Caribbean Princess delayed!

[PrincessE]

with the amount of money that i have spent on cruise and flights, Am i allowed to decide where I want to go for a holiday?

IF YOU GUYS CAN ENJOY SPENDING 1 FULL WEEK in san juan, well do so

i was there last year for two days and i would never ever spend a week there, even if it was free. I am not putting this island down

i went to Jamaica twice and loved it. Some other people hated Jamaica

we are not all the same

aM i ALLOWED TO FEEL THAT WAY

there is a big difference between sitting on a beach in San Juan than sitting on a beach in Antigua

comon, give me a break

 

I think we all should just agree to disagree. :)

[Cruisin' & Breezin']

Whatever….:rolleyes:

[dssking]

I beg to differ. There is not a huge difference between sitting on a beach in Puerto Rico and Antigua. A slight difference is that you'll be drinking Medalla in PR and Wadadli in Antigua.

 

Palm trees are pretty much the same, same, again, the same... water....well......

 

But yes, you earn your vacation like everyone else does, therefore have the choice to vacation where you like. But such as fantastic destination like Puerto Rico doesn't deserve to be put down, as you have done.

 

If you feel relegated to Old San Juan, great. What about Antigua? There is FAR more to Antigua than the beach you speak of. Local cuisine, the natives, local sites....

 

Anyway, we know where this conversation is going. It might be recomended that you simply vacation in Florida...afterall, it's all the same, right?

[A Sixth?]

with the amount of money that i have spent on cruise and flights, Am i allowed to decide where I want to go for a holiday?

IF YOU GUYS CAN ENJOY SPENDING 1 FULL WEEK in san juan, well do so

i was there last year for two days and i would never ever spend a week there, even if it was free. I am not putting this island down

i went to Jamaica twice and loved it. Some other people hated Jamaica

we are not all the same

aM i ALLOWED TO FEEL THAT WAY

there is a big difference between sitting on a beach in San Juan than sitting on a beach in Antigua

comon, give me a break

 

I spent many months in the 90's in Puerto Rico and loved the place.

 

San Juan... not so much especially back then. :p

 

 

I was on the Caribbean Princess a few weeks ago and enjoyed every moment. I too would not be very happy possibly having to 'settle" for a San Juan holiday when I planned to go cruising... but the you-know-what some times hits the fan doesn't it... :o

 

 

PS I see the ships back in San Juan today... guess so long as I could enjoy the ship's facilities it wouldn't be so bad... beats getting a tow in the Indian Ocean with no toilets, AC or cooked food.

[luvseaside]

Looks like on the "sticky" thread re: issue, there are some unhappy passengers that just disembarked from CB. Hmmm, curious to get more feedback from others who are on the cruise this week.

[lattitudes1]

We just completed the 7-day on Caribbean Princess, returning to San Juan on Sunday, 3/11. No problems with propulsion evident on our cruise. I'm sorry for those on her this week, including some who were B2B from our cruise.

PS The crew was amazing---always ready with a smile and greeting.

[fishin' musician]

It is a corporate culture of negligence which caused this problem. Carnival runs Costa and Princess. There have been fires, ships sitting in open ocean without power, loss of engines, death due to knowingly allowing an incompetent captain sail a vessel, and not maintaining ships properly. A person who pays for an expensive vacation can and should expect compensation for incompetence and negligence from a corporate entity. Our safety was at risk with one engine and they knew that engine needed repair.

 

 

Tent city comes to SJ.

[dr__dawggy]

We just completed the 7-day on Caribbean Princess, returning to San Juan on Sunday, 3/11. No problems with propulsion evident on our cruise. I'm sorry for those on her this week, including some who were B2B from our cruise.

PS The crew was amazing---always ready with a smile and greeting.

 

We were on the same cruise. Agree, amazing crew.

 

PS....were you the ones making all the noise late at night in Club Fusion? If so, you should know that we were in the stateroom directly above you on the Emerald deck and you disturbed our sleep. But a healthy dose of Puerto Rican rum numbed us to the point that we no longer cared. :)

[DrNex]

Update here. As many others have said we will be permitted to stay on the ship until Sunday. We are also receiving a full refund for cruise ship fare (not on board purchases obvi) and a 25% credit of fare paid towards future cruise. Overall I feel the compensation is fair but I've spoken to many who are dissatisfied, especially those who spent significant amounts on airfare. One family I spoke to spent more on airfare than the cruise itself and are rightfully pissed as princess is not covering airfare.

 

Also, while this works well for retired couples who can take a vacation anytime, it's more frustrating for those who can only take a vacation once or twice a year - they basically have to wait until next year to enjoy the vacation they had planned and paid for.

