Did Princess really change our itinerary a few days prior to our cruise?!

[Hlitner]

1 hour ago, Host CJSKIDS said:

@Hlitner that's fantastic to hear.  Always love when things meet expectations, let alone are above. 

 

Have you gone to the excursion desk to see if they are doing a tour similar to yours?  The notification did say that one would find out about excursions once on board. 

 

I'm so looking forward to having my first cocktail on board.  We will have to coordinate to have a drink together via our roll call once I'm on board. But remember, what happens on the ship, stays on the ship!  LOL

Have not gone to the excursion desk which I sometimes find is an exercise in masochism.  The onboard app does not give us access to any options for next week.  This all takes me back to my independent travel routes.  I have never understood the love of overpriced, and overcrowded excursions, and this latest fiasco is just one more mail on that coffin

 

Hank

[nasa1974]

On 12/5/2023 at 9:41 PM, Host CJSKIDS said:

 

Not sure.  They haven't told us anything.  We were 3 ships in Cozumel which Puerta Maya can handle and now we are 3 ships in Cozumel again.

 

I know they can cancel or change a port and have had that happen before, just not days prior to a cruise.  

We were on the Island Princess in October 2012 and had just gotten into Ft. Lauderdale a day and a half ahead of hurricane Sandy. I'm not sure how quickly Princess changed the itinerary but according to the comedian we talked to just before getting off the ship he said he was just told about the change. He said he heard as soon as all passengers were onboard, they were leaving a quickly as possible.

Sorry I forgot to mention that the itinerary changed from Eastern Caribbean to a Western Caribbean.

Edited December 7, 2023 by nasa1974

[Hlitner]

I just had a conversation with the nice folks at the shore excursion desk.  They are still scrambling to reschedule tours and told me to stop back tomorrow when they hope to have more info.  Also learned there are only about 330 of us continuing on the Dec 9 cruise (back to backs).

 

Last night we are in the MDR and the food was quite good.  I was in the mood for meat and they had both rack of lamb and beef Wellington on the menu.  When I asked the waiter (who does not eat meat) for a recommendation, he simply brought both.  Both items were very good (better than the meat I had in the Crown Grill).  The vol et vent starter was also quite good.  
 

Even though the ship is at capacity, we find the MDRs not busy at 8.  The app makes it difficult to get a 7:50 reservation, but one can easily be seated at that time without a reservation.  I sometimes think there are two cruise worlds.  The constant crowding enjoyed by those on an early dining schedule and the laid back relaxing life for those on a later dining schedule.  When the masses are jammed into the dining venues at 7, we are enjoying the not overcrowded bars.  When they are later packed into bars, we are enjoying a quiet dinner with relaxed waiters who are not overwhelmed.

 

Hank

[Host CJSKIDS]

Thanks @Hlitner for the update.  Sounds like many who thought they had plans for shore excursions and assume they are carrying over may be in for a bit of surprise. Using your OBC for some nice liquor does sound like a great alternative!

 

It will be interesting to see how things change once the large group is on board next week.  I'm sure they are having to move around some of their events they had planned

[MacMadame]

16 hours ago, Host CJSKIDS said:

 

In looking at the capacity of the ships there on our original day, it shows 17,864 as possible passengers.  For our new day, the ships there show 20,277 possible passengers and once you add in the Sky Princess it goes to 23,937.  

 

I wonder if any of the ships on Thursday have also been moved. 

That's so bizarre.

[Tonsoffun44]

Sailing February - wonder if we'll get our port order changed and if so when might it show on our summery IF at all - Same itinerary as OP. 

[J13C85]

We are on Sky Dec 23 cruise (first leg of a B2B). Here is our experience thus far.

 

1- We received no info from Princess regarding the itinerary change. I learned about it from this thread and found the info buried in the important notices area of the Cruise Summary.

 

2- We had an excursion booked thru Princess in Roataan (Brewery Tour, I was looking forward to that). This has disappeared from the Personalizer (under excursions, it show the Roataan stop on Christmas Day but our booked excursion is no longer listed and there is no link to view excursions. Again, nothing from Princess advising of the change.

 

I would imagine Excursions will be very limited on Christmas Day. We will probably stay on Sky and enjoy whatever Christmas festivities are happening on board.

 

I wonder if Princess considered skipping Roataan and making Christmas Day a sea day. DW and I would have voted for that as Roataan is not our favorite port (far from it).

 

3- We had an excursion booked on Christmas Day in Cozumel (making Chocolate) for 08:30 AM (again booked thru Princess). This excursion still shows for us as booked in the Personalizer with the same times and the different date; however, Personalizer shows we arrive Cozumel 90 minutes after the excursion begins. In keeping with the theme, no communication from Princess about this change.

 

4- I clicked the "View Excursions" box for Cozumel and the next page read "There are no excursions available". I tried it again about an hour later and 35 excursions were listed. Ours was showing "Sold Out" and still had a starting time of 90 minutes before we arrive.

 

Whatever happens, we'll make "lemonade" out of it. This is a "Once-in-a-lifetime" experience for us and will not let the itenerary change get to us (that will be the job of the gazillion kids sailing over these 2 weeks, lol).

 

To everyone sailing on these cruises, DW and I wish you all good tidings and hope your experiences are amazing on your sailing.

