Princess is the absolute WORST!

[mmckm]

It IS Princess "cleaning" the terminal. And they could have cleaned it the day before...there are NO ships there on the 2nd. This IS under their control. And that "advance" notice was not very far in advance, now was it?

I know you love Princess and think they can do no wrong...but, in fact, they do plenty wrong.

 

What good would cleaning the terminal the day before. The people getting off the ship use the same stair ways and walkways as those getting on. Whatever they touch will be returning to the ship. Anything that is used for unloading and reloading the ship must be cleaned.

[mdgary]

Sorry but the one I feel most sorry for is the poor person working the Customer Service Desk on embarkation day.

 

Personally I would love to live close to a port where 3 day cruises are an option but living on the Northern East Coast that just isn't an option. As it's been well stated, "Any day cruising is better than any day working!"

 

The poster stated in a previous post that the rate was such a great deal at $134pp after $25 OBC. This would equate to cost of $1.94 per hour if Princess would have stuck to the schedule. So in all fairness, Princess should give an additional $16 OBC (I rounded up) for the inconvenience of missing those 4 hours.

[DVC Calif]

...So, I called Princess for an explanation. The agent I spoke with had no clue[/b ] 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...

 

Steve- Is this random CSR the only source that this cleaning is due to the November incident? I'm also looking for your reference that the terminal cleaning is "smoking gun" causing the delay. My email notification states "...although case numbers remain relatively low, in an abundance of caution we have arranged for the ship to undergo an additional disinfection in Los Angeles on Saturday, January 3, 2015..." They go on to mention that the terminal will be closed to minimize congestion, not for the delayed cleaning.

 

I'm on this sailing. I'm disappointed. And I've cruised over 24 times and have missed ports due to bad weather, bad fuel (NCL), and delayed boarding and disembark for a variety of reasons. I still consider my family blessed that we're able to enjoy these vacations and try not to sweat these minor inconveniences.

 

As an attorney with a psychologist for a wife, you can probably afford lunch out of pocket on Saturday.

Edited January 1, 2015 by DVC Calif

[janetz]

As bad as that sounds, I frequently read here that any day

on a cruise is better than a day at work.

 

I really, really wonder where some people work.

 

:p I know, right.

[rickechambers1@aol.com]

I'm taking this cruise at the end of the month...it's not that big of a deal. They are also very inexpensive...so just book another one. Surprised at you Steve...this isn't your first rodeo and seems insignificant to me.

Edited January 1, 2015 by rickechambers1@aol.com

[bhopal21]

Gee...

Thank you to everyone with the kind advice for me to just cancel this one and pick another cruise another time...

Let me fill you in as to why that cannot be the case:

First of all, Princess is not offering that cancellation option to anyone. Cancel at this time and you lose your full payment..

 

Had you bought the Princess insurance you could cancel for any reason and receive the full price towards a subsequent cruise.

 

No insurance? Then no complaints.

 

Mike:)

[RDC1]

I also expect that Princess is going to be extremely cautious about Noro where the Crown is concerned to avoid additional articles like this one:

 

Norovirus Hits Cruise Ship Six Months After Earlier Outbreak

Nov 16, 2014, 11:11 PM ET

 

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/norovirus-hits-cruise-ship-months-earlier-outbreak/story?id=26953623

 

Note the video clip attached to this one talks about the Caribbean Princess, while the article is about the Crown.

 

Bottom line is cruise lines get a lot of bad press about Noro, even though Noro is the most common gastro illness in the US and hits many places besides cruise ships. As a result they take a lot measures to fight it, especially when they have had outbreaks already. The last thing they want is for Noro to become associated with a particular ship or line.

 

If you don't want to run into preventive measures when cruising during peak Noro periods then maybe you need to examine your choice of vacations. I have encountered Noro boarding delays on 3 of my last 10 cruises on different lines. The commonality was all during cruises during peak Noro outbreak months. (the CDC has a graph showing the cases by month)

Edited January 1, 2015 by RDC1

[dclark]

Had you bought the Princess insurance you could cancel for any reason and receive the full price towards a subsequent cruise.

 

No insurance? Then no complaints.

 

Mike:)

 

Why should you have pay extra $ to Princess to cover a shortened cruise, the cause being fully within Princess's control?

Again, the key words are within control.

[SadieN]

Why check luggage on a three day?

 

Carry it on.

 

No formal night so you don't need your fancy duds.

[SoCal Cruiser78]

...why did I choose to cruise with Princess? Because, Frankly, any cruise IS better than staying home. I will find enough to enjoy. But, if I want to do a quick cruise out of LA, I really don't have a lot of choices at this time...it is pretty much Princess or Carnival...Terrible customer service and issues like this versus an even more crowded ship with more corners cut...Between Carnival and Princess, Princess wins...But it would be nice to have more competition in this market...

 

I agree. Princess knows their only real competition for SoCal coastals is Carnival, so the bar is set pretty low to begin with. HAL does some 3-4 day repos out of San Diego, but they all involve flying one-way to/from YVR :(.

 

I have had some vacations start off badly, then turn out fine. I hope this is the case for the OP and his wife.

[need2cruisesoon]

"The reason for the timing is likely that Princess, rather than hiring in a professional crew to do the job on an otherwise open date, are planning on using the ship's crew as labor...The extra work will likely make for an unhappy crew as well"

 

Just knowing this might be true, I'd cancel my cruise and look at other options. A unhappy crew would make for a rather unpleasant trip.

Edited January 1, 2015 by need2cruisesoon

[RDC1]

"The reason for the timing is likely that Princess, rather than hiring in a professional crew to do the job on an otherwise open date, are planning on using the ship's crew as labor...The extra work will likely make for an unhappy crew as well"

 

Just knowing this might be true, I'd cancel my cruise and look at other options.