 

We paid $480 each for airfare, so I personally cant complain too much for a week of food, lodging and entertainment at that price, even if we didn't end up where we exPected. We plan on renting a car and seeing other parts of the island if possible.

 

To those talking about trip insurance: I have trip insurance through "travel insured," one of the three major travel insurance companies. Because Princess is already providing a refund for the cruise, we are not entitled to any compensation for the trip under our policy - INCLUDING airfare. The travel insurance would only reimburse unused airfare, and since we're using both legs of our round trip flight as planned, no portion of the airfare is "unused." So, that's disappointing. I understand though that for cruisers on future voyages (eg on the 18th), a cancellation under our policy would have entitled us to a full refund because none of our airfare would have been "used."

 

Finally, the information around the ship right now is that the motor issue will not be repaired in time for this Sunday's cruise.

 

I agree with several of the other board members who've suggested negligence n the part of Princess and CCL generally. All these problems with Princess (this and the norovirus outbreaks, plus previously reported issues with CB propulsion), Costa (shipwreck and more recent engine/power failure) and Carnival (eg Splendor engine/generator failures) seem to be affecting only CCL recently rather than RCI - certainly suggests issues with the preventative maintenance carried out by CCL fleet-wide. One or two issues might be a coincidence; more than three suggests otherwise.

 

Also agree with gaspegal and others who lament the meanspirited and callous comments and attitudes of Zacc and others, eg "How dare you feel 'entitled' to any compensation. You should be happy Princess isn't abandoning you in the middle of the ocean as they're perfectly free to do that under their so-called contract."

All I can say is that I'm happy Princess doesn't share their attitude, and I'm glad they don't run a cruise company (or any other major business for that matter.)

[bananavan]

To any of you who have your travel plans on hold, I offer you my condolences. Decibel, you have every right to express your feelings, especially in this case. To those who do not have a dog in the fight, please respect the disappointment that is being expressed here.

This situation would not be as upsetting had the ship sailed from either FLL or Miami. There would have been options in that case. Getting to San Juan is not easy for many, especially those who are coming in from outside of the US.

I have almost 6 weeks before we leave on the TA. I can be objective. I cannot imagine the frustration of those who are being kept in the dark.

[pollyannasue]

I'm a fan of looking at the positive side of situations...but it is ok to express disappointment and also feel that folks should be compensated. Why do we always say..."Well, it wasn't meant to be" and "at least I'm on vaca and not at work." The bottom line is that due to "the unfortunate mechanical issues" these vacationers did not experience the vaca that they paid for, planned for and in some cases took time off from work for. Simple as that...no need to judge whether they should receive compensation or not! I say yes, and even though this ruined the expected vaca, I'm sure they are all grateful for not breaking down at sea with the pirates. I guess it wasn't meant to be!! lol :)

[Loonbeam]

Judging from comments posted in several venues, Princess still has a lot of work to do on communications during 'adverse events', which has been a consistent problem for them (similar comments about Noro cruises, Tsunami cruise, etc).

 

Reports are consistently showing (I've read at least 10 on different sites) that the passengers and crew were not kept informed. Everyone seemed satisfied enough with the compensation and the decision process, just not how and what they were told.

 

After the Splendor fire, I cannot for the life of me understand how the cruise lines did not learn this lesson and not only have disaster plans, but also disaster communication plans both on-ship and off.

 

 

As far as prior propulsion issues, I'm reserving judgement until some details become available as to the nature of the problem. If its related to prior issues, then Princess needs to issue a mea culpa for not being more proactive. If its something else (for example a loose industrial fishing net damaging the propeller or other unforseeable catastrophic failure) there's nothing they could do.

[DrNex]

Judging from comments posted in several venues, Princess still has a lot of work to do on communications during 'adverse events', which has been a consistent problem for them (similar comments about Noro cruises, Tsunami cruise, etc).

 

Reports are consistently showing (I've read at least 10 on different sites) that the passengers and crew were not kept informed. Everyone seemed satisfied enough with the compensation and the decision process, just not how and what they were told.

 

After the Splendor fire, I cannot for the life of me understand how the cruise lines did not learn this lesson and not only have disaster plans, but also disaster communication plans both on-ship and off.

 

 

As far as prior propulsion issues, I'm reserving judgement until some details become available as to the nature of the problem. If its related to prior issues, then Princess needs to issue a mea culpa for not being more proactive. If its something else (for example a loose industrial fishing net damaging the propeller or other unforseeable catastrophic failure) there's nothing they could do.

I have to disagree with this conclusion. I did read the posts of others who felt they were not kept informed. I felt on the other hand that the Captain updated us with information as soon as it became available, and that the logistics were handled appropriately. There is nothing wrong with waiting until we got back to San Juan to make appropriate travel arrangements if one doesn't want to stay in PR until Sunday. I can log onto my smartphone now and see that flight are available for this evening. So I don't honestly think the lack of up-the-the-minute updates is as big of a problem as some are making it out to be.

