Complain about a product or service

Princess Cruise

Vincent of Lorton, VA February 3, 2008

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 January 28, 2008

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 January 28, 2008

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 December 26, 2007

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 December 16, 2007

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.

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