Sky Princess Arriving Early in Southampton

[Nightingale0208]

1 hour ago, TK42799 said:

In the damned if you do category…

During our medical evacuation in Lisbon, P&O Iona was in port as part of a 2 day visit. Clearly, they were monitoring the same weather situation however, they made no determination to leave port early. At the time of this writing, we on Sky are currently in the Channel and Iona is cruising along the coast of Portugal. Both ships were scheduled to arrive in port on the same day Saturday, April 1,2023. If my app is accurate, we are also experiencing the same sea states. As Carnival is the corporate head office for both companies, I would have expected similar contingency plans be implemented to deal with this storm. Time of course will tell if Iona experiences worse weather conditions however, as an armchair quarterback enjoying my drink package, I am leaning towards the possibility that we could have made our last port call of La Coruna. 
Here’s to all of us arriving safely 🍻. 
Cheers

I am assuming you have more qualifications to make that judgement than the  Captain. 

[roadster08]

If the cruisers on this thread were in a group therapy session,  the leader would interrupt at this point and say something along the lines of the following.

 

The feeling of loss can be unbearable for some people. When they reach out, they are not necessarily looking for a solution. Sometimes, they are just looking for a way to stop that painful feeling of loss. Telling them to be rational or every cloud has a silver lining won't help.

 

What sometimes works is to tell them about a similar situation where the solution ended up being worse than the one they are dealing with. For example, one of you wrote something roughly where you took the $100 credit and won 600 in the casino. Better would have been to say you took the 100 and used it to lose 600 in the casino. The person dealing with loss would think well at least my situation is not that bad. 

 

 

[wowzz]

1 hour ago, Nightingale0208 said:

I don't think anything anyone writes will mean anything unless it is about money.  Interesting you feel so strongly when not on board. I am boarding on Saturday which is why I've been following the posts.  If you do book, with any cruise line, I suggest you read the small print in detail.  Possibly the more expensive of them would compensate, I have no idea, but in my view that's something to look for when taking out insurance.  I believe as this was a repositioning cruise those on board would have paid a reduced fare, and at this time of year the majority would have understood the weather might necessitate a change in the itinerary.  When you purchase most things there is a disclaimer attached, I don't believe keeping the vessel, passengers and crew safe by adjusting the itinerary is deserving of anything but praise and gratitude.  We will have to agree to  disagree.

Good reply.

We might bump into each other over the next two weeks !

[enhaut]

It kinda creeps me out that someone who's not even onboard Sky feels so aggrieved over the goodwill gesture on Princess's part that they say they are "disgusted". Huh? You're not even on the ship.

No one is forced to cruise. Weather happens, unexpected things pop up. All 2k of us on Sky continue to have a blast (and overeat- lookin' at you, dessert extravaganza, today at lunch 🍰)

I assumed Molly patch was a fellow passenger, and am a bit bewildered that they're so invested in the goings on of this cruise. Whatever.

Me thinks Molly patch would be better served taking a land based holiday. Can't guaranteed they won't be disgusted but they won't have to deal with missed ports.

 

 

[LouCoop]

9 hours ago, Nightingale0208 said:

I think any of us who choose to sail these itineraries, at this time of year, should know we are taking a gamble. The weather is beyond the control of any shipping line so it can't be their responsibility to pay any compensation. You have received a goodwill gesture not compensation, we have insurance for missed ports, many companies offer that and we have used it a few times. I would be praising the captain for diverting us away from waves potentially high enough to put the vessel, and therefore lives, in danger.

We do not have insurance for missed ports here in Quebec, Canada. But I agree with you completely. We go on a cruise and we hope to visit the ports mentioned in the itinerary but if they are missed for safety reasons we just make the best of it on the ship.

On one cruise back in January 2020 we missed a port I really wanted to go in New-Zealand. I was pretty sad about it but nothing I could do it was for safety reasons as the winds were high and it was a tender. We went up to the pool area and the crew decided to throw a pool party. They were offering drinks and passed food around ( nachos, fries, hot-dogs and more) it was a blast! Your first choice is the cruise ship and if you get to visit wonderful places good, but if your first choice is to visit places maybe land tours are better for this person.

