Earthquake near Santiago Chile -- Princess Sailings and Passengers

[Tradewind40]

If you travel to an area where there are active earthquakes as is happening now (not after shocks) such as Chile why should anyone cover you for anything!!

 

I concur completely, as Princess Line's encouragement to the March 2 passengers to enter that danger zone against State Department advisory was unconscionable!

[Princess Chatterer]

My T.A. says "I reconfirmed with Princess that Princess Insurance does cover Princess airfare!"

[gertz]

I'm not so sure on this whole debacle any more. I posted to let this whole thing shake out before any judgement.

After reading VP Jan Schwartz's answers and statements I think, and I'll clean this saying up from my military days, Jan Schwartz and Princess "Crapped in their Flat Hat" and it will cost them more in the long run than if they would have taken care of paxs that were there and considered the cruise cancelled for the pax's not able to get there.

 

Time will tell. But think this is far from over. My best wishes to all of the people that did not make this cruise and to the ones that did make it.

[cherylandtk]

My T.A. says "I reconfirmed with Princess that Princess Insurance does cover Princess airfare!"

True, but only for a Covered Reason. Princess Insurance Covered Reasons do not include cancelling the cruise (with or w/out airfare) for a natural disaster at the destination. So the fallback is the Any Reason cruise credit, either 75% or 100%, but it is a credit not a refund or payment.

[captainron]

If you travel to an area where there are active earthquakes as is happening now (not after shocks) such as Chile why should anyone cover you for anything!!

 

That would mean you couldn't go anywhere in the world...not even California!!! ...and Arnold would not like that.

 

They just had a 2nd major quake in Chile reported on the news this am (NO...not an after shock a real quake) in the vicinity of 8.3 and farther north.

 

Ciao for now!!!

[greatam]

I really would like to know how many of the approx 1500 passengers who missed the cruise on the Star 3/2 sailing had Princess air/cruise package.

 

Princess and most all cruise lines book flights with USA carriers for their USA passengers. It was the USA carriers that shut down flights. LAN, AeroMexico, Avianca, TACA/Lasca and other non USA carriers were still flying. Some diverted to Mendoza and bussed their passengers to Santiago. Some landed in Antofagasta and also bussed their passengers to Santiago (13 hours). Some actually landed in Santiago, even though immigration was outside the airport building proper.

 

But with a cruise air ticket, those options WERE NOT available. The option to fly into Buenos Aires and bus (17 hours on a VERY comfortable sleeper bus) were also not available to cruise air passengers (due to the primarily non reroutable feature of cruise air tickets).

 

Princess did not handle communication well-that is a given. But I still believe way too many pax AND particularly TA's relied on Princess to tell them what to do. And Princess had no answers. The air/sea dept is VERY limited in what they can do in an airline glitch.

[kruisey]

Thank goodness they don't happen that frequently.

On the other hand when they do it catches everyone in the lurch.

With not that much practise at handling situations like this.

Feel very sorry for the peoples of Chile that have had their lives and homes wrecked having to live out on the street.

To the Captain and employees on Star Princess what a horrible position to be landed in.

All the passengers with the worries it has given them plus their ruined vacation plans

To Princess and all TAs involved in this 'Act of God' as it is called.I truly empathize with everyone

Maybe this is a lesson learned by the cruise Companies.

As after the fire on Star Princess rules where changed.

If a natural disaster happens again we should see rules changed for these happenings.

Poor Star Princess I bet she will will enjoy her retirement when it comes.;)

[FLACRUISER99]

They just had a 2nd major quake in Chile reported on the news this am (NO...not an after shock a real quake) in the vicinity of 8.3 and farther north.

 

Ciao for now!!!

What is your source?? All I see is a 6.6 aftershock!

[Ontario Cruiser]

I really would like to know how many of the approx 1500 passengers who missed the cruise on the Star 3/2 sailing had Princess air/cruise package.

