Changes in Intinerary Due to Political Issues

[msmoger]

I understand no one can predict the future. However, based on anyone's experience (cruises to Egyptian ports come to mind) how far in advance of a sailing is Princess likely to change an itinerary based on the political situation in a particular country?

 

I'm asking this question specifically in light of the political problems and violence in Ukraine. Our October cruise on the Ocean calls on Yalta (which is in Crimea) and Odessa.

 

I know it's way to early to prognosticate what the situation will be 7 months from now. However, if the situation doesn't improve will Princess typically make a decision to modify the itinerary in time to perhaps substitute other ports or are they more likely just to cancel one or both stops and just substitute sea days?

 

I would obviously prefer the first option but I realize the logistics involved with changing an itinerary is probably very complicated. That's why I would think if it were possible it would be easier to make the decision sooner than later.

 

Thanks for any incite.

[paul929207]

We will be with you on the Ocean Princess.

 

With most of the Ukraine problems in Kiev, I would think Princess will hold off canceling Yalta and/or Odessa. We have twice seen the Egyptian Red Sea ports canceled. In the first case they put them back on when things calmed down. That was a real mess. As I recall the cancellation was before final payment. Putting them back on was after.

 

Last fall they canceled both of the ports (Sharm-el-Shek & Safaga) and gave us an overnight in Dubai and a sea day to replace them. Seems to me that was announced after final payment.

[Potstech]

I am sure Princess will take into consideration the safety of the passengers over a port call. They did this in Mexico several years ago when things were getting nasty there. I just read today that things blew up at the main airport in Crimea today. You will find out when the cruise is in progress and I bet they stay away from anywhere that is a trouble spot. Enjoy your cruise and always be ready for the unexpected. It can make things interesting.

[Pam in CA]

Princess will be relatively slow to make any itinerary changes but that's because they don't want to act hastily or make major changes until they are certain that a change needs to be made. Have patience as it will be frustrating but I've seen other lines make changes only to have the situation calm down and their passengers watch as the line(s) that didn't make changes go to the original ports.

 

Princess will take everything into consideration before making any itinerary changes. Before they do, they have to arrange alternate port stops and have shore excursions in place.

 

If changes are made, it's unlikely you'll get any compensation. Perhaps a refund or even an additional charge for port fees.

Edited February 28, 2014 by Pam in CA

[Loonbeam]

The key factor is likelyhood of change. Things in the Ukraine are moving way too fast right now to make a several month prediction. Sometimes, its clear the impact will be felt for months or years, and they will make an earlier call.

[msmoger]

We will be with you on the Ocean Princess.

 

With most of the Ukraine problems in Kiev, I would think Princess will hold off canceling Yalta and/or Odessa. We have twice seen the Egyptian Red Sea ports canceled. In the first case they put them back on when things calmed down. That was a real mess. As I recall the cancellation was before final payment. Putting them back on was after.

 

Last fall they canceled both of the ports (Sharm-el-Shek & Safaga) and gave us an overnight in Dubai and a sea day to replace them. Seems to me that was announced after final payment.

 

Paul,

 

I'm more concerned about Yalta since it seems a lot of the "focus" has moved to Crimea and what Russia and the Russian speaking Crimeans (60% of the population) might do. It's hard for me to see this situation being resolved very quickly. I just hope they make a decision before final payment if there are any itinerary changes, not that it's very likely that I would cancel. I've already booked flights using miles. ;)

 

Whatever happens I'm sure we're going to have a great cruise and a great adventure!! :)

 

I am sure Princess will take into consideration the safety of the passengers over a port call. They did this in Mexico several years ago when things were getting nasty there. I just read today that things blew up at the main airport in Crimea today. You will find out when the cruise is in progress and I bet they stay away from anywhere that is a trouble spot. Enjoy your cruise and always be ready for the unexpected. It can make things interesting.

 

I have no doubt Princess will make safety the top priority and whatever happens we're very much looking forward to this trip.

 

Thanks for your insight.

[msmoger]

Princess will be relatively slow to make any itinerary changes but that's because they don't want to act hastily or make major changes until they are certain that a change needs to be made. Have patience as it will be frustrating but I've seen other lines make changes only to have the situation calm down and their passengers watch as the line(s) that didn't make changes go to the original ports.

 

Princess will take everything into consideration before making any itinerary changes. Before they do, they have to arrange alternate port stops and have shore excursions in place.

 

If changes are made, it's unlikely you'll get any compensation. Perhaps a refund or even an additional charge for port fees.

