Cowardly Princess Cruises treats passengers with contempt

[TERESAh]

In this case, Princess was obligated to get you to the next embarkation point per the Passenger contract clause 7© noted above. How they provide that service is a matter of customer accommodation and they apparently fell down on the job there.

 

This goes back to my desire to use a trusted Travel Agent. I will NEVER book a vacation direct through any large firm (the one exception being an airline miles booking - some airlines won't let a TA do that). The travel nightmare may never happen, but when it does I want a pro I know by name in my corner..

 

I agree with you as far as using a good ta--especially if you are going overseas--that is what we have done since this cruise. I was like most of the people who thought if you booked your air through Princess they would take care of you, but that is not the case and in most cases you pay more and have bad connections when you book through Princess---live and learn I guess. Same as if you buy insurance, you never know how good the coverage is unless you need to use it (which luckily we never had to do )

[stvicbc]

Dear Op,

I feel your pain and completely understand your complaints on how you are being treated by Princess's Cruise Lines. Shameful treatment of their clients. It is a horrible, horrendous occurance that has happened to the people of Japan and this does not diminish this one bit, however, Princess customer relations needs to understand that we as passangers, their clients, and regardless of whether we had booked flights with Princess or not, we are clients that have spent thousands of dollars on their cruise. I have to agree with Op, Princess is telling you "take it or leave it" and I already know of one family that is leaving it. It is shameful the way Princess is treating their clients in this situation. Insurance does not cover any of this. I am sure that if most of the people on here saying that its Op's fault for not doing this, or that, just remember that you can be in the same situation and when the company you've spent thousands of dollars on does nothing for you, just remember the words you have spoken.

[ONT-CA]

...I'm not a fool, I know that Princess can change the itinerary for any reason at all. I also know that Princess will not help me make changes to my plans, despite the fact that they are the cause of the need to make said changes. I do, however, expect them to have some understanding and compassion for the problems caused by their decisions...I also expect them to give me proper information. Of course, none of that has happened, so...quote]

 

Appears to be a case of C C L (Couldn't Care Less)

[gertz]

Wasn't going to post on this thread again but changed my mind.

 

My original post was post #30 in which I basically came down on the side of the passengers on the Ocean Princess. Took a little bit of flack for it but that's ok. It is basically the only time I have openly disagreed with Princess on any thread I can remember and Princess has been our only cruise line since 1991. We will also be going on the Sapphire in May.

 

At first thought I might modify a couple of items but on second thought will just stand by my post.

 

But do want to say the passengers on the Ocean paid dearly for this cruise and I do hope they can enjoy some part of it but think that will be difficult and the memories of that cruise some might think less than a delightful but expensive experience will last a long time.

 

Also IMO a customer oriented company needs to cultivate its customers. If they treat customers badly the customers could just go away. Again IMO Princess has treated a great many of the passengers on the Ocean Princess on this cruise badly.

[Aussie Gal]

Wasn't going to post on this thread again but changed my mind.

 

My original post was post #30 in which I basically came down on the side of the passengers on the Ocean Princess. Took a little bit of flack for it but that's ok. It is basically the only time I have openly disagreed with Princess on any thread I can remember and Princess has been our only cruise line since 1991. We will also be going on the Sapphire in May.

 

At first thought I might modify a couple of items but on second thought will just stand by my post.

 

But do want to say the passengers on the Ocean paid dearly for this cruise and I do hope they can enjoy some part of it but think that will be difficult and the memories of that cruise some might think less than a delightful but expensive experience will last a long time.

 

Also IMO a customer oriented company needs to cultivate its customers. If they treat customers badly the customers could just go away. Again IMO Princess has treated a great many of the passengers on the Ocean Princess on this cruise badly.

 

Also, those passengers who have had trouble with the front desk etc will not ever want to go on the Ocean Princess again which is such a pity as it is a beautiful ship and the crew are excellent.

 

We had 31 very happy days on her last May and we have booked to cruise on her in March next year. We also loved her when she was the Tahitian Princess but if one has had a bad experience on her, it does take years to forget.

 

We had a not so pleasant experience on Azamara's Quest exactly two years ago and on a similar cruise. It was all due to the inability of the Cruise Line and ship's personnel to pass on information to us all and we have steered clear of Azamara since then. We have friends on the Quest at the moment and they are having a wonderful cruise so we may try them again but it does take quite awhile to forget about the shortcomings one has experienced on a not so perfect cruise.

