Megabear2

I have now spoken with my card company and the charge is being reversed. Thank you for the suggestion. I can also confirm that my family and the UK insurance team have persuaded Princess to take the funds from the correct card, i.e. the one they held on behalf of my aunt. Unfortunately the missing insurance documents and GHIC card have still to be located.

Correct. European chip and pin cards require secondary authorisation by typing in a code sent to a registered mobile telephone number. As the card was my aunt's the code was correctly sent to her telephone which was in the ambulance with her. I am aware Australia also uses this secondary authorisation.

To be picky I am actually only related to my aunt by marriage. She is my husband's relative being married to his uncle. We also live 150 miles from each other and I was actually travelling with her at one week's notice due to her friend who was scheduled to travel with her deciding he did not want to travel. In fact his trip was not cancelled and Princess had full payment for three solo travellers rather than the two who did travel. I am just thankful it was not my aunt and her 81 year old friend alone on this trip. At least I'm a relatively healthy 66 year old who understands technology and can generally look after myself. I dread to think what would have happened if they were alone.

Just an update for anyone interested. My aunt has not changed condition but she is now on an intensive care ward rather than a "floating bed" - I took this to be some sort of trolley. She is being considered for a move to a specialist cardiac centre if she remains stable.

I have now read what to me are overnight posts and for clarity would like to say: 1. I was not suggesting the bill would not/could not be paid. The card on file with Princess has a £20,000 limit - it was a standard UK issued chip and pin credit card not a debit card as some appear to believe. It was issued by Visa from a leading UK bank. Checking yesterday after my brother in law activated his power of attorney Princess had already settled my aunt's onboard account in the princely sum of US$176.89 so they were able to take payments from it as required. 2. I had a separate American Express card in my name with a credit limit of £18,000. Again this was on file with Princess and they had also settled my slightly higher account of US$316.00. 3. It is a term of contract in the UK for passengers to have mandatory travel insurance to be allowed to sail on any cruise ship. The minimum medical cover required is £2,000,000. My aunt's policy of insurance covers medical expenses up to £15,000,000. Again any expenses onboard would be fully covered, we were not sailing with no facility to pay as some seem to think was the case. 4. There is a legal agreement on medical cover for UK citizens travelling in Europe and Australia for reciprocal medical emergency cover. This is called the GHIC and covers 70% of emergency medical care and is paid for by the UK government to the Italian one in this instance. Therefore once ashore in a medical emergency the costs of medical aid cease to be a problem to worry about. 5. It was not me expecting to be allowed in the hospital to accompany my aunt. I am fully aware of worldwide covid restrictions on visitors to hospitals and the requirements for patients to be unattended. It was Princess who were pushing me to go to the hospital despite my asking them to clarify the situation before me leaving the port. I expected them to at least know local rules rather than trying to force me into a blind alley which would have left me alone on the pavement outside the hospital with nowhere to go and only minimal cash in my pocket, I had €40 in cash together with several hundred US$ and the same Pounds sterling. It should be remembered it was a Saturday and all banks were closed until 9.00am Monday morning. 6. It should also be remembered I was in a non English speaking country and I do not speak Italian. Princess had a shoreside team who were Italian and therefore could speak the local language. I had expected, wrongly, that they would have a person as a liaison between me and the hospital to keep me up to date with the situation. 7. I was given the name and telephone numbers for a Princess representative who was to be my liaison ashore. He failed to show. After waiting for nearly 2 hours for this person to appear calls were made and I was promised a replacement liaison, he too failed to appear. 8. It was not that I would not pay the Princess bill, more that I wanted them to take it from the card in my aunt's name which they were holding. This was to preserve my own credit card funds for use by me ashore for hotel, sustenance and travel costs within the Rome area. I am aware UK travel insurance does not accept immediate liability for claims, often taking 48 hours or so to authorise and accept them even in a dire emergency. By taking the money from me rather than my aunt Princess would substantially reduce my available funds which I required to ensure my comfort and safety. 9. On disembarkation I was given a "Family Support" telephone number in Southampton, UK. On calling this I was told they could do nothing and to be frank the provision of this line of support was about as much use as a chocolate teapot! 10. I did not wait for the luggage deliberately and just wanted to leave. Princess would not allow me to go until it was located. They also stated it would return to the ship. It did not, I have subsequently learned it was taken to the hospital. All paperwork and GHIC were handed to Princess' shoreside supervisor with instructions it was needed urgently at the hospital to facilitate acceptance of liability. Unfortunately that bag has also now been mislaid and as a consequence the family in UK are currently meeting the medical Bill's until it is located. I hope this clarifies the situation for those who think this is merely about the bill payment. It is not. My distress is the total lack of Princess being willing to fulfil their obligations to offer me a duty of care or the promised help and assistance. Thank you.

