Princess Cruise Lines
reviews and complaints

On July 15, 2022 we decide to book a cruise for sometime in November. In browsing on the web I check with Vacations to go and located a cruise that we would like to go onl. We called VTG and the agent gave us a guote after locating a state room that we comfortable with. It turned out to be a Window suite and we

reciieved a quote for this booking and had him put it on a hold status which he did and indicated it would be good until July 18, 2022, 5:00 PM. We agreed on this and he sent me a confirmation quote for this cruise. Total price for this cruise was to be $6546.00

As I would normally do I did some further searches and decided to call instead Princess cruise line. Spoke to a female agent and explained to her what I was interested in and that I wanted to see if I would get a better price on this cruise for the same location. She id'd the cruise and noted that it was in hold to me from another agency, and I told her I wanted to see if Princess line had a better offer. She wnet thru the process and her quote was $5806.24

with all the same criteria as from VTG. She indicated she would put it on hold but it would be added onto the current booking number 3H6VWR.

On July 17, 2022 I called Princess again and wanted to put a deposit onto this cruise to confirm the booking, $1600.00 would be the amount. Of course now its a different agent and she noted the VTG agent on the booking and Princess and told me VTG would have to cancel the booking before I can mke a deposit.

Today the 18th of July I called VTG and he agree to remove the hold on the cruise. This was at 11:15AM. I waited for about 20-30 minutes to his cancelling and then I called Princess. Cruise line.

I indicated I wanted to put a deposit on this cruise. She in turn looked up the booking and told me it had been cancelled. This is my problem from here on:

I have a printed copy of the Booking confirmation with the price of 5806.24 from princess crise lines. I also have a printed copy of the one from VTG at 6546.00. The princess agent now tells me that because the booking was cancelled it can not honor the Princess quote. She checked with her supervisor and he indicated it could not be done and that now the cruise had increased the fare. The cruise now would be $6076.24.

Why did the Princess agent that told me to have it cancelled not know of this?

Why doesn't Princess line honor the quote they gave me?

The cost is not the issue its only $270.00 its the principle of this that I disagree with. This truly upsets me and I am dissatisfied with how the supervisor handled this. I am a platinum customer and have another cruise already booked for December, so its not like I need the $270.00.

I went ahead and booked this cruise and paid the price, but am not a happy camper in doing so.

I feel that a communication problem exists between outside agents and agencies when putting bookings on hold. I could have easily put the cruise on a courtesy hold online and would have not gone through what I just did.

Sincerely,

Felix Comulada

[protected]

Booking 3P6DMV

I am writing to record my disappointment and utter dissatisfaction with the above-mentioned cruise from which, my husband and I have just returned.

Embarkation

The embarkation process began with our timely arrival at around 11.30am. What followed was a two and a half hour wait in a long queue to get into the terminal. We were told this was due to technical difficulties. Once inside there was another long and crowded queue where, despite the requirement on the paperwork that everyone should be wearing a mask very few people were. No Princess staff were controlling the situation and it was simply chaotic. After another long wait our documentation was scrutinised, we were given a lanyard and were directed to board the ship via a very grimy storeroom! Having expected to board at around 12 noon we finally did so at around 4.30 pm.

First impressions

We were travelling with a friend and had all purchased a drinks package. The three of us went to the self-service restaurant on deck fifteen, helped ourselves to a light lunch and asked the waiter for a glass of wine! It took five waiters and over half an hour to obtain a drink. The staff obviously did not know how to operate the device they had been given.

We unpacked and changed for dinner only to find another long queue outside the dining room door! Assuming that some passengers had not booked a table we went to the front only to be told that everyone in the queue had booked. An hour later we were allocated a table. It took half an hour to get a starter and two hours to finish the meal by which time we had missed the show.

Next day was a pleasant stop in Guernsey followed by formal night when the same chaos occurred in the evening. Standing in a queue for over an hour in our fineries and again missing the show! In the bar that evening (and for the remainder of my time on the ship) drinks were slow to appear even if you were lucky enough to catch a waiter/waitress’s eye.

