Not happy with Princess

[bobhsv]

Jen, i think its a very good idea where you dont have to pay the big deposit and if you cancel out before final payment you get your $100 back

 

before you leave home for your cruise ring around a few TA's and see what they are offering

 

bob

 

Bob,

 

Ah yes, but who in their right mind would cancel:eek:....change cruises perhaps, but with the four year bit, cancel...not a chance. Can't wait to tell DH the new rules.

Jen

[PRIDDO]

Hi Bongaree, I know how you feel because it happened to us in 2009. We fought really hard with Princess but it got us nowhere. We actually swore we would never sail with Princess again. In 2010 they had such a good last minute deal on Dawn around Australia we just couldn't resist it. We also ended up with a fabulous upgrade which we have never had when we book in advance.

I think the whole set up is wrong but I guess you have to work the system they have created. It is hard when you have your heart set on particular cruise to sit it out and wait and take the chance you may not get on. That is the position we are in now- it is so hard to wait it out but I refuse to be ripped off again. The whole time you are on the cruise it eats away at you. There has to be a better way.

As a comparison we had a similar instance with HAL once and they gave us almost all the whole discount as a refund but that was through an American on line agency. Now that is service.

[NSWP]

This topic got little sympathy from our American friends in Princess section, following bongarrees's posting there. But what's new? We are the people being penalised.

[Debsta]

Why would it Les. It doesn't affect them :p

 

I was thinking (yes it did hurt!), can you transfer this deposit to another Princess cruise in the future? and make another booking for the one you are on at the cheaper price? :confused:

[Debsta]

Ignore my post...just read the conditions and the answer is no :(

[cassarina]

I have put this on the Princess thread. We paid our deposit last July for our September cruise and yesterday I noticed that the fares have been reduced. If we had waited till yesterday we would be over $1500 better off. They are also offering free Balcony upgrades from Ocean View. If this happened in the US we would be able to access the new fare with no penality. WHY do Carnival continually treat us Aussies like second class as if we won't complain. We put up with all the old ships and also much poorer menu's and also entertainment. US passengers would not put up with the way we are treated. Maybe after all my years of loyalty to Princess I will be looking at RCL. There is going to be a lot more competition in Australian waters in the coming years.:mad:

This is our first time cruise so I thought I would make sure we got a good cabin etc. etc. and booked early now find I am out of pocket by over $1,000 because of the price drops by princess. Not at all happy spoke to the TA and said it was princess fault and nothing they could do, but they have had $1,200 deposit for 6 months which I assume they have invested in that time, so I feel that the TA could have cut me some slack very dissapointed:mad::mad::mad::mad:

[rkmw]

This is our first time cruise so I thought I would make sure we got a good cabin etc. etc. and booked early now find I am out of pocket by over $1,000 because of the price drops by princess. Not at all happy spoke to the TA and said it was princess fault and nothing they could do, but they have had $1,200 deposit for 6 months which I assume they have invested in that time, so I feel that the TA could have cut me some slack very dissapointed:mad::mad::mad::mad:

 

cassarina when you cruise Princess make sure you pay $100 and buy a future cruise letter and if the price drops or you change your mind you can cancel out before making final payment

[NSWP]

I have just gone to the dark side and booked Arcadia, 49 days - Sydney to Southampton, leave Sydney 9 March, arrive Southampton 27 April.

 

Time for a change ! Can you believe inside prices down from $29000 to $4800, plus £125 obc each. We booked obstructed view for $5600, that is good value.

 

I believe Bazzaw did this one, earlier this year, are you there Bazzaw - Barry?

[Kiwi Kruzer]

I have just gone to the dark side and booked Arcadia, 49 days - Sydney to Southampton, leave Sydney 9 March, arrive Southampton 27 April.Time for a change ! Can you believe inside prices down from $29000 to $4800, plus £125 obc each. We booked obstructed view for $5600, that is good value.I believe Bazzaw did this one, earlier this year, are you there Bazzaw - Barry?

 

Nice one Les:)

Great itinerary ,through the Indian Ocean , a stopover in Capetown then more wonderful ports on the way up to Southampton.:)

 

[bongaree]

I have just gone to the dark side and booked Arcadia, 49 days - Sydney to Southampton, leave Sydney 9 March, arrive Southampton 27 April.

 

Time for a change ! Can you believe inside prices down from $29000 to $4800, plus £125 obc each. We booked obstructed view for $5600, that is good value.

 

I believe Bazzaw did this one, earlier this year, are you there Bazzaw - Barry?

