Princess screwed our Med Cruise

[spingal]

;) We will meet in person someday!!

I look forward to it! :D

[spingal]

;) We will meet in person someday!!

I look forward to it!! :D

[sandbag7]

That's not an appropriate question sir. Albatross on a stick!

[zductive]

This will be my final post regarding this cruise . (applause)

 

I was on the cruise and while some of my previous posts have been inflamed, here is what happened.

 

After we left Mykonos the port engine "failed". As a result, we spent several hours becalmed while the staff tried to determine what the problem was. The captain said that he would tell us at 11pm what was happening. At 12pm, the captain told us that he didn't know what was happening. The next morning we found that we had docked in samos (about 30 km from kudasai). We tendered to the island and left the island at about 5pm. At 10:45pm we were told that we were not going to kudasai - we were going to Athens. He said that we were going to get a letter from corporate. We were also told that because of the limited time to set things up there would not be any tours available. I called my tour guide in Athens at 12 midnight and got him to arrange a van a day earlier than I had originally scheduled. He said that he could send his nephew who spoke some english. I went to the pursers desk and found (not 1000 people) but more likely about 150 to 300 people crowded around trying to get some information. The ship's public relations officer finally left his spot behind the purser's desk and mingled with the crowd (after the hotter heads had gone away). By that time, I had intercepted a copy of the letter that was being placed on our rooms. We would receive 400$ in ship credit. The credit could only be used on this cruise and could not be refunded. We were going to Athens so that the technicians could fix the engines. But, if they didn't, we would have 2 days to reach Venice. In fact, we did reach Venice a few hours early. Of course, we were not told that we would be early with enough advanced notice so that we could make arrangements for the secret itineraries tour.

 

Plain and simple - thats what happened.

 

The captain told us that he would give us information at a given time and he didn't. He told us that we would be offered something but he didn't know what it would be.

 

The next day, the captain's announcement that we were in Samos was made without any hint of an apology for not going to Istanbul.

 

Was the problem handled correctly. Probably not. We very rapidly lost faith that the captain was being honest with us. Many of us felt that we would probably not see Venice. Nothing was done to dispell that rumor. Remember that all we knew was how far away Venice was and how fast our average speed had been. With that information, we were getting to Venice about 7 hours later than we finally arrived. In fact, the captain cut power and we drifted for a few hours on the day before we arrived in Venice. He never gave us assurance that we would not miss our fourth city.

 

I had arranged private tours in every city on this cruise except for Venice. As such, I had read virtually everything that I could regarding each of the destinations. I would estimate that I spent on the order of 40 hours reading about what we could see and do in each city. Deleting Istanbul and Kudasai wasted about 80 hours (oh poor me). Not having a decent tour guide in Athens meant that would not be able to see corinth or cape sunion (again oh poor me).

 

I didn't care too much about the ship A sewer pipe started leaking in the middle of the hallway on aloha deck starboard side - The bucket sat in the middle of the hallway for a couple of days. At least it didn't stink. My room was A747 (excellent location btw) and I didn't have to walk by the bucket very many times. The linen carts were left in the hallways every day. The food (subjective of cours) was not as good as I had expected. The lines at the personal choice dining and in the buffet were longer than I had hoped for. (forget eating in michaengelo (sic) between 8 and 9. We were lied to on two occasions when I asked for a table by the window (for 2). Nothing was available until we complained to the maitre-d.

 

Sabatinis was an experience and a half and I loved it!

 

The band never got anything going. They could have easily been replaced by a good cd.

 

The entertainment was fine - saw 3 of the shows - not Vegas quality but amusing.

 

The staff on the ship were polite - but they rarely spoke with the passengers or went too far out of their way to make the cruise enjoyable.

 

This ship is tired. The staff don't try very hard to make the cruise exciting. The food is ok but I wouldn't go back to the restaraunt.

 

The primary reason for the cruise was to experience the ports. Three of the ports were not provided. There were an awful lot of people that were not at all happy with the treatment that we were given.

 

I had hoped to go on the Nov cruise to Istanbul, Kudasai, Athens Cairo and Alexandria - this experience forces me to reconsider

 

Maybe I will go diving in the seychelles instead.

 

And thats the rest of the story - page2:mad:

 

 

That is what happened.

[London chick]

I was on the ship and Zductive's account of the poor handling of this matter is accurate. There will, of course always be issues beyond the cruise line's control - and Princess should be able to handle them professionally.

