Caribbean Princess 2/21-2/25

[STREETKING]

Let me first start this post by stating these are solely my experiences aboard the CB and others may have different opinions and experiences. Also this is only my second cruise on Princess but have been on many other lines and this is the first cruise under 7 days. The first was on the Coral Princess and a partial transit through the Panama Canal, I couldn't find enough good thins to say about our experiences on that trip.

 

Overall it was a good cruise, I have yet to have a bad one, some just better than others. We did our first interior stateroom cabin on the Riviera Deck R745 and loved the location, although we did miss our balcony. For the most part our time was spent on the Sports deck. We love the views from the Aft of the ship and the convenience of the Terrace Pool. The lounge chairs around the pool were in high demand with a lot of empty chairs with only towels on them for long periods of time. The 30 minute unoccupied chair rule was non- existent and I'm sure there was not enough staff to begin to police it. This leads me to my first item of disappointment. Not once on the cruise were we approached by a wait staff for beverage service which seemed odd, typically on past cruises there was plenty of servers available. Morgan's bar was close but seemed to have odd hours of operation and when open was filled with smokers which meant it was 2 flights of stairs down to the Outrigger Bar, I know there is limited space for smokers to go nowadays but having a smoking area next to the kids pool made me scratch my head.

 

Now this is a question for the more experienced Princess cruisers, in your opinion do you think they cut back on the service staff for these shorter cruises, or was it simply the location that we choose to sit in? We had purchased the Unlimited Beverage Package which leads to another thought I had while pondering the lack of service, if more and more people purchase the Beverage Package is there less incentive by Princess to employ more wait staff ? The bars at times also seemed to be undermanned only one bartender for a full bar and people waiting in line.

 

My only other complaint was with the credit card denial letter we received. After a trip to the Pursers desk and a 20 minute wait in line the service rep told us our Princess C.C had been denied. We knew that couldn't be the case because the balance had not been exceeded and we had called the credit card company telling them of our travels. After calling the credit card company they said that Princess had run all charges through and also had placed credit authorizations on the card which put the credit limit over. At no time did our charges ever exceed the balance for the card. After much discussion we had them run the card and zero out the current charges, which left us a zero balance, all charges paid in full.This process took about 1.5 hours to get straightened out, I then gave them another card to use for the remainder of the trip, this was day 4. I then proceeded to go and try to print out boarding passes for our return flight, but to no avail, I kept receiving a message that my account had been denied. I didn't want to go back to the ship services desk the line now was extremely long. We went back to get some sun and have a drink, After a 15 minute wait I placed an order at the Outrigger Bar and was told by the bartender that the charges were denied, I explained to him that this couldn't be possible as we had purchased the Unlimited Beverage Package and our charges had been paid in full. I had to go back down to the ship service desk and wait in another long line to speak to a rep. Once I was finally able to talk to one and wasn't getting anywhere I asked to speak with a manager. She informed me that the new C.C was denying the authorizations that they had submitted (shame on me but I had forgot to inform them of my travels). Keep in mind that the bill was now a zero balance and they had stopped service on an item that had been paid in full for. I asked the manager how she could refuse service for an item that was paid for and if a phone call to the room or a letter in the mail box wouldn't have been the right way to solve the issue. After reinstating my services and wasting another hour of the day all was good.

 

Once again let me state that overall we had an excellent time and are now booked on the Emerald Princess for a 10 day Caribbean cruise, but was a little disappointed in the bar service and the credit card issue.

 

Happy Cruising Everyone!

[jagsfan]

I wouldn't blame you for a wild-eyed rant about your ordeal. Especially being denied drinks you had prepaid for! You stated your case very well, and I'm glad you're still sailing on Princess after all that. I guess I'll notify all my cc's that I'm cruising, just in case.

[Luvmyrotti]

Lately I've seen a rash of the over-authorizations locking out credit cards being reported here on the boards. I've never experienced this on a Princess ship. I wonder is it isolated to a single ship or is it a new process for Princess?

 

It clearly was a big pain the you-know-what and I really don't want to experience it on my upcoming cruise.

[geoherb]

I've also noticed a few complaints here about credit cards being denied because they were over their limits. I haven't paid attention to whether particular ships have been more prone to this issue than others. I wonder what the credit limits on the particular cards have been--not that anyone should feel compelled to share such personal info on a message board.

[mamaboss]

Was on the same cruise. I have been reading lots of complaints about the credit card situation. I have never had an issue but I have a high credit limit. We ordered most of our drinks from the pool or inside bar with no issue. Since that cruise (and the next) had a high volume of Noro maybe some staff had come down with it and they were a bit short in some areas? The food in the dining room is what I found lacking flavor. We also booked the Emerald for next year, BTB again.

[UpcountryTravelers]

I've also noticed a few complaints here about credit cards being denied because they were over their limits. I haven't paid attention to whether particular ships have been more prone to this issue than others. I wonder what the credit limits on the particular cards have been--not that anyone should feel compelled to share such personal info on a message board.

 

That's why I use one that has no limits.

