Slow Sea Princess

[MMDown Under]

All passengers received the $100. I don't know if it completely covered their excursion cost but the sun was down within about 30 minutes of arriving at the port so they really wouldn't have seen much. According to one lady I spoke to she was lined up with a lot of other passengers to complain. We had planned to book tours but when we learned of the change in itinerary we decided not to.

 

I feel that if passengers knew about the time changes early then they all had the opportunity to cancel their tours. So they really have no excuse to whinge about the cost after the event. Time changes are always annoying but people have to work around them and make the best of their cruise. :rolleyes:

 

But did they know in advance of their cruise? I guess it all depends on when passengers were advised of the known potential problems with the ship cruising slowly. Was it a ship's excursion?

Edited June 18, 2014 by MMDown Under

[MicCanberra]

All passengers received the $100. I don't know if it completely covered their excursion cost but the sun was down within about 30 minutes of arriving at the port so they really wouldn't have seen much. According to one lady I spoke to she was lined up with a lot of other passengers to complain. We had planned to book tours but when we learned of the change in itinerary we decided not to.

 

I can't fault the Sea Princess apart from the itinerary change. The dining staff were fantastic, I swear pixies cleaned our room as we saw no one but our room was always made up, turned down and refreshed in our absence. Generally all the staff seemed happy, wished us good morning, afternoon and evening as we passed them with big smiles on their faces. DH and I had decided within an hour of leaving Brisbane that we loved it and we needed to go again. Our DD is 18 next year and we're thinking a cruise for her birthday is the way to go ;)

 

My only complaint is no one took my breakfast order Monday morning :D

 

Welcome to the 'Cruise Addicts' club. It is not easy to feed this addiction as it takes a lot of time and money, two resources that can be difficult to have both at the same time. Enjoy your future cruises.:D

[ckl001]

I do hope she is fixed by 27th January 2015 as I am booked on Sea Princess then. but then again I would not mind if they give me $100 for any ports missed as I am not really planning on getting off anywhere.

 

chez

[MicCanberra]

I do hope she is fixed by 27th January 2015 as I am booked on Sea Princess then. but then again I would not mind if they give me $100 for any ports missed as I am not really planning on getting off anywhere.

 

chez

I doubt she will be fixed (probably at dry dock Sept 2015) so look forward to some leisurely cruising and the posibility of a little compensation.:D

[ckl001]

I doubt she will be fixed (probably at dry dock Sept 2015) so look forward to some leisurely cruising and the posibility of a little compensation.:D

 

That sounds nice.:D:D Leisurely crusing and compensation.

 

Chez

[MicCanberra]

That sounds nice.:D:D Leisurely crusing and compensation.

 

Chez

There are certainly worse things in life.:D

[ONCRUISEMODE]

First cruise last week. Sea Princess Brisbane to Noumea, Isle of Pines and Port Vila. $100 compensation each for change to itinerary. Spoke to one of the most sailed on the cruise and he said the issue happened on the 25th May cruise. Broken crank, not fixable while she's in the water and so scheduled for dry dock next year. Some very unhappy people on our boat who booked tours in Noumea but as we didn't arrive until 5pm they were conducted in the dark so paid top price and saw nothing. Personally I had a fantastic time and have the bug now :D.

 

 

 

Hope you are feeling better.

[MMDown Under]

Hope you are feeling better.

 

Aussie translation - "have the bug now" is the desire to cruise often. :)

[MicCanberra]

Aussie translation - "have the bug now" is the desire to cruise often. :)

 

LOL, I love it.:D

[By The Bay]

Aussie translation - "have the bug now" is the desire to cruise often. :)

The only cure is to cruise again and often.:D

[mcspudmack]

I was on the 25 May cruise and Princess were aware of the problem the day before we sailed. We were emailed about the issue and asked to arrive early for boarding, hoping for an earlier departure. Was advised we would be late (5.00PM) into Noumea and would receive $100.00 obc/person as comp[ensation. On Tuesday morning around 930, the captain advised us that we were behind schedule and would not make Noumea until approx. 7.00pm, and due to this late arrival they were cancelling the stop. Another $100.00 obc/ person was to be given as compensation. We were pretty happy with the process, and had a great night out drinking free cocktails.