 

 

[Thrak]

Princess will not only change the itinerary without compunction but will also advertise an itinerary that the know in advance won't happen. In 2017 we booked a 28 day cruise that included Apia. The port in Apia was not only currently out of service due to upgrades in progress, it had been out of service for more than a year. Princess knew for certain that they couldn't port there but advertised the port stop and never removed it until it was time to sail. (Actually, we never did get any notice that it had been removed from the itinerary until we were on the ship. They still left it listed in the itinerary for sailings after ours in the certain knowledge that they would not be porting there.)

Edited December 8, 2023 by Thrak

[ontheweb]

5 hours ago, Thrak said:

Princess will not only change the itinerary without compunction but will also advertise an itinerary that the know in advance won't happen. In 2017 we booked a 28 day cruise that included Apia. The port in Apia was not only currently out of service due to upgrades in progress, it had been out of service for more than a year. Princess knew for certain that they couldn't port there but advertised the port stop and never removed it until it was time to sail. (Actually, we never did get any notice that it had been removed from the itinerary until we were on the ship. They still left it listed in the itinerary for sailings after ours in the certain knowledge that they would not be porting there.)

NCL did the same thing this past summer for Prima cruises with Isafjordur, Iceland. The ship did not port there a single time as either their lifeboats were not certified to tender or the Captain refused to tender with so many passengers. (Both excuses were given.) They continued to list and sell excursions claiming the port was making progress on completing the dock. 

[SargassoPirate]

On 12/7/2023 at 9:34 AM, Hlitner said:

I just had a conversation with the nice folks at the shore excursion desk.  They are still scrambling to reschedule tours and told me to stop back tomorrow when they hope to have more info.  Also learned there are only about 330 of us continuing on the Dec 9 cruise (back to backs).

 

Last night we are in the MDR and the food was quite good.  I was in the mood for meat and they had both rack of lamb and beef Wellington on the menu.  When I asked the waiter (who does not eat meat) for a recommendation, he simply brought both.  Both items were very good (better than the meat I had in the Crown Grill).  The vol et vent starter was also quite good.  
 

Even though the ship is at capacity, we find the MDRs not busy at 8.  The app makes it difficult to get a 7:50 reservation, but one can easily be seated at that time without a reservation.  I sometimes think there are two cruise worlds.  The constant crowding enjoyed by those on an early dining schedule and the laid back relaxing life for those on a later dining schedule.  When the masses are jammed into the dining venues at 7, we are enjoying the not overcrowded bars.  When they are later packed into bars, we are enjoying a quiet dinner with relaxed waiters who are not overwhelmed.

 

Hank

Hank, you are a man after my own heart.  I avoid crowds and crowded venues whenever I can.  I get up early and hit the buffet for a good hearty breakfast as soon as they open, maybe have lunch in the MDR to avoid the buffet, and then I'll have some nibbles in the P&E lounge for a light dinner and a wee dram.   I'll sometimes enjoy another week dram on the promenade while the masses are packing the theater or MDR.

 

[Wingedangel111]

I just found this out via the Facebook group for our cruise. Not sure why some people got an email and we didn't hear about it at all. Went through Live Chat to see why we weren't notified and they said there is supposed to be something at the bottom of the Cruise Personalizer Summary page. I don't have anything there so told them that many will not know these changes and to resend the notice and put the announcement at the top of the app and the website page where it should be so people actually see it.

[strobellayjam]

On 12/8/2023 at 1:23 AM, J13C85 said:

We are on Sky Dec 23 cruise (first leg of a B2B). Here is our experience thus far.

 

1- We received no info from Princess regarding the itinerary change. I learned about it from this thread and found the info buried in the important notices area of the Cruise Summary.

 

2- We had an excursion booked thru Princess in Roataan (Brewery Tour, I was looking forward to that). This has disappeared from the Personalizer (under excursions, it show the Roataan stop on Christmas Day but our booked excursion is no longer listed and there is no link to view excursions. Again, nothing from Princess advising of the change.

 

I would imagine Excursions will be very limited on Christmas Day. We will probably stay on Sky and enjoy whatever Christmas festivities are happening on board.

 

I wonder if Princess considered skipping Roataan and making Christmas Day a sea day. DW and I would have voted for that as Roataan is not our favorite port (far from it).

 

3- We had an excursion booked on Christmas Day in Cozumel (making Chocolate) for 08:30 AM (again booked thru Princess). This excursion still shows for us as booked in the Personalizer with the same times and the different date; however, Personalizer shows we arrive Cozumel 90 minutes after the excursion begins. In keeping with the theme, no communication from Princess about this change.

 

4- I clicked the "View Excursions" box for Cozumel and the next page read "There are no excursions available". I tried it again about an hour later and 35 excursions were listed. Ours was showing "Sold Out" and still had a starting time of 90 minutes before we arrive.

 

Whatever happens, we'll make "lemonade" out of it. This is a "Once-in-a-lifetime" experience for us and will not let the itenerary change get to us (that will be the job of the gazillion kids sailing over these 2 weeks, lol).

 

To everyone sailing on these cruises, DW and I wish you all good tidings and hope your experiences are amazing on your sailing.

 

 

We are on the same B2B as you and only thanks to the great CC community did I learn of this change. I was also puzzled as to why excursion options for Roaton dropped off my cruise personalizer too. I have to say I’m not pleased with being moved to Coxen Hole. Mahogany Bay at least has the beach within walking distance. What is there to do on Coxen Hole much less on Christmas Day? 

Edited December 12, 2023 by strobellayjam

[roomba920]

Same thing happened to us with Norwegian. They flipped our Greek itinerary and dropped a port.