 

Jennie

[cruisemom42]

But do want to say the passengers on the Ocean paid dearly for this cruise and I do hope they can enjoy some part of it but think that will be difficult and the memories of that cruise some might think less than a delightful but expensive experience will last a long time.

 

Also IMO a customer oriented company needs to cultivate its customers. If they treat customers badly the customers could just go away. Again IMO Princess has treated a great many of the passengers on the Ocean Princess on this cruise badly.

 

IMO you have hit the nail on the head. It appears Princess has done the bare minimum (not even sure of that, based on reading the quoted sections of the passenger's contract) required of them. But doing just a little more would have gained them so much in this situation.

 

If one is going to invest one's hard-earned dollars in an exotic vacation, one would like to feel confident that the company will assist them beyond "the bare minimum" when unexpected disasters occur. Several people on this thread have suggested options that Princess could have employed at little cost to help the passengers on Ocean Princess (which, when all is said and done is a small ship; imagine if this had happened with 3,000 pax onboard one of the larger ships.....). One is left with the feeling that either a) Princess really doesn't care about its passengers, or b) no one aboard ship is empowered to make these sorts of decisions on the spur of the moment, which is a big part of disaster preparedness. Or both.

 

Either way, it doesn't make me keen to sail with Princess into more exotic locales, whether or not my air is purchased through the cruiseline...

[RDC1]

If you look at these types of incidents the track records of just about all of the cruise lines is rather poor. For example, Celebrity had their problems with the engine problems that resulted in passengers being dumped in France. I think Royal Caribbean had their incident near Egypt. Pincess during the Chilean earthquake.

 

The number of cases where a cruise line did not handle a major problem well far exceeds the number of cases where a cruise line demonstrated good control and customer service. Eventually they tend to come up with some kind of compensation after the fact, but the handling during the events are in general poor. Actually I really cannot think of one major change in a cruise like this where there was general agreement that the cruiseline handled it well during the event itself.

 

Cruiselines tend to do the normal routine well, but because of the way they are structured, the concentration of decision makers away from the ship itself, the nature of the travel industry with the owning of reservations/tickets, etc. they do not handle crisises very well at all from a customer service perspective, even if they do from a passenger safety point of view.

 

Carnivals recent fire off of Mexico was probably the best handled as far as the passengers actually on the ship, atleat, to the degree that they had a good idea of the compensation details by the time they left the ship. Even their communications was rather weak for the cancellation notifications of the cruises following for that ship.

[Pam in CA]

Actually I really cannot think of one major change in a cruise like this where there was general agreement that the cruiseline handled it well during the event itself.

The Royal Princess fire a couple of years ago off the coast of Egypt. Princess did an awesome job assisting passengers by making flight arrangements and helping them get home. Yet there were still several who blamed Princess because they automatically arranged for flights home and people wanted to deviate and spend extra time in various cities, and they thought Princess wasn't flexible enough. But this was a case of the failure of a Princess ship, a very different scenario from the current one where changes were made for the safety of the passengers and the only people affected are those who made independent arrangements.

 

No matter what happens or how well Princess reacts, there will be some for whom they didn't do enough.

[RickEk]

I'll chime in with another instance where Princess did the right thing. Last year during the Icelandic volcano eruption, many folks were stranded on the Sea Princess with no way to get home. There were also many people who couldn't get to the ship. Princess mobilized their CARE team to meet the ship in Barbados and help the passengers in any way possible. For some, their vacation was extended at no cost to them. Others decided to disembark in Barbados and await further developments.

 

I'm mystified that their CARE team was not activated to help the OP and the folks on the Ocean Princess... :( It sure seems like that would have helped matters...

[Tiffany's mom]

The Royal Princess fire a couple of years ago off the coast of Egypt. Princess did an awesome job assisting passengers by making flight arrangements and helping them get home. Yet there were still several who blamed Princess because they automatically arranged for flights home and people wanted to deviate and spend extra time in various cities, and they thought Princess wasn't flexible enough. But this was a case of the failure of a Princess ship, a very different scenario from the current one where changes were made for the safety of the passengers and the only people affected are those who made independent arrangements.

