californiagirl

Thank you all for the well wishes. I hope I get to take this cruise. My 86 yr old mother has rebound covid. She took paxlovid and seemed to be over it but yesterday about a week after finishing the paxlovid her covid was back. My 88 year old dad has not had any symptoms. They are both faxed and boosted twice. Today my sister in law looked as though she was having a stroke. It ended up being a TIA. Life is so unpredictable.

LOL! I emailed Jan Swartz and cc’d the others. They are all @ptincesscruises.com. Here are the email addresses: jswartz@princesscruises.com csteinke@… msiebaldi@… jpadgett@…

Since I don’t want to double post on this thread please see my thread Holy Cow! I’m in Shock. It is about the issues I’ve had following my cancelled Diamond cruise.

Since I have been very critical of Princess lately I think it’s only fair for me to share what happened today. For background I was booked on Diamond Princess sailing 9/6/22. This cruise was cancelled by Princess 8/8/22, less than a month prior to sailing. I scrambled to find a replacement cruise since I will be having surgery 10 days after returning. Because of that I could not do one of the later move over cruises. I rebooked an Alaska cruise at full solo price and had multiple problems moving my FCC and promised $100 OBC to the new cruise. It was a headache, and even more bitter because Princess was the one responsible for the cancellation. Two days ago I sent an email to several people at Princess. (Thank you to multiple people who provided email addresses.) In the email I stated that I didn’t not expect it to move past a staff member but if nothing else it was cathartic to express my frustration. Well, I just received a phone call from Princess. The representative stated that Princess verified everything I said in the email was accurate and apologized. She said my letter had been shared with several departments and she had been authorized to call me and to give me the following: -water bottle package -diet coke cans package -canapés in my stateroom -coffee “card” -wine tasting -spa credit -$100 excursion credit $700 refunded back to my original form of payment Needless to say I’m flabbergasted! I expressed that I genuinely did not expect a response let alone a phone call and all the things she was giving me. I thanked her for the acknowledgment and told her I thought what they were giving me was very generous and I really appreciated it. She also asked if there was anything I could add that I did not share in my email. I said I would only add that the phone wait times are terribly long unless you call just as the phone lines open. This goes a long way for me in remaining a Princess customer. Because of this I will be buying a future cruise credit onboard in a few days. I had decided not to.

To the original poster’s point regarding the refund of OBC. I agree wholeheartedly. That is no way to be treated after spending so much money over time with one company. Have you tried “live chat” on the Princess website? In recent months I have found that to be a MUCH better way to reconcile problems. Have your original booking number ready. Check all junk mail, the check may come in a nondescript envelope. (I shake my head at the fact that Princess still sends out checks rather than crediting the card on file at the end of the cruise.) Good luck!

Thoroughly enjoying this virtual cruise! Your trip report is getting me excited for my upcoming cruise. Thank you again! I received my medallion yesterday for my Alaska cruise on 9/4. I’m relieved since the word on CC is that in Seattle the line to board is 2 1/2 hours if you are not in the green lane with a medallion received at home.

I got my OBC…via Live Chat. It took 37 minutes. The person helping me said that he needed a supervisor’s approval but they were all in a meeting so we could disconnect and he would make sure it was completed. I said not acceptable, I’ve been down that road before without success. 2 minutes later the credit was in my account. I’m sure the supervisor just needed to put in an override code. By this point it was the principle not the money involved. I will never use my PVP again. He has been so ineffectual. I wish those of you who like yours could tell me their names. My fingers are crossed for those of you who have either not received your FCC or OBC. 😊

Still waiting for my OBC... My replacement cruise leaves a week from Sunday.

I think it's fair to say we all cruise for different reasons. I eat in the dining room and swim daily but I rarely attend any entertainment. I love cruising because I can sit on my balcony and watch the world go by as I read, go to bed and wake up in an entirely different place. One of my favorite times of a cruise is standing on my balcony as we pull up into port. I don't think anyone's reason is better than another's...just different. I agree that Princess currently has a black eye. When my Diamond cruise was cancelled less than a month prior to sailing we were given a paltry $100 OBC and a discount on a small group of cruises two months later. None of which fit my schedule. They should have offered the discount also on cruises scheduled to leave the same time period as the original cruise. Then I read GeoHerb's current live thread (great thread) where there was a flat tire on the bus of a ship sponsored excursion. They missed their excursion and when they returned to the ship they received their excursion money back and Princess gave them an ADDITIONAL $100 OBC for their inconvenience! They deserved the OBC but when you compare the inconvenience of a last minute cancellation BY PRINCESS and all the work that entails for the passenger and a missed excursion there is no comparison.

I’m so glad you are able to post pictures! Thoroughly enjoying your reports, thank you.

Thank you so much for answering my questions. My upcoming cruise is solo as well. I sleep late when my husband is not with me therefore my meals are later. I plan to eat dinner close to 8:00 so you’ve put my mind at ease. My cruise in February was a zoo at the dining room door. I hope your internet luck holds out too!

