Tip for dealing with Princess customer service

[cellyml12]

I have found that if you smile and secretly slide them a cool, crisp one dollar bill you can get just about whatever you want on the ship.

 

Just kidding and attempting to get some smiles on a Friday!

 

Remember, cruising is all about having fun!

 

-Glenn

 

LOL. I got a chuckle out of that one! :D

[Shogun]

Hi

 

I will not bore you with storries of being nice to Princess staff and crew only to find little gifts from them on my next cruise, as by this time most of use know if you are nice to them they will repay your kindess many times over,

 

instead a little story from work,

 

we were due to get new company cars, the sheet of options went around,

you could get two out of five options, better paint work but no fancy sound system etc,

 

I just put happy to take what was offered,

 

well the great day arrived and two hundred new cars arrived, the folk in charge were busy matching folk to the correct cars, but folking were complainiing I wanted that colour, and that type of wheels, I want a sun roof and a fancy sound system, well they did their best to match folk to the cars requested, but there was an issue the dealer could not make the order up so had sent one car with all five options fitted, guess who got that car.

 

be nice to others, and others will be nice to you.

 

yours Shogun

[PunkiC]

I remember once checking in for a flight where the woman in front of me insisted that she had to have an exit row because she had just had back surgery and was in serious pain. The gate agent tried repeatedly to explain that onlyu able bodied adults could occupy an exit row, but the passenger carried on (to no avail) for about 7minutes. When she left (disgusted with her failure to get an exit row) I stepped up to the agent and said, "I need to sit on the Captain's lap because I am afraid of flying by myself". The agent cracked up and finally said, "Sorry, but 1A is the best I can do". We both laughed at that and I proceeded to board and claim my first-class seat.

 

Of course, I had status on the airline and had been pretty far u p the first-class wait list, but I sure appreciated the seat. :)

[improvman]

I knew my post would be controversial, and honestly, the fact that you all disagree with my post has restored my faith in the human race.

 

FYI, my friend also tipped our waiter and their porter very generously.

[oceanbreezes18]

After a long flight and a long line at the car rental counter, I found myself watching person after person berating the girl at the counter. They were waiting for cars to be cleaned in the class I had ordered, along with the others in front of me. When it was my turn and the clerk braced herself for another angry customer I just smiled and told her I was sorry she was getting the brunt of so much frustration. She looked surprised, and asked how many were in my party and how much luggage I had. I found myself immediately upgraded from a midsize to a convertible with all the bells and whistles.

 

I always try to treat people with the respect and courtesy I would like to receive.

[Cruiserkenn]

I knew my post would be controversial, and honestly, the fact that you all disagree with my post has restored my faith in the human race.

 

FYI, my friend also tipped our waiter and their porter very generously.

 

Thanks for saying this. Good man.

[audal29]

I don't agree with your or your friend's line of thinking. I believe in Karma and the way you treat others is the way that you will be treated. What a way to start a vacation, by being nasty to customer service. Makes me wonder how they and you will be when you actually get onboard and something doesn't go your way.

There is always someone at reception with a loud voice demanding or complaining about something and I am always glad when they dont get anywhere. So difficult for staff who have to keep their cool.

[Smokeyham]

I knew my post would be controversial, and honestly, the fact that you all disagree with my post has restored my faith in the human race.

 

FYI, my friend also tipped our waiter and their porter very generously.

 

 

Yes, thanks for saying this. I agree with so many who have said that being polite and respectful gets you so much further.

[CRUZER2012]

I have found that if you smile and secretly slide them a cool, crisp one dollar bill you can get just about whatever you want on the ship.

 

Just kidding and attempting to get some smiles on a Friday!

 

Remember, cruising is all about having fun!

 

-Glenn

 

 

Thanks, Glenn. :D:D:D

[FritzG]

We had a similar experience in customs at DTW about 5 years ago. The couple in front of us were difficult and argumentative including a claim that "someone" had told the woman that it was ok to paste a more recent picture in her passport! They took a long time and were finally directed to another area. First of all, my husband greeted the agent with a friendly hello, and the agent he apologized for the long wait. My husband told him that he was only doing his job, and we didn't mind waiting. He welcomed us back to the USA and waved us through, no muss, no fuss, no questions.

[mr green]

When we booked our Alaska cruise on the Sea Princess, early seating was full so we chose anytime and were put on the wait list for early. Our friends who had early had requested we sit with them, and vice versa, but it had no effect.

 

After reading stories on CC about very long waits and being unable to make reservations for AD, I called Princess twice to attempt to switch to early dining, explaining I had kids and didn't want to get in line at 4:45. It was no use. Plus, when I explained I read on CC about hour log waits, they told me this was not true. I told them I refused to believe everyone on CC was wrong. I got nowhere.

 

My friends who we had requested to sit with called up without my knowledge with a list of complaints, including the fact that we were supposed to sit together. Customer service assured this would be fixed.

 

When we arrived to the dock, I was pleasantly shocked to learn I not only had early seating, but were at the same table with our friends.

 

I hate to say this, and ymmv, but if you can't make progress with customer service by being nice, they might be more receptive to you if you get angry and complain.

 

I have never had problems getting on early seating with Princess, I have however with HAL, but, with the help of my TA solved it very easily.

The first time, I was told that the 'wait list' was too long even to get on, so I asked my TA to call the 'Regional Rep.', and the next day my wife and I were on early seating. I had her do it again on another cruise, and, once again it worked.

 

john

[TracieABD]

I love these posts about people treating others with dignity and respect. I attempt this daily, and as a human, sometimes I fail miserably and sometimes I exceed my best expectations.

 

At the risk of semantic hairsplitting, karma is about cause and effect and the principle of reciprocity. When a person does the best they can do for the right reasons, they send a positive energy into the human cosmos. That positivity may not be revisited on this person, but will positively imact someone. The same principle holds true for those who act in an inhumane fashion. Karma does not necessarily follow a one to one corrospondance. That said, it might be all the more reason to act responsibly and respond with kindness and compassion. Random acts of kindness...

 

Ok. That's my two cents. :)

[ChrisB123]

for another Cruise line. :o

 

Some of the stories related to me about customer calls and demands make me :mad:. The people who answer the phone's do NOT own the company and don't make policy. Why get mad at THEM? My friend has heard every excuse in the book. Like the OP said, hungry children :rolleyes: I'm sure that's one of the most used. Sorry but as a mother of 5, I would have just made sure my kids had some healthy snacks from the MANY places on ship that provide them, NOT get in the customer services's face over it. That's just sad.

[LoveThisCruisingThing]

for another Cruise line. :o

 

Some of the stories related to me about customer calls and demands make me :mad:. The people who answer the phone's do NOT own the company and don't make policy. Why get mad at THEM? My friend has heard every excuse in the book. Like the OP said, hungry children :rolleyes: I'm sure that's one of the most used. Sorry but as a mother of 5, I would have just made sure my kids had some healthy snacks from the MANY places on ship that provide them, NOT get in the customer services's face over it. That's just sad.

 

And that is the way a parent should handle it. Thank you

[Times Prince]

You could have saved yourself a lot of trouble by waiting until you got on bioard and talked to the maitre d.

One can handle this proactively by having the cruise bookings linked together along with a request for seating at the same table. We had one roll call where many of us did exactly that and it worked well.

 

The potential disadvantage of this approach is that it may require transfer of bookings to a single TA. ( on the bright side of this - this is how we "discovered" a stellar TA ).