[Colo Cruiser]

Let me first start this post by stating these are solely my experiences aboard the CB and others may have different opinions and experiences. Also this is only my second cruise on Princess but have been on many other lines and this is the first cruise under 7 days. The first was on the Coral Princess and a partial transit through the Panama Canal, I couldn't find enough good thins to say about our experiences on that trip.

 

Overall it was a good cruise, I have yet to have a bad one, some just better than others. We did our first interior stateroom cabin on the Riviera Deck R745 and loved the location, although we did miss our balcony. For the most part our time was spent on the Sports deck. We love the views from the Aft of the ship and the convenience of the Terrace Pool. The lounge chairs around the pool were in high demand with a lot of empty chairs with only towels on them for long periods of time. The 30 minute unoccupied chair rule was non- existent and I'm sure there was not enough staff to begin to police it. This leads me to my first item of disappointment. Not once on the cruise were we approached by a wait staff for beverage service which seemed odd, typically on past cruises there was plenty of servers available. Morgan's bar was close but seemed to have odd hours of operation and when open was filled with smokers which meant it was 2 flights of stairs down to the Outrigger Bar, I know there is limited space for smokers to go nowadays but having a smoking area next to the kids pool made me scratch my head.

 

Now this is a question for the more experienced Princess cruisers, in your opinion do you think they cut back on the service staff for these shorter cruises, or was it simply the location that we choose to sit in? We had purchased the Unlimited Beverage Package which leads to another thought I had while pondering the lack of service, if more and more people purchase the Beverage Package is there less incentive by Princess to employ more wait staff ? The bars at times also seemed to be undermanned only one bartender for a full bar and people waiting in line.

 

My only other complaint was with the credit card denial letter we received. After a trip to the Pursers desk and a 20 minute wait in line the service rep told us our Princess C.C had been denied. We knew that couldn't be the case because the balance had not been exceeded and we had called the credit card company telling them of our travels. After calling the credit card company they said that Princess had run all charges through and also had placed credit authorizations on the card which put the credit limit over. At no time did our charges ever exceed the balance for the card. After much discussion we had them run the card and zero out the current charges, which left us a zero balance, all charges paid in full.This process took about 1.5 hours to get straightened out, I then gave them another card to use for the remainder of the trip, this was day 4. I then proceeded to go and try to print out boarding passes for our return flight, but to no avail, I kept receiving a message that my account had been denied. I didn't want to go back to the ship services desk the line now was extremely long. We went back to get some sun and have a drink, After a 15 minute wait I placed an order at the Outrigger Bar and was told by the bartender that the charges were denied, I explained to him that this couldn't be possible as we had purchased the Unlimited Beverage Package and our charges had been paid in full. I had to go back down to the ship service desk and wait in another long line to speak to a rep. Once I was finally able to talk to one and wasn't getting anywhere I asked to speak with a manager. She informed me that the new C.C was denying the authorizations that they had submitted (shame on me but I had forgot to inform them of my travels). Keep in mind that the bill was now a zero balance and they had stopped service on an item that had been paid in full for. I asked the manager how she could refuse service for an item that was paid for and if a phone call to the room or a letter in the mail box wouldn't have been the right way to solve the issue. After reinstating my services and wasting another hour of the day all was good.

 

Once again let me state that overall we had an excellent time and are now booked on the Emerald Princess for a 10 day Caribbean cruise, but was a little disappointed in the bar service and the credit card issue.

 

Happy Cruising Everyone!

 

Thanks for your comments on your cruise.

Were you using a debit card?

 

I can say in 80 plus cruises on various lines we have never a CC issue, knock on wood. :(

[lcpagejr]

Suggestion for some is to purchase a prepaid card before leaving (if cash is readily available)... Many have reported this works just fine and of course no issues with credit card companies>

 

I too made the mistake of not notifying my CC company....but the pursuers desk was very accomodating in working with me and even gave me a cell phone to call my cc company to notify them I was traveling abroad so they would release the card.

[Colo Cruiser]

Suggestion for some is to purchase a prepaid card before leaving (if cash is readily available)... Many have reported this works just fine and of course no issues with credit card companies>

 

I too made the mistake of not notifying my CC company....but the pursuers desk was very accomodating in working with me and even gave me a cell phone to call my cc company to notify them I was traveling abroad so they would release the card.

 

I believe that I have read folks having issues with pre paid cards. :confused:

[lcpagejr]

Its a shame all the fraud in todays society has caused all these additional steps... I recognize its in place to protect us...but sometimes its so easy to forget to contact your banks!!

[caribill]

Suggestion for some is to purchase a prepaid card before leaving (if cash is readily available)... Many have reported this works just fine and of course no issues with credit card companies>

 

I too made the mistake of not notifying my CC company....but the pursuers desk was very accomodating in working with me and even gave me a cell phone to call my cc company to notify them I was traveling abroad so they would release the card.

 

Unless the card has your name embossed on it, it will not be usable on board. They want a card associated with a real bank account.

 

A prepaid card cannot have a temporary hold placed on it and cannot have any money taken from it unless it is swiped at the time of the charge.

 

(Not sure why a card used on a Princess cruise that uses the US $ as its currency would require any notice in advance to a USA credit card company about foreign travel. Charges from the ship will come from HQ in California, not a foreign location.)

Edited March 23, 2015 by caribill