3/23/03 Grand Passengers Read This - Princess Owes You Money

[Frugalist]

We just got back from the March 23-30 Grand Princess Western Caribbean cruise. Another fabulous cruise! If you were on board, you know that the stop at Princess Cays on Monday was cut short due to weather. Only a few tenders made it to the beach before the captain ordered everyone back. Stuff like this happens and you learn to roll with the punches. Enjoy an extra "sea day" with all the great food, activities and entertainment on board.

However, in Wednesday's Princess Patter, in the top-left corner of page 2, Princess announced "Please be advised that the port fee for Princess Cays of $15.00 has been credited to your shipboard account." How nice of them. Totally unexpected! Unfortunately the credit never showed up on our account. And apparently nobody else's account either. So folks, you're owed $15 per person from Princess. That's $30 per couple, $60 per family of 4, $39,000 for the full ship's 2,600 passengers.

This information has already been posted on the CruiseCritics boards and one poster has called Princess about this. He has been told that the account information doesn't make it to Princess offices for a few days. He was advised to call back on Monday April 7. Personally, I'm going to call them as soon as my shipboard charges hit my bank account.

So, double-check your shipboard account statement, and if you weren't credited with the $15 per person refund, give Princess a call and make them live up to their promise.

I'll post a follow-up here after I've spoken to Princess about this. I hope others will post their results too.

Post Edited (03-31-03 18:16)

Maybe I'm naive but I thought port costs were paid to governments where ships disembark and embark passengers. Since Princess Cays belongs to the Princess company, why would their even be a port fee to stop there? Or is this another little way to nickel and dime the passengers? This doesn't pass the smell test to me.
Frank-in-CA

[Donna]

Hi Frug,
Same thing happened to us on our Golden Princess cruise, never made it to Princess cays and they did credit our account just about immediantely, so hopefully you will get this clearned up ASAP.

[Frugalist]

Frank -- I think your nose may need some fine tuning. Princess Cays is commonly referred to as a Private Island. Unfortunately, this is far from the truth. Princess Cays may indeed be owned by Princess, but it is merely some beach property on the island of Eleuthera, which is part of the country of The Bahamas. So, when we tender over to Princess Cays, we are visiting the country of The Bahamas. The port fee is paid to the government of The Bahamas for the privilege of visiting their country. This is no different than the port fee paid to the government of Cayman Islands when we visit Grand Cayman or to the government of Mexico when we visit Cozumel.

The cruise lines may have many ways of nickel and diming us, but the port fee for Princess Cays is not one of them. Gotta blame that one on the gubmint.

--------------------

Donna -- I hope you're right. I'll let you know what Princess tells us.

[LisaK]

Princess is usually really good about these things. A couple of years ago we sailed on the Sea Princess, we didn't hit the Cays because of a mechanical problem, we were routed to Nassau and received a $100 per cabin credit, which showed up right away on our account.

Donna:
Good point. I was under the impression that it was totally owned by Princess but as you point out, it still is still in the Bahamas, so the government does collect the port fees. Thanks for the fine tuning. (G)
Frank

Further update. I just off the Grand today and we got cancelled at Princess Cay and Costa Maya. I got a credit for Costa Maya but this is the first I have heard of a credit for Princess Cay. Please keep us posted if you hear back from them.

[Frugalist]

I called Passenger Relations last week and was told I had to write a letter before Princess would consider my questions. So, a letter was posted yesterday. I'll let you know what they say when I hear back from them.

I just can't see how you feel you're being nickel and dimed to death. I don't know where you can go for the extremely low fares, eat non stop for 24/7, see 2 or three shows a day, and everything else offered on a cruise.

Where is all the anger coming from?????

[Frugalist]

To Kathy Vetter: whom is your comment addressed to? Hopefully not me because I never stated I felt like I was being nickel and dimed to death.

Five question marks at the end of your interrogatory? Who has the issue with anger?

Perhaps it was the tone of your note that seemed like you were angry. I believe it was Frank that made the nickel and diming comment.

Glad you enjoyed your cruise! Nothing is ever perfect, but we know how to have fun under most circumstances.

Yes, I made the nickel/diming comment. I really would prefer that they have all inclusive fares and charge that way from the beginning. Why add a $10/day/pp gratuity charge to one's cabin when they could easily have added $70 to the price of a weekly cruise? Why do they charge extra for ice cream on the pool deck? Why charge for soft drinks? Why charge for decent coffee in their cafes? I'd gladly pay a few dollars more for the cruise and not have to guess which items cost extra.

Now I realize some will say that the do it this way so that their prices look more appealing. I think they could provide all the items I mentioned above for less than a $100/week/pp. One still should pay extra for liquor, photos, gambling and the like but not the essentials that will end up on the bill whether it is paid for in advance or not. It's something like an expanded soda card concept that I'd like to see.

BTW, because I feel this way does that make me angry? I just feel something more all inclusive would add to the cruising concept.
Frank-in-CA

Amen, there is nothing wrong with feeling this way. And you have the right to state your opinion with out having others make rude remarks you have just as much right to share as they do with out getting lashed out at and Frank I respect your right to have an opinion.
Chad

[Frugalist]

Today I received a response from Princess to my letter. The response states that they will be crediting my credit card for $30 (2 times the $15 port fee as indicated in the Princess Patter). The letter states it may take 2-3 billing cycles for the credit to appear. Seems I might get the credit just in time to finish my Christmas shopping. :-)

So, those from the 3/23-30/03 Grand Princess cruise who have not already written in to claim you refund, go for it! Be polite but assertive and include a copy of the statement in the Patter if you have it.

Frugalist

[carol]

Due to a weather related problem I also missed the out island when I sailed on the Grand Princess. No credit was ever issued, but I don't think a cruise line is ever liable when a port or island is missed due to something beyond their control, such as weather.