wazsal

Hi chrisutpg,

We have just booked a 10 day South Pacific cruise on the Carnival Spirit Sydney to Sydney March 14th to 24th 2016. Not sure if that is the cruise your thinking of booking, we did the same cruise on this ship in April this year and it was great value.

To the best of my knowledge at the moment there is no alcohol package available on Spirit only a soft drink package, which can be purchased on board. Best of luck, I hope this helped.:)

Thanks very much Wazsal for your support i have rang them and spoke to someone but the answer i recieved was the lady that i needed to talk to was in a meeting i even asked for her by name they did get the idea that i was very unhappy with there settlement and Princess Sydney have not rang me back so i will start again on Monday and see if i can get someone to at least respond to my enquiry very poor PR on there part that was 18 days ago!!

Don't bother calling on Monday, it's a long weekend over here. Hang in there my friend remember it's the squeakiest door that gets the most oil !!

Thankyou wazsal for the very informative info still havent heard a word from Princess spoke to my TA who spoke to the her Rep at Princess and she was following it up and going to talk to the lady that was handling our case and she would contact me in 2 days as usual have not heard anything!!!! Very disappointed with Princess i have a group of 8 on a Jan Cruise with them to NZ and a group of 10 in a July cruise in Europe obviously they only want our money VERY VERY VERY DISAPPOINTED

Sorry if I sound a little pushy but I get really p’d off when ever I hear of good people like yourself getting stuffed about like you are. I guess it’s not a totally bad idea to have your TA represent your claim to Princess, but you are relying on a third person and what if anything they may or may not discuss on your behalf, I strongly recommend you contact Princess Cruises directly, first by phone to establish a contact by name and follow it up in writing via email.

From what I have read on this forum and from my own personal experience, it would appear that most if not every other passenger has come to a fair and reasonable arrangement with Princess on their compensation claim. We have had our cruise fare fully refunded via our TA, we have been credited to the same value of the cancelled cruise for a future cruise ( a free cruise ) plus a fair cash settlement via a cheque for our out of pocket losses. The amount agreed on and paid by Princess in regards to our out of pocket losses included one nights accommodation in Sydney and evening meals pre flight to Singapore, Sydney airport car parking, one nights accommodation and meals in Singapore, taxi fair from Singapore hotel to cruise terminal and we meet half way on the cost of our business class air fare to Singapore. They also paid for our economy class air fare back to Sydney from Singapore.

Our experience in dealing with Princess Cruises in regards to this matter was that it was handled in a respectful and professional way by the staff in their Sydney office, we appreciated their situation and genuine desire to come to a fair agreement and in that spirit we compromised a little and a quick result was achieved. Having said that I was extremely pro-active and assertive in my arguing my case. Again I strongly suggest you do the same, contact Princess Cruises Sydney office personally, don’t be put off be assertive, but polite and be willing to compromise a little.

If you need more help or information in regards to my experience in this matter just ask and I’ll post my personal email details and we can talk directly off forum. All the best.

Still no reply from princess am very disappointed with them even if they think that we do not deserve a refund a reply would be appreciated .We fly business class due to my husband health went to Singapore by Business Class was told ok to come home Business Class they would reimburse us, booked our own flights with there knowledge after waiting for three days for a flight organized by them, upon recieving there flight found it was the night before no one told us !!!!! Booked our flights at the pursers office on there phone to my travel agent ,waited on hold to recieve a comfirmed flight on there computer which they printed and handed to me and now know one wants to talk to me!!! Not good enough Princess!!! anyone else having trouble??

For medical reasons my wife can’t fly economy class either due to the cramped and restricted seating, there for we have to fly business class, we except that, and willing pay accordantly. When the cruise was cancelled and it became apparent that we’ll have to fly back to Sydney from Singapore, I rang Princess Cruise's Sydney office and explained our need to fly Business class and was told that they would make sure we’d be sent home in the same class as we’d arrived and at their expense. I was also given the same assurance by two other Princess staff members on site in Singapore that afternoon. It never happened we were forced by Princess to fly home economy class. So much for the three separate assurance’s given to us, at the time we put it down to just another stuff up happening in Singapore that day. We were just happy to be going home that night and took the risk.