 

My question is - was this really beyond their control, or had the maintenence issues been ongoing for sometime? If that's the case I would prefer to be told in advance, so I can at least have the option to spend my $9k and 10th wedding anniversary elsewhere.

 

But, if it was a completely unforeseen issue, then Princess should be better able to manage basic customer communications. It was the lack of credible, timely explainations, combined with the lack of empathy and apology (let's not forget these ports are the exotic ones on the itinerary - the highlight for most passengers), that caused this to be such as fiasco. The letter came far too late, after the bad feeling in some cases had boiled over. There were really many hundreds of dissapointed passengers, who rightfully expected better communication. The passengers actually had a petition of over 500 signatures.

 

I am not sure if corporate delays caused some of the communications failures, but from my experience of complaint management for a large global corporation, this really missed the mark. And yes, I know there are professional complainers, but IMO, there are real learning points in this case.

 

I have written to express my views, and await the response with interest. This was my first cruise, so I was amazed to see the drama at the pursers desk. Princess can restore my confidence by accepting this could have been handled better and describing the action they are taking in response to valuable customer feedback (the $400 is not the point). If they meet or exceed my expectations will affect my loyalty and advocacy.. simple as that.

 

Now getting off my soap box...

;)

[London Lad]

I wholeheartedly agree:)

 

 

Gene

[britsbest]

:eek: :eek: Totally unbiased opinion?

I think not!!!:eek:

[spongerob]

If I am on a port intensive cruise and something bad happens that causes a serious disruption in the itinerary, I will retreat to my cabin with a bottle of Grey Goose and lock the door. The only person permitted to enter will be the cabin steward to refill the ice bucket. I will come out when the shouting subsides.

[1cat4jan]

Alot has been said about the lack of communication - about the lateness of communication - about the Captain not communicating when he promised he would.

 

Did you ever have a problem at home - where the service guy was totally flummoxed as to the source? Multiply that by the complexity of a ship's problems and you wonder why the Captain couldn't tell you - exactly - what the heck was going on - what was being done - when the repair was going to be done?????

 

I don't know how the Captain communicated - but I'm hoping if he didn't have anything to say at the scheduled time - he came on anyway and told you he didn't have any information for you.

 

So many times, a company can avoid all this angst if they just keep the customer informed - even if all the "boss" has to say is "I don't know anything, yet."

 

But the reality of life is - "s..t happens." If the worst that happens in your life is a messed up vacation on a luxury liner - wow - you're lucky.

 

Yeah, I admit - I would've been upset - but only if I wasn't kept informed - if only to hear "I don't have a clue when we will have this fixed - I don't know if we can make the scheduled port stop.

 

As for food? It's so subjective - it's hard to comment.

 

As for service? There is no excuse for dishes sitting around - anywhere. But if it bothered me enough - I would've asked for it's removal.

 

Hot water carried around by pax? Not a good idea.

 

I got into this debate late - but after reading the original poster's account - all I can say is - when one writes a letter to a company, one tends to put down every little negative thing they can - in order to bolster the complaint. And sometimes, the pettiness of the extra complaints come off as - well - "petty."

 

When complaining - stick to the primary issues. When a company sees a "laundry list" of negatives, they don't take your letter as seriously as they may otherwise take it.

 

Disappointments come in all "shapes and sizes." In the main scope of life - this one was kinda trivial. However, I do understand anyone's disappointment when they contract for a vacation and do not receive what they paid for.

 

However, if you have a disappointment and spend your entire vacation whining about it - it will only "color" the rest of what might otherwise have been a pretty decent time.

 

Life lesson number one - "roll with the punches." Getting worked up about things you cannot control only makes YOU miserable - it won't change a thing.

 

And no - I'm not a Princess "cheerleader" - I'm a realist about life's little curves.

[calikak]

I've been thinking about the issue of missing ports, and the recent rise in popularity of European crusies, and I've begun to wonder if maybe a cruise isn't the best way to see Europe. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of cruising and we had a great time on our European cruise this year. But I think one of the main reasons that people choose itineraries in Europe is because of the sightseeing in the ports, and on a cruise, having to miss ports is a very real possibility. I spent many pleasant hours prior to our British Isles cruise researching the ports we were scheduled to visit, and when we missed two of those ports due to weather, I was disappointed, probably a lot more disappointed than I would have been had I been on a cruise in a different region. I mean, in the Caribbean, you're really going for the warm weather and pleasant beaches, and maybe some shopping. If your Caribbean cruise ends up going to a different port than the one originally scheduled for, you can probably still find a beach, a place to shop, and warm temperatures, so the disappointment isn't very big. But in Europe, you're not going to Dublin or Copenhagen or Istanbul to lie on the beach and buy rum. You're going there to see sights that you can only see in that particular port, and if you miss that port and go to a replacement one instead, you really can't replicate the activities you'd planned for the original port.

