Final Account

[david63]

I disembarked Sky at the end of May under the impression that I would be emailed a copy of my onboard account within 24 hours of disembarkation. As I had not received this I phoned some call centre somewhere in the world to ask for my final account and was told that it would take three weeks and sure enough within three weeks I received some incomprehensible printout of my account which I could not make any sense of and that is with having been an accountant in a previous life.

 

The main reason that I wanted a final account was because there was a large amount of credit owing to me which I naturally wanted back and the printout that I had from onboard was incorrect even though I was assured that there would be no problems.

 

Eventually I managed to contact somebody in guest relations who processed my refund.

 

Lo and behold I had an email this morning with my final account attached - three months after I disembarked!!!

 

Is this normal?

[PacnGoNow]

39 minutes ago, david63 said:

I disembarked Sky at the end of May under the impression that I would be emailed a copy of my onboard account within 24 hours of disembarkation. As I had not received this I phoned some call centre somewhere in the world to ask for my final account and was told that it would take three weeks and sure enough within three weeks I received some incomprehensible printout of my account which I could not make any sense of and that is with having been an accountant in a previous life.

 

The main reason that I wanted a final account was because there was a large amount of credit owing to me which I naturally wanted back and the printout that I had from onboard was incorrect even though I was assured that there would be no problems.

 

Eventually I managed to contact somebody in guest relations who processed my refund.

 

Lo and behold I had an email this morning with my final account attached - three months after I disembarked!!!

 

Is this normal?

No, it’s not.  I usually get it a few days after the cruise.  Always check junk mail.

This 3 mos later email, was probably due to your calls and that’s how long it took them to respond.  
 

If they processed your refund, that’s the most important thing.

 

 I always get a copy of my final folio while OB and do screenshots of it the last day.  So there’s no surprises.

 

 

 

 

 

[wallyj]

52 minutes ago, david63 said:

I disembarked Sky at the end of May under the impression that I would be emailed a copy of my onboard account within 24 hours of disembarkation. As I had not received this I phoned some call centre somewhere in the world to ask for my final account and was told that it would take three weeks and sure enough within three weeks I received some incomprehensible printout of my account which I could not make any sense of and that is with having been an accountant in a previous life.

 

The main reason that I wanted a final account was because there was a large amount of credit owing to me which I naturally wanted back and the printout that I had from onboard was incorrect even though I was assured that there would be no problems.

 

Eventually I managed to contact somebody in guest relations who processed my refund.

 

Lo and behold I had an email this morning with my final account attached - three months after I disembarked!!!

 

Is this normal?

This is my recent experience.
 

I received my Emerald Princess statement for my June 17-24, 2023 sailing on August 27, so a full 2 months after disembarking.

 

On August 18, 2023, I received my statement for my Emerald Princess July 22-29, 2023  sailing.

 

On August 22, 2023, I received my statement for Emerald Princess August 5-21, 2023 sailing. This is the turnaround I have come to expect, but you can see, even the same ship can have varying dates. All folios had the correct  ‘charge’ to my credit card on file for the amount outstanding/balance due.

 

I have no idea why the statements were delayed, but the charges were posted at the end of the cruise, it is just the emailing of the statement that was delayed.

 

 

[antsp]

Princess cruises, the gift that keeps on giving 

[PacnGoNow]

41 minutes ago, wallyj said:

This is my recent experience.
 

I received my Emerald Princess statement for my June 17-24, 2023 sailing on August 27, so a full 2 months after disembarking.

 

On August 18, 2023, I received my statement for my Emerald Princess July 22-29, 2023  sailing.

 

On August 22, 2023, I received my statement for Emerald Princess August 5-21, 2023 sailing. This is the turnaround I have come to expect, but you can see, even the same ship can have varying dates. All folios had the correct  ‘charge’ to my credit card on file for the amount outstanding/balance due.

 

I have no idea why the statements were delayed, but the charges were posted at the end of the cruise, it is just the emailing of the statement that was delayed.

 

 

I wonder where the emailing delay is?  It should be programatic.  
I hope it’s not outsourced and that’s the reason for the delays.

[kiwimum]

2 hours ago, david63 said:

I disembarked Sky at the end of May under the impression that I would be emailed a copy of my onboard account within 24 hours of disembarkation. As I had not received this I phoned some call centre somewhere in the world to ask for my final account and was told that it would take three weeks and sure enough within three weeks I received some incomprehensible printout of my account which I could not make any sense of and that is with having been an accountant in a previous life.

