Ship construction while on board!

[JudithLynne]

Please excuse the length of this a I am really needing to ventilate.

 

My husband and I are booked on the Grand Princess the first two weeks of March for a 14 day Caribbean experience. We are splurging, having saved our pennies, and have booked an aft suite on the Dolphin deck. Information from all of you helped us select our suite and we are looking forward to this being a wonderful cruise. It will be our first suite. I believe it will be our 20th Princess cruise.

 

As many of you know, the Grand Princess will be dry docked after the last cruise in March or April. I have learned today that the aft Sun deck and the Video Arcade will be closed during our cruise. We are very unhappy about this. I have read posts over the years on the Princess boards where angry passengers did not get a complete shipboard experience because ships started their refurbishing prior to going into dry dock. For many posters it wasn’t that they could not have access to the construction area, it was the noise, inconvenience, and just the overall feeling that the ship was a construction zone not a vacation experience. Many felt that they were in the way.

 

I am looking for any advice/recommendation about how others would handle this? Should I cancel? Should I try to get another cabin and be willing to accept a downgrade? I do worry about the noise above us and the annoying aspects of onboard construction. We are a couple that really enjoys spending time on the ship. We want a peaceful, relaxing expereience and are worried that we may not get this.

 

Thanks for listening….

 

Judith

[Loonbeam]

It's going to depend on how much those amenities mean to you. Personally, the loss of the video arcade is minor to me, nor would I be concerned about the Sun Deck itself other than to wonder if it would increase congestion in other areas.

 

Dry dock or not, construction and maintenance at sea is a regrettable fact of life for cruise ships. Mostly its limited to painting and cleaning, but sometimes things just need to be done. It's also a matter of practicality. Drydock time is VERY expensive, both in actual cost and lost revenue, so Princess has to look at whether a given change may add a day in drydock.

 

Finally, the question of what type of work is being done and when, which we have no way of knowing. It's entirely different if, say, they are removing railings using hand drills to loosen the bolts or refinishing the deck surface in terms of dust and noise.

 

My suggestion is call Princess or have your TA call them with your concerns and ask about a move. They may be able to provide better information on how disruptive the changes may be. Or perhaps they may offer a small amount of OBC in compensation for less usable space?

[MCC retired]

Although pre/post drydock cruises could possibly have onboard refurbishment going on , it's unusual that you know this will definetly be the case already.

 

Since you are upset about it , I would contact Princess or my TA

to negotiate something over and above what you have booked . Failing that , rebook a sailing that is not pre/post drydock .

[Toto2Kansas]

Judith, You have my sympathy on this one. Often times when a ship is going to go in for major refit, they do begin the construction onboard while the ship is still sailing with a full passenger load. They never used to warn you about this, but it seems now they do. I feel it is a shame they don't alert you to this fact BEFORE final payment date.

Cancelling at this late date will have you paying a penalty, so that would be totally up to you whether this cruise may be not what you had counted on.

 

The times we have been onboard when they have either started the refit early, or sometimes after the ship has just returned and they are finishing up, usually means extra workman onboard, and areas of the ship closed to passengers. Along with some unwanted noise in those areas.

 

Whatever decision you make on this, I hope you have a great cruise, or can find a different one that fits you better. Again, sorry to hear this is happening.

[JudithLynne]

Let me add a couple of other things:

 

 

1. We have the Princess Insurance and I assume that we can use the "cancel for any reason clause:

 

2. I have just looked at my booking and our suite cabin now reads "obstructed view and use of balcony" That was not there before.

 

Judith

[Pam in CA]

They are doing major "surgery" to the Grand, i.e., removing Skywalkers so I can see where they may want to close off the area directly beneath it due to structural problems. This is highly unusual and will take a long time and cost Princess a lot of money.

 

You can call or write to Princess but be prepared to not get an answer for weeks. :( If you do, remember the "3 C's": be clear, concise and complete about what the issue is and how it will affect your cruise. Express dismay that these are your favorite areas and will affect your cruise experience but don't vent. There's nothing you can do that will change their plans. You may or may not get a bit of OBC for your inconvenience. The only other alternative is to cancel your cruise and book another.