After returning home and first contacting Princess Cruises by phone about our claim for out of pocket expense’s, we were assured that all reasonable losses would be covered and to submit our claim. We emailed in our claim attaching proof of expenses and a letter explaining the reasons for us having to fly business class, and how due to flight availability we had no choice but to arrive in Singapore three days prior to sailing. I believe in being strongly pro-active in such situations and as such only waited a few days before I contacted Princess by phone and emails to follow up our claim.

At first Princess response was that we’d only be re-embussed for economy class flight and one nights accommodation in Singapore. Although it was never a condition of our settlement that I not reveal the final agreed compensation, I can assure you it was a lot better than first offered. We never got all of our out of pocket expenses re-embussed, but I did negotiate a much fairer and reasonable settlement then was first offered, one which I could live with.

My advice to you would be that you become very pro-active in dealing with Princess Cruises and not just take no for an answer. If you still can’t get a reasonable and fair offer of settlement of your claim, then contact Fair Trading or what ever the relevant government consumer protection department is in your state. This cruise and Princess Cruises in this instance are bound by the Australian consumer laws and as such so are your consumer rights. Good luck and let us know how you go.

The cheque for our out of pocket losses arrived today from Princess Cruises. This now completes our compensation agreement with Princess and we can move forward and put the whole unfortunate event behind us.

A big thank you from us to all those CC members who shared their stories and advice in this forum. We wish you all the very best and happy cruising.

Cheers Wazza & Sal.

Good to see others are getting their compensation claims settled in a fair and timely manner.

Like others posting in this forum we, in excepting the compensation offer from Princess fell short of our true out of pocket losses. In our case almost by a couple of thousand dollars, due to circumstances I’ve posted earlier. After taking into consideration the genuine efforts we believed that Princess were endeavouring to make to be fair, we figured that it was better to settle in a quick and congenial manner, rather than get into a prolonged disagreement. Although we do believe that some of their rational was a little short sighted.

Still the whole matter has left us a little unsettled. It has brought to our attention just how vulnerable you really are when you find yourself a long way from home, when an event such as this happens. It really does puts you at the mercy of others, and their ability or their lack of ability to make things as painless as possible. Lets hope that Princess has learnt from this experience and if there is a next time, they have listened to all our comments and act accordantly.

By the way, been just on three weeks since that two week compensation cheque was sent, still not arrived. Well there’s always tomorrow's mail !!

Well the good news is Princess Cruises has refunded our cancelled cruise fairs, and we have just booked another cruise with Princess, using the free cruise credit given as part of the compensation offer. We have chosen a 10 day Australian cruise, sailing on the 11th November this year out of Sydney. Would you believe it ... wait for it, on the Sun Princess, just hope it sails this time.

After being stuck in Singapore last time due to the cancellation, and all the stress of that event, we figured if things go pear shape with the cruise this time in Sydney, we’ll just get back in the car and drive home. Won't have to rely on any help team !!

Still waiting for the out of pocket expenses compensation cheque to arrive, it’s been sent so we should have it soon. Cheers everyone and thanks for all your feed back, it’s been great hearing from you all.

Surely, if Princess was on the ball, the flight should have been full, under the circumstances, or weren't many people flying where you were flying?

The best way for me to answer your question is for me to tell the cause of events for that evening as I witness it.

After many hours huddled in the “passenger warehouse” under the Marina Bay Hotel without a lot, if any useful information being given out, as to when or how we were to be accommodated that night, or when or if any flights home had been arranged. Eventually about 9 to 9.30 pm or there about the gentleman who appeared to be in charge came on the P.A. system to explain that some flights had been arranged for that evening.

He then went on to explained that a Qantas flight to Sydney via Melbourne for about 84 passengers had been secured, he proceeded to call out the names of those passengers. After which he announced there were other flights arranged for more passengers but smaller groups with a mix of airlines. All the names were announced, passengers named made their way as directed to be transported to the airport, while the rest of us continued to wait instructions as to our fate.

About 10 or 10.30 pm a Singaporean gentleman came on the P.A. and announced that with the consent of Princess Cruises, SATS ( Singapore Airport Terminal Services ) had arranged for 100 seats to be made available on a Qantas direct flight to Sydney leaving about 11.30 pm. We along with about 18 other passengers made our way over to the SATS gentleman to take advantage of the offer. Within about 30 minutes three mini busses arrived to rush us to the airport.

