Complain about a product or service

Princess Cruise

Robert of Jamison PA (06/30/08)
booked a cruisetour to alaska, in april did not take cruise insurance since my wife and i are in good health and never would cancel this because we were excited to go.. my wife fell at home and broke both arms, plus other bruises to the face etc,had our travel call princess to reschedule to a date in august, as my wife saw in surjury the agent spoke , with princess and spoke to a rep who offered to change to aug sail date with about 250-300 in extra charges due to increses such as fuel etc,

i was grateful to princess but had to wait 5 hours till my wife recovered to confirm it was ok with her she was so excited that since her mishap she could heal and still fulllfill her dream, i went to travel agent from hospital he calls to confirm change and end result no change allowed . i spoke with princess rep who was harsh and rude saying no insurance to return of fees or re schedule allowed, also if my wife still wanted to go would need a doctors note saying she could go, but would have to be reviewed by there medical team and may and probably denied acces to the trip

loss at this point of 6800 cruise fairs and 600 dollars in pre booked land tours when i called later to princess that day to at least save the cost of land tours i was told i could not evan cancel thos e evan though i booked them my self and my wife was to when she booked them they could be canceled 24 hrs prior to sailing dates wife fell jun 28 operated on june 29 tried to cancel all with princess june 29 start of vacation 7/2/08

David of Phoenix AZ (05/10/08)
My wife and I are celebrating our 45th anniversary this year (2008) and our son and daughter-in-law took us on a 7-day cruise on Princess out of San Juan. To our astonishment, Princess Cruises added $10.50 per day per person to our bill listed as hotel charges that the line said would be distributed among attendants (total of $295 for the four of us).

We learned that these were actually gratuities -- not hotel charges at all, to be distributed among waiters and attendants on the ship). We are generous tippers and had already been tipping waiters/attendants all week. We tried to contact the purser's office as soon as we became aware that the charges had been added but they had conveniently closed early and it was the end of the cruise so we could do nothing.

I have no problem if a cruise line asks upfront if customers would like to pay gratuities in a lump sum so as not to fool with gratuities during the cruise. BUT WE WERE TOLD NOTHING ABOUT THESE EXPENSES. By adding these to our credit cards without our informed consent, I feel Princess essentially stole our money.

Rick of Union Grove WI (04/25/08)
I booked a cruise with Princess Cruises last fall. They were offering a promotion to repeat customers giving away a piece of luggage valued at $350 when you booked the cruise. I called the cruise line months before the cruise and asked how I would get my luggage. The first time I called they told me they weren't sure but guessed it would be delivered to our house before the cruise.

As the cruise date got closer and the luggage did not arrive I called back and asked again about the luggage. This time I was told that the luggage would be in our stateroom when we arrived on the ship. Since we were getting another piece of luggage on the ship, we took one less bag and stuffed the two pieces of luggage we brought with us expecting to use the new piece to distribute our belongings and have a place to transport our souvenirs when we returned.

When we got on the ship there was no luggage. We went and talked to the purser and he informed us that the luggage would be shipped to our house after the cruise. I asked how we were supposed to transport our stuff home since we were counting on the extra bag. He informed us that they sold luggage on the ship or we could buy in any of the ports we stopped in. Thanks for the useless help!

We ended up buying a few cheap small bags since we had enough luggage already and would be getting the new piece from Princess upon our return home. No need to spend another $200-300 for an extra bag we wouldn't need. We got over that and enjoyed the rest of our cruise.

Upon arriving home there was no luggage and we didn't get anything for the next month. I finally decided to call and see where our luggage was. The first time I called they blamed it on manufacturer delays and promised it would be delivered in a couple of week.

After a month, still no luggage. I called again and again they blamed the manufacturer and told me it was coming. After another few weeks, another call and this time they told my wife that it would be delivered in the next two weeks. Not sure what excuse that time.

After the two weeks passed and no luggage, we tried calling back. This time they would funneled us to a specific person (Betsy Haines X44411) who never was there so we never got to talk to her live and she wouldn't return calls. Today I finally talked to someone who put me on hold for 10 minutes and then gave me another excuse and promised delivery in another month. This time the excuse was that our name did not get transmitted to the manufacturer and would be transmitted in the next week or so. Then it would take 3 weeks to ship from China. We'll see if it ever shows up.

