SanDiegoHeather

Big difference between the two events. On the RCI cruise the sickness started quickly. Large numbers were sick before they ever reached a port. they basically skipped all of their ports except 1 and that one was severely impacted because the sickness was widespread. 20% of the ship was sick. Pools closed. Entertainment canceled because the entertainers were sick.

 

On the princess cruise the ship came back 33 hours early and missed 1 port. Other activities ran as scheduled.

The 20% refund plus 20% FCC seems resonable based upon the level of impact.

I agree - however, POOLS WERE CLOSED and most of the hot tubs were closed as well. There were only 3 HOT tubs on board - the other 4 were closed. When I asked one of the staff why they were closing the MUTS hot tub, they said "maintenance issues". I happen to own a pool and hot tub and saw then take out the levels and I spied.. they were normal ( a little high on chlorine). Anyway, 30 minutes later they opened it.

The pool by the spa was never reopened.

The pool and hot tub on deck 17 were never reopened after Tuesday.

Had they done similar to what Royal Caribbean did for the Explorer - which was 50% of cruise refund (which was over the top and not expected by Caribbean Princess passengers) and 50% of the cruise fare paid as a credit for the next cruise -Princess would have had LOYAL customers for life. I know I am LOYAL to RCI/Celebrity because of how I've been treated before (we only went on 6 Previous Princess cruises because of itinerary/family reasons).

I don't think that Princess needed to match RCI, but the fact that they always want to CHEAP OUT makes them suck. If they were smart - they would have MATCHED RCI. I think people expected more than 1/7 cruise fare since we missed a port - since that was pretty much the port most passengers wanted and took the cruise for. Also, we also missed a whole day because there were no activities. They should have offered 30% and 30% on a future cruise.

Anyway, the ROTTEN treatment pretty much alienated a bunch of us. While I'm just platinum on Princess, my parents are Elite and are now switching to Celebrity. We are higher levels already on Royal Caribbean and Celebrity so I don't care - I just wanted to add that so that anyone reading this knows that I have been on more than 1 cruise.

I think one of the main points of contention here is that some people (the group of which I fall in) would rather deal with known weather issues that cause delays or issues in changing flights and getting home while others would prefer to have their trip cut short on a possibility of weather issues because they can be guaranteed of getting home on time.

 

Because there are two groups here who have different philosophies on their travel arrangements and preferences, we will never see eye to eye on whether or not we believe the correct call was made. For those who don't believe that a weather prediction should influence the duration of the trip, we will feel lied to and like it was a dumb decision -- especially when the Norovirus was also on onboard and influencing the decision which was obvious to most of us even though it was never communicated as such thus adding to our frustration. For those who have no issues with a weather prediction causing a cruise to be cut short, they will see that the right call was made even though no fog appeared Friday night/Saturday morning and the trip could have gone as planned (had it not been for that Norovirus).

 

I will never believe that fog was the sole deciding factor in this decision. We might have skipped Belize because of it, but in the end we lost 36 hours because of Noro. And because it was so unbelievable that a trip would be cut short on a possibility, it rather overshadowed the last couple days (not to mention that rather rough storm that coated my balcony on Deck 8 in salty sea spray crystalline mix and laid out two members of our group with minor bouts of seasickness).

 

There were plenty of parts of this cruise that I did enjoy and I wouldn't even say that this was a Cruise from Hell, but of the five total cruises now that I have taken, this so far was the worst of the bunch.

 

And while I am sorry for those that couldn't sail on the ship last night, as of the weather forecast last Tuesday, they shouldn't have been able to sail out anyway, so their being stuck in port overnight really shouldn't come as a great surprise to them. I certainly hope that they don't get another fog prediction on Tuesday and have to come back early. That would mean they would only get one port at best. I should be thankful for the two that I did get. At least they were lovely.

I want to repost this because I believe pretty much the same way. Our cruise wasn't cut short 1 day but at least 2-days. I understand the problems with port of Galveston and now Houston and as a coast-guard licensed boat captain I understand the implications. However, there is no (little? I can't think of any reason) to predict this 4 days in advance. If it were me, I would use this as an excuse.

We heard from everyone - EVEN THE CUSTOMS OFFICIALS that we came in because of Noro. We also heard Belize would not allow us into port. We know there are a lot of rumors so know one will ever be able to agree as to what really happened. We all know as a fact that this ship has had Noro for at least the last three sailing. My parents best friends also sailed out LATE a couple of week ago due to sanitation. Also, when the CDC commented, they were not sure that it would be ready by sailaway yesterday - which could also explain the delayed departure. Anyway, all that aside- whether fog or virus, they are both issues in the winter and we'll never know.

I personally won't cruise on Princess in the Caribbean again because I really just don't like their product. I tried it last year and thought it was OK but this year was poor even before the disaster. I'll stick with Celebrity or Royal Caribbean. I WILL cruise on Princess on their "Exotics" where I'm basically using them as a hotel.

