Kudos to Princess!

[Daniel A]

There is often so much negativity on these threads (including mine,,,) that it is only fair to give Princess Kudos when deserved.  We just got off a 15 day Panama Canal cruise and on the second day of the cruise, DW came down with a sore throat.  It eventually turned out to be strep throat and the ship's doctor prescribed medication.  DW wasn't up to taking three of the excursions we had purchased so we just didn't show up for each of the three.  The ship's medical office stamped her three excursion vouchers and mine as well.  We took them to the shore excursion desk (after we failed to show for each ) and the cost of each missed excursion was refunded - no questions asked.  Obviously, this wouldn't have happened with an outside vendor and it is another reason why we think it is prudent to go with Princess' excursions.  At any rate, kudos to Princess for doing the right thing as a regular course of business!

 

Does anybody else have positive experiences with Princess that they would like to share?

 

Edited April 23, 2019 by Daniel A

[kirenne]

I have a great experience I can share where Princess went ABOVE and BEYOND.

 

I borrowed a friend's GoPro for our Alaska cruise a couple of years ago, and accidentally left it in a Jeep after an off-roading excursion to the Yukon. I didn't realize I had forgotten it until we were back in our cabin and my boyfriend was asking for the GoPro. I ran to the front desk area to ask them if they could help me at all, since the ship was scheduled to leave at any moment.

 

Amazingly, the staff member got in touch with employees on the ground outside - they tracked down the Jeep we were in, retrieved the GoPro, and ran it back to the ship and up the gangway just as they were closing up to leave! I was practically in happy tears. 

 

When I posted my review and explained the above after getting back, somebody here on CC commented that they had seen the commotion at the gangway before we left that day, and wondered what was going on! 

 

I will never forget that! Princess truly does go above and beyond.

[AF-1]

Great stories; thank you both for sharing.

[homeinboca]

Nice to hear. This is why we cruise Princess, we always get treated wonderfully, from the time we book our travel, to the time we leave the ship. I've never experienced anything less than stellar service. 

[Mike45LC]

Thanks for the positive comments.  Sometimes the complaints on this Forum can be overwhelming, especially when they are petty!

[Lindaru]

We are still a couple of weeks away from our cruise, but their customer service line has been stellar!

 

I had put in my passport information to the personalizer and thought it was a done deal.  Then came trying to get emergency contact information and the personalizer said my travel documentation was not complete.  It had wiped out what I had put in and would not let me put in anything else.  Called them and they put it in over the telephone (apparently the personalizer does not recognize passport *cards*).  Also, our emergency contact has no E-Mail and they had to do something to get his address and telephone number in since the personalizer also did not allow us to leave it blank.

 

Everyone I have spoken with has been very helpful in assisting to get everything going for us.

 

👍

 

[WAMarathoner]

On our last Caribbean cruise, the 20-somethings from the photography studio took the time to talk to us at the beach on their off-time.  Not just a few words, but genuine interest and kindness.  I thought it was very classy, and was above and beyond even what we've come to expect from Princess.

 

On an Alaskan cruise, we had the grumpiest old lady at our table who complained about everything.  The Filipino waiter read her correctly and began an exaggerated formality in his service, all the while referring to her as "your majesty."  It was done with humor and grace, and she changed from a sourpuss to queen of the table.   He turned what could have been a miserable service into a highlight.

[Coffeeluvr05]

Our less than stellar experience on a sailing in a full suite ended in $1000 credit toward another cruise after we carefully crafted an email to Princess Customer Relations.  I was very pleased that they acknowledged the lack of service we received and made it right.  I think Princess can and will make it right if you address the matter calmly and clearly.  

[CATGUY7]

Great thread!

[dickinson]

I didn't feel quite well and did not want to go on the excursion we had purchased.  Shore excursion desk said if I went to the medical center and saw the doctor THEN they could refund my money.  I did so because I remembered reading here  that at that time it cost $95 to see Dr but my excursion was a little over $100 so between my dh and myself we came out ahead.  The dr. told us his exam (as far as excursions go) was good for 24 hours.  The next day I still was not quite myself so got refund for that one too.  Sounds like it is a Princess policy... just not one they advertise.

 

[paul929207]

Well done. Thanks  for posting

[RMMariner]

We have never had anything but great service on Princess. 

[OCruisers]

My husband got sunscreen in his eye -- white turned blood red. 

Saw the ship's doctor who gave him some sort of eye drops and told him to stay completely out of the sun until it completely cleared up and to come back daily for him to look at it.

We had two Princess excursions planned so the doctor gave us notes to cancel -- no problems.  

This was 3 years ago.

The total cost was $60 ... included first visit to the doctor, the drops, and no charge for daily return visits.  

We thought this was a very fair price.   