I am out the $350 luggage I was promised and time I wasted to contacting them numerous times. I was also inconvenienced on the cruise and the return trip as we had to deal with multiple small bags to transport our belongings back from the cruise on the bus, at the airport and to our vehicle. They are out a previously loyal cruiser. Time to look at other cruise lines.

Dan of Rockland OTHER (03/30/08)
This is concerning excursion ITO-A2 Kilauea Volcano. We have encountered some problems with this tour, which I took pictures and notes and name of other passengers. According to the letter we received they were provided with full details. The first thing is according to a park ranger this tour was closed two days prior to this excursion, which means that the tour operator should have taken the proper actions and advise Princess personnel of this condition, instead they decided to proceed knowing that it would not be possible to see the Volcano due to high sulfur concentration. I am assuming that the Princess shore excursion personnel was not aware of this situation.

I reported this event to the shore excursion personnel upon my return to the boat. It took 5 days and two reminders to the shore excursion personnel before we were given any indication of action or news which finally resulted in a refund of only 60 percent of the purchase price. Not only should we have received a full refund the same day, but faster results. I had to intervene twice to finally being told that we will receive a letter the day prior to our cruise termination which I felt was totally unacceptable.

The comments in the letter dated February 29, 2008 Voyage M805, which states as a gesture of goodwill a 60 percent refund has been applied to your account is an insult to my intelligence. We are not talking of a big amount here, which is not the main reason of this E-Mail, but the quality of service we received in this particular case. Besides of a full refund we should have received a satisfactory result the same day. Another concern, which we did not report but should have, is that in the excursion in Kuai (LIHK1 - Zip line, wagon and trekking), the description on your web site said that we would have lunch in a, and I quote: Robinson Crusoe style restaurant built in a tree overlooking the jungle, well all we got was a sandwich, small salad and brownie in the wagon that was used for the tour. The sandwich lunch was good but it was far from the restaurant in a tree (if there is one!). This is false advertising and should be corrected on your web site if the passengers are not going to get what is advertised.

Loss of money, time, frustration and unpleasant vacation time on board.

Laura of Great Falls MT (03/16/08)
My parents are Platinum members of this cruise line. They went on a cruise for their 50th wedding anniversary, and my siblings and I wanted to surprise them while they were on the cruise. I called weeks in advance to have their room decorated, a bottle of wine sent to them, and a bouquet of flowers sent to them....all to happen on different days, as a continual surprise on their cruise. It is extremely hard to surprise my parents, as well as hard to buy them things, so this seemed perfect. I paid for these things well in advance, and called again 2 days before they sailed to be sure all was as I wanted it to be. I was told it was. The decorating was to be 2 days post sail, the wine sent in the middle of the trip, and the flowers on the return trip from Hawaii. I was VERY disappointed to get my parents e-mail saying how they arrived on the ship and in their room they had flowers and wine from all of us! I am not sure about the room decorating, but I can't tell you how upset I am that EVERYTHING was delivered at their arrival!

I was told by the lady on the phone that an on-board credit would be given to them. That is NOT THE POINT: the surprise was the gift, as they can well afford to buy these things on their own. Then I was told I would be refunded the money--again--THAT IS NOT THE POINT! The SURPRISE WAS THE GIFT. I would like someone to look into this so my disappointment doesn't have to be also that of someone in the future also trying to surprise a loved one.

Vincent of Lorton VA (02/03/08)
I am so dissatisfied with how I was treated by Princess Cruises that I feel it worth my while to let others know how Princess Cruises treats their customers should any problem arise in their cruise. In my family's situation, our problem came up when we paid $15 per person ($60 total for 4 family members) to have our bags check on to the airlines for us by Princess. The sign-up form for this stated that in certain cases this might not work and if so, a full refund would be issued. In my case it did not work. At the end of the cruise, we took a tour of San Juan, PR (offered by Princess Cruise). The tour terminated at the airport. We were dropped off in front of our bags on the curb. The tour director instructed us to remove our bags, proceed to the airlines, etc.