 

The main reason that I wanted a final account was because there was a large amount of credit owing to me which I naturally wanted back and the printout that I had from onboard was incorrect even though I was assured that there would be no problems.

 

Eventually I managed to contact somebody in guest relations who processed my refund.

 

Lo and behold I had an email this morning with my final account attached - three months after I disembarked!!!

 

Is this normal?

It appears to be the new normal.   Received final account for June 17 cruise last week.  July cruise nothing as yet.  Off the Sky this morning and as usual printed out account before disembark.   Will see how long the email account takes.  

[Malleykatt]

Wow never had to wait that long. We cruised on Sky and arrived home 12th August email arrived late in the day on 14th and then rang to query the account. Refunded charges of £150+ were transferred to our account within 72 hours.

[sunviking90]

We have usually received it the morning we disembark or the following day (most recently from the Crown in July). Currently on the Emerald, so we’ll see how it goes. 

[SargassoPirate]

It seems like all of the accounting would be automated.  Well, maybe not.

 

 

[Tigrou]

After my recent cruise on Island Princess I did receive an email with the final account 2 days after getting home.  However, against the refundable credit owing to me it said 'Referred to corporate finance'.  I had no idea what that meant - I was expecting it to automatically be refunded to my credit card, in USD, as other cruise lines do.

 

I phoned Princess to ask and, after a couple of fruitless conversations with the overseas call centre, finally managed to speak to someone in the UK.  They told me that all final accounts with credit owing are sent from the ship to the US for verification.  Any for UK passengers are then forwarded to Princess UK who convert the USD amount into sterling (despite many people, including myself, using a specialist travel credit card in order to get better exchange rates).  They then contact the passenger and arrange for the refund to be made either by bank transfer or cheque.

 

The refund was processed very quickly once I'd contacted them but the whole process seemed like it was from the Dark Ages to me.  It involves a lot of people and effort that is completely unnecessary.

 

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, Tigrou said:

After my recent cruise on Island Princess I did receive an email with the final account 2 days after getting home.  However, against the refundable credit owing to me it said 'Referred to corporate finance'.  I had no idea what that meant - I was expecting it to automatically be refunded to my credit card, in USD, as other cruise lines do.

 

I phoned Princess to ask and, after a couple of fruitless conversations with the overseas call centre, finally managed to speak to someone in the UK.  They told me that all final accounts with credit owing are sent from the ship to the US for verification.  Any for UK passengers are then forwarded to Princess UK who convert the USD amount into sterling (despite many people, including myself, using a specialist travel credit card in order to get better exchange rates).  They then contact the passenger and arrange for the refund to be made either by bank transfer or cheque.

 

The refund was processed very quickly once I'd contacted them but the whole process seemed like it was from the Dark Ages to me.  It involves a lot of people and effort that is completely unnecessary.

 

Your last two sentences are true.  PCL in North America also does not simply post a credit balance to the CC on file.  They process in accounting and then send to a third-party company that cuts and mails cheques/checks to guests.  Apparently this saves them money.  Presumably this whole process is cheaper per $1 refunded over bank fees for credit cards.

[rhobbkf]

We also received our May cruise statement today.  And we never contacted anyone. 

[Tranquility Base]

56 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Your last two sentences are true.  PCL in North America also does not simply post a credit balance to the CC on file.  They process in accounting and then send to a third-party company that cuts and mails cheques/checks to guests.  Apparently this saves them money.  Presumably this whole process is cheaper per $1 refunded over bank fees for credit cards.

This has already changed elsewhere to accommodate the increasing number of countries which no longer use cheques.

Refunds are processed electronically to a bank account.

[Steelers36]

10 minutes ago, Tranquility Base said:

This has already changed elsewhere to accommodate the increasing number of countries which no longer use cheques.

Refunds are processed electronically to a bank account.

This makes sense in principal, but when and how does Princess collect a guest's bank information?

[david63]

20 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

This makes sense in principal, but when and how does Princess collect a guest's bank information?

In the UK you are emailed a link into which you enter your bank details and from that the refund is processed - in my case almost instantly.

[Tigrou]

19 minutes ago, david63 said:

In the UK you are emailed a link into which you enter your bank details and from that the refund is processed - in my case almost instantly.

 

That's what happened with me - except Princess put the wrong mobile phone number into the system so it couldn't send me the required code. (Or rather, presumably it was sent but as it wasn't my number I didn't get it!)  Once they amended it and I was sent a new link, the refund showed in my bank account almost immediately. 