 

I'm not worried about compensation. This is a port intensive itinerary so there will be plenty to see and do. I do hope if they decide to cancel one or both ports they can find at least one substitute but it's certainly not a deal breaker.

[Gunner22aa]

When we did our Asia cruise three years ago Princess changed our port of debarkation from Bangkok to Singapore 4 weeks prior to the trip because of the unrest in Bangkok at the time. The only compensation that was offered was to cover the cost of any airline change fees which for me were $200 a ticket. They would not offer to pay any additional airfare costs or allow people to cancel the trip without penality. Not sure how it worked out for others but I ended up saving almost $100 a ticket on the airfare.

[bhopal21]

There is simply no way to predict with any certainty.

 

Back in 2005 Caracas was skipped for a couple of weeks and then added back and then omitted from our itinerary less than two weeks before sailing.

 

Mike:)

[JohnLauben]

True ... you can't really predict. But, from experience ...

 

I had 2 ports in Indonesia cancelled (in 2000) while on a pre-cruise package in Bangkok, 2 days before embarkation, due to unrest (old REGAL).

 

Also, in 1995, the embarkation port was changed from Kobe to Yokohama 6 weeks before the cruise (a day before final payment back then) due to earthquake (old ISLAND). No compensation for having to change air reservations (from Osaka to Tokyo), but it really wasn't a problem, even though I was on frequent flyer miles.

[as19111]

We just sailed on the Golden Princess around South America in January. One evening at 10 p.m., the Captain made a general announcement throughout the ship that he was skipping Puerto Madryn in Argentina the next day. It seems the fisherman were calling a strike (protests of many kinds are common in Argentina). It was communicated that we could leave the ship but there were no guarantees that we could return to the ship. So, customer safety being the primary interest, the Captain declared a sea day and we arrived in Montivideo, Uraguay a day early and stayed overnight in that port.

 

The cruise after us made the port.

 

You just don't know.

[caribill]

When we did our Asia cruise three years ago Princess changed our port of debarkation from Bangkok to Singapore 4 weeks prior to the trip because of the unrest in Bangkok at the time. The only compensation that was offered was to cover the cost of any airline change fees which for me were $200 a ticket. They would not offer to pay any additional airfare costs or allow people to cancel the trip without penality. Not sure how it worked out for others but I ended up saving almost $100 a ticket on the airfare.

 

We were on one of those cruises "from Bangkok" that was moved to start in Singapore. The change came about 5 months before the cruise, so it was well before final payment.

 

Obviously Princess could not predict what conditions would be like that far in advance, but changing an embarkation/disembarkation port at the last minute is a logistical nightmare, not just for the cruise line, but also for the passengers.

 

In our case, we made lemon out of lemonade. We had booked the cruise because we had wanted to see Bangkok, so we ended up flying to Bangkok (conditions had calmed down months earlier), spent five days there with a great tour guide, flew to Cambodia to visit Angkor Wat, and then flew on to Singapore to start the cruise.

 

Three years ago we were on a Princess cruise that was going to Alexandria in May. Like many of the passengers, we booked it for a chance to see the Pyramids and the Sphinx as well as the Cairo museum. In February, the revolution occurred and a couple of weeks later Princess changed the itinerary to remove Alexandria as a port and substitute a visit to Malta as well as a second day in Istanbul. Many people cancelled, but we liked the new itinerary and made the final payment. Besides, we hoped things would get better in Egypt.

 

About four weeks before the cruise, things had calmed down and the original itinerary was back in place. We were quite happy about this and had a fabulous two day tour in the Cairo area. Only unhappy people were those who had booked after the itinerary had been changed to include Malta and the second day in Istanbul. They were very unhappy to be going to Egypt instead.

Edited February 28, 2014 by caribill

[JanaJohn]

Last October we were on the Ruby Princess scheduled for a stop in Tunisia. About a month before cruise we were notified that Tunisia was cancelled and we would stop in Valletta, Malta instead. We really enjoyed our day in Malta!

 

On Sept 9, 2013 they sent this: "Please be advised that due to current political unrest in Tunisia, Ruby Princess' call to La Goulette (Tunis) on October 7, 2013, has been cancelled and replaced with a call to Valletta from 8:00 am - 6:00 pm on the same day."

[Thrak]

I can't imagine even wanting to go to a place that's undergoing political and civil unrest. Why would I want to vacation in a place where this sort of thing is going on?

 

If they do decide to change / drop the port you will be the better off for the change.

[msmoger]

I can't imagine even wanting to go to a place that's undergoing political and civil unrest. Why would I want to vacation in a place where this sort of thing is going on?

