Scam? phone call saying they are my new personal Princess planner

[xiphoid76]

Just received a phone call from a toll free number stating they are my "new personal Princess planner" and they have been assigned to handle my current and any future reservations.  They went on to state "I see you have cruised to Alaska" in the past which is true but they did not know that I had one current reservation currently for 2025...it all seemed so scammy.  I told them I only deal online and don't want a personal planner and they said well you have been assigned me and will have to deal with me for all future changes...I then hung up on her.  Anyone else get a call like this?  Legit? I booked my current cruise online, no agent involved.

[skynight]

I would not respond to that call. I would only work with calls I initiated. Personally I always use a T.A. that I trust and know. Others have reported that they have called and work with a Princess PVP. Just a suggestion. You may find better fares and OBC if you use a T.A.

[dog]

37 minutes ago, xiphoid76 said:

Just received a phone call from a toll free number stating they are my "new personal Princess planner" and they have been assigned to handle my current and any future reservations.  They went on to state "I see you have cruised to Alaska" in the past which is true but they did not know that I had one current reservation currently for 2025...it all seemed so scammy.  I told them I only deal online and don't want a personal planner and they said well you have been assigned me and will have to deal with me for all future changes...I then hung up on her.  Anyone else get a call like this?  Legit? I booked my current cruise online, no agent involved.

Got one too a month ago.

Ignore it. Last one bugged me for years- messages, emails. I had an outside TA back then. I currently deal directly with Princess when I initiate the call.

Last one booked a cruise that I did not ask for- no deposit and it disappeared on its own.

[smwg]

I would email the vacation planner you have been using and see if they respond.

[trvlwrld]

Just talked with my long-time PVP and she said my 2 current bookings had been changed to 2 different planners…she said there is a lot of stealing going on

[Mike45LC]

I called the phone number on a casino offer recently and left a voicemail message.  I then got a call back from a random Personal Vacation Planner, who left a voicemail for me.  We finally connected, and I booked with her.  I will call her directly for my next booking.  As far as I am concerned, she is now my PVP, as long as she performs well.  

 

Since I made that booking, I have received casino offers with the names of unknown PVPs on the offer fliers, claiming to be my PVP.  I will stick with the one I am presently using.  I think the names of the planners who say they are my PVP are randomly inserted.  

 

The only telephone used was my initial phone call to the number of the Casino offer, and then the phone tag we played.  I would not be gracious to a random phone call from an unknown caller!

 

[luv2kroooz]

Did you recently log in to the princess website? If yes, then it probably isn't a scam. If you didn't log in, then I would just ignore it.

[shellbeachjim]

A "legitimate" Princess Vacation Planner should have a callback number of 800.901.1172 and a five digit extension number. We lost our excellent PVP this year (found out when I called in October and his extension was unknown).

[TRLD]

Keep in mind that Princess has outsourced some of its functions for booking cruises to the same company that now staffs the future cruise desk on board ships.  Part of this included the offerings of future/hotel vacations packages (advance purchase of FCCs and hotel credit, very time share like offerings).  This company is Open Network Exchange.  Very possible that these calls are coming from their employees and not the Princess PVPs.  They have access to booking history, same as the on board staff does

 

The Owners of Open Network exchange have a history in time share sales.  Their last company enabled people to trade time share credits for cruises.  They sold that company and started Open Network Exchange and have levered their previous cruise line connections.

Edited December 23, 2023 by TRLD

[SCX22]

Not a scam, per se.  My PVP quit and I got assigned a new PVP early this year.  The new PVP called me out the of the blue.  Luckily, she was a former CS agent for the airlines and was just as good as my PVP that left.

 

I would be weary of anyone with an accent that can’t be naturally found in the U.S., ie British.  These people are part Princess Promotions.  You can usually tell because they have an @princesscruises email address but will have  “(Contractor)” after their name that populates the from column of your inbox.