 

I'm not trying to bash the cruise lines here or anything. On our cruise, our missed ports were weather-related and I understand that Princess can't control the weather. In the future, I'll probably think twice about taking a European cruise, not because I don't love travelling in Europe, and not because I don't love cruising, but because a cruise is probably not the best way to experience Europe, because weather and technology create a lot of risk that you won't get to see what you flew over there to see.

 

I think with the dramatic increase in popularity of European cruises over the last year or two, we'll end up seeing more threads like this one. I think it would be in Princess's best interest to more prominently advertise the section of the cruise contract about missed ports in its European brochures, so that people understand that their European cruise may not be what they think it'll be.

[PescadoAmarillo]

If you read the CC rules and understand them the CC board is not supposed to be a source of entertainment...

Say it isn't so!

 

While it is certainly informative, I find CC enormously entertaining, especially certain posters...the same way I watch a certain cable news network solely for its entertainment value. There's no law against it, right?

[bdjam]

There were really many hundreds of dissapointed passengers, who rightfully expected better communication. The passengers actually had a petition of over 500 signatures

OK – I know I said I was out, but I’m still reading and this caught my interest. What the heck were the passengers petitioning for?

[cherylandtk]

I've been thinking about the issue of missing ports, and the recent rise in popularity of European crusies, and I've begun to wonder if maybe a cruise isn't the best way to see Europe.

Beth, we often toy with the idea of cruising Europe, but always turn it down in favor of traveling on our own. Main reasons:

1. We can spend a month in Europe for what it costs to take a 10 or 12 day cruise. (yes, I know, a cruise includes many things to do on ship, but I travel in Europe to see the sights, taste the foods and meet the people, not the production shows)

2. Most of what I want to see in Europe is several hours away from any port (excepting Venice)

3. In Europe, having flexibility to get up and leave, stay longer at the sidewalk cafe or take a different train is part of the experience. That is hard to do on a cruise ship schedule.

4. Large numbers of people disgorged at one time from a cruise ship tend to change the local flavor. One of the best times to experience many port cities is in the evening, AFTER all the day visitors leave and the locals come out and play.

 

I love cruising, and I love travel. But I have yet to use a cruise as a way to see Europe. I know that some folks may not want to experience Europe the way I do, and for them cruising may be the way to go. Its just not my cup of tea.

[London chick]

Alot has been said about the lack of communication - about the lateness of communication - about the Captain not communicating when he promised he would.

 

...

 

I don't know how the Captain communicated - but I'm hoping if he didn't have anything to say at the scheduled time - he came on anyway and told you he didn't have any information for you.

 

So many times, a company can avoid all this angst if they just keep the customer informed - even if all the "boss" has to say is "I don't know anything, yet."

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately the captain promised an update at 11pm, and then did not update til midnight... I totally agree that an interim "we're still checking, and I will update you by xx" would have demonstrated the very basics of customer care... "keep your promises", even if only to say "I need to get more information".

 

This was really just once incidence of poor comms, there were more. All of this resulted in the petition being formed...are 500 passengers all unreasonable? Or, maybe, just maybe, could Princess have handled the comms better?

 

My line of work tells me there is an opportunity for Princess to improve.

 

PS - On the question of food (subjective!) I found it "very average" but my husband thought it was "good". Neither of us found it to be Excellent... (which according to the Princess defintion they tell us on board, means "not perfect, but better than good").

[Pam in CA]

Cheryl... I agree with you completely in that if you want to experience the sights and sounds of Europe, you really need to do a land vacation. If the cities and towns are important, then that's the way to go. However, to spend that time, you really need longer than a week unless you spend it all in one or two cities/towns. Most people don't have a month or even two weeks at a time to travel.

 

Other than the obvious of being on a cruise ship, cruising offers two benefits that I can see: you get to see a variety of places in a relatively short period of time; you only have to unpack once.

 

For me, I like cruising Europe because I've been there many times from the time I was 15 (almost 50 years ago) and have spent weeks/months/a year at a time so that going back to where I've been before is a bonus, not a once-in-a-lifetime experience. And, I've been throughout most of Europe so there are few places I haven't visited. While not rare, it makes me a bit atypical.

