Warning if your about to cruise on Coral.

[BuzzBuzzen]

2 minutes ago, BuzzBuzzen said:

I remember, in my foggy brain, Carnival Spirit was  delayed for a considerable time from entering Sydney Harbour due to bad weather. I am sure it was less years ago than 2012. Cheers, Buzz.

Found it , April 2015. Brain not as foggy as originally thought !

[NSWP]

24 minutes ago, bazzaw said:

My wife has some young relatives who are currently cruising - around the swamp at the "Splendour in the Grass" Festival 😞 

I read the Festival is cancelled, today anyway, Barry.

[NSWP]

Read on Marine Traffic, just now, sea state where Coral is, now Force 9 so worse than this morning.

 

Perusing the roll call, not happy cruisers.

[Elorac123]

2 hours ago, Jean C said:

Well, I've always stood up for Princess and their protocols and offers to passengers re covid but now I have nothing but comtempt for them.

 

At 10.20am this morning, while we were on a flight from NZ to Brisbane, they sent an email saying the cruise was delayed until tomorrow. We couldn't access our emails so didn't find out until we arrived at the cruise terminal.

 

Now the rub - we, in a foreign city, were told to book and pay for our own hotel accommodation and our own transport back to the terminal tomorrow and make a claim through our travel insurance! The staff kindly booked the A1 Ibis Budget at the airport for us since that and the Novotel (which they couldn't get through to) were the closest.  No restaurant or food outlets on site and nothing within walking distance.

 

Princess' booking terms states - 

 

Changes outside Our control

If it is necessary to change the itinerary due to safety, maritime law, severe weather, to protect human life or health or other factors outside Our control, We will attempt to offer a revised itinerary as close as possible to the original itinerary. We will not provide any compensation in connection with the revised itinerary unless Consumer Laws require otherwise.

 

I'm totally disgusted at their treatment of their booked passengers who in good faith travelled to and arrived at the terminal as scheduled. If we were late for the Princess cruise they would have said "sorry you missed the ship". Their ship is late and they say "sorry, you're on your own". 😡😡😡😡😡😡😡

Sorry for your predicament but I think you will find there is a restaurant on the ground floor of the Ibis

 Cheers Carole

[Patois]

Port of Brisbane guy was just on ABC radio Brisbane saying it was too rough for the pilot to board. There are about 20 ships waiting to get into the port when it opens. He said they hope to get Coral into port mid morning tomorrow.

[arxcards]

2 hours ago, BuzzBuzzen said:

Found it , April 2015. Brain not as foggy as originally thought !

Late, but still same day?

[Jean C]

1 hour ago, Elorac123 said:

Sorry for your predicament but I think you will find there is a restaurant on the ground floor of the Ibis

 Cheers Carole

Not the A1 Budget Ibis, apparently there's another Ibis somewhere, maybe that one has a restaurant. We found an Indian restaurant about 10 mins walk away so went out for some fresh air when the rain eased off and got takeaways 😋

[arxcards]

9 minutes ago, Jean C said:

Not the A1 Budget Ibis, apparently there's another Ibis somewhere, maybe that one has a restaurant. We found an Indian restaurant about 10 mins walk away so went out for some fresh air when the rain eased off and got takeaways 😋

I hope you have a better day tomorrow.

 

We have friends that have booked to stay there pre-cruise next month, done intentionally because it is the closest to the airport and cruise terminal. We would rather spend a bit of extra taxi money to stay in the old cruise terminal complex, with heaps of food, drink, stuff to do options. I guess you weren't needing to plan a spot to stay, so that is pretty unfortunate.

[MMDown Under]

3 minutes ago, arxcards said:

I hope you have a better day tomorrow.

 

We have friends that have booked to stay there pre-cruise next month, done intentionally because it is the closest to the airport and cruise terminal. We would rather spend a bit of extra taxi money to stay in the old cruise terminal complex, with heaps of food, drink, stuff to do options. I guess you weren't needing to plan a spot to stay, so that is pretty unfortunate.

The advantage of Portside cruise terminal is, in addition to all the shops, it has a movie theatre to fill in the time,

[fifa]

4 hours ago, Jean C said:

There won't be a next time with Princess, this has soured the relationship beyond redemption 🙁

 

I think you would find that in the circumstances, no cruise lines would cover your accommodation, transfers, etc during a weather event that delayed the cruise.

 

I imagine accommodation for passengers booked in 1,000 cabins would cost around $200,000 (about $200 per night/room). Not to mention the cost of transfers, meals and changed flights! If they paid up they would eventually have to pass these costs onto passengers through increased cruise fares in the future.

 

At least your travel insurance will pay all your out of pocket expenses for the delay👍.

Edited July 22, 2022 by fifa

[queenslander]

I just looked up the Brisbane port schedule for tomorrow Sat July 23rd and they have the Coral Princess arriving at 10.45am and departing at 10.00pm so it will probably be a late boarding. I check out of the hotel at 11.00am but might be lucky and get a late check out! 

