Please help...

[lysolqn]

Please,

 

I need the name, address and/or fax number of the president of Princess, and the same info for the person in charge of customer service. Any information regarding anyone else with whom you've been successful regarding a complaint would likewise be appreciated.

 

This involves a promise made to us onboard Crown Princess last August to post a refund to our onboard account due us as a result of a horrible shore excursion experience. The refund was never posted and correspondence back and forth to Princess has proved useless even though we have provided Princess with the name and position of the person who authoried the refund, as well as the amount of the refund promised. All we keep receiving are form letters which offer useless apologies for our inconvenience and confirmation that customer service is Princess' first priority. No mention whatsoever is made of the reason for the complaint and Princess' failure to honor the refund promised. We also filed a complaint with American Express which was denied by Princess.

 

This is not a petty complaint. It involves a sizeable credit (we were a party of seven people) and is too important on principle alone to ignore. Your help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thank you.

[DetroitMark]

(Disregard: Double Post)

 

UPGRADE YOUR BANDWIDTH, CRUISE CRITIC!!!!!

 

russin-frussin-brickin-brackin-racka-sacka....

[DetroitMark]

You're probably going to have to explain what was so horrible about the shore experience before you're going to convince anyone here to aid and abet in a Princess Pile-On.

 

"Bad Experiences" are subjective. Was any of it your fault? Did Princess have anything to do with your bad experience? Did they try to find some other remedy that you've rejected?

 

You might have to explain that kind of stuff before you're going to get much help, I'm afraid.

[Toto2Kansas]

I can tell you from experience, no matter who you address the letter to, especially the President, it will go no further than someone at a desk at customer relations/service. If you continue to write again, you have already been assinged a CSR and your letters will contiune to go back to the same person you have already heard from.

 

Please don't take offense to this, but something that has to do with a shore excursion while onboard is usually taken care of before you leave the ship, no matter what promises you were made onboard that it would be taken care of later on. What normally happens is they refund half of the shore excursion only to your shipboard account, no matter how terrible it was.

I wish you the best of luck with this one, but getting a refund of some kind now is going to take lightening striking 7 times before it happens.

 

FYI-Have friends that are still protesting a Princess excursion from 14 months ago with Princess. They refuse to do anything about it now as it wasn't taken care of while onboard the ship. They continue to write, and all it is doing is frustrating them with each letter.

[lysolqn]

You're probably going to have to explain what was so horrible about the shore experience before you're going to convince anyone here to aid and abet in a Princess Pile-On.

 

"Bad Experiences" are subjective. Was any of it your fault? Did Princess have anything to do with your bad experience? Did they try to find some other remedy that you've rejected?

 

You might have to explain that kind of stuff before you're going to get much help, I'm afraid.

 

Would you consider a tour guide who has no knowledge of the tour he is to provide, is clearly ignorant, has a minimal command of the language and is unintelligible at best our fault? How about his choice to drop his drawers and relieve himself alongside an open safari truck in full view of his passengers - is that something that was our fault, too?

This was reported to the shore excursion manager immediately upon our return to the ship, at which time he authorized a partial refund. It was never posted to our account despite continued calls and visits to the shore excursion desk and guest relations desk where we were given assurances it would be credited. As is customary on the last morning of the cruise, no one would answer the phones and the line at the guest relations desk was so long that had we remained, we would have missed our connection home.

[Toto2Kansas]

Sounds simply terrible, so sorry that you had this happen.

 

But as said, this should have been finalized, as per the refund before you left the ship. I have not known anyone to receive a refund after they arrived home or a credit for a bad shore excursion. Best of luck on this and I hope you can report back something was done and money refunded, but I honestly have my doubts at this stage it will happen. Good Luck!

[MichCook]

Unfortunately, ditto with other poster's comments about handling shore excursion issues while still on board the ship.

 

Our last cruise, the best half of one of our shore excursions was cancelled and we were told that we could cancel out on the entire excursion for full credit or stay with the remaining portion of the excursion for 1/2 credit. We opted for the 1/2 credit option and went to the pursors desk the following day, got a printout of our account to confirm that the credit was applied. It was.

 

I sympathize with your plight but hope for future shore excusion issues you follow through with these issues during the cruise.

