Errors? Lies?

[Glovie]

Has Princess deteriorated lately, at least in the booking department? My husband and I have been on many cruises on a number of lines, from RCCL to Crystal, including several with Princess. I book online or over the phone with the cruise line directly. Last March I booked a two week cruise about a year in advance. The final payment date came at a busy holiday time and we missed it. Princess telephoned my husband to get it by credit card. Done. Except that when I review the details online after the holidays, there are some errors - they have not provided the travel insurance we routinely get or stated the bed configuration correctly (this latter is minor - can be remedied on the ship.) I phone to ask if this could be a mistake, since we always buy travel protection and have a particular bed configuration. Princess bluntly denies having called us, saying that they NEVER telephone for final payment, only use mail or e-mail, and that they have no one there to make calls. Princess goes on to say that when final payment is requested, they always ask the client if they want travel protection. We received no e-mail or mail, and the phone caller did not mention travel protection. They will not let us buy it now, due to underwriter restrictions. Has anyone else had similar booking problems with Princess recently? If so, I will stick to my other preferred cruise lines. I am most bothered by their insistence that they never telephoned us, despite our cell phone records to the contrary.

[Seal]

From reading your post it seems that you thought that because you normally have the protection that they should have added that to the cruise price--if that's correct--I can't imagine them checking cruise records to find out if you normally purchase insurance..

 

Can you find travel insurance elsewhere??--We also use Princess insurance but I doubt they would add it on just because we've used it in the past.

 

Good Luck in finding travel insurance

 

Nancy:D

[LisaroseNY]

I dont know if Princess is different than booking through a travel agent but we had to pay for the travel insurance upfront...with our deposit. The final payment due was just the balance due on the trip

[SeattleCruiselover]

Couple of things here that would concern me.......

 

As a former Princess res agent, I can tell you that, as a matter of policy, Princess res agents do NOT make any kind of outbound calls. They are just not allowed to. If you do not make your final payment on time, your reservation is automatically cancelled by the computer at midnight on the day final is due (after close of business), with no notice to anyone. Plus, with a fleet of 18 ships cruising every 7-10-14 days or so, most of them with large pax capacities, there would not be enough time in the day to call pax who were late or did not make final and still make bookings. Same thing with the revenue accounting department and all of the things that they have to do (and there is no tickler file that pops up in front of someone on a given day saying "this final is due today or is now overdue).

 

If, on the other hand, you have a personal cruise consultant that you work with regularly, they DO make outbounds and may check with you if they happen to be in your file and notice that you were late.

 

That being said, who did the person that called you say that they were, exactly? Unfortunately, there is software out there that will let a caller "spoof" anyone's caller ID in the world. Collection agencies use this a lot...they will put in the caller ID for someone that you know, like a family member or your doctor's office or some such, so that you are more likely to pick up than if it says unknown ID.

 

Of course, I will also be the first to admit that the left hand at Princess is sometimes totally unaware of what the right hand is doing.

 

If you are SURE that the monies went to Princess, and only your credit card provider can tell you for sure, then the issue of the insurance is surely an error. We were trained to ALWAYS ask about insurance on any call up to and including final payment, because it is SO important. Unfortunately, you can no longer add it through Princess, but there are any number of independent providers (Travel Guard, et cetera) who WILL sell it to you up to 24 hours before departure.

 

As for the bed configuration, you're right, you can change once on board, or you can call and they will fix it for you right now.

 

Hope this helps.....

[gertz]

No nothing like this has happened to us before it was time for final payment. I caught it first.

Did you not read the cruise personalize which references virtually everything including vacation protection and bed configuration. The booking summary and deposit confirmation also shows vacation protection.

Don't spoil your Hawaiian cruise in advance you can probably find comparable travel insurance and ultimatums generally don't work IMO.

[Colo Cruiser]

Find out who processed the payment at Princess.

 

 

How could the number be spoofed then the spoofer made the payment to Princess anyway? It does not make sense.

[billie5]

I believe Seattle was making a general statement about caller ID, not implying that it was particularly relevant to OP's story.

 

Actually, I am happy the comment was made. We are probably all aware of spoofing with email addresses, but I for one did not know that it was also possible on phone calls.

 

Bill

[mycruz]

I dont know if Princess is different than booking through a travel agent but we had to pay for the travel insurance upfront...with our deposit. The final payment due was just the balance due on the trip

 

Princess is different, sounds like your TA may be using another insurance policy other than Princess Insurance.

 

For the OP, what did your confirmation say, was insurance included?

[financialgrl]

I dont know if Princess is different than booking through a travel agent but we had to pay for the travel insurance upfront...with our deposit. The final payment due was just the balance due on the trip

 

That's the way mine has been handled also. I don't use Princess insurance but the TA does use another. I also get an email just before final payment stating the time is near to make sure I am definitely going at which time my credit card on file is charged so there is no missing of a final payment.

[Toto2Kansas]

.

 

For the OP, what did your confirmation say, was insurance included?

 

I agree, I would also like to know if the insurance was on the confirmation? If it was not, then it is up to the passenger to alert princess (or a TA if used) that they wish to purchase insurance. I have never known insurance to be automatically added, no matter if you have always purchased it in the past or not.

