Princess Customer Service- OMG!

[whitecap]

An example of why we continue to cruise with Princess: Long story short; we booked back to back 5 day cruises on the Caribbean Princess; first 5 day cruise later went on sale and our TA worked with Princess and got the price reduction, no problem; the second 5 day cruise has recently gone on sale and our TA attempted to work with Customer Service to obtain the reduced price or some other compensation however, the representative stated he was limited to only being able to move our cabin location, same type of cabin but smaller balcony, which wasn't, in our opinion, compensation; decided to contact Princess by fax and while attempting to get the right fax number the representative asked what the situation was; advised her of the almost $500 difference between what we paid and new sale price and the result when our TA called; she placed me on hold and return a short time later advising that she was going to have a supervisor discuss the issue with me; supervisor "Janet" came on the line, listened to the issue and stated that she could easily move us to a higher category cabin, mini-suit from regular balcony, without any problem; Janet contacted our TA and advised of the move she wanted to give us, it was agreed and within a few minutes done!

Now that is customer service! Thank you Princess and thank you Janet! :D

[TWA4Ever]

More importantly, is this the actual upgrade fairy? ;)

[whitecap]

More importantly, is this the actual upgrade fairy? ;)

 

Don't know her actual title other than Supervisor, but it did appear that she had a magic wand, waved it, and poof our regular balcony turned into a mini-suite.

[beanersts]

I think it also helps that you are elite status.

[redtogo]

Elite staus doesn't get you an upgrade. We had a couple on our Australian cruise that was upgraded from an inside to a minisuite. It was their first cruise with Princess. I really like that Princess shares the upgrades throughout the passenger levels.

 

Hope you enjoy your minisuite. I know you will :)

[rkmw]

Don't know her actual title other than Supervisor, but it did appear that she had a magic wand, waved it, and poof our regular balcony turned into a mini-suite.

 

your very lucky princess spoke to you about your booking seeing you booked with a TA and because your elite that wouldnt matter

[whitecap]

Elite staus doesn't get you an upgrade. We had a couple on our Australian cruise that was upgraded from an inside to a minisuite. It was their first cruise with Princess. I really like that Princess shares the upgrades throughout the passenger levels.

 

Hope you enjoy your minisuite. I know you will :)

 

Thank you. Although our status was discussed I don't know how much it had to do with the change. The objective was to compensate for the almost $500 difference. We love the Caribe balconies because they are larger but we also love the mini-suites as the cabins are larger. Win Win for us!

[whitecap]

your very lucky princess spoke to you about your booking seeing you booked with a TA and because your elite that wouldnt matter

 

It was made very clear from the onset of the phone conversation that prices/cost could not be discussed. Once it was acknowledge that a change could be made, the TA had to be contacted by Princess and agree. Easy peezie.

[WannaCruise365]

Was this reduced fare and upgrade done after final payment of these cruises?

[frac]

That's the Princess we know.

[Bucky3]

Was this reduced fare and upgrade done after final payment of these cruises?

 

We would be interested in the answer to this as well.

[richstowe]

It was made very clear from the onset of the phone conversation that prices/cost could not be discussed. Once it was acknowledge that a change could be made, the TA had to be contacted by Princess and agree. Easy peezie.

I think your outcome is GREAT :) but I am pleasantly surprised that it was in fact "Easy peezie".

Princess or other cruise lines, it isn't always even if we the consumers think it should be.

[whitecap]

Was this reduced fare and upgrade done after final payment of these cruises?

 

Yes it was.

[whitecap]

I think your outcome is GREAT :) but I am pleasantly surprised that it was in fact "Easy peezie".

Princess or other cruise lines, it isn't always even if we the consumers think it should be.

 

We have always had great service from Princess customer service on the phone or on the ship

[ChuckinSC]

On our very first cruise with Princess we were upgraded from a mini suite to Penthouse Suite! To this day we have no idea how, or why. :)

[mysaddlebred000]

I'm glad for you that you got the upgrade BUT

you said this was after final payment SO

technically, you did not deserve a discount.