[Nightingale0208]

1 hour ago, LouCoop said:

We do not have insurance for missed ports here in Quebec, Canada. But I agree with you completely. We go on a cruise and we hope to visit the ports mentioned in the itinerary but if they are missed for safety reasons we just make the best of it on the ship.

On one cruise back in January 2020 we missed a port I really wanted to go in New-Zealand. I was pretty sad about it but nothing I could do it was for safety reasons as the winds were high and it was a tender. We went up to the pool area and the crew decided to throw a pool party. They were offering drinks and passed food around ( nachos, fries, hot-dogs and more) it was a blast! Your first choice is the cruise ship and if you get to visit wonderful places good, but if your first choice is to visit places maybe land tours are better for this person.

We hope to visit Quebec on Sky Princess in October, its somewhere I've always wanted to go but never dreamed I'd get there. Usually the sea and the ship come first but this cruise is so special for me.

[david63]

6 minutes ago, Nightingale0208 said:

We hope to visit Quebec on Sky Princess in October,

Be prepared for it to be cold and possibly wet

[the penguins]

On 3/29/2023 at 4:40 PM, molly-patch said:

Princess are not a transport company transporting passengers across the Atlantic.  They are a holiday company advertising places they cruise too.  The holiday finishes at Southampton which they have arrived at 2 days early.  Surely they have a responsibility to compensate their loyal passengers for not honouring their contract of a 14 day cruise, whatever the reason.  It wouldn’t be acceptable for any other type of holiday.  If the weather is always notoriously bad at this time of year don’t sell a cruise, just advertise a ferry service 🤷‍♂️

Sorry to be late to this thread. Captain did a great job keeping us informed including a video presentation clearly setting out the reasons for the changes - one of which was due to a medical emergency requiring a passenger to be evacuated from the ship. We have received an OBC of $100 person which Princess was not obligated to do. We have also received a refund of port fees which again Princess were not obligated to make. Every cruise is subject to change due weather, operational or other reasons as is every other type of holiday/vacation arrangement.

Our onboard account now stands at zero and we have "converted" the balance of our credits into cash in the Casino.

This was/is our first Princess Cruise and the Captain and Crew deserve nothing but praise for the way they have handled the whole situation.

Sermon over - time to get ready for dinner and another fantastic  show in the theatre.

[LouCoop]

@Nightingale0208@david63 In October you must be ready for any kind of weather. It could be sunny and warm, sunny and windy, sunny and cold. Also cold and windy, windy and rain, cold and rain...you get the picture. I really hope you get a sunny day as the city is very nice under the sun also if you don't get in too early the view is very nice coming in to port from the ship.

[USCHockey]

My wife and I love Princess and have been aboard many TA's.  We were considering the FtL to Southhampton journey but could not go because of family health issues.  I have been vicariously tracking the ships movement and weather (temp, waves, swells, wind, rain, etc.) with windy.com, cruisemapper.com and cruisecritic.  IMHO, Princess and the Captain made the correct choice in diverting Sky as quickly as possible.  Attached is a windy.com map of the seas in the region from a screen shot a few minutes ago, as Sky approaches Southhampton.  32 ft waves due west of Bay of Biscayne, with the storm moving east.  If you were uncomfortable onboard the past few days, it could have been much worse had Sky traversed the region 1-2 days later.  Compensation might not have been on your mind.

[azbirdmom]

8 minutes ago, the penguins said:

Sorry to be late to this thread. Captain did a great job keeping us informed including a video presentation clearly setting out the reasons for the changes - one of which was due to a medical emergency requiring a passenger to be evacuated from the ship. We have received an OBC of $100 person which Princess was not obligated to do. We have also received a refund of port fees which again Princess were not obligated to make. Every cruise is subject to change due weather, operational or other reasons as is every other type of holiday/vacation arrangement.

Our onboard account now stands at zero and we have "converted" the balance of our credits into cash in the Casino.

This was/is our first Princess Cruise and the Captain and Crew deserve nothing but praise for the way they have handled the whole situation.

