In January, we took our first cruise. It was with Princess Cruises and it was fabulous. So, we booked another one as soon as we came back. Our 2nd cruise will be with Princess Cruises in December. After that, I highly doubt we ever sail with them again unless they address what I am sharing now promptly.

My Horrible Experience With Princess Cruises

We have been making payments on our cruise pretty much all year. I misread the final date of payment as October 8th, when in reality it was the 6th. I discovered this a week or two ago and called Princess to see if we could have a 2 day extension as we had our payments scheduled out based on that date. After my customer service rep spoke to someone else, she assured us it would be fine.

I called back 3-4 times over the next few days to make more payments. There are 4 of us going and we are each paying our own way, so that is why we are making so many payments. Each time, I made sure that my 2 day extension was still in place. Each time, I was assured that it was.

Apparently When You Book With Princess You Get Autopay Whether You Want It Or Not

Tuesday night {October 6th}, I get home to find that my Paypal account has been charged the final payment. Since I did not have the money to pay it in my Paypal account, it charged it to my backup card which is tied to my bank account. I called Princess to see why this occurred and was told that I had set up autopay when I made my booking. This is not true and I did my booking via phone with Princess. She said that I used my card to book the cruise which is true, but I did not authorize anyone to auto charge future payments to my card. It was a one time payment.

This woman told me there was nothing that she could do and that I would have to call back the next morning to speak to someone else. They open at 8am EST so I called them bright and early at 8am on Wednesday {yesterday} morning.

I was told that they would be issuing me a refund and that I should receive it in 24 hours. I also asked the customer service representative if I could make a payment later that day and she assured me that I could.

I called back later that day to make that payment {yesterday afternoon} to find out that the first person did not put in the paperwork for the refund and this new person {Kathy in Customer Relations} said she would. She told me that I should get my refund within 24 hours. She also would not take my payment as she said that it appeared that I owed a zero balance {thanks to the faulty charge} so any payment that I made would just be reversed back. She instructed me to call back in the morning {today} to make the final payment after the refund went through. I also told her that this would bounce two of my accounts and, after asking her about this twice, she finally assured me that any fees I incurred due to their mistake would be given to me as a credit.

Then I called my bank and explained to them the situation. We decided it best to do a stop payment. I will have to make an unplanned trip to my bank, which is 45 minutes away to sign a paper for this thanks to Princess.

So, today I call back to Princess Cruises to find out that the refund STILL has not gone through. The customer service person tells me that it could take 10-15 days to be reversed. 10-15 days?!?!?! You have GOT to be kidding me. It was THEIR MISTAKE! She then puts me on with a supervisor who, of course, agrees to take my payment from another card and he assured me that I “should” receive my refund in 48 hours {add that to the 24 I was told twice yesterday, I guess} as “most cards” refund it that fast. So, my cruise is paid off but three of our accounts are tied up in this now for, I guess, either “48 hours” or “10-15 days.”

Mistakes Happen

I understand that companies make mistakes. My experience with Princess Cruises had also been fantastic up until this point. I hadn’t even considered other cruise lines because our experience was so amazing on our initial cruise with Princess. However, the lack of remorse at their mistake and the inability to fix it and/or make steps to fix it within a timely manner have really changed my opinion. We are still taking our cruise in December {unless of course they screw up and cancel it for that reversal thinking we didn’t pay – I totally wouldn’t be shocked!} but I highly doubt we cruise with them again unless they fix this now.

There have been no apologies from them except a halfhearted sounding one from the supervisor {Jesse} who still did not fix the situation. Otherwise, I have been blamed repeatedly for setting up autopay which I have told them time and again that I did not. I did not even book the cruise – one of their reps did via phone. Making a deposit payment does not mean that it’s okay to set me up for autopay. I also specifically asked NOT to be set up on autopay as there are 4 of us going, using 4 different cards. There is no way I would agree to pay everything for everyone.

At any rate, when I told them I would be making my final payment on the 8th, any autopay that was set up should have then been taken off. Had I known autopay was set up, I would have specifically asked for it to be removed. But, again, I shouldn’t have had to being as I did not approve it to begin with.

This is exactly the reason I choose not use autopay. I told them I could not pay on October 6th as I had notated the date wrong {that was my only bad}. Between then and now, I have spoken to probably 8-10 different people who all told me that 1} I could pay on the 8th. When I was charged on the 6th even though I specifically said I could not pay that day that 2} they would get my refund to me asap, which has not happened. Also 3} no one has been very apologetic and a few people have even blamed me for setting up autopay, which I did not do.

I am mad. Very mad.

Incidentally, I have also had to fix my phone number with them now 3 times. I am not sure what the deal with that is, but they seem unable to change it in the system from when it was first messed up by them. *shaking my head*

What Other Cruise Line Would You Recommend?

We are looking to book 1 or 2 more cruises for next year when we come back from this one. Have you had a great experience on a different cruise line? Which one would you recommend? Why or why not?