[Jean C]

37 minutes ago, fifa said:

 

I think you would find that in the circumstances, no cruise lines would cover your accommodation, transfers, etc during a weather event that delayed the cruise.

 

I imagine accommodation for passengers booked in 1,000 cabins would cost around $200,000 (about $200 per night/room). Not to mention the cost of transfers, meals and changed flights! If they paid up they would eventually have to pass these costs onto passengers through increased cruise fares in the future.

 

At least your travel insurance will pay all your out of pocket expenses for the delay👍.

Yes, travel insurance will cover the costs, less the excess of course and any credit given by Princess. 

 

My main gripe is that we don't know Brisbane and to be told bluntly by staff at the cruise terminal that "the cruise is cancelled" (their precise words) and we need to arrange our own accommodation, having no idea what is where, is simply unhelpful.  They could at the very least have offered a dedicated rep to assist stranded passengers with suitable hotel bookings.

 

It felt as though Princess just washed their hands of us.  As it turns out, the cruise embarkation is postponed and the cruise is not, at this stage, cancelled, so their staff at the terminal couldn't even give out accurate information.

 

One of the ladies very kindly suggested and tried phoning the Novotel for us and then this Ibis - she did it as a favour to us, not part of Princess' service to its customers, and for that I am grateful.  In all the circumstances though I can't help but feel let down by Princess even though this was an unfortunate event..

 

Maybe it would have cost a dollar or two for Princess to take complete care and responsibility for their stranded passengers. I understand that they have had a difficult couple of years but this cost would have been small change in the scheme of things and a fraction of the bonus payments their head honchos would enjoy.

 

We have choices in life and this experience will definitely influence my future holiday choices.

[Jean C]

2 minutes ago, queenslander said:

I just looked up the Brisbane port schedule for tomorrow Sat July 23rd and they have the Coral Princess arriving at 10.45am and departing at 10.00pm so it will probably be a late boarding. I check out of the hotel at 11.00am but might be lucky and get a late check out! 

Thank you, that is very helpful. We will ask tomorrow if a late check out is available. You've been very helpful and we've gleaned more, and accurate, information from this site than from Princess.

[Elorac123]

1 hour ago, Jean C said:

Not the A1 Budget Ibis, apparently there's another Ibis somewhere, maybe that one has a restaurant. We found an Indian restaurant about 10 mins walk away so went out for some fresh air when the rain eased off and got takeaways 😋

Glad you found something suitable for you.

Things will look better in the morning and hope you have a lovely smooth enjoyable cruise

Cheers.Carole

[arxcards]

1 hour ago, MMDown Under said:

The advantage of Portside cruise terminal is, in addition to all the shops, it has a movie theatre to fill in the time,

Yes, and it would be extra handy on a day such as today. We will be looking to see what is playing before we fly up.

[ozygav]

2 hours ago, arxcards said:

Late, but still same day?

No, The Spirit was stuck outside the heads for the night due to a large storm. We were booked on for the next sailing and had to find our own accommodation. I recall, Carnival gave us a refund which was about the nights accom and 1 day of cruise refund. They didn't give us a lot of information while we were waiting, either. We actually found out we were going to be sailing when we turned the tv on the next morning and saw the ship coming thru the heads.

The scary thing was that at our first port of call which required tenders, the first 2 tenders (outside our cabin) could not be used due to water in the electrics. Good thing we didn't need them as lifeboats.

[arxcards]

34 minutes ago, Jean C said:

Yes, travel insurance will cover the costs, less the excess of course and any credit given by Princess. 

 

My main gripe is that we don't know Brisbane and to be told bluntly by staff at the cruise terminal that "the cruise is cancelled" (their precise words) and we need to arrange our own accommodation, having no idea what is where, is simply unhelpful.  They could at the very least have offered a dedicated rep to assist stranded passengers with suitable hotel bookings.

 

It felt as though Princess just washed their hands of us.  As it turns out, the cruise embarkation is postponed and the cruise is not, at this stage, cancelled, so their staff at the terminal couldn't even give out accurate information.

 

One of the ladies very kindly suggested and tried phoning the Novotel for us and then this Ibis - she did it as a favour to us, not part of Princess' service to its customers, and for that I am grateful.  In all the circumstances though I can't help but feel let down by Princess even though this was an unfortunate event..

 

Maybe it would have cost a dollar or two for Princess to take complete care and responsibility for their stranded passengers. I understand that they have had a difficult couple of years but this cost would have been small change in the scheme of things and a fraction of the bonus payments their head honchos would enjoy.

 

We have choices in life and this experience will definitely influence my future holiday choices.

You have the right to be cheesed-off, but I am not sure this would be handled any differently by any other mainstream cruise line. I am not sticking-up for Princess, as they could have had a plan to help assist passengers that arrived on the day, as they should expect that some passengers are coming in from interstate and overseas.

