Princess canceled my Last Supper excursion and didn’t even bother to tell me

[Cafabi]

I booked an excursion out of Genoa months ago to Milan to see the Last Supper. My son is an art history nerd and this was to be the highlight of the trip. There was free time included and so I booked independent tickets to the Duomo. While going over my credit card statement this morning, I saw that Princess canceled this excursion 3 weeks ago, and didn’t even notify me. Even if I were brave enough to attempt this on our own, the Last Supper tickets have been sold out for weeks. There is one other Last Supper excursion, but it is sold out (not even taking waitlist requests).

 

Is it normal to not notify the passenger when an excursion is canceled? This happened once before, but it was due to a canceled port.

 

Any suggestions on how to get hold of an actual person who can help?

[Mary loves to travel]

I’m guessing they weren’t able to get enough entry tickets to the Last Supper. 

[TRLD]

An example of why one should set their credit cards to notify them of any refunds.

 

Are any independent excursions offered for the last supper from that port?

[PacnGoNow]

28 minutes ago, Cafabi said:

I booked an excursion out of Genoa months ago to Milan to see the Last Supper. My son is an art history nerd and this was to be the highlight of the trip. There was free time included and so I booked independent tickets to the Duomo. While going over my credit card statement this morning, I saw that Princess canceled this excursion 3 weeks ago, and didn’t even notify me. Even if I were brave enough to attempt this on our own, the Last Supper tickets have been sold out for weeks. There is one other Last Supper excursion, but it is sold out (not even taking waitlist requests).

 

Is it normal to not notify the passenger when an excursion is canceled? This happened once before, but it was due to a canceled port.

 

Any suggestions on how to get hold of an actual person who can help?

That is a shame.  If you booked through a TA, they may have been notified.  Also, could have gone into junk folder.  Or, no notification.  I’ve had both happen to me.

 

If you call the phone line, there is an option for shore excursions.  See if they can help.  If you used a TA/CVP reach out to them for help, see if they can get you on a waitlist.

 

I would try Viator

or

VisitItaly.eu

 

Edited May 8 by PacnGoNow

[Cafabi]

35 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

 

If you call the phone line, there is an option for shore excursions.  See if they can help.

All they could offer was "I apologize" for the cancelation and the lack of notification. They suggested checking on board, but if the waitlist is full, I'm not optimistic about that. On hold with the TA now. If that doesn't work out, I will look for something independent. It is annoying that there are 2 excursions and the other one did not get canceled but mine did.

[PacnGoNow]

2 minutes ago, Cafabi said:

All they could offer was "I apologize" for the cancelation and the lack of notification. They suggested checking on board, but if the waitlist is full, I'm not optimistic about that. On hold with the TA now. If that doesn't work out, I will look for something independent. It is annoying that there are 2 excursions and the other one did not get canceled but mine did.

That is disappointing for sure!  I have had waitlists clear once OB, but that is risky. I checked with Shore excursions as soon as they opened to tell them I really wanted the tour.  

 

Good luck. Let us know. 

[Paula_MacFan]

We had an excursion cancelled by Princess for our upcoming Alaska cruise and didn't get a notice either. The only reason I noticed was it was no longer listed on our Travel Summary. A few days after noticing it gone we recieved a refund to our credit card. I was disappointed because it was a bucket list type excursion, but our port time was changed slightly so there was no longer enough time for the tour.

 

I asked my CVP about it -- basically is this standard procedure? Their response was that Princess no longer has a dedicated excursion department so there's no one to complain to about it. 

 

We just booked another excursion and moved on. But I was annoyed.

[Cafabi]

15 minutes ago, Paula_MacFan said:

I asked my CVP about it -- basically is this standard procedure? Their response was that Princess no longer has a dedicated excursion department so there's no one to complain to about it. 

This is our first time cruising since Covid and was supposed to be my son's dream vacation to celebrate graduation. They have already changed 2 ports on us and now this. First world problems for sure, but I've never had this much trouble on any of our many previous cruises, and it hasn't even left yet. I am definitely getting a "too bad, so sad" vibe from Princess.