 

That said, I certainly understand and empathize with those whose vacation plans were ruined (ours included), and with the frustration that many of us feel, especially when this does not appear to be the first propulsion-related problem to affect the CB (or indeed the CCL fleet generally) in recent weeks. CCL needs to get it together.

 

Loonbeam - agree with you that it's not clear whether the propulsion issue was avoidable or not. My understanding is that the propeller itself was not damaged (in fact, both propellers were operational on our way back to SJ; both propellers can be operated by a single engine but with reduced thrust) but rather a problem with one of the motors, which is more likely to arise from poor maintenance than a completely coincidental and unavoidable accident. I served in the US Navy so I have some understanding of ship propulsion.

 

In any case, absent court-ordered discovery via a lawsuit, I doubt Princess will ever publicly disclose the cause of this engine failure. I am assuming that some level of negligence is involved (ie a deviation from the normal standard of care) but we'll likely never know for sure. As I said before, fleet wide problems of a similar nature make negligence appear more likely.

[decibel123]

my disappointment with Princess is that today is Wednesday, no update on the Princess web site, i called this morning, person on the phone has no answer and we are told to wait until friday or saturday

how are we suppose to make plan b

un beleivable

[ehschief]

I am just reading this post and feel bad for the passengers no matter who is at fault, it is what it is and complaining does nothing but raise your blood pressure.

It is not the end of the world, you are still in the Caribbean and as one person said, a whold week on a ship with food and lodging for the cost of airfare is not that bad of a thing.

 

Just to make you feel better, last year we paid lots of money to travel to Antartica but because of the weather we could not go as far south as promised. We learned later that we dodged the worst storm of the season. Yes we were disappointed, but maybe it was for the best.

 

Passengers certainly would not be happy adrift at sea, so make the most of your stay in Puerto Rico and you have a great story to tell.

[Cruisin' & Breezin']

To those talking about trip insurance: I have trip insurance through "travel insured," one of the three major travel insurance companies. Because Princess is already providing a refund for the cruise, we are not entitled to any compensation for the trip under our policy - INCLUDING airfare. The travel insurance would only reimburse unused airfare, and since we're using both legs of our round trip flight as planned, no portion of the airfare is "unused." So, that's disappointing. I understand though that for cruisers on future voyages (eg on the 18th), a cancellation under our policy would have entitled us to a full refund because none of our airfare would have been "used."

 

I have a question about this insurance issue you are having. Are they not reimbursing you because you decided to stay until Sunday or are they making you wait until Sunday instead of issuing a "trip interruption" clause? I thought that because your originally planned trip has in effect been interrupted, you would be entitled to trip interruption coverage at least in terms of the airfare…

 

Would like to know how that would work then :confused: Don't think it is fair

 

By the way, totally agree that Princess was right to reimburse all the cruise fare. And probably provide return rearrangements to those who bought their airfare through them and wanted to return home… I would be in your same situation since I always purchase airfare separate and private insurance…Always tought trip interruption would cover a situation like this...

[DrNex]

I have a question about this insurance issue you are having. Are they not reimbursing you because you decided to stay until Sunday or are they making you wait until Sunday instead of issuing a "trip interruption" clause? I thought that because your originally planned trip has in effect been interrupted' date=' you would be entitled to trip interruption coverage at least in terms of the airfare…

 

Would like to know how that would work then :confused: Don't think it is fair

 

By the way, totally agree that Princess was right to reimburse all the cruise fare. And probably provide return rearrangements to those who bought their airfare through them and wanted to return home… I would be in your same situation since I always purchase airfare separate and private insurance…Always tought trip interruption would cover a situation like this...[/quote']

 

The answers you seek are unclear - and I'm an attorney! My understanding here (note that this is not legal advice) is that if we OPTED to go home now, the trip interruption clause would kick in and the insurance would cover the change fee and difference in airfare. However, because we are being given the option of staying on the ship, it's possible the travel insurance would only consider this an "itinerary change" instead of a trip interruption and then try to get out of paying if we don't stick with our original flight. It's best to call the insurance company and get whatever they say in writing.

 

For those who choose to stay like us, in any event, it appears that the position of the travel insurance companies is that a) there is no trip interruption and b) even if there is an interruption, there are no additional or unused expenses so they have no liability. This is a reasonable if not necessarily generous reading of the insurance contract.

 

It's also possible the answers might vary from one travel insurance company to another, although I believe the policies are fairly standardized.

