OMG- comp cruise

[dog]

On 5/1/2024 at 8:23 PM, dog said:

Never offered a comp cruise until now.

Searching cruises for 2025 on Star when a mini suite showed $0!

 

Have others been offered this on the website?

This was my question and I did not expect it to end this way.

I see that someone has given advice to keep my mouth shut- never spoke to any of you about this.

I would only accept a cruise that was a legitimate offer for me.

[N.Ice]

1 minute ago, dog said:

This was my question and I did not expect it to end this way.

I see that someone has given advice to keep my mouth shut- never spoke to any of you about this.

I would only accept a cruise that was a legitimate offer for me.

I think if you don't make your own distinction regarding what advice you choose to follow, and what you choose to pass on... then you will end up with conflicting goals/paths. (I'm not saying that this is you, just posting my opinion.)

[azbirdmom]

9 minutes ago, dog said:

This was my question and I did not expect it to end this way.

I see that someone has given advice to keep my mouth shut- never spoke to any of you about this.

I would only accept a cruise that was a legitimate offer for me.

 

Agree with you.  But in the past if it's on the website it's a legitimate offer.  I don't think I've ever seen a mistake this massive in the past and with the $0 / low cost flash sales it wasn't a far leap to assume that this was intentional.  I routinely get casino offers that comp insides and occasionally I find other categories are comped too when I have searched for cruises.  This one was a bit more generous than the usual offers but you just never know with Princess.  Just ignore those who say that you should have known better.

 

I know that you feel bad for sharing here but please don't.  Cruise Critic is all about sharing info, the good and the bad.  And this particular deal was shared elsewhere in social media as well.  It does stink that it wasn't real but I guess that's the way it goes sometimes.

[N.Ice]

If Jen wants to learn something from this thread, I think one thing would be to develop empathy for their customers.

 

The situation they have place us in with a short timeframe is:

 

Do nothing and end up with something you either didn't agree to, or risk losing your money,

 

OR

 

Call this number that we are providing to you, and because of lack of communication and preparedness on Princess' part, spent a lot of time on the phone and probably still lose your money unless you keep calling back until you hopefully get it credited back.  You know our time is valuable (as is everyone's), and we engage Princess (and other cruise lines) to find enjoyment... not to add to our stress.

[dog]

Jen Wright has been responding immediately to our emails, I hear.

 

In my opinion the threat of “ switch” to an inside or lose deposit between Friday 9 pm and May 6th was inexcusable.

 

Princess has incompetent staff working on their website- this should have been caught much sooner.

I phoned right after my confirmation was received to have a name and loyalty number corrected and all was well with my booking!

 

How many times do we see issues with Princess website and customer service on here?  Should tell them something.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

13 minutes ago, dog said:

Jen Wright has been responding immediately to our emails, I hear.

 

In my opinion the threat of “ switch” to an inside or lose deposit between Friday 9 pm and May 6th was inexcusable.

 

Princess has incompetent staff working on their website- this should have been caught much sooner.

I phoned right after my confirmation was received to have a name and loyalty number corrected and all was well with my booking!

 

How many times do we see issues with Princess website and customer service on here?  Should tell them something.

Jen Wright has been responding immediately to my emails and she has been a pleasure to work with. 

[Kaikit]

1 hour ago, N.Ice said:

If Jen wants to learn something from this thread, I think one thing would be to develop empathy for their customers.

 

The situation they have place us in with a short timeframe is:

 

Do nothing and end up with something you either didn't agree to, or risk losing your money,

 

OR

 

Call this number that we are providing to you, and because of lack of communication and preparedness on Princess' part, spent a lot of time on the phone and probably still lose your money unless you keep calling back until you hopefully get it credited back.  You know our time is valuable (as is everyone's), and we engage Princess (and other cruise lines) to find enjoyment... not to add to our stress.

Absolutely.... 

 

The communication email that was sent was so top down that it left a bad taste in everyone's mouth. It left a lot of questions unanswered. 

 

Let alone the Princess Reservations had no idea what any one of us was talking about. 

 

A lot of wasted time spent on hold on our side and tying up the reservations line on their side. 

 

If Princess would of offered the "drink package" included with the inside cabin, most of us would have been happy that they were trying to accommodate their error...and that would have made it more palatable...