[Cafabi]

I am starting to come down off my initial shock and disappointment but still not thinking rationally enough to rule out snapping up whatever overpriced tour I can find and riding the train. We do independent tours all the time, but that would be a bit outside my comfort zone. I will talk it over with the fam and weigh that against trying to charm the shore excursion people upon embarkation. Thanks to those who offered suggestions and sympathy. It helps!

[ProfMHC]

Had the same issue but turned out it was closed that day. Princess cruise operator missed that. Apparently it’s closed every Monday. And since January they’ve limited the number of people allowed per day again. 

[TRLD]

3 hours ago, Cafabi said:

I am starting to come down off my initial shock and disappointment but still not thinking rationally enough to rule out snapping up whatever overpriced tour I can find and riding the train. We do independent tours all the time, but that would be a bit outside my comfort zone. I will talk it over with the fam and weigh that against trying to charm the shore excursion people upon embarkation. Thanks to those who offered suggestions and sympathy. It helps!

 

Trains between genoa and milan are pretty frequent and take between 1.5 to 2 hours deprnding upon train. Seem to be a number of advance ticket sale sources/tickets to get into the last supper. Looks like it could be pretty easily done for less than the Princess excursion.

Edited May 8 by TRLD

[Cafabi]

27 minutes ago, TRLD said:

 

Trains between genoa and milan are pretty frequent and take between 1.5 to 2 hours deprnding upon train. Seem to be a number of advance ticket sale sources/tickets to get into the last supper. Looks like it could be pretty easily done for less than the Princess excursion.

Thanks. I have been searching high and low all afternoon. The different sites start out looking promising, but once I put in the number of people (3) and date (June 6), everything evaporates. Waiting to hear back from one tour company that might be sitting on some tickets.

[Cafabi]

I forgot to mention that when I called Princess, the agent acted like she didn't see what the problem was (canceled bucket list excursion + not telling me) because they refunded me.

[Arizona Wildcat]

34 minutes ago, Cafabi said:

I forgot to mention that when I called Princess, the agent acted like she didn't see what the problem was (canceled bucket list excursion + not telling me) because they refunded me.

You seem to have missed the message that customer service is mostly gone.  Tour operators have more business than they have seats.  Cruise ships are full.  It isn't just Princess.  My DW told me to be "more accepting of change or stay home."  Not happy about that, but everywhere pretty much the same.

[Coral]

6 hours ago, PacnGoNow said:

That is a shame.  If you booked through a TA, they may have been notified.  Also, could have gone into junk folder.  Or, no notification.  I’ve had both happen to me.

 

If you call the phone line, there is an option for shore excursions.  See if they can help.  If you used a TA/CVP reach out to them for help, see if they can get you on a waitlist.

 

I would try Viator

or

VisitItaly.eu

 

I don't think so. This is sent directly to customer.

[TRLD]

42 minutes ago, Cafabi said:

Thanks. I have been searching high and low all afternoon. The different sites start out looking promising, but once I put in the number of people (3) and date (June 6), everything evaporates. Waiting to hear back from one tour company that might be sitting on some tickets.

I foumd the same thing. A couple of other possibilities:

 

Do you have a credit card such as AMEX Platinum that has concierge service? I have been able to get scarce tickets that way in the past. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't.

 

Have you checked on the rollcall for your cruise to see if anyone might be on the other excursion and thinking about canceling?

 

I woild keep checking the museum site. They do say that additional inventory may become available and to keep checking.

 

 

[PacnGoNow]

6 minutes ago, Coral said:

I don't think so. This is sent directly to customer.

It may have been due to the TA booking the excursion for us. Most of the time, it just shows as a refund on the CC.  They really should have a better process for cancellation on excursions.

[SCX22]

This trip is easily done out of Genoa on your own and at much lower cost.  The ship will dock a 10 minute walk from Genoa's Piazza Principe train station.  From there, you can purchase a ticket to Milano Centrale station on an InterCity Train, which is around 20 Euros one way and 1 hour, 40 minutes train ride each way.  When you get to Milan, you take the Metro to Santa Maria della Grazie Church (15 minute walk from the Metro station), where the Last Supper is located.  You have to be on the look out for Italian train worker strikes, which will put a rut in this plan.