I was surprised to find my bags there, since I had paid to have them checked directly on the airlines by Princess. The bags were unattended on the curb. We followed our tour guides instructions and checked our bags onto our airlines ourselves. The next day 1/13/08, we contacted Princess and explained the problem. After about 25 minutes on hold, the representative agreed to refund the $15/person ($60) to our credit card. Several days later, only $30 had been credited. In vain, I made numerous follow up calls spending over an hour on the phone. Each time I was told the person who could take care of this was not available but would call me back. In spite of numerous calls and my warning that I would go to the Better Business Bureau, no one called me back, and no refund for the $30 still owed me was issued.

Note: The total amount I spent for the cruise and while on the cruise was around $9000, and they will now nickel and dime me over $30 for a service they did not provide me which I paid for? In any case, I had to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. This resulted in a letter from Princess Cruises agreeing to pay me the $30 they owed me for services not rendered. The self-serving letter I received from Princess after my complaint with the BBB, stated they are proud to offer the innovative Shipboard Airline Check-in Service. They acknowledged that I experienced some problems using the service. They said they were sorry for any area of the cruise that did not meet my expectations. There was no explanation or apology for the way I was treated over weeks and hours worth of phone calls just trying to receive a refund that I was due. I am really not at all unhappy that their innovative Shipboard Airline Check-in Service did not work out for me and my family. I know nothing is perfect. No big deal. What astounds me though, is the poor manner they treated me on the numerous attempts I made to be treated fairly and receive my refund. Maybe it is true that you don't know much about a company until you experience a problem.

Steven of Lincoln NE (01/28/08)
We booked a cruise on Princess, along with our friends, in early September, 2007. We made a deposit on the cruise, booked non-refundable airlines tickets to the departure port city, and bought non-refundable travel insurance. A couple of days later we got a call from our travel agent. She advised us that we would need visas due to a 9-hour stop in Brazil, a scheduled stop on the cruise. This visa is required even if you stay on the ship! It turns out it will cost us over $200 each to acquire this visa. We are also required to get yellow fever shots at a cost of about $80 each. I feel this very important information should be noted prominently on the cruise itinerary on Princess.com, not buried deep in the website. A $2200 per person cruise is now approximately a $2500 cruise.

A check of Holland America's website clearly shows a footnote about the Brazilian visa requirement on their cruises with stops in Brazil. It's amazing that they are even stopping in Brazil for 9 hours when it is causing such an expense and hassle for their customers. My friend has called Princess to complain but to no avail. They feel that since they state somewhere in their website that it is the passengers responsibility to get the necessary documents.

This will cost us about $300 per person.

Robert of Rockwall TX (01/28/08)
We did not get a promised price reduction. We made reservations for the Star Princess Cruise, March 6, 2008, from Buenos Aires. The booking was made Feb 23, 2007, over one year in advance for my wife and me. We asked, because of the long time before the cruise, that if there was a price reduction we would get the reduced price, and we were told by the agent, "Yes". The travel agent is Rose Morrissey of Pavlus Travel, 1-866-843-4835.

On previous cruises this agreement had been honored; however, now she states Princess will not allow it. It appears Princess deliberately waited until our credit card was charged the higher fee, 73 days before the sailing, and then reduced the fare. This is costing us $1,140.00.

Jonie of Phoenix AZ (12/26/07)
From the moment we boarded the ship in San Pedro there were no robes in the room, and it smelled like the room was not clean. Had to go to the Pursers Desk for immediate attention for robes and never received any slippers. My daughter's birthday was on Tuesday December 18th, and there were no balloons on the door like other rooms. Again had to go the 6th Deck and complain. The communication from the Captain could only be heard in the hallway and in the restaurant--forget it with all the noise. So unless you ran out into the hall to hear any announcements you probably would not be informed of current events or conditions. The bus boys on the Lido deck would walk right in front of you, if you were trying to get a beverage or pick up silverware. Last but not least, my luggage was lost when we went to claim in the baggage area. I walked off this cruise in tears rather than a smile!

With all the stress from this cruise and worrying about my luggage being lost I started to almost have a seizure at the Long Beach Airport before boarding the plane back to Phoenix.