The bottom line though - they treated us poorly on this cruise and I recall when we were booked on a 9/15/01 cruise on Royal Caribbean without insurance. They let us rebook the next week without charge and Princess/Carnival did not. I am LOYAL to cruise lines that treat people well even when they do not have to via terms of contract. There were only certain reasons we were going on another princess cruise this year...

My husband and I have stayed at the Marriott twice and loved it both times. At the time we smoked and were allowed to smoke on the balcony. However, smoking is no longer allowed on the balcony. (We've since quit but I know how frustrating it is as a smoker to not be able to smoke.) We're actually going to be staying at the Marriott again this November for 3-nights after a week on Vieques Island.

We love this resort and the location. It's not terribly expensive to take a taxi to OSJ. As previously posted, there are a lot of restaurants, coffee shops, convenience and liquor stores right next to the Marriott.

Both times we've stayed before were in November and December before cruises and the beach was red flagged.

I also have to admit - I started bringing Ziplocs around 1997 to take "room service" sandwiches on tours. OK, I do admit to that one. The reason is i don't like "cevice" and I can't know how they sanitize stuff.

Heather

Not because the economy is "weak" or gas prices have "skyrocketed" - most of which has been conjured up by the left-wing media - but we tend to cruise on the cheap. We search for off-season or repositioning cruises and then set our sights on a balcony stateroom with the cruise fare saved. We book the next cruise while on-board the current cruise for an OBC, use our C&A benefits for a discount, and use our RCCL stockholder benefits for an additonal OBC. When we have enough RCCL Visa card points accumulated, we cash them in for another OBC. Then, while on-board:

 

We don't buy the over-priced weak drinks in the smokey bars - but once in a while we'll order the drink of the day - or two - before the show.

 

We do not buy the art at the auctions - but do sign up and drink the free champaigne.

 

We don't buy a soda card - but do drink coffee, tea, and juices for free and even make our own "Cafe' Diablo" using their hot cocoa mix, coffee, and creamer.

 

We don't buy a wine package - but do use our C&A coupon for a free wine tasting.

 

We don't use any spa "treatments" but do occasionally sign up for a free lecture/sales pitch.

 

We don't use the laundry service - but do wash out our own quick-dry travel clothing in our cabin.

 

We don't use the high priced/low speed internet service on-board - but do use our own mobile web service when in port and cell phone service is available.

 

We seldom use specialty dining - but do order room service dinners or breakfasts and eat on our balcony where it is much quieter.

 

We DO try to book an excursion or two on-board so that it'll be charged to our sea pass - the one already front loaded with a bunch of OBCs.

 

The result? Most cruises we have a very small balance on our sea pass at the end of the cruise, and sometimes even have a credit.

 

Are you a tightwad cruiser too? If so, what do you do

If you are a stockholder, as I USED TO BE (since you talked about the stakeholder on-board credit), and you have ever bothered to look through the earnings report than you know that RCI is not in the business of selling cruises but rather in the business of selling drinks (water, soda, alcohol and now juice), gambling, shore tours, "crap" at the ports, spa treatments, cookbooks, photos, etc. They cannot make a profit from the cruise fare alone. That being said, I was so annoyed with the policies of even refusing people to bring a reasonable amount of water on-board that I sold my 100 minimum shares last Fall.

So - now I just bring a loose Britta water filter and drop it into an empty container I bring or the silver water one they let you use. I also bring my ego water mugs. A company like RCI that is "blue/green" cannot deny those.

Since I cannot have caffeine but like soda I bring my soda stream (OK just kidding - I DO buy the soda package but am annoyed with it since I like Diet Coke but really need the Caffeine free version. I'm leaving on a cruise Sunday and am considering this).

Wine Package - well worth the $ if you like wine like me. I will always buy this.

Spa treatments - the $20-30 massages for 30+ minutes on the islands do the trick for me - I'll never book on the ship.

I also wash my clothes in the cabin if necessary. Most ships have coin-opp laundry now though - I've only done that on 14-night cruises.

My last text message in port was $0.50. The last photo I uploaded to Facebook cost me nearly $10. I think the ship prices are fine unless I want to waste time at port to use an internet cafe.

Anyway- the real "tightwad' cruisers are Not me or you - they are people that book interior cabins during sales, don't drink alcohol, don't gamble, and don't take tours.

Thanks everyone for the information as well. I've snorkeled at St John four times (twice to Trunk Bay) and always been too chicken to do it myself because I've been worried about the schedule. I'm going on the Oasis on October 9th and I think we'll wing it this time ourselves, the main reason for doing so is that we can spend more time at Trunk Bay.

ALL cruise ships and most people do not mind. I used to work for an on-line cruise mag and I personally know Anne Campbell, the founder of Cruise Critic. I can pesonally state that this is a non-issue. I only stumbled onto your link looking for mine. (I am 35 yr old married whittie that has been on 18 cruises since 1995 split between Celebrity, Princess, Royal caribbean and carnival).

Don't bother paying extra for whatever (I don't know what it is). Most cruise lines have separate meet and mingle times.

Have a grood cruise,

heather