C'mon Princess - issues with itinerary change

[nbsjcruiser]

12 hours ago, cujosmom said:

First of all, I am wondering why you even booked an "Excursion/Beach Day" at Mahogany Bay. The ship is DOCKED at Mahogany Bay and you can just walk off the ship and walk to the beach or pay some ridiculous price to take the sky ride which will be maybe 3 minutes long.  

 

Because the Bay is so narrow, the ships that go to Mahogany Bay have to "back in" to dock. If the weather is bad or too windy, they sometimes have to cancel because they are unable to dock. 

 

We've been to Roatan at least 6 times and the beach at MB "looks" nice but we prefer docking at Coxen Hole and taking an excursion from there. So much easier and much better options in my opinion.

 

Well, first of all, why we booked an excursion at Mahogany bay has zero to do with my post. I have no idea why people post such silly and irrelevant remarks.

 

Your last paragraph, despite lacking details, is a little more relevant to the topic. Thanks for that at least.

[nbsjcruiser]

9 hours ago, like2cruise said:

IMPORTANT NOTICES

Please be advised that due to cruise ship congestion in Roatan, Honduras, Sky Princess will now berth in Coxen Hole for our call to Roatan on Tuesday, February 6, 2024, rather than in Mahogany Bay as previously scheduled.

 

For guests with Princess shore excursions booked for Roatan, tours will be automatically rebooked out of Coxen Hole. If your tour cannot be accommodated, a refund will be issued to the original form of payment. The revised itinerary displays in full at the end of this notification. Thank you for your attention to this notification.

 

We had a beach day/clamshell booked for Mahogany Bay so that will be cancelled. Our problem is, we switched credit cards last December, months after booking that excursion so there is no "original form of payment". I called Princess yesterday and asked them to put it on as OBC but the guy I talked to didn't understand what I was asking for. God, its getting challenging talking to Princess lately. Rarely do I get someone who understands English well enough to really be taking calls from customers.

[worldtraveller]

We were moved to CH in December.  Took over 20 minutes just to get out of the port due to all of the traffic and narrow road.

[like2cruise]

11 minutes ago, nbsjcruiser said:

 

We had a beach day/clamshell booked for Mahogany Bay so that will be cancelled. Our problem is, we switched credit cards last December, months after booking that excursion so there is no "original form of payment". I called Princess yesterday and asked them to put it on as OBC but the guy I talked to didn't understand what I was asking for. God, it’s getting challenging talking to Princess lately. Rarely do I get someone who understands English well enough to really be taking calls from customers.

Since your excursion is booked with Princess, from the sounds of it in the letter, I am hopeful if you are still interested that they will now provide you the transportation to still get to your beach day/clamshell.  🤞🤞

[nbsjcruiser]

1 minute ago, like2cruise said:

Since your excursion is booked with Princess, from the sounds of it in the letter, I am hopeful if you are still interested that they will now provide you the transportation to still get to your beach day/clamshell.  🤞🤞

hmmm, It's like 10 miles away though isn't it? Not that that's a huge deal but I guess I hadn't thought of that. Guess we'll see.

[Tonsoffun44]

46 minutes ago, nbsjcruiser said:

hmmm, It's like 10 miles away though isn't it? Not that that's a huge deal but I guess I hadn't thought of that. Guess we'll see.

CH to MB is 5 miles EACH WAY - problem is narrow one lane roads make it take awhile. Not sure they'll let CH passengers into MB even if it is a ship excursion. 

[azbirdmom]

1 hour ago, nbsjcruiser said:

hmmm, It's like 10 miles away though isn't it? Not that that's a huge deal but I guess I hadn't thought of that. Guess we'll see.

 

I would doubt that they would still have that listed as an excursion if they aren't docking at Mahogany Bay.  I'm thinking that "port congestion" also means too many people at their private beach.  There are much nicer beaches elsewhere in Roatan, hopefully they will offer more of those options.  But yeah, you're missing the convenience of walking to or taking a chair lift to a beach with the ability to return to the ship at your leisure.

