Warning about Princess Cruises

[verydisappointed]

Read our story and then decide if you really want to gamble on a Princess Cruise:

Our parents have long dreamed of an Alaskan cruise vacation including themselves, their 3 children and spouses, and their grandchildren. Finally this was going to be the year celebrating the occasion of my parents' 50th wedding anniversary! We've been planning for about a year to sail to Alaska on Princess' Dawn Princess on with an Aug. 2 sailing date. (It was a minor miracle to have everyone available for the same week!) We were all very excited since we rarely manage to all be together because of a large geographical spread.

Unfortunately our father had emergency coronary bypass surgery July 7 rendering him medically unable to "make" the Aug. 2 cruise date. Obviously we couldn't very well celebrate our parents' anniversary without my parents being there . While my mother, sister, and I were at my father's bedside in the hospital, my brother and BIL were working with our travel agent and a Princess representative requesting a credit to take the same cruise next year. My brother was advised by the Princess rep. that situations as of these would be considered on a case by case basis. We were instructed to fax a letter from Dad's surgeon stating why he could not make the cruise date which we did almost immediately. Princess didn't like the wording of the first letter so we went back to the surgeon's office for yet another letter practically dictated by the Princess rep.

Despite our efforts, Princess flatly refused our request, saying their policy was to only reschedule in the event of a death. (I'm hard pressed to imagine how you can cruise when you're dead.)

We've already written a letter to Princess' President and CFO but have recieved no response (nor do we expect to).

At this point, I could care less about a cruise but I'm very angry at the runaround we got from Princess and their piling further disappointment onto my parents at such a difficult time.

Talking to many people since this has happened, we've learned that other cruise lines are much more accomodating than Princess in cases such as these.

I post this here not only to vent my frustrations but also to warn any other potential Princess cruiser of the gamble they make when booking on Princess.

[MrsPete]

Did you have travel insurance? If so, how did much good did it do?

[verydisappointed]

We have travel insurance but we have a new set of hoops to jump through; quite frankly we're all focusing on Dad's recovery and don't need more "hoop"s. Some of the hoops involve yet another letter and signatures from the surgeon. (I doubt he has time for all that.)

Our hope was that Princess would be understanding in our situation so that we can make other arrangements without all the extra effort.

I posted this in part as a warning to others since other cruise lines are much more accommodating.

[verydisappointed]

for reading and commenting on my story. I didn't state above but we did buy trip insurance. However it brings with it a whole new set of "hoops" to jump through also involving yet another letter and signatures from Dad's doctor. (I doubt he'll be able to use up much more of his precious time on this.) :mad:

I wasn't aware of this site prior to our booking the cruise. We're new to cruising and are a bit naive yet.

I posted this story in part to warn others who aren't as cruise savvy as many of you since there are other cruise lines that are more accommodating in matters such as this.

Blessings on your days!

[judycruiser]

I do not think that other cruise lines are any more accommodating than Princess in situations like this. I have no problem with the way they and other cruise lines handle such problems.

My situation: I was booked on two back to back cruises (last two weeks of May and last two weeks of August) on Celebrity cruise lines. I have been on that line several times before. My husband experienced health problems which necessitated my canceling both back to back cruises. They would not change the dates. As it turns out, I cancelled the August cruise and re-booked it for two weeks earlier I did cancel and re-book.

I am using my travel insurance to re-coup my money. That's what it's for. Sure, filing a claim is a hassle but necessary to recover monies lost.

FYI, this will be cruises number 75 and 76 for me. I have bought cruise insurance for years but never used it until now.

Glad I had it.

Judy

[srphnx]

[color=black][b]So you had insurance, didn't post about it, complain that the CL doesn't just give you a credit and that in order to collect on the insurance some "hoops" forms have to be completed? Do you expect companies to pay $1000's without proper documentation? I will assume the stress of your Fathers problem is what is making you so unrealistic. Bottom line, you are the one not savvy, your warnings are misplaced and incorrectly formed. Perhaps you should calm down, learn the facts about cruising and contracts and attend to your family before posting "warnings".[/b][/color]

[TWA4Ever]

[quote name='verydisappointed']We have travel insurance but we have a new set of hoops to jump through; quite frankly we're all focusing on Dad's recovery and don't need more "hoop"s. Some of the hoops involve yet another letter and signatures from the surgeon. (I doubt he has time for all that.)[/QUOTE]


Right now, the medical profession would have a hard time "making end's meet" without their insurance payments. It is very doubtful that your father's doctor would refuse you the proper documentation and signatures for [I]your[/I] insurance.

These things are not "hoops;" they are part of life and one of the reasons you purchased insurance in the first place.

[HighRoller]

I agree with the above look take an adavan and relax...albeith it your situation is distressfull, howver YOU are at fault and not the cruise line...ranting and raving isn't going to get your $$$$ back!:cool: :eek:

[galeg]

I hope your father is ok and I'm sorry about your situation and some of the nasty responses you've gotten here. It must be very disappointing missing the cruise you've planned, dealing with an emergency, getting the run around and then getting grief here. I hope all works out and your family gets to enjoy a cruise with everyone in good health.

