Frankly I don't think any cruise line should be able to cancel a pre-purchased cabin in order to sell it to someone else for more money! Just unethical!
From Don’s posts I can tell that Princess is a very poorly run company and their corporate management is not ethical at all. They simply do not care about their customers at all.
That's absolutely horrible!!! Cruise lines should not be allowed to cancel your cruise under those circumstances. Shame on Princess... and the so called credit... it's a slap in the face.
This is disgusting. I am a Princess Elite member but have not been back with them since Covid. I have heard so many negative things over the past few years about how cruise lines are now treating their loyal customers, not to mention all the cutbacks along with ever increasing fares. Just unacceptable what Princess is doing and shame on the company/group who convinced Princess to allow them to charter the whole ship, undoubtedly for a huge financial incentive, knowing it would mean bumping off other customers. Such a group should have contacted Princess years in advance to schedule such a long cruise before Princess started opening up reservations to its customers. Shame on Princess for the pathetic “compensation” being offered to the bumped passengers. It’s all about corporate greed and the lack of consideration for their loyal customer base.
Princess cancelled a lot of benefit for Elite members. No free WiFi anymore. No free room service. Ni more upgrade. At one cruise in April, I have counted over 30 balcony was empty and as a member with over 509 days, I got zip! The only benefit I can use is the free laundry. I am not going back until they chane the policy. I have 300 days on Royal Caribbean and I have free drinks and WiFi. I will cruise with them more often.
@@jimmylee4494 I have not cruised with Princess since I did a 38 day voyage in the fall of 2019....and then Covid hit. I had no idea so many of the "elite perks" had been cancelled. This is pathetic of Princess - they are getting so cheap with everything [except their fares!]. Nickel and diming for everything now. They don't appreciate loyal customers any more from what you have stated. Also they appear to be one of the few cruise lines that do NOT offer solo traveler cabins - it's time they go caught up with current day trends! There are lots of solo travelers in the world today but instead we have to pay almost double the fare! I too will be trying other lines [I have cruised most of the other lines but stuck with Princess due to their loyalty perks which evidently exist no longer]. I decided to try river cruising and although quite costly, I enjoyed my first one last December for the Christmas Markets and have booked a 2-week Viking one this November. I still miss ocean cruising but until these mega ocean cruise lines get their act together and treat loyal customers as they should be treated, I won't be booking for a while.
CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT. get your buddies and friends together and sue for “breach of contract” with them. More people should do this when their planned vacation is cancelled without cause.
What part of the contract was breached??? You either don’t know how to read or have no idea what the fine print says. Which is it?? An ability or a comprehension problem? 😂😂
I was already incensed at the idea of only being offered a $50 onboard credit but I gasped so hard when you clarified it wasn’t even per person but per state room!?
You always hope that companies will shock their customers by going above and beyond. Just think of the positive press. In this case, since they blew it, it's time for the customers from that cruise to file a class action lawsuit. HUGE amount of money!
@@horsewithnoname12345 Except that even a Judge would throw the book at the cruise lines because if they did this every single time, then there won't be anyone ever cruising except the wealthier. Its called discrimination.
It shows that what Princess told us when we had multiple problems onboard an Alaskan cruise prior to Covid still holds true, simplified, "THERE ARE A LOT OF CRUISERS OUT THERE WE DON"T NEED YOU!"
Unfortunately these kinds of things will continue to happen until customers hit them in the wallet and take their business elsewhere. I've wanted to save up and take my husband on a great cruise for a long time since he's never been on one but I'm afraid things in the industry have changed to much for my tastes. There was a day when there was some kind of delicious buffet or offering on the ship just about all the time. There were no "restaurants" on board where you'd have to pay extra and exhorbitant prices to eat there. The list of diminished amenities goes on so I won't bore you but suffice it to say that I am surprised that so many of them are still in business considering the shenanigans they pull.
I think this is absolutely unthinkable! I cannot imagine the planning and advance that one makes for a long 19 day cruise to Japan and then being told that it’s canceled. This is horrific and I don’t think I would ever sail on Princess cruise again.
We are also Princess fans, but I agree in this case they did the booked passengers dirty. In fact, I can't understand how selling someone's cruise out from under them is legal. I can imagine the howl if airlines tried to do something similar.
Wow, shame, shame on princess! I hope social media blows them up until they finally get some sense and realize they are treating their customers like crap! And make it right!
Travel agents must be livid too. Imagine the double work. Plus some guests like nurses have to pick vacation time a year ahead and can't change vacation days.
We recently sailed in Alaska on the Ruby Princess. It was full. Crowds and lines all the time, everywhere. Not a fun experience. We will avoid the larger Princess ships.
I hope that group books often, I feel those who had booked and then were kicked to the curb will look elsewhere for their future cruises....there are plenty of cruise lines to pick from.. Shame on Princess
Don, thanks for letting us know what Princess has done. I am "black card" with Princess and this would make me not want to cruise with them again. Just shameful!