 

Prior, you have to reserve to reserve tickets through the website below for 16 Euro:

https://cenacolovinciano.vivaticket.it/

 

Easy Peasy.  Did it last November on the Enchanted.

 

ETA:  You only get 15 minutes in the room with Last Supper painting before you are kicked out.

 

 

Edited May 8 by SCX22

[Coral]

Just now, PacnGoNow said:

It may have been due to the TA booking the excursion for us. Most of the time, it just shows as a refund on the CC.  They really should have a better process for cancellation on excursions.

I agree!

[Cafabi]

1 hour ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

You seem to have missed the message that customer service is mostly gone.  Tour operators have more business than they have seats.  Cruise ships are full.  It isn't just Princess.  My DW told me to be "more accepting of change or stay home."  Not happy about that, but everywhere pretty much the same.

On the contrary. Giving an example.

[Cafabi]

1 hour ago, TRLD said:

I foumd the same thing. A couple of other possibilities:

 

Do you have a credit card such as AMEX Platinum that has concierge service? I have been able to get scarce tickets that way in the past. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't.

 

Have you checked on the rollcall for your cruise to see if anyone might be on the other excursion and thinking about canceling?

 

I woild keep checking the museum site. They do say that additional inventory may become available and to keep checking.

 

 

I will try this. Thanks for the tip.

[Cafabi]

1 hour ago, SCX22 said:

This trip is easily done out of Genoa on your own and at much lower cost.  The ship will dock a 10 minute walk from Genoa's Piazza Principe train station.  From there, you can purchase a ticket to Milano Centrale station on an InterCity Train, which is around 20 Euros one way and 1 hour, 40 minutes train ride each way.  When you get to Milan, you take the Metro to Santa Maria della Grazie Church (15 minute walk from the Metro station), where the Last Supper is located.  You have to be on the look out for Italian train worker strikes, which will put a rut in this plan.

 

Prior, you have to reserve to reserve tickets through the website below for 16 Euro:

https://cenacolovinciano.vivaticket.it/

 

Easy Peasy.  Did it last November on the Enchanted.

 

ETA:  You only get 15 minutes in the room with Last Supper painting before you are kicked out.

 

 

Thanks for the detailed instructions. The problem right now is ticket availability during peak season. Hopefully I can score some and get to apply the rest of your info.

[SCX22]

Just now, Cafabi said:

Thanks for the detailed instructions. The problem right now is ticket availability during peak season. Hopefully I can score some and get to apply the rest of your info.

 

Regardless, of if you can go to the Last Supper, still consider a day trip to Milan on your own by train (if the workers aren't on strike.  There's way more to see and do there than Genoa. 

 

Also, keep checking availability on the VivaTicket website.  Tickets aren't all released at once.  Might also be worth checking on a 3rd party operator that you meet up with in Milan--meaning take the train to Milan on your own and meet the operator there--rather than trying to find one that will pick up and return you to Genoa.

[Cruisekitty1977]

Thank you so much for this post. I had booked the same tour, and then I read on here that all Mondays they are closed. So I checked my itinary, and sure enough, we are there on a Monday. So I cancelled and used the credit for the other tour we wanted, which, even though a year out, was already down to 9 tickets left.

[Cafabi]

2 hours ago, SCX22 said:

 

Regardless, of if you can go to the Last Supper, still consider a day trip to Milan on your own by train (if the workers aren't on strike.  There's way more to see and do there than Genoa. 

 

Also, keep checking availability on the VivaTicket website.  Tickets aren't all released at once.  Might also be worth checking on a 3rd party operator that you meet up with in Milan--meaning take the train to Milan on your own and meet the operator there--rather than trying to find one that will pick up and return you to Genoa.

Good to know--all great info, thanks! I will definitely keep checking. If I do get hold of tickets, should I buy the train ticket ahead of time? I had not even considered trying to get a tour out of Genoa. I'm finding it difficult enough to find one out of Milan. But mainly I think it would be too cost prohibitive and just unnecessary.