The rest of the cruise went as planned.

 

Now, I have been booked on the 24Nov14 PNG cruise for some months, and after reading the previous posts became concerned as to if we would be able to make all of our port calls,

 

So, I rang princess this morning and spoke to Devan or maybe it was Bevan. I voiced my concerns and he told me it was just a generator problem that would be fixed in the next week or two and my cruise would not be effected. I told him that I had read it was a "broken crank" that required dry dock, abd he again assured me that it was just a generator issue, and that if something as major as a crank was broken they wouldn't wait until next year to repair it, they would cancel a cruise and dry dock it asap.

 

Take what you will from this info, but, still sounds a bit iffy to me. I will keep an eye on this thread and see if she is fixed soon.

 

cheers

Edited June 19, 2014 by mcspudmack

[ONCRUISEMODE]

I was on the 25 May cruise and Princess were aware of the problem the day before we sailed. We were emailed about the issue and asked to arrive early for boarding, hoping for an earlier departure. Was advised we would be late (5.00PM) into Noumea and would receive $100.00 obc/person as comp[ensation. On Tuesday morning around 930, the captain advised us that we were behind schedule and would not make Noumea until approx. 7.00pm, and due to this late arrival they were cancelling the stop. Another $100.00 obc/ person was to be given as compensation. We were pretty happy with the process, and had a great night out drinking free cocktails.

The rest of the cruise went as planned.

 

Now, I have been booked on the 24Nov14 PNG cruise for some months, and after reading the previous posts became concerned as to if we would be able to make all of our port calls,

 

So, I rang princess this morning and spoke to Devan or maybe it was Bevan. I voiced my concerns and he told me it was just a generator problem that would be fixed in the next week or two and my cruise would not be effected. I told him that I had read it was a "broken crank" that required dry dock, abd he again assured me that it was just a generator issue, and that if something as major as a crank was broken they wouldn't wait until next year to repair it, they would cancel a cruise and dry dock it asap.

 

Take what you will from this info, but, still sounds a bit iffy to me. I will keep an eye on this thread and see if she is fixed soon.

 

cheers

 

The mystery to me, at least, is what does a generator have to do with slower speeds?

[MicCanberra]

Let us hope that Bevan or Devan is right and it is not just BS.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe the engines produce power which is stored and used to operate the whole ship systems. some of the power is used for the generators to drive the propellors and thrusters etc. If a generator is broken (they have several) or not working to full capoacity this would limit the speeds the ship can cruise at.:D

[MicCanberra]

Let us hope that Bevan or Devan is right and it is not just BS.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe the engines produce power which is stored and used to operate the whole ship systems. some of the power is used for the generators to drive the propellors and thrusters etc. If a generator is broken (they have several) or not working to full capacity this would limit the speeds the ship can cruise at.:D

 

 

Seems my information from a few years ago is correct, must have been paying attention in that cruise lecture.:D

http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=1546

The main engines aren't connected to the propeller shafts; instead, the main engines are directly connected to large generators with one job: producing electricity. The electricity they produce is sent to electric motors, which then power and turn the propellers.

[ONCRUISEMODE]

Seems my information from a few years ago is correct, must have been paying attention in that cruise lecture.:D

http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=1546

The main engines aren't connected to the propeller shafts; instead, the main engines are directly connected to large generators with one job: producing electricity. The electricity they produce is sent to electric motors, which then power and turn the propellers.

 

You truly do love everything about cruising. Down to the nuts and bolts. I was and am very impressed with your answers....

[MicCanberra]

You truly do love everything about cruising. Down to the nuts and bolts. I was and am very impressed with your answers....

cheers, glad I could help.:D

[battst]

I have seen unconfirmed reports that the Sea Princess is going into dry dock early (Via Princess email response) .I hope this is correct and I'm wondering which cruise will have to be cancelled to allow this??

[MicCanberra]

I have seen unconfirmed reports that the Sea Princess is going into dry dock early (Via Princess email response) .I hope this is correct and I'm wondering which cruise will have to be cancelled to allow this??

But it would only be a guess until Princess actually confirm it. Did the email indicate or confirm anything?

