Live from the Crown Princess Return to Service Cruise May 7 2022 to Alaska

[bumorgan]

Where is the cruise critic meeting  going to be held? I had forgotten to register for the meet and greet. Thanks.

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, pkt1976 said:

The person I gave the invitations to inadvertently did not get Them to the ship officers. The ship senior officers offered to set up another so they could meet with us. 

It was a joke because of the engine difficulties.  Anyway, nice of them to do that for you.

[pkt1976]

38 minutes ago, bumorgan said:

Where is the cruise critic meeting  going to be held? I had forgotten to register for the meet and greet. Thanks.

Hi, it will be 11am tomorrow at Adagio bar 

[suzyed]

3 hours ago, pkt1976 said:

The person I gave the invitations to inadvertently did not get Them to the ship officers. The ship senior officers offered to set up another so they could meet with us. 

That's really nice!  
When we were on the Sky for NYE, the loyalty lady helped by inviting all the officers, Captain and crew.  We had a really great turnout!  Of course Captain Tuvo  really make it fun!!

[Mike & Zen]

[pkt1976]

I did a photography tour in Skagway, great tour with only 8 of us. It apparently is not I. The mood to let me post photos though… again. 🤷🏼‍♀️
 

I guess I’ll need to post pics when I get home, the ports have been great and I’ve enjoyed them all. 
 

It’s probably a good thing I’ve lost my voice as I’m a bit frustrated tonight. I have a shellfish allergy, it’s marked on my account, the dining room waiters can see it when I go there, even the international cafe can apparently see it. For elite members, you can get canapés on formal nights. Normally you get a card to note what you want. The first night there was no card and no canapés. I frankly don’t care and rarely get them. Tonight though, there was no card but when I returned after dinner there was a tray of a selection of canapés in my cabin… With shrimp. I put it outside and used the chat feature to address  it. I don’t have a life and death allergy to it but I could be quite uncomfortable. You probably can see from my posts I’m pretty easy going and try not to sweat the small stuff, but something like this is important to bring to someone’s attention so I did. 
 

as I’ve said, the crew is working really hard and under challenging circumstances created by corporate but this isn’t something I could let go of without bringing it to their attention. On other cruises, the officers have said that if you have an issue on board, address it with someone on board. I’m sure this will be addressed with the appropriate department. 

[lynn.cruz]

Hello,

 

I am new to posting on CC so if I have made a mistake in where to post, please let me know and I will correct it.

We are scheduled for July 2-9 to Alaska and have been very excited, however I am beginning have some concerns:  

Does anyone know why all of the itineraries for this ship have changed due to engine issues beginning in May and going through our sailing?  Is there not time to repair them in May and June?  I don't want anyone to have their cruise impacted, but why do they not repair them instead of limping along?

Admittedly, I am not a seasoned cruiser so I don't know all the processes that need to occur for regular maintenance.

Should we consider changing to another ship if possible?

Edited May 13, 2022 by lynn.cruz
Realized I posted to the wrong thread

[suzyed]

1 minute ago, lynn.cruz said:

Hello,

 

I am new to posting on CC so if I have made a mistake in where to post, please let me know and I will correct it.

We are scheduled for July 2-9 to Alaska and have been very excited, however I am beginning have some concerns:  

Does anyone know why all of the itineraries for this ship have changed due to engine issues beginning in May and going through our sailing?  Is there not time to repair them in May and June?  I don't want anyone to have their cruise impacted, but why do they not repair them instead of limping along?

Admittedly, I am not a seasoned cruiser so I don't know all the processes that need to occur for regular maintenance.

Should we consider changing to another ship if possible?

We all have the same questions.  But it seems there is no real answers.

Edited May 13, 2022 by suzyed

[pkt1976]

27 minutes ago, lynn.cruz said:

Hello,

 

I am new to posting on CC so if I have made a mistake in where to post, please let me know and I will correct it.

We are scheduled for July 2-9 to Alaska and have been very excited, however I am beginning have some concerns:  

Does anyone know why all of the itineraries for this ship have changed due to engine issues beginning in May and going through our sailing?  Is there not time to repair them in May and June?  I don't want anyone to have their cruise impacted, but why do they not repair them instead of limping along?

Admittedly, I am not a seasoned cruiser so I don't know all the processes that need to occur for regular maintenance.

Should we consider changing to another ship if possible?

