Major itinerary changes for Princess in Japan

[Omega1]

Not sure what the complainer would be happy with - going to the ports anyway, a lot of sea sick days, tossing and turning - not able to walk outdoors on the ship - all would be locked down. No need to feed anyone! Everyone too green to eat! Confined to cabins!Bonus! Supplies of barf bags delivered to your rooms free!. Limited room power. Lights coming on and off! Raining so hard, you look like you are at sea when you are docked.

Get to a port - no port staff to allow the ship to dock and, if they find staff - the winds and waves so great - oops wait till we scoop you out of the ocean! You hear thumping - just the ship hitting the wall of the dock and doing damage to the dock and the ship!

No out trips, locals smart enought to stay home - not take some demanding tourists to their "booked" destinations!

What do you expect to see???

Besides the fact that the Captain and a lot of the senior staff would be accountable for the damage to the ship and safety of the people disappointed to miss the expected ports, but much happier to at least be alive!!

Please - go take your own side trips - do not board the ship - you will not be missed! Sounds like you would complain the whole cruise anyway!!

As other stated - most of us have had to miss ports - dissapointed? Yes!

Alive and well to go on other cruises in the future - YES!!

Please do not book cruises - not your cup of tea!

 

Thank you for your comments - unfortunately, they are not helpful in the least. In fact, I find them to be quite rude. I sincerely hope you never find yourself in our situation.

[ar1950]

I'm not so sure that a land tour would have been the best idea.....

 

http://mashable.com/2014/10/08/super-typhoon-vongfong-stays-strong/

[Roses2]

The single most important consideration is that this is a very strong typhoon. Thousands of people's lives are in danger.

 

Princess, and all other cruise lines as well as airlines, must assure the safety of their passengers and make such changes as necessary. All other considerations are secondary to safety.

[caribill]

I heard that this is the most powerful storm in the world so far this year.

 

Princess has as much control over the typhoon as does the OP.

[BridgeMates]

Thank you for your comments - unfortunately, they are not helpful in the least. In fact, I find them to be quite rude. I sincerely hope you never find yourself in our situation.

 

Well said, and so politely. Sometimes folks get kind of mean on these boards. Hope you have a good time in spite of the changes. I can fully understand your disappointment. That is a l o n g way to go for the itinerary you now have. Perhaps Princess will increase the compensation before the end of your cruise......they've certainly done much better many times before. Good luck. :)

[RDC1]

So when did the TA get the information about the ability to cancel and why didn't they notify you early enough for you to cancel? Did you try calling Princess, e-mail almost always takes a couple of days to respond. Did you try calling them as soon as you got read the e-mail about the expiration notice. Did you contact your TA after you read the message to have them try and get an extension due to the timing of the notification?

 

 

An update (6.39 am local time)

 

I emailed Princess yesterday requesting the ability to cancel - no reply. I did receive a response from our TA timed at 23.04 local time (when I was asleep!) which stated that we could cancel with a full refund but the offer expired at 6pm UK time (2am local time). Consequently, when I awoke this morning and read my emails the offer had already expired. :confused:

Therefore, our only option is to board the ship which we will do in the next few hours.

 

To respond to a couple of points raised in previous posts:

We always have travel insurance that is quite comprehensive but does not cover 'at a whim' cancellation - I am not aware of such a product on sale in the UK. The Princess At-Ease waiver product is not available in the UK and would not have covered us for cancellation within 72 hours of departure anyway.

 

With regards the wisdom of taking an impromptu land tour knowing a typhoon was approaching - we had factored this into our thinking. When Typhoon Phanfone passed through two days ago we simply stayed in our hotel for 12 hours until it passed - once the storm passed, the weather was bright sunshine within the hour! We would do exactly the same if and when Typhoon Vongfang hit.

 

Anyway, that's all theoretical - we will board the ship, put the disappointment behind us and make the most of it. Many thanks for the helpful suggestions and good wishes. Bring on Vongfang! :eek:

[laughing husky]

Having lost two houses due to Hurricanes, there is no way I would want to be on a ship anywhere near a hurricane. In 1932, a hurricane took 32 members of my family in the BWI's. Hurricanes and typhoons are dangerous, disastrous storms. It is not a good thing to have your vacation dreams dashed, but it is better than being lost in a storm, or being horribly sea sick....Princess doesn't have to do anything....they are at least doing something....and since the storm is presently on course for Okinawa, it will seem that it might be heading your way. Sometimes you can't bet Mother Nature, sometimes you have to squeak by her...