[nbsjcruiser]

1 hour ago, azbirdmom said:

 

I would doubt that they would still have that listed as an excursion if they aren't docking at Mahogany Bay.  I'm thinking that "port congestion" also means too many people at their private beach.  There are much nicer beaches elsewhere in Roatan, hopefully they will offer more of those options.  But yeah, you're missing the convenience of walking to or taking a chair lift to a beach with the ability to return to the ship at your leisure.

I think you're right. We're docking at CH for a reason - too many people at MB. If they were going to let us keep excursions at MB, might as well let us dock there.

[nbsjcruiser]

Has anyone here tried this resort?: https://roatancruiseexcursions.com/excursion/roatan-resort-adventure-package/

 

Looks nice. I may book us there for the day.

[nbsjcruiser]

We're sailing on the Sky in under two weeks. We were supposed to dock in Mahogany Bay but as I suspected may happen, they moved us to Coxen Hole. Kinda irked me tbh - they've done this to the Regal a couple of times already so they've known that booking the Sky into MB was never going to be an option but they left it there until last week when suddenly it became Coxen Hole. Its not the move that irks me, I get that it happens, but the late timing of it, especially since it looked like it would happen as it did on the Regal.

 

I get that itineraries change, all fine and dandy, but is it asking too much for you to put the excursions up? We'll be there two weeks from today, at least I think we will be. Sure would be nice to see some excursions to book. I've already paid for one excursion in MB that needs to be refunded. I don't want to book an independent tour and put a deposit down to find out that Princess decided to change their minds again.

 

C'mon Princess. Get your poop in a group and get the excursions up so I can at least plan.

[CATGUY7]

I am so aggravated.  We board in under 4 weeks  Today our itinerary changed completely - We only have one port that we will still visit on the same day as the original booking.   All the excursions that were booked outside Princess will have to be cancelled, and are now not available to rebook.  And the one booked with Princess that has been sold out for months - who knows if it will still be available?  Worst part is, when that was booked, it was 200.00 cheaper than it would be now.  

[clarky213]

3 minutes ago, CATGUY7 said:

I am so aggravated.  We board in under 4 weeks  Today our itinerary changed completely - We only have one port that we will still visit on the same day as the original booking.   All the excursions that were booked outside Princess will have to be cancelled, and are now not available to rebook.  And the one booked with Princess that has been sold out for months - who knows if it will still be available?  Worst part is, when that was booked, it was 200.00 cheaper than it would be now.  

If a Princess excursion has changed days, you should still be booked on it when it actually goes.

[CATGUY7]

10 minutes ago, clarky213 said:

If a Princess excursion has changed days, you should still be booked on it when it actually goes.

I sure hope so.  I have looked forward to it for so long.

[startedwithamouse]

Princess will automatically change to the new day.

[DavidsNana]

@nbsjcruiserI feel your pain about Princess not notifying its passengers of port schedule changes ahead of time.  I have 2 cabins on Enchanted Princess for 4/27.  There have been some indications that we weren't going to dock at MB as there were none of the beach items to book on our excursion list such as the clamshells and snorkel gear etc.  Then someone on the cruise noticed that our day in Roatan had changed on the Mahagony Bay Port Schedule.  No word from Princess.  Frankly, I wish they would change us to docking at Coxen Hole as Mahagony Bay is so problematic with the wind and seas that one of the two cruises that I took last year bypassed due to winds.  Then both of them bypassed Costa Maya due to high winds and surf.  I'm just hoping that we are able to make all the ports on this cruise.  Actually, if we were to miss one, Belize would be my choice as it isn't my favorite port on this itinerary.

[nbsjcruiser]

I finally gave up and booked a Victor Bodden tour to West Bay Beach - not really a tour, just round trip transportation to the beach. We'll set up in a resort for the day.