 

 

That's great Les. WE may look at canceling our booking on Sun Princess RTW and look at Arcadia for 2012 or 13.

 

Our TA is still trying to get Princess to give us some sort of deal re the reduced fares. Yesterday a rep from Princess phoned me and really he should get a job with the govt. as a spin doctor. He spoke to me for 30 mins and told me nothing new. He wouldn't let me get a word in and one thing the told me was "if you had booked with Princess I would have been able to do something for you" When I passed this comment on to our TA she was not happy. Don't expect we will have any success but will have great pleasure in canceling the world cruise and I will send a letter to US head office to let them know our feelings. We are also looking at the new Voyager of the Seas. As we have been to a lot of the ports on the World Cruise we feel that a new ship will be great to sail on for a change instead of the old ones Princess dish out.

 

Cheers all, Janet

[lizzy77]

It just doesn't seem like Princess want to keep their loyal customers!!

 

I see Bongaree that you are Elite and you would think that good business practice would enable them to at least transfer your deposit.:mad:

We don't have a cruise booked at this stage but after the way the Future cruise person treated us on our last Princess cruise we are now looking at RCL and Celebrity.( she wouldn't let us book another cruise at US prices even though we have booked them before December 2010)

[Kiwi Kruzer]

It just doesn't seem like Princess want to keep their loyal customers!!

I see Bongaree that you are Elite and you would think that good business practice would enable them to at least transfer your deposit.:mad:

We don't have a cruise booked at this stage but after the way the Future cruise person treated us on our last Princess cruise we are now looking at RCL and Celebrity.( she wouldn't let us book another cruise at US prices even though we have booked them before December 2010)

 

Celebrity have some very good deals out, and I think they are going to scoop up a lot of Princess people. We are also Elite on Princess , but have booked our first Celebrity cruise.

 

[Flipper133]

I remain somewhat bemused by some of the sentiments expressed on this thread. I have posted a summary of my experiences with Princess and my TA on the Princess Board in response to Bongaree's posting there.

 

Essentially I have experienced the same basic scenario of booking early (12m) and then seeing the price of my cabin reduce significantly - now some $1500 less than my original booking.

 

Difference is that on more than one occasion I contacted my TA (Internet Coy based in Darwin) to see what reductions I could get, and they have been more than co-operative in getting my fare reduced. Sure they charged me $100 each time, but I figure that was little to pay considering the price reduction and the fact they were doing more work for less commission. In their latest advice to me they particularly said that Princess were anxious to assist past passengers with matters like this.:D

 

I see that there are three issues:

 

1. The amount of deposit required - considerably more for ozzies than for yanks.

 

2. Non transferablility of deposit - isn't that why they have deposits?

 

3. Cancellation fees - a small fee is understandable.

 

I work in a situation where we hire out our facilities for weddings etc. We require deposits that are often paid over 12 months in advance. They can be refunded depending on the time remaining, but I have had a number of disputes with people who have cancelled well within the cancellation period, (one was just 4 weeks out) who still feel that they should be entitled to a refund of their deposit! It simply does not work that way and these people are told that by this grumpy old man !:mad:

 

For me I am more than happy with Princess

 

cheers

[The_Big_M]

Not at all happy spoke to the TA and said it was princess fault and nothing they could do, but they have had $1,200 deposit for 6 months which I assume they have invested in that time, so I feel that the TA could have cut me some slack very dissapointed:mad::mad::mad::mad:

 

Keep in mind the deposit is passed to the cruise line either when it was made or within a month, so it's not the TA who has the investment, but the cruise line.

[NSWP]

That's great Les. WE may look at canceling our booking on Sun Princess RTW and look at Arcadia for 2012 or 13.

 

Our TA is still trying to get Princess to give us some sort of deal re the reduced fares. Yesterday a rep from Princess phoned me and really he should get a job with the govt. as a spin doctor. He spoke to me for 30 mins and told me nothing new. He wouldn't let me get a word in and one thing the told me was "if you had booked with Princess I would have been able to do something for you" When I passed this comment on to our TA she was not happy. Don't expect we will have any success but will have great pleasure in canceling the world cruise and I will send a letter to US head office to let them know our feelings. We are also looking at the new Voyager of the Seas. As we have been to a lot of the ports on the World Cruise we feel that a new ship will be great to sail on for a change instead of the old ones Princess dish out.

 

Cheers all, Janet

Thanks guys, cannot believe what P&O UK is charging for this Sydney - Southampton trip, compared to what Princess is charging for the half WC's on Sun Princess/Dawn Princess.

Like about one third !!!!!!!!

