Posted on Another Site...Ruby Princess Hits Dock in SF

[Guest Bronston]

6 hours ago, jwattle said:

 

So I'm curious... You are of the opinion that Princess owes you more than 75% refund, 75% future cruise credit and 75% of your cruise? I feel like they've gone a long way to making you whole...🤗

For those with a terminal diagnosis not sure a FCC is adequate. Also,  listening to banging metal being refitted 3 days and nights. 
 

point being is there are always distinctions and nuances. Princess should at least listen.

[ninka26]

Since the Itinerary was so drastically altered and this was to be a bucket list vacation, to say I'm disappointed is an understatement. We opted to get off and return home. What was offered, in MHO, doesn't even come close to being "enough". So much of my heart went into the planning of this cruise just for it to be crushed. This was my first cruise AND first cruise with Princess. The experience has left me with no desire to cruise with Princess ever again. 

[Guest Bronston]

Princess didn’t say “Best and final offer”.

 

I would suggest you counter offer. 
 

did you sign anything?

[RC Dancers]

I know that I am late to this thread, but is it normal procedure for cruise ships to use tugs in San Francisco harbor?

[stobe1]

2 hours ago, Yehootu said:

Hope your hotel committee doesn't put you in Holiday Inns. Just retired after 4 decades of airline flying😀. 

Ha! No but the company would be doing back flips if they could get away with stashing us there on every overnight.

 

Enjoy retirement! I was on disability for a few months since I had an issue that kept me from maintaining my 1st class medical and I was bored to tears. Hope you have a year round hobby lol.

 

Best of luck in retirement and congrats!

Edited July 10, 2023 by stobe1

[lstone19]

1 hour ago, ninka26 said:

Since the Itinerary was so drastically altered and this was to be a bucket list vacation, to say I'm disappointed is an understatement. We opted to get off and return home. What was offered, in MHO, doesn't even come close to being "enough". So much of my heart went into the planning of this cruise just for it to be crushed. This was my first cruise AND first cruise with Princess. The experience has left me with no desire to cruise with Princess ever again. 

 

It's unfortunate that the incident happened but these things do happen. IMHO, getting off was a mistake unless you had something else you could do this week other than just going home. The offers returned the same amount whether you got off or not - 150% of what you paid. The only difference is how much was a cash refund and how much was an FCC. 75% refund and 75% FCC if you stayed on; 100% refund but only 50% FCC if you got off. So for taking that 25% as FCC rather than a refund, those that stayed on got a seven-night cruise - granted, not the cruise they wanted but I would have been all over it if it was us. We are doing Ruby Princess on 8/15 and having been to Alaska before, it's an opportunistic cruise for us- right date and price with the itinerary being secondary. So if it turned into a seven-night cruise with three port days in SF and the refund/FCC package, we'd be very happy.

 

Now I'll admit some people cruise for the ports and the ship is just transportation and they are disappointed. Others cruise to be on the ship and the ports are a bonus. For most people, it's somewhere in between. 

 

FWIW, we were on a cruise in 2017 that missed ports due to a hurricane and arrived at our disembarkation port (NYC) a day early giving us a port day there before disembarking. Were we disappointed? Yes. Did we enjoy our port day in NYC? Yes doing things that hadn't been in our plans but were fun to do (despite having grown up in the NYC suburbs, there is a lot I have not done in that city). Did some people get off a day early and go home? Yes. Their loss. Have we cruised on Princess again? Yes.

[ninka26]

3 minutes ago, lstone19 said:

 

It's unfortunate that the incident happened but these things do happen. IMHO, getting off was a mistake unless you had something else you could do this week other than just going home. The offers returned the same amount whether you got off or not - 150% of what you paid...

We were cruising primarily for the ports, the ship experience was secondary.   

[KLM3164]

1 hour ago, ninka26 said:

Since the Itinerary was so drastically altered and this was to be a bucket list vacation, to say I'm disappointed is an understatement. We opted to get off and return home. What was offered, in MHO, doesn't even come close to being "enough". So much of my heart went into the planning of this cruise just for it to be crushed. This was my first cruise AND first cruise with Princess. The experience has left me with no desire to cruise with Princess ever again. 

