Worst customer service experience ever:
After a long awaited 2 years, we were all set to go on a one week total escape for vacation. We decided to go on cruise and were excited about our first cruise experience on 6/4 to Alaska on Golden Princess and all geared up to capture the pristine beauty of Alaska, glacier views and its wildlife. I was expecting rain but it was a beautiful Saturday morning in Seattle. At the time of boarding, they declared you cannot board as you do not have a Canadian visa. What??? It took a few minutes to orient ourselves to understand what they are talking about.
The week before the cruise date, we called the princess cruise customer service department to double check we have the necessary documentation for our travel as the cruise line has one stop at Victoria, Canada even though all other ports are in Alaska which is part of USA. The agent confirmed that the valid passport with valid US Visa (as we have Indian passport) and valid US drivers license are all that we need. We relied upon the information provided to us by the cruise line representative. The agent also checked our status and immigration details in the cruise personalizer software on the princess cruise website and confirmed there were no issues. She also added that many passengers travel with very less documentation and that we have a valid passport with US visa and US drivers license and it is more than enough.
After all this, at the very last moment, they deny boarding. There were long discussions with several people of cruise lines, but they simply asked us to leave. Tears rolled in my eyes as I just could not digest the fact that our vacation dreams just shattered. It was a painful sight to watch the cruise leave before our eyes. Fighting back the tears we told them we relied on the information provided to us.
The port manager gave us a cold look and handed couple of business cards to talk to the customer relations. Princess cruise manager Melicio added fuel to our fire saying sarcastically that we can spend our 7 days in Seattle. We were stranded. We have no idea this was coming.
The next day morning we called the customer relations number they gave us and have gotten transferred to the several people in circles saying that there is nothing they can do and call back on weekday as they are no managers to talk to. We lost the money on all the flight, car and hotel reservations made in the future i.E. 7 days after the return from the cruise. We have been talking to several people for days and no one could help us and making us go in circles. We get to talk
to manager Victoria, but there was no sympathy for our situation. She simply said we deny your request and cannot refund your money. The manager also said that the customer service does not support other than US and Canadian citizens!
If we would have been provided with correct information, it is not a big deal to get tourist visa to Canada. This is the worst customer service we have ever encountered. It is a rip off. They have been hostile to the entire situation and not even willing to show sympathy. We lost our money ($2500 approx. - cruise charges, flight, hotel bookings and car rentals for two people), vacation time and on top of it emotional distress. We need justice for our situation and compensation for all our losses.
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