[JimmyVWine]

Having lost two houses due to Hurricanes, there is no way I would want to be on a ship anywhere near a hurricane. ....Princess doesn't have to do anything....

 

But the OP's whole point springs from the first sentence above. It is perfectly logical for passengers to want to stay as far away as possible. Which in turn contradicts the second sentence. Yes, it is true that Princess is not legally or contractually obligated to do anything. But for all the people who agree with your first statement, and who do not want to fly into harm's way, staying home so as not to be anywhere near a hurricane seems to be a common sense and viable option. Given that this happens to so few cruises, a bending of the "Princess doesn't have to do anything" rule is not an extreme request. After 9/11 and hurricane Sandy, affected hotels were very liberal with their refunds of non-refundable deposits and hotel stays. They didn't have to be, and they could have made guests rely on "cancel for any reason" travel insurance. But they did not. I think the OP's whole point here is that it would be nice if Princess showed the same courtesy and said to folks: "Come see us another time. Now is not the time to fly to a country under duress and boarding a ship that will spend its time squeaking by Mother Nature."

[ar1950]

But the OP's whole point springs from the first sentence above. It is perfectly logical for passengers to want to stay as far away as possible. Which in turn contradicts the second sentence. Yes, it is true that Princess is not legally or contractually obligated to do anything. But for all the people who agree with your first statement, and who do not want to fly into harm's way, staying home so as not to be anywhere near a hurricane seems to be a common sense and viable option. Given that this happens to so few cruises, a bending of the "Princess doesn't have to do anything" rule is not an extreme request. After 9/11 and hurricane Sandy, affected hotels were very liberal with their refunds of non-refundable deposits and hotel stays. They didn't have to be, and they could have made guests rely on "cancel for any reason" travel insurance. But they did not. I think the OP's whole point here is that it would be nice if Princess showed the same courtesy and said to folks: "Come see us another time. Now is not the time to fly to a country under duress and boarding a ship that will spend its time squeaking by Mother Nature."

 

On the other hand, the OP wanted to cancel the cruise and do a land tour of all of the places that the typhoon is now projected to hit. At least on board the ship there is the option of moving someplace other than the path of the typhoon. My parents were on a cruise in the Caribbean many years ago and that is exactly what the ship did. They skirted the hurricane, missed ports, but had a nice time and were SAFE (most important thing in my mind, btw). It may yet happen that the OP will, in retrospect, be happy that they ended up on the ship.

Edited October 9, 2014 by ar1950

[RDC1]

But the OP's whole point springs from the first sentence above. It is perfectly logical for passengers to want to stay as far away as possible. Which in turn contradicts the second sentence. Yes, it is true that Princess is not legally or contractually obligated to do anything. But for all the people who agree with your first statement, and who do not want to fly into harm's way, staying home so as not to be anywhere near a hurricane seems to be a common sense and viable option. Given that this happens to so few cruises, a bending of the "Princess doesn't have to do anything" rule is not an extreme request. After 9/11 and hurricane Sandy, affected hotels were very liberal with their refunds of non-refundable deposits and hotel stays. They didn't have to be, and they could have made guests rely on "cancel for any reason" travel insurance. But they did not. I think the OP's whole point here is that it would be nice if Princess showed the same courtesy and said to folks: "Come see us another time. Now is not the time to fly to a country under duress and boarding a ship that will spend its time squeaking by Mother Nature."

 

Based upon the OP last posting that indicated that his TA notified him that there was a period when he could have gotten a 100% refund, but that he did not get the e-mail until the next morning after it had expired. That would imply that even though a hurricane falls under the act of god category and they did not need to, Princess apparently did comply with the UK PTR and allow cancellations for a period. The question in my mind is how long did the TA know before notifying the OP.

[JimmyVWine]

On the other hand, the OP wanted to cancel the cruise and do a land tour of all of the places that the typhoon is now projected to hit.