 

The issue for the terminal is timing. They do not start the cleaning for the new passengers, until after all of the old passengers have left. Cleaning it before the ship returned would not be in accordance with protocol.

[bhopal21]

Why should you have pay extra $ to Princess to cover a shortened cruise, the cause being fully within Princess's control?

Again, the key words are within control.

 

No one said you had to buy the insurance and according to the cruise contract they are under no obligation.

 

Agreed you are "within control" by buying or not buying insurance. You makes you choices.

 

Mike:)

[dclark]

No one said you had to buy the insurance and according to the cruise contract they are under no obligation.

 

Agreed you are "within control" by buying or not buying insurance. You makes you choices.

 

Mike:)

You really don't understand what is meant by "within control", do you?

[tootsiescurly]

Why should you have pay extra $ to Princess to cover a shortened cruise, the cause being fully within Princess's control?

Again, the key words are within control.

 

We are going to be on the Jan 19, 3-day cruise on the Crown. We booked a very expensive suite. I will be very upset if we have the same issue. It would not be a problem had we booked an inside, ocean view, or balcony. The prices were good enough to make this a non-issue. However, the suite prices are not cheap, even on a 3 day cruise, thus losing a day could be a game changer.

[bhopal21]

You really don't understand what is meant by "within control", do you?

 

 

Sure I do, Princess is and you aren't.

 

Mike:)

[Colo Cruiser]

Sure I do, Princess is and you aren't.

 

Mike:)

 

 

*snort*

[RDC1]

Here is an extraction from a British manual for dealing with Noro. I am referencing this because the CDC documents that are publicly available tend towards being guidelines that indicate a cruise ship needs to have a protocol, where as the British publication lists more specifics on what the protocol must contain. Since Princess cruises extensively in both areas their internal protocol would have to be compliant with both regions. This is a section applicable to the discussion.

 

11.1 EMBARKATION AND DISEMBARKATION

Where there has been, or there is a continuing outbreak of illness on board a vessel every

effort should be made to separate passengers leaving the vessel and those about to board.

It may be necessary to use separate halls or movable barriers to prevent cross contamination.

If both sets of passengers have to use the same area it should be effectively cleaned and

disinfected after disembarking passengers have left and before embarking passengers

arrive.

 

For anyone interested you can find the entire document here:

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/362998/2007_guideline_norovirus_cruiseships.pdf

[likeadisguise]

I'm curious why people think Princess is not using an outside contractor to come in and do the cleaning along with the crew (the way they do for EVERY SINGLE norovirus sanitation cleaning on an embarkation day) and instead only using the ship's crew? Where did this piece of information (misinformation?) come from, or are people just making it up?

 

I also don't understand why people think Princess is flat out lying -- if they were going to make something up, I'd think they'd come up with something less ominous than norovirus.

 

p.s. I want to know about the whale, too!

Edited January 1, 2015 by likeadisguise

[Hawaiidan]

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!

 

 

Steve, with all due respect, and this applies to many others, the real culprit is trying to plan every min. Any little thing or perceived rock in the road creates a chain reaction that blooms out of control. The more detail you plan the more potential there is for problems. Over planning is the problem...just let it happen and enjoy what comes. You don't have to be in control

THe second potential problem is booking a short 3 day discount cruise where their is no ability to recover and bump in the road...were this a 10 or 14 day... no problem just slide it to another day...

The delay looks like a response to the large number of bookings due to cheap fares and the attendant masses descending on the ship...traffic control pure and simple.

[need2cruisesoon]

::: unsticking my tongue from my cheek :::

 

Princess does read CC. Never fear. They know what each of us is posting.

 

I have a 4-day cruise booked on the Crown in three weeks. What will be will be. Technically, I paid for the number of nights on the cruise. Earlier boarding or later disembarkation is a bonus.

 

If they read CC why not make a general statement regarding this cruise on this thread? Instead of letting this issue fester?

[Happy2cruise]

If you are complaining this badly about a late start then how badly would you complain if you got the norovirus because they didn't disinfect the ship

Good point!

[Reader0108598]

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!

 

 

Bruin Steve;

 

I am sorry your very short cruise is being impacted...and yes I get what you are saying/feeling .I am sure most people would feel the same way if it was their cruise and they had limited Vacation time .

 

Wishing You & Yours a Very Happy New Year!

 

Reader

Edited January 1, 2015 by Reader0108598

[RDC1]

If they read CC why not make a general statement regarding this cruise on this thread? Instead of letting this issue fester?

 

Because cruise critic is not part of their communications systems. When you consider the relatively small percentage of the cruising population that actually uses cruise critic it is not surprising. Besides what are they going to say that they have not already said in the notices to each passenger? I guess they could say that they were not lying in the official notices that they have already sent out, but I doubt that would be very productive.

 

They tend to be a bit more interactive over on facebook which is part of their communications system.

Edited January 1, 2015 by RDC1

[Colo Cruiser]

I'm curious why people think Princess is not using an outside contractor to come in and do the cleaning along with the crew (the way they do for EVERY SINGLE norovirus sanitation cleaning on an embarkation day) and instead only using the ship's crew? Where did this piece of information (misinformation?) come from, or are people just making it up?

 

I also don't understand why people think Princess is flat out lying -- if they were going to make something up, I'd think they'd come up with something less ominous than norovirus.

 

p.s. I want to know about the whale, too!

 

 

Princess is not responsible for a building owned by the port/city of Los Angeles. They have enough to take care of on the vessel without having to supply staff to a cleaning project in a building.