 

Princess and most all cruise lines book flights with USA carriers for their USA passengers. It was the USA carriers that shut down flights. LAN, AeroMexico, Avianca, TACA/Lasca and other non USA carriers were still flying. Some diverted to Mendoza and bussed their passengers to Santiago. Some landed in Antofagasta and also bussed their passengers to Santiago (13 hours). Some actually landed in Santiago, even though immigration was outside the airport building proper.

 

But with a cruise air ticket, those options WERE NOT available. The option to fly into Buenos Aires and bus (17 hours on a VERY comfortable sleeper bus) were also not available to cruise air passengers (due to the primarily non reroutable feature of cruise air tickets).

 

Princess did not handle communication well-that is a given. But I still believe way too many pax AND particularly TA's relied on Princess to tell them what to do. And Princess had no answers. The air/sea dept is VERY limited in what they can do in an airline glitch.

Avianc was not flying.:mad:

Ontario Cruiser

[FLACRUISER99]

My source for quake info. http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/quakes_big.php

[kerrydee]

That would mean you couldn't go anywhere in the world...not even California!!! ...and Arnold would not like that.

 

They just had a 2nd major quake in Chile reported on the news this am (NO...not an after shock a real quake) in the vicinity of 8.3 and farther north.

 

Ciao for now!!!

 

it was 6.6

[Colo Cruiser]

That would mean you couldn't go anywhere in the world...not even California!!! ...and Arnold would not like that.

 

They just had a 2nd major quake in Chile reported on the news this am (NO...not an after shock a real quake) in the vicinity of 8.3 and farther north.

 

Ciao for now!!!

 

 

Cailfornias having 8.8 quakes??

[Sauvignon]

An advisory is all it was-"strongly urges" is the exact wording. You better limit your travel worldwide if you are going to depend on State Dept advisories. For REAL information worldwide not designed to cover all eventualities as State Dept advisories are, subscribe to Stratfor and Jane's. Pinpoint intelligence from ON THE GROUND operatives (not sitting in a fortified embassy looking out the window)

 

The State Dept also posts travel advisories for Iran, Dubai, Oman, Qatar and most of the Middle East. BUT Crystal cruises is sailing to these very areas March 2-15. Obviously, another cruise line COERCING passengers to enter a "danger zone".

http://www.crystalcruises.com/VoyageDetail.aspx?CID=0305&RK=WC

 

Well said.

[PattiCruising]

I can't understand (and am very suspicious of) the comments of Princess apologists in this thread. Here are the irrefutable facts: Princess is using as its excuse for keeping our cruise fees the fact that we could not get commercial flights or individually afford to charter Lear Jets to get us to a neighboring country in order to try somehow to arrange on our own alternative ground transportation to drive us for days to the site of the devastation, continuing aftershocks, looting and other civil unrest so we somehow could get on the ship. All of this despite the U.S. State Department's advisory not to show up at the airport in Santiago as tourists looking to be entertained in the midst of emergency relief efforts. Extra congrats to Princess for then successfully charging for those same cabins those passengers who could not leave the ship. What a marvelous score Princess. What you are witnessing folks is the direct result of Princess allowing its clueless lawyers to run its business - its PR functions in particular.

[DeerMe]

An advisory is all it was-"strongly urges" is the exact wording. You better limit your travel worldwide if you are going to depend on State Dept advisories.

 

I guess this is a lesson for all of us, I've been reading this posts and following links and researching information etc. I checked my travel policy purchased through my Credit Card Company and it says I am covered if "A travel advisory against non-essential travel is issued by the Canadian Governemnt for your ticketed destrination after You book Your trip." I called them because it neither includes or excludes an act of God. They told me they are handling some claims for the Chile disaster and they do cover natural disasters. I read the Princess policy and I did not see any inclusion of exclusions for acts of God other than up to $500 for trip delay caused by natural disasters including hurricanes. What made me laugh was the following response in their Q & A section. Time for all of us to read the fine print

 

 

Q: If my pet becomes ill and I have to cancel my trip as a result, will I be covered by my Princess Vacation Protection policy?