 

When you think..all Carnival Corp.

 

Had to pay $1000 deposit for Arcadia and got a Gty outside cabin @$5600 pp

[bongaree]

[quote name='Flipper133']I remain somewhat bemused by some of the sentiments expressed on this thread. I have posted a summary of my experiences with Princess and my TA on the Princess Board in response to Bongaree's posting there.

Essentially I have experienced the same basic scenario of booking early (12m) and then seeing the price of my cabin reduce significantly - now some $1500 less than my original booking.

Difference is that on more than one occasion I contacted my TA (Internet Coy based in Darwin) to see what reductions I could get, and they have been more than co-operative in getting my fare reduced. Sure they charged me $100 each time, but I figure that was little to pay considering the price reduction and the fact they were doing more work for less commission. In their latest advice to me they particularly said that Princess were anxious to assist past passengers with matters like this.:D

I see that there are three issues:

1. The amount of deposit required - considerably more for ozzies than for yanks.

2. Non transferablility of deposit - isn't that why they have deposits?

3. Cancellation fees - a small fee is understandable.

I work in a situation where we hire out our facilities for weddings etc. We require deposits that are often paid over 12 months in advance. They can be refunded depending on the time remaining, but I have had a number of disputes with people who have cancelled well within the cancellation period, (one was just 4 weeks out) who still feel that they should be entitled to a refund of their deposit! It simply does not work that way and these people are told that by this grumpy old man !:mad:

For me I am more than happy with Princess

cheers[/quote]


Flipper - I think you are missing my point. I note that your cruise is not till December and you are therefore over the 180 days. If we had the same problem when we were over 180days we would have been able to cancel and rebook and our TA only charges $25 pp to do this.
I have asked that our deposit be moved to a Balcony cabin and we would be happy to pay the difference between what we were quoted for an inside and the new Balcony fare. Princess have refused to do this. Re deposits for your business. We are in the accomodation industry and if we have a deposit and a client requests that they move to a better situation we simply change their booking to accomodate them. If the tarrif were to be reduced we would simply charge them the lower amount as I'm sure you would too. We also do not refund deposits if there is a cancellation within the 4 week period - we will move a booking and apply the deposit or if we rebook the accomodation we then refund less an administration fee. WE DO NOT WANT TO CANCEL OUR CRUISE. We simply want the lower fare to be applied to our booking before we pay the final amount.
This is what the US passengers can do.

Cheers

[rugbypopsie]

[quote name='bongaree']Flipper - I think you are missing my point. I note that your cruise is not till December and you are therefore over the 180 days. If we had the same problem when we were over 180days we would have been able to cancel and rebook and our TA only charges $25 pp to do this.
I have asked that our deposit be moved to a Balcony cabin and we would be happy to pay the difference between what we were quoted for an inside and the new Balcony fare. Princess have refused to do this. Re deposits for your business. We are in the accomodation industry and if we have a deposit and a client requests that they move to a better situation we simply change their booking to accomodate them. If the tarrif were to be reduced we would simply charge them the lower amount as I'm sure you would too. We also do not refund deposits if there is a cancellation within the 4 week period - we will move a booking and apply the deposit or if we rebook the accomodation we then refund less an administration fee. WE DO NOT WANT TO CANCEL OUR CRUISE. We simply want the lower fare to be applied to our booking before we pay the final amount.
This is what the US passengers can do.

Cheers[/quote]

[FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=3]See if you can change your booking from a T/A to Princess themselves. If you persist you may be able to get them to move a bit. Talk to Princess yourself...often I have found that a T/A says "no way" but that is not the real story.

Totally unfair to us Aussies and Kiwis as I said before.
[/SIZE][/FONT]

[Kiwi Kruzer]

[quote name='rugbypopsie'][FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=3]

Totally unfair to us Aussies and Kiwis as I said before.
[/SIZE][/FONT][/QUOTE]

[SIZE="2"]Since RCCL has set up a branch in Au, staffed by Aussies we are starting to get the real deals , we want...and are available to others
From emails , looks like the others are starting to sit up and take notice.
Roll on competition.

[/SIZE]

[dougo in oz]

[quote name='rugbypopsie'][FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=3]See if you can change your booking from a T/A to Princess themselves. If you persist you may be able to get them to move a bit. Talk to Princess yourself...often I have found that a T/A says "no way" but that is not the real story. [/SIZE][/FONT]

[SIZE=3][FONT=Comic Sans MS]Totally unfair to us Aussies and Kiwis as I said before.[/FONT][/SIZE]
[/quote]

IME, Carnival Australia won't talk to me at all about my booking if I've made it through an Agency. I've been stonewalled etc and got zilch out of them. Lucky you if you got through and found a sympathetic ear on the other end of the line.