Carnival Corporation & PLC, parent of Princess Cruises, is really hurting financially. The financial picture is truly ruling their business decisions. The question is will decisions like this have a significant negative affect with their loyal cruisers in the long run. There are lots of cruise line choices out there.
In the last year I’ve been hearing more and more glitchy things about Princess. My first cruise was on Princess to Alaska. It was wonderful! Since then, we’ve gone mostly on Viking and Oceania and loved them. I have been brave recently and booked an eastern med. trip with Holland America for Oct. because I liked their itinerary best. But the more I hear about Princess the less likely I am to book with them.
Yes, such a trip one could spend a lot of time in the casino. Also, go to the gym before breakfast. I get a larger onboard credit because I am a veteran. And that's on a seven day cruise. I can't believe that Princess Cruise Line is doing this. A cruise line should not sell a stateroom that is already booked. I wonder if Princess Cruise Line will suffer a falloff because passengers may not want to book with them. Already subscribed and hit the like button.
Exactly why we stopped sailing Princess almost 30 years ago. The compensation offered was what anyone could get just reading one of their ads. Never again, there are many other choices.
Hi Don, we’re doing my bucket list cruise ,coming up in September 23 ! 27 days from Vancouver to Sidney Australia! We booked July 2022, hoping they would not cancel the cruise! As you said, it takes a lot of planning,expense ,and arrangements to make this dream come true! So far ,only a few rescheduling,flights,and 2 canceled ports ! I hope there will be no more rescheduling,but as long as we make it to Sidney,Australia I’m a happy ! Hope to meet you one day on a cruise!
On Feb 1, 2022, Princess cancelled our cruises B2B on April 28, 2022. Then Aug 4th, 2022, cruise got "postponed" to same date in 2023 ... fare would be the same, no OBC offered. So at least for May 2024, they have 10 months notice, in my first case it was 3 months!!! Just as well I had EZ Air.
Wow did Princess drop the ball on this one. A $50 onboard credit per stateroom when they inconvenience people who gave them thousands like this is insane. People might already have flights and hotels booked. Which like you said aren’t cheap at all. If they keep doing this word is going to get out and it won’t end well for them.
Rant approved! If it was me it would be the last time I would book a cruise with them and make sure anyone I knew also knew about this possibility. What’s to stop them from doing it again?! I would not trust them with a once in a lifetime vacation going forward ever again!!! 😤
This is unconscionable! We’ve been cruising for many years and never heard of this type of problem till this year. I love Princess but am now Leary of booking a cruise on them. I understand that legally they can do this but ethically it’s just wrong.
Well, adding Princess to the "dont cruise with them" list. Theyve not personally wronged me, but thats only by shear luck. The very fact that they did it at all has crossed my moral boundaries, and I wont ever reward that with a booking. Shame on you Princess. Thank you, Don, for making this known.
@@horsewithnoname12345 it certainly can, and as soon as it does that line is off my list. Iv not heard of an entire passenger list being canceled to accommodate a large group who booked the entire ship, thats just wrong. Cancelations happen all the time, for many reasons, but this is a new one for me.
@@cherylw445 I have heard of it happening on a handful of lines. Cruise lines are in the business of making money and they’re struggling financially so when they can sell out an entire ship they’ll jump on it.
Any cruiseline that accepts charters shouldn't let the charters book a ship sooner than a year in advance! To do otherwise and bump the regular cruisers is horrible!
Audacity of corporate America. Thanks Don, hope someone from Princess this and rethinks the compensation or pulling rug out from under customers. Good way to lose some permantenly.
Well the good thing is with only $50 at state book with another cruise line. Maybe a different itinerary. Cruise lines should not offer cabins so far ahead. It’s a gamble that all the stars align-ports allow them in, ships not reassigned all those factors. Maybe a year ahead is as far as they should book. I know they like getting your deposits so early but a gamble that it will come off as promised.
You are correct that their headquarters are in California, just like most of the cruise lines headquarters are in the u.s. But by sailing under a foreign flag, meaning the ships are registered in other countries means the cruise companies are in "legal terms" foreign companies. But I have a feeling that won't matter to you? But what they did is still crappy and they should fork up more compensation. Oh foreign companies who don't have their corporate headquarters in the US do the same kind of crappy s*** I'm rooting for the passengers to get more compensation and have a good day
I went Elite on my last Princess cruise but I am rapidly souring on them. And I suspect they don't care that other Princess loyalists are beginning to feel that way.
This should not be allowed to happen. I was about to book up for a Mediterranean cruise next year but don't want to risk being cancelled, coming from NZ we would be spending quite a lot before and after, just don't want to risk it, hopefully others will feel the same and book with one of the other lines, there are plenty to choose from
That happened to us on NCL. Our Alaskan cruise out of Vancouver was sold out to a group. They gave us 50% our Alaskan cruise if we sailed in 2023. Sounded good but it was 50% off the second passenger that was 70% off already. It actually cost us more to go because we were a last minute booking.