As we were loading our luggage and self into the mini busses, the Princess team had started to organise passengers into groups to go to hotels for the night. We wondered why only about 20 passengers had taken up SATS offer. We could only guess by this time at night and after 8 or 9 hours of sitting around in uncomfortable conditions, that most people only wanted to have a shower and go to bed. The prospect of another hour at Singapore airport and a 9 hour flight to Sydney, plus then on arrival in Sydney having to arrange either a connecting flight, or transport to their homes was all too much by now.

Now this is when it all got a little strange, when we arrived at Singapore Airport a SATS team helped us with our luggage to the Qantas check-in desk. Unbelievably Qantas check-in staff knew nothing about any arrangement for our flight, after much discussion between us fellow passengers and staff at the airport, it was reported that the earlier group of passengers, the lucky 84 due to bad organisation by the Princess team had arrived too late for the Sydney via Melbourne flight, which had left with a lot of empty seats, and our seats on the Qantas direct to Sydney flight had been given to those earlier 84 passengers.

After about half an hour or so of standing around at the Qantas check-in desk area, which by now had closed and the staff were leaving work for the night, a SATS representative came over to us to say that Princess had now made arrangements for us to fly out the next night instead, and we were to make our way back to the ship, where we could spend the night. Now remember a lot of the passengers who Princess had boarded that afternoon for accommodation that night only had been put back off the ship and sent to the “Passenger Warehouse” about 8 pm due to toilets and showers etc. not working as well as many of the other amenities on board.

By this time we’d all had enough with the lack of any organisation or real care for the passengers by the so called “ Help Team “ Most of us had been up and out of our respective hotels since 10 am that morning, standing around the cruise terminal for hours, until at 1.30 pm when the cancellation news was made. Then we’d been stuck in the Warehouse for hours. We were hungry and tied, we all just wanted to go home. Any thought of making our way to the ship at 11.30 pm and most likely being told “ You can’t come on board, there are no working facilities, go away “ was all too much.

Seeing our predicament a SATS team lead by Mr Tan Chuan Lye, the company’s President & CEO came to our rescue, contacted Princess to get an agreement of payment to Singapore Airlines for us all on a scheduled flight that night direct to Sydney.

Now if the information I know to be true, and the information I was told by others there to be true, that the Qantas flight to Sydney via Melbourne left that night without the 84 cruise passengers who Princess had gotten to airport too late, and who in turn had taken our seats, left with at least 84 empty seats. Then the Singapore Airlines flight direct to Sydney that we travelled home on, in our section alone had about 40 plus empty seats plus others throughout the plane. You have to ask the question, how could Princess Cruises who were well aware of the cancellation by about midday, with all it’s contacts within the airline industry, not of know about the available of these seats, how could they not of organise the booking of these seats on both the two Qantas and Singapore flights to Sydney that night within a few hours of the cancellation.

If this event had been more professionally handled, so many more passengers could of been on flights home that night and been able to relax that evening in the knowledge of their fate.

I think that is the right attitude to have and I'm glad you are looking forward to another cruise (based on another one of your posts).

 

You don't have to answer this if you don't want to, but did they at least fly you home business class (since that was what you had originally purchased)?

NO, despite being assured by Princess staff both over the phone when I rang the Sydney office from the cruise terminal in Singapore, and by at least two other Princess representatives at the time on the spot, during the whole post cruise cancellation mess that afternoon / evening.

When we arrived at Singapore Airport late that night there was no record of our bookings for flights back to Sydney with Qantas as promised by Princess staff back at the “ Passenger Warehouse “ and if it wasn't’ for the SATS team at the airport who organised a flight for us with Singapore Airlines that night, we would of been stranded at the airport until late the next night.

Unfortunately SATS was only able to secure economy class seats for us, as they weren’t able to get confirmation from Princess for the authorisation of business class seats as promised. I’m putting it down to just being another part of the total lack of any real organisation that night. I guess they had a lot more pressing things on their minds. Lucky the flight was not full and we were able grab the four centre seats and stretch out.

I'm here! I just submitted our compensation claim today, and got the standard "acknowledgement of receipt and will be processed in 30 days" response. I'll post back when we get a personalised reply and let you know of our satisfaction (or otherwise!)

 

Cheers

Megan

Good luck, although we didn’t get all that I believe we should of in a perfect world, we did get a fair and reasonable result. It wasn’t without me standing my ground and in the end willing to be realistic, just remember Princess was at fault not you.

