Bit upset

[rocker57]

A couple of weeks ago, booked a Mediterranean cruise, 10 days April 2025 for roughly $9100, with Plus package. Last week I had noticed price had dropped to $8500. I contacted Princess thru chat to refare my cruise. The person I spoke to first said she could refare it at about $160 less, I said no, price on line was $8500, so she said she would look into it. She then came back with Premier pack, and the price of the cruise was $7700, so I jumped on it, booking confirmation was sent out with everything as discussed at $7700. I happened to check my payment, and the price is now $9100. I then get back on chat with Princess and basically I am back to the sale price with Plus at the $8500. Now I am just a little pissed at Princess, it was one of their employees that gave me the price of $7700 with Premier. The person I spoke with said nothing she could do. Personally I think they offered a price, sent confirmation, and then reneged on price, without any communication. Now I think I could be a little bit happier if they would at least offer a couple hundred dollars as OBC.  I would like to take this up the chain, who would I be best to write to, and if you had any email addresses for them. I was quite happy at the drop in price, and even happier when she gave an even lower price lol.  Thanks

[Eno]

I just had a similar situation.  Called for a reprice that I had found. Called Princess and the person on the phone said there was an additional promo and the price came in about 600.00 less than I thought it would be.  I am close to final payment so figured I would pay prior to the holidays.  Received the confirmation with the new prices and showing fully paid. Looked yesterday and I owed about 600.00 more.  The price difference that this person found with a promo code. Good thing I looked as no one called and said that it was priced in error.  

[iamaqt2]

The call center that was outsourced to the Phillipines is the worst thing that Princess ever did.  They give bad info, can't escalate to management, and have zero power to resolve issues when you call.

[tonit964]

19 minutes ago, iamaqt2 said:

The call center that was outsourced to the Phillipines is the worst thing that Princess ever did.  They give bad info, can't escalate to management, and have zero power to resolve issues when you call.

Exactly! The best thing to do is just cancel and rebook. Those call center people have no clue. 

[Steelers36]

I am wondering if the overseas group is looking at either wrong prices and don't understand what they see in POLAR, or if they do see some lower price but do not check if valid for the guest they have on the phone.  Then, when they book it, POLAR is either rejecting the fare code or replacing it with a valid one to correct the error.  Then, rep on phone either doesn't notice or just shuts up in effort to keep the booking.

 

As both a guest and a shareholder, this is outrageous and I am left SMH.  Other companies with overseas support centers I have dealt with always have their own people handling the critical sales roles.

 

How much more business is PCL losing with the incompetence?  JP is really trying to turn PCL into a MM operation.

[ldubs]

I wonder why this is happening.   Is the mistake being made because the person is seeing and quoting a lower price without realizing it actually doesn't include the package.  Then when the package is added, the price goes back up.    Even if so, it is still a mistake on their part.   

 

OP, if you literally received booking confirmation of the $7,700 including the package, it sure seems they should honor it.     

 

 

[MacMadame]

3 hours ago, tonit964 said:

Exactly! The best thing to do is just cancel and rebook. Those call center people have no clue. 

It's easier to call into the CVP people. They can totally refare and know what they are doing. You call in the number to book a cruise and follow the prompts to get a real person. I did it yesterday and saved $900!

 

1 hour ago, ldubs said:

OP, if you literally received booking confirmation of the $7,700 including the package, it sure seems they should honor it.     

Agreed. I would escalate on this.

[skynight]

Just for information. I booked four b2bs beginning mid January 2025 in June. I used a T.A. She is local. In October the fares were lowered a total of $5,600, and there was some additional OBC. I called her then went over to visit. While I was there she called her Princess contact. All four were handled promptly while I sat there. No problems.

So, why this little story. I have always used a T.A., and at this time I believe there are even more reasons to do so and not deal directly with Princess. I have read that some have had good results with PVPs. Right now I'll stick with the T.A. 

