Sapphire Princess Just Cancelled 13 February Cruise

[datone]

Currently on Sapphire Princess 21 day Grand Asia which departed Singapore 2 February.  This was also sold as an 11 day and 10 day cruise.  Due back in Singapore tomorrow and Captain has just announced the 10 day has been completely cancelled.  No Corona virus on board though. Now have to find a flight home earlier than planned.

[OzKiwiJJ]

What was the reason it was cancelled? Too many ports banning cruise ships?

[mh11553]

We are on Feb 13, 2020 Sapphire Princess sailing out of Singapore, received a letter a few hours ago from Princess notifying us of the cruise cancellation...will get full refund plus equivalent future cruise credit good for 1 year. Stated reason is Princess Cruises ...Safety, health and well-being of customers and crew is always Princess Cruises' top priority...

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Probably erring on the side of caution . Westerdam has been refused entry to Asian ports on her present cruise and is now heading to Shihanoukville , Cambodia where they have been given permission to off load passengers . According to the HAL board HAL will then fly them all home .

[icat2000]

Probably don't want to get stuck with passengers on a ship and no way to off load them if the virus issue continues.

 

 

[MMDown Under]

14 hours ago, datone said:

Currently on Sapphire Princess 21 day Grand Asia which departed Singapore 2 February.  This was also sold as an 11 day and 10 day cruise.  Due back in Singapore tomorrow and Captain has just announced the 10 day has been completely cancelled.  No Corona virus on board though. Now have to find a flight home earlier than planned.

Hope you are able to find a flight home.  Have you received a full refund plus FCC to be used in a year (see below)?

Edited February 12, 2020 by MMDown Under

[datone]

3 hours ago, MMDown Under said:

Hope you are able to find a flight home.  Have you received a full refund plus FCC to be used in a year (see below)?

We are receiving 50% refund of cruise fare and a 50% Future Cruise Credit equal to the cruise fare  paid to be used within a year. Also free night at the Fairmont tonight, complementary transfers and flight change costs. Other expenses considered on a case by case basis.  Managed to get a flight on Qantas home tomorrow.

[MMDown Under]

1 minute ago, datone said:

We are receiving 50% refund of cruise fare and a 50% Future Cruise Credit equal to the cruise fare  paid to be used within a year. Also free night at the Fairmont tonight, complementary transfers and flight change costs. Other expenses considered on a case by case basis.  Managed to get a flight on Qantas home tomorrow.

Pleased that you were able to get a flight home on Qantas tomorrow.  You might need your galoshes, as GC has had so much rain, which is continuing.  

You might like to check if other passengers received a full refund, in lieu of your 50% refund, plus equivalent FCC.

[OzKiwiJJ]

5 minutes ago, datone said:

We are receiving 50% refund of cruise fare and a 50% Future Cruise Credit equal to the cruise fare  paid to be used within a year. Also free night at the Fairmont tonight, complementary transfers and flight change costs. Other expenses considered on a case by case basis.  Managed to get a flight on Qantas home tomorrow.

So just to clarify it, they've refunded you 100% for the second sector of your cruise which they cancelled, which was 50% of your total cruise cost. That's sounds fair, plus an FCC and changes to travel covered.

 

Princess are handling this situation very well. Disappointing for you missing out on the second part of your cruise but the situation with port bans  is evolving so rapidly it's smart of Princess to cancel rather than risk a Westerdam situation.

[datone]

1 minute ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

So just to clarify it, they've refunded you 100% for the second sector of your cruise which they cancelled, which was 50% of your total cruise cost. That's sounds fair, plus an FCC and changes to travel covered.

 

Princess are handling this situation very well. Disappointing for you missing out on the second part of your cruise but the situation with port bans  is evolving so rapidly it's smart of Princess to cancel rather than risk a Westerdam situation.

Yes - that’s right. Full refund of second half which is same as 50% of total cruise cost.

[MMDown Under]

49 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

So just to clarify it, they've refunded you 100% for the second sector of your cruise which they cancelled, which was 50% of your total cruise cost. That's sounds fair, plus an FCC and changes to travel covered.

