LIVE: Geoherb's solo Island Princess cruise, June 4-14, 2024 (Halifax, Boston, Norfolk, Charleston)

[arizonaperson]

@geoherb. I have enjoyed following along on your voyage.

when you say 2 crew members jumped ship, you mean like physically jumped in the water or just never came back on board in both of those ports? I know you don’t have first hand knowledge, but inquiring minds….

and wow, either way, if it is true ,very sad.

[sunviking90]

10 minutes ago, arizonaperson said:

@geoherb. I have enjoyed following along on your voyage.

when you say 2 crew members jumped ship, you mean like physically jumped in the water or just never came back on board in both of those ports? I know you don’t have first hand knowledge, but inquiring minds….

and wow, either way, if it is true ,very sad.

I’m sure he means “jumped ship” as a figure of speech only. They left and didn’t return. 

[TM]

2 hours ago, sunviking90 said:

I’m sure he means “jumped ship” as a figure of speech only. They left and didn’t return. 

This happens more often than passengers realize.  Once on a departure from San Francisco about 15 years ago we were delayed departure for close to 6 hours as 5 crew members left the ship and did not return.

[geoherb]

3 hours ago, arizonaperson said:

@geoherb. I have enjoyed following along on your voyage.

when you say 2 crew members jumped ship, you mean like physically jumped in the water or just never came back on board in both of those ports? I know you don’t have first hand knowledge, but inquiring minds….

and wow, either way, if it is true ,very sad.

 

Just a figure of speech. They left the ship and did not return.

[paddingtonbear]

1 hour ago, TM said:

This happens more often than passengers realize.  Once on a departure from San Francisco about 15 years ago we were delayed departure for close to 6 hours as 5 crew members left the ship and did not return.

That is so sad.  I wonder if they know the consequences of their actions?  Future entry bans etc. 

[arizonaperson]

33 minutes ago, geoherb said:

 

Just a figure of speech. They left the ship and did not return.

Thanks @geoherb. They ( crew members) just thought Halifax and Charleston was the place to be -to end their own contract and they never rejoined the ship, got it .thanks for the verification.

[geoherb]

I woke up early to watch us sail into Brooklyn. I always love seeing us sail by the Statue of Liberty. I wish I had brought my camera for moments like this. 

 

Yesterday ended well. I had drinks with friends to say goodbye, ate with one of them in the Bordeaux Dining Room, then watched the Stanley Cup game. The Oilers made it exciting at the end but still came up short. I decided not to put out my checked luggage last night. I'll manage to carry it off. My group to LaGuardia is scheduled to disembark at 8:40. The last time I disembarked in Brooklyn, they ran way behind. Friends of mine missed their 1:00 flight. My flight isn't until this evening. 

 

 

[geoherb]

Disembarkation was a breeze, especially compared to last time. I could have made the 1:30 flight home without any problems. I vacated my cabin right before 8 and then ate breakfast in the Bordeaux Dining Room. When I finished breakfast, the meeting place for my luggage tag was in Provence, one floor above. Right after I got there, she called my color and number. Since we had cleared Immigration in Boston, we did not have to do it again. Things were running very smoothly.

 

The shuttle bus ride to LaGuardia was quicker than it was coming from the airport to the pier. We made it in 40 minutes. I asked about switching to an earlier flight at the American Airlines counter. The rep said I would have to call the toll-free number. The phone rep said there was one seat left on the 1:30 direct flight. It cost more than I was willing to pay. I'll just wait the extra hours at LaGuardia. I've already started looking around for somewhere to eat a late lunch/early dinner.

[nematome]

See you @ 10:23. 😄 

[geoherb]

I received the email for the survey and have given my frank responses to the questions. 

[tothemall&beyond]

On 6/11/2024 at 12:01 PM, pompeii said:

You are the best!  That is terrific news, it means I don't have to bring my Starbucks Via!

We just did 32 nights on Sapphire with the Lavazza coffee. It's really good!

 

[cr8tiv1]

I don't know about LaGuardia but JFK had tons of places to eat (including Shake Shack).

 

Thanks for your easy going live.  I enjoyed following along.  Nice balance of happenings on land and on the ship.

[tothemall&beyond]

On 6/12/2024 at 11:25 PM, geoherb said:

 

I spoke to someone at guest services and received some compensation. It's a token amount of OBC. I'm still amazed that no one in upper management has reached out to me since the incident. 