Sermon over - time to get ready for dinner and another fantastic  show in the theatre.

Good to hear from someone actually on the ship!  You've got a great attitude.  I hope you enjoy the rest of your time onboard.

[the penguins]

13 minutes ago, azbirdmom said:

Good to hear from someone actually on the ship!  You've got a great attitude.  I hope you enjoy the rest of your time onboard.

Thank you. I was just trying to present a more balanced view of the whole experience. I would say the vast majority of the current passengers have accepted the decisions made and at the Q and A in the main theatre with the Captain not one person raised any criticisms. The biggest  round of applause was reserved for the passenger who said that the Captain should be congratulated for keeping us safe and informed. 

[Lady Arwen]

4 minutes ago, the penguins said:

Thank you. I was just trying to present a more balanced view of the whole experience. I would say the vast majority of the current passengers have accepted the decisions made and at the Q and A in the main theatre with the Captain not one person raised any criticisms. The biggest  round of applause was reserved for the passenger who said that the Captain should be congratulated for keeping us safe and informed. 

Thank you so much!  I’m glad everyone is safe and making the most of their final days of the cruise.  It looks like the majority of the passengers are in complete agreement with the Captain and not looking for any compensation, other than what was offered.  Safe travels home!

[david63]

1 hour ago, LouCoop said:

@Nightingale0208@david63 In October you must be ready for any kind of weather. It could be sunny and warm, sunny and windy, sunny and cold. Also cold and windy, windy and rain, cold and rain...you get the picture. I really hope you get a sunny day as the city is very nice under the sun also if you don't get in too early the view is very nice coming in to port from the ship.

I fully understand that - just that when we were there a few years ago the heavens opened all day and it was freezing - but it was a very nice place, a lot better than many ports that I have been to!

[sunviking90]

1 hour ago, Nightingale0208 said:

We hope to visit Quebec on Sky Princess in October, its somewhere I've always wanted to go but never dreamed I'd get there. Usually the sea and the ship come first but this cruise is so special for me.

One of our favourite cruises to date was to Quebec City and the Atlantic provinces. I’ve lived in Canada all my life and never seen anything east of the Rockies. This part of Canada is so lovely! It was October and we were blessed with good weather generally. Here is Quebec City (and yes, I know I’m veering off of the thread, but maybe that’s a good thing?)

 

 

[wowzz]

4 hours ago, USCHockey said:

My wife and I love Princess and have been aboard many TA's.  We were considering the FtL to Southhampton journey but could not go because of family health issues.  I have been vicariously tracking the ships movement and weather (temp, waves, swells, wind, rain, etc.) with windy.com, cruisemapper.com and cruisecritic.  IMHO, Princess and the Captain made the correct choice in diverting Sky as quickly as possible.  Attached is a windy.com map of the seas in the region from a screen shot a few minutes ago, as Sky approaches Southhampton.  32 ft waves due west of Bay of Biscayne, with the storm moving east.  If you were uncomfortable onboard the past few days, it could have been much worse had Sky traversed the region 1-2 days later.  Compensation might not have been on your mind.

And the weather is going to deteriorate further over the next twelve hours !

I wonder if the "bar room sailors" who thought the Captain was being overly cautious still feel the same way !

We are driving to Southampton tomorrow, ready to board Sky on Saturday, and I'm not looking forward to trying to get from our car to the hotel !

[HaroldLeslie]

49 minutes ago, wowzz said:

And the weather is going to deteriorate further over the next twelve hours !

I wonder if the "bar room sailors" who thought the Captain was being overly cautious still feel the same way !

We are driving to Southampton tomorrow, ready to board Sky on Saturday, and I'm not looking forward to trying to get from our car to the hotel !

There’ll be a lot of rain and a few gusts of wind but nothing unusual. We live a few miles from Southampton and the Hampshire basin is well sheltered from all directions.

 

We are joining Sky Princess on Saturday morning and I had noticed the change of itinerary. I was interested to see the reason for the change.