Curious….what would be “enough” to make your heart happy?

[startedwithamouse]

2 hours ago, ninka26 said:

Since the Itinerary was so drastically altered and this was to be a bucket list vacation, to say I'm disappointed is an understatement. We opted to get off and return home. What was offered, in MHO, doesn't even come close to being "enough". So much of my heart went into the planning of this cruise just for it to be crushed. This was my first cruise AND first cruise with Princess. The experience has left me with no desire to cruise with Princess ever again. 

You would be on a ship for 10 days with food and drinks, and receive a 75% refund of your fare, in addition to a 75% FCC (not just for Alaska, but for any Princess Cruise).  DId you fly into SF? We would stay in a heartbeat, and make really good lemontinis!  

 

What would be enough for you?  Just curious. Are you having second thoughts regarding your choice to leave?  Guests sailing are enjoying another six days for around the same compensation you chose, when you add it up. 

Edited July 10, 2023 by startedwithamouse

[desertdwellingsailor]

2 hours ago, ninka26 said:

Since the Itinerary was so drastically altered and this was to be a bucket list vacation, to say I'm disappointed is an understatement. We opted to get off and return home. What was offered, in MHO, doesn't even come close to being "enough". So much of my heart went into the planning of this cruise just for it to be crushed. This was my first cruise AND first cruise with Princess. The experience has left me with no desire to cruise with Princess ever again. 

I am so sorry. That really stinks. I hope that you have a better experience on a future cruise.

[ninka26]

5 minutes ago, desertdwellingsailor said:

I am so sorry. That really stinks. I hope that you have a better experience on a future cruise.

Thank you! 

[jwcdis]

I couldn't find it on the earlier replies but what exactly is the revised 7 day itinerary? Are the passengers still going to be able to see Glacier Bay? (Ruby Princess was supposed to be visiting today) since there is a 2 ship limit, I'm guessing they won't be going in?

[ninka26]

19 minutes ago, jwcdis said:

I couldn't find it on the earlier replies but what exactly is the revised 7 day itinerary? Are the passengers still going to be able to see Glacier Bay? (Ruby Princess was supposed to be visiting today) since there is a 2 ship limit, I'm guessing they won't be going in?

No Sitka, No Juneau, No Glacier Bay. 😔 Just Ketchikan and Prince Rupert.

Edited July 10, 2023 by ninka26

[rafinmd]

10 minutes ago, ninka26 said:

No Sitka, No Juneau, No Glacier Bay. 😔 Just Ketchikan and Prince Albert.

Prince RUPERT.

 

Roy

[startedwithamouse]

13 minutes ago, jwcdis said:

I couldn't find it on the earlier replies but what exactly is the revised 7 day itinerary? Are the passengers still going to be able to see Glacier Bay? (Ruby Princess was supposed to be visiting today) since there is a 2 ship limit, I'm guessing they won't be going in?

Ketchikan and Prince Rupert.

 

[ninka26]

4 minutes ago, rafinmd said:

Prince RUPERT.

 

Roy

I realized my error shortly after I hit submit 

[Boatdrill]

3 hours ago, ninka26 said:

 The experience has left me with no desire to cruise with Princess ever again. 

With complete respect for your decision to leave the ship, I truly hope you'll cruise again 

with Princess and use the compensation they'll give you. 

[Steelers36]

12 hours ago, 2 cruises a year said:

Post #306?

I do not follow your line of reasoning.  Either wrong post reference or you misunderstood something.

[ninka26]

22 minutes ago, Boatdrill said:

With complete respect for your decision to leave the ship, I truly hope you'll cruise again 

with Princess and use the compensation they'll give you. 

In all likelihood, I will probably give it another go but I think I'll avoid the San Francisco port. Seems those waters are very dangerous in general.  