They won't unless you as passenger push for it. On Sapphire, the Guest Services Supervisor was the one who offered us a few other cabins (but locations were not acceptable to us) and then gave us our first set of pretty generous FCC's as compensation. We had checked in with her at least once a day as they worked on the problem. But because the problem was not completely rectified and continued, we then went above her, and requested a meeting with the Guest Services Director (a Senior Officer with own private office). He issued us a second set of FCC's.

We had a similar experience many years ago on Emerald when 4 of our family's 5 cabins had serious plumbing issues following a dry dock. The GS Director gave us as much OBC as he was allowed to issue, but also gave us all the supporting documentation we would need to submit post-cruise complaints to shoreside Guest Services. Ultimately, we got 75% back in OBC's and FCC's for the four cabins with issues and 50% for the fifth one which didn't even have any problems. 

Edited June 14 by tothemall&beyond

[AZaTaz]

Thank you for the great live. You took adversity and kept cruising along enjoying your time. 

[paddingtonbear]

Thank you for your great live report! 

[In Toronto]

Thank you for doing this.  Very interesting.

[luvcruzing]

12 hours ago, geoherb said:

I woke up early to watch us sail into Brooklyn. I always love seeing us sail by the Statue of Liberty. I wish I had brought my camera for moments like this. 

 

Yesterday ended well. I had drinks with friends to say goodbye, ate with one of them in the Bordeaux Dining Room, then watched the Stanley Cup game. The Oilers made it exciting at the end but still came up short. I decided not to put out my checked luggage last night. I'll manage to carry it off. My group to LaGuardia is scheduled to disembark at 8:40. The last time I disembarked in Brooklyn, they ran way behind. Friends of mine missed their 1:00 flight. My flight isn't until this evening. 

 

 

I never get tired of seeing her.  Thank you for the live and safe travels.  
 

[CineGraphic]

23 hours ago, paddingtonbear said:

That is so sad.  I wonder if they know the consequences of their actions?

 

I could understand if they were Ukrainian males.

A few months ago, the Ukrainian embassies and consulates around the world stop processing passport renewals for men over the age of 18, forcing them to return to the Ukraine, where they will ultimately end up in the military.

[geoherb]

1 hour ago, CineGraphic said:

 

I could understand if they were Ukrainian males.

A few months ago, the Ukrainian embassies and consulates around the world stop processing passport renewals for men over the age of 18, forcing them to return to the Ukraine, where they will ultimately end up in the military.

 

I heard that one was from Zimbabwe.

[geoherb]

The cruise was originally billed as an American Heritage cruise (with Yorktown). In February, they had to drop Yorktown and switch the itinerary to go to Norfolk instead. I am apparently continuing the American heritage theme--stuck in Philadelphia. My flight from LaGuardia to Philly got delayed, and I missed my connection. I'm staying at the Airport Marriott. American Airlines rebooked me on an afternoon flight tomorrow.

[geoherb]

I'm home after a long day in Philadelphia. I was tempted to take the train into the city to see some of the sights, but I decided to relax at my hotel most of the morning. I walked from one end of the airport terminal to the other and had a cheesesteak at Chickie's & Pete's. It was very good. The guy beside me at the counter had a huge order of fries. That was the only size offered. I decided against them and for a bowl of chicken tortilla soup. 

[MsSoCalCruiser]

@geoherb thank you for taking us along on your cruise. I really enjoyed your review. 

[KruzPrincess]

Thanks for sharing your experience. I just booked a cruise on the Island for next year. Just curious, after this recent cruise and your experience on the Island, would you book a cruise on this ship again? Thanks. 

[geoherb]

I posted the Patters as PDFs here:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/3013956-patters-from-island-princess-june-4-10-2024/

 

 

They're much easier to read than the photos I took and posted in this live thread.

[geoherb]

6 hours ago, KruzPrincess said:

Thanks for sharing your experience. I just booked a cruise on the Island for next year. Just curious, after this recent cruise and your experience on the Island, would you book a cruise on this ship again? Thanks. 

 

If the itinerary and price were right, I would. I'm hoping the drydock in September will give them time to fix the plumbing problems. The leak that flooded my cabin affected just five cabins. The other plumbing and HVAC problems and maintenance lasted just a few hours.