 

To me, the cruise is the ship, and being on the ship is the destination. I do pick cruises for their itinerary but I know that if I miss a port or two, I'll probably have another opportunity. I plan, and hope, to cruise to the South Pacific, Asia and Southern Africa at some time... those are places I'd like to see and visit and which I might not have a chance to see again.

[Pam in CA]

Unfortunately the captain promised an update at 11pm, and then did not update til midnight... I totally agree that an interim "we're still checking, and I will update you by xx" would have demonstrated the very basics of customer care... "keep your promises", even if only to say "I need to get more information".

 

This was really just once incidence of poor comms, there were more. All of this resulted in the petition being formed...are 500 passengers all unreasonable? Or, maybe, just maybe, could Princess have handled the comms better?

 

My line of work tells me there is an opportunity for Princess to improve.

From what I've read, I agree that the communication could have, should have been much better and that no matter how busy the Captain and crew were, updates with even "No news yet" would have made a difference. The CD probably wasn't in the engine room so IMHO, there's no excuse that he/she couldn't have provided updates. The CD's job isn't just about entertainment or activities. They're as responsible for the passenger's onboard experience as the Captain. After all, they write and publish the Patter, do announcements and all other communications onboard.

 

Was a lack of updates a reason to riot or send out petitions? No... I don't think so. But I agree entirely that a better effort to communicate with the passengers should have been made.

[Zebboriah]

After scanning through the posts and doing a search...I didn't see anyone really mention a reaction to the petty gripes regarding a plate being left for 3 hours or the martini on the floor. As I was reading this I was thinking to myself "there are people in New Orleans and surrounding areas that don't even have plates to eat off of". I was fuming at that point and then to see the comment later on in regards to her being 'offended' by Ewan...I was beside myself. I'm sorry, simply because I am an American does not mean that I can in the least bit relate myself to those who have suffered the great loss of Katrina and now the loss that will most certainly come from Rita.

 

Constructive concerns have their place. A cruise is an investment. I am going on one in April and I hope it's all I hope it to be but now having had a less than stellar cruise experience in the past, I try not to go in with too high expectations. I figure I'll have a much better time that way.

 

To the OP, your worst day on that "boat" is 1 million times better than the best day for most of these hurricane survivors. I think all of us who have to accept "normal life" or even a little less than normal really need to count our blessings.

[bdjam]

This was really just once incidence of poor comms, there were more. All of this resulted in the petition being formed...are 500 passengers all unreasonable? Or, maybe, just maybe, could Princess have handled the comms better?

I still don’t get it – what were the passengers petitioning for? For better communication? For the Captain to drive the ship to the missed ports mechanical issue or no? What??

I work in the IT industry and sometimes we experience failures. During those times, communication is important, but sometimes it's not tantamount. Sometimes being busy taking care of the issue is more important than communicating that it's being worked on - which people already know. I think patience is a virtue - the communication was only an hour late. And remember that the majority of the crew on that ship are not from the US - their cultural differences may result in communication differences.

[London chick]

Regarding "Sometimes being busy taking care of the issue is more important than communicating that it's being worked on - which people already know. I think patience is a virtue - the communication was only an hour late. And remember that the majority of the crew on that ship are not from the US - their cultural differences may result in communication differences"

 

 

1) Other staff on the cruise ship could have communicated the interim message - "Captain still busy looking into this, will update you by xx"

2) No annoucement by nearly midnight (and no eta for the annoucement when we called pursers desk at 11.45pm as we just wanted to get to bed) suggested that there was no co-ordination on the comms

3) The majority of the senior crew were western (I don't see the relevance of them not being from the US?!) and in their professional service capacity should have been able to manage this.

 

My perspective obviously is different from those who were not on the ship. Having been there, my personal opinion is that it was badly handled. If it were my company, I would be reviewing the comms strategy and execution policy for exactly this kind of circumstance (surely not too difficult).

 

Regarding the petition - I cannot tell you the details - perhaps it should be a question posed on a new thread?

[bdjam]

Regarding the petition - I cannot tell you the details - perhaps it should be a question posed on a new thread?