Re the Future Cruise Letters (FCL) - Princess cruises out of Australia - can you now pay a deposit such as you can with P&O Australia?

And another point of clarification - in 2008 we got about four FCL Princess letters from our Transatlantic crossing but they were only in one of our names and when we went to use one of them, Princess wasn't going to honour them for the two of us as they wanted both of our names on the letter!!!

Now we make sure any FCL has both our names on them.

[rkmw]

[quote name='dougo in oz']IME, Carnival Australia won't talk to me at all about my booking if I've made it through an Agency. I've been stonewalled etc and got zilch out of them. Lucky you if you got through and found a sympathetic ear on the other end of the line.



Re the Future Cruise Letters (FCL) - Princess cruises out of Australia - can you now pay a deposit such as you can with P&O Australia?

And another point of clarification - in 2008 we got about four FCL Princess letters from our Transatlantic crossing but they were only in one of our names and when we went to use one of them, Princess wasn't going to honour them for the two of us as they wanted both of our names on the letter!!!

Now we make sure any FCL has both our names on them.[/quote]


dougo, as i've mentioned numerous times in this thread you can pay $100 per person to Princess when you are on the cruise for a Future Cruise Credit and its better than the old one as thats your deposit paid up to 46 day cruise and still allowed to cancel out before final payment is made

[Karennella]

We have had a large price reduction on our HAL cruise passed on without any cancellation costs, after our TA asked for us. She did tell me she had been unable to do the same for clients on Princess, having to cancel and rebook. Now there has been a further reduction and HAL are passing it on again without us even asking.
But perhaps it is because the cruise goes to some currently unpopular destinations in the Middle East!

[The_Big_M]

[quote name='NSWP']Thanks guys, cannot believe what P&O UK is charging for this Sydney - Southampton trip, compared to what Princess is charging for the half WC's on Sun Princess/Dawn Princess.
Like about one third !!!!!!!!

When you think..all Carnival Corp.
[/quote]

Yes, but one set of ships are run by and priced for the UK, and the other is priced by P&O Aust. And there's a big difference in economies between Australia and the UK at the moment - look how low the GBP has gone, whereas the AUD has gone up.

[NSWP]

[quote name='The_Big_M']Yes, but one set of ships are run by and priced for the UK, and the other is priced by P&O Aust. And there's a big difference in economies between Australia and the UK at the moment - look how low the GBP has gone, whereas the AUD has gone up.[/QUOTE]
Correct, but at least P&O UK are giving us Aussies the low prices, unlike Princess Australia. This will be our first cruise on P&O UK since 1970 - Iberia. Where I met the 'Boss.'

I have two upcoming adventures on Princess..Ruby and Coral, Oct/Nov, but if Princess cannot lower their prices, that will be the end of Princess for me, even though I have been loyal and done a dozen cruises with them. Just too many better deals around than Princess, currently.

[The_Big_M]

[quote name='NSWP']I have two upcoming adventures on Princess..Ruby and Coral, Oct/Nov, but if Princess cannot lower their prices, that will be the end of Princess for me, even though I have been loyal and done a dozen cruises with them. Just too many better deals around than Princess, currently.[/quote]

While it can hurt when you individually miss out, if enough people do that then Princess will move to meet the market.

I figure if they don't move their prices then there are still enough people that want that cruise more than I do, so they're still willing to pay the price. One thing's pretty certain; the cruise won't be sailing empty!

[MargoK]

We have booked with Celebrity Century for 24th Dec - Oceanview Accessible Cabin, paid our deposit - happy chappies as we had another Christmas New Year Cruise. A pity it wasn't on Princess as we would be Platinum, and we could have had a balcony, but thats life!

Then I read that Kiwi Kruzer had managed to get very attractive fare on the cruise before us, so it prompted me to check the Celebrity website. Lo and behold our category of cabin had had a price drop of $1100pp!! :eek: So I got on the phone to the TA quick smart.

After much delay having to go via the NZ Agent and then to the Aussie Agent, our TA has managed to cancel and rebook the same cabin! :D:D Haven't got the final new figure yet - Celebrity are a bit slow getting their invoices out, but am so happy.

Needing an Accessible cabin means booking with a TA as you cannot book accessible cabins on the internet direct - which I totally understand. Celebrity are good - they have you sign a document in which you declare you have a disability requiring an accessible cabin. Just wish all cruiselines were as good, but that is another issue all together!