2016 Mediterrean Cruise Cancelled

[waltd]

Not only are we disappointed that the cruise is cancelled, but for long time, loyal Princess passengers, a $15 pp OBC is really a slap in the face. Really, our loyalty not worth more than that?!? Time to take my loyalty elsewhere.

 

What does your loyalty have to do with anything? Princess made a business decision and they let you know. The cruise was over a year away. Don't want the obc then don't use it. Sounds to me like you now want something for nothing. Good luck finding another cruise line that hasn't or will not do the same thing in the future.

[gannyvan]

What does your loyalty have to do with anything? Princess made a business decision and they let you know. The cruise was over a year away. Don't want the obc then don't use it. Sounds to me like you now want something for nothing. Good luck finding another cruise line that hasn't or will not do the same thing in the future.

 

Princess made a very unbusinesslike decision. It is very disconcerting that people found out on cruise critic, and emails from fellow cruisers . When Travel Agents were called they did not have the information. When the TA's called Princess , their agents knew nothing. The supervisor my TA talked to said this info was not to be disclosed until Friday !! Really, is this the way to do business? Then we received our cancellation email before our TA did! And yes, the $15 per person obc is an insult to elite and platinum members and others that were booking this cruise 562 days in advance with B2B2B cruises and land tours to coincide with the cruise. Everyone knows that there is fine print in their contract. All of us have probably experienced missed ports. Some may have experienced mechanical problems or illness that caused cruises to be cancelled. But this was poor management . The obc to disrupt people's plan is an insult. Did anyone think to offer the same cruise in 2017 and transfer bookings? It seems as if everyone was just making snap decisions, not knowing what to do or how to handle it professionally with little thought to how loyal cruisers or travel agents would feel. Let's not forget the travel agents who are having to deal with irate, disappointed, panicky clients. They aren't making commissions on all the problems with deposits, insurance, obc etc that they are having to deal with. With reference to the $15 obc : NCL had mechanical issues the LAST day of a cruise gave 75% discounts on that cruise as well as 50 % off on a future cruise to let cruisers know they value their business. Carnival gave us a $100 obc on our cruise because of a horrendous tender problem in Cozumel when 13 ships were in port, free drinks, and a $100 per person credit toward another cruise. $15 per person to cancel a cruise of lifetime for some people - poor business decision. The OCT 8 cruise that has been leaked ,but not told to those who were booked , isn't even out of Barcelona or similar. I will be in Spain next Sept on a premium line .

[Zooguy]

gannyvan, no one could say it better.

[Loonbeam]

Two points here -

 

1> It's obvious this was leaked before Princess was ready to make an official announcement. Joy of the internet... While they still should have a plan in place for stuff like this, its not surprising that information got garbled.

 

2> Yes, it's annoying. But it's 562 days out, as noted. No one has booked airfare, I doubt very many people have locked in unchangeable vacation plans, and while some people may have started on land tours, the operators all know how unpredictable things are more than a year out. In short, the actual impact was completely minimal. Hence the minimal OBC. Some people might consider it low, but realistically, not much actually changed and no significant effort will be needed to adapt.

[gannyvan]

I agree that the $15 is an insult and slap in the face....salt in the wound.

 

This itinerary was so nice..especially coupled with two previous cruises....perfect...and the best group of friends. I hope that tomorrow finds something that will work out to book for next year. Keep the $15 and give us back our itinerary.

 

It was a wonderful itinerary. We had never been to Spain and never done a TransAtlantic. It is really a disappointment. But, after the disappointment , ill feelings, research, and many calls to my TA, Princess has given me the opportunity to go back to my favorite cruise line (with a liquor package thrown in ) for basically the same amount - and see Spain. I didn't wait for the Sip and Sail tomorrow because Spain wouldn't be there and $30 certainly wasn't an incentive. It's a shame to see Princess do such a poor job handling this cancellation with what seemed like knee jerk reactions, secrecy, and panic -- and not trying to make loyal cruisers feel appreciated.......because they have a good product and fabulous itineraries.

[gannyvan]

Two points here -

 

1> It's obvious this was leaked before Princess was ready to make an official announcement. Joy of the internet... While they still should have a plan in place for stuff like this, its not surprising that information got garbled.

 

2> Yes, it's annoying. But it's 562 days out, as noted. No one has booked airfare, I doubt very many people have locked in unchangeable vacation plans, and while some people may have started on land tours, the operators all know how unpredictable things are more than a year out. In short, the actual impact was completely minimal. Hence the minimal OBC. Some people might consider it low, but realistically, not much actually changed and no significant effort will be needed to adapt.