 

The unfortunate part is that while the people in the terminal were representing Princess, they don't actually work for them. They will be the same terminal persons that will be there for Pacific Encounter and Carnival Luminosa, and likely many of the same casual staff will also be there working for a different employer for Quantum of the Seas as well. I don't know if Carnival Australia even has a Brisbane office.

 

I would hope Princess will refund or credit 1/7th of your fare, as you are cruising for one less day. Almost sure you will also miss a port, so the relevant port charges in your fare will also be refunded.

[arxcards]

14 minutes ago, ozygav said:

No, The Spirit was stuck outside the heads for the night due to a large storm. We were booked on for the next sailing and had to find our own accommodation. I recall, Carnival gave us a refund which was about the nights accom and 1 day of cruise refund. They didn't give us a lot of information while we were waiting, either. We actually found out we were going to be sailing when we turned the tv on the next morning and saw the ship coming thru the heads.

The scary thing was that at our first port of call which required tenders, the first 2 tenders (outside our cabin) could not be used due to water in the electrics. Good thing we didn't need them as lifeboats.

Thanks. A rare occurrence, and one I couldn't recall specifically. I am surprised it hasn't happened more often. Over the years, some of the aging ships have led to delays when the rubber band breaks, but we have mostly been lucky enough to see ships come in to Sydney with only minor delays after dodging an East Coast low.

 

Yes, in times like that, we have usually found out more about the delay from here, social media and the port pages. The obligatory text message usually shows up a couple of hours later.

[arxcards]

I saw this video yesterday, via a friend onboard. One of those lovely clips where the pool tries to empty all over the lido deck. Note, this was filmed yesterday morning in much calmer conditions.

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-22/coral-princess-struggles-to-dock-as-it-battles/13984928

 

Even the skills of the ABC, I don't know where this Brisbane Harbour is.

[martin jenkins]

2 hours ago, arxcards said:

would hope Princess will refund or credit 1/7th of your fare, as you are cruising for one less day. Almost sure you will also miss a port, so the relevant port charges in your fare will also be refunded.

email from princess

In recognition of the delayed start to your cruise on Saturday and to offset any expenses you may incur due to the delay, all guests will receive a one-day refund of the cruise fare paid as a refundable onboard credit.

 

[Aus Traveller]

Coral Princess is currently off-shore from Sunshine Beach so I doubt that it will dock this morning. Hopefully it will be tied up in the early afternoon.

[OzKiwiJJ]

12 hours ago, Jean C said:

Yes, travel insurance will cover the costs, less the excess of course and any credit given by Princess. 

 

My main gripe is that we don't know Brisbane and to be told bluntly by staff at the cruise terminal that "the cruise is cancelled" (their precise words) and we need to arrange our own accommodation, having no idea what is where, is simply unhelpful.  They could at the very least have offered a dedicated rep to assist stranded passengers with suitable hotel bookings.

 

It felt as though Princess just washed their hands of us.  As it turns out, the cruise embarkation is postponed and the cruise is not, at this stage, cancelled, so their staff at the terminal couldn't even give out accurate information.

 

One of the ladies very kindly suggested and tried phoning the Novotel for us and then this Ibis - she did it as a favour to us, not part of Princess' service to its customers, and for that I am grateful.  In all the circumstances though I can't help but feel let down by Princess even though this was an unfortunate event..

 

Maybe it would have cost a dollar or two for Princess to take complete care and responsibility for their stranded passengers. I understand that they have had a difficult couple of years but this cost would have been small change in the scheme of things and a fraction of the bonus payments their head honchos would enjoy.

 

We have choices in life and this experience will definitely influence my future holiday choices.

The cruise terminal staff are not employees of Princess so they would not be able to make any offers of compensation on behalf of Princess.

 

It sounds like the person you spoke to initially wasn't very helpful but probably all they had heard was that the port was closed and the ship wasn't going to arrive.

 

Princess may not have any staff permanently based in Brisbane. Their Australian offices are in Sydney.

[queenslander]

10 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

Coral Princess is currently off-shore from Sunshine Beach so I doubt that it will dock this morning. Hopefully it will be tied up in the early afternoon.

At the moment it’s still showing 10.45am on the port schedule so I'm still hoping to board sometime in the late afternoon. Departure is 10.00pm so if delayed we will still be sailing today! 

The passengers onboard are getting a much longer cruise than planned so I don’t think they will be complaining! 

[Aus Traveller]

Just now, queenslander said:

At the moment it’s still showing 10.45am on the port schedule so I'm still hoping to board sometime in the late afternoon. Departure is 10.00pm so if delayed we will still be sailing today! 

The passengers onboard are getting a much longer cruise than planned so I don’t think they will be complaining! 

The ship is currently off-shore from Noosa Heads and heading North. I can't see her docking before early afternoon with boarding in the evening. ☹️

[By The Bay]

Heading the wrong way. Looks like a late night departure is on the cards.