruise line go bankrupt.

[LARGIN]

Not criticizing, but why would anyone use a check? If you use a credit card, the card is charged directly to the cruise line. Not only is it quick, but you are totally protected by the credit card company if either the TA or cruise line go bankrupt.

 

Good point.. Was thinking the same thing..

[willysgrandma]

When you got the check, was it payable to your travel agent or Princess?

 

How the check is made out can cause delay - if it's payable to the TA, the TA has to deposit it, wait for it to clear and send an agency check to Princess.

 

If it was payable directly to Princess, the TA should simply have overnighted it to Princess and it shouldn't have taken that long.

 

We always advise clients to pay with a credit card. If you would have used a credit card and there is a problem with your trip, you would have some recourse through your credit card company.

[Fishfindergirl]

It was a certified check.

 

Sent check to accounting because agent was in Europe for two weeks. So they could take care of it while he was gone. That is what the person answering the phone suggested I do.

 

E-mailed agent and he e-mailed back he would check with acccounting. We booked B2B but that one was a last min. idea after he was back gave him permission to use our card guess what that one has't been paid either.

[DrivesLikeMario]

This is a perfect example of why not to write checks to pay off cruises! It really can take forever to have a check applied to your booking.

 

NEVER write a blank check and send it through the mail. That's inviting all kinds of problems.

 

Pay with a credit card; then there's a trail that can be followed and held accountable if a problem arises.

 

If it bothers you to charge things, make the charge then do what I do - go right to your credit card company's website and have the money transferred out of your checking account onto the credit card to pay the balance off. Then you have no balance remaining on your credit card, yet you've got the security of using it AND reward points if you have that with your card too. ;)

[Fishfindergirl]

It was a certified check.

 

It was what the office said we could do because our agent was in Europe for two weeks and accounting could take care of it while he was gone.

 

After he came back we called made sure they had got it and he said yes and we went ahead and did a B2B but finally payment time was already due so we gave him permission to use are card and he hasn't paid that one yet either.

He e-mailed me and said he would check with accounting to see if they sent a check. He would get to the other one sometime this week. I really liked this guy but this is worring me.

[donna5]

This is a perfect example of why not to write checks to pay off cruises! It really can take forever to have a check applied to your booking.

 

NEVER write a blank check and send it through the mail. That's inviting all kinds of problems.

 

Pay with a credit card; then there's a trail that can be followed and held accountable if a problem arises.

 

If it bothers you to charge things, make the charge then do what I do - go right to your credit card company's website and have the money transferred out of your checking account onto the credit card to pay the balance off. Then you have no balance remaining on your credit card, yet you've got the security of using it AND reward points if you have that with your card too. ;)

 

Wake-up:o BANK check not BLANK check!!! Maybe another cup of coffee, huh?

[JLC@SD]

It was a certified check.

 

It was what the office said we could do because our agent was in Europe for two weeks and accounting could take care of it while he was gone.

 

After he came back we called made sure they had got it and he said yes and we went ahead and did a B2B but finally payment time was already due so we gave him permission to use are card and he hasn't paid that one yet either.

He e-mailed me and said he would check with accounting to see if they sent a check. He would get to the other one sometime this week. I really liked this guy but this is worring me.

Fishfindergirl.........any word yet as to what happened.........hopefully it is getting straightened out.....:)

[Fishfindergirl]

Yes agent called said accounting error. Don't worry he said they do lots of buisness with princess they won't drop my bookings.(hope he is right.) I am still showing a booking on Princess web site. My agent said he would let me know when they have it all taken care of so I can down load boarding passes. Thanks

[Fishfindergirl]

Yes agent called said accounting error. Don't worry he said they do lots of buisness with princess they won't drop my bookings.(hope he is right.) I am still showing a booking on Princess web site. My agent said he would let me know when they have it all taken care of so I can down load boarding passes. Thanks

[meisha]

This same type of thing happened to my cousin and her husband. The 4 of us

have been booked for the Crown on Nov 25, 2006. I received my pre-cruise documents. My cousin waited about 4 or 5 days because she thought they would arrive any day. Finally, she called Princess to check when they were mailed to the agent. THEY SAID THE BOOKING HAD BEEN CANCELLED FOR LACK OF PAYMENT. My cousin's husband had sent a check to the agent for final payment approx 1 1/2 weeks before it was due. The agent or Princess

dropped the ball somewhere along the line (we will never know for sure).