[gilboman]

On 1/20/2024 at 8:14 AM, nbsjcruiser said:

 

We had a beach day/clamshell booked for Mahogany Bay so that will be cancelled. Our problem is, we switched credit cards last December, months after booking that excursion so there is no "original form of payment". I called Princess yesterday and asked them to put it on as OBC but the guy I talked to didn't understand what I was asking for. God, its getting challenging talking to Princess lately. Rarely do I get someone who understands English well enough to really be taking calls from customers.

credit can go back to cancelled cards..i do it all the time. if you still do business with that bank, they just transfer it to your account or another cc. if no more business, they mail you a check

 

 

Edited January 24 by gilboman

[nbsjcruiser]

33 minutes ago, gilboman said:

credit can go back to cancelled cards..i do it all the time. if you still do business with that bank, they just transfer it to your account or another cc. if no more business, they mail you a check

 

 

Oh, didn't know that. We're with the same bank so it should go through then I guess.

 

Update: Actually, I just checked and the refund is there. I'll use it for our Victor Bodden tour now.

 

tks

Edited January 24 by nbsjcruiser

[eclue]

On 1/20/2024 at 10:45 AM, nbsjcruiser said:

I think you're right. We're docking at CH for a reason - too many people at MB. If they were going to let us keep excursions at MB, might as well let us dock there.

It seems the port congestion issue has started when the Carnival Jubilee arrived - 6500 passengers!

[Rick&Jeannie]

1 hour ago, gilboman said:

credit can go back to cancelled cards..i do it all the time. if you still do business with that bank, they just transfer it to your account or another cc. if no more business, they mail you a check

 

 

That's not what took place for me the time I changed cards. I went round and round with the bank before someone there finally realized that they were out of balance on a different account (Duh!)

[Rick&Jeannie]

1 minute ago, eclue said:

It seems the port congestion issue has started when the Carnival Jubilee arrived - 6500 passengers!

That's just WAY too big...I hope Princess doesn't get crazy like that, too.

[eclue]

Just now, Rick&Jeannie said:

That's just WAY too big...I hope Princess doesn't get crazy like that, too.

I agree - the Sun Princess is already way too big for me.

[richstowe]

Well another cruise changed. Our March 2 , Roatan March 5 , has had our Mahogany Bay changed to Coxen hole . We like West Bay but were looking forward to MB.

On 1/20/2024 at 8:16 AM, worldtraveller said:

We were moved to CH in December.  Took over 20 minutes just to get out of the port due to all of the traffic and narrow road.

Yeah, I remember taking a private tour in a mini-van and the big buses were horribly stuck in traffic . We got to West Bay an hour before the cruise-ship tours.

On 1/20/2024 at 9:33 AM, Tonsoffun44 said:

CH to MB is 5 miles EACH WAY - problem is narrow one lane roads make it take awhile. Not sure they'll let CH passengers into MB even if it is a ship excursion. 

I was wondering about this.

[azbirdmom]

Well it could be worse.  Carnival corp adjusted schedules for any trip that transited the Red Sea through the Spring (understandable under the circumstances).  But it's resulting in huge changes to itineraries.  For example, this is what someone posted re: the current world cruise on the Island:

 

 

These are the ports eliminated:  Burnie, Adelaide, Bali, Kuala Lumpur, Colombo, Sri Lanka, Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

 

Some of us (including me) have been upset about the fluctuating port stop at Roatan but can you imagine having this happen?

 

[eclue]

58 minutes ago, azbirdmom said:

Well it could be worse.  Carnival corp adjusted schedules for any trip that transited the Red Sea through the Spring (understandable under the circumstances).  But it's resulting in huge changes to itineraries.  For example, this is what someone posted re: the current world cruise on the Island:

 

 

These are the ports eliminated:  Burnie, Adelaide, Bali, Kuala Lumpur, Colombo, Sri Lanka, Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

 

Some of us (including me) have been upset about the fluctuating port stop at Roatan but can you imagine having this happen?

 

Better to cancel the port than go in to a war/terrorist hijack zone.