Thank you for your unkind comment. My aunt was not awake and was in total heart failure. You really expect that I should have gone back to the medical centre and interrupted the team of four medical professionals working to keep her alive? I repeat Princess were given a credit card in the name of my aunt with ample funds to cover any expenditure and could have simply requested the money from the card company via the normal channels. The problem was that the payment of their bill was more important to them than allowing me to go to be with my aunt. However I have no wish to get dragged into a fruitless argument about the rights and wrongs of bill payment by me or anyone else. I was seeking opinions as to whether the lack of support from Princess to people in a medical emergency was normal or correct when I posted this. Princess are a US company whereas I am British. I have no idea of the workings and behaviours of the former, all I can say is that my experience of being unaided and left alone in a foreign non English speaking country would not be an acceptable in the UK. Certainly my aunt's and my well being would have come before any financial matters. To all those other kind people who have expressed sympathy and support, I thank you.

Thank you. I have now emailed both with the text of my original post plus a little more information. I will wait with interest if anyone reacts!

Indeed you are correct money and bags are not important. What is is that an 83 year old lady is in hospital alone with no one from her family nearby, without her hearing aid or glasses if she wakes up and no one from Princess offering help or support anywhere. The insurance company does now have a representative dealing with the financial side once medical history has been confirmed but they are in London. God forbid the worst happens as flights from the UK are very hard to purchase at present. My anger is directed that I was on site and Princess discarded me.

Excuse my ignorance but I am unfamiliar with Princess this being my first cruise with them, I assume these people are important and would be grateful for any email addresses anyone can offer. Thank you.

UK residents are entitled to 70% of emergency treatment under our GHIC card, the rest being payable. This money is actually claimed from the UK government and the remaining 30% is payable either by the individual or their insurance. It is necessary to show the card at the hospital to trigger this. Unfortunately Princess have mislaid the handbag containing my aunt's card so the family is currently liable for her bills ashore as well as those claimed by Princess.

Princess have indeed charged my card. I haven't thought to challenge the payment as no one is denying there is money due. I will discuss this tomorrow, thank you for the suggestion.

I assume you have experience? The problem I have is that I was not on the same booking as my aunt, had my own independent credit card registered and therefore could not be held liable for her bills, medical or otherwise. I was in a different cabin as an independent traveller. I was only accompanying her as her original travelling companion dropped out a week before departure.

Thank you for your concern. Unfortunately my aunt is in a critical condition and we were told to expect the worst. She is thankfully hanging in there at present so we are praying for a miracle.

You are correct. I did not want my experience to be used in the general cruisers section as I considered what was/is happening as something very personal that i wanted to let off steam about amongst a group i have grown to know and trust over a period of time. I have now posted my experience on the Princess forum as after due consideration believe it is important enough to seek other opinions on.