[2little time]

I am so sorry this is happening to you. I would be upset as well. It sounds as though they will have cables and equipment outside your balcony which is why it is now being called "obstructed". Given the reasons for the cruise and how hard you have worked to afford it, I would probably cancel and rebook on another cruise. The noise and obstructed view would spoil it for me.

[JudithLynne]

I have just called my TA. She is working on getting us downgraded to a mini-suite and getting us a refund. There are still nicely located min-suites available. We are willing to have that refund put into a Princess account for another cruise within a year under our Princess Insurance plan. Keep your fingers crossed and I will keep you posted.

[regnig]

Sounds like you made the right decision. Keep us posted.

[Loonbeam]

That seems like a very reasonable request for accommodation, especially since in effect your original cabin class has changed to 'obstructed view'.

 

In terms of wishful thinking, since the cabin is sold anyway maybe your TA can get the same cabin at the mini price :)

 

I have just called my TA. She is working on getting us downgraded to a mini-suite and getting us a refund. There are still nicely located min-suites available. We are willing to have that refund put into a Princess account for another cruise within a year under our Princess Insurance plan. Keep your fingers crossed and I will keep you posted.

[JudithLynne]

We are now in a mini-suite, center on the Dolphin deck. Princess kept insisting to our TA that we would not have any problems with our balcony in the suite. This is verbatim what was put in our travel summary on the Princess website, cruise personalizer, under our cabin number and it was in caps: OBS VIEW/USE BALC.

 

We have been given a cash refund for the difference in cabin prices. The refund will be credited to our Visa card and we are very pleased except that we are mourning the loss of the suite experience.

 

Thank you all for your feed back……..

 

Judith

[Loonbeam]

Not Bad. They probably had to put the OBS view in there just in case a cable was hanging down or something, I doubt it would have been anything major, but if they hadn't, post trip you could have complained..

 

Still, it seems to have worked out, hopefully the construction won't be too much hassle.

 

We are now in a mini-suite, center on the Dolphin deck. Princess kept insisting to our TA that we would not have any problems with our balcony in the suite. This is verbatim what was put in our travel summary on the Princess website, cruise personalizer, under our cabin number and it was in caps: OBS VIEW/USE BALC.

 

We have been given a cash refund for the difference in cabin prices. The refund will be credited to our Visa card and we are very pleased except that we are mourning the loss of the suite experience.

 

Thank you all for your feed back……..

 

Judith

[Pam in CA]

Thanks for the update. Thank goodness you were on top of this and discovered it while it could be fixed. I'm glad this has been worked out for you and you're happy.

[compozer]

This is verbatim what was put in our travel summary on the Princess website, cruise personalizer, under our cabin number and it was in caps: OBS VIEW/USE BALC.

 

Sorry you had to change cabins. BUT the OBS View/ is in regard to the beam on the balcony. It has nothing to do with the construction. I believe they have just recently added this on all cruises descriptions for those suites. When we booked our last two suites, it was not there but it is on both the next two cruses that we booked.

[JudithLynne]

The beam would not have bothered us, construction noise would. We are now in a cabin with cabin decks above and below us and I think this will be a better, less noisey, arrangement. I am pleased that we are getting a refund, but would have accepted a travel credit with our Princess travel insurance as we cruise with Princess all the time.

 

Again, I really appreciate all the support and feedback from those of you that participated in this thread.

[nunuc2000]

The beam would not have bothered us, construction noise would. We are now in a cabin with cabin decks above and below us and I think this will be a better, less noisey, arrangement. I am pleased that we are getting a refund, but would have accepted a travel credit with our Princess travel insurance as we cruise with Princess all the time.

 

Again, I really appreciate all the support and feedback from those of you that participated in this thread.

 

I'm glad they gave you an actual refund on your visa... it sounds like it was the right thing to do considering this all came about AFTER final payment.

 

On the plus side, the refund should be just about enough to cover another cruise!!:D Glad you're still joining us on this one too, though :)

[Shogun]

Hi There,

 

I think you have done the right thing, to have stayed in the cabin and things not been as you wanted Princess could have said we told you so,

 

you need to go and have a look and see what they are doing ,

 

may be not tell the folk in your old cabin that you swapped.

