Sun Princess - Original

[Mary Kelly]

21 minutes ago, Hollyann said:

I have Allianz insurance, but have been hearing rumblings that if the cruise line has not gone out of business that it is up to the cruise line to make things right. I was just curious from those who did have travel insurance as to how much of their nonrefundable expenses they are covering. 

Thank you. I’ll look into that. Princess reimbursed us for all my cruise fares, air, and all expenses that we had already on the cruise itself. Spa and all extras. But we were out of pocket for Acropolis, Vatican, Colloseum tickets. So it would be interesting to look at outside travel insurance policies as well. Thanks again. 

[New2cruise2022]

Just now, Mary Kelly said:

Thank you. I’ll look into that. Princess reimbursed us for all my cruise fares, air, and all expenses that we had already on the cruise itself. Spa and all extras. But we were out of pocket for Acropolis, Vatican, Colloseum tickets. So it would be interesting to look at outside travel insurance policies as well. Thanks again. 

Sorry to hear about the difficulties with the planned tickets — both from the cost and the loss — all are wonderful places of interest. 

[nasa1974]

25 minutes ago, Joe Gib said:

As a consumer, I don’t have to quietly accept bad service. None of us do. 

For what it's worth. Welcome to cruise critic.  

[JimmyVWine]

12 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

If you're an experienced cruiser, then you should know to NEVER book a cruise within the first 2-3 months of the inaugural.

Change this sentence to read: "If you're an experienced cruiser, then you know that you run certain risks when you book a cruise within the first 2-3 months of the inaugural and you must be willing to accept facing those consequences."

 

Then it becomes an unassailable post.  Putting the word "NEVER" in all caps makes it a bit over the top.  Were that true then the converse would also have to be true, which is to say that every inaugural cruise would be 100% booked out by inexperienced cruisers.  That isn't realistic, or something that the cruise line even wants.  

[Hollyann]

5 minutes ago, Mary Kelly said:

Thank you. I’ll look into that. Princess reimbursed us for all my cruise fares, air, and all expenses that we had already on the cruise itself. Spa and all extras. But we were out of pocket for Acropolis, Vatican, Colloseum tickets. So it would be interesting to look at outside travel insurance policies as well. Thanks again. 

Be sure and look carefully. As you will read, some are saying that that have been told that their travel insurance doesn't consider a cancellation by the carrier to be a covered loss.  I have to remind myself that I bought it for HEALTH reasons, but still, this is something beyond our control.  Feels like people are getting it from both ends 🪛

[Mary Kelly]

6 minutes ago, Hollyann said:

Be sure and look carefully. As you will read, some are saying that that have been told that their travel insurance doesn't consider a cancellation by the carrier to be a covered loss.  I have to remind myself that I bought it for HEALTH reasons, but still, this is something beyond our control.  Feels like people are getting it from both ends 🪛

Oh that is excellent information. Not to sound naive but we have always relied on Princess Vacation Protection and now learning that wasn’t enough. And that is always so expensive for each cruise. 

[vjmatty]

2 hours ago, New2cruise2022 said:

At some point you are screaming into a void. What happened, happened. Princess offered both an apology and a fair remedy, albeit not perfect because it never could be perfect. 
Those affected (and those not affected but complaining vicariously through the experience of the affected) can either accept Princess’ apology and response or move on and find something else that suits them better. 

That’s hard to do when looking at the January 20 pictures of the ship. This looks to me like they’d known for some time that Feb 8 and Feb 18 would not be happening.  Apologies are appropriate for accidental and even negligent conduct. Deliberate actions are an entirely different kettle of fish. 

[New2cruise2022]

1 minute ago, vjmatty said:

That’s hard to do when looking at the January 20 pictures of the ship. This looks to me like they’d known for some time that Feb 8 and Feb 18 would not be happening.  Apologies are appropriate for accidental and even negligent conduct. Deliberate actions are an entirely different kettle of fish. 