[beshears]

This is a little different than what you mentioned, but I "started out" with a PVP, as I'm used to using an agent here in KC for booking cruises for me. I just want to say the PVP that I have (starting over 6 months ago), is STILL with me. When you have 8 people going, there is a lot of things to take care of, and any time I/we found an error, she always took care of it for us.

[SargassoPirate]

14 hours ago, xiphoid76 said:

Just received a phone call from a toll free number stating they are my "new personal Princess planner" and they have been assigned to handle my current and any future reservations.  They went on to state "I see you have cruised to Alaska" in the past which is true but they did not know that I had one current reservation currently for 2025...it all seemed so scammy.  I told them I only deal online and don't want a personal planner and they said well you have been assigned me and will have to deal with me for all future changes...I then hung up on her.  Anyone else get a call like this?  Legit? I booked my current cruise online, no agent involved.

 

Just curious why you even answered the call?  We at Pirate Manor don't pick up any call unless that number is already in our contacts.  If it's important and legit, they'll leave a message.  99% of them don't.

Edited December 23, 2023 by SargassoPirate

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, SargassoPirate said:

 

Just curious why you even answered the call?  We at Pirate Manor don't pick up any call unless that number is already in our contacts.  If it's important and legit, they'll leave a message.  99% of them don't.

And when they do not leave a message or leave something inappropriate, report them as spam calls.

[xiphoid76]

2 hours ago, SargassoPirate said:

 

Just curious why you even answered the call?  We at Pirate Manor don't pick up any call unless that number is already in our contacts.  If it's important and legit, they'll leave a message.  99% of them don't.

Yeah, that was my mistake...I am on call this week for the hospital so answering everything...so I don't miss something important, but coming from a toll free number I should have known better 🙂

[azbirdmom]

13 hours ago, TRLD said:

Keep in mind that Princess has outsourced some of its functions for booking cruises to the same company that now staffs the future cruise desk on board ships.  Part of this included the offerings of future/hotel vacations packages (advance purchase of FCCs and hotel credit, very time share like offerings).  This company is Open Network Exchange.  Very possible that these calls are coming from their employees and not the Princess PVPs.  They have access to booking history, same as the on board staff does

 

The Owners of Open Network exchange have a history in time share sales.  Their last company enabled people to trade time share credits for cruises.  They sold that company and started Open Network Exchange and have levered their previous cruise line connections.

 

Agree with this.  I also received a call from a CVP out of the blue that I now use for casino offers.  This name appears on my casino offer emails too.  He does have a Princess phone number and email address although it says "contractor" after his name when he sends me an email.  He's a ONE employee located in London and seems to know what he's doing unlike some of the other offshore folks I've dealt with for casino offers.

 

ONE headquarters is located very near me in Scottsdale Arizona.  They started taking over the casino reservations function last year (our of the Philippines) and then continued with customer service and now some CVP type functions.  It's still a work in progress.

[heatherb1958]

11 hours ago, SCX22 said:

Not a scam, per se.  My PVP quit and I got assigned a new PVP early this year.  The new PVP called me out the of the blue.  Luckily, she was a former CS agent for the airlines and was just as good as my PVP that left.

 

I would be weary of anyone with an accent that can’t be naturally found in the U.S., ie British.  These people are part Princess Promotions.  You can usually tell because they have an @princesscruises email address but will have  “(Contractor)” after their name that populates the from column of your inbox.

 

May I ask  what is wrong with a British accent ?? . Unless you are talking about  regional accents like  Scouse or Brum .... I'd be more wary of sub continent accents where most of our scam calls come from .

[SCX22]

30 minutes ago, heatherb1958 said:

 

May I ask  what is wrong with a British accent ?? . Unless you are talking about  regional accents like  Scouse or Brum .... I'd be more wary of sub continent accents where most of our scam calls come from .

 

Nothing is wrong with a British accent. 

 

Princess Promotions has dedicated set of CVPs whose job it is to sell Princess Promotions packages who are located in the UK.  Not interested in talking to those folks because they are pushy and don't care for the product they are peddling.  My point was:  If you're in the US and get a call from a Princess rep with a British accent, it will most likely be one of these folks.  You can hang up on them.