[DetroitMark]

Without trying to read too much into it, basically what I get from your description is that the Tour Guide was the problem, not the actual excursion. And unless I'm mistaken your two complaints are that he had a thick accent, and that he urinated on the side of the road during the tour.

 

As far as being "ignorant", that sounds like a personal judgment from someone who is angry. So I would have to dismiss that complaint.

 

If I'm Princess Cruises, I'm probably going to give you a free meal or something just because you're so furious. But I certainly wouldn't refund anything.

 

It sounds to me like you just didn't like the tour guide. And there may or may not have been thousands of people before you that found him positively charming or else I would think you would have mentioned the throngs of people who were joining you in your complaint.

 

Hopefully you were able to get this matter off your chest by talking about it. But quite honestly, it sounds to me like it wasn't as bad as you're making it sound - which would explain the lack of response you're getting from Princess.

 

That's just my take.

[lysolqn]

Without trying to read too much into it, basically what I get from your description is that the Tour Guide was the problem, not the actual excursion. And unless I'm mistaken your two complaints are that he had a thick accent, and that he urinated on the side of the road during the tour.

 

As far as being "ignorant", that sounds like a personal judgment from someone who is angry. So I would have to dismiss that complaint.

 

If I'm Princess Cruises, I'm probably going to give you a free meal or something just because you're so furious. But I certainly wouldn't refund anything.

 

It sounds to me like you just didn't like the tour guide. And there may or may not have been thousands of people before you that found him positively charming or else I would think you would have mentioned the throngs of people who were joining you in your complaint.

 

Hopefully you were able to get this matter off your chest by talking about it. But quite honestly, it sounds to me like it wasn't as bad as you're making it sound - which would explain the lack of response you're getting from Princess.

 

That's just my take.

 

You're making a lot of assumptions (based on a little information), all of which are unfounded and way off base.

[DetroitMark]

That's kind of why I suggested you offer information if you wanted to win some support on this thread. If my comments are based on little information, please remember, it's the little information you provided.

[Cruise or Lose!]

For relieving himself on the side of the road, in front of pax, he should be at the very least suspended from the tour operator, or Princess shouldn't use that tour operator again.

 

For being "ignorant" and not speaking English well...what country were you in? Was he polite and friendly? Did you make an effort to try to speak HIS language?

[frankathy]

Did you use a travel agent. If so tell them and let them do to their District Manager. We had one horrible cruise and the T/A got a us full refund and future credit.

[Pam in CA]

I've had several experiences with way-less-than-expected shore excursions and when reported, have received a credit back for at least part of the tour. If you were promised, and have it in writing, that you would receive a partial credit, then I would pursue it. In my case, I received the partial credit(s) and have to hope that Princess never uses the operator again.

 

In one instance, we took the all-day tour to Marrakesh from Casablanca, a 4 - 4.5-hour bus ride away through the desert. Our bus had no A/C and we sweltered in the bus with temperatures getting to 110 - 120 in the bus -- both ways. If there had been people with heart conditions on the bus, it could have been disastrous. To add to that, our tour guide gave us a 3-hour lecture on Islaam rather than on the countryside, what we were going to see, etc. This was a pretty expensive tour and we were reimbursed 50%.

 

Another situation we had recently in November on the Royal Princess was our 2-day tour in Israel. The hotel Princess put us up at was filthy dirty. I don't mean dust bunnies but mold and mildew all over the bathrooms, dirty bedspreads that were sticky to the touch, etc. At dinner at the hotel, we were each supposed to have a bottle of wine with dinner but the hotel refused to honor that and made people pay until the tour guide showed up and gave them what for. The guide was great, the hotel was awful. About 24 hours after leaving the hotel, several (8 or 9 to my knowledge) of us on our bus got violently ill -- and I mean violent. I was already in Cairo and 3.5 hours away from the bus when I got as sick as you possibly can. Fortunately, I was in the very back of the bus and the worst was on the bus ride back to the ship so I could use plastic bags, etc. but I don't remember much of that ride. Five minutes after I got back, the nurse was knocking on my door to give me a shot. That was Sunday and I was still sick right through Monday night. It literally ruined the rest of the week and half of my cruise since I still didn't feel well on Thursday when we got to Split, Croatia. Friday, we disembarked and my sister, BIL and I were so exhausted from the disembarkation that when we got to the hotel in Venice, we just slept the rest of the day. This was the most awful hotel experience I've ever had and I've let Princess know. If anyone takes the overnight in Jerusalem, DON'T!!!