If it was on the confirmation, and they just didn't charge you for it, then I would contact Princess again and fight this point out with them.

 

One other question. Did you receive the email from Princess before final payment that reminds all passengers that they need to make sure to have some type of insurance whether it be with Princess or an outside soarse? We received it before final was due on our last cruise, and they really stress the fact that they will no longer make acceptions if insurance is not purchased for cancellations or other medical problems.

 

Sorry to hear you were not able to get Princess insurance on this upcoming cruise, but you really need to check that confirmation to make sure everything is correct, including insurance at final payment, if you so desire. Check wtih http://www.insuremytrip.com you can always purchase insurance on your own. Enjoy your cruise!

[flamomo]

Have you checked the Personalizer to be sure your booking is intact?

You can also check there to be sure your cruise is paid in full.

[WeBeGone]

I have never known of Princess calling anyone. They use email and fax so they have a paper trail. Please check with your credit card company to make sure your payment went to princess and watch for any signs of fraud.

[G'ma]

Has Princess deteriorated lately, at least in the booking department? My husband and I have been on many cruises on a number of lines, from RCCL to Crystal, including several with Princess. I book online or over the phone with the cruise line directly. Last March I booked a two week cruise about a year in advance. The final payment date came at a busy holiday time and we missed it. Princess telephoned my husband to get it by credit card. Done. Except that when I review the details online after the holidays, there are some errors - they have not provided the travel insurance we routinely get or stated the bed configuration correctly (this latter is minor - can be remedied on the ship.) I phone to ask if this could be a mistake, since we always buy travel protection and have a particular bed configuration. Princess bluntly denies having called us, saying that they NEVER telephone for final payment, only use mail or e-mail, and that they have no one there to make calls. Princess goes on to say that when final payment is requested, they always ask the client if they want travel protection. We received no e-mail or mail, and the phone caller did not mention travel protection. They will not let us buy it now, due to underwriter restrictions. Has anyone else had similar booking problems with Princess recently? If so, I will stick to my other preferred cruise lines. I am most bothered by their insistence that they never telephoned us, despite our cell phone records to the contrary.

 

Why not buy insurance elsewhere????

 

Go to insuremytrip.com

 

Lots of choices and you can buy it pretty much anytime.

[Pia1913]

I dont know if Princess is different than booking through a travel agent but we had to pay for the travel insurance upfront...with our deposit. The final payment due was just the balance due on the trip

 

You never have to pay up front for Princess insurance. Your TA is selling you insurance through another company for which they get additional commission. Paying for your insurance within 14 days of booking ensures that your pre-existing conditions are covered.

[lovevacadays]

I'm doing my 8th Princess cruise booked directly through them and never had any problems. I always check the email they send me after I speak with them to verify that all the information is correct. I also look at the cruise personalizer to check the details of my cruise.

 

I also don't think that just because someone has always booked insurance should mean that Princess should automatically add insurance. Also, I think, we have to take some personal responsibility and if someone doesnt ask us about a certain feature on our cruise we need to speak up and make sure all is right.

[SeattleCruiselover]

Find out who processed the payment at Princess.

 

 

How could the number be spoofed then the spoofer made the payment to Princess anyway? It does not make sense.

 

They won't tell you who processed the payment, Keith, even if you are the pax, it's confidential. I would check with the CC provider to make sure that it was paid to Princess, or to whomever it was.

 

A spoofer would NOT, but there are lots of evil people out there who prey on those who are not familiar with their methods, and the travel industry is a huge target for them. Even the high encryption sites are not totally immune from hacking to get information such as names, addresses and booking numbers. I can't remember if Princess has been hacked in the recent past or not, but it is certainly possible.

[Whoo]

I had problems when booking our latest cruise. I also booked by phone directly with Princess, and after getting the booking confirmation I went online to the Personalizer. I had specifically said I didn't want insurance, but there it was. I also specifically said we didn't need transfers from airport or port. There were transfers scheduled also. It was easy enough to change that using the Personalizer.

 

Now I am concerned about upgrades. I told the agent on the phone that we would be happy to accept an upgrade if one was offered to us. There is no way that I am aware of, where I can check that on Personalizer. So I will be calling Princess again to verify our status as far as upgrades.

 

These are minor things - but if I didn't have computer access and wasn't paying attention, we might be charged for things we didn't want/need.

[cherylandtk]

...Now I am concerned about upgrades. I told the agent on the phone that we would be happy to accept an upgrade if one was offered to us. There is no way that I am aware of, where I can check that on Personalizer. So I will be calling Princess again to verify our status as far as upgrades..

You can certainly call to verify this, but if it sets your mind at ease, "Will Accept Upgrade" is the default setting, you have to specifically ask to have it changed from that. ;)

[dtagirl]

One more reason perhaps to use a TA or someone who would keep you informed???

[Colo Cruiser]

One more reason perhaps to use a TA or someone who would keep you informed???

 

 

TA's are the problem sometimes too. :(

[Pia1913]

TA's are the problem sometimes too. :(

 

I second that.