The cruise

During the next five days we cruised around Ireland and Liverpool, the ports visited were great, but the queueing continued on-board for dinner unless an extremely late table was booked! The food was not the standard we expected either in the dining room or in the self-serve restaurant. The worst dining experience we have ever had on a cruise ship after twenty years of cruising with many different companies.

Covid 19

I began to feel unwell on Saturday evening and woke on the Sunday morning with cold symptoms and a headache. By late morning I rang the allocated number to report my symptoms as required. I was told to stay in my cabin along with my husband and someone would be coming to test us for Covid. A half an hour after being tested I was informed that my results were positive (my husband was negative) and we must stay in our cabin and pack our belongings in preparation to being moved into an isolation cabin. Although my 87-year-old husband was not required to accompany me, he did so as I could not have left him on his own.

Three men arrived to escort us with our cases to a cabin on deck twelve via the service elevator. They deposited our luggage along with us in a cabin and told us we were not allowed to leave! We were unaware at that time that we were locked in on deck twelve and would remain so for the remainder of the cruise. There was a typewritten note on the bed outlining our predicament. There were no facilities to make a drink and the refrigerator was empty. The telephone did not work and neither did the television and so until around 4.30 when there was a room steward in the corridor and I shouted to him for help, we did not even have a bottle of water. The kind gentleman came into the cabin while I stood on the balcony, and he did get the phone functioning. We were then able to ring guest services and get some bottled water. We had not had a drink since breakfast!

Locked In!

The next six days were just awful! The food took hours to order, endlessly listening to recorded messages as nobody answered the calls. On one of the days, I rang for breakfast from just before 8.00am and finally got through to someone to take our order at 11.00am! When the food arrived in cardboard containers with wooden cutlery it was cold and unappetising. Often the food we tried to order including most cereals was unavailable. We did get Porridge for breakfast but with no fresh fruit available except whole red apples. Orange juice unobtainable! Curled up sandwiches for lunch. Nowhere to eat (to both sit, we had to bring the balcony chair into the cabin).

Refunds

As a gesture from Princess our printed document outlined all drinks would be complimentary as would internet access. The app mostly did not work and Wi-fi was intermittent. We had purchased a drink, internet, and gratuities package costing £60 a day for both of us (we had no room service, we had to make our own bed and change linen etc) I asked for a refund which was not forthcoming!

Wellbeing

Our printed instructions were to self-monitor my temperature but as I was not in possession of a thermometer, I was not able to do so. The paperwork also stated that the medical team would follow up daily on my health. Not once did the medical team contact me to see how I was.

Disembarkation

We were the last passengers to leave the ship and what a relief it was to get off!

My Husband a d I booked a cruise on the Coral Princes to sail 22nd August 2022, and it had to be fully paid for by 24th May which it was, a total of $4589.00. We had the option of refund,future cruise credit, or 4 back to back cruises. We opted for the Future cruise Credit as we have a cruise booked 31st October, which has to be paid in full by 2nd August. I have emaed, I have phoned only to be told ut wi take 7- 10 days and we are now 12th June and still nothing showing. We have also been told that if all monies of $5889.00 is not paid on the October cruise we will loose our 829.00 deposit. If we pay they will then have over 10,000.00 of our money. I am at my witts end knowing what to do next on how to resolve this.

I awsit uour reply.

Thank you Shirley Gallo

Hello,

Please resolve the following items ASAP.

They are long overdue.

1. We have not received our reimbursement check of $5,082.04 the we incurred (hotel, food and new airfares) for the one week quarantine at Marriott Athens in Greece per Princess’ directive. I emailed their claim form to Princess Cruise 11 weeks ago on 04/25/22. I called Princess the week of 06/08/22 and got our claim reviewed and approved. Still waiting for the reimbursement check.

2. Princess said that they mailed us the check for $ 260 for credit airfare on 03/11/22. I advised Princess a few times that we did not get the check. No check received to date.