[Loonbeam]

With multiple reports and a history of similar issues, there is definitely a deficiency somewhere. It may simply be that the message(s) reached some people more directly than others. Also, some passengers are better at handling these situations than others and can operate on different information levels.

 

I think my original point still stands, cruise lines should have a communication plan with specific protocols and I haven't seen any evidence of this (not just on Princess)

 

I also agree as far as not finding out the actual cause, however if it is something unforeseeable I suspect Princess may leak it to help cover their tail.

 

 

I have to disagree with this conclusion. I did read the posts of others who felt they were not kept informed. I felt on the other hand that the Captain updated us with information as soon as it became available, and that the logistics were handled appropriately. There is nothing wrong with waiting until we got back to San Juan to make appropriate travel arrangements if one doesn't want to stay in PR until Sunday. I can log onto my smartphone now and see that flight are available for this evening. So I don't honestly think the lack of up-the-the-minute updates is as big of a problem as some are making it out to be.

 

That said, I certainly understand and empathize with those whose vacation plans were ruined (ours included), and with the frustration that many of us feel, especially when this does not appear to be the first propulsion-related problem to affect the CB (or indeed the CCL fleet generally) in recent weeks. CCL needs to get it together.

 

Loonbeam - agree with you that it's not clear whether the propulsion issue was avoidable or not. My understanding is that the propeller itself was not damaged (in fact, both propellers were operational on our way back to SJ; both propellers can be operated by a single engine but with reduced thrust) but rather a problem with one of the motors, which is more likely to arise from poor maintenance than a completely coincidental and unavoidable accident. I served in the US Navy so I have some understanding of ship propulsion.

 

In any case, absent court-ordered discovery via a lawsuit, I doubt Princess will ever publicly disclose the cause of this engine failure. I am assuming that some level of negligence is involved (ie a deviation from the normal standard of care) but we'll likely never know for sure. As I said before, fleet wide problems of a similar nature make negligence appear more likely.

[KirkNC]

I like wise feel sorry for those whose current plans/possibly future plans have been messed up. Having said that, the offer Princess is making seems pretty fair, but think they need to look at the airfare aspect as that is a big part of cruising expenses these days. I don't view these as some big corporate issue; mechanical/electrical things occasionally break. Could they/should they have done something sooner, we will never know and I view that a little bit ill relevant.

[fishin' musician]

I feel bad for all those affected. Let's face it, these behemoth ships are on the go 365 days a year, they are mechanical and occasionally failures occur.

 

It is just unfortunate timing for all those involved, including Princess Cruise Lines. It is certainly in their best interest on several levels to have their vessel sailing.

 

I'm not a cheerleader for the cruiseline, just trying to keep it real.

[Cruisin' & Breezin']

The answers you seek are unclear - and I'm an attorney! My understanding here (note that this is not legal advice) is that if we OPTED to go home now, the trip interruption clause would kick in and the insurance would cover the change fee and difference in airfare. However, because we are being given the option of staying on the ship, it's possible the travel insurance would only consider this an "itinerary change" instead of a trip interruption and then try to get out of paying if we don't stick with our original flight. It's best to call the insurance company and get whatever they say in writing.

 

For those who choose to stay like us, in any event, it appears that the position of the travel insurance companies is that a) there is no trip interruption and b) even if there is an interruption, there are no additional or unused expenses so they have no liability. This is a reasonable if not necessarily generous reading of the insurance contract.

 

It's also possible the answers might vary from one travel insurance company to another, although I believe the policies are fairly standardized.

 

Your interpretation makes complete sense although may not make customers completely happy :rolleyes: I guess these gray areas are what makes it worthwhile for these companies to be in business even when things happen...

[fishin' musician]

I'm reminded of a scenario from some years back when the CCL Sensation went into drydock w/ propulsion problems... it came out w/ the same problems. They simply eliminated the farthest port on the itinerary. As far as I know this ship is still operating this way.

[watergirl0153226]

I share your disappointment. It was to be our big retirement cruise. We were to fly out Saturday for a B2B. We had excursions booked on all the islands and a hotel room for Saturday night. We packed last weekend.

I also feel bad for all the passengers not on cruise critic who are still happily counting down the days until their cruise. I have heard nothing in the news. How crushing it will be to hear from Princess on Friday.

Barb

[bermuda triangle]

It is the engine having problems not the actual propeller. I don't believe drydock is necessary to work on this issue.

Laura

[nschamp]

Lot's of things here to diagnose and tear down. This might give you an idea of why the delay in timing decisions.

 

TYPE OF SYSTEM:

Engines: 4 x Sulzer 16ZAV40S diesel, 2 x Sulzer 12ZAV40S diesel, these 6 engines work with 2 azipods simens

 

 

DESCRIPTION OF SIEMANS AZIPODS:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azimuth_thruster