Edited March 30, 2023 by HaroldLeslie

[HaroldLeslie]

3 minutes ago, HaroldLeslie said:

5 hours ago, Nightingale0208 said:

We hope to visit Quebec on Sky Princess in October, its somewhere I've always wanted to go but never dreamed I'd get there. Usually the sea and the ship come first but this cruise is so special for me.

We are also booked on that cruise. I had an email offer a couple of weeks ago that was too good to refuse.

Edited March 30, 2023 by HaroldLeslie

[HaroldLeslie]

On 3/29/2023 at 5:55 PM, voljeep said:

Does Princess Platinum / AON / whatever carrier it is ... provide trip interruption insurance reimbursement for missed ports due to weather conditions.

 

In this case - do passengers have the option to remain on board and enjoy the ship amenities until their scheduled departure time?  Can Princess get a deviation to keep the shops and casino open?

Shops and casino are shut whilst in territorial waters.

[wowzz]

22 minutes ago, HaroldLeslie said:

There’ll be a lot of rain and a few gusts of wind but nothing unusual. We live a few miles from Southampton and the Hampshire basin is well sheltered from all directions.

 

We are joining Sky Princess on Saturday morning and I had noticed the change of itinerary. I was interested to see the reason for the change.

I'm seeing winds of 43 mph forecast on the BBC for central Southampton tomorrow afternoon.

Have you joined any of the roll calls for our cruise ? Mind you, it is a bit late now! 

Edited March 30, 2023 by wowzz

[HaroldLeslie]

9 hours ago, enhaut said:

It kinda creeps me out that someone who's not even onboard Sky feels so aggrieved over the goodwill gesture on Princess's part that they say they are "disgusted". Huh? You're not even on the ship.

There are people who might be considering a cruise and are comparing experiences on various cruise lines. From the point of view of the cruise company you would prefer to attract as many customers as possible and some would be put off by stories such as these.

 

As a service provider they level of ‘compensation’ needs to be set at a level that keeps the majority of its customers happy. There will always be a few who will complain about the slightest inconvenience but if there is significant discontent then the payment is probably too low.

[Lady Arwen]

4 minutes ago, HaroldLeslie said:

There are people who might be considering a cruise and are comparing experiences on various cruise lines. From the point of view of the cruise company you would prefer to attract as many customers as possible and some would be put off by stories such as these.

 

As a service provider they level of ‘compensation’ needs to be set at a level that keeps the majority of its customers happy. There will always be a few who will complain about the slightest inconvenience but if there is significant discontent then the payment is probably too low.

A passenger currently onboard has responded that the majority of passengers are happy the Captain chose to come in early and very few people had complaints about the amount of compensation.  We only heard complaints from one of our CC members who was not onboard.

Edited March 30, 2023 by Lady Arwen

[HaroldLeslie]

3 minutes ago, wowzz said:

I'm seeing winds of 43 mph forecast on the BBC for central Southampton tomorrow afternoon.

Have you joined any of the roll calls for our cruise ? Mind you, it is a bit late now! 

 I think those are gust speed. The Met Office has a maximum forecast of 20mph with gusts up to 36 at 14:00 which is hardly a force 5. When I did the Round the Island race in my 23ft boat it started off at force 7 but eased off to six later on. 
 

With weather forecasts I generally look at several and then pick the one that I like the best: 🙂
 

No, not on the roll call. I haven’t bothered much with cruise forums lately but I was particularly interested in the circumstances of this voyage. We live in Chandlers Ford which is only about seven miles from the docks so we shall probably set off around 12:15 on Saturday.

[Lady Arwen]

22 minutes ago, HaroldLeslie said:

Shops and casino are shut whilst in territorial waters.

This is usually the case, but there are times when a deviation of the norm is allowed.  The current scenario is certainly not what would be considered normal.  

[HaroldLeslie]

2 minutes ago, Lady Arwen said:

A passenger currently onboard has responded that the majority of passengers are happy the Captain chose to come in early and very few people had complaints about the amount of compensation.  We only heard complaints from one of our CC members who was not onboard.

That’s fair enough then. Of course you wouldn’t expect many complaints from those who were not on board and didn’t know about the situation.