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Princess is the absolute WORST!

Bruin Steve

By Bruin Steve,
in Princess Cruises

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Bruin Steve

Bruin Steve

Posted
Posted

We have a three night cruise scheduled for THIS Saturday on the Crown Princess.

We had planned to get there early, eat lunch on board, relax a little, hit the muster drill, then do a Meet & Mingle with our Roll Call group, return to the room dress for dinner, get to dinner early to avoid the typical lines and crowds in Anytime...then go to the 8:15 show...and then on to one of the later night activities before retiring to bed...

 

Today, less than 72 hours from sailing, Princess sent us an e-mail telling us that boarding has been delayed until 5:30 pm with some decks being told to show up to board AFTER 8:00 pm!

 

The excuse was that the ship needs to be disinfected due to an outbreak of Norovirus.

 

Problem is that, since I regularly read Cruise Critic, I know that there is NO CURRENT outbreak of Norovirus. The last Norovirus outbreak reported on the Crown Princess was back in MID-NOVEMBER...

 

So, I called Princess for an explanation. The agent I spoke with had no clue and was unaware of the delay. She put me on hold to go find the "official" word, then came back with, basically, the same explanation as on the e-mail. I told her that there was NO current outbreak and she admitted that I was correct...but there had been an outbreak recently. I told her that it was over a month and a half ago...and she admitted that I was correct, but that Princess decided to do this cleaning NOW in response to that...

 

So, what Princess has decided to do, in response to a situation that passed several cruises ago, is to arbitrarily ruin OUR cruise experience on less than three days notice.

 

The cruise is already a very short one as it is. This delay basically makes it that much shorter. They expect us to forego the first afternoon...arrive at the pier at 8:00 pm...rush to the likely overcrowded Anytime dining room for what will be for us a very late dinner...sneak in a muster drill (still required, of course, as our evening's entertainment...and go to bed, hopefully with our luggage showing up to our cabin sometime or another...

 

For those flying in and with transportation and flight arranged, I suppose they are expected to wait for several hours standing in the San Pedro parking lot...

 

A wonderful first day of only three...Thank you, Princess Cruise Lines!

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RDC1

RDC1

Posted
Posted (edited)

How do you know that there is no Norovirus on board?

 

This is peak season for Noro. According to the medical officer on my last cruise the ships go enhanced measures anytime they have more than 15 cases on board. That is considerably less (by a couple of orders of magnitude then what the CDC classifies as an official outbreak.

 

Sounds like they have some cases and the number, while still low is increasing and they have decided to be proactive. The only way to know for sure is to talk with someone on the ship and see if they are doing any enhanced measures. Customer service would not know and realistically has no way to easily find out. All the person you talked with has access to is their supervisor and whatever advisories in on their computer.

 

As far as waiting, thus the reason for the 72 hour advance notice. San Pedro does have indoor waiting space. One can also go over and checkout the Battleship next door.

 

If they are saying delayed until 5:30 they will usually start board 30 minutes to an hour earlier.

Edited by RDC1
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Holomoku

Holomoku

Posted
Posted (edited)

I would think that this is not just an arbitrary decission made by Princess alone. L.A. is famous for having the spot inspections by the INS and CG that take quite awhile.:eek: The crew has to stay in their rooms and cannot begin cleaning until all have been verified by the INS and everywhere else has to be perfect for the Health inspection and equipment inspection. I just can't get my head around PCL desiring the ire of a whole load of PAXs just to do it, that makes no sense.:confused:

Sorry about the loss of those hours, you need everyone of the hours on a short cruise like that.;):

Edited by Holomoku
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M4dC0w

M4dC0w

Posted
Posted

But noro is reported on cc everytime in real time.

 

We all know everthing on the internet is 100% factual.