A: Although you would not qualify for cash reimbursement, as an added feature for purchasing Princess Vacation Protection, Princess will provide a credit toward a future cruise equal to 75% of the cancellation fees imposed (100% with the Platinum plan) if you choose to cancel for an uncovered reason.

[RaySR in NH]

PattiCruising left out another "irrefutable fact". In choosing this unethical course of action by not cancelling the cruise Princess realized a windfall profit. They are keeping the full fares of the 1800 people that could not get there and now do not have to feed or servive them, and are charging those people that continued from the previous cruise for the same cabins.

Hopefully Princess will yet come to their senses and fix this mess.:mad:

[greatam]

Avianc was not flying.:mad:

Ontario Cruiser

 

Avianca landed flight AV97 (BOG to SCL) in Mendoza about 4AM the 27th

 

Avianca landed flight AV97 in Antofagasta about 5AM on the 28th. They only fly into SCL from BOG 5 times per week. They canceled the Monday flight. The flight Thursday landed in SCL. No landing info yet this morning, but AV is accepting freight OUT of SCL for this evening. So I am just guessing there is a plane IN Santiago.

 

And this from an intra company AA database-March 3-Flight 9220-left DFW at 7:11AM (51 minutes late), arrived SANTIAGO at 7:21AM March 4

 

"I worked AA9220 lastnight. A mix of people, and still some going for a cruise. Are cruise ships still operating there???"

[greatam]

An interesting article about thinking "out of the box".

 

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/laplaza/2010/03/patrick-j-mcdonnell-chile-los-angeles-earthquake-reporters-airports-disasters-santiago-concepcion.html

[WeBeGone]

PattiCruising left out another "irrefutable fact". In choosing this unethical course of action by not cancelling the cruise Princess realized a windfall profit. They are keeping the full fares of the 1800 people that could not get there and now do not have to feed or servive them, and are charging those people that continued from the previous cruise for the same cabins.

Hopefully Princess will yet come to their senses and fix this mess.:mad:

 

I so agree with you. It's shameful.

 

In contrast, 2 weeks ago, the Celebrity Mercury had to leave Charleston one day late because they needed to clean the ship after a noro outbreak. Not only did Celebrity put everyone up in a hotel for free, and give them a $50 for food, anyone who wanted to cancel the cruise was granted a FULL REFUND plus a 15% discount on a future cruise.

 

Maybe Princess needs to take a clue from Celebrity.

[greatam]

PattiCruising left out another "irrefutable fact". In choosing this unethical course of action by not cancelling the cruise Princess realized a windfall profit. They are keeping the full fares of the 1800 people that could not get there and now do not have to feed or servive them, and are charging those people that continued from the previous cruise for the same cabins.

Hopefully Princess will yet come to their senses and fix this mess.:mad:

 

GOOD third party travel insurance is what will fix this mess. Were there that many people on this cruise that did not have travel insurance? With all the venting about Princess owing a free cruise or refund, I am guess there were. While the Princess policy leaves a lot to be desired, at worst it was a 75% cruise credit. And there ARE policies out there that will cover these circumstances.

 

I write this from Kuwait. I have gone over and over my travel policies as I travel to the Middle East and the war zones for business. Yes, they cover when there is a "travel advisory" from the State Dept. Almost ALL countries have some kind of travel advisory from the US State Dept-theft, terrorism, safety, etc. etc. Just pick a country and look at the State Dept website. It is all CYA!!! AS someone posted-READ the fine print. Know what you are buying.

 

I am NOT unsympathetic in the least to those that spent 1000's of dollars and could not make it to their cruise. But as I have posted so often, PLEASE READ the fine print and UNDERSTAND what you are buying. Have a alternate plan to get to your cruise, whether it is out of MIA or SCL or any place else. In an emergency situation, it really will be up to YOU to resolve the situation. Don't depend on the cruise line. Hopefully, your TA will not depend on the cruise line and will offer REAL help. There are a lot of us who really want to help. But if you did not buy GOOD travel insurance, you may be out of luck.