I’m just saying that in times of failure, sometimes communication isn’t the first priority. If the Captain had told you five hours late that everything was satisfactory, communication probably wouldn’t have been an issue here. It's unfortunate that the communication channels weren't more clear during this incident, but I have to think that if 2600 pssengers board a ship for a trip around the Med, there must be some level of trust in the Captain and his crew to handle these kinds of issues. Perhaps the Captain was too busy to suggest to other crew when a report was coming out - perhaps he didn't know. Would people on board have been more satisfied if they were told there would be news at a certain time and there still wasn't? Apparently not. I'm not arguing that communication isn't a good thing - I'm just saying sometimes it has to wait for more important things.

As for the petition – if it’s unknown what it was for, then I can’t see how it supports the debate here. Were the 500 passengers who signed it unreasonable? Depending on what it represented, they quite possibly were. Maybe if the Captain knew there was a "riot" going on at the Purser's desk he would have handled the whole thing differently - like ending the cruise and putting everyone off the ship.

[woodofpine]

If I suffered that sort of "problem" - shoot a vacation kidney stilletto - I'd be "ROYALLY PISSED"! O.K. - like insurance, we know the line has us by the short hairs. If I were running a line, I'd say, "check the print, gottcha by the short hairs"!

 

No way for any line to get out of this with good will - short of a multi-million dollar lickin',

 

Pick your favorite line (or any, NOT in or going in Ch. 11) they won't make it right...

[Ethel5]

If I suffered that sort of "problem" - shoot a vacation kidney stilletto - I'd be "ROYALLY PISSED"! O.K. - like insurance, we know the line has us by the short hairs. If I were running a line, I'd say, "check the print, gottcha by the short hairs"!

 

No way for any line to get out of this with good will - short of a multi-million dollar lickin',

 

Pick your favorite line (or any, NOT in or going in Ch. 11) they won't make it right...

 

HUH?:confused:

[1cat4jan]

To the OP, your worst day on that "boat" is 1 million times better than the best day for most of these hurricane survivors. I think all of us who have to accept "normal life" or even a little less than normal really need to count our blessings.

Of course you're right - but this isn't a fair comment.

 

Almost nothing in life - short of losing one's loved ones - is as bad as living through a catastrophe.

 

Can we ever complain about anything again? In the scope of bad things - hardly anyone would ever be justified in complaining - if the "marker" is New Orleans or 9/11.

 

The original poster had a right to be disappointed - to think about himself - but at a certain point - one has to get over it - especially when something happens that is out of almost everyone's control.

 

You just have to remember that the cruise line never wants to have the ship breakdown - miss a port - suffer bad weather. DUH

 

It's how we react that makes a problem turn into a HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE.

 

I know everyone on this board feels bad that someone's vacation was ruined. We all know how we plan for our cruises, how we spend a whole lot of money, etc. - and anything that mars it can be very upsetting. It's just that - even leaving out truly real catastrophe's as the "benchmark" - the reality is - we can make the best of our trip if we decide to not let the disappointments color the rest of our vacation.

[ucalegend]

Sorry about this but I just have to say...

 

The OP is a professional complainer, the sort who goes on holidays, whinges and whines and 'screws' freebee holidays and refunds out of the operator.

 

How do I know this??

 

Cos I used to be an operator in a tourism business and I came across a woman who whinged and whined about everything, demanded this that and the other constantly and was extremely rude to everyone. She then made the big mistake of confiding what she was upto to another passenger in my group. They told me, I told the operator who had chartered my company and that woman got a life ban from all tour operators in the UK. She had 'screwed' companies for 5 yrs before she stumbled across my company....and I ended her little games.

 

The OP is exactly as she was. Professional complainers are fortunately few and far between but when one surfaces, they really lay the dirt on way too thickly.

 

The on board comp was well beyond what Princess, or any other line/company would do, mechanical breakdowns happen, get over it.

 

Professional complainers cost people jobs, the modus operandi is the same...make as much racket as they can, whinge and whine about absolutely everything and take the company for every penny they can.

 

They make me bloody angry.

 

Sorry for the vent but ggggggggrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

 

Well, since I am the OP. I guess I can defend myself. This was the first time I ever complained. I usually don't. But when the service is bad enough, you feel justified. For all of your information, there have been well over 500 responses to Princess about this cruise (letter sent directly to Princess). It is not just me. But thank you all for judging me so quickly. I hope all of you have perfect travel schedules and never have to experience this because I would hate for you to express and opinion and get called names like we are in grammar school.

[mrdawson]

Say it isn't so!

 

While it is certainly informative, I find CC enormously entertaining, especially certain posters...the same way I watch a certain cable news network solely for its entertainment value. There's no law against it, right?

 

I second that motion!:D