Edited December 23, 2023 by SCX22

[azbirdmom]

14 minutes ago, SCX22 said:

 

Nothing is wrong with a British accent. 

 

Princess Promotions has dedicated set of CVPs whose job it is to sell Princess Promotions packages who are located in the UK.  Not interested in talking to those folks because they are pushy and don't care for what the product they are peddling.  My point was:  If you're in the US and get a call from a Princess rep with a British accent, it will most likely be one of these folks.  You can hang up on them.

 

Not necessarily.  The CVP that books my casino cruises is in London and I haven't had one hard sell for Princess Promotions.  If I did I would just say no and move along.

[Lady Arwen]

Our CVP lives in Florida and we’ve been lucky to have her assistance for years.  I will probably stop cruising with Princess if she leaves. Yes, she is that important.  Wish I could share her name with you, but alas…….

[1emerald1]

I e-mailed my CVP yesterday to cancel a cruise and shortly after I received a call from a number I did not recognize, so did not answer.  Immediately afterward I received a call on a different phone that listed it as spam.  I decided to answer as that is what my planner will do, he'll call both my numbers til he reaches me.  Sure enough it was him, no idea why my phone indicated it was spam, and not a call from Santa Clarita.

[thinfool]

If you want to put a stop to all of the unwanted PVP calls, go to your personal information and find the part that asks about your previous cruises. Scroll to the bottom, I think, and there should be a box to check (check it) that asks if you use a travel professional to handle your bookings.  That should stop everything else. 

Note: even if this action is untrue remember that the PVP who has pestered you is also untruthful about how your future bookings will be handled.

Goose and gander stuff.

Edited December 23, 2023 by thinfool

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

11 hours ago, SargassoPirate said:

 

Just curious why you even answered the call?  We at Pirate Manor don't pick up any call unless that number is already in our contacts.  If it's important and legit, they'll leave a message.  99% of them don't.

Unless you are in a suite leaving out of FLL. The week before your cruise, the Go Suite Lounge will call you and not leave a message. If you don’t answer the phone you loose your chance at the lounge. 😋🤪

[mtnesterz]

7 hours ago, Lady Arwen said:

Our CVP lives in Florida and we’ve been lucky to have her assistance for years.  I will probably stop cruising with Princess if she leaves. Yes, she is that important.  Wish I could share her name with you, but alas…….

Ours lives so close to us, we've talked about going on hikes in the local mountains.

Our first cruises on Princess, waits on hold were frustrating. I understand those that want to use a TA for discounts or a big box store for a gift card, but for those new to Princess, save yourself some hold time and either get a good CVP or a good TA. This new call center sounds too annoying.

[MacMadame]

 

16 hours ago, SargassoPirate said:

Just curious why you even answered the call?  We at Pirate Manor don't pick up any call unless that number is already in our contacts.  If it's important and legit, they'll leave a message.  99% of them don't.

I have my phone set up so that any phone call I get that isn't in my Contacts goes right to voice mail. 😄 

12 hours ago, azbirdmom said:

Not necessarily.  The CVP that books my casino cruises is in London and I haven't had one hard sell for Princess Promotions.  If I did I would just say no and move along.

The CVP who helped me refare had a British accent. I was perplexed but happy for the help.

[KaiBlue]

We booked our first Princess cruise ourselves after waiting days for the first Princess PVP to call back.  Then I have been contacted by a least 3 different people all claiming to be our vacation planner but none of them seemed to know we already had a cruise booked - shouldn't they?  At this point, I'd have no idea who to call if we encountered a problem. We haven't used a TA in years and the deal we got booking with Princess directly online was better than any of the big box offers I saw.  A little leery to use some of the big online cruise travel agents as their offers sound a bit convoluted and I always feel like I'm somehow being tricked.  My paranoia probably just working overtime:(