[Princessfan20]

8 hours ago, iamaqt2 said:

The call center that was outsourced to the Phillipines is the worst thing that Princess ever did.  They give bad info, can't escalate to management, and have zero power to resolve issues when you call.

 

Agree whole heartedly.  I have learned the hard way that every time I get an agent from that call center I immediately hang up because it is just not worth the time, effort and grief you have to go through to work with those inept agents.  Better to just hang up and call back again and hope for more competent agents.  Unbelievable Princess is still using them.

[Cruise Raider]

1 hour ago, skynight said:

Just for information. I booked four b2bs beginning mid January 2025 in June. I used a T.A. She is local. In October the fares were lowered a total of $5,600, and there was some additional OBC. I called her then went over to visit. While I was there she called her Princess contact. All four were handled promptly while I sat there. No problems.

So, why this little story. I have always used a T.A., and at this time I believe there are even more reasons to do so and not deal directly with Princess. I have read that some have had good results with PVPs. Right now I'll stick with the T.A. 

A good TA is worth their weight in gold.  And, they can oftentimes give you extra OBC or perks you might not otherwise get with booking direct or using a CVP at Princess.  Gone are the days that Princess allows their CVPs to match what you could get at an outside TA.  
I use a CVP for all my bookings at Princess knowing I get full control over my booking.  They are able to do things that outside TAs might otherwise offer.  But, for all other cruise lines, I still do use a very good TA.  

[tonit964]

1 hour ago, Princessfan20 said:

 

Agree whole heartedly.  I have learned the hard way that every time I get an agent from that call center I immediately hang up because it is just not worth the time, effort and grief you have to go through to work with those inept agents.  Better to just hang up and call back again and hope for more competent agents.  Unbelievable Princess is still using them.

Not to mention you can hardly hear them because of all the household loud conversations going on or kids running around screaming. Unbelievable and so frustrating. 

[SargassoPirate]

28 minutes ago, tonit964 said:

Not to mention you can hardly hear them because of all the household loud conversations going on or kids running around screaming. Unbelievable and so frustrating. 

And if you don't have your Call Center to English dictionary handy, you're out of luck.

[voljeep]

31 minutes ago, tonit964 said:

Not to mention you can hardly hear them because of all the household loud conversations going on or kids running around screaming. Unbelievable and so frustrating. 

oh, like the service I got when trying to contact my surgeon to see about weight-bearing? very good English, got the job done - but clearly working where kids were heard in the background.  Home?, prolly

[rocker57]

11 hours ago, ldubs said:

I wonder why this is happening.   Is the mistake being made because the person is seeing and quoting a lower price without realizing it actually doesn't include the package.  Then when the package is added, the price goes back up.    Even if so, it is still a mistake on their part.   

 

OP, if you literally received booking confirmation of the $7,700 including the package, it sure seems they should honor it.     

 

 

That’s what I think, they made the offer, I accepted, they sent over confirmation, sounds like an agreement. Who would I escalate it to, and do you have emails?  Thanks

[ldubs]

Just now, rocker57 said:

That’s what I think, they made the offer, I accepted, they sent over confirmation, sounds like an agreement. Who would I escalate it to, and do you have emails?  Thanks

 

You are asking a good question here.  I don't have the answer.  I would be asking why this happened.  If it was just an employee goof-up I wouldn't like it but would at least understand -- as long as I received the original discount to the $8,500.  

 

[JF - retired RRT]

1 hour ago, rocker57 said:

That’s what I think, they made the offer, I accepted, they sent over confirmation, sounds like an agreement. Who would I escalate it to, and do you have emails?  Thanks

If @Thrak is around...he has emails & IIRC phone numbers.