Having said that I do believe from my experience in dealing with Princess on this matter that with the right attitude and a willingness to appreciate Princess Cruises situation, you should get a fair out come. I do honestly believe that Princess wants to do the right thing by all the passengers, everyone's situation is different and from what I’ve experienced and what others have told me Princess is willing to come to an arrangement that is fair to both parties.

Are there any other Sun Princess passengers effected by the cancellation here in the forum. If so please let us know how your claim for compensation is going, has anyone else had a result yet. Are you happy with how your been treated. If your not happy take my advice and get pro-active, as they say the squeaky door gets the most oil. I’d be most interested in knowing if passengers from different countries are treated differently.

Marvelous that your situation is resolved in an expeditious manner. Of course, for you and anyone else on that "non cruise", it probably seemed a decision from Princess came at a snails pace!! I thought all along Princess would want a sealed settlement and request the amount and terms not be disclosed. But I am so happy that you feel it was just and that you plan to cruise again. Wishing you and Sally fair winds and following seas!!

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

To be fair, Princess Cruises did not at any time require me not to disclose details of our settlement. I believe it to be just good old fashion manners not to reveal such details. Thank you for your good wishes and we wish you the same.

As most of you would know, I have been very critical of the way in which the post cancellation of the Sun Princess cruise had been handled at the time in Singapore. I can now appreciate the difficulties faced on that day by Princess and how we can all be wiser in hind sight. After many discussions on this matter with staff from the Princess Cruises, I’m confident that a lot has been learnt from this event.

At first Sally and I had real concerns that our pre cruise expenses would not be treated fairly and we’d be denied just and reasonable compensation, for our out of pocket losses due to the cancellation.

We have now come to an arrangement with Princess Cruises on a compensation deal. I can only tell you that we weren’t able to secure full reimbursement for all our losses but in the spirit of co-operation between both parties I believe that Princess Cruises have been reasonable and fair.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the members of the Princess Cruises Sydney office team, for the professional and courteous way in which they treated us throughout the last two weeks. This has reinstated our faith in the company, we are now looking forward to sailing with Princess in the not too distance future.

Thank you also to all the support and advice given to us through this forum by the members.

It does concern me that Princess Cruises can identify CC members, if that has happened. No wonder I never got an upgrade in 18 cruises.

 

But back to the subject, personally I think Princess was a bit slow off the mark with their action plan right after the cancellation, but in hindsight now, it has handled the repatriation/actual cruise compensation reasonably well.

 

Good luck with compo for flights/precruise expenses. I lost a lot of money on those things when a Costa Atlantica, Fort Lauderdale to Quebec cruise I booked on was cancelled due to rescheduling, some 4 years ago. Money back on cruise from Costa but nothing for airfares/hotels, which amounted to some $5000. The travel insurance company would not pay up for 'rescheduling.' Sounds like the same scenario with Sun Princess. And of course Carnival is the parent company of Costa AND Princess.

 

Of course us Aussies do not have access to the Princess Cruise Insurance which many Americans take, it covers just about everything. The mass Princess Market - the North Americans, would not cop this treatment.

The big difference between your Costa Atlantica, Fort Lauderdale to Quebec cruise and the Sun Princess cruise is that the Sun Princes cruise comes under Australian law, N.S.W. law and all the consumer protection under that law. This is confirmed in the Sun Princess cruise terms and conditions.

Love 2 cruise, with all due respect mate,

You have no idea of when we booked the cruise. The limited window of opportunity we had time wise for us to secure the level of seating with our preferred carrier, and not just some cheap budget airline. What if any were our flight options as far as arriving any closer or not to the cruise departure date.

These were our choices, and we happily paid for these choices, if the cruise wasn’t cancelled we’d be happy. Please remember there would not be a problem if the ship had sailed. Our limited choice of airline and seating availability caused us to have three nights accommodation in Singapore, this was unavoidable. Believe me we would much rather of only spent the one night in Singapore.

We have been to Singapore on four other occasions, three of which were short transit stop overs, the forth a week in Singapore on the way home from the U.K. And yes due to having three days to kill while waiting for the cruise, we did find things to do to fill in the time, and yes one of which was to visit the Singapore Zoo, a Zoo that is based on our own Taronga Park Zoo in Sydney but a lot smaller. Taronga Park Zoo we have visited many times, so going to Singapore Zoo was no big deal, just a time filler. By the way we have not requested nor would we expect Princess to compensate us in part or whole for the cost of these activities, these were our choice and as such our responsibility.