[Tigrou]

1 hour ago, Steelers36 said:

Your last two sentences are true.  PCL in North America also does not simply post a credit balance to the CC on file.  They process in accounting and then send to a third-party company that cuts and mails cheques/checks to guests.  Apparently this saves them money.  Presumably this whole process is cheaper per $1 refunded over bank fees for credit cards.

 

In the UK hardly anyone uses cheques any more.  I haven't written one for over 4 years, and for several years prior to that it was only for one particular tradesman who still preferred payment by cheque.

[Steelers36]

4 minutes ago, Tigrou said:

 

In the UK hardly anyone uses cheques any more.  I haven't written one for over 4 years, and for several years prior to that it was only for one particular tradesman who still preferred payment by cheque.

Although cheques still exist here in Canada, I for one hardly ever use one.  They gather dust in my desk drawer.  Use credit card shopping 99%.  Utility bills either auto-post to credit card or auto-debit from bank account.  Do 98% of banking online, including bill payments, fund transfers, e-transfers, e-payments.  Also use bank's phone app for some of these at times.  

[Crystabel]

We also sailed on the Sky Princess, disembarking May 27. Today we received an accounting of our credits and charges. Ridiculous! Since our remaining credits on board were non refundable, we cashed out at the casino. I try to NEVER leave $ in my account, whether refundable or not. 

[voljeep]

12 minutes ago, Crystabel said:

We also sailed on the Sky Princess, disembarking May 27. Today we received an accounting of our credits and charges. Ridiculous! Since our remaining credits on board were non refundable, we cashed out at the casino. I try to NEVER leave $ in my account, whether refundable or not. 

for now ... as this is posted ...

[spyro1952]

6 hours ago, wallyj said:

This is my recent experience.
 

I received my Emerald Princess statement for my June 17-24, 2023 sailing on August 27, so a full 2 months after disembarking.

 

On August 18, 2023, I received my statement for my Emerald Princess July 22-29, 2023  sailing.

 

On August 22, 2023, I received my statement for Emerald Princess August 5-21, 2023 sailing. This is the turnaround I have come to expect, but you can see, even the same ship can have varying dates. All folios had the correct  ‘charge’ to my credit card on file for the amount outstanding/balance due.

 

I have no idea why the statements were delayed, but the charges were posted at the end of the cruise, it is just the emailing of the statement that was delayed.

 

 

I got off Island 6/12 and just got mine this past week.

[Rick&Jeannie]

8 hours ago, david63 said:

I disembarked Sky at the end of May under the impression that I would be emailed a copy of my onboard account within 24 hours of disembarkation. As I had not received this I phoned some call centre somewhere in the world to ask for my final account and was told that it would take three weeks and sure enough within three weeks I received some incomprehensible printout of my account which I could not make any sense of and that is with having been an accountant in a previous life.

 

The main reason that I wanted a final account was because there was a large amount of credit owing to me which I naturally wanted back and the printout that I had from onboard was incorrect even though I was assured that there would be no problems.

 

Eventually I managed to contact somebody in guest relations who processed my refund.

 

Lo and behold I had an email this morning with my final account attached - three months after I disembarked!!!

 

Is this normal?

The same thing just happened to me!  Same cruise!  Princess IT and systems never cease to amaze me.

 

[ehogan]

David 63….I think you are me in an alternate universe.  Almost exactly the same experience.

I also had a large credit and was ensured on board I would receive my statement in 24 hours (June2) and cheque in two weeks.  No statement in 24 hours.  No money back ,phoned customer service July 24  to enquire(hour and a half on hold)  I was told the cheque was in the mail received a cheque three weeks later which was dated August 8 so obviously not in the mail July 24.  Received my confusing statement yesterday Sep. 1.

 

If I return to Princess which is doubtful now  for so many other reasons (including minimizing Elite benefits)I will definitely not prepay any service charges and do my utmost to ensure I don’t leave with a credit on my account.  Why they don’t apply credits back to my credit card I can’t understand.  They have no trouble debiting my credit card.

[Rick&Jeannie]

52 minutes ago, ehogan said:

I will definitely not prepay any service charges and do my utmost to ensure I don’t leave with a credit on my account.  

That is DEFINITELY the best plan to make!

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, ehogan said:

I will definitely not prepay any service charges and do my utmost to ensure I don’t leave with a credit on my account.

 

11 minutes ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

That is DEFINITELY the best plan to make!

 

This is one of my top 10 rules for a Princess cruise - never depart the ship with PCL owing me money.