What interest/intent would Princess have in deliberately waiting to cancel? Poor decision making, perhaps, but deliberate actions? The request of most disgruntled/canceled passengers on this board is that Princess would have canceled EARLIER. Princess surely has a team of publicists and lawyers that would have advised them to cancel are the earliest known junction. Erroneous thinking or not, the likely scenario would show Princess working to make both cruises happen. A deliberation to upset customers by lying and deceit and making the climb to win back trust more difficult is a hard theory to float. Again, what would be the motivation to deliberately do this?

[vjmatty]

1 minute ago, New2cruise2022 said:

What interest/intent would Princess have in deliberately waiting to cancel? Poor decision making, perhaps, but deliberate actions? The request of most disgruntled/canceled passengers on this board is that Princess would have canceled EARLIER. Princess surely has a team of publicists and lawyers that would have advised them to cancel are the earliest known junction. Erroneous thinking or not, the likely scenario would show Princess working to make both cruises happen. A deliberation to upset customers by lying and deceit and making the climb to win back trust more difficult is a hard theory to float. Again, what would be the motivation to deliberately do this?

I’m not saying it’s logical, in fact I’d call it baffling. It’s not like Princess never introduced a new class of ship before. They’re not amateurs. So when it’s obvious to us mere passengers, who have zero experience in shipbuilding, that the ship is nowhere near on schedule, how can it be a surprise to Princess?

[timcahill98]

2 hours ago, MsSoCalCruiser said:

I agree with you 100% !!!

I do want to say that some act like they possibly work for the cruiseline… Same stuff over and over again. I am sorry to all that had their vacations ruined and/or lost money. 

Totally agree!  There seem to be a core group of "Princess Apologists" on this thread who seem to want to victim shame the people who've been adversely affected by the cancellations to date, rather than address the core fact that Princess screwed people at the last minute (comments like "why didn't every single person have travel insurance", "you should have understood the risks", "real cruisers would know to never sail on a ship in the first 2-3 months", etc.).  Again, this last cancellation with 4 days to go before the cruise is completely unacceptable, as Princess HAD to know the ship wouldn't be ready weeks ahead of time (probably at the same time they canceled the first cruise).

 

I wonder how many of these Princess Apologists are actually Princess employees simply trying to mitigate the bad press they're receiving. At the very least, these people seem to lack any sort of empathy for those affected.

[karatemom2]

The reality is that any reasonable person should be able to expect that a cruise line will deliver on the voyages it sells, barring some major malfunction or act of nature. Not all cruisers have the knowledge or insight that these boards provide. We were actually considering booking the inaugural Sun cruise - I thought it would be really exciting to be on the first sailing of a new ship. And I’m an experienced cruiser. It really didn’t cross my mind that a cruise line would not allow adequate buffer time prior to an inaugural voyage. But because I know to put questions like that to the test here at CC, I got a ton of responses warning against booking - very great advice but only because I am lucky enough to be aware of this resource. A lot of cruisers are not. There are others, like those poor newlyweds, who likely would not have imagined their dream honeymoon being yanked out from under them. And that Princess waited until just a few days before the cruise really makes it worse - basically virtually stranding passengers who had already traveled to Europe. It really stretches the bounds of credibility that they couldn’t make the decision sooner. I like Princess and understand things happen, but my sympathies are fully with all the people who have been impacted by this delay. They have every right to vent and no one should be shaming them for feeling massively upset with Princess. 

[mhkcdk]

57 minutes ago, vjmatty said:

That’s hard to do when looking at the January 20 pictures of the ship. This looks to me like they’d known for some time that Feb 8 and Feb 18 would not be happening.  Apologies are appropriate for accidental and even negligent conduct. Deliberate actions are an entirely different kettle of fish. 

Those pictures are from January 2023--repeat--January 2023, not 2024.

[FLAlaska]

At the risk of this not being a popular post and with the realization and empathy I feel for all of you that were forced to miss your cruise, I hope soon we can bring this thread back to the actual ship and not just bashing of Princess

 

Carry on....

