My letter to J Padgett - President of Princess Cruises - Its just too hard to book a cruise with them - BUYER BEWARE

 I thought I would share the letter I recently wrote to the President of Princess Cruises. I re started sailing with them after COVID.  I have no issues with their ships but booking with them has been a nightmare on ever single booking (5 in the past 2 years).  I have finally given up. Below is the letter I wrote to their president. If (and that is a big IF) I will share his response.  All I have to say is buyer beware: booking with them is just not worth it for you or your travel agent.  You have lots of choices and no other cruise line has been this difficult to book with.

"Dear Mr. Padgett

Although I know this will likely not get responded to, I thought it prudent to tell you why you have lost a long term guest on Princess Cruises.  I am booked on Regal Princess   for the transatlantic cruise   and have had a thoroughly frustrating and annoying booking process with your company.   Below is what has happened:

When I booked on January 10^th, as I always do I tried to book the flights thru Princess  same day– the price was $850 roundtrip, but when I pressed to book your site went down – so I called  and waited the obligatory 45 minutes to get to speak to someone  and she couldn’t help (and no apology for my inconvenience).  So I tried again later  on line and guess what during that time the price went up to $951. But what are you going to do – I booked the flight anyway.   You need to know as a Canadian when I book thru Princess to get the guaranteed arrival on the first day to book seats and baggage I have to pay in USD not Canadian as Princess is a US booking agent.  So I always pay 33% to 35% more for these services but I do it as I (used to) like Princess.

Thru my travel agent we tried to buy the internet at time of booking (I always do and as a Platinum member its 50% off), but guess what they told her we now only get 10% off). I then called myself and they told me its still 50% off, but as I wanted to pay in CDN dollars thru my agent she tried calling back  on the Monday to get someone else (that is what your guests have to do to get the correct information) and guess what you had raised the prices over the weekend for the internet.  You didn’t inform guests who had booked and there was no pre info on your website of the price increase.   After several calls later and an informed supervisor we were able to buy the internet package at 50% off and the supervisor hearing what both my travel agent and I had been through gave me on onboard credit to make up the difference as a “goodwill gesture”  as you had just raised the price that day and we had made 3 calls (each at a 30 to 40 minute wait and be transferred several times).

So now the final straw, was your company sent me an offer for my cruise for $1331 versus the $2075 I paid for a guaranteed balcony.  I always have to pay the single supplement as I travel solo (so I am paying a 100% more for my cabin).  I contacted my travel agent and she called on my behalf  to see if Princess would do something and again she had to talk to 3 people before the last one said – “Read the fine print”.  Its for new bookings only and Princess will not help in any way.  You can cancel the booking but it will cost more than what your client paid.  I wasn’t looking for a refund for the difference – just some acknowledgement of my loyalty - I would have been delighted if they had said I will put her on upgrade list for a deluxe balcony versus the balcony (it would have cost your cruise line nothing) , but no your uninformed, unhelpful staff who either get the info wrong or just transfer us to another person who are adamant and quite pleased with themselves for quoting the fine print.

Please stop having your customer service reps and supervisors say when they first speak to customers “Thank You for your loyalty”.  As I don’t ever feel like a loyal customer after having to wait on the phone so long and then get misinformation or no help or snarky remarks re the fine print.

I got a travel agent so I wouldn’t have to deal with your staff (as the long waits and misinformation have happened before on all my bookings) but to no avail even travel agents go thru the same long waits on the phone, get the wrong information and get transferred several times.

Its time for you to empower you customer service reps to have some empathy for your guests and do small gestures to make your customers feel like you still want their business.

I had planned to book another cruise with Princess for later this summer, but now I will not even consider Princess Cruises for future bookings.  I take three cruises a year – always longer than 2 weeks at a time and usually Princess gets at least 2 of my 3 bookings.  But now I am just tired and annoyed.  It shouldn’t be this hard to do business with your company. 

I would like a response (just to see if someone cares about the Princess customer)."

I never got a response

What’s better as a port - Tenerife or Gran Canaria

 I visited both Tenerife and Gran Canaria ports this voyage and below is my comparison 

Tenerife port is walkable, las palmas is not. You have to take bus 1 or 12 to get to old town in las palmas. It’s 1.4 euros each way and you pay on the bus . Note they give change.

Gran Canaria has a few museums - the cathedral (4euros). Go to the top by elevator in the tower(included)

And Columbus house (4 euros).  Both are worth the entry fee and are really close to each other 

Tenerife doesn’t have museums but the auditorium and palm gardens are close by - 10 to 15 minute walk from the port

You can walk from the ship to the port entrance in Gran Canaria but you need the shuttle in Tenerife. Get off early or it can be hours for the shuttle.

Gran Canaria has a beach -10 minutes walk and Tenerife has a public pool that is huge near the auditorium. It’s only 5 euros.

The market is excellent in Tenerife and horrible in Gran Canaria

Personally I prefer Tenerife as I like to walk, and it’s not a huge city and not as crowded as las palmas.