I will never sail on Carnival again. Six years ago I decided to celebrate my 80th birthday on a cruise out of New Orleans with a week in NOLA. I scheduled the Chef's Table 🍽 dinner for four on my birthday. I did this well in advance. I confirmed when I boarded the ship. They cancelled my reservations the night before! That was sick! None of us and none of our friends will ever sail that disgusting line again. They absolutely ruined my 80th birthday. We thought dinner at the Chef's Table would be a real treat. Instead Carnival gave me a real kick in the butt as though my life had no value. In the future I sticking with RCCL and Celebrity. I am cruising with RCCL in September 2023 and Celebrity 2023. Their food and the experience is so much better but they weren't sailing out of New Orleans so I settled for the boisterous Carnival.
And, you’re not even telling what a headache it is for a travel agent to have to try to fix this disappointment for their client. Clients lose their confidence in the agent when an agent is unable to fix things. Also, not only do we lose the time we’ve spent booking them but, we lose the all of our commission as well. And, the time and commission from all of the other accommodations that go along with a cruise (air, hotel, transfers, travel insurance, etc.) We likely have already spent a significant amount of time doing all of these other things also. 🙁
Totally agree with you Don! I too too prefer to be on Princess for my cruises. However, that's an insult to any passenger who was supposedly going on that cruise.
I’m a Princess fan as well. And I’m very disappointed with them as well for this decision. Hopefully they will do better going forward or people will start jumping ship.
Hi Don, this news is both unbelievable and unacceptable. So sorry for you. Today I was told the taxi from the airport in Japan to the cruise terminal is $250 to $300 Australian. If you booked through a travel agent I'd be contacting them. Hope you can get a cruise to Japan as it's amazing. We went on Princess from Australia and back years ago. We only travel with Princess so this new comes as a shock. I am having a great day. Sending you all the best from Queensland Australia 🐨💖
Yup, this sort of cheapness is why we don't even look at Princess any more....we had an episode with them several years ago. First, they should have been covering change fees for anyone who had purchased plane tickets or hotel reservations, as well as trip insurance. THey don't seem to understand that while they are making money, people who had booked with them in good faith are losing money! At the very least, they are losing the cost of the insurance. Those plane tickets went on sale earlier this month, and people would have purchased as soon as they were released. There are a few options--Celebrity and Cunard have cruises from Tokyo in May. While there isn't anything that duplicates the Princess cruise, it could work and people could keep their air as is....spend the extra days seeing the country. But no, Princess owes them, at least, every penny they have spent on the cruise and all the ancillaries as well as a lot better "goodwill gesture" than $50. In fairness, there have been times they've taken good care of us when they changed things, but one episode of real cheapness over-rides some of the good. Whatever they charged the company that chartered should have included enough to adequately care for those who were dumped.
I had th exact thing happen to me this month. I paid for a condo in the mountains. I had family coming from out of town to enjoy this weekend trip. They canceled our paid in full condo and re booked it at a hight rate. It sucks.
Holy cow, I just remembered something (of course just *after* hitting "Comment").... I was watching TV with my mother yesterday and a commercial came on for Princess Cruises. She said that sounded like fun but she also still has less-than-fond memories of the family's trip from South America to NY many years ago and wasn't sure she'd enjoy being on an ocean-going ship again. I responded by pointing out that if you could read the fine print on the screen fast enough, you'd realize that the wonderful prices being advertised were only the beginning, and there would be many other fees and costs to inflate the price. Her response was that the cruise line would probably do anything they could to increase their profit at customers' expense.... Looks like someone at the home office heard her and figured it was good advice... But yeah, same cruise line.
That is dirty... Shame on Princess. Shouldn't they charter only cruises that are not yet / sold to the public already? Sold to the highest bidder now?? SMH
A Princess Hawaii cruise I was on last year had to miss Hilo and head back to LA a day early because of a major winter storm. I'm talking big waves. We were offered an onboard credit of $100 per stateroom and a full refund of excursions.
We once were within a few months of going on a cruise and some Chinese company bought the entire cruise out and they kicked us off even though we had paid for it already. They offered us the cruise a week or two later, but due to 4 people planning the certain week off, we could not rearrange our vacation to a different week. We were so mad. My husband said he would never book something with that cruise line again. After two years, he cooled down and we did that cruise, but some things had changed and didn’t stay as long in one port as the prior trip.
Obviously they don't care. My opinion is everyone of those passengers should protest, put it out there all over the news & social media. Hurt them where it counts. Perhaps they'll come up with a better solution & how to handle charters. Why not have one dedicated ship to do only charter cruises.
Don, in FL we had a bad thunderstorm a few minutes ago. I still have my Wi-Fi, but no TV. We get the TV back at 9pm. I’m hoping I don’t lose my Wi-Fi again! I don’t think I will ever cruise on Princess after your report!
There is one thing to break a contract for something beyond the control of the company. It’s an entirely different one to do it simply because it makes you more money. These means that a contract means nothing to Princess. I wouldn’t risk sailing on them again. If your word isn’t any good, it isn’t any good.
Absolutely not right to cancel a booking. Wow! We were on a Princess ship to Hawaii in December of 2023, got hurt during rough seas and we were pretty much ignored when needing help and food service. We like Princess but each ship is different.