[azbirdmom]

Here are the most recent contacts per Elliottdotorg:

 

Address

24305 Town Center Drive
Santa Clarita, CA 91355
https://www.princess.com/

Phone Contacts

Main: (661) 753-0000
Customer Service: (800) 774-6237

Call center hours:

Monday – Friday 6am – 7pm Pacific Time (9am-10pm ET)
Saturday and Sunday 6am – 6pm Pacific Time (9am-9pm ET)

Email Contacts

 customerrelations@princesscruises.com

 

Executive Contacts

Primary Contact
Collin Steinke
Director, Customer Relations
24305 Town Center Drive
Santa Clarita, CA 91355
csteinke@princesscruises.com

Secondary Contact
Lorna Warren
Vice President Guest Services
24305 Town Center Drive
Santa Clarita, CA 91355
lwarren@princesscruises.com

 

Chief Executive
John Padgett
President
24305 Town Center Drive
Santa Clarita, CA 91355
jpadgett@princesscruises.com

Also, try padgett@HAGroup.com

Edited December 22, 2023 by azbirdmom

[DCThunder]

I'm waiting for the call center to be replaced by AI!  😉

[rocker57]

Thank you for emails, I’ve sent the first one, see how that goes. Considering this is the Xmas season, I doubt I will hear anything for a few days.  Merry Christmas everyone 

[Moondogy]

1 hour ago, azbirdmom said:

Here are the most recent contacts per Elliottdotorg:

 

Address

24305 Town Center Drive
Santa Clarita, CA 91355
https://www.princess.com/

Phone Contacts

Main: (661) 753-0000
Customer Service: (800) 774-6237

Call center hours:

Monday – Friday 6am – 7pm Pacific Time (9am-10pm ET)
Saturday and Sunday 6am – 6pm Pacific Time (9am-9pm ET)

Email Contacts

 customerrelations@princesscruises.com

 

Executive Contacts

Primary Contact
Collin Steinke
Director, Customer Relations
24305 Town Center Drive
Santa Clarita, CA 91355
csteinke@princesscruises.com

Secondary Contact
Lorna Warren
Vice President Guest Services
24305 Town Center Drive
Santa Clarita, CA 91355
lwarren@princesscruises.com

 

Chief Executive
John Padgett
President
24305 Town Center Drive
Santa Clarita, CA 91355
jpadgett@princesscruises.com

Also, try padgett@HAGroup.com

I still like pestering Jan Swartz 🤣 jswartz@princesscruises.com

[azbirdmom]

5 minutes ago, Moondogy said:

I still like pestering Jan Swartz 🤣 jswartz@princesscruises.com

 

If you really want to bug her you can shoot emails to all three of her published email addresses too.  Here's the other ones 😉

 

jswartz@hollandamerica.com

jgswartz@yahoo.com

[Moondogy]

6 hours ago, azbirdmom said:

 

If you really want to bug her you can shoot emails to all three of her published email addresses too.  Here's the other ones 😉

 

jswartz@hollandamerica.com

jgswartz@yahoo.com

She always answers me on the first email 🙂

[1412p0oi]

23 hours ago, iamaqt2 said:

The call center that was outsourced to the Phillipines is the worst thing that Princess ever did.  They give bad info, can't escalate to management, and have zero power to resolve issues when you call.

Well sadly that's what they all do. Like all of my credit card companies do that....

[roomba920]

How did you get them to cooperate on a price reduction?

They wouldn't with me and my cruise is over a year from final payment, and is fully refundable.

When I called to try to take advantage of a price drop, I was told it was for new bookings only, but in the past Princess always honored price drops/promos, because what's to prevent you from cancelling if they won't work with you?

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

5 hours ago, roomba920 said:

How did you get them to cooperate on a price reduction?

They wouldn't with me and my cruise is over a year from final payment, and is fully refundable.

When I called to try to take advantage of a price drop, I was told it was for new bookings only, but in the past Princess always honored price drops/promos, because what's to prevent you from cancelling if they won't work with you?

If it is fully refundable then just cancel, get the refund and rebook. Just be careful that you don't lose any offers that you got in the original booking because once you cancel they will go and they are not also included on the new booking you will lose them. But then again, you might get extra offers on the new booking that wasn't available on the original one so just be aware of all that 🙂 Also, you might lose your original cabin so that is why IMO it is better all done through an agent rather than online.