 

No matter what happens or how well Princess reacts, there will be some for whom they didn't do enough.

 

I have read a lot of your posts over the years and respect your opinion. But on this one I think you are totally wrong. Changing the last port that everyone must fly home from is a major problem.

 

Some of us do not the unlimited funds that you seem to have to book Princess air. We always get a better prince and route than Princess offers.

Trying to change flights at that late date is very hard, even if you were sitting at home you may have problems, let alone the expense of a last minute flight.

 

I know that you just might be Princess's number one fan, but they do not always do the right thing.

[Cuizer2]

I recently had the misfortune to travel on the Ocean Princess on a “cherry blossom” cruise that was scheduled to go from Shanghai to Osaka.

 

Some time in the week before departure, Princess Cruises decided not to travel to Japan. However Princess decided to withhold this information from passengers until the day before the cruise was to set sail, presumably to avoid cancellations. As most passengers were in transit to Shanghai by this time, it meant many passengers were not told of this change until they boarded the ship and entered their cabins. Princess didn't even have the decency to inform passengers while they were checking in.

 

Even worse, the notification sent to passengers, contained neither an apology or an acknowledgement that they had now completely disrupted most passengers travel plans. The best Princess could bring themselves to do was “regret any disappointment”. No apology, and no mention of any possible inconvenience. What a cowardly, weak effort! Abandoning passengers in a different country to their onward tours and flights, and simply suggesting that there may be some disappointment.

 

Princess then made it clear that they would not assist passengers in any way to get to Osaka to continue their holiday, either physically, by arranging flights, or financially. Imagine an airline deciding to take you to Chicago rather than Dallas and then just leaving you there. There was also no compensation mentioned for cancelling half the ports on the cruise – the cherry blossom half that gave the cruise its name. However they would meet cancellation costs for existing flights out of Japan, and may consider meeting additional costs to fly out of the new destination.

 

This detail regarding the lack of assistance was withheld from all passengers until after boarding, making it very difficult for passengers to make alternative arrangements until they were on the ship. It was not included in the original announcement, and passengers who contacted Princess after seeing the original announcement were told no further information would be provided. When the ship's staff were ask why passengers were not given these details before boarding we were told “Don't blame us, we are just the ship. That was a decision made by head office. Here is a postal address so you can write to them”.

 

Having prevented passengers from making arrangements prior to boarding Princess did allow passengers to try to use the internet and phone service to make alternative arrangements. If you have ever tried to use a ships internet and know how slow it is – imagine how much slower it is when the entire ship is trying to use it. Some passengers spent over six hours just trying to send a couple of emails. I loaded one page in ten minutes before giving up. The phone service also gave up under the strain. I had to sit their pressing redial for an hour just to get an outside line. What a great way to start a holiday.

 

Clearly somebody at Princess decided that the best way to maximise profits in the short term was to manipulate passengers to try to ensure that as many of them as possible boarded the cherry blossom cruise with no cherry blossom, and then to pretend nothing was wrong in order to avoid paying adequate compensation. I think they made a terrible misjudgement. The anger of the passengers on this cruise is such that I can't imagine any of them travelling on Princess again, and I am sure they will make sure as many people as possible know what happened. Be warned – treating passengers with respect is not a high priority for Princess Cruises!

 

I realize you are disappointed. However, after reading your rant I am wondering if you realize that Japan suffered a major earthquake and is dealing with radiation issues. Most likely cruise ships are not high on Japan's current "to do" list.

 

Given that, I think you are being very harsh. In fact, you don't even acknowledge the earthquake in your post, which in my mind reduces the credibility of the rest of your post. And unless you have some information that the rest of don't, I don't believe Princes was responsible for the earthquake and resulting damage.

 

Why don't you bill Japan for your extra expenses? It makes as much sense as blaming Princess for this. These are the reasons people purchase travel insurance. Finally, even if you tried to cancel, you are in the 100% cancellation period. You would not be entitled to get your money back even if you had decided not to take the cruise.

[Pam in CA]

I have read a lot of your posts over the years and respect your opinion. But on this one I think you are totally wrong. Changing the last port that everyone must fly home from is a major problem.