 

If they do decide to change / drop the port you will be the better off for the change.

 

I agree with you. I certainly don't want to vacation in that environment either. However, we booked this itinerary because these were ports we want to visit for multiple reasons.

 

If they do decide to drop the port(s) we will be better off because they did it for very good reasons. However, if they decide to keep the itinerary as is then I have full faith that they are confident we will be safe. I'm also confident Princess has the safety of their passengers and crew as their top priority. They have nothing to gain by operating any other way.

 

However, I totally see your point and can understand how others might take an even more cautious view.

[GradUT]

We did the Black Sea cruise on the Pacific Princess last summer. Odessa and Yalta were two of the three best ports we visited (the other one being Istanbul). I'm not sure what they could substitute as ports in that area--there's not a whole lot in the Black Sea.

 

I know each person has a different reason for cruising, but if those two ports had been deleted from our cruise prior to final payment, I would have cancelled--they were that important to me.

[Steviewonder1]

Before our Eastern Med trip last October I enrolled in the STEP program which provided updated information on issues that were occurring in Istanbul. I kept our CC group informed as to what was going on and was appointed as the Istanbul Ambassador. Things did calm down and all ports were visited as scheduled. Anyone can get updates from STEP and it comes in emails directly to you from the State Department.

[seamwoman]

A group of us on the Caribbean BI in made learned the itinerary for the November Holy Land cruise was changed. Since Egypt and Israel were what we all wanted most we changed cruises and are going to the South Pacific next month. Karen

[RickEk]

And the situation in the Ukraine is getting even messier... sigh. Lot's of saber-rattling going on now...

[whitneythegreat]

When my husband and I cruised to Mexico in 2011, there were lots of problems with gang/drug violence in Mazatlan. We did not find out until the day before we left for our cruise that we were not stopping in Mazatlan. They sent an email Friday evening (for a Saturday cruise) telling us that we would instead spend two days in Cabo. So you might found out in advance or it might be sprung upon you at the last minute.

[Pam in CA]

When my husband and I cruised to Mexico in 2011, there were lots of problems with gang/drug violence in Mazatlan. We did not find out until the day before we left for our cruise that we were not stopping in Mazatlan. They sent an email Friday evening (for a Saturday cruise) telling us that we would instead spend two days in Cabo. So you might found out in advance or it might be sprung upon you at the last minute.

I took a HAL cruise a few years ago to the Mexican Riviera and we didn't know until after boarding that we would be skipping Mazatlan and spending two days in Cabo. The next day, the itinerary was changed again to two days in Puerto Vallarta and one day in Cabo. We had a great time in PV and took in a night show on shore that was great.

[cms1]

When we were on the Holy Land cruise a few years back there was a mortar attack in Ashod the day before we were due to arrive. By the time Princess informed us that the ship would not be docking they had already organised buses etc for the tours and we just had two days in Haifa and a longer journey to the places of interest in the Ashod area. On that trip there was also trouble on and off in Egypt but we were lucky and it had all calmed down by then. From my experience Princess will leave it as long as possible to make a decision in order to try and honour the original ports.

[TupeloHoney]

It's been quite a few years ago now, so my memory is hazy. But we did have a port substitution on a princess ship. I think we were supposed to go to Columbia and ended up in Isla Margarita off of Venezuela. So they do port substitutions when they can. I don't remember how early we found out about it. I think it was maybe a month before sailing?

[5326jan]

We did the Black Sea cruise on Pacific Princess a couple of years ago. I hope that things calm down and you get to go to Yalta. We had the best tour I've ever taken. Our guide was a history professor. (You can find all the info on the ports of call thread.) We saw the submarine caves in Balaclava, which were fascinating. We also saw the summer house of Mikhail Gorbachev, Sevastapol, Battlefields of the Crimean War, etc.

 

Having been to the places that are in the news now, brings it to life how important that region is. :(

[bhopal21]

It's been quite a few years ago now, so my memory is hazy. But we did have a port substitution on a princess ship. I think we were supposed to go to Columbia and ended up in Isla Margarita off of Venezuela. So they do port substitutions when they can. I don't remember how early we found out about it. I think it was maybe a month before sailing?

 

You must have been on the same cruise with us in March 2005 onboard the Golden Princess. It was the Southern Caribbean Explorer route out of San Juan.

 

We were originally scheduled for Caracas but due to unrest went to Isla Margarita instead. It was such a lovely place and we have been wanting to return ever since.

 

Mike:)

Edited March 1, 2014 by bhopal21