Dear Reader, Cruiser and Wan-a-be Cruiser
It was pouring the morning of the day before we were to arrive in Los Angeles, ending our cruise from Vancouver and starting another on the same ship going from LA to Hawaii,Tahiti, Samoa and Mo’orea and then returning to LA. I woke up to find that an envelope had been slipped under the door of our stateroom. I tore open the envelope and read the contents of the letter. Hmmmm……very weird.
Fast forward to me standing in line at the Guest Services Desk waiting patiently for a representative who could translate the message in my hand.
Finally it was my turn.
Me : “Good morning sir. I seem to have a problem that I am hoping you can fix. This morning I found this letter under my door. It says that my husband and I will be allowed to stay in our current stateroom P 310 and that our steward will help us move our belongings to our new stateroom.” Duh?
He: “ Yes that is what it says,” as the man read the letter. “What is your problem?”
Me: “ The problem, sir, is that I don’t want to stay in cabin P310. I want to move to cabin C218 which I have reserved and paid for.”
He: “ But it says here you want to stay in Cabin P310.”
Me: : “Sir, why would I want to stay in steerage in Cabin P310 when I have paid for a balcony cabin on Deck 10?”
He: “ Madam do you have a receipt? ”
Me: “ Yes sir, I have 3 receipts.”
- For winning ( a Princess Cruises) auction for an upgrade to a balcony cabin.
- A confirmation of my new stateroom C218
- A receipt for my payment for the upgrade. (I handed them to the guy.)
He: “ Well, madam, anyone could print out these receipts.”
OMGoodness, did he just say what I think he said?
Him: “ Our system says that you want to stay in your current cabin”
And it is never wrong?….it is only as accurate as the information put into the system. Now my blood pressure is really skyrocketing!!!
Me: “ May I please talk to your manager. Your system is wrong.”
He: “ I can’t do any more for you. What I can do is call our head office (in TIMBUKTU!!!!) Customer Service and they will help you sort this out.”
Been there, done that before so I know what to expect!
Me: “ But I do not want to spend 2 hours “on hold” with the head office, waiting to talk to someone who won’t have a clue how to solve my problem! You created it here on this ship so you should fix it.”
He: “ Follow me, Madam.”
Now we are getting somewhere.
Or not. We are now standing in front of a telephone. Yikes!
He: “ I have dialed through to head office. When they pick up, tell them your problem.”
By then everyone could see the smoke coming out of my ears. At that moment, a poor man standing in line for service, collapsed on the floor. He was helped to a chair and 911 was called. When the patient was taken away, my agent quickly brought the chair over to where I was standing with the phone and offered it to me. How kind of him.
1 ½ hours later……….I’m not kidding, I should have brought my knitting…….. a human voice came on the line.
Her: “ Madam what is your problem?”
Me: “ I paid for a cabin upgrade to stateroom C218 for which I am being denied occupancy.”
Her: “ One moment while I pull up your file.”
15 minutes later:
Her: “ Your file says you want to stay in your current cabin P310.”
Oh no, not this again!!!!
Me: “ That’s what I am calling about. I don’t want to stay in this cabin P310. My husband and I want to move into C218 for which we have paid to occupy for the next leg of our journey.”
Her: “Okay, I’ll check with my supervisor.”
And then she disappeared off the line for another 15 minutes, returning every three minutes for the next 15 minutes asking me to stay on the line. Meanwhile I was subjected to more of the worst music ever, which alone could cause madness.
By now I was seething and wondering why I had allowed myself to be parked in a corner on a hard wooden chair for 2 hours as if I needed to be chastised for my impertinence. It reminded me of an incident when I was in Grade 2 and was sent out into the hall as punishment for questioning the spelling of a word my teacher had misspelled on the chalkboard.
I think that “Him” finally realized he should do something to end this madness as apparently I was not going to leave anytime soon, hanging around as if I were a test strand of cooked spaghetti sticking to the wall. He returned to my station and casually hung up the phone and said: ” They are never going to take your call.”
No kidding.
“ May I have your receipts, please?” He forgot I had already given them to him. And with that, he retreated through a door behind which I hoped a solution would be found.
He returned shortly and said: “ It looks like you can move into C218.”
Hallelujah!
He: “ Go back to your stateroom and I will call you to confirm.”
Really?
Back in P310 a couple of hours later, the phone rang.
Me: “ Hello”
He: “ I am calling to confirm C218 is ready for you. I noticed that your name is Manson. Mine is Mansour, almost the same as yours. Please remember it and call me directly anytime you wish. I will take care of you.”
Very kind, as if I am his new best friend.
Can’t wait for our next encounter……. As soon as hell freezes over.
Until next time,
Lynda Manson
Pacific Sunset
12″x 16″. $ 250 Cdn incl.tax and shipping.
theartoftravelchronicales@gmail.com
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