 

 

yours Shogun

[MCC retired]

My bet is someone that booked a "Guarantee" , will be upgraded to that suite and be happy with it . Everone wins !:)

[TERESAh]

Please excuse the length of this a I am really needing to ventilate.

 

My husband and I are booked on the Grand Princess the first two weeks of March for a 14 day Caribbean experience. We are splurging, having saved our pennies, and have booked an aft suite on the Dolphin deck. Information from all of you helped us select our suite and we are looking forward to this being a wonderful cruise. It will be our first suite. I believe it will be our 20th Princess cruise.

 

As many of you know, the Grand Princess will be dry docked after the last cruise in March or April. I have learned today that the aft Sun deck and the Video Arcade will be closed during our cruise. We are very unhappy about this. I have read posts over the years on the Princess boards where angry passengers did not get a complete shipboard experience because ships started their refurbishing prior to going into dry dock. For many posters it wasn’t that they could not have access to the construction area, it was the noise, inconvenience, and just the overall feeling that the ship was a construction zone not a vacation experience. Many felt that they were in the way.

 

I am looking for any advice/recommendation about how others would handle this? Should I cancel? Should I try to get another cabin and be willing to accept a downgrade? I do worry about the noise above us and the annoying aspects of onboard construction. We are a couple that really enjoys spending time on the ship. We want a peaceful, relaxing expereience and are worried that we may not get this.

 

Thanks for listening….

 

Judith

We were on a cruise that was under construction (but they never told us) and every morning about 8am they would start banging on the railings above us which echoed down to our room. We complained many times and they said they would take care of it, but never did. We just started going to bed earlier as we knew we couldnt sleep in. The noise was very loud at times, where we couldnt even hear our tv.

[phabric]

My sister and BIL were on a 30 day Australia cruise a few years back. They were not aware that their ship was leaving Princess and going to P&O after their cruise. There was alot of construction while they were on the cruise. After getting home, BIL wrote to Princess to complain about the construction going on while they were cruising that should have waited until the cruise was over. They received $1,500 credit each towards their next cruise.

[DrivesLikeMario]

Let me add a couple of other things:

 

 

1. We have the Princess Insurance and I assume that we can use the "cancel for any reason clause:

 

2. I have just looked at my booking and our suite cabin now reads "obstructed view and use of balcony" That was not there before.

 

Judith

 

That's a normal clause they put on the Cat. VS suites because there's the beam on the balcony. It didn't bother us at all.

 

If I were you, I'd cancel and reschedule to another ship or another sail date so I didn't have the construction stuff to look at. JMHO.

[DrivesLikeMario]

Not Bad. They probably had to put the OBS view in there just in case a cable was hanging down or something, I doubt it would have been anything major, but if they hadn't, post trip you could have complained..

 

Still, it seems to have worked out, hopefully the construction won't be too much hassle.

 

No, that's not it. They put it on all Cat VS suites now because of the big beam on the balcony. It's not a huge hindrance, but they do need to disclose it.

[vickie_bernie]

i am glad to hear that you were able to get moved but very sorry to hear that you don't have your full suite now.

 

We were on the Golden on it's second sailing after it's retrofit and they were still redoing the new suites up on the sun deck and the Crown Grill was not open and it was very disruptive to those in cabins near those areas. banging, sawing and smells from fumes like paint, solvents, glues

 

It seemed that everytime we would walk along the decks we always had detours because of closed off areas because of major construction.

 

At least you were notified early and you were able to deal with it. But still very disappointing. Hope you have a great trip

[IECalCruiser]

Let me add a couple of other things:

 

 

1. We have the Princess Insurance and I assume that we can use the "cancel for any reason clause:

 

2. I have just looked at my booking and our suite cabin now reads "obstructed view and use of balcony" That was not there before.

 

Judith

Judith, I know that what is happening on your cruise is disturbing, however now all aft suites have the note: OBSTR VIEW/USE BALC. It was not just for your cruise. It also shows on the Emerald and on the Golden for cruises many months before or after minor drydocks.

[DMRick]

removing Skywalkers .

 

Really? Just today they booked our M & G there for May. I thought the Grand was going to be redone to look like the Golden, which has a Skywalkers.