L
lewinp
Guest
Princess stands and abandons customers
I was extremely disappointed by the recent performance of Princess on their “Heart of Alaska†cruise package on the Island Princess in June 16th to 23rd, 2008.
The cruise itself met my family’s expectations, but Princess’s response to some travel difficulties was grossly irresponsible. A company’s character is revealed by what it does when things go wrong, not when things go as planned.
My mother and sister unfortunately had a connecting flight cancelled, which was beyond their control or Princess’s. However, Princess’s customer service was of zero support to them. They refused to help them arrange hotels, change flights or provide useful information. And, it was impossible to get an actual person on the telephone – they were given the run-around by many people, sat on hold for long periods of time, and were finally told to contact one woman who was never in the office and had no voice mail. All of a sudden the Princess that managed to bombard us weekly with special spa and land excursion offers stopped being communicative. They could have at least made some recommendations for lodging in Ketchikan, but instead pretty much abandoned guests who were already stressed with a rough day of travel and the disappointment of missing two nights on the boat.
I also unfortunately became a victim of Princess’s inability to support a guest. We were to go by train from Princess McKinley lodge to Anchorage. The train was delayed numerous times, and we could not get a straight story on what was going on. At this point several of the customers with flights that evening expressed concern and asked what Princess could do to get them to Anchorage.
The woman who was supposed to be in charge was totally incompetent - when the train became delayed, she let everyone split up and did not communicate to the group as a whole. Some went into town and were not aware of the problem, others were told conflicting facts - each of the 8 or so different bus drivers seemed to have a different view of what was happening.
Passengers were obviously upset and asking for information. Rather than addressing their concerns, this “supervisor†was literally hiding behind the busses and avoiding people! Also, she was either being dishonest or had no clue what was going on - at first we were told the hotel transportation manager was working on a solution. However, when several people became so frustrated with a lack of action that they asked for the hotel manager’s phone number, we were told the managers had gone home for the day and that they were not available.
The supervisor was completely unsympathetic to our plight, and impatient with our questions. We were also told that none of the eight empty buses could be used to take us to Anchorage since they were reserved for incoming passengers. Princess also refused to use a 12-passenger mini van which the staff road in to take those with flights to Anchorage, again sighting the need to greet the arriving guests. It was obvious that Princess’s greater commitment was to its arriving passengers than those departing.
We were then told the train would not arrive until 8:15 in Talkeetna – too late to get us to the airport in time. The woman who was supposed to be helping the travelers mentioned that there was a private taxi service in town that might be an option – that was Princess’s solution after nearly two hours of inaction! I and another passenger asked the supervisor if she could at least call the taxi for us, as our cell phones did not have local reception. Incredibly, she refused to do us even this simple courtesy, instead suggesting that we walk to a local restaurant with a pay phone - when she was holding a working mobile phone in her hand!
A group of people including myself was able to get a taxi, completely of our own doing - which showed up in less than five minutes - after Princess left us with no information or action for nearly two stressful hours.
The hardships of that day erased a lot of the relaxation and enjoyment my family had on the rest of the trip. The cruise itself was fine, but if anything goes wrong on your trip at all – even if you are stranded by Princess’s own doing, do not be surprised if you are abandoned.
You should consider this carefully when picking your next cruise line; I personally do not trust Princess for my travels because of their irresponsibility for helping our family when we needed them most.
I was extremely disappointed by the recent performance of Princess on their “Heart of Alaska†cruise package on the Island Princess in June 16th to 23rd, 2008.
The cruise itself met my family’s expectations, but Princess’s response to some travel difficulties was grossly irresponsible. A company’s character is revealed by what it does when things go wrong, not when things go as planned.
My mother and sister unfortunately had a connecting flight cancelled, which was beyond their control or Princess’s. However, Princess’s customer service was of zero support to them. They refused to help them arrange hotels, change flights or provide useful information. And, it was impossible to get an actual person on the telephone – they were given the run-around by many people, sat on hold for long periods of time, and were finally told to contact one woman who was never in the office and had no voice mail. All of a sudden the Princess that managed to bombard us weekly with special spa and land excursion offers stopped being communicative. They could have at least made some recommendations for lodging in Ketchikan, but instead pretty much abandoned guests who were already stressed with a rough day of travel and the disappointment of missing two nights on the boat.
I also unfortunately became a victim of Princess’s inability to support a guest. We were to go by train from Princess McKinley lodge to Anchorage. The train was delayed numerous times, and we could not get a straight story on what was going on. At this point several of the customers with flights that evening expressed concern and asked what Princess could do to get them to Anchorage.
The woman who was supposed to be in charge was totally incompetent - when the train became delayed, she let everyone split up and did not communicate to the group as a whole. Some went into town and were not aware of the problem, others were told conflicting facts - each of the 8 or so different bus drivers seemed to have a different view of what was happening.
Passengers were obviously upset and asking for information. Rather than addressing their concerns, this “supervisor†was literally hiding behind the busses and avoiding people! Also, she was either being dishonest or had no clue what was going on - at first we were told the hotel transportation manager was working on a solution. However, when several people became so frustrated with a lack of action that they asked for the hotel manager’s phone number, we were told the managers had gone home for the day and that they were not available.
The supervisor was completely unsympathetic to our plight, and impatient with our questions. We were also told that none of the eight empty buses could be used to take us to Anchorage since they were reserved for incoming passengers. Princess also refused to use a 12-passenger mini van which the staff road in to take those with flights to Anchorage, again sighting the need to greet the arriving guests. It was obvious that Princess’s greater commitment was to its arriving passengers than those departing.
We were then told the train would not arrive until 8:15 in Talkeetna – too late to get us to the airport in time. The woman who was supposed to be helping the travelers mentioned that there was a private taxi service in town that might be an option – that was Princess’s solution after nearly two hours of inaction! I and another passenger asked the supervisor if she could at least call the taxi for us, as our cell phones did not have local reception. Incredibly, she refused to do us even this simple courtesy, instead suggesting that we walk to a local restaurant with a pay phone - when she was holding a working mobile phone in her hand!
A group of people including myself was able to get a taxi, completely of our own doing - which showed up in less than five minutes - after Princess left us with no information or action for nearly two stressful hours.
The hardships of that day erased a lot of the relaxation and enjoyment my family had on the rest of the trip. The cruise itself was fine, but if anything goes wrong on your trip at all – even if you are stranded by Princess’s own doing, do not be surprised if you are abandoned.
You should consider this carefully when picking your next cruise line; I personally do not trust Princess for my travels because of their irresponsibility for helping our family when we needed them most.