[LisaH]

I can tell you from experience, no matter who you address the letter to, especially the President, it will go no further than someone at a desk at customer relations/service. If you continue to write again, you have already been assinged a CSR and your letters will contiune to go back to the same person you have already heard from.

 

Please don't take offense to this, but something that has to do with a shore excursion while onboard is usually taken care of before you leave the ship, no matter what promises you were made onboard that it would be taken care of later on. What normally happens is they refund half of the shore excursion only to your shipboard account, no matter how terrible it was.

I wish you the best of luck with this one, but getting a refund of some kind now is going to take lightening striking 7 times before it happens.

 

FYI-Have friends that are still protesting a Princess excursion from 14 months ago with Princess. They refuse to do anything about it now as it wasn't taken care of while onboard the ship. They continue to write, and all it is doing is frustrating them with each letter.

 

yep, my parents are doing the same thing - they were on the Crown Princess in October and had a poorly organized shore excursion. Princess did not do anything after letters and calls. My father disputed the charge on his credit card but who knows what the outcome will be. He received a conditional credit pending investigation into the claim. Could be he will lose.

[janetz]

You're probably going to have to explain what was so horrible about the shore experience before you're going to convince anyone here to aid and abet in a Princess Pile-On.

 

"Bad Experiences" are subjective. Was any of it your fault? Did Princess have anything to do with your bad experience? Did they try to find some other remedy that you've rejected?

 

You might have to explain that kind of stuff before you're going to get much help, I'm afraid.

 

 

Why should the op need to explain anything? The op is looking for contact information. :rolleyes: It's really not your business. :)

[Cruise or Lose!]

Unfortunately, experience with these boards leads me to doubt negative accounts of the crusing experience. It's important to determine the validity of one's complaint before firing off an angry letter to the CEO of the cruise line. Most people, in my experience, cannot or will not be objective about their complaints, so we have to do it for them :D

[DetroitMark]

Oh come on, let's not pretend that the person was simply looking for the number to the local library.

 

This person made it clear that they wanted:

 

"...the name, address and/or fax number of the president of Princess."

 

The President! Pretty major. The person said the subject matter was about a complaint that was of the utmost critical nature:

 

"...This is not a petty complaint. It involves a sizeable credit (we were a party of seven people) and is too important on principle alone to ignore."

 

The request was made in an open thread of a message board.

 

Now I don't know about you, but if someone came to me and said "can I borrow your hammer so I can hit someone over the head" the first question I'm going to ask before I lend them my hammer ... is "Why."

 

After having seen the person's flimsy reason for wanting to bother the President of Princess Cruises, I'm pretty sure anyone who actually has it in their rolodex is relieved that they didn't just blurt it out.

 

 

 

Why should the op need to explain anything? The op is looking for contact information. It's really not your business.

.

[JenDalessan]

That's kind of why I suggested you offer information if you wanted to win some support on this thread. If my comments are based on little information, please remember, it's the little information you provided.

 

He is not looking to try his case here, he just wanted an address. Sheeesh.

 

Sorry to the OP, I don't have the address. I would go back to your travel agent and start there. He/she might have an in at princess to help you with this.

[willysgrandma]

Alan Buckelew is the President of Princess. Their corporate address is

Princess Cruises

 

(Corporate Headquarters)

24844 Avenue Rockefeller

Santa Clarita, CA 91355

[lysolqn]

Alan Buckelew is the President of Princess. Their corporate address is

Princess Cruises

 

(Corporate Headquarters)

24844 Avenue Rockefeller

Santa Clarita, CA 91355

 

Thank you for your post; I've gotten the information I was seeking but your reply is nevertheless appreciated. Thanks also to frankathy for suggesting I contact our t/a - great idea! With forty-one cruises under our belt, we should have thought of that first, but this is really the first and only time we've ever encountered total indifference to a problem on the part of any cruise line on which we've sailed.

