Golden Princess Techincal Issues

[WorldWayfarer]

We just received info that our Feb. 11 cruise on the Golden will not stop in Auckland due to “technical issues.” There is a stated “inability to operate at full speed.” That puts us at sea four days to get back to Melbourne. We are disappointed to say the least because six sea days on a 13-day cruise is not what we wanted. Is it possible to leave a cruise early, like at one of the stops before the last leg back to port?

[Alessandrina]

You may ask at Passenger Services Desk to see if you can disembark early. I reckon it shouldn't be a problem.

 

Cheers.

[WorldWayfarer]

You may ask at Passenger Services Desk to see if you can disembark early. I reckon it shouldn't be a problem.

 

 

 

Cheers.

 

 

 

Thank you!

 

 

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[easyboy]

Disembarking early is not a problem if given with prior advice. We had fellow passengers on our recent cruise who gave a similar request, and allowed, for our last port of call. Unfortunately, the last port was cancelled.

 

 

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[WorldWayfarer]

Disembarking early is not a problem if given with prior advice. We had fellow passengers on our recent cruise who gave a similar request, and allowed, for our last port of call. Unfortunately, the last port was cancelled.

 

 

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That is a good point. We would have to rearrange our flight, and if the last port was canceled, that would be expensive. We might just wait until we get on board and see how it’s going.

[Pam in CA]

You will not receive a refund or credit if you disembark early.

[fishywood]

We are disappointed to say the least because six sea days on a 13-day cruise is not what we wanted.

 

I understand being disappointed at losing a major port call. Especially so close to sailing when you may have made specific plans for that day.

 

But you did book the cruise when it consisted of five out of thirteen sea day. So a sixth sea day becomes the proverbial straw that breaks the camel's back, causing you to actually consider leaving the ship at the last port and forfeiting five nights of your holiday onboard--and the cost thereof?

 

It may be only possible to make such arrangement prior to embarkation. Should you actually board with the "wait and see" mindset and somehow make the decision to leave you may have to simulate a family emergency to be allowed to disembark early without advance permission. I do hope your outrage fades over the next five weeks and you embark without any though of this in your head.

[Astro Flyer]

Could another factor be whether a country would allow the early disembarkation.

 

I seem to recall from previous discussions that would require having authorities at the port to process a couple of passengers which the country may or may not be willing to do.

 

I’ve never attempted to disembark early & hopefully someone will have experiences to share. The closest I had was taking a small suitcase of inexpensive items to my wife’s family in the Netherlands. That required completing a NL customs form provided by the Passengers Service Desk. We had the form with the suitcase however no NL authorities were there to accept the form.

 

Since Princess was required to provide the NL customs form, when getting Princess’ approval to disembark early they would be required to inform that country for approval.

 

These are just some of the things I’d want to know before deciding whether to disembark early or at the end of the cruise. For me it’d be more relaxing to enjoy 6 sea days that I’ve paid to enjoy than dealing with the legalities of disembarking early & making flight changes.

Edited January 2, 2018 by Astro Flyer

[WorldWayfarer]

I understand being disappointed at losing a major port call. Especially so close to sailing when you may have made specific plans for that day.

 

 

 

But you did book the cruise when it consisted of five out of thirteen sea day. So a sixth sea day becomes the proverbial straw that breaks the camel's back, causing you to actually consider leaving the ship at the last port and forfeiting five nights of your holiday onboard--and the cost thereof?

 

 

 

It may be only possible to make such arrangement prior to embarkation. Should you actually board with the "wait and see" mindset and somehow make the decision to leave you may have to simulate a family emergency to be allowed to disembark early without advance permission. I do hope your outrage fades over the next five weeks and you embark without any though of this in your head.

 

 

 

We have no outrage. Just subtle disappointment. We want to see Auckland and may never return to New Zealand in our lifetimes. We’d forego free sea days to have time in Auckland and have the opportunity to see more of New Zealand. I will check ahead of time with Princess to see what our options are. Thank you for your advice.

 

 

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[BJS]

We have no outrage. Just subtle disappointment. We want to see Auckland and may never return to New Zealand in our lifetimes. We’d forego free sea days to have time in Auckland and have the opportunity to see more of New Zealand. I will check ahead of time with Princess to see what our options are. Thank you for your advice.

 

 

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If you have Princess Insurance you might want to cancel and get your non-refundable (100% with Platinum) money back. If you feel you will never return just re-book another cruise and hope Auckland isn't canceled.

In the event that you choose to cancel for a reason

not authorized above or for a reason that is otherwise

restricted, at any time up until departure, and you have

purchased Cruise Vacation Protection, Princess Cruises

and/or Princess Tours will provide you a cruise credit

equal to 75% (100% if Platinum Vacation Protection was

purchased) of the non-refundable value of your cruise

vacation prepaid to Princess Cruises and/or Princess

Tours, for your use toward a future cruise.