 

Some of us do not the unlimited funds that you seem to have to book Princess air. We always get a better prince and route than Princess offers.

Trying to change flights at that late date is very hard' date=' even if you were sitting at home you may have problems, let alone the expense of a last minute flight.

 

I know that you just might be Princess's number one fan, but they do not always do the right thing.[/quote']I understand what you're saying but they are two completely different events. One is an act of God, the other is a mechanical failure that Princess is responsible for. I'm not saying that one is less major than the other, but they are different issues. In the case of where the issue is Princess' fault, they have a greater legal obligation and are more likely to handle things differently. The one thing that is very clear no matter what is that if you book air on your own and there are itinerary changes, you're on your own. From what we've seen from the posters on the ship now, they have had free Internet access that appears to be pretty stable considering the posts, and phone capabilities to make changes to fly home.

 

I don't know what more Princess can do. Should they charter planes to fly passengers somewhere? If so, where? I'm guessing that the passengers are from many different countries and different directions. They can't make flight reservations or change their flights for those who booked air independently so I'm kind of at a loss what assistance Princess should provide? I'd love to see some reasonable suggestions.

[ONT-CA]

... Finally, even if you tried to cancel, you are in the 100% cancellation period. You would not be entitled to get your money back even if you had decided not to take the cruise.

 

Princess could have and should have advised as many passengers as was possible of the deviation so that they could then immediately start working on contingency plans. Far better to do so from land than out at sea. It was not a matter of cancellation but one of corrective action in order for them to get home. The crew and registration personnel were totally inept and that could only be laid at Princess' doorstep.

[PescadoAmarillo]

With this fiasco and the South American one last year Princess is 0 for 2 in dealing with issues like these overseas.

I so agree, but would amend your post to say that Princess is 0 for 3 dealing with such "issues" if one considers their handling of their Mexican Riviera cruises 2 years ago during the Swine flu outbreak compared to what Celebrity and RC did (Princess offered nothing for cancellations and instead took passengers - many from coastal California - on a coastal California cruise with a 50% credit on a future cruise; RC and X offered no penalty cancellations and 100% credit towards a future cruise).

 

I love Princess, but can easily see that they do best when things are normal and go as anticipated. Things seem to fall apart a bit whenever they are thrown a curveball. That's unfortunate, because their business is heavily dependent on world affairs, which are anything but 'normal' these days.

 

Honestly, Princess could have done just one thing to improve this situation...offer free Internet for more than 3 days (two of them port days). Why not offer 6 days, or 10 days? It bothers me that Princess valued the revenue from internet usage over customer service.

 

In 1999, DH and I were scheduled to sail to Greece and Venice on a transatlantic cruise on Celebrity. The Serbia-Yugoslav war broke out, and we had to end in Genoa instead, at the last minute. X offered those of us without cruise air the opportunity to change our return city or transfer to Venice, all at their expense. In fact, it was so smoothly handled that it caused not one moment of consternation at any point during the 15 night cruise. Maybe Princess wasn't willing to go to those lengths, but they could have opened up the Internet for the entire cruise.

[Times Prince]

It is clear that Princess did not make these changes capriciously or with malice, nor were they without some specific guidance from government authorities. Princess issued news statements on their web site, the latest on 3/18 http://www.princess.com/news/article.jsp?newsArticleId=na1153, copied here in part:

 

3/18/2011 Japan Update - 3:30pm PDT

 

The people of Japan have experienced an unimaginable tragedy, and our thoughts and prayers continue to be with them in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake, tsunami and damaged nuclear reactors. After careful review of the evolving situation and guided by the U.S. Department of State and other authorities, we have decided to cancel upcoming calls to Japan through May.

 

 

This change will impact the following voyages:

Sun Princess S106 (departed March 5)

Diamond Princess M107 (departing March 19)

Ocean Princess 7107 (departing March 20)

Ocean Princess 7108 (departing April 1)

Diamond Princess M108 (departing April 4)

Diamond Princess M109 (departing April 20)

Diamond Princess M110 (departing May 6)

At this time, Ocean Princess 7109 (departing April 13) which has a scheduled call to Okinawa, Japan's most southern prefecture, is not impacted.

 

Princess is in the process of contacting affected passengers.