 

 

[N.Ice]

20 minutes ago, Kaikit said:

Absolutely.... 

 

The communication email that was sent was so top down that it left a bad taste in everyone's mouth. It left a lot of questions unanswered. 

 

Let alone the Princess Reservations had no idea what any one of us was talking about. 

 

A lot of wasted time spent on hold on our side and tying up the reservations line on their side. 

 

If Princess would of offered the "drink package" included with the inside cabin, most of us would have been happy that they were trying to accommodate their error...and that would have made it more palatable...

 

 

Completely agree with your "drink package" call.

[voljeep]

is the free inside cabin on any cruise or only the specific cruise you booked?  If your cruise only, what are those cabins going for?

[tulok]

Okay, I was over this but I stand by Dog. I called customer service after booking and they sent me to the casino desk. I told CS I didn’t know that was a casino offer. She told me by the code she saw it was. There was no code or mention of this on my summary. The casino desk told me I was good to go and never stated anything other wise. A co-worker talked to the same casino person, (I just handed over the phone to her) and she was able to book the offer. Still nothing said except we are both good to go and she had to have a guarantee mini. That was a lot of opportunity to let me know this was not a valid offer. This was Thursday around noon. They had showed the cruise sold out while we were talking which is why she booked with the desk.

Now it’s Friday night and we get the email. Because CS (the number on the email to cancel or find out more information) didn’t know what was going on and told me because I am canceling, I will lose my deposit. Not what the email said. I read the email, didn’t matter. Supervisor knew nothing of this. I called 4 times to try and get someone that knew. 

Finally I emailed Jen and she called me within 15mins. She was super nice and apologetic. She told me she read the transcript of my call to CS and they were wrong. They did receive the information on how to handle the situation and they didn’t do their job. She asked if I wanted more time to think about it. She cancelled my reservation and sent me an invoice with the refund of the full amount.  I have no problem with what happened. Yes it was a mistake, it wasn’t Dogs mistake, it wasn’t my mistake, or anyone else on our roll call. 

[MsSoCalCruiser]

4 minutes ago, voljeep said:

is the free inside cabin on any cruise or only the specific cruise you booked?  If your cruise only, what are those cabins going for?

On the 17 day Canada/Greenland cruise the price has been bouncing around a bit but right now pricing starts at $2,014 for an interior cabin. I am not complaining. 

[dog]

5 minutes ago, voljeep said:

is the free inside cabin on any cruise or only the specific cruise you booked?  If your cruise only, what are those cabins going for?

$4190 CAD for 2 adults in an inside cabin. No perks

only offer for free inside with $200 OBC was for October 15/25 sailing ⛵️ n Star.

[voljeep]

so, if you want to upgrade to the cabin you 'booked' - what is that cost to you, and what would it cost me, if I tried to book today

[BDevilCruiser]

Just called to cancel, took about twenty minutes, as the CS rep had to call his supervisor, and then (I think) two different departments to confirm that there would be no cancellation fee.  (I will be watching my credit card statement online to make sure!)

 

A question:  On the cancellation notice, there's a line item called "NCF*" with the * referencing "Included in Cruise Fare".  Looks like that stands for "Non-Commissioned Fare".  Anybody know why they would add this?  Could it be the lower (zero) fare was a third-party mistake, or they treat casino offers as travel agent bookings?

 

Back to CS, I could barely hear the agent because of the background noise in the call center.  Worse than almost any other I've dealt with (in addition to accent issues.)

 

And, I never got the original email offer, I looked online after Dog gave us the heads-up (and Dog, please continue to do that if you spot a great offer, nothing wrong with what you did.  The fault is entirely with Princess.)  So, could somebody send me Jen Wright's email address?  And, I know I saw it recently, but could somebody also send me the name/email of the head of customer services?  Besides mentioning the background noise issue, I'd also like to complain about not being able to search for "1 guest" on my PC (I created a separate thread about two weeks ago, still no resolution.)

 

[ProfMHC]

I agree that Jen was great to work with. I contacted my CVP who’s usually as quick as white on rice and knowledgeable as heck but he was baffled and told me to contact Princess directly. I emailed Jen…..she telephoned and she sorted everything out immediately. I felt very personal and competent customer care while speaking with her. Looking forward to the cruise and then the TA we had booked many moons ago. Let’s just all hope they launch the Star on time!