Cherri of Livermore CA (12/16/07)
I booked a family reunion cruise for our family a year in advance on board the Caribbean Princess. Our family of 10 had not been in the same room much less same state in over 10 yrs. So this gathering was very important to us as we didn't know when we'd be able to do it again, since my father had just been diagnosed with cancer. From beginning to end we were treated so rudely, terribly, and harassed. Princess Cruises had no waiting wheelchair for my Dad when we got to port to port, so Mom and I had to find one. Upon entering the ship and being told to go to the 15th floor for buffet, my mom went through the sliding doors and tripped on a four-inch raise that was not marked, and had no warning sign. She hit her head and arm on a metal rail. We had to REQUEST that someone from medical come see her, then they wanted us to pay the $90 charge. Due to bruising and swelling, she was laid for two days and could not leave the ship.

I had pre-ordered food platters be delivered to each cabin, and 2 of them didn't show so I inquired about it. I asked to be informed when the screw-up was fixed because they said it would take 24 hrs. to find out if I had paid for them or not. Anyway, they delivered them that night without telling us, and of course we were held up over 3 1/2 hrs at dinner; so when they got the platters left outside their door, they were not only warm (they were seafood) but the bread was hard and inedible. The kids (all over 18) were harassed and even followed by their so-called security every night, being requested for ID's 3 times in the first 2 hrs. Things only went from bad to worse. They tried double-billing us for our reservation that my mom made months before to celebrate my birthday at their private steakhouse. They had my mom in tears while they wanted to argue with her. When that finally got cleared up and we showed up for our reservation, we were told they had none for us!

We complained every time something went wrong, but nothing was ever done. I HAD to request a meeting with the staff purser, but he didn't see us until the day before the end of the cruise. And he only said there was nothing he could do but we were free to complain once the ship docked! I cried every night on this ship, and got so depressed that I only left my cabin to eat. When we got home I wrote a 25-page letter detailing EVERYTHING that went wrong for each day, and believe me there several problems each day! All I received back was a letter stating they were sorry regarding the lack of professionlism and staff. Then they had the nerve to say at the end of the letter that they would consider it a pleasure if we decided to cruise with them again, and that they felt that would be a pleasurable experience. Are they kidding? They made no refund of anything they screwed up on--billing or anything else. My parents are Platinum mambers and would never go on PRINCESS AGAIN. They are terrible.

Donna of Shelton CT (11/19/07)
Twelve of us booked a cruise on September 14 with Princess Cruise Lines. We booked it because after shopping around the price was affordable. Today, November 20, I was emailed that an additional $70 per cabin will be charged to us for gas surcharges. I am really mad. If we do not pay this, they are telling me our cruise will be cancelled.

Ernest of San Diego CA (10/27/07)
I recently took a 7 day cruise on Princess Cruises. I purchased prepaid internet minutes to use the onboard computers in order to keep up with my emails.. After my internet minutes were used up, quickly, I just paid as I go. After a while I notice the minutes and money ($350) were adding up fast. I talked to others using the Internet Cafe. They too felt the minutes were being added up quickly and not enough time on the computer.

After talking to a few people we felt that the satellite internet connection was taking along time to connect. I complaint to the Internet Cafe Manager. He told me, You know how you guy get while surfing the net?. I then complaint to the front desk onboard. I was told that they are not responsible for the satellite being slow and that this happens. I think they should put a warning on their flyers that show prices for internet use. That way people will be worn of the delays and waste of minutes and money.

I also sent letter to Princess Cruises and advised them of my complaint, no resolution. Princess Cruises Customer Relations Specialist, Arielle Gauer, sent me a response which shows their great? customer service that said, Further correspondence with our office will not garner a change in resolution nor generate further response.

Thomas of Vallejo CA (12/27/06)
Dec 1, Princess Cruise 11 days Mexican Riviera, Dawn Princess, cabin C508. To bed first night, smelled previous person who had slept in bed on pillow case. Looked in between the sheets out of curiosity and found two black curly hairs. It was late. Suffered the night and requested clean sheets and pillow cases the next day. It was provided. Did not smell previous bed user after bed change. However out of curosity, watched closely during OUR departure concerning the changing of the bed for the next persons. It was made up before we left and the sheets and pillow cases were NOT changed!!

Christopher of Concord NH (02/08/06)
I was part of a party consisting of 13 people. This same group of people goes on a cruise every two to three years. This was our first cruise with Princess, and it will definately be our last. Our cruise was in late October, 2005. Obviously we were all worried about the weather. For an entire week we watched footage of hurricane Katrina barreling towards Florida. We called Princess on multiple occasions to verify that the cruise was still going to happen as planned. They told us everything was all set to go.

