Would this happen with Princess

Hi All

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/video_and_audio/headlines/36405038

yours Shogun

"The Religious Sites Closed to Women" is the video I see.

So no, I don't think Princess will ban women from their sacred ships or the onboard chapels.

Trying to understand the connection between Princess Cruises and religious sites closed to women...:confused::confused: Perhaps I am not fully caffeinated yet;)

Hi All

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/video_and_audio/headlines/36405038

 

 

yours Shogun

Not sure what that video has to do with Princess cruise Line.:confused:

Hi Sogun, I'm guessing your post is about the Harmony of the seas not being finished on time, you're link to the BBC isn't working

Hi All.

Looks like BBC has moved story, will try again,

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/video_and_audio/headlines/36404486

yours Shogun

I don't know what Princess would do if the ship was not ready.

I know that Disney's first ship (Magic) was to have had a maiden voyage on March 13, 1998. The ship was not finished, and a month or two before the scheduled departure we were notified that she wouldn't sail until the end of April. We were offered a 25% discount if we opted to move our reservation or a full refund if we chose to cancel. Then in April, same thing--ship won't be ready, further discount or cancel with full refund. She finally sailed on July 30, 1998 and we joked that they pushed the date far enough out that they were sure to have it done. At that point the problem was that large areas were roped off for publicity filming, "special events" involving Disney and various government officials, etc.

However, after this debacle, each of the additional ships has launched on schedule. They learned to book some extra time into the plans to avoid disappointed guests and bad publicity.

:):), I saw the right video.

I'd say no....but then again I have never been on a new build with Princess.

Just off an RCI cruise last week Best OF BC 4 day on Explorer, after 50 cruises my worst. Why, because 1/2 the staff were new hires, where do you think the old staff went also there was an inspection which delayed embarkation and lunch service significantly and drink availability, can you imagine a ship not having fruit to make FOO FOO drinks at embarkation.

Go on the RCI boards....hear the chatter about Harmony... so many say they would never take an Inaugural...because of past experiences...so people who have booked for the first time r suppose to know this.....????

RCI regulars are accepting these short comings, I don't get it?

BTW...my first cruise with RCI was in 1992...so I've seen the changes and acceptance, just baffles me. I personally would like be be pre- warned if the ship was not ship shape...

When you build anything as complex as a cruise ship, two things are guaranteed. One, there may be any number of issues that can delay the build, even outside the margin of error built into the schedule.

Second, no matter how well you design, there will always be a version of my version of the IT mantra - no deployment ever survives contact with the end user.

These are why I won't book an inaugural unless the price is insanely low to mitigate the risk. Even if everything goes to plan, there will be issues....

and just another surprise for me....

I did a B2B RT out of Venice on RCI Splendour in Nov. 2015. Roll Call people mostly from UK and Europe. So many stated that they were concerned about sailing on a ship this size, and is what they meant was small not large...remember when the larger ships came out and everyone was concerned about them being toooo big.....interesting how 7 or 8 years can make a difference.

I would be incredibly unhappy if I had booked this cruise. Not good at all. As for the question asked by the OP: I certainly hope Princess would never do such a thing.

Hi All

When we did pre maiden on the Royal there were construction crews working

onboard, but mainly on snagging and only minor and nothing that would put

safety at risk, I noticed another RCI ship missed a bucket load of cruises due

to not being ready,

wonder if the pressure to be in Southampton for the press over ruled common

sense, but videos do not show a finished ship, missing glass panels next to

children's play stuff is not good,

yours Shogun

I was on both Oasis crossings 2 years ago when it cruised back to Germany for it's 5 year hull inspection some refitting and upgrades many of the crew were leaving when we hit Barcelona. When we reboarded a month later in Amsterdam for the return trip to Ft. Lauderdale most of the crew was new and the ship was still under construction with new restaurants and venues still being worked on and Cats the featured entertainment was not up and running.

It did not impact us but many were upset as they had paid a premium price for a trans - Atlantic and trust me these mega Oasis class ships are designed and programed for 5 to 7 days not a 15 day cruise with minimal ports.

People were raging over lack of venues and space to accommodate 6,000 pax on a 8 sea day in a row voyage. There was an actual fist fight breaking out at the ice show over seats and it was not even a hockey game. Seating was at a premium anywhere on the ship.

It was an interesting set of cruises getting to experience the ship going with trained staff and 14 days to explore it and then the mass dysfunction during 15 days coming back.

Long and short RC gave all pax a 20% rebate to compensate for the inconvenience.

I learned I have no interest in doing a standard 5 or 7 day Caribbean cruise to nowhere on an Oasis class ship and once home I immediately canceled my booking on the new Quantum which was sailing 36 days Ft Lauderdale to Singapore.

My understanding is this is pretty much standard operating procedure for RCI but I recall pax complaining about things not working on the first few Royal cruises as well.

People are willing to pay a premium for the privilege.

I will never take an inaugural cruise on any ship unless heavily discounted and it is going somewhere I want to see.

Read a review years ago on CC about a ship not being ready. The cruise line refunded everyone's fare and then opened the ship up to those who wanted to help getting it finished. A true jeans-only cruise. The pax set up tables, chairs etc. all the little things. The one story I remember is about this one odd chair that didn't match anything. Turns out it was a prop for one of the shows.

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These are why I won't book an inaugural unless the price is insanely low to mitigate the risk. Even if everything goes to plan, there will be issues....

My philosophy for inaugurals and the first cruise post dry dock.

My reaction when I saw that video (the right one:)), was: mouth agape, words coming into my head like "unacceptable", "irresponsible", "reprehensible", "actionnable"... A glass panel MISSING next to a children's play area??? WTH:mad: If the ship is not 100% ready, the cruise line should not be charging 100% of the fare. Pax should be asking for at least partial refunds.

Its not that uncommon on new builds and also ships prior to and post drydocking.

While this was their 3rd in class, it was the first one built in France.

Should they have cancelled the cruise?

Why don't the cruise lines give a 20% discount to all inaugural sailings just in case stuff has to be finished off or changed then no one could argue the fact?

Yes, it does happen to Princess. We were booked on Coral's first holiday cruise (12/24/02). It was initially supposed to be its sixth cruise, then its second, then its inaugural, and then 15 days before (it was a double-whammy day for me due to my employer declaring bankruptcy the same day), it was cancelled. We rebooked for the following year's cruise (12/23/03). We were given a $1,000 per cabin credit towards a future cruise (valid for 15 months) plus reimbursement of any airline penalties. The $1,000 gave us an approximately 20% discount on the replacement cruise a year later.

Yet on the other side of the coin, HAL just had their inaugural cruise of a new build... On time, and if the (many) comments from HAL enthusiasts who were on board, "almost" everything went well.

On the same subject, HAL has a training captain who loves blogging. He was assigned to the Konsingdam for a month before her inaugural cruise, and his daily comments were interesting: http://www.hollandamericablog.com/author/captain-albert/page/5/