My understanding is there are two parts of the engine with problems. They lnew

about one prior to returning this ship to service, but not the other one. They are waiting for the parts for

repairs but that won’t be until July or August. In the meantime, the ship can’t reach full speed hence the itinerary changes. 
 

we also seem to have a stabilizer issue. 
 

Glacier Bay is amazing and the reason many people stayed on this ship. If Glacier bay is your priority you will need to stay on the crown or maybe switch to a 10 day from San Francisco. If the ports are more important to you, I recommend changing to another ship like the Discovery. 

[MommyOTwins]

12 minutes ago, lynn.cruz said:

Hello,

 

I am new to posting on CC so if I have made a mistake in where to post, please let me know and I will correct it.

We are scheduled for July 2-9 to Alaska and have been very excited, however I am beginning have some concerns:  

Does anyone know why all of the itineraries for this ship have changed due to engine issues beginning in May and going through our sailing?  Is there not time to repair them in May and June?  I don't want anyone to have their cruise impacted, but why do they not repair them instead of limping along?

Admittedly, I am not a seasoned cruiser so I don't know all the processes that need to occur for regular maintenance.

Should we consider changing to another ship if possible?

You can't repair a cruise ship just anywhere--it will need to relocate to a drydock location that specializes in cruise ships.  Since this is not a scheduled maintenance, the dry docks and repair crews may not have any availability between now and July.  Plus, Princess would have to cancel cruises during the maintenance, which is especially costly for expensive/popular itineraries like summer in Alaska--most likely they will wait until the off season to repair it and cancel cruises then.  It is not just the cost of lost passengers, but also prepaid port fees, Glacier bay access, crew salaries etc.  I guess Princess feels that the experience they can offer is close enough (still has Glacier Bay etc.) that they can address this with some compensation, particularly as the cruise contract allows port stops to be changed for any reason, e.g. weather, rough seas, Covid cases etc. and changed itineraries are just a risk of cruising. I will say, by July they likely will have worked out the kinks of scheduling port excursions because they will have a better sense of when exactly the ship can dock at each port.  OP is unlucky to be on the first cruise, so is a bit of a guinea pig, and sounds like they overestimated how quickly the ship could get to each port with the engine troubles.

[JeffT237]

28 minutes ago, pkt1976 said:

Glacier Bay is amazing and the reason many people stayed on this ship. If Glacier bay is your priority you will need to stay on the crown or maybe switch to a 10 day from San Francisco. If the ports are more important to you, I recommend changing to another ship like the Discovery. 

I completely agree with this, the day in Glacier Bay was stunning and the weather made it even more special. But missing out on all of the anticipated activities and excursions was a big disappointment. I think you’re assessment as to stay on the Crown or switch ships is spot on. It’s a tough choice. It seems like most of this itinerary has been sea days, the days in port have been short with little to be able to do other than walk around town. I’ve spoken with quite a few passengers onboard and the feeling is the 20% of our fare paid as a FCC is not adequate, I’m wondering what you and others onboard think of that? My reasoning is I feel we’ve lost a lot more than 20% of the cruise. For those not on this cruise remember, we had a total of 3 itinerary changes the first was 10 days prior, the third one onboard. It really made changing excursions and dining reservations etc difficult. Future cruisers on this route probably won’t have those issues as they can book activities that are adjusted to the new times as long as they stay the same.

Edited May 13, 2022 by JeffT237

[Crow9]

May 14th cruisers, could you let us know if they change the itinerary on you again today or on the cruise from the Icy Straight Point one?

Edited May 13, 2022 by Crow9

[seattlecruzr]

Will do. Rather expecting time changes if nothing else. 
 

How full is your cruise? Have they said?

 

Looks like as of yesterday, our cruise tomorrow has at least 450 empty cabins. So maybe 65-70% capacity?

 

Enjoy your last full day!

Edited May 13, 2022 by seattlecruzr

[Crow9]

I'm going on the 21st and it seems the same as yours.

[pkt1976]

We have about 2200 passengers this cruise. 

[pkt1976]

Great… just what this cruise needs 😬🤦🏼‍♀️

[seattlecruzr]

Thanks! Sounds about the same. 
 

Will keep you posted. 