As far as Princess re-embussing us for the business class airflight, this has not as yet been confirmed my friend, this may still turn out to be a battle. And are you saying one nights accommodation pre-cruise is ok and more is not, regardless of the cost of that accommodation. If a passenger had stayed in a $1200 per night hotel is that ok and it would be fair to expect Princess to pay the $1200 and not fair as in our case for Princess to pay for three nights in a $280 per night hotel, even when having to stay three nights was unavoidable.

Your question" “ Where does it end “ well in my humble opinion it ends when people, in this case Sun Princess passengers are fairly compensated for their financial losses due to no fault of their own. I welcome your opinion, I just don’t agree with it. Now I have a question for you, would you still think the same if you were in my shoes ??

Perth Pollyanna thanks for your concern, can’t say I felt “ Bullied “ I really do believe she only wanted to put forward Princess Cruises side of the event and to discuss my postings, and not to try and intimidate me in anyway. Allowing anyone to bully me would never be an option.

Unfortunately I didn’t really give her the opportunity to say a lot . I got right into my views on the whole event, especially what I would expect to be a fair and reasonable compensation for any passenger, that being full financial re-imbursement for all losses sustained wholly due to the cruise cancellation.

I’m sure Princess Cruises will do the right thing and I do believe that Princess is a good company who do value their passengers, and as such will be fair.

I would welcome and appreciate any comments from Princess Cruises or Carnival in this forum regarding the matters being raised, come on give us your side of the story.

I received a phone call today from a very delightful and courteous lady from Princess Cruises in regards to my postings on this Cruise Critic forum.

Strange I thought at first, how did Princess Cruises identify who I am, obtain my name and my phone number. Was this just good detective work, is there a tell all relationship between the cruise company and Cruise Critic. There I was thinking the reason we are required to have a user name was to protect our identity. Not that I have anything to hide or that I’ve been slandering Princess Cruisers, Carnival or anyone, personally or otherwise in my postings. But still you have to wonder.

I’ve only been telling it as it was, I’ve been fair and honest and if your been following the forum you would of read simular testimony to the situation on that day and evening. Postings from other passengers who were there have voiced their agreement with my statements of events that day, so why the phone call ?

I did ask the caller how she was able to identify me from Cruise Critic and get my personal details, such as my full name and phone number, alas she wasn’t able to tell me, she wasn’t too sure herself, so she claimed. Not wanting to embarrass her I let the question drop.

I’m still not really sure what was the reason for her call, she did start to inform me how sorry Princess Cruises were for the cancellation, and how difficult and stressful it was for all the Princess people that day, be they in Singapore, the Sydney office or their United States office. How hard and long they'd work to assist the stranded passengers. At which time I thought to my self, you should of been one of the passengers that day, not knowing what was going to happen or when, then you’d know all about stress.

With all due respect to the caller, I guess she was only wanting to reassure me that Princess Cruises were genuinely sorry about the sudden cancellation of the cruise and any inconvenience or stress it had caused. I did get a bit wound up when telling her all about the whole miss-management on the day, how there was no apparent plan in place for such an event. I went on to tell her that any reasonable person would of thought that a company the size of Carnival and their subsidiaries would of had a protocol in place for such an event. Maybe they do, but someone just forgot to tell their help team the plan. It was disgraceful how the elderly, people with special needs and the families with young children were not prioritised and the lack of ongoing and useful communication.

She did then inform me that they had received many, yes she did say many, passengers had contacting them to praise the way things were handled that day... please I thought name me three !! There I go again thinking that’s just the company’s spin. Then I could be wrong.

The conversation then turned to the Princess Cruises plan for compensation to passengers for out of pocket losses due to the cancellation. I was a little gob smacked when she indicated that the company thought the refund of airfare to Singapore and one nights pre-cruise accommodation was fair. When I challenged the one nights accommodation as being fair and reasonable I was told that if passengers had spent longer than one night in Singapore prior to the cruise departure date, we should view it as a holiday in it’s self.