Edited May 5 by ProfMHC

[pompeii]

25 minutes ago, voljeep said:

so, if you want to upgrade to the cabin you 'booked' - what is that cost to you, and what would it cost me, if I tried to book today

I originally booked a mini on the Star but now I'm looking at a deluxe balcony.  Special pricing for a deluxe balcony is $630 additional pp and the current price when I log onto the website is $2292.  The $630 is on top of the $200 deposit we've already paid, but we're getting that $200 back in obc.  So in my eyes, the balcony is $630 vs. $2292.  About a 73% discount.

 

The mini would be $1050 additional pp, and under my login, the current rate on the website is $2474.  So not quite as good a deal as the balcony.

Edited May 5 by pompeii

[dog]

4 minutes ago, BDevilCruiser said:

Just called to cancel, took about twenty minutes, as the CS rep had to call his supervisor, and then (I think) two different departments to confirm that there would be no cancellation fee.  (I will be watching my credit card statement online to make sure!)

 

A question:  On the cancellation notice, there's a line item called "NCF*" with the * referencing "Included in Cruise Fare".  Looks like that stands for "Non-Commissioned Fare".  Anybody know why they would add this?  Could it be the lower (zero) fare was a third-party mistake, or they treat casino offers as travel agent bookings?

 

Back to CS, I could barely hear the agent because of the background noise in the call center.  Worse than almost any other I've dealt with (in addition to accent issues.)

 

And, I never got the original email offer, I looked online after Dog gave us the heads-up (and Dog, please continue to do that if you spot a great offer, nothing wrong with what you did.  The fault is entirely with Princess.)  So, could somebody send me Jen Wright's email address?  And, I know I saw it recently, but could somebody also send me the name/email of the head of customer services?  Besides mentioning the background noise issue, I'd also like to complain about not being able to search for "1 guest" on my PC (I created a separate thread about two weeks ago, still no resolution.)

 

Email to:

jenwright@princesscruises.com

 

explain that you need a cancellation in writing

mine says: fee- none

 

no more deals- there was no email offer- it was on website when I logged in- no mention of casino, but details of comp- conditions 

[Kaikit]

18 minutes ago, voljeep said:

so, if you want to upgrade to the cabin you 'booked' - what is that cost to you, and what would it cost me, if I tried to book today

The rates below are per person, in addition to what you have already paid for upgrade from interior cabin:

 

Oceanview: $280

Deluxe Balcony:$630

Mini suite: $1050

Cabana mini suite: $1120

 

Look on website for current prices....

[dog]

18 minutes ago, voljeep said:

so, if you want to upgrade to the cabin you 'booked' - what is that cost to you, and what would it cost me, if I tried to book today

I book d MD mini aft deck 10.

$769 paid

$3777 additional to get this upgrade offer

no perks

CAD$

[voljeep]

1 minute ago, dog said:

I book d MD mini aft deck 10.

$769 paid

$3777 additional to get this upgrade offer

no perks

CAD$

and if I booked it today - no perks CAD$ ?

[dog]

6 minutes ago, voljeep said:

and if I booked it today - no perks CAD$ ?

No, but this was what I was told at 9:15 pm Friday on phone.  Same person I had correct name & loyalty number on this booking the day before.

She was in head office, I asked her and kept going off to get info for me.

So, I might of done better had I waited until Saturday.

no perks. $200 OBC in US was offered

Edited May 5 by dog

[ChutChut]

If it's too goo to be true, it usually is....

[MsSoCalCruiser]

15 minutes ago, ChutChut said:

If it's too goo to be true, it usually is....

I have received that exact same offer before. 

[dog]

12 minutes ago, ChutChut said:

If it's too goo to be true, it usually is....

Exactly why I closed the thread and now asked for it to be opened up again.

It is an excellent example of what is going on at Princess Cruises.

The website and customer service appear to be inept at doing a proper job.

Those wishing to continue on with the cruise get a free inside cabin &$200 OBC.

 

Too good to be true.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

@dog I really want to thank you again for sharing this info. Because of you we are going to Greenland. I never knew that Greenland was on my bucket list until I watched a YouTube video after reading your post. It looks beautiful! I don’t even care if I’m in an inside cabin. I hope to meet you someday at a CC function.

Edited May 5 by MsSoCalCruiser