 

Edited April 23, 2019 by OCruisers

[Daniel A]

40 minutes ago, dickinson said:

I didn't feel quite well and did not want to go on the excursion we had purchased.  Shore excursion desk said if I went to the medical center and saw the doctor THEN they could refund my money.  I did so because I remembered reading here  that at that time it cost $95 to see Dr but my excursion was a little over $100 so between my dh and myself we came out ahead.  The dr. told us his exam (as far as excursions go) was good for 24 hours.  The next day I still was not quite myself so got refund for that one too.  Sounds like it is a Princess policy... just not one they advertise.

 

We had the Princess travel insurance.  I read the policy and they will cover the medical expenses after submitting first to my regular health insurance.  I have already submitted the claim to my health insurer.  It looks like they will cover a percentage of the charges as an 'out of network' provider.  Then I can bill the balance to the Princess travel insurance.

[Ep010835]

Daniel A, thank you for starting this wonderful thread. 

 

My favorites have been our RS consistently and, with some variability, the waitstaff in CC Dining. 

 

 

[Casey12]

You do have to pay for a medical visit to have shore excursions' costs waived. You can be throwing up in front of the shore excursion desk and they will not waive it with out you visiting the medical center. They will not take your word for it. I would be more impressed if they would take your word on being sick. Especially considering the profit they make off of the shore excursions.

[4cats4me]

7 hours ago, Daniel A said:

There is often so much negativity on these threads (including mine,,,) that it is only fair to give Princess Kudos when deserved.  We just got off a 15 day Panama Canal cruise and on the second day of the cruise, DW came down with a sore throat.  It eventually turned out to be strep throat and the ship's doctor prescribed medication.  DW wasn't up to taking three of the excursions we had purchased so we just didn't show up for each of the three.  The ship's medical office stamped her three excursion vouchers and mine as well.  We took them to the shore excursion desk (after we failed to show for each ) and the cost of each missed excursion was refunded - no questions asked.  Obviously, this wouldn't have happened with an outside vendor and it is another reason why we think it is prudent to go with Princess' excursions.  At any rate, kudos to Princess for doing the right thing as a regular course of business!

 

Does anybody else have positive experiences with Princess that they would like to share?

 

Glad it all worked out for you.  We mainly do private excursions, and we only do excursions where we don’t have to put out the money up front, which in our experience, has been all of them.  Therefore, no risk  is incurred.  I’ve never been asked by any private vendor for money up front. 

 In Europe,  Princess  was charging $300-$350 pp for some tours and we got them independently for $80-100$ pp for a more comprehensive tour than Princess offered, by hiring a private company and sharing costs with CC roll call people.  This was the case in almost every port in the Mediterranean.  At no time did we have to front the money.   

Sorry to say, the two Princess tours we did do (and only because they were freebies) just weren’t that great, and were the source of great consternation due to the amount of passengers, 45 on the bus versus 8, And the amount of wasted time boarding, unboarding, and restroom stops of 30-40 mins, hence, cutting into valuable touring time.  

 

However, I would also like to share a positive Princess tour experience, also, for Puerto Vallarta.  We took the Majajuitas/Yelapa tour two weeks ago,  as we’ve done a few times before, and Las Caletas a few times, and the company that operates that tour is excellent.  We love that we don’t have to get on a bus. One simply takes a catamaran from the cruise port. The crew are a hoot, and those two aforementioned tours are the best!   I really, really want to like Princess tours in Europe, but sad to say, they rated as two of the worst in our cruising history of 25 years.  (Florence on Your Own - 3 hrs 45 mins of free time vs. the 6 hours free time promised in the tour description) (and the trip from Toulon to Aix En Provence.... promised 25 to a bus and they put us on a bus with 45 people). 

 

One more positive Princess tour:  We always enjoy the Mazatlan tour where they take us to Hotel Playa Mazatlan and give us a buffet lunch.  

 

Am I supposed to share a positive story about being onboard? If so, the MedallionNet people were pretty nice on the Royal a. couple weeks ago.  

I like everything  about Princess, except for their excursions. LOL

 

Edited April 24, 2019 by 4cats4me

[getting older slowly]

One thing which always amazes me.... how you run into crew from a cruise over year ago and the greet you like long lost friends.......   It does made as warm and fuzzy....

 

On our last cruise one of the waiters at the crown grill... remember us from the cruise before ( five months early )

 

He remember our names which steak dish we like.. and how it was done and that my partner like her steak butterflied, along with which wine we preffered..      It was really like coming home....

 

Smile and the world will smile with you......