We regret any disappointment our revised itineraries may cause, but we hope our passengers will understand the difficult circumstances that led to these changes, and that the safety and well-being of our passengers and crew is our foremost priority.

[kruzinon]

I understand what you're saying but they are two completely different events. One is an act of God, the other is a mechanical failure that Princess is responsible for. I'm not saying that one is less major than the other, but they are different issues. In the case of where the issue is Princess' fault, they have a greater legal obligation and are more likely to handle things differently. The one thing that is very clear no matter what is that if you book air on your own and there are itinerary changes, you're on your own. From what we've seen from the posters on the ship now, they have had free Internet access that appears to be pretty stable considering the posts, and phone capabilities to make changes to fly home.

 

I don't know what more Princess can do. Should they charter planes to fly passengers somewhere? If so, where? I'm guessing that the passengers are from many different countries and different directions. They can't make flight reservations or change their flights for those who booked air independently so I'm kind of at a loss what assistance Princess should provide? I'd love to see some reasonable suggestions.

 

How is this for a reasonable suggestion, pull into Pusan Korea vice HK a day earlier than originally scheduled for Osaka and let the pax fly to Osaka to connect with their original plans and give the pax a 50% FCC. Pusan is about a 45 min flight to Osaka and thats about as easy as it gets and the flight would probably cost no more than $100 or $200 max, maybe less.

[caribill]

From what we've seen from the posters on the ship now, they have had free Internet access that appears to be pretty stable considering the posts, and phone capabilities to make changes to fly home.

 

Need to consider the time zone differences. 9 AM Pacific Daylight time, when one might be able to get through to a west coast travel agent, is 12 Midnight China time.

 

So in order to speak with a travel agent, someone on the ship must start trying to get a line at Midnight. And if you need to call back again in a couple of hours to get followup, try to get a line starting at 2 or 3 in the morning.

 

Not a very good way to be on vacation. Get to sleep after 3 AM and be up and ready for your tour in Dalian that starts at 8 AM.

[caribill]

How is this for a reasonable suggestion, pull into Pusan Korea vice HK a day earlier than originally scheduled for Osaka and let the pax fly to Osaka to connect with their original plans and give the pax a 50% FCC. Pusan is about a 45 min flight to Osaka and thats about as easy as it gets and the flight would probably cost no more than $100 or $200 max, maybe less.

 

As long as you can find about 700 available seats for the flight.

 

And this does ignore the fact that the US State Department still advises all Americans to avoid travel to any part of Japan.

[Pam in CA]

As long as you can find about 700 available seats for the flight.

 

And this does ignore the fact that the US State Department still advises all Americans to avoid travel to any part of Japan.

Plus, the suggestion assumes that the situation in Japan doesn't worsen, which it is on a daily basis. From listening to the news, there is absolutely no guarantee that one could or would want to fly to Japan. Many airlines have canceled flights to/from Japan. And, why would the passengers deserve a 50% FCC? They boarded the ship and have received what they paid for: cabin, food and entertainment.

 

If it were me, you can bet I'd be calling my airline at whatever hour it took to change my flight, even if it meant losing some beauty sleep. Or I'd email my TA. Whatever it takes. That's what you do.

[robgvic]

I know how diffficult it must be but can't you just do it with emails?

[caribill]

I know how diffficult it must be but can't you just do it with emails?

 

With a travel agent, possibly.

 

With an airline, no way.

[ONT-CA]

 

... Whatever it takes. That's what you do.

 

 

 

Are you listening Princess?

[Loonbeam]

Okay, its getting a bit heated, lets take a step back.. There are actually several completely separate issues here, none of which are the passengers attitude towards Japan. So lets leave that out of the equation...

 

1> What type of information should Princess have provided before the cruise and when? It looks like an update was sent out at 3/18 - 3:30 PM Pacific Time, or if I am doing my math right, 6:30 AM Japan Time. Was that too close? Probably, but we don't know when they made the actual decision, and probably will not know.

 

2> What obligation does Princess have overall to passengers? Based on my reading of 7© in the US Passage contract, Princess is obligated to get the passengers to the originally scheduled disembarkation point, but the phrase is very very vague on that respect.

 

3> Per #2 - what happens when that is not practical. What obligation does Princess have? (This is one of those areas where Princess could step up but hasn't yet).