 

Sorrybthe cruise us shortened, but if yiu get noro, you would be in your cabin the whole cruise anyhow

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Govantrueblue

Govantrueblue

Posted
Posted

as the crown seems to be the ship with the recent outbreak of noro that at some point they would need to do repeat deep cleans as to avoid more out breaks

 

i understand you have a routine but an extra couple of hours to wait for a relaxing cruise or 3 days in bed with d+v i know which one im going for

 

sorry they picked your cruise but it has to be someones

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RickEk

RickEk

Posted
Posted

I was on the 12/13 cruise. There had been an outbreak two cruises before ours. On our cruise, the crew was constantly disinfecting the ship. Maybe they are being proactive because the upcoming cruise is the first of many short cruises in January...

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whitecap

whitecap

Posted
Posted
We have a three night cruise scheduled for THIS Saturday on the Crown Princess.

We had planned to get there early, eat lunch on board, relax a little, hit the muster drill, then do a Meet & Mingle with our Roll Call group, return to the room dress for dinner, get to dinner early to avoid the typical lines and crowds in Anytime...then go to the 8:15 show...and then on to one of the later night activities before retiring to bed...

 

Today, less than 72 hours from sailing, Princess sent us an e-mail telling us that boarding has been delayed until 5:30 pm with some decks being told to show up to board AFTER 8:00 pm!

 

The excuse was that the ship needs to be disinfected due to an outbreak of Norovirus.

 

Problem is that, since I regularly read Cruise Critic, I know that there is NO CURRENT outbreak of Norovirus. The last Norovirus outbreak reported on the Crown Princess was back in MID-NOVEMBER...

 

So, I called Princess for an explanation. The agent I spoke with had no clue and was unaware of the delay. She put me on hold to go find the "official" word, then came back with, basically, the same explanation as on the e-mail. I told her that there was NO current outbreak and she admitted that I was correct...but there had been an outbreak recently. I told her that it was over a month and a half ago...and she admitted that I was correct, but that Princess decided to do this cleaning NOW in response to that...

 

So, what Princess has decided to do, in response to a situation that passed several cruises ago, is to arbitrarily ruin OUR cruise experience on less than three days notice.

 

The cruise is already a very short one as it is. This delay basically makes it that much shorter. They expect us to forego the first afternoon...arrive at the pier at 8:00 pm...rush to the likely overcrowded Anytime dining room for what will be for us a very late dinner...sneak in a muster drill (still required, of course, as our evening's entertainment...and go to bed, hopefully with our luggage showing up to our cabin sometime or another...

 

For those flying in and with transportation and flight arranged, I suppose they are expected to wait for several hours standing in the San Pedro parking lot...

 

A wonderful first day of only three...Thank you, Princess Cruise Lines!

 

I too am wondering how it is you "know" what is currently taking place on the Crown. I follow the Crown often because of our experience in Feb 2012 when we left Ft. Lauderdale, floated around for two and a half days before being ordered back to Ft. Lauderdale because of a severe outbreak. Boarding for that cruise was delayed until 10:00pm to allow for a "complete cleaning" (which didn't do any good). If they are already scheduling a cleaning, my guess is there is an outbreak and they are trying to get ahead of it. Go, have fun! :)

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kruisey

kruisey

Posted
Posted
We have a three night cruise scheduled for THIS Saturday on the Crown Princess.

We had planned to get there early, eat lunch on board, relax a little, hit the muster drill, then do a Meet & Mingle with our Roll Call group, return to the room dress for dinner, get to dinner early to avoid the typical lines and crowds in Anytime...then go to the 8:15 show...and then on to one of the later night activities before retiring to bed...

 

Today, less than 72 hours from sailing, Princess sent us an e-mail telling us that boarding has been delayed until 5:30 pm with some decks being told to show up to board AFTER 8:00 pm!

 

The excuse was that the ship needs to be disinfected due to an outbreak of Norovirus.

 

Problem is that, since I regularly read Cruise Critic, I know that there is NO CURRENT outbreak of Norovirus. The last Norovirus outbreak reported on the Crown Princess was back in MID-NOVEMBER...

 

So, I called Princess for an explanation. The agent I spoke with had no clue and was unaware of the delay. She put me on hold to go find the "official" word, then came back with, basically, the same explanation as on the e-mail. I told her that there was NO current outbreak and she admitted that I was correct...but there had been an outbreak recently. I told her that it was over a month and a half ago...and she admitted that I was correct, but that Princess decided to do this cleaning NOW in response to that...