 

 

not much actually changed and no significant effort will be needed to adapt.

????????????? At 511 days out we had our hotel and all tour guides booked for all ports. We also had our cruise calendar arranged for 2016 with 4 cruises. Now our travelling companions who did the emailing for and arranging of tours will have a lot to adapt to !!! and a lot of people to email,

The hotel is cancelled, no problem. No air was purchased thank goodness. But a trip that was eagerly anticipated enough to research and book tours is now history. I would say signifigant effort will be needed to adapt and a lot changed ! My opinion of Princess business acumen is severely damaged. This was handled so poorly that it is difficult to consider trusting them for crusies in the future. If you read some posts you will see that lots of cruises have been cancelled for dry dock. I think someone in management needs to look at who is in charge and making decisions.

[Loonbeam]

Again, that's annoying, but quite frankly for most people can be accomplished in an hour. I didn't look at the new TA route to see what changed, so if there are new ports, research there could be time consuming, but other than that, its a few websites and emails to cancel current arrangements. IF there was a non-refundable deposit on tours, I could see that being an issues as well, but that's not common this far out...

 

There's a big difference between disappointment and actual effort required to resolve the situation.

 

If you want to make a point about wasted prior effort due to the cancellation, that's fair enough, but I can't see cruise lines offering compensation for that.

 

 

not much actually changed and no significant effort will be needed to adapt.

????????????? At 511 days out we had our hotel and all tour guides booked for all ports. We also had our cruise calendar arranged for 2016 with 4 cruises. Now our travelling companions who did the emailing for and arranging of tours will have a lot to adapt to !!! and a lot of people to email,

The hotel is cancelled, no problem. No air was purchased thank goodness. But a trip that was eagerly anticipated enough to research and book tours is now history. I would say signifigant effort will be needed to adapt and a lot changed ! My opinion of Princess business acumen is severely damaged. This was handled so poorly that it is difficult to consider trusting them for crusies in the future. If you read some posts you will see that lots of cruises have been cancelled for dry dock. I think someone in management needs to look at who is in charge and making decisions.

[shredie]

 

If you want to make a point about wasted prior effort due to the cancellation, that's fair enough, but I can't see cruise lines offering compensation for that.

 

That's a fair point, I think. Who knows? Maybe the new itinerary on the cruise you substitute will turn out to be even better and you'll have even more fun. When I plan something over a year out, I always keep in mind that there is still lots of time for plans to get changed, either by me or by the cruise line.

[waltd]

That's a fair point, I think. Who knows? Maybe the new itinerary on the cruise you substitute will turn out to be even better and you'll have even more fun. When I plan something over a year out, I always keep in mind that there is still lots of time for plans to get changed, either by me or by the cruise line.

 

Unfortunately from what has been posted already the new itinerary does not have the same ports. Totally different. Princess is offering a similar cruise in April of 2016 that has most of the original ports.

[crusinpeg]

Unfortunately from what has been posted already the new itinerary does not have the same ports. Totally different. Princess is offering a similar cruise in April of 2016 that has most of the original ports.

 

Only problem the April cruise being that much closer is more expensive than the one originally booked for Oct.

[Astro Flyer]

None of us will ever truly know why this change was made to have the drydock at that time & to cancel cruises. It's nothing that any cruise line wants to do because of the adverse affects on their passengers. They understand that passengers will be very disappointed but sometimes drydock schedules get changed.

 

Princess cannot prevent all of their employees from leaking info before all changes have been finalized in order to make a completely accurate statement. It's difficult for me to understand the motivation of employees who feel the need to prematurely release information...maybe it makes them feel important in today's social media world. I would prefer to wait a couple of days for an official announcement than to get information from anonymous sources.

 

Thankfully the change is being disclosed months before airfares are available & I would never book hotels nor tours that are non-refundable over a year in advance.

 

All cruise lines have been criticized for what is perceived as an unfair response to situations but that does not affect my choice of cruise lines. Maybe luxury cruise lines might be more generous but that's not an option for many of us. I would be very disappointed but not to the point of eliminating Princess as my best cruise for the price paid option.

[Colo Cruiser]

+1.

[msmoger]

+2

 

____________________

[AliceS]

Did anyone actually see (dry dock) in any of the information from Princess? I didn't...how do we know that the ship is going dry dock? It said maintenance. Not all maintenance is done in dry dock. Just saying.....

 

Just a thought.....