 

4> What obligation does Princess have to passengers who booked air with them. In my opinion, its their responsibility to get the passenger home, period. The problem here is with the new Ez-air, Princess is no longer acting as the booking agent but more in a traditional travel agent role. This is important when it comes to who has to PAY for changes. (I am certain that part of the angst is due to the cost many people will incur out of pocket as a result of this change)

 

5> What obligation does Princess have to passengers who booked air by other channels. The answer is simple if you keep it to the term 'obligation'. None. There is no legal requirement for Princess to assist. Ah, but should they, see below.

 

6> Customer Service onboard the Ship. This is apparently a huge problem, with the caveat that in most cases, only those very unhappy or very happy will make their opinions felt. That said, there are enough posts on here from people on the ship to indicate there is a bad situation. Now, there are valid questions as to what Princess can actually do to improve the situation. Free use of the phone and net system to me is a no brainer. Dispatching additional staff to the next port to board the ship and assist would help, even if there is not much they can do, the perception of relief staff would be good for the passengers AND crew. Arrange for additional communications capacity on-shore at next port and advise the passengers accordingly. All of these are easily accomplished and I can't understand why Princess is not doing them.

 

6a> Other things I would do, but are more complicated. First, disable all streaming over the ship internet to make sure as much bandwith is available as possible. CC takes very little bandwith to post, each page is about 10K. Skype is 10K per second. Second, immediately offer all pax an FCC equal to the amount spent to change flight arrangements, up to the amount of the original cruise fare or so, good for 2 years (OR) the opportunity to resail on the same cruise next year for free in the same original booked cabin class. Now, since this was not Princess's fault, I can see why they would not do this, but PR wise it would be a great decision. If they can claim this against their incident insurance its a no brainer.

 

From an onboard resource standpoint however, their options are limited.

 

7> There's a meta issue here. Why does Princess not have a fully fleshed contingency plan for situations like, specifically a change in final port. There should be a set of procedures, specific policies regarding all the questions above, etc. The fact that they do not makes me really wonder about their risk management team, if not overall management. And I guess it is even part of the bigger Princess problem we see, that of a lack of clear fleetwide policy and enforcement in general. Someone mentioned Princess is not good at handling curveballs, as it were. The reason is simple, no one has planned for them it seems. And yes, this does make me more cautious about choosing Princess, and when I do, I will be sure to have MY backup plans in place and you should to...

 

Lets try to keep the discussion civil and focused on the matter at hand. I'm sure the people on the ship care about Japan. So do I, I have friends there, but even I have to admit that in their situation the first thing I will be worrying about is getting home. There's nothing wrong with that.

[jajohnson]

I have read a lot of your posts over the years and respect your opinion. But on this one I think you are totally wrong. Changing the last port that everyone must fly home from is a major problem. Agreed' date='an unfortunate turn of events...at least it appears Princess provided the resources you needed (phone/internet)[/color'] so you could make alternate arrangements.

 

Some of us do not the unlimited funds that you seem to have to book Princess air. We always get a better prince and route than Princess offers.

Trying to change flights at that late date is very hard, even if you were sitting at home you may have problems, let alone the expense of a last minute flight. You paid your money and you took your chances, probably even felt really good that you "saved" over those who booked air with Princess. This time you lost......not Princess's fault. Hopefully your travel insurance will make you whole.

 

I know that you just might be Princess's number one fan, but they do not always do the right thing.The right thing is very personal based on your circumstances, most people think it is whatever solves their personal problem.

 

I know this has been an educational experience for me personally. In the future I now have another set of considerations to weigh when I think about booking air travel for my cruises. I used to think only about how much money I saved by booking my own air via a consolidator.

[gertz]

Loonbeam I now agree with a lot of what you are posting. To paraphrase plus a little It would have been a simple matter to have a crises team at the 1st port of call to assist all and any passengers with their needs and concerns. To put them at ease with the objective to have them enjoy the cruise no matter the cost.

In my opinion again in a serious situation not necessarily a crises the companies goal should be to get things back as close to normal as possible. And again IMO contracts mean nothing to the passengers now and people realize quickly they were only written to protect the company anyway.

But you can bet your bippy if it were my company those passengers would be taken care of, there are only 670 + or -, and forget the contract. Then after it was all over and my customers were happy guess what?