 

I know everyone says call and ask if you can get an OBC for the price drop but no one should be upset when they don't. 90% of the time we book when the cruise is first available and have never had a cabin sell less than we paid. My cabin category always seems to sell out. But that is the game you play. I get a little upset at people who cut down Princess when they post that they could not get them to lower the price. Maybe some people should just wait until after final payment and then book. Yes, just like airfares, you are not happy when the person sitting next to you on the plane tells you what they paid and it is half of what you paid.

[richstowe]

I'm glad for you that you got the upgrade BUT

you said this was after final payment SO

technically, you did not deserve a discount.

 

I know everyone says call and ask if you can get an OBC for the price drop but no one should be upset when they don't. 90% of the time we book when the cruise is first available and have never had a cabin sell less than we paid. My cabin category always seems to sell out. But that is the game you play. I get a little upset at people who cut down Princess when they post that they could not get them to lower the price. Maybe some people should just wait until after final payment and then book. Yes, just like airfares, you are not happy when the person sitting next to you on the plane tells you what they paid and it is half of what you paid.

Is an upgrade a discount ? I'm not sure. I see your point but upgrading a good customer,

as the OP indicated, instead of rebating them with cash seems like a good idea to me.

The customer is kept happy being moved to a higher level unsold cabin without actually getting money back.

Edited November 1, 2014 by richstowe

[lovevacadays]

Very cool! Enjoy your mini-suite.:):):)

[lovevacadays]

[/size]

 

Yes it was.

 

You were very lucky. That is fantastic. And, it isn't a matter of deserving or not deserving as someone else stated. It was great service on Princess' part and you might have had some lucky timing in who you got on the phone. Congrats. Enjoy.

[Bucky3]

We have always had great service from Princess customer service on the phone or on the ship

 

We feel the same way about Princess which is why it is now and has been for several years the only line we sail.

 

Have a wonderful cruise in your mini.

Edited November 1, 2014 by Bucky3

[mysaddlebred000]

Is an upgrade a discount ? I'm not sure. I see your point but upgrading a good customer,

as the OP indicated, instead of rebating them with cash seems like a good idea to me..

 

The OP has a b2b. They did get a refund on the first one and this upgrade on the second one.

[whitecap]

I'm glad for you that you got the upgrade BUT

you said this was after final payment SO

technically, you did not deserve a discount.

 

I know everyone says call and ask if you can get an OBC for the price drop but no one should be upset when they don't. 90% of the time we book when the cruise is first available and have never had a cabin sell less than we paid. My cabin category always seems to sell out. But that is the game you play. I get a little upset at people who cut down Princess when they post that they could not get them to lower the price. Maybe some people should just wait until after final payment and then book. Yes, just like airfares, you are not happy when the person sitting next to you on the plane tells you what they paid and it is half of what you paid.

 

I do understand what you are saying and we too have booked cruises for a great fare and the price goes up as the cruise gets closer. Having owned and operated a small business for 19 years, success comes with customer service that betters your competition. In this case we didn't "deserve" anything nor did we "demand" anything; we felt that as good customers Princess might offer us something to compensate for the lower rate they were now offering to others for the same category cabin we had; Princess quickly made the decision that great customer service is what keeps people coming back. They made a offer to say thank you, and we accepted. Had they not made any offer, we would still be sailing and booking with them.

[whitecap]

You were very lucky. That is fantastic. And, it isn't a matter of deserving or not deserving as someone else stated. It was great service on Princess' part and you might have had some lucky timing in who you got on the phone. Congrats. Enjoy.

 

You are exactly right. It never hurts to ask and it never hurts to ask more than once! The person our TA spoke to first believed that his solution was the only solution available whereas the person I spoke to quickly saw the cost difference and that a fair solution was the one our TA suggested from the beginning, move to a mini-suite, and completed everything within minutes. Friendly, professional, caring and customer satisfaction. :D

[momstr]

We booked on Princess and had a medical emergency requiring an accessible cabin. Not only did they graciously accommodate me but refunded some of the fare due to the location. We also had a cruise booked on Carnival booked two weeks prior to Princess. It took three phone calls umpteen emails and getting nasty to keep from getting an accessible room. Much less them demanding we pay substantially more. I got nasty and won but it shouldn't require that for a solution to a problem.

[Lyndria]

Nice! Enjoy the mini suite!