This is the story of my experience with Princess on Saturday 9 July. It is tale of woe, misinformation and confusion. I have been on Regal Princess with my 83 year old aunt sailing Barcelona to Rome. It has been a pleasant experience but unfortunately at 4.00am Italian time Saturday it came crashing down spectacularly. My aunt rang me to say she was having trouble breathing. On arrival at her cabin she was highly distressed and very unwell. A call to the medical centre resulted in a wheelchair to take her to deck 4 medical centre. I was not allowed to accompany her but after 20 minutes received a call to go down. On arrival I was informed my aunt's lungs were full of fluid and her oxygen levels so low we were lucky to have gotten her down so quickly as the risk of losing her was very high. Various tests were ongoing to stabilise her and on docking in Rome she would be transferred to hospital. All seemed under control and I tried to call her insurance company Good to Go which had been purchased through Paying Too Much price comparison site. From here it was downhill all the way. The emergency number did not answer, rang out and cut off. This continued for 50 minutes. Eventually the doctor took the documentation away to the back office on deck 5 to notify the situation. During this call she ascertained that as the companion I would be looked after by them. This later proved to be incorrect but more on that later. At 7.00am several medics arrived to transport my aunt in the ambulance to hospital. I was told I could not go with her but had to wait for the luggage to be disembarked. I was then presented with a folder of documents and a bill for US$4,700. I was informed I had to pay the latter or I would not be able to leave the ship. I had my aunt's registered credit card with me but was informed I needed the pin as they would not do the transaction in the normal fashion but it would have to be direct. The card, of course, would not allow the payment despite my having the pin. My aunt had her telephone in the ambulance so no way to get an authorisation code from it. At this point the argument ensued. Payment was demanded from me and I refused for two reasons. 1. I am not the insured or her carer so reclaiming the money would be nigh on impossible- this was acknowledged by Princess, and 2. The insurance company was already speaking with Princess so I hoped the provision of their details would offer comfort. It did not I was roundly given a verbal barrage of the evils that travelling with a massive line of credit was my own fault. As it happens there was plenty of money available and Princess has now collected in excess of £4,000 overnight via a cabin charge. On the day however, having demanded payment Princess would not budge. After 30 minutes of arguing and the status quo continuing a superior appeared and stated for the moment he would waive the on the spot demand and I was free to return to the medical centre. By this time the ambulance had long left the port with my aunt and I had not seen her so she was on her own. At this point another man appeared telling me there was a problem with the luggage. He informed me mine had been located but not my aunt's. This seemed impossible but he asked me to accompany him to the shed where the luggage was. On doing this I was asked to walk around looking for the bag which although not rare is quite distinctive as Princess had torn it on the inward trip. After walking around it became clear it was not there. A ground side supervisor appeared and stated all offloaded passengers luggage was separate. I was then taken behind a screen to an area containing around 50-60 suitcases all with plastic wrap and special labels. I recognised them immediately as covid victims luggage! I informed the lady my aunt was not a covid victim but had in fact suffered a suspected heart attack. I was actually quite shocked by the number of cases in this area as no one had indicated extra precautions might be required onboard. It was now well over an hour since my aunt left the ship for hospital and I insisted on returning to the medical centre for an update on her condition. On arrival I found that my own case had found it's way there leaving me with two hand luggage sized cases, a handbag and my large case. I was directed to sit and wait for the remaining case to be found. I asked if someone would assist me with moving the luggage outside of the medical centre and someone reluctantly called to check availability. By this time I was very anxious for news on the medical situation but no one had any. The doctor appeared and gave me a piece of paper with the name of the hospital written on it. I was however told I could not leave at this point as the bill was being discussed at higher levels and the case still needed finding. I did as instructed and sat down. It was now approaching 9.00 am and the telephone started to ring. Overhearing the conversations I learned that the covid "prisoners" were awaiting visits for testing and had received no breakfast or contact since 8.00pm the night before (the room service was not running as it was changeover day) and had not been told what was happening to them regarding our arrival in Italy. Some of these calls were from clearly distressed people. Listening I learned they were to be left until 10.00am when they would be removed to quarantine hotels ashore. The length of stay in the hotel was being confirmed as a minimum 7 days but could run to as much as 21 days due to Italian regulations. My advice, those travelling to Italy should be VERY aware of this requirement as I cannot see mention anywhere on the cruise companies' websites this