 

My membership on Cruise Critic goes back years. Even when there is a disagreement between and amongst members, interaction on the various boards is, for the most part, reasonable and respectful. I'm nothing short of amazed by the accusatory attitude and open hostility exhibited in some responses to my inquiry, not to mention the self-appointed judge-jury-hangman position taken by some (okay, one!). As always, he who yells the loudest usually has the least to say.

 

Thank you to everyone else!

[DetroitMark]

I think if you'll review, you'll see that even though I felt that your complaint seemed petty and unduly negative toward Princess, I remained respectful in all of my responses to each question that was posed to me.

[lysolqn]

I think if you'll review, you'll see that even though I felt that your complaint seemed petty and unduly negative toward Princess, I remained respectful in all of my responses to each question that was posed to me.

 

My original post was simply a request for information. If you were unable to provide that information, you need not have replied since I did not request your opinion regarding the validity or lack thereof with respect to my complaint. I never qualified the complaint as "of the utmost critical nature" - you did! Furthermore, if I choose to "hit someone over the head," as you so eloquently put it (which I clearly do not), it is none of your concern. I'm sure Mr. Buckelew and his esteemed colleagues at Princess are quite capable of handling Princess matters sans your assistance. In fact, judging from your responses in this thread, I'm quite certain that Mr. Buckelew neither needs nor wants you to intervene on behalf of Princess Cruise Line.

[coiran]

This may be old info but you might better sebd it to

 

Mitchell Keifer

Manager - Customer Relations

 

Ron

[coiran]

Jan Swartz is the current VP of sales and customer relations.

 

Ron

[pris993]

I've had several experiences with way-less-than-expected shore excursions and when reported, have received a credit back for at least part of the tour. If you were promised, and have it in writing, that you would receive a partial credit, then I would pursue it. In my case, I received the partial credit(s) and have to hope that Princess never uses the operator again.

 

In one instance, we took the all-day tour to Marrakesh from Casablanca, a 4 - 4.5-hour bus ride away through the desert. Our bus had no A/C and we sweltered in the bus with temperatures getting to 110 - 120 in the bus -- both ways. If there had been people with heart conditions on the bus, it could have been disastrous. To add to that, our tour guide gave us a 3-hour lecture on Islaam rather than on the countryside, what we were going to see, etc. This was a pretty expensive tour and we were reimbursed 50%.

 

Another situation we had recently in November on the Royal Princess was our 2-day tour in Israel. The hotel Princess put us up at was filthy dirty. I don't mean dust bunnies but mold and mildew all over the bathrooms, dirty bedspreads that were sticky to the touch, etc. At dinner at the hotel, we were each supposed to have a bottle of wine with dinner but the hotel refused to honor that and made people pay until the tour guide showed up and gave them what for. The guide was great, the hotel was awful. About 24 hours after leaving the hotel, several (8 or 9 to my knowledge) of us on our bus got violently ill -- and I mean violent. I was already in Cairo and 3.5 hours away from the bus when I got as sick as you possibly can. Fortunately, I was in the very back of the bus and the worst was on the bus ride back to the ship so I could use plastic bags, etc. but I don't remember much of that ride. Five minutes after I got back, the nurse was knocking on my door to give me a shot. That was Sunday and I was still sick right through Monday night. It literally ruined the rest of the week and half of my cruise since I still didn't feel well on Thursday when we got to Split, Croatia. Friday, we disembarked and my sister, BIL and I were so exhausted from the disembarkation that when we got to the hotel in Venice, we just slept the rest of the day. This was the most awful hotel experience I've ever had and I've let Princess know. If anyone takes the overnight in Jerusalem, DON'T!!!

 

I realize your post is simply to valid the OP position, and I wish you would name the hotel you had such a bad experience at in Israel. This might help someone else avoid a bad experience. I have traveled and stayed at hotels in Israel independently, a dozen plus times, over the past 25 years, I have never experienced anything like you are speaking of, so there are plenty of great places to stay. I generally stay in Haifa, at the Dan Carmel, the Carmel Beach and the Crown Holiday Inn. All of these are modern first class hotels. I generally don't book tours through the ship though. I was on the Royal Holy Land cruise on October 21, probably just before your trip. I stayed overnight in Haifa that trip with friends. Israel is such a great experience from a travel standpoint, would hate to see others have the kind of experience you had.