I don't get it

[Pushka]

I get three different answers when calling Princess.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[neverbeenhere]

1) Larry

 

2) Curly

 

3) Moe

 

4) If you call again you will get Shemp.

[joybook]

Let me ask another question - Is it going to rain on 2th July 2019? I really do need to know as I do not want to get wet. I'm sure someone will be able to help me. Where about I hear you ask - that doesn't matter - anywhere will do.:)

[mamkmm2]

I'm in the process of planning my first cruise, and have spent a lot of time on both the Princess website and this forum. While it is true that certain questions can easily be looked up on the website, I've also found that an astonishing amount of information on the Princess website is missing, incomplete, outdated, misleading, self-contradicting, and/or just plain wrong.

 

The Princess@sea app is a good example. Is it available on some ships, as suggested here? Or on all ships, as suggested at the bottom of this page? In addition, until quite recently, the latter page was instructing passengers to download the Princess@Sea app from iTunes or GooglePlay, long after Princess had stopped making the app available in that fashion in favor of a new system. Many confused passengers getting ready for their cruise who could not download the app posted here, and learned from other passengers -- not Princess -- about the change.

 

Oh and apart from problems with the Princess website, we are indeed all OCD to a certain degree. :D

 

p.s. Related editorial comment: I don't know how Princess compares to other cruise lines in this regard, but I find the lack of consistent and accurate information on their website to be pretty bad in comparison to the airline and hotel websites I'm used to dealing with these days. Regular posters on this forum should be earning a commission from Princess for the amount of customer care they provide to fellow passengers!

 

And if it isn't the website turning you in circles it is the customer service reps. Just today I called three times, got two that didn't have a clue and one I knew for a fact was wrong even based on what little information I already had. So, what is a smart consumer to do next? You hit up a forum to connect with more experience and knowledgeable consumers of the same product. I got my answer in under 10 minutes from multiple posters.

 

Honestly, people need to get a grip and stop being so dang snarky. You don't like the questions? Go find something else to do, a different forum to cruise, or go watch the grass grow. It makes no logical sense to be so negative because a forum is fulfilling its reason for existence. You want things run your way then go start your own forum and moderate the stink out of it and make sure everyone keeps their mouths shut unless you give them your royal permission to post.

[mek]

Which begs the question: Why don't people use the search feature?

 

Well it is possible to use the search feature and have to sort through a gizillion posts that have nothing to do with the question. Done it myself, and given up. Many times it works just fine, but frequently it doesn't.

Edited July 9, 2016 by mek

[jd1966]

Because calling a cruise line call center is slightly more fun than calling Medicare, Social Security or the IRS!! Also, the cruise line FAQ's are semi accurate at best! A case in point, dress code. They publish it but people are allowed to dress pretty much as they want barring something really out of line. How does a cruiser really know if they don't ask other cruisers! Check in is at 2 on some FAQ's when in reality they start at 11:30!! I can cite quite a few others if you wish!

[Times Prince]

Are you asking about the Princess dress code for formal nights....in case you have not heard it is an Aloha shirts with a Scottish Kilt and Van Sneakers for men.....you are welcome....:)

Can I get away with wearing Birkenstocks and black socks? :rolleyes: Those tennis shoes take up too much room in my luggage, and I normally wear sneakers, so don't want to on Formal night.

 

As far as the OP's question - Many people find it is easy to ask past passengers about something rather than looking it up. And on this forum we are mostly too nice to just say "RTFM". Although having a sticky for the common questions and truthful answers would be a good idea.

[Colo Cruiser]

Can I get away with wearing Birkenstocks and black socks? :rolleyes:

 

OMG please don't.

[Montrealais]

Princess is never wrong unless you provide them with such evidence that they have to correct their info!

 

1. After a change in the dates due to a problem in Singapore Princess advised about the changes for one of the cruises. (Diamond Princess – Dec. 27 2016).

 

That had consequences on two or three other cruises but their website did not show that!

 

So:

 

“After 4 or 5 days, the Princess website was not showing the changes made for this cruise and other related cruises as well.