little gem of information! There then came a knock on the door and upon opening an officer was there with two people one of whom was coughing. They were directed to sit next to me. I realised immediately they were new covid suspects come for testing. I informed the nurse manning the desk I was not happy to have them parked next to me exposing me to the germs, particularly as i was due to go to the hospital to track down my aunt. She was not happy with my complaint but the officer at least agreed to usher the suspects to the other end of the room. At this point the man hunting the luggage reappeared and asked me to accompany him as there was a "very unusual" problem. I trailed behind him back to the luggage shed and was shown an empty shed apart from a handful of cases. There was one that looked suspiciously like my aunt's but it had labels for Queensland Australia on it. I was then informed the owner of this case was at Rome airport and my aunt's case had been checked to go to Australia (you really couldn't make this up!). The airline were being asked to find it and once completed the owner of the Australian case would arrange to send my aunt's case back to the port and fly without their own one. I was to remain apparently something I was most unhappy with as I desperately needed to know what was happening at the hospital. After all this furore I was then removed from the ship and parked outside while the mysterious Stefano my shoreside assistance was located. Needless to say he never appeared. Despite much chasing and chaos I was told I'm on my own. A second man, Christian, was apparently coming to the port after I complained that I had no shoreside assistance. He too never appeared after ac2 hourcwait. There were also now no taxis as disembarkation had completed. It was approaching 1.00pm by now, my aunt having left the ship at 6.30am. At this point I keeled over in the heat hitting the pavement. I'd not had anything to eat or drink so I suppose it was to be expected, apart from one cup of tea Princess had not thought to offer me a bottle of water to take into the near 40 degree heat. At this point of my collapsing an officer from another ship Enchanted Princess was luckily passing. He took control summoning the doctor from Regal to medically examine me. She was shocked to find me still at the port but provided water and a snack. I was refused readmission to the terminal and told to sit back where I'd come from. A huge furore in Italian broke out led by the Enchanted's officer and the doctor, someone Italian speaking was summoned to speak to the hospital as the officer (who it transpired was Italian) did not believe I would be allowed access at the hospital due to covid regulations. This was established as correct. A search was then instigated to find a hotel nearby for me, there was none everything apparently fully booked until Monday Evening. I was told a Rome hotel would be minimum €200 per night and it was €200 each way back to Civitavecchia. A discussion ensued with my aunt's insurer who stated they would not aftercall meet any costs for me despite having previously said they would. My own insurers were contacted and stated it was a grey area and they would have to become involved in discussions with Paying too Much. At this point I was given 20 minutes by Princess to decide what to do. Two ladies were being returned to Rome airport having been denied boarding. It was felt I should accompany them and take my evening flight to organise things from within the UK has no one would be assisting either financially or with the hospital. As no hotels locally I'd be basically on the streets of Civitavecchia for 48 hours. Princess representatives stated if I chose to stay in Rome it would be entirely on my own and at my cost. They were aware I only had €40 in local currency and needed assistance to get access to a cashpoint to obtain more. They refused help, the lady repeating I had inadequate funds due to my bad planning. Reluctantly following these discussions I agreed to fly home. Thankfully we have an Italian speaking family member who has ascertained where my aunt is. It has now been confirmed she is in intensive care and in a critical condition. Her sister has now arrived in Italy but has been denied access to the hospital due to Italian covid regulations. The latest is that Princess appear to have mislaid a handbag I left with them containing the insurance policy and my aunt's GHIC card. As a consequence the family have had to pay a large sum to the hospital to allow her treatment to continue. We are informed she may be moved to a specialist cardiac unit soon. This experience has left me battered and bruised and i feel extraordinarily guilty at having been forced to leave Italy while she is so ill. I thought I could cope with anything, unfortunately this has proved not to be the case. My faith in Princess has been destroyed by the lack of care shown to me. The so called family liaison in Southampton offered nothing in the way of help while I was at the port and calling them today has elicited recorded messages stating there is no one there. To compound things Princess apparently do not have a complaints telephone line and I'm instructed to use email to communicate with them. All emails are responded tomstatung they have 28 days to reply. This is my first Princess cruise, my aunt however has elite status with them and was actually one of the most travelled guests on this voyage. This experience means I will never contemplate another Princess cruise myself. I'm interested to hear from other Princess cruisers their opinion on the situation I was placed in. Thank you. Sent from my Galaxy