3. Princess will reimburse us in the form of Future Cruise Credits during Covid 19 one week isolation. No cruise credit issued to us to date.

Thank you,

Manuel and Rowena Lopez

I and my husband had cruise booked for last April.

At the cruise terminal, We were denied the boarding due to missing documents. We really wanted to board, but Princess would not let us board.

We also had to wait over 4 hours to get our luggage back from the bottom of the ship. We sat in the cruise terminal, and watched everyone else board the ship except us.

It was one of the most horrible experience we ever had.

We were given Customer Relations phone number and asked to call to sort out what to do with the cruise fare we already paid.

We called several times, but the call waiting time were over 2 hours every time I called.

I finally got a hold of someone after a week.

After I explained my situation, I was transferred around to a few different agents.

Finally, the last agent I talked to told me that the cruise fare from April's cruise will be applied to any future cruise I book with Princess.

I asked her if she can email me what she said or send me an letter. She said do not worry as she made a good note that everyone can see.

She also assured me that once I book any future cruise, credit will be "automatically" applied and my cruise planner should be able to see it.

Because of what I was told about April's cruise credit, I booked a new cruise for coming October.

My cruise planner did not see the April's credit applied to future credit as I was promised to by customer relations.

Melissa told me that she tried to get the April's credit applied, but her request was denied.

I called the customer relations again today, and the agent on the phone said she does not see any previous note about applying the April's credit to future credit.

She told me the only note she see is my cruise planner requesting the credit, and it was denied because I cancelled April's cruise too late.

I explained to her that we did not cancel the cruise, but was denied. Big difference!

She said it's a same thing to her, and she cannot tell who I talked to in April, therefore there is nothing else she can do for me.

I requested her to escalate me to her manager, and now currently on hold for over two hours currently.

I am suspecting she put me back to general phone waiting queue rather than transfer to manager as requested.

We are long time customers of Princess and have referred many friends and family over the years.

However, Princess have denied us onboarding the ship, providing horrible customer service experiences, and now trying to keep the fare for the cruise you denied our boarding.

This is a really bad business for Princess as the fare you are keeping from April's cruise is only ~$1,600, while we spend so much more onboard with Arts, Spa, retail, and Specialty dining.

My last art purchase from Princess (November 2021) alone was over $7,000.

How stupid are they to loose me to just keep $~1,600?

1. We were denied the boarding of our previous cruise. We did NOT Cancel. We were Denied.

2. We were Promised the credit from previous cruise to be applied to future cruise by customer relations.

3. Customer relations is Breaking the promise now, and refusing to approve the credit.

4. Their customer relations phone line is horrible. Every time I call is over 2 hours waiting, and most of the time, they don't resolve issues.

- M Wroten -

We were on a Princess cruise and they disembarked us and we missed our flight. We had to spend the night in the airport. Called Princess and was on hold 20 minutes. No help. Tried to contact Princess after returning home. On hold half an hour then disconnected. Tried calling again and again. Hard to reach. When we finally were able to fly out of the airport it was 18 hours later. Then sent us on a small airplane and 3 separate airplanes. What a mess. Still unable to contact Princess. I sure wish i could speak to someone to help.

Just returned home from 12 night cruise from Southampton around the British isles. Thoroughly disappointing dated ship, food well overcooked in main dining area with limited choice, but served with crockery that was suitable.Having decided to forego main dining and switched to market fresh dining,only to find plastic plates mugs and no teaspoons, choice also limited with problems having not meals served on picnic plates cups etc.Hence meal cold upon eating. The last time I was plastic of the nature was while I was working in the prison service. Entertainment , comedians trying their best at old jokes heard the high before and making fun of the elderly and people with medical problems,, totally inappropriate. Throughout the day crowded areas with nowhere to sit with food in hand ,sofas lacking support from general wear and tear.I could continue, as for outraged fixed shower heads found it impossible to bath correctly for 3 days before I got a shower adapter,my sister wasn't as fortunate and had to wrap cord around existing washing line,as I managed to get an adaptor.A good will gesture would be appreciated for all the inconvenience undertaken .