[Jemnibabe02]

3 hours ago, FLAlaska said:

At the risk of this not being a popular post and with the realization and empathy I feel for all of you that were forced to miss your cruise, I hope soon we can bring this thread back to the actual ship and not just bashing of Princess

 

Carry on....

My thoughts exactly.  I think we have read the same thoughts written over and over and over with very little deviation.  There are only so many ways one can say the same thing but I do give a break to those directly envolved that missed a cruise and need to vent.

[Geoffa30]

14 hours ago, vjmatty said:

That’s hard to do when looking at the January 20 pictures of the ship. This looks to me like they’d known for some time that Feb 8 and Feb 18 would not be happening.  Apologies are appropriate for accidental and even negligent conduct. Deliberate actions are an entirely different kettle of fish. 

 

18 hours ago, Joe Gib said:

I only wish I had seen this in January. We were booked for the second sailing, departing tomorrow. Princess kept assuring us, right up until they cancelled 3 days ago, that we would be going. Refunds and FCC’s in three weeks, no option to transfer our payment to another Princess boat that would leave this weekend, salvaging a 60th birthday. Really poorly handled and anyone in commercial construction could see this wasn’t going to happen. 

These pictures are from January 2023.

Edited February 18 by Geoffa30
Oops - I see someone has posted this already later in the thread.

[dides]

Back to ship news... 

K9 dogs have been flown in to inspect the ship prior to passengers embarking

 

 

There have also been some reels posted by crew:

- cleaning deck 9

- sneak peak of Sabatinis

- the handover in the Piazza

 

 

Edited February 18 by dides

[Esprit]

OK, I confess to being a “Princess apologist” and apologise for it !

 

[Cdude]

I may still be sailing on March 9, but I am starting to prepare for a cancellation. Unfortunately, there are not many options to salvage a cruise on such short order. I may just do a land-based vacation, but this itinerary was taking me to interesting places on my bucket list that I don’t want to visit for more than a day. Oh well!

 

I also have some arranged tours. I think most I can cancel (if needed) but there may be one or two I can’t. I will call my credit card company as there is some travel insurance included with card purchases. I’m not sure what is covered, but it’s worth looking into not just for tours, but all travel Princess will not reimburse for. Check your credit card insurance to see what’s covered everyone. Just a thought.

Edited February 18 by Cdude

[JeffT237]

40 minutes ago, Cdude said:

Personally, I’m done with Princess. Just booked Celebrity Apex over the holidays yesterday. I have also shared this story with lots of family, friends, and coworkers. 

 

First off I am not a Princess loyalist.  We leave in 2 weeks on a Royal Caribbean ship and our upcoming Alaska cruise is on Celebrity.  Plenty of complaints on those boards as well, and many long term cruisers of those brands finding new cruise lines to sail with. We sailed twice with Princess in 2022, the first being the Crown to Alaska in May of 22 that had the propulsion and other issues. Many felt Princess was not transparent until right before we sailed and it led to a lot of angry passengers that said they were done with Princess. Many felt the Princess corporation handled it poorly and did not make it right initially. The issues with the Sun Princess are entirely worse as 2 cruises have already been cancelled with little notice.  Princess cruisers and new cruisers will return.

 

My point is this will be a bump in the road for Princess, they will continue to be the cruise line of choice for many loyalists. Familiartity, Status and perks go a long way to satisfy loyalists for all of the cruise lines.  

48 minutes ago, Cdude said:

Word spreads really fast now with social media including this forum for cruise enthusiasts, their target market.

 

Word does spread fast but it is mostly click bait, read the headline and move on to the next controversy of the day.  I'm not sure CC is really their target audience anyways.  CC is a small group of the cruise world as almost 32 million sailed last year. Not that many members here. I think these days their target audience is younger newer cruisers who document their trip on social media and spend a lot on upsell items and experiences. Despite the Carnival "poop cruise", Costa Concordia's sinking, high prices, cutbacks on all lines and all of the issues with the early pandemic and passengers being stuck on board the industry has bounced back and is stronger than ever.  Princess will be fine. 