Thank you for the information. My previous posts on what happened were removed as I did not want them under General cruise area. I will be posting my experience on the Princess board but originally posted here as a form of letting of steam amongst friends. Princess have been dreadful, I'm just grateful P&O have restored a little faith for me.

If the test isn't officially required but is for peace of mind only, you could probably buy the test from Boots, Superdrug or Lloyd's chemist for a fraction of the cost of a Randox one. My last one cost just over £2.00.

I have given an update on my position in the P&O closed on Sunday link if anyone is interested. Just to say P&O have been brilliant on something which is not actually their problem.

This is an update on all my problems: 1. After waiting 55 minutes this morning I got through to P&O. Initially informed I would have to pay 50% cancellation charge because I didn't ring on Saturday. I remonstrated strongly on this point, and the lady took onboard the situation I had found myself in. After some discussions she was able to offer in conjunction with Natasha (one of my previous contacts regarding the insurance situation) a very suitable solution. Basically the 5% deposit which should have been made on booking has been written off. P&O are kindly gifting me my aunt's FCC to use on any of my bookings or to make a new one in the future. Their generosity is very much appreciated and they also took the time to tell me how they and Cunard would have handled the situation on Saturday, certainly offering me comfort that Princess had handled things badly. 2. Princess do not have a customer service lin apparently. After holding for an hour I was able to cancel mine and my aunt's next booking with them. The agent tried very hard to find someone senior for me to speak to but the call was refused on numerous occasions. He advised me to complete the questionnaire sent yesterday and give a score of zero on the front page. He also stated in additional comments to give my contact details and request direct contact be made. I have done this. 3. Good to Go insurance have admitted their error in not allowing me to stay in Italy with my aunt. 4. My aunt is now in intensive care in critical condition and we have been informed to expect the worst. Her sister has flown to be with her today. My brother in law continues contact with Good to Go and Princess and has activated his power of attorney. We continue to pray for a miracle.

My experience with the cruise I've just taken was very good. However their handling of the emergency situation was dire to say the least. I will never sail with them again I'm afraid.

Hello again. As those who read earlier of my experience yesterday will know, I'm in a really bad place after my previous cruise. I've just realised on checking emails received the past day that my balance on my October P&O Iona cruise is due today. As my aunt is critically ill in an Italian hospital after being removed from our Princess cruise we will clearly not be going. I'm currently at a services on the M3 after taking a call from Italy and just need a break due to tiredness. I had intended to call P&O while here to discuss options but they are of course closed. In view of the circumstances what do people think P&O will do as I cannot speak to them until tomorrow? There is a considerable amount of money in this booking as it has two FCC as the deposit from our cancelled April cruise when covid struck us down. For those who have kindly taken an interest in the now removed posts about our problems, I can advise the Italian hospital has just called me to say she has a serious odema with massive fluid build up overnight and will most likely be undergoing surgery later today. We are currently awaiting information from Paying to Much as to whether her claim will be accepted and my brother in law is arranging flights for him and my aunt's sister to fly to Rome later this evening. Thanks again.

I've been given extra £150 OBC credit for October. My Britannia December 2022 trip has currently same pricing and I have £480 OBC from a previous offer. My Arvia December 2023 booking has gone up £100 but I cannot see current OBC - we have £500 on booking. I seem therefore unaffected but I do of course sail at Christmas every year so any OBC was a nice gift when we booked. My October payment date is imminent the day after I return to UK. They are chasing me daily for that! Cannot currently see pricing as in EU waters so its call to book. My

After the exciting and delicious lunch with the Captain yesterday (goodness he is a tall man!) just a quick update that I've now toured the ship checking how we are - definitely required after the huge offerings - and delighted to report everything is operational and functioning as it should. The staff are wonderful, very accommodating and there seem to be plenty of them. As my first proper Princess cruise - I completed a 4 day staycation last year - the experience is so far really good. Incidentally the lady seated next to me yesterday evening is a big P&O cruiser. She recently sailed on Iona to the Fjords (or not as she put it!!) and she too is impressed with what's happening here. We both agreed, however, if it wasn't for the Princess Plus package P&O offer the best value. Also met a couple if well travelled Australians who hate Cunard but love P&O Australia. Found the quarantine quarter by accident and can report there are a number of cases onboard, mainly I believe staff. Today the ship celebrated American Independence Day, great fun for all. The sail away from Gibraltar was noisy and joyous, none appeared worse te wear for their free drinks. A surprising amount of the entertainment has been British so far and all nationalities are joining in whole heartedly. The food is still good, a little on the cool side for me on occasions. The staff are working tirelessly to ensure everyone is having a good time - certainly we are! Tomorrow another seaday - certainly need a rest after today's exertions! I can confirm there are two Captain's Circle cocktail parties tomorrow. Like my previous one on Celebrity all is as near to pre-pandemic as it could be. Organisation is excellent, events well supported and running smoothly. Onboard count is around 2,600 but the ship is in no way feeling crowded or unable to cope. Masks are recommended in the theatre but not mandatory. Some are to be seen. The middle lifts can be busy but we are aft and rarely see anyone in the ones nearest us, the front ones much the same except after theatre turnout. We have booked another cruise for early next year whilst onboard, looking forward to it already. Certainly this trying other lines rather than sticking is offering great delights and pleasures not seen for some time.

Hello. Just booked Celebrity Edge for my first Celebrity cruise. I'm travelling with my friend who is a big peloton fan. She has asked me if the bikes have shoes or cages. All sounds very foreign to me and far too strenuous but if anyone can help with that information I would be very grateful. Thank you.