My family started looking at things to do for my parents 60th anniversary. Sadly, I talked my family into a cruise thinking that it would be the best way for us all to enjoy each others company. Princess even promises that their cruise line makes it "easy to connect to family!" At this point I find that to be a very misleading statement.

The issue is we simple! We want to sit together as a family for dinner and we do not want to eat late. This may look simple but after 15 phone calls and hours working with the app people, I am yet to resolve my issue. My father paid over 50K for this trip and he does not even show on the app. The app does not work!

I am at my wits end as I have yet to find one agent that can solve my issue or even let me talk to a supervisor. We all want to sit together at the same table or at two tables next to each other. We would like to eat around 6:30. We can eat earlier, but due to heath issues we we have a number of people in our party that cannot eat later than 7:15pm. We all have dinner vouchers for a specialty dinner on my parents anniversary, that date is July 3rd. We want to all sit together at the steak restaurant that night. The app does not work! It will not let us set this up! Please help! I would like to continue cruising but if Princess cannot solve this simple issue, I nor any of my family members will ever cruise on your line again. In fact, this may burn my whole family on cruising, period. Anyone that helps in this manner would be a hero to my family. Please let us eat together.

Thank you,

Eugene Stanton

Point of Rocks MD

we had booked a Princess cruise through igloo we travelled from uk on 12 May and were supposed to board on 14 May.

My passport was stolen on 13 May In Athens and I had informed Igloo and was unable to board the ship.

I need to get a no-show letter/cancellation letter? from Princess so that I can submit the claim to my Travel Insurance

I have been trying get in touch but unable to get through on phone.

I have sent several emails but not received any replies

I urgently need this no-show letter/cancellation letter to submit to my insurance company

Bindumati Shah

[protected]@gmail.com

Have already posted my complaint which is displayed on your web site 9/06/22 but will repeat it.

We booked aft premium cabin D724 ( 25/04/22 )and paid in full and this was confirmed.

We stipulated we did not want an UPGRADE.

We have now received e-mail from iglu/princess informing us we have been moved mid-ship with a smaller balcony R323.

We requested our original cabin but were told by iglu that this was not possible ( operational reasons ? )

We are very annoyed because we cannot see why at this stage we are refused our original booking ( this cabin D724 will be in service on this cruise ).

it seems that your customer care is non existent.

Booking we made for sailing on Royal Princess sailing 23rd Nov 22. Deposit Confirmation we received is 2MHJDV. Cruise cancelled by Princess Cruises but they have not refunded our deposit of $1,158.00. I paid the deposit by Visa credit card on 9th July 2021. I closed my visa credit card back in November 2021 so I requested payment by cheque however princess line has never replied to any of my emails.

We booked an aft premium cabin 25/4/22 with large balcony d724 on Enchanted Princess and this was confirmed and paid for ( Aug 22 Canary Isles ).

We stipulated that we did not want an UPGRADE.

We have now received an e-mail from iglu/princess informing us we have been moved to a mid ship cabin with smaller balcony r323, we requested our original cabin but were told by iglu that this was not possible ( operational reasons ?).

We are very annoyed because we cannot see why at this stage we are refused our original booking ( this cabin will be in service on this cruise ).

It seems that your customer care is now non existent.