Now as nice a place that Singapore is, it’s not a destination that we would of chosen for a mini or any other kind of holiday, to us Singapore is only ever a stop over on the way to somewhere. The caller did suggest we most likely did a little sightseeing while there during the three days prior to the sailing date, and as such we’d had a mini holiday... rubbish, Yes we did take a ride in the Singapore Flyer, rode the cable car out to Sentosa Island, visited the Singapore Zoo and take a short walk along part of Orchard Road. These were only ever distractions at best to fill in the time while waiting for the cruise. We found it far too humid and uncomfortable to be whizzing around, and spent most of our time in the comfort of the air-conditioning of our hotel room.

We only went to Singapore to board the Sun Princess, we had to stay for three nights due to airflight availability, we flew business class only because my wife suffers from Deep Vein Thrombosis and has been strongly advised by her doctor on long haul flights not to travel economy class due to the cramped and restrictive seating. We were happy to pay for the three nights accommodation in a moderately priced hotel and business class seats, only because we’d booked this cruise not to visit Singapore. If the ship had sailed we’d been happy, but it didn’t.

Look I’m sure that Princess Cruises do want to do the right thing, I’m also sure they are a good honest company with only our best interest in mind. Things like the cruise cancellation can happen, I get that, but please Princess or Carnival who ever, just compensate us passengers for our losses and move on. Sally and I are reasonable people, we’d personally be happy to except cruise credit instead of cash to offset our pre-cruise financial losses if that helps, cash would also be ok, your call Carnival. Can’t be any fairer than that, as I’ve said before we aren’t out to get something for nothing, just don’t want to have blown our money on an un-necessary airflight and accommodation.

Wonder if I’ll get another phone call ???

Hope you have a safe and enjoyable trip home Bazandgiz.

Please keep us all informed through this forum as to how your claim goes as we will be doing. Not out to cause trouble, just want what’s fair and just, we live in hope !!

Regardless of any printed, or verbal disclaimer that may be stated in regards to or on any sales docket or entry ticket to an event or service in Australia, not sure about other countries, a person’s common law rights can not be signed away or dismissed just by the purchasing of a service, regardless of it being stated that you agree to their term and conditions by the purchase of a service or ticket to an event etc.

There are good strong, fair and just consumer laws in Australia to rely on in the event of an unjust action by a service provider in the event of injury or reasonable financial loss suffered by a consumer due to the actions of such a provider. Now I’m no Lawyer and Princess is yet to reply to my claim for compensation, so lets see how this all goes before we get too carried away.

Still lets keep the opinions coming in. Thank you.

I guess we are all hanging by our fingernails waiting to see if Princess Cruises will do the right thing by us. Lets hope they do, this is not a one sided fight, we do have rights, and when the going gets tough, as they say the tough get going. I care more about fairness than the money.

I for one won’t just roll over and take anything less than reasonable and just compensation for ALL our financial losses. To be fair and reasonable if push comes to shove I’m prepared to except part or whole full compensation of our losses either in cash or kind.

Happy to have the full amount of our loss as a credit against another cruise. Which we may or may not ever take, at the moment we don’t feel like cruising. I’ll keep you all informed as to what they say, when they get around to saying anything !!

Hi Kas&Mike,

So glad we all got home safe. Yes it was a real bum fight, we also were very happy to be out of there that night. No real thanks to the so called Princess Help Team, thank God for the SATS team at the airport especially Mr Tan Chuan Lye, the SATS President & CEO who arranged for us all to get on the Singapore Airlines flight out that night and who also gave us access to the business lounge so we could shower and get something to eat,

I see your from Kings Park, small world Sal & I before moving down the coast about 24 years ago lived at Kings Langley. My daughter lives at Kings Park in Madagascar Drive.

Please keep in touch either through this forum or if you prefer via our personnel email, which if want I’ll post on the forum. I’m very interested to hear from yourself or any other passenger as to how their claims for compensation is going, if we keep united in this matter we’ll get the best result.

Sorry to keep banging on about this event, believe me I don’t take a whole lot of enjoyment from the affair, but I strongly feel a need to air my real concerns in regards to the need for a fair and equable out come for everyone, including the cruise company.

Until Princess Cruises finishers processing all the claims for compensation we really shouldn't prejudge them, but from some of the comments being made in this forum, by fellow passengers in regards to their statements of information that Princess won’t be compensating passengers for travelling to and pre-cruise accommodation in Singapore prior to the cancellation, unless purchased as part of a package for the cruise through Princess worries me greatly.