[pkt1976]

Several officers came to our 2nd meet and greet today, it was great to see most of us made it to round two as well. 
 

i know it’s not fun to be “the face” of the company when things aren’t going well and I really appreciated that so many officers came to visit with us. 
 

they did agree that the passenger load on this cruise was too high and the staffing too low for the passenger numbers. They didn’t open the pay Salty Dog restaurant and decreased the hours in some food and beverage venues. They did say the passenger numbers will be lower for at least the next several cruises. They are aware of the plumbing issues and more plumbers are coming in Seattle. 
 

i will just note again that my frustration is with corporate and the decisions they made. The crew is working incredibly hard and so many shine. When folks get their after cruise survey, please be sure to note any crew members who stood out to you. 

[Namvvet68]

42 minutes ago, pkt1976 said:

Several officers came to our 2nd meet and greet today, it was great to see most of us made it to round two as well. 
 

i know it’s not fun to be “the face” of the company when things aren’t going well and I really appreciated that so many officers came to visit with us. 
 

they did agree that the passenger load on this cruise was too high and the staffing too low for the passenger numbers. They didn’t open the pay Salty Dog restaurant and decreased the hours in some food and beverage venues. They did say the passenger numbers will be lower for at least the next several cruises. They are aware of the plumbing issues and more plumbers are coming in Seattle. 
 

i will just note again that my frustration is with corporate and the decisions they made. The crew is working incredibly hard and so many shine. When folks get their after cruise survey, please be sure to note any crew members who stood out to you. 

Did they address the generator issues?

[MarcsSharon]

Interesting about the passenger numbers. We are sailing June 4th…and the website states the cruise is currently unavailable. Between having to test prior to sailing, not even sure what cruise we are going to get…I am starting to regret this trip.

[Becky_Mac]

7 hours ago, lynn.cruz said:

Hello,

 

I am new to posting on CC so if I have made a mistake in where to post, please let me know and I will correct it.

We are scheduled for July 2-9 to Alaska and have been very excited, however I am beginning have some concerns:  

Does anyone know why all of the itineraries for this ship have changed due to engine issues beginning in May and going through our sailing?  Is there not time to repair them in May and June?  I don't want anyone to have their cruise impacted, but why do they not repair them instead of limping along?

Admittedly, I am not a seasoned cruiser so I don't know all the processes that need to occur for regular maintenance.

Should we consider changing to another ship if possible?

Hey. I am on the same cruise with you! Right now I am sticking with the cruise. But glad to

find someone else that is scheduled in the same cruise. 

[jk04]

1 hour ago, pkt1976 said:

They are aware of the plumbing issues and more plumbers are coming in Seattle. 

Is this an issue in the guest cabins and are they moving guests to accommodate?  I can handle most anything as long as I have a working bathroom and air conditioner.  Being a cold weather cruise, air is not quite as critical.

[kathy49]

7 hours ago, JeffT237 said:

I completely agree with this, the day in Glacier Bay was stunning and the weather made it even more special. But missing out on all of the anticipated activities and excursions was a big disappointment. I think you’re assessment as to stay on the Crown or switch ships is spot on. It’s a tough choice. It seems like most of this itinerary has been sea days, the days in port have been short with little to be able to do other than walk around town. I’ve spoken with quite a few passengers onboard and the feeling is the 20% of our fare paid as a FCC is not adequate, I’m wondering what you and others onboard think of that? My reasoning is I feel we’ve lost a lot more than 20% of the cruise. For those not on this cruise remember, we had a total of 3 itinerary changes the first was 10 days prior, the third one onboard. It really made changing excursions and dining reservations etc difficult. Future cruisers on this route probably won’t have those issues as they can book activities that are adjusted to the new times as long as they stay the same.

I think based on the extreme late notice on the major changes and the continuation of missing so many critical elements of the advertised cruise itinerary 20% is a joke. I would get together as a group and ask for a minimum of 50% refund and frankly I would want the cash money not FCC.  This is the trip of a lifetime for many people...many on these Alaska cruises are older people and may not go on more cruises. I would try for that. Good luck. As one poster said they did not pay to  get to Alaska and not really be able to see it.

[Bubbletubs]

Would really love to hear from anyone sailing tomorrow to know if your itinerary has had any last minute changes. Probably too busy packing/traveling today. Have a great cruise either way! 

[pkt1976]

3 hours ago, jk04 said:

Is this an issue in the guest cabins and are they moving guests to accommodate?  I can handle most anything as long as I have a working bathroom and air conditioner.  Being a cold weather cruise, air is not quite as critical.

Yes it was an issue in some cabin locations. I know that some folks were indeed moved. Deck 10 mid To mid aft was one area