 

:confused::confused::confused::confused::confused:

[caribill]

 

Seriously $15 pp onboard credit for the inconvenience?

 

As little as that is, it is an improvement over what has happened in the past.

 

Last year when some spring trans-Atlantics for this year were moved and other itineraries changed, the OBC to those whose plans were cancelled was $0.

 

However, based on what has happened now for at least two years, those booking cruises at the start and end of the European season over a year in advance should keep in the back of their minds that the cruise might not actually happen.

[gannyvan]

As little as that is, it is an improvement over what has happened in the past.

 

Last year when some spring trans-Atlantics for this year were moved and other itineraries changed, the OBC to those whose plans were cancelled was $0.

 

However, based on what has happened now for at least two years, those booking cruises at the start and end of the European season over a year in advance should keep in the back of their minds that the cruise might not actually happen.

 

When I talked to the Future Cruise Consultant and we found this TA, we both said , "Too good to be true " We were right. It wasn't true. And from the sounds of other people on this thread, there are a lot of cancellations of TA cruises. I've never been on one and hoped this would be the dream one. Anyone looking for Spain, and not caring about the transatlantic part, Celebrity has a pretty good itinerary next September from Barcelona and has Go Big, Go Better , Go Best offers. no translatlantic , but nice ship, good itinerary, and good service.

[Putterdude]

I know that this January when Princess redeployed the Grand from its Hawaiian itinerary we got zero....other than notification that the cruise had been cancelled. Fortunately for us we had not made any air, hotel or tour reservations or put up any deposits.

[partybarbie]

When I talked to the Future Cruise Consultant and we found this TA, we both said , "Too good to be true " We were right. It wasn't true. And from the sounds of other people on this thread, there are a lot of cancellations of TA cruises. I've never been on one and hoped this would be the dream one. Anyone looking for Spain, and not caring about the transatlantic part, Celebrity has a pretty good itinerary next September from Barcelona and has Go Big, Go Better , Go Best offers. no translatlantic , but nice ship, good itinerary, and good service.

 

Perhaps you should look into booking the one on the Emerald that leaves 10/3/15? It's only 3 months away and there's still decent pricing and airfare.

[Colo Cruiser]

Perhaps you should look into booking the one on the Emerald that leaves 10/3/15? It's only 3 months away and there's still decent pricing and airfare.

 

Good idea.

[gannyvan]

Perhaps you should look into booking the one on the Emerald that leaves 10/3/15? It's only 3 months away and there's still decent pricing and airfare.

 

Unfortunately that is not an option. We leave the end of September for a Viking River Cruise on the Danube from Budapest to Bucharest and land trip in Transylvania. Thank you for the suggestion. That would have been an option if we hadn't booked this April 2014.

[spyro1952]

I know that this January when Princess redeployed the Grand from its Hawaiian itinerary we got zero....other than notification that the cruise had been cancelled. Fortunately for us we had not made any air, hotel or tour reservations or put up any deposits.

 

When the Sapphire trans pacific cruise was cancelled last year only a few months out, I was never notified and had already reserved airfare with FFM (150.00 to put back into my act) so getting notified and a courtesy OBC sounds pretty good to me. :eek:

[AliceS]

Did anyone actually see (dry dock) in any of the information from Princess? I didn't...how do we know that the ship is going dry dock? It said maintenance. Not all maintenance is done in dry dock. Just saying.....

 

Just a thought.....

 

:confused::confused::confused::confused::confused:

 

 

My guess was right....no dry dock. Looks like things are going to work out.

[skf]

Perhaps you should look into booking the one on the Emerald that leaves 10/3/15?

Not practical for us...we will be on Royal Oct 1 2015.

We really wanted to go to Barcelona; did Rome in 2013.

[PescadoAmarillo]

The cruise that we were notified was being cancelled has still not been cancelled nor our FCCs or $15 OBC appeared in our Captains Circle account. For us, this isn't an issue because we have other FCCs, but if I needed them to immediately book another cruise, we would be out of luck. I guess I think that's the bigger issue than the amount of the Goodwill OBC.

[skf]

We just got off the phone with Princess...

Re-booked for the Oct 8 2016 from Rome. The offers we got were satisfactory & made the decision easy. I will not provide details; I cannot guarantee that everyone will get the same.

We did not get our casino credit; it's not available on this cruise. Oh well!

 

but if I needed them to immediately book another cruise, we would be out of luck

To PescadoAmarillo...if anyone wants they can cancel and then use the credit on any cruise.

Steve