TooFew I'm glad that you are looking forward to your cruises and are pleased with the $100 onboard credit but some of the rest of us are not. I think it’s unfair to be critical of those of us who feel Princess should have done more…much sooner. To cancel fully paid cruises (mine included) less than a month prior to sailing over reasons that have been discussed on this board for months makes me think their letter was disingenuous. The crew shortage is not a last minute surprise to them. As to the $100 OBC, I think that they COULD have and SHOULD have done more for those of us who had to scramble at the last minute to find a replacement cruise or vacation for the same time period. If I had known even two weeks earlier I could have booked a land vacation for about the same price. But during those two weeks the prices went up substantially. Even in their current financial situation they should have done more. For customers who had made final payment there were additional ways to show goodwill such as giving a discount on cruises sailing during the same time period as our cancelled cruises. Many of those cabins would be sailing empty anyway. I think the amount of OBC was insulting and by the way after a phone call, email to my PVP and live chat I STILL DON’T HAVE IT! No OBC has been added to my replacement cruise in 2 weeks. As I’ve posted before, my husband and I are longtime Princess cruisers. The decline of Princess we are experiencing makes me profoundly sad. We have a cruise in February with FCC but after that we will think long and hard about booking another Princess cruise. We have lots of choices for travel. I think the decline can not be blamed solely on the pandemic. I think the change in leadership has more to do with it. The measure of a company is not only how they treat a customer in good times, but how they treat the same customers in difficult times. IMHO they get a fail on this one.

Forgot to ask, was there much of a line to get into the dining room last night? Thank you in advance for your response.

I’m impressed that you are able to post pictures! How has the internet been for you?

I sincerely hope you are able to post onboard Geoherb. I genuinely enjoy your “live from” trip reports. Have a wonderful time!

My apologies…you are correct! It was on Sun Princess in 2003 to Alaska. They couldn’t turn the lights down as it stayed light very late.

It is interesting that two ships from the same cruise line, sailing the same region have such different covid protocols! The crew on the ships must be given more autonomy toward protocols then one would think. A year ago I would have been appalled that passengers were serving themselves in the buffet but I’m ready to move back to normalcy. Even before covid I used hand sanitizer in the buffet before and after serving myself, before even touching my glass once at the table.

Update: my new cruise is now showing up in the medallion app, the old cruise is gone both from the regular princess website and the medallion app. I was able to order my medallion to be sent to my home. I’m glad it was on the app because the dining reservations I made yesterday were not listed on the app! I remade them, still crummy times but since I’m traveling solo hopefully I can switch them once onboard. I'm still missing the promised OBC. But in the broad scheme of things I’m looking forward to my cruise.

Thank you for your replies. I know the function worked when I joined back in 2001. Generally I’m only active on CC when I have a cruise booked. Even then I read more than I post.

I just tried to send another CC member a message. When I tapped on the icon to compose the message a window opened saying “ this function is disabled”. I rarely send private messages, it is just my account or is it disabled for everyone?

Update: after I posted a while ago I tried the online chat feature. She could do nothing from her end about the cruise showing up in the medallion app or in the ocean ready medallion class website. However while I was on with her, she moved the paid cruise amount over which made the new one paid in full. Within 3 minutes I received notification of an email from Princess. It was the statement of being paid in full. I then went to the ocean ready medallion website and like magic it was there! I was able to make my dining reservations (with terrible times). But at least I have them. It looks like I can do anything on the website that can be done in the app…except choose to have my medallion sent to my house. It repeatedly kicks me out when I tap enter. Still missing is the pitiful $100 OBC for Princess cancelling my cruise less than a month from sailing. I sent an email to my PVP. Hopefully this is not above his pay grade. (I’m NEVER using him again as he has been able to do very little.) I don’t know why he couldn’t do what the chat person did today. I realize I sound very negative but this whole process has been incredibly frustrating and irritating. I’m feeling better about the cruise though. It feels more real and I leave 3 weeks from today!

I’m happy for all of you who have had your cruise fare refunded or rolled over to upcoming cruises. I wish I could join in. For a variety of reasons I am unable to take a move over cruise later in the fall so I booked Discovery September 4 to Alaska. Not only has my original cruise fare (paid in full) not been credited to the new cruise but the new cruise does not show up in my medallion app! But hey, the original cruise is still there. 🙄 I can’t order my medallion or make dining room reservations. I have paid the additional portion not covered by the original cruise cost. I realize I can pick up my medallion at the port but judging by a recent Discovery review the lines are very long in Seattle if you are not in the green lane. (Sigh)

On September 4 Discovery…I received notice last night that we will go to Sitka. I’ve never been so I’m ok with it.

Thank you for your replies!

As a Diamond orphan yesterday I booked Discovery for the September 4 cruise. It looks like this cruise is pretty full. Anyone who has been on Discovery recently how was the buffet? Were all sections open? What about the dining room, was seating smooth or were there long lines? I appreciate any recent accounts.