[fishywood]

If you have Princess Insurance you might want to cancel and get your non-refundable (100% with Platinum) money back. If you feel you will never return just re-book another cruise and hope Auckland isn't canceled.

 

The cancel for any reason clause excepted above applies to US residents only. In most of the rest of the world it is not part of the cruise line policy or even available at all. I initially assumed the OP was from Australia but now am not sure where in the world they may be.

[GUT2407]

The cancel for any reason clause excepted above applies to US residents only. In most of the rest of the world it is not part of the cruise line policy or even available at all. I initially assumed the OP was from Australia but now am not sure where in the world they may be.

Princess don’t even sell insurance in Australia.

[DrivesLikeMario]

You may ask at Passenger Services Desk to see if you can disembark early. I reckon it shouldn't be a problem.

 

Cheers.

 

No, you need to request in writing ahead of time any kind of deviation like that. Being an Australian citizen, it probably won't be a problem.

[Belmont Babe]

We just received info that our Feb. 11 cruise on the Golden will not stop in Auckland due to “technical issues.” There is a stated “inability to operate at full speed.” That puts us at sea four days to get back to Melbourne. We are disappointed to say the least because six sea days on a 13-day cruise is not what we wanted. Is it possible to leave a cruise early, like at one of the stops before the last leg back to port?

 

The port previous to your now-cancelled Auckland stop is Tauranga. It is unlikely that there will be Immigration and Customs service here for cruise passengers, especially not for only two passengers, the cost of providing this would be prohibitive. This same reason is also relevant to all other stops in New Zealand. Auckland is really the only port used for embark/disembark in NZ.

[gottagocit]

We have no outrage. Just subtle disappointment. We want to see Auckland and may never return to New Zealand in our lifetimes. We’d forego free sea days to have time in Auckland and have the opportunity to see more of New Zealand. I will check ahead of time with Princess to see what our options are. Thank you for your advice.

 

 

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At one time we were booked on a similar voyage. We ended up having to cancel many months in advance. When rebooking later we made sure we selected a one way sailing between Auckland and Sydney in part to be sure to be able to visit both easily on this trip.

You may find another voyage around the same time and rebook to it be just canceling or missing Auckland.

[Scotchick]

Oops

[Hlitner]

We will make a wild (and educated guess) that "technical issues" means an issue with a prop or electric motor. The ship is scheduled for a 2 week dry dock starting around March 30....so we would guess that Princess will not repair the problem until drydock. This would mean that every cruise between now and the April 14 cruise (out of Singapore) will have to limit its speed.

 

Hank

[getting older slowly]

Pretty sure you are right Hank, top speed limited to 17kt and they need to average 16kt to get from Tauranga to Melbourne.

 

We are on the 29th Jan cruise to NZ , and a bit of disappointment about missing Auckland, but on the cruise before to NZ in Dec 2016 due to bad weather we missed Akaroa, Dunedin, and Fiordland, but did stop at Picton.

Also we met a couple who'd done the cruise 4 times and never got into Fiordland and one lady from the UK who want to see Dunedin.

 

The one thing is all are all still going on a cruise, which is about the ship.isn't it, or otherwise we would fly.

 

Cheers Don

[PescadoAmarillo]

We just disembarked the Golden Princess after 77 days of cruising. Someone had emailed me asking about the technical issues and I was surprised and could shed no light on the subject. We missed only one port (Gisborne) due to weather (the port had been closed). We did arrive 3 hours later in Auckland but were notified of the change a few weeks ahead of time and told that it was due to “operational issues”. Since we also stayed in Auckland later that evening, we assumed it was because it was Christmas Day and nothing would be available in the morning.

 

We did miss Doubtful and Thomson Sounds last week due to weather, which was mildly suspicious, since it was nice when we sailed by them en route to Milford Sound (which was gorgeous). But Dusky Sound early in the morning had been miserable, foggy and windy, and it’s hard to know when the decision was made.

[Maverick911]

We are on the Golden out of Melbourne on the 15th March sailing to Singa would love to know waht the Tech issue is / was ??

[greaticeman58]

I am on her on Feb 24th and would like to know what is happening and are we going to miss any ports or have more sea days. Also does that mean things like aircon don't work as well as it can get really hot in the Pacific Islands

[getting older slowly]

As far as I know it is only a speed issue, idea is go online at Princess web site and check your itinerary for any changes or contact TA.

 

But most of all look forward to your cruise, cruising it just the best

 

Cheers Don ( on the golden in 22 days )

[Stevee1946]

I think each person is getting a $150 Australian refundable credit. I am in a balcony on the A level and I don’t know if that makes a difference in the amount of the credit.

[ayrshireboy]

We are on the Golden out of Melbourne on the 11th of Feb, bit disappointed at missing out on Auckland but I just have to accept it as one of those things, just means that I will have to do more at the other ports and being Scottish really want to go back to Dunedin.