[tickford]

We got off the Sea Princess last Sunday, totally unimpressed with the $100-00 credit and the way Princess seems to be sidestepping this issue. I heard many complaints from passengers.

We went to a Navigation talk and whilst the chap wasn't an engineer and told us it was not his field he told us it was an engine problem and that we were going at about 18 knots instead of around 21 and indicated people were on board to fix the problem but I doubt that now.

It got dark within 20 mins of getting to Noumea and virtually everything was closed and of course impossible to do any sightseeing, a total waste.

I will tell anyone who will listen not to do that cruise and not to cruise on the Sea and Sun Princess. Although the Golden is only 3 yrs younger it is a far better ship.

I did do my survey when I came back but i doubt they will take note of what I said.

 

Oh, we were led to believe she was going into dry dock Sept 2015, guess that's close to Oct 2015.

Edited June 21, 2014 by tickford

[Seadog & Sea Hag]

If i were ever asked to name i port i would like to miss it would be Noumea.

And if it was indeed a speed reduction of 4 knots to 18 knots max then you would have barely noticed anyway. Its hard to please everyone. Would you have preferred to stay at home? Maybe that's an option next time.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

I have seen unconfirmed reports that the Sea Princess is going into dry dock early (Via Princess email response) .I hope this is correct and I'm wondering which cruise will have to be cancelled to allow this??

 

But it would only be a guess until Princess actually confirm it. Did the email indicate or confirm anything?

 

If it does to to drydock early I wonder which one they will use. There are really only 3,

*The Naval Yard in Sydney

*Brisbane

*Singapore.

It would also depend on the work needed to be done. If it was heavy engineering that would probably be Singapore.

The next few months could be very interesting. I can not seee them sending the ship around he world next year in its present state.

 

 

[MicCanberra]

We got off the Sea Princess last Sunday, totally unimpressed with the $100-00 credit and the way Princess seems to be sidestepping this issue. I heard many complaints from passengers.

We went to a Navigation talk and whilst the chap wasn't an engineer and told us it was not his field he told us it was an engine problem and that we were going at about 18 knots instead of around 21 and indicated people were on board to fix the problem but I doubt that now.

It got dark within 20 mins of getting to Noumea and virtually everything was closed and of course impossible to do any sightseeing, a total waste.

I will tell anyone who will listen not to do that cruise and not to cruise on the Sea and Sun Princess. Although the Golden is only 3 yrs younger it is a far better ship.

I did do my survey when I came back but i doubt they will take note of what I said.

 

Oh, we were led to believe she was going into dry dock Sept 2015, guess that's close to Oct 2015.

 

It is a shame that these things have ruined your cruise. It is especially poor of Princess to have such bad communication with its customers and to treat them like chumps. The compensation may not be much but at least they gave some and they will read your and the many other pieces of feedback, it is what they do about it, is the real question.:D

[MicCanberra]

If i were ever asked to name i port i would like to miss it would be Noumea.

And if it was indeed a speed reduction of 4 knots to 18 knots max then you would have barely noticed anyway. Its hard to please everyone. Would you have preferred to stay at home? Maybe that's an option next time.

 

While I agree that Noumea is not much, apparently the customers were not given a chance to cancel their tours. That is the issue along with arriving at the port so late. I also agree that you cannot please everyone.

I do not agree that staying home was an option as people have not been able to cancel their cruises without major penalties as Princess has not been informing them early enough of these issues.:(

[MicCanberra]

If it does to to drydock early I wonder which one they will use. There are really only 3,

*The Naval Yard in Sydney

*Brisbane

*Singapore.

It would also depend on the work needed to be done. If it was heavy engineering that would probably be Singapore.

The next few months could be very interesting. I can not seee them sending the ship around he world next year in its present state.

 

 

 

If it really is a generator issue and not the crank issue then perhaps just a short stay at a port to get the parts and repair is needed rather than the drydock.:D

[Seadog & Sea Hag]

No cruise line would ever put a cruise ship in an Australian dry dock because it would be too expensive. It would be cheaper to tow it to Singapore.

Either way, they wont dry dock until next year because its all about dollars and slowing down wont stop them earning any less.