 

I wrote an email to the Princess Customer Relation Department pointing out that fact and this is the answer I got:

 

«Dear Mr (Montrealais),

 

The Customer Relations Department is in receipt of your email. Thank you for contacting our office. We appreciate the opportunity to respond.

 

Thank you for bringing this issue to our attention. Please be informed your comments will be passed on to the responsible Department Heads so the itineraries can be updated on the website.

 

Mr (Montrealais), again, thank you for taking the time to contact our office. We hope you will continue to consider Princess when planning your next cruise. Until then, you have our kind regards.

 

Sincerely,

 

Princess Cruises

Customer Relations Specialist»

 

Lo and behold! This morning, all the proper information and the changes had been included in the different descriptions of the related cruises on the Princess website.”

 

 

2. Golden Princess Australia and New Zealand – 2017-2018.

 

They were showing that ship on the sea on one of the cruises for a certain date but… they were showing the ship in port at Sydney on one other cruise on the same date.

 

Using the chat online I pointed that to a Princess representative who told me that the two cruises were described correctly!

 

I told myself: “You are wrong they could not have made such a mistake!”

 

To be sure, I checked the website again and there it was: the information WAS wrong!

 

I then used the chat online again and I got the same answer from a different person!

 

This time, I insisted and gave them the exact references to their website

 

( a ship could not be at sea and in port on the same date. That caused a delay of about 5 minutes before I got an answer to the effect that there was a “MISPRINT” error. I was told that the info woul be passed to the proper department.

 

Of course that MISPRINT was causing consequences on other cruises! I checked back a couple of hours later and all the sites relating to that MISPRINT were blocked as “prices not being available”!

 

3. Those two examples prove that Princess can indeed be wrong and that you have to be sure to support your point with the proper arguments.

 

BTW You can register and print the text in the chat online.

Edited July 10, 2016 by Montrealais

[elliair]

Don't you know that this site is like daycare for seniors? If people didn't ask questions they wouldn't have anything to do all day.. :D

 

Well, the cat fights are entertaining. I'd rather be here than behind a desk working and answering to people I really don't want to be with.:D

[mrs and mrs]

Well it is possible to use the search feature and have to sort through a gizillion posts that have nothing to do with the question. Done it myself, and given up. Many times it works just fine, but frequently it doesn't.

 

And not always up to date:):cool:

[happysnapper]

I have a question and I want an answer fairly soon. I don't have the time to search for an answer in a zillion places and I don't care if the question has been asked and answered previously. I post it on the appropriate site and get my answer without any time wasted. Full stop.:)

[riclop]

90% of questions asked on these boards are available from the cruise line yet people seem to have no clue. If you booked why not ask the line and not here where you will get 3 diff. answers to the same question or many opinions that don't answer the question. I understand if you are a first timer but some are just ??? (dress code). Flame on

 

You are 1000% correct, how about what is the weather like in Oct 2020 in the Med.

[Colo Cruiser]

I have a question and I want an answer fairly soon. I don't have the time to search for an answer in a zillion places and I don't care if the question has been asked and answered previously. I post it on the appropriate site and get my answer without any time wasted. Full stop.:)

 

 

Boom!

[AdoraBelle]

For those who have brought up asking silly weather questions (because a lot of people don't understand precisely how difficult meteorology is at our current level of tech and knowledge), just know that the guys over on the American Weather forums have it much, much worse. When there's an unusual winter storm, for example, they pretty much have to put their forums on lockdown.

 

From what I've seen, CC gets the normal amount of repetitive questions, but on other forums people either ignore them, or don't mind answering questions often, or politely pointing to a FAQ. There's a very helpful poster I've seen on the DIS forums who is an encyclopedia of DCL info, and she seems happy to answer the same questions over and over. Don't forget that some people get enjoyment out of providing info to people, whether they could have "easily" found it themselves or not.

 

If you don't want to answer someone's question, don't. You're going to spend more time complaining about it than the two seconds it took for you to read the subject line and move on, and that's no fun for anyone. Unless you just enjoy complaining. :)

[GUT2407]

For those who have brought up asking silly weather questions (because a lot of people don't understand precisely how difficult meteorology is at our current level of tech and knowledge), just know that the guys over on the American Weather forums have it much, much worse. When there's an unusual winter storm, for example, they pretty much have to put their forums on lockdown.