Hope this helps 

Marcia

Taxi tour shore excursion in Gibraltar is worth it

 I paid about $90 usd for the taxi tour of Gibraltar and I think it was worth it. I lucked out and sat up front. You go to the lighthouse first with a great view of the rock and mosque. Next to Micheal’s cave. Much smaller than I had expected and the steps are not difficult. They say 75 upwards but it was only about 40. The light show is pretty but I prefer the natural colour areas. The entrance fee of $16 euros was included. The next stop is to see the Macau apes. Stay a few feet away, as the babies will jump on you. The apes jump on the taxi vans and it’s fun to watch.  You can get off in town or at the cruise port. It’s a long walk to port but signage is good. Lots of shops on Main Street but very crowded. 

I enjoyed the tour and my time in Gibraltar.

Hope this helps

Marcia

MSC versus Princess mega ships

 This year I have been on MSC Virtuoso and princesses Enchanted Princess. Below is a comparison 

 Embarkation and disembarkation is fast and efficient on both

The ships are fancy, but both don’t have walk around promenade decks. They have walking tracks on the highest decks 

Cabins are similar in size and both don’t have sofas in the cabin

The bathrooms are both small, but MSC has enclosed shower stalls (Better), and Princess the dreaded curtain

Princess offers self use laundry rooms and MSc does not

Princess and MSc do not clean their ocean view windows

MSc beds are very hard, Princess beds have topper for more comfort 

Food in the buffets are both just ok with poor quality fruit , limited variety and excellent pizzas 

Food in the main dining room is good on both ship lines, but Princess offers a more varied menu

Entertainment quality is similar, but MSc has extra cost circ de soleil

Security lines are shorter and faster on Princess. The worst thing on MSc are the long security lines in every port. 

Cost of the cruise is similar between lines, as is the internet cost.  Connecting is hard on both and both lose connection.

Guests are mostly British on MSc and American on Princess.

There are more solos on Princess, as MSc only offers a set number of cabins to solos so you have to wait for sales to get reasonable prices 

Overall I would take either as long as the itinerary was good and price was reasonable 

Hope this helps 

Marcia

Enchanted Princess review

 Enchanted Princess is a relatively new ship at 2 years, but the carpets in the hallways need a good cleaning. Even in my balcony cabin there is a large stain at the door. 

Here’s what I like 

- the food in the amalfi dining room is quite varied from the menu on the gem class ships and has a good flavour and is still hot when served

- the theater is big with comfy seats and the entertainment ok to  very good . Loved Mighty Quinn

- the balcony cabin is fine for one person but seems smaller than other Princess ships. But the shower and sink are bigger. Had a couple minor issues but these were were fixed quickly 

- the cabin steward is friendly and efficient 

- they have a more varied arts and crafts class with a Celtic knot necklace thats fun to make

- embarkation was quick

- walking track good but not as good as having a promenade

- entertainment venues are bigger than most ships, and lots of seating 

- security lines are shorter and more organized than most ships

- love the limited seating outside on the promenade deck'

What I am annoyed with:

-the balcony is tiny and you can’t recline the chairs 

- you don’t automatically get face clothes anymore. You have to request them and then the steward advises that it will likely be one a day. He advised this was a cost cutting move

- no more towel animals due to cost cutting for towels

- the mini golf area is the worst I have ever seen on a ship. Just a few broken holes

- no promenade deck so you have to use the walking track on 18 aft. Note to get to it you have to get off at 17, walk by the smokers and up steep steps.  I found a handicapped elevator at back of ship

- very little choice in teas and it’s the cheapest brands

- staff generally do not say hello or smile 

- unless you are a smoker don’t use 17 aft as the cigarette and cigar smoke is overwhelming 

- entertainment staff are just ok, with a couple of good ones

Marcia

Ajaccio Corsica- tips for visiting this port

 Ajaccio old town center is really small. The two main attractions which are Napoleon’s birth house and the Leche art museum are each about a 5 to 10 minute walk. The Citadel and beach are both a 5 minute walk and across from the beach is their cathedral. The beach, citadel and church are free. Napoleons house is 7 euros and the leche museum is 5 euros.  You must use a debit or credit card for the museums. No cash is accepted.

Below are tips

bring a credit or debit card for museums entrance fees

Be careful if you go to the beach. They say over 1000 visitors drown each year. There’s a drop off in the water with an undertow .

The leche art museum is a beautiful building with lots of local and other artists.

Napoleon’s house is small and takes about 30 minutes to listen to the free audio guide. Note while local make money off his legacy, they don’t like him.

This is an expensive port with tshirts around 25 euros. Shop at the market at the port and you will save a bit

Honey is a good buy as there are no pesticides used on the island. I bought the gift size for 6 euros.

It’s a very windy island so have a hat that ties on. 

the town and harbour are beautiful so enjoy yourself 

Hope this helps

Marcia

Lucca the shore excursion in Livorno was excellent

 I just took the Princess shore excursion to Lucca from the Livorno port. I would recommend it to all travellers. It’s about 4 hours, with a 45 minute drive from port. They stop for a washroom break just before you enter Lucca. You see all of the highlights, squares and walk part of the wall. My favourite was the main cathedral with St Martin’s statue on the outside. Shopping for souvenirs was at reasonable prices, with a tshirt at 11euros.

I will return to Lucca as it’s not crowded, the people are friendly and it’s very easy to walk around. It is considered one of the most accessible towns in Italy.  The guided portion is about an hour, with an hour free time.

Hope this helps

Marcia