[mtnesterz]

Whichever cruiseline you select in the future, know this. Since this was to be your first cruise, you must be able as a cruiser to be roll with whatever comes your way. Ships will nerf docks, weather will cause a bypass of ports, a mechanical failure will shorten your time in ports.

In our 20 cruises on 5 different lines, we have lost days to searching for a man overboard, been throuh a storm and once a fire onboard. (Pretty scary!) You're at the mercy of the seas and weather. Notwithstanding worker incompetence or lost luggage that can happen on land as well as sea.  

Cruising is not for everybody, but it's the only way we travel, I hope you give it another try with your compensation.

[Guest ldtr]

2 hours ago, ninka26 said:

We were cruising primarily for the ports, the ship experience was secondary.   

Unless you live near SF, if you are cruising for the ports better to do the 7 day out of Seattle or Vancouver.

[jwcdis]

1 hour ago, ninka26 said:

No Sitka, No Juneau, No Glacier Bay. 😔 Just Ketchikan and Prince Rupert.

Wow that is pretty disappointing. The only saving grace would be if the passengers are in time to catch the northern lights

[minabruuke]

If I had been on this cruise and the Alaskan ports were indeed my priority (rather than the cruise and ship itself), I'd have worked with Princess to be able to immediately use the FCC they were offering to get on one of the several other 7 night Princess cruises that left on Saturday or Sunday from Vancouver or Anchorage (there were several awesome last minute deals and there were cabins available).  If they couldn't get the FCC applied right away then I'd have just paid for the new 7 night cruise; the last minute rates were really low!  It may not have been in the cabin I wanted, but if seeing Alaska was truly my priority, I'd personally have been able to accept that. I'd have booked airfare out of San Fransisco to those locations with the thought that my 100% cash refund from the Ruby Princess cruise would likely be enough to cover that extra airfare.  Sea days would be lost but I'd have been able to see the ports and glaciers that I'd hoped to see.  The extra flights wouldn't have been ideal but life throws us hurdles and we have to make the best of them.

 

I know this is just a 'would've, should've, could've' that I am sharing and it may irritate some people.  I also get that doing something like this won't work for everyone, especially those who have special needs such as an accessible cabin.  I still point it out because there are so many people who just get so upset/mad/frustrated/angry when things go wrong that they don't allow themselves to clear their mind and come up with a solution that will make them happy or at very least content.  Trips can often be saved when major things go wrong but you have to be willing to think outside the box and help yourself.  

 

I remember listening to live interviews on the news during the Southwest system breakdown over the holidays. The people were devastated (completely understandable) because they were missing some super important event because the airline couldn't get them another flight for several days. During two different live interviews, I went online to search flight availability only to find availability on same day flights from the airport the person they were interviewing was standing in to exactly where they wanted to go for less than $200....just on a different airline. They just needed get online and book themselves a new ticket on a different airline rather than continue trying to work with an airline that was in the midst of a massive breakdown.  Of course I know that there were destinations that didn't have open seats on any airline for days but in those two situations that I researched there definitely were other reasonable options.  I understand that not everybody has extra money to just book another ticket but airlines will refund a flight that they cancelled if you don't use the ticket (it just unfortunately can take awhile). And then if you have insurance, it should cover any extra cost. 

 

So many people just don't know how or don't want to help themselves. But if you learn strategies on how you can help yourself when traveling, you will find yourself a lot less disappointed when things don't go exactly as planned.

Edited July 10, 2023 by minabruuke

[jsglow]

2 hours ago, ninka26 said:

In all likelihood, I will probably give it another go but I think I'll avoid the San Francisco port. Seems those waters are very dangerous in general.  

Let me make a suggestion for you to consider. Try the one-way Glaciers cruise from Vancouver and tack on an Alaskan land tour.  You won't regret it.

[Outerdog]

6 hours ago, RC Dancers said:

I know that I am late to this thread, but is it normal procedure for cruise ships to use tugs in San Francisco harbor?

 

Every time I've sailed into the Port of San Francisco, tugs were present.

 

So yes.