 

My cousin and myself both called the owner of the agency and Princess to check this out. After several hours the owner of the agency said they got them another cabin a few doors down from us. They lost their shore excursion

bookings, and are now waitlisted at #85 for early dining. They did re-book the excursions but we, the 4 of us, had to change some of the times because they were no longer available.

 

The agency says they took care of the dining problem but that is not what the cruise personalizer reflects. We will have to wait until we board to know for sure. By then we are of course in San Juan and the agency will not be able to do anything further.

 

Princess told me that the AGENCY has to cut them a check, AGENCY says Princess screwed up. Personally, I think it was the agency. Since we were booked together and I received pre-cruise documents and my cousin didn't they should have checked immediately.

 

They are currently waiting to receive luggage tags that were with the pre-cruise docs that they never received.

 

What a mess! Hope everything turns out ok for your cruise.

[Fishfindergirl]

First Meisha: that is terrible Hope that you guys have a great trip anyway.

 

Second: All is finally right. Got to download my boarding passes tonight. YEAH! :D

[willysgrandma]

My cousin's husband had sent a check to the agent for final payment approx 1 1/2 weeks before it was due.

 

That is not enough time. The agency has to send their own check to Princess when you do it this way, which means the agency has to deposit your check, wait for it to clear and then mail an agency check to Princess. You need to send a check at least 3 weeks before your final payment is due to ensure it is received on time at the cruise line.

 

NEVER use a check to pay for travel - you are always safer using a credit card. It is faster and you have some recourse if there is a rpoblem.

[mom2tcdx2]

All bookings I have made had to have a credit card and that was automatically billed on the final payment date with no problems etc. On mine I called the travel agent every so often to make early payments to pay the balance down, held on phone while they called Princess and processed the payments. All credit card charges appeared on my statement directly from Princess, never the travel agency. Never had the option to use a check instead. But I did read I thought if you did a check I always assumed it was made out to the cruise line and a certified check had to be sent, never a personal check.

[Pam in CA]

Meisha... I'm sorry that happened but as has been said, it's not the agency's fault if a check was sent instead of giving them a credit card #. It takes time for the check to arrive and then clear. The TA isn't a bank and most won't front the money before the check clears. They'd have been better off using the CC# and sending the check to the CC company.

[meisha]

I don't know why they sent a check but hopefully a lesson was learned.

They are still waiting for luggage tags. I'm sure we will have a great cruise.

 

We have about 5 inches of snow on the ground here..... and it's still coming down pretty hard. what's the temp in San Juan?....it certainly isn't 34 degrees. Can't wait!!

[Charliesmom]

I'm glad things worked out for you.

 

I think you got some good advice here:

 

Even if you have the money to pay for your cruise, always use a credit card. Then pay off the credit card when the bill comes. There are many reasons to use a credit card:

 

1. You are protected against bankruptcy (my daughter bought theatre tickets and the theatre company went broke - the CC company gave her her money back).

 

2. Many credit cards have special perks like rebates or airline miles.

 

3. American Express Platinum card (cost $395 a year) gets you a shipboard credit of $300 per mini-suite or suite and a 2-category upgrade if not a mini-suite or suite, plus several other perks.

 

4. There is record of transactions - as to who got the money and when.

 

 

Roberta

[merrilyanne]

Why use a cheque instead of a credit card?

Because you can't trust Princess with all of their mistakes.

Because you can write a cheque for a certain amount, whereas with a credit card you can't control what they charge you.

I used a credit card and Princess ended up charging me double, and I have no recourse, as I gave them my credit card number, and it is their word against mine, regarding what price I was quoted.

Also, on another cruise, Princess charged me 1.50 on the exchange rate when I got my charge card bill, but 3 Princess agents (including a manager) had told me the exchange rate was only 1.25.

And,,,,,,,,,,,last but not least, Princess gave away my cabin, not just once, but twice, after I had paid in full, then they tried to charge me for an upgrade, as that was the only deck they had cabins left on.

Sheesh.

A couple of travel agents I know try to steer customers to other cruise lines because they said Princess always screws up the bookings.