 

Yeah, that one is a head scratcher. Seems to me that if you want to abort the entire vacation, that would make sense. Hanging out on land in a country just hit by a typhoon with another one on the way seems a bit silly.

 

Based upon the OP last posting that indicated that his TA notified him that there was a period when he could have gotten a 100% refund, but that he did not get the e-mail until the next morning after it had expired. That would imply that even though a hurricane falls under the act of god category and they did not need to, Princess apparently did comply with the UK PTR and allow cancellations for a period. The question in my mind is how long did the TA know before notifying the OP.

 

Another question would be why did the offer self-expire after such a short period of time?

[hawkeyetlse]

It may yet happen that the OP will, in retrospect, be happy that they ended up on the ship.

The OP is antipodean99. I don't know if they were booked on this cruise or just passing on information, but they seemed pretty satisfied with the compensation Princess was offering. You are referring to Omega1, who seemed to be quite determined to enjoy the cruise once it became clear that they would be on it. A commendable attitude and I hope they are enjoying it.

Given that this happens to so few cruises, a bending of the "Princess doesn't have to do anything" rule is not an extreme request.

From the very beginning it has been clear that Princess is doing something for its passengers. The question is whether they should have been expected to do the maximum and offer everyone outright refunds. We can continue to disagree about this. The fact is that Princess did agree to refund Omega1's cruise fare upon request, so it seems to me that they were in fact prepared to do the maximum. No, they didn't explicitly announce this option in the itinerary update that they sent to everyone. It wasn't an offer that was automatically extended to all booked passengers without asking, but for people who contacted Princess or their TA (preferably via telephone, not by sending e-mails the day before boarding… :rolleyes:) to make the request, the request was evidently granted.

[JimmyVWine]

The fact is that Princess did agree to refund Omega1's cruise fare upon request

 

Unfortunately we will probably never learn the full facts of this offer, or to whom it was made. Right now, all we have is a post by one person who says that there was an offer extended which expired quite rapidly. If this offer was more widespread, and not the result of a squeaky wheel, that would make all the difference in the world.

[RDC1]

Yeah, that one is a head scratcher. Seems to me that if you want to abort the entire vacation, that would make sense. Hanging out on land in a country just hit by a typhoon with another one on the way seems a bit silly.

 

 

 

Another question would be why did the offer self-expire after such a short period of time?

 

From the timing it looks like it expired at 2am on boarding day or about 9 hours before the passengers started boarding. So I would expect it expired about the time that they finalize their passenger lists. Not sure what kind of requirements the Japanese government has for cruise lines, but that would be later then when the US requires the lists.

[shepp]

Sure, Princess had the option of canceling the cruise altogether. Thing is, probably about half the passengers are Japanese. If I knew one of the biggest storms ever was heading my way, I might well board up my house and get the hell out, choosing the safety of the ship to sit out the storm. Likewise, foreigners who already came from abroad might well choose that option, too. I know I would.

 

I know some of the responses have been…stringent, but in the face of a massive disaster that could kill hundreds, the poster seemed utterly unconcerned with anything but his money. And his breezily intended "Bring on Vongfang!" really didn't help his cause.

[hawkeyetlse]

The offer expired at 6pm UK time. Maybe that's the TA's closing time, or "last orders" for the day, and later requests get dealt with the next day. Or if it was Princess's deadline, it is not unreasonable for them to expect a rapid response (although if you called the next day, and explained about the time zones, etc., maybe they would still honor the offer.)

 

Anyway, we're talking a few hours before boarding. Even if the offer had been valid up to boarding time, upon learning about it that morning in Japan, Omega1 would not have been able to contact their TA in the UK, where it was the middle of the night. (I assume this would all have to go through the TA.)

[bcnvcanada]

NO BOARDING ON THE 15, instead boarding on the 16 of October

between 11:30 and 2:30pm Thursday. Osaka now of 17 between 1:00pm

and 9:00pm.

[kenasch2]

Looks like they are now at anchorage off Ube Japan. Not a major tourist destination and not even sure if they are tendering passengers to the port. Probably just the best place to seek shelter from the typhoon.