 

From what I've seen, CC gets the normal amount of repetitive questions, but on other forums people either ignore them, or don't mind answering questions often, or politely pointing to a FAQ. There's a very helpful poster I've seen on the DIS forums who is an encyclopedia of DCL info, and she seems happy to answer the same questions over and over. Don't forget that some people get enjoyment out of providing info to people, whether they could have "easily" found it themselves or not.

 

If you don't want to answer someone's question, don't. You're going to spend more time complaining about it than the two seconds it took for you to read the subject line and move on, and that's no fun for anyone. Unless you just enjoy complaining. :)

 

Yep, some people just like being helpful, to me it's strange that some find this unusual.

[Cruisin' Chick]

I've gone on several cruises before learning about this site (and I didn't have access to the Internet until I married someone with dial up at the time). We would get the pamphlet sent by the cruise line with out cruise docs and always go through it, even if we were repeating a ship.

 

Now, I always go on the line's website and go through the FAQs. Usually I find the answer. There may be a few subjects not covered, or recent changes not updated. But I get amazed by the number of "how many formal nights on my cruise" threads that are definitely answered on the website (there's rarely exceptions to this).

[Lvteks]

They might as well include "what floor is the kitchen on"? :rolleyes:

...if you use a rolling type of assistance.

Be happy if you don't!

 

 

 

First time to try quotes.....can't wait to see if it works.

 

Edit: Yea!

Edited July 10, 2016 by Lvteks

[GUT2407]

The questions that really get me are

 

The ones needing legal advice

 

My friend was convicted of ... Can they cruise to ...?

 

Or

 

We are having a custody issue can I take my daughter on a cruise to ....?

 

People get proper advice.

 

Or Medical advice

 

I'm having surgery on Monday, can I cruise on Friday?

 

Or

 

The person ones that only you can answer.

 

How much money will I spend

 

Or

 

How much do I tip ....?

 

Or

 

Is an AIBP good value?

[Times Prince]

But I get amazed by the number of "how many formal nights on my cruise" threads that are definitely answered on the website (there's rarely exceptions to this).

Good example - our last cruise was a 14 day West/East Caribbean Medley where all the online Cruise Personalizer stuff said there were 3 Formal nights. This was, however, a B2B of two seven day cruises, each of which had 2 Formal nights. So we had official docs stating 3 formal nights when there were actually 4. I determined this in advance via the Cruise Critic roll calls for the two 7 day cruises. There were several more examples of things that were different on this cruise.

 

So not all information is accurate, especially for longer cruises comprised of shorter cruises Back to back.

[SoCal Cruiser78]

What time is the midnight buffet?

 

Well, I was on HAL once years ago and the buffet was at 10:30 or 11 PM. I was told that midnight was too late for the average HAL passenger :).

[caribill]

People should check there (FAQ) first to see if they can find the answer there. I can't think of a question that would not be in there. If you can't find it thats fine ask away but put some effort in.

 

True.

 

But I can think of a number of wrong answers on the web site to those questions.

[Anubi]

I found out that our cruise was cancelled and what Princess was doing about it before my TA did due to a post on CC. I called my TA and told her what we had decided to do and she had no idea what I was talking about.

 

You do occasionally get snarky answers but for the most part everyone here is very helpful

[dd likes to cruise]

You know what I don't get? Why the OP is on cruise critic. If they don't like the questions they don't need to be reading them.

 

I've only been reading a few weeks and I'm finding a ton of good info. I do use the SEARCH feature also. Last topic I did that I found a 10 year old thread. Now how realible do you think that is. Somethings have to asked again.

 

Also there is a learning curve on figuring CC out. Not everyone has the time or the skill.

 

I'm thankful for the experienced folks that like to help with the questions.

 

Dori

[keithm]

I think you have that backwards. Why ask the reps who know nothing when you can get the answer here.

You may get untold variations & opinions here as well. Food/dress codes/entertainment etc. Everyone has their own opinion & feel their opinion is the correct one.