Downgrade fairy strikes!

[fishin' musician]

"Hello Mr Whomever. This is Princess Cruise Lines calling. We regret to inform you that your booked Cat J has been oversold and there are not enough rooms to fulfill your Cat J request. However, we can offer you a one step lower Category and compensate you $50 PP. Will you accept this?"

 

Now, if you had NO experience with the drill and your wife was not around, I wonder what you would say? I'm sure they made it sound urgent.

 

I can envision DH being all excited and he can't wait to tell DW about the great deal he got from Princess. Then DW hits him with the reality (followed by the skillet).

[caribill]

"Hello Mr Whomever. This is Princess Cruise Lines calling. We regret to inform you that your booked Cat J has been oversold and there are not enough rooms to fulfill your Cat J request. However, we can offer you a one step lower Category and compensate you $50 PP. Will you accept this?"

 

 

I had the impression that it was $50 total, not pp

[Thoth]

Downgrade fairy ? Wow...that one is new to me !

I'm already booked as low as I can go. I guess I could always sleep in a tent in the cargo hold ?

[paddingtonbear]

"Hello Mr Whomever. This is Princess Cruise Lines calling. We regret to inform you that your booked Cat J has been oversold and there are not enough rooms to fulfill your Cat J request. However, we can offer you a one step lower Category and compensate you $50 PP. Will you accept this?"

 

Now, if you had NO experience with the drill and your wife was not around, I wonder what you would say? I'm sure they made it sound urgent.

 

I can envision DH being all excited and he can't wait to tell DW about the great deal he got from Princess. Then DW hits him with the reality (followed by the skillet).

 

My dh certainly wouldn't have known any better. :)

[austinlw]

"Hello Mr Whomever. This is Princess Cruise Lines calling. We regret to inform you that your booked Cat J has been oversold and there are not enough rooms to fulfill your Cat J request. However, we can offer you a one step lower Category and compensate you $50 PP. Will you accept this?"

 

My answer would be, "No. Guarantee means guarantee. I should get what I signed up for or a higher category." I wouldn't even entertain the thought of downgrading unless they offered a WHOLE LOT MORE than $50 pp. What are they going to do? Lose me as a customer? I think not. The burden of fulfilling the guarantee agreement is on them or they risk losing us to another cruise line. If they overbook that's their problem. And my wife would either hand the phone over to me (since I generally make our travel arrangements) or she would say about the same thing (she was once a hotel front desk manager and knows how the game is played).

[pablo222]

My answer would be, "No. Guarantee means guarantee. I should get what I signed up for or a higher category." I wouldn't even entertain the thought of downgrading unless they offered a WHOLE LOT MORE than $50 pp. What are they going to do?

 

Clearly what they are going to do is offer $50 to other folks

booked in the category, until enough take it. And, as we can

see, they do. If that doesn't work, they will keep up-ing the

offer until they get the resolution they need.

 

It's always the same -- when you're sitting on a plane at LGA at 17:30

on a Friday night, and a gate agent comes on board and starts offerening

compensation for someone to get off.

 

If you hold out, you'll probably get the full Y fare. But there is always

some college student who will take a $25 voucher for future travel and a

twinkie to give up their seat.

[weberman]

Not likely but those are the breaks (positive and negative) when you book a Guarantee. I never do a Guarantee but I select a specific cabin and specify "do not upgrade".

DON

 

I booked on the Royal on the first day (March 15) that bookings were available. I am booked on the October 9, 2013 Trans-Atlantic. Princess was only offering Guarantee bookings in many categories. I booked directly with Princess and there was no way for the Princess Rep to get around the Guarantee. I am in one of the new categories called Deluxe Balcony. Probably won't get a cabin assignment until after final payment. This Royal cruise has been sold out for some time.