[Tradewind40]

So we're to believe that despite travel alert:

 

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/pa/pa_4737.html

 

The Department of State strongly urges U.S. citizens to avoid tourism and non-essential travel to Chile. The February 27th earthquake caused significant damage to the areas closest to the epicenter, including the cities of Concepcion, Talcahuano and Temuco. Santiago, Vina del Mar and Valparaiso were also affected by power outages and limited telecommunications.

 

Continued strong aftershocks:

 

http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/Aftershocks-Shake-Chile-86592457.html

 

Another strong aftershock has jolted Chile, nearly a week after the deadly 8.8 magnitude earthquake caused widespread destruction in the South American country.

 

In the badly-hit city of Concepcion, some residents ran into the streets Friday as the magnitude 6.6 tremor shook the area.

 

 

 

We have not only a company, Princess Lines, that were willing to urge the March 2 passengers into danger's way, but continued rationalizations of same.

 

Would you trust anyone who maintains continued strong aftershocks as no problem and not a dangerous situation, corporation or individual.

 

As I stated earler, I recently took the BA/Santiago bus ride through Mendoza, and the info here has not been factual and misses pertinent details.

 

Even before the quake, busses could be full days ahead, road construction delayed my bus for hours, and customs at the border can take hours. Not as simple as simply suggested!

[juventus]

PLEASE READ THIS SOMEONE IS OCCUPYING MY CABIN AND PAYING PRINCESS FOR IT DAILY WHILE THEY REFUSE TO REFUND MY MONEY (DOUBLE RENT )

SHAME:D

 

Q&A WITH PRINCESS PLEASE READ

 

CC: How many passengers were booked on the cruise ending March 2? How many were booked on the cruise beginning March 2? How many of those on the cruise that's ended have opted to stay onboard for the extra nights (at $50 - $75 a night)? How can the line reconcile charging passengers to stay in cabins that are supposed to be occupied by already paying guests?

 

Cruise Critic Note: Members are saying that the line is earning double in some sense from these cabins ... or are there enough empty cabins -- which wouldn't have been occupied anyway -- to accommodate everyone who wants to stay onboard?

 

Princess: We're trying to balance the needs of our passengers who need accommodation and those passengers sailing on the cruise they purchased. We felt to be fair to the passengers who paid for their cruise, we should charge the stay-on passengers a reasonable rate in recognition of the services we're providing, however we're doing at a discount in recognition of the unique circumstances and choices they were facing.

 

The last cruise was full, and the cruise departing Thursday was fully booked, as well. A total of 438 have indicated to us they would like to sail on a portion of the next cruise. We're charging a daily rate because we're providing services to the passengers on board. The discounted rate we're charging is far less than the expenses they would incur if they were in a shoreside hotel.

__________________

[billet]

I thought this as well up until the point where I saw the CC interview with the Princess PR rep. That has changed my tune on this. Princess seems to be digging in their heels. Basically, they're saying "You should have insurance." The only way they'll make things right is if they really start to feel the heat, and then it's too little too late, so why spend the money?

 

I think they've stated their position and they don't appear to be budging.

If people decide to 'self-insure' then I think they have, and deserve, little recourse. If they wish to gamble they will lose some and win some.

For those who did insure I hope that the policies are sufficiently broad to cover the circumstances and if not then Princess needs to review what needs to be done to ensure compensation.

[Tradewind40]

"For those who did insure I hope that the policies are sufficiently broad to cover the circumstances and if not then Princess needs to review what needs to be done to ensure compensation."

 

Right on the mark, but then again, that's all the 3/2/10 passengers have been asking for!

 

However, a reading of the CC Q&A with Princess's executive yesterday revealed Princess has no intention of "ensuring compensation".

 

As far as the insurance coverage goes it appears people are just fine as long as they didn't take any of the Princess insurance packages and had insurance through other carriers, according to those that have them!

 

However it's nice to finally agree!

[imsulin]

Princess mentions that "the discounted rate we're charging is far less than the expenses they would incur if they were in a shoreside hotel". Does Princess mean the few shoreside hotels that are still operational? The ones that even have available space even if one did choose to stay there? The ones that are housing rescue personnel and news crews? Just asking.