Things started to go wrong once we got to the airport. Our airline informed us that Princess had called to inform us that the ship was leaving 3 hours early and that we were not going to make it in time. What followed was 7 days of absolute horror. We ended up spending 2 days in Boston and making (and changing) flight plans for 13 people no fewer than 4 times in order to catch the ship at one of the port of calls. We were informed that if we did not meet up with the ship, we would lose all of our money and receive no refund as it was "our fault for missing the ship". I could go on for pages describing the hell that their Customer Service put us through but I won't. Needless to say we caught up with the ship on Tuesday and were just happy that our vacation was about to start. Wrong.

Here is a quick summary: They wouldn't let us on the ship. We had to fight our way on. We didn't go anywhere we were expecting to go. Service on the ship was horrific. The crew had no interest in providing a pleasurable experience. Make no mistake, when I say the service was horrible, I truely mean that. In every aspect of the ship, the service was horrible. By the end of the week, we just wanted to go home. This was, by far, the worst vacation I have ever experienced. We have traveled with Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian and have nothing but high praise for all of them. Princess doesn't even come close to meeting their standards.

Joan of Howell MI (01/28/06)
We were kicked off the Sky Princess on a 28 day cruise. My husband had a problem with swallowing and they told us they didn't want him dying on their watch. We were put off in Rabul and given two bottles of water and told not to eat or drink anything. We were given a face mask because the nearby volcano was spewing ash into the air every few minutes. We also were given quinine in case we were bitten by mosquitoes. We were sent to a hospital that had been closed three months previously and the doctor was the ambulance driver (we found out later). I begged to be let back on the ship but was refused.

We were not reimbursed for the days left that we were not on the ship. Not eating for two days because of what we were told and being scared to death because of where we were.

Clayton of San Jose CA (10/21/05)
After the hurricanes in Summer of 2004, Princess Cruises knew that one of their destinations, Princess Cayes, would be closed for an indefinite period of time. I booked my cruise in September and sailed in December. Upon arriving at the ship, I was informed that we wouldn't be going to Princess Cayes. Several staff members informed me that they knew we wouldn't be going to Princess Cayes several months back. Had this been brought to my attention earlier, I would've selected to travel with another cruiseline. Princess Cruises failed to disclose this information in a timely manner, nor did they give passengers a full refund option. I brought this to their customer service group and was told that nothing could be done about it. My credit card company took my claim and got $500 (the cost difference for 2 passengers between Princess and another cruiseline) back for me. Now Princess is threatening to send a collection agency after me!

George of West Covina CA (07/18/05)
My husband and I recently spent the worst 15 days of our lives aboard the Island Princess. To begin most had been on board between 4 and 5 hours when during the lifeboat practice the man next to my husband fainted, so the departure was delayed an hour while he and his companion were taken off the ship and into a waiting ambulance. We then got underway ans as we passed the breakwater I began to feel sick. As it had been about 5 hrs. since we had dined in the Horizon Court I atributed my illness to something I ate and spent the next 4 days in bed quite ill.

This leads to my next series of complaints. Becuase I was under quarantine the bed linen could not be changed and I was left in extreme discomfort. The sheets were worn, threadbare and did not fit so they bunched and wrinkled beneath me. When I recovered and ventured outside I found that the ship is not handicap friendly. The tresholds were not easy to get a wheelchair over and the doors could not be opened by someone in a chair. When my husband mentioned to the steward at the next station that the treshold between sections was loose, the steward sarcastically asked,  "Does it bother you?.

The tour of the Islands was uneventful. However, when we began our return home I again became ill, this time so severely that I required two visits from Dr. Mark and Nurse Tim, both of whom were most kind and concerned. It was through them that we learned that I was not the only person on board who was ill. The hospital was doing a land office business and that I was the least of the doctor's worries. 

Roger of Millbury MA (04/28/05)
Bad Service and unable to remove gratuities from billing due to long line on ship and risk of loosing our flight. We also were forced to purchase a round trip airfare at time of departure in RI due to an error made by Princess Cruises and incurred emotional distress due to the heavy travel volume on April 16 2005 and the fact that the plane was already over booked. We are being charged for services not rendered, specifically airfare and gratuities we do not feel are deserved.

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