 

Princess are handling this situation very well. Disappointing for you missing out on the second part of your cruise but the situation with port bans  is evolving so rapidly it's smart of Princess to cancel rather than risk a Westerdam situation.

You are clever in identifying it was 100% of second cruise.  

[MMDown Under]

I stopped booking overseas cruises in advance, when the cruise lines started cancelling cruises.  I never dreamt they would cancel cruises at such short notice, but can understand why, under current circumstances.  It must be a worry for passengers who have cruises cancelled at the last minute. 

 

 

[ANagy]

My parents have been on many cruises worldwide.  Always with Princess.  Once on a month-long trip around the world.  They've even taken me with them several times.  They were booked on this 21 night Sapphire Princess Southeast Asia cruise out of Singapore.  Literally one day prior to departing from Oregon, they decided to see their doctor due to their fear over the exploding cases of covid-19 in the region they were about to explore.  Their doctor told them that considering their age and my father's compromised immune system, they better cancel their trip.  He provided a letter memorializing his advice.  They cancelled their trip and submitted the doctor's letter with their request for a refund.  They received a denial of their claim from Princess Cruises' underwriter AON stating that since they weren't sick or dead and didn't have a severe illness or death of a family member, they didn't qualify for a refund.  Then, as Princess clearly recognized the danger of possible covid-19 transmission in Asia/Singapore/Thailand/Vietnam and their Diamond Princess ship quarantined in Japan with 218 cases of coronavirus infected passengers on board, they cancelled the second half of their voyage with a one-day notice.  My parents were so glad that they didn't have to go through the inconvenience a mid-trip termination of their cruise would've entailed.  So far, their claim for reimbursement is still denied and only their shore excursions have been refunded.  I can't imagine how such business practices benefits Princess' reputation.

[dragonlord24601]

They are planning to swap it with the Diamond Princess in the event that the ship needs to be laid up for some time. It was futile to continue the current planned voyages of Sapphire Princess in Asia given the circumstances so the head office has planned for a swap and will release information in due course.

[ivanp91]

7 hours ago, ANagy said:

My parents have been on many cruises worldwide.  Always with Princess.  Once on a month-long trip around the world.  Blah blah blah.

 

Yeah, you already made your own thread about this. No need to hijack someone else's.

[OzKiwiJJ]

5 hours ago, dragonlord24601 said:

They are planning to swap it with the Diamond Princess in the event that the ship needs to be laid up for some time. It was futile to continue the current planned voyages of Sapphire Princess in Asia given the circumstances so the head office has planned for a swap and will release information in due course.

Nope! The latest info is that more Diamond cruises have been cancelled:

"Based on the prolonged quarantine period, and the anticipated time to prepare the ship to return to service, we unfortunately must cancel additional Diamond Princess voyages through the April 20 voyage. We are preparing Diamond Princess to return to service April 29, 2020 for the start of Japan's annual Golden Week celebrations."

[ANagy]

Does anybody have the exact Princess refund policy for Feb 13 cancelled Sapphire voyage and refer me to the web location where I can find this info?  Did anybody get an actual refund as opposed to FCC (future cruise credit) only or both?  Please help!

[ANagy]

On 2/16/2020 at 2:20 AM, ivanp91 said:

 

Yeah, you already made your own thread about this. No need to hijack someone else's.

You've been on this blog for four years and haven't figured out yet that someone quoted my topic?  Bless your heart.

[OzKiwiJJ]

5 hours ago, ANagy said:

Does anybody have the exact Princess refund policy for Feb 13 cancelled Sapphire voyage and refer me to the web location where I can find this info?  Did anybody get an actual refund as opposed to FCC (future cruise credit) only or both?  Please help!

https://www.princess.com/news/notices_and_advisories/notices/itinerary-modifications-cancellations.html

 

Scroll down until you reach the section dated February 15th.

 

You might find some comments on the Princess board on how the refunds are being processed.

Edited March 2, 2020 by OzKiwiJJ