jacketwatch

Has anyone else had glitches with the Princess app?

I booked a cruise and through the desk top and my phone browser I can log on to Princes dot com but per the app on my phone its glitchy. I get messages about server issues or I can log on though there is no booking number but when adding my booking number there is a message noting it belongs to another party. Weird. I have fulling registered and we are "green." Then earlier today I logged on using my booking number, name, DOB, etc. and it s fine, no issues.
Has anyone else had similar issues?

Thank you

P_M

The Princess app is one of the worst I've ever used. You're not alone.

jacketwatch

Thank you.

The people I’ve spoken to w Princess as a whole need a lot more training. My so called personal adviser actually said the only venues we can eat at free was the Horizon buffet. Of course that’s absurd. I do wonder if he was trying to upsell me for a speciality dining package.

P_M

I've just been on 2 Princess cruises since covid. I've found the service on board is as great as ever, but the customer service before the cruise had really taken a dive. I've complained about it too, but I don't know if they're listening.

jacketwatch

this will be our seventh princess Cruise. I’m glad to hear that the onboard service that you experienced is the same as what we have experienced.

I haven’t had much occasion in the past to contact Princess before or after our Cruises , but this time I did have the need to do so, and I was appalled by the service.

I have had issues on board with other cruise lines like Celebrity and Royal Caribbean and I have found that contacting them after the cruise was unfortunately a very back experience. It’s nowhere near like the service that you get on board. However, me, being a stubborn so-and-so, I kept pushing it up the ladder, and finally got more than adequate compensation for the problems that we had.

I did write a letter to Royal Caribbean about this and I was able to get a hold of somebody higher up in administration there through my travel agent. He was aware of the letter and said the message was received. Let’s put it that way.

all I did do was mention how good it was on board, but how difficult it was afterwards, and I mentioned specific experiences that I had.

It’s pretty odd that they clearly push an onboard ethic of great customer service which you receive, but yet are so lacking and pushing that same Customer Service experience to the people you call at 800 numbers.

mlgb

There's a new app being implemented right now. Are you trying to use the new or old one?

Some reports that Alfredo's is not free.

I get most of my Princess info from YouTube Let's Go Travel Tips channel. She's done a bunch on the app

mlgb

Here is a summary of the other new Princess nickle and dime charges if you don't buy the packages.
https://thepointsguy.com/news/prince...usive-packages

Also they are raising their stand alone internet price

https://www.cruisehive.com/princess-...ncrease/121550

I cruised Princess to Alaska a year ago May and the service in the buffet and MDR had declined signficantly. After a few goes in the MDR for dinner I had finally found a good waiter in the MDR, they moved him to a different room!!

P_M

That's an interesting article mlgb. I keep getting offers from Princess for $100 cruises, but after adding all of the extras, those $100 cruises will get very expensive.

mlgb

The cruise lines are overbooking guarantee cabins and then people are getting bumped at the last minute~

P_M

That's terrible. I know the airlines do that but they can put you (or a volunteer with incentives) on a later flight. It's not so easy to put someone on a later cruise.

jacketwatch

Initially, there was some problems with the new and the old app. Sometimes one would work, and sometimes the other, but never both. However, now they seem to straighten it out.

I’ve had no problems in quite some time with this so again I think they fixed it.

The only thing I know about princess pricing is that they do charge more for the same cabin for people in Australia. I actually found this out by testing it myself. I had heard this, so I called Princess to book rooms for myself and some of my “friends from Australia“ I was told that people in Australia have to go to the Princess website over there and book it. and I think they pay more.

I did try other cruise lines and was told that the price would be the same for anybody no matter where they came from.


I am certain why they did this nor am I certain if this practice continues.

Sassafrass

From what I have read, gratuities, port charges, etc. were all included in cruise prices in Australia. The totals probably came to about the same as the US, if you included our tips, etc. A few companies continued to do that until last year (2023) when Princess dropped the practice. I don’t know if any other cruise lines have continued it or not. I read that the issue was Australians were not used to tipping, so staff and crew never got tips. As people know about tipping on cruises, they are changing the practice of including it in the actual costs. I wonder if there is still a price difference. In the US, we always know it is added on. Easier, IMHO.

jacketwatch

I heard that as well in terms of the tipping comment.

there was only one time in all the cruises we’ve taken where I took the automatic gratuity off. We were so disappointed with the maître’d Why? when I found out he is part of the tip pool. We decided to remove the automatic gratuity. We did tip appropriately to the cabin steward, and the waiter and the assistant waiter and instead of the maître’d we gave to the hotel manager, who basically cleaned up the lazy mess the maître D created.

I do not reward laziness!

Sassafrass

We never remove tips either. We generally give extra to the cabin steward and anyone else who does extra.

jacketwatch

Yes and we do too.

I wonder how many people know just how hard these people work. Many if not, most of them are from countries with poor economies, and they are on ships for a long time away from their families just to be able to support them.

Sassafrass

Yes, and they do it with a smile. When my Granddaughter was little and on her first cruises, the staff was always so kind and helpful, turning her napkins into flowers and putting extra towel animals on her bed. One time, she loved them so much, they made new ones every day and let her keep them all the whole cruise, adding eyes and other things. I know they must have been thinking about and missing their own families while playing with mine and helping her have a good time.

jacketwatch

One employee told me that when there are days at sea nobody gets any time off And you never really get a full day off, no matter what. You may get blocks of hours, but you always have to be on duty for some portion of the day.

he also said that when you are in port not everyone is guaranteed to have time to get out of the ship.

Oh, it’s very difficult for sure. We are usually very happy to tip them above the gratuity.

jacketwatch

Update: They seem to have fixed the glitches. Its been fine for a while now.

jacketwatch

We got back from our Crown Princess cruise on 4/27/24. I must say I loved using the medallion! Ours were on a lanyard though some wore theirs on their wrists like a watch. The medallion is like your sea pass card but much easier to use. As you near your cabin door to say around 6 feet the door automatically unlocks. It's the same for purchases as it id's you and you don't have to use your card. It's all automatic though a few times I was asked for my name and cabin number for verification but that wasn't the norm.

I wonder if other cruise lines will implement something like this. Its a step f/w IMHO.

P_M

We've been on 2 cruises since they started using medallions and we have another scheduled in June. When we arrived for our cruise from NY a few months ago, we had our medallions in advance so checking in was a breeze. We stood in no lines, we just walked onto the ship.