 

Cheers Don

[windsor26]

I took my DD and her husband on their first cruise in December  They are from UK.  Obviously lots of travelling and brought comfortable much valued items with them to last the whole month

On the 2nd day of the cruise her small leather shoulder bag zip broke,  She accepted this and carried on using the bag and then noted that it had broken because the stitching holding the shoulder strap on had disappeared. So sad she was going to throw it and buy a quick replacement

I  took it to the pursers desk and asked nicely if they thought their tailor might be able to assist and they kindly said they would try.   2 hours later the  repaired bag was delivered to my daughter - surprised - and delighted and she wrote a note to  be passed on thanking the workman and when we delivered it to the desk the lady there said she was pleased and was just about to phone my  DD to see if she had the bag back   Such sympathetic assistance and when we mentioned it to people on our dining table  one gentleman mentioned that he had had a leather sandal mended in a similar fashion on a previous Princess cruise

[capriccio]

5 hours ago, getting older slowly said:

One thing which always amazes me.... how you run into crew from a cruise over year ago and the greet you like long lost friends.......   It does made as warm and fuzzy....

 

On our last cruise one of the waiters at the crown grill... remember us from the cruise before ( five months early )

 

He remember our names which steak dish we like.. and how it was done and that my partner like her steak butterflied, along with which wine we preffered..      It was really like coming home....

 

Smile and the world will smile with you......

 

Cheers Don

 

I agree.  We had a similar experience on the Crown at Christmas.  We had spent 31 days on the Crown in December 2016/January 2017.  The first morning my DH was in line for coffee at the IC when the barista looked up and said, "Mister Joe, how are you?  Where is Mrs. Jackie?"  It was Carmen the head waiter at Vines in the evening!   She even asked if my sister and brother-in-law (who were on the other cruise) were sailing with us.  I was dumbfounded.  We really aren't that memorable 😃 but we did visit Vines often over 31 days. We saw her later in the day in Vines when it wasn't busy and she filled us in on her life over the past 2 years and we told her about the cruises we had been on. 

[capriccio]

You might argue that this is just an example of someone doing their job, but it could easily have gone the other way...

 

After visiting Volunteer Point we were on the tender from Stanley (Falkland Islands) in December 2016 with my sister and brother-in-law.  My BIL is an avid birder and had bought a very expensive (over $1200) new pair of binoculars for the trip.  As soon as he got back to the cabin he realized he had left them on the tender.  Luckily he had noted the number of the tender and even more luckily he had been sitting up against the side of the tender and didn't think they were left sitting conspicuously on the middle of the bench.  He rushed to customer service and explained his story and asked if someone could check the tender.  He was told there was no need to do so, the tender pilot had just brought them up to customer service!  BIL requested the name of the crewman, wrote him a thank you note, and made sure he filled out a commendation card for him at the end of the cruise.

[voljeep]

1 hour ago, capriccio said:

 

I agree.  We had a similar experience on the Crown at Christmas.  We had spent 31 days on the Crown in December 2016/January 2017.  The first morning my DH was in line for coffee at the IC when the barista looked up and said, "Mister Joe, how are you?  Where is Mrs. Jackie?"  It was Carmen the head waiter at Vines in the evening!   She even asked if my sister and brother-in-law (who were on the other cruise) were sailing with us.  I was dumbfounded.  We really aren't that memorable 😃 but we did visit Vines often over 31 days. We saw her later in the day in Vines when it wasn't busy and she filled us in on her life over the past 2 years and we told her about the cruises we had been on. 

Carmen is one of the very best !! - Vines is our go-to before dinner

[Redhaven]

Our experience on over 35 Princess cruises is only positive.  The stories above are experiences that we have had over and over.  It always amazes us when someone has one negative comment, not taking into consideration all the of the positive things that Princess does for all of their cruisers.  

[CRUISEWITHH]

Our experience was also exceptional.   We were on a private tour and when we returned to the ship my husbands mobility scooter was not working properly.

 

We did make it back to the ship and then asked if we could possibly get a engineer up to look at it.  They took the scooter away and on the second day brought it back all fixed.  They even got the spec's off the computer and sent them back to us with the scooter. (it turned out to be an electrical problem)

 

My husband could not have been able to continue without his scooter and we were so grateful that we sent a note to the engineering department and asked if we could offer a monetary gift.   The front desk said that it was all part of their service to make our voyage as comfortable and special as they could.

[Daniel A]

35 minutes ago, CRUISEWITHH said:

Our experience was also exceptional.   We were on a private tour and when we returned to the ship my husbands mobility scooter was not working properly.

 

We did make it back to the ship and then asked if we could possibly get a engineer up to look at it.  They took the scooter away and on the second day brought it back all fixed.  They even got the spec's off the computer and sent them back to us with the scooter. (it turned out to be an electrical problem)

 

My husband could not have been able to continue without his scooter and we were so grateful that we sent a note to the engineering department and asked if we could offer a monetary gift.   The front desk said that it was all part of their service to make our voyage as comfortable and special as they could.

 

These are all stories we should hear.  Please keep them coming!