 

So, what Princess has decided to do, in response to a situation that passed several cruises ago, is to arbitrarily ruin OUR cruise experience on less than three days notice.

 

The cruise is already a very short one as it is. This delay basically makes it that much shorter. They expect us to forego the first afternoon...arrive at the pier at 8:00 pm...rush to the likely overcrowded Anytime dining room for what will be for us a very late dinner...sneak in a muster drill (still required, of course, as our evening's entertainment...and go to bed, hopefully with our luggage showing up to our cabin sometime or another...

 

For those flying in and with transportation and flight arranged, I suppose they are expected to wait for several hours standing in the San Pedro parking lot...

 

A wonderful first day of only three...Thank you, Princess Cruise Lines!

 

I was reading only a day ago about the outbreak on that ship.

Princess wants to make certain everyone has a healthy holiday.

Sorry but I am on Princess's side.

Have a Happy Healthy New Year:)

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MCC retired

MCC retired

Posted
Posted

Should have never booked such a short cruise if you can't handle a delay for your own protection .

3 days is about what a typical Noro virus will knock you for a loop if you get it.

What is with the Crown . More Noro reports than any other ship ( we got it in 2013 on the Crown).

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

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VenusLady

VenusLady

Posted
Posted (edited)

Better to be safe than sorry. I guess Princess just want to make sure everyone is ok on further cruises.

It would be worse if you boarded early, then get noro and spend the 3 days Ill

 

I know which I would prefer.

 

Happy new year and have a safe cruise!

Edited by VenusLady
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VibeGuy

VibeGuy

Posted
Posted

"the worst" would be them knowing they needed to do this and then springing it on unsuspecting guests arriving at noon. Especially when they aren't using Berth 93 for this sailing. With three days notice, people can make a plan, go have a fun afternoon and arrive when the ship is ready for them, rather than linger with 2500 other people in a terminal that is not exactly a private club of luxurious appointment.

 

I'm disappointed as well, but I think erring on the side of transparency is smart. We have had situations boarding in Vancouver where they had >12 hour notice if > 4 hour delays and were not open and honest in their communications to stakeholders.

 

I'm curious to see what Princess does to make up for this. One particularly aggrieved group might be those with inclusive beverage stickers - $50 for cocktails from 6-bedtime sort of alters the value equation.

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rpcv77

rpcv77

Posted
Posted

I have no blind loyalty to Princes (or any other cruise line), and I'm not about to speculate about Noro or any other reason for such a delay. However, I can't imagine that any cruise line arbitrarily creates a delay. The ill will it generates is too great, so I assume that there must be a very good reason for the delay. I am sorry that you will be effected, especially on a short cruise, but these things happen. Princess probably doesn't want the delay anymore than you do.

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Bruin Steve

Bruin Steve

Posted
  • Author
Posted

How do I know what is actually happening on the Crown?

 

I have now spoken with three different people at Princess' HQ.

 

The first one admitted to me that there was No current outbreak. The disinfection and timing thereof was Princess' decision and in response to the "outbreak" in Mid-November. It is not required by Los Angeles health inspectors in response to an inspection.

 

The third person I spoke with claimed that there was a "slightly" higher than usual number of reported cases of "gastrointestinal" illnesses on the current voyage...but still less than 15.

 

Some of you may want to "side with Princess" on this...but, many loyal Princess cruisers here seem to "side with Princess" every time anyone has a complaint.

 

Truth is that I may actually know a little bit more than your speculation here.

 

As it is, Princess' current stance is that there will be no compensation in any form for the shortened cruise. Face it, Princess isn't charging a lot of money for these, at least in a comparative sense, so they really don't care if they short change their customers on the cruise/itinerary/timing. They'll save money serving no lunches and a much lesser number of dinners...

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dchinski

dchinski

Posted
Posted

I feel that the problem is that this is a short cruise and "some" if the passengers are "first timers" and fail to do the common preventive measures. WASH your hands. Hope they get under control. I am doing a B2B in January.

 

Sent from my XT1080 using Forums mobile app

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