I’ve clearly stated already in my earlier postings that the expense of travelling to Singapore, and any pre-cruise accommodation is by any measure part of the financial lose suffered by all passengers. Not only that of passengers who may of purchased a said package deal through Princess Cruises.

Be it that you travelled by economy, business or first class, be it that you stayed one, two or three nights in a budget or top of the line hotel pre-cruise, the loss is real and down to the cancellation of the cruise. The cancellation which lies solely at the feet of Princess Cruises. I do how ever hold out faith that Princess will behave in a responsible manner, be a good corporate citizen and do the right thing and not try the David and goliath approach, me big you small.

I believe that this cruise due to the ship being based in Australia would come under Australian consumer laws, and as such any dispute can be adjudicated on by the Department of Fair Trading. Then there is the option of a class action and the bad publicity that such an action would attract. But we are getting ahead of our self, lets wait and see what offers of compensation Princess Cruises make in this matter. Still please keep posting your options and any news or advice you may have in these matters.

There is no such thing as one size fits all compensation, each compensation package should take into consideration the individual circumstance. Say two passengers on the same cruise, for the sake of my point, both booked the same level of passage, not that that should really matter. Passenger 1 has come on board with two very expensive suite cases filled with very expensive tailored made clothing. Passenger 2 one cheap bag with a few K-Mart shirts & shorts

Both lots of luggage are lost by the cruise company and the passengers seek compensation for the loss. Should they both get the same financial pay out, both get the lower value amount of passenger’s 2 luggage because passenger 1 really had no need for such expensive and extensive luggage ????

Well to me that’s my point, If a passenger chooses to take what they take and if through no fault of their own the cruise company looses their luggage, then shouldn't they both be entitled to be compensated for their loss and not just the lowest common denominator amount. After all if the cruise company hadn’t lost the luggage then there would not of been a problem. Well the same with my travel expenses to enable me to be in Singapore in time to board the ship taken into account flight availability etc.

We booked into a less then $300 a night hotel, total cost less then $900. So if we’d booked into a $1200 a night hotel for only one night it’s ok to pay the $1200 one night and not the $800 plus three night hotel ????

Lets be real here, no one is trying to make a profit on this event, only want to be compensated what has been lost. If that was economy class airfares, one night accommodation in a cheap hotel then that’s all I’d want.

I do understand that Princess or any other such travel provider can’t just have an open cheque book policy for this kind of event. They should judge each claim on the individual merit of the claim, in our case we acquired the closest flight available with business class seats to the departure date of the cruise without leaving our self too finer timing such as the day of sailing, that would be stupid, flights can be delayed, cancelled etc. Yes we did choose to fly business class and paid accordantly this was our choice and if not for the cancellation we’d been fine with that.

As far as why business, well my wife is subject to the development of Deep Vein Thrombosis ( DVT ) she has had three such events to date and under strict medical advice to not travel economy class on long haul flights due to the restrictive cramped seating. We have been to Singapore before and the only reason for the trip was to join the cruise, why three nights, well had no choice all to do with the flight availability to cruise departure. As I said each case should be judged on it’s merit, we are happy to forgo the freebee being offered by Princess as a trade off for full compensation, how much fairer can we be.

Still it’s too early to judge Princess we have just lodged of claim. lets see how it goes.

Ok guys thanks for the feed back, I now accept that the ” move over “ offers are the norm, over booking a cruise to me seems a little odd, but what do I know, I’m only a passenger. Yes I can understand Princess taking an each way bet regarding if the ship would sail or not, and put in place some contingency plans. Guess I’m a little paranoid when it comes big business spin.

Can I now please get some feed back as to your opinion on our chances of being fully compensated for the cost of travelling to the cruise starting point, Sydney to Singapore, accommodation and meals etc. Have any of you had a simular experience or know of any. I really do appreciate all the info I’m get back from you all. Thanks.

It’s not that we are wanting anything for free, just don’t want to be out of pocket through no fault of our own. Two business class seats Sydney to Singapore, three nights accommodation in Singapore, one nights accommodation in Sydney prior to flight, long term airport car parking, meals and taxi fares. All adds up, in our case over $7,000 not to be sneezed at. The cruise itself cost less, what would you want.

To be totally honest if push comes to shove we’d be happy forgoing the cruise of equal value credit offer and just get our full out of pocket expenses refunded. After this experience we're not too sure we want to another cruise, at least not in the near future.