Disgruntled British cruiser

Our booking all went wrong (Regal August 6/22

3M4JCH,[protected]

Took us so many trials over Saturday & Sunday 28/05& 29/05 very stressful

Then after we gave up we discovered that there is a pending money for Princess on our American Express account then only after another 10 hours booking came through to our princess account but it was the wrong room choice (lower category) and less money and just a standard booking NOT PLUS

So many phone calls and chat and was promised to get it sorted but nothing happened

My husband and I decided to take our 2nd 14 day cruise of 2022. The first cruise was to Hawaii January 6th from San Pedro, CA. The embarkation process was FANTASTIC. Very organized which made us feel secure with the lack of crowds at embarkation. Wonderful experience. Since we were celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary and our retirement, we decided to book a 2nd 14 day cruise on April 2nd to the Caribbean. The difference in the embarkation was huge. Very crowded, very disorganized and had to wait too long to board the ship after arriving at our assigned time. Ok-so, we waited to board. The main issue we have was the lack of care given to passengers who tested positive for Covid 19. (We were diligent with wearing our masks and hand washing too.) My husband, who is 69 and in very good health, contracted Covid 19 on April 14, 2022. When we contacted the medical staff about him feeling ill, we had to wait over 1 hour for someone to come and test him. We then waited over 4 hours for someone to call us with the results. We had remained in our cabin all day so as not to infect anyone else. We finally called and ordered room service. He was moved to the Covid deck 12 and left there. Our concern was that his blood pressure was very high after they checked it several times. We told them this was not normal. He doesn't have high blood pressure. He was never physically checked on again. He only received phone calls confirming he was ok. This is totally unacceptable. We disembarked on April 16th. After being isolated from each other for 2 days, we were put in a van with approx. 9-11 other passengers, all wearing masks (both Covid positive and negative) and driven to several hotels to be dropped off to continue our isolation. (Why isolate us from each other for 2 days and then put us all together in same van?) We were put in separate rooms at the hotel but on the 2nd morning, I tested positive too. After all this time of testing negative, all the exposure finally caught up to me. I am very frustrated with this because I am a diabetic. As of June 2nd, I am still dealing with the repercussions of Covid and probable permanent lung damage. Our next issue is the lack of support from Princess regarding our questions on getting our air rebooked. We were given a phone number to call but we literally waited on hold for hours several days in a row and were never able to get through. I finally got a family assistance phone number, then a direct number to a person who seemed to care, but really no help. We finally got help from Jig at family assistance who was FANTASTIC. Within an hour she had us rebooked. We arrived home on April 25th. I highly recommend purchasing the travel insurance. They were very helpful in answering my questions. We had to pay for all our expenses and the request reimbursement. We have already heard back from Generali Insurance company that our check for the maximum amount of the cruise is on its way to us. I am still attempting to get all receipts uploaded for reimbursement from Princess but no luck. Finally, this morning I was given an email address where I can submit my receipts for reimbursement. I will try everything. We will have to wait and see what happens. I have sent letters to princess regarding these issues and am awaiting a response. Not sure if we will cruise Princess again (we are Platinum level guests) until we hear back about what changes they are going to make.

We have rebooked our trip 3 times, unfortunately due to Covid. Originally, we booked with the Best Ever Sale. In September, 2021 our last booking continued to honor the Best Sale Ever. Our booking number is 2HVN8R, Panama Canal 10 day trip Jan. 7-17, 2023. We noticed in your email sent out the end of May 2022 you are launching Princess Premier. I have called Princess twice and don't understand why we are not eligible for the Premier Beverage Package that is in the Best Ever Sale, in addition, there is no daily dollar amount per the Best Sale Ever. My husband and I don't understand how you can take something away from us that we already have secured. We are looking forward to finally taking this trip, but not sure when what we have will not be honored. Please advise and explain this.

Sincerely,

Deb and Darrell Moon

HI

I just sent this to another department only to realize I couldn't attach anything. I will try here.. we were on the Ruby Princess 3CGWXQ 5/20-30, 2022. We had made reservations for the Specialty dining PREPAID on the APP, only because we were forced to since the restaurants were only open every other night and we did not want to eat at 8:30 pm. I went to the front desk and Monica and Hanna why the charges were not coming off our bill. They explained that since they were prepaid, the money could not come off the OBC account.

We were on the Discovery in April 2W2MCC.. April 10-24, 2022 and our PREPAID dining was deducted. (see attached bill).

So, I was wondering what changed in less than a month.