[mconthehighseas]

I'm going to echo a lot of what galeg said. I am so sorry to hear about your father, and hope he will recover soon. I am appalled at some of the responses you received here; I would have hoped people could have found a more pleasant way to correct you if they thought you had erred.

Meanwhile, how has your travel agent (TA) been through all of this? Has s/he helped you with your negotiations with Princess? And with the insurance company? If you haven't asked for help yet, now is the time to put your TA to work - their business is to help you through the red tape that the cruise lines have to work with.

Here's hoping that everything gets resolved smoothly very soon, health-wise and financially, for your family.

[wellmomof2]

I feel so bad about your situation. I hope it all works out for you, both financially and personally.

It's interesting some of the disheatening responses. I wonder if any of these individuals have ever experienced a real loss? I highly doubt it!

My prayers are with you (I recently loss my father)!:(

[serene56]

Maybe I am thick skined but I dont think the previous posters were mean. What they all said is true. There is not a cruise line out there that will reimburse you without proper documentation. Why sugar coat the enevitable. That what makes these boards so great. You get the good the bad and then you get ugly..

Im sorry to hear tht your cruise was canceled because of a medical emergency but thank god you had the foresite to buy cruise insurance. Not a lot of people do. Unleast you will get your monies back that you had for your cruise. (wish all good for your dad)

[kitty9]

First of all, let me say my prayers are with you and your family.

With that said, the cruise line is just doing what almost every other cruise line would have done in a similar situation. Let me give you an example. Remember after 9/11 and the airlines were grounded? There were hundreds of people who couldn't get to their cruises and had to miss out. The cruise lines basically said, sorry, you're out of luck. No refund, but a very few did allow passengers to rebook their cruises at a later date. Why Princess is doing what they're doing is strange, but if I were you, and still wanted to cruise on Princess (personally I don't know why you'd want to cruise with them after this) I would just get the money back from the insurance and book another cruise line. What happened to you is exactly what travel insurance is for. And it's not all that difficult to get your reimbursment. I've had to make claims for three cruises due to illness and it was very easy, and by no means were there any difficult hoops to jump through. Have your TA call your insurance company to get the claims form. You just fill it out, have the doctor fill in the marked areas of the form, get a copy of your father's hospital admittance forms (which you can get very quickly at the admit desk) and mail all that into the insurance company. You will have your money back in two weeks or less.

[imsulin]

I definitely agree that Princess is not the only cruise line that will allow you to re-book at a different date due to ANY reason. Most of the major cruise lines have exactly the same policy! The CL policies are stated in their brochures, and that's what TRIP INSURANCE is for! Yes - it can be a hassle. I've had to make claims for myself and for my clients, but if the claims are done properly for a covered reason, you should have no problem getting your money back. Hope your Father recovers.

[cruisinqt]

Verydisappointed, thanks for posting your experience. We have never had any medical emergency or death in the family cause us to miss our cruise. But it's nice to know ahead of time how things work. I hadn't really thought about it because we are young and healthy. But if something happens, I now know that the cruise line will probably not give us credit or let us reschedule.:(

I hope your father recovers quickly and you get that anniversary party after all. :D :D :D

[Boo's Mom]

Yes.... the above posters were correct with their advice, but we must find a kinder and more gentle way to speak to each other on these boards. Especially...to someone who is new to the boards and new to cruising.

We can tell someone that their position might be invalid....without causing them additional grief.

verydisappointed....... On behalf of any posters on this board who may have unknowingly been too harsh with their comments....I apologize.
I hope your Dad is doing better...and I hope all works out with coordinating a rescheduling of your family cruise.

;)

[mconthehighseas]

Boo's Mom - the sad thing is that "verydisappointed" hasn't posted since she was lambasted by others on this thread. I'll bet she hasn't signed on to cruisecritic since then. The records show she only had 4 posts, all here.

It is very sad when people have to be right to the point of being nasty. In the future, I hope people can be nicer to new posters, even if they disagree. We are allowed to have differences of opinion, don't get me wrong, but we should find a way to do it courteously.

[Boo's Mom]

mconthehighseas....

I just attempted to email [B]verydisappointed[/B].....but it said that she didn't want any emails forwarded.

:( .......... [B]![/B]

[mconthehighseas]

Thanks for trying. Let's hope she'll give us a second shot sometime soon. She's probably busy with her family right now anyway.

[TWA4Ever]

[QUOTE=Boo's Mom]mconthehighseas....I just attempted to email [B]verydisappointed[/B].....but it said that she didn't want any emails forwarded![/QUOTE]

Email forwarding is a CC problem. I wrote Laura about it last week and she told me that CC had shut down the email feature from member's profiles. No one can email anyone else through the profile feature.