[FLAlaska]

1 hour ago, Cdude said:

Greed is a pretty good motive. Poorly run companies put their short-term profits ahead of long-term interests. Stuff happens all the time; it’s how a company deals with it that makes the difference! Their handling WILL cost them future revenue. Personally, I’m done with Princess. Just booked Celebrity Apex over the holidays yesterday. I have also shared this story with lots of family, friends, and coworkers. Word spreads really fast now with social media including this forum for cruise enthusiasts, their target market.

RCCL spent a few months overbooking their cruises, cancelling on cruisers and even not letting them know until they were at the port. These passengers got much less than Princess is offering now. 

 

Princess will be fine

[New2cruise2022]

32 minutes ago, JeffT237 said:

 

First off I am not a Princess loyalist.  We leave in 2 weeks on a Royal Caribbean ship and our upcoming Alaska cruise is on Celebrity.  Plenty of complaints on those boards as well, and many long term cruisers of those brands finding new cruise lines to sail with. We sailed twice with Princess in 2022, the first being the Crown to Alaska in May of 22 that had the propulsion and other issues. Many felt Princess was not transparent until right before we sailed and it led to a lot of angry passengers that said they were done with Princess. Many felt the Princess corporation handled it poorly and did not make it right initially. The issues with the Sun Princess are entirely worse as 2 cruises have already been cancelled with little notice.  Princess cruisers and new cruisers will return.

 

My point is this will be a bump in the road for Princess, they will continue to be the cruise line of choice for many loyalists. Familiartity, Status and perks go a long way to satisfy loyalists for all of the cruise lines.  

 

Word does spread fast but it is mostly click bait, read the headline and move on to the next controversy of the day.  I'm not sure CC is really their target audience anyways.  CC is a small group of the cruise world as almost 32 million sailed last year. Not that many members here. I think these days their target audience is younger newer cruisers who document their trip on social media and spend a lot on upsell items and experiences. Despite the Carnival "poop cruise", Costa Concordia's sinking, high prices, cutbacks on all lines and all of the issues with the early pandemic and passengers being stuck on board the industry has bounced back and is stronger than ever.  Princess will be fine. 

The radio is turned up pretty loud at CC, but most people — even those interested in cruising — aren’t even tuned into the station. The Costa Concordia happened in pretty recent memory and most people tuned into that station for a little while. And yet, cruising is still a growing industry with high demand and Costa is still a cruise line that is doing business. One was a massive error and negligence leading to horrible consequences and a captain jumping ship. The other is a series of missteps and bad judgment that has led to the short notice cancel and bad customer relations on two sailings. 
Get the ship on the water and fill it with passengers and a few months from now this board will be lit up with pictures of the Sun, LIVE threads about the entertainment and the new venues, and stateroom bathrooms that don’t have shower curtains. 

[New2cruise2022]

3 hours ago, dides said:

Back to ship news... 

K9 dogs have been flown in to inspect the ship prior to passengers embarking

 

 

There have also been some reels posted by crew:

- cleaning deck 9

- sneak peak of Sabatinis

- the handover in the Piazza

 

 

Thanks for sharing!

[Esprit]

Costa cruises and the Carnival parent were doomed on this site when Concordia capsized.

Barely anyone remembers the tragedy now some 11 years on and Costa is doing even better.

 

Sorry. Just seen the post above mine on this!

Edited February 18 by Esprit

[New2cruise2022]

14 minutes ago, Esprit said:

Costa cruises and the Carnival parent were doomed on this site when Concordia capsized.

Barely anyone remembers the tragedy now some 11 years on and Costa is doing even better.

 

Sorry. Just seen the post above mine on this!

Haha. I presume few passengers from the Concordia have decided to return to Costa, but I could be wrong about that. And many passengers the Sun cancellations may never return to Princess because the hurt and disappointment will stay with them well beyond any future success of the Sun. 

[vividharp]

I book all of our cruises and if I told my husband I booked us a cruise on Costa cruise he would look at me sideways 😂 He would go with me but he would question me and the captain.