Also, the quality of the food this time was below the usual standard, the escargots and? lobster tail on the second formal night were poor quality to say the least. This was our 32nd cruise with Princess.

Thank you

Cecelia Neroda

After both my husband and I had recovered from serious operations, and then the Covid pandemic hitting the world, we decided to "risk" going on a cruise, and chose a holiday offer in the Sunday Times, which included a week on the Regal Princess. The cruise we were on went from Athens to Barcelona on 7th May and things got off to the worse of starts at Pireaus Port in Athens. It seems that hundreds of passengers didn't know that they had to have a Covid Test no more then 24 hours before boarding the ship, OR they decided to have the test once they arrived at the port. But nobody from Princess seemed to have the intelligence to put signage up informing your passengers that there were 2 separate queues (one for those with proof of a Negative Covid Test, and one for those yet to have the test)... so everyone queued in the same queue. It was total chaos. On top of the mayhem, apparently two of the computers needed for booking passengers onto the ship weren't working, making everything in the departure hall dangerously crowded - but not one senior member of Princess staff came down to get the crowds sorted out. For such a huge company, their lack of leadership in helping their customers board the ship without any guidance or correct information on what to do was shameful.

Once on the ship, several things were wrong. i.e. balcony door was so stiff we couldn't open it; bathrobes provided were so shrunk they would have

fitted a 10 year old child, and no portable step could be found that would help my husband get into the cabin bathroom, as the cabin step was far too steep.

The service at breakfast the following morning was so appalling that one of the floor managers came to our table to apologise. I don't necessarily blame the waiters, but I do blame Princess Cruises for not training them properly. Other disappointments with your Cruise was the second-rate entertainment, Room Service phone-calls that weren't answered, the bathroom wastebin that had NO LID... that your female passengers use for used sanitary products. Really? Surely Health & Safety applies to cruise ships too? And the almost non-existent service on the pool deck. Three hours, and four reminders to a waiter there to bring a tuna sandwich and a diet Coke to a disabled lady I had befriended. And his excuse was "We're very busy.!" It beggars belief. And to end the holiday... a final mistake. No luggage labels were delivered to our cabin. So we had to go the reception desk and queue for them to be printed. If 2022 cruises can be classified as being "at Worse - like a Butlins Holiday Camp, and, at Best, like The Dorchester Hotel, I'm afraid OUR cruise on the Regal Princes was only just one grade up from a Butlins Holiday Camp. Because of all of the above, as well as the hours queuing for tenders, we wouldn't ever consider going on a Princess cruise again. We have lots of friends (all in their 70s) who were awaiting our comments on this cruise. I would suggest they try another cruise-line. Two of our friends were on a Celebrity Cruise that was following the Regal Princess, and they report that they suffered none of the aggravation or bad service we and lots of our fellow passengers endured. So perhaps Celebrity Cruises is the way to go.

My name is Ronald Pence. I was sent a child size sportsband for the Ocean medallion on 26 May. There was only one size offered on website and it indicated it was a one size fits all. I do not want to wait on board during my vacation to exchange it for a larger one or pay any additional costs for whatever is in stock on the ship. I want a refund and have been denied that to this point after multiple attempts on the phone and via chat. The emailed receipt for the order is attached and my booking number is # 3CMXHN. The cruise leaves on 12 June so it is too late to ship it back before the trip leaves. I can be contacted at [protected].

Just finished 14day cruise on the Majestic Princess It was wonderful EXCEPT for the Hollywood Conservatory rules At 1600 hrs We were asked to leave for cleaning .And only the Elite were allowed back in for Drinks and Hors d'oeuvres

We went in to see if our friends were there and there were only five or so couples there. Allot of waisted space, In the best place on the Ship .My thoughts would be to set that event up in another bar So the general public can watch out the best view on the Ship !

H A has a Happy hour in the same type of room called the Crows Nest It is open for every one and is very busy ,With lots of fun and laughter.

Great trip Good service

will go again