Please help!! What is a port dependent upon Princesss discression?

[slgjhg]

Help! I just found out today that part of our 30 day cruise on Princess, Sept.16 Rome to Bangkok Oct.16 doesn't really have all the ports finalized. If you read the Aisa "Ports of Call" boards you will find that some of the ports posted in your itinerary don't actually materialize. Now here's the problem. We have a group of savy travlers who are putting together their own independent tours, people who have talked to friends who have done this and checked boards everywhere. So Princess doesn't know or won't disclose yet where they are docking. What are you supposed to do?

 

We have decided to ask the people we are working independently with to put together two itineraries from each port, try to find out who is doing the Princess tours and ask for a headsup, etc. It seems to me that if you are a big tour operator you know what the other guys are doing , right? Is this too American thinking about business? UHHHHHHH

 

I have read many of the horror stories on the boards here and am trying to avoid them. This seems pretty impossible. Any clues you have would be appreciated.

 

Many Thanks for your help and advise,

 

Any info would be appreciated!!!!!!!

 

Regards to All,

 

Shannon

[helenb]

Shannon there are some ports where this is not an issue. These would be ports where you can dock in/tender to the city itself (such as Osaka or Monte Carlo) or inland cities where there is really only one port available to stop at (such as Piraeus for Athens or Keelung for Taipei). But other places (such as cruisers' recent experiences in Vietnam and Bangkok) have this problem.

 

Perhaps if you ask the tour operators they will let you know if Princess really has any options for using a different port. And just in case ask them about their cancellation policies if the ports change. HTH!

[Hlitner]

This topic is one of major complaints about Princess Asian cruises. You might have seen some of the other posts about our recent 16 day Bangkok to Beijing cruise. In our case, they changed the embarkation port a few weeks before our trip..but many passengers were never notified. Hence, some actually missed the ship and others (who had arranged their own transfers) went to the wrong port, and than had to travel more than 2 hours the opposite direction to get to the ship (see Swill's post). The day before we were to dock in Phu My (most go to Saigon from here) the Captain announced that they had changed our port to Vung Tau (about 30 min further from Saigon). All our other ports were as advertised. You should also plan for delays in debarking in any Chinese port. The Chinese really take their time clearing the ship. and sometimes will take the temperature of every passenger as they leave the ship. They are somewhat overly cautious..but its easy to understand when you realize that SARS literally destroyed a year of their huge tourist industry. I only mention this because if you are arranging a private tour..you might not be able to leave the ship for 2 - 3 hours after docking in China.

 

Hank

[slgjhg]

Hi All,

 

I actually had read your thread from the Pacific Princess and was therefore primed when the tour people in India asked about the two ports. Thanks for the head's up. Your reports from your cruise were so interesting, and I appreciate so much you comments back to me. My husband and I have been to so many of your ports on business, it is so different and such a different perspective, and it was fun viewing them from your perspective. Also, we did two Renisannance (sp) cruices when these ships,R3 etc., were considered big. So interesting to see your warnings to Princess Grand cruisers. Most of the people we cruised with then couldn't imagine cruising on a ship as large as 600 passengers. Interesting! I feel lucky to have enjoyed both sides of this cruising experience and actually enjoyed them both, they do indeed have different things to recommend them. The really small ships which have been reinvented as Oceania, were all Suites. They we marvelous. Walk-in closets are the best. We will be on the Royal (as I mentioned in the "Help" message about pending ports) which we have sailed twice before.l I think she may be on her last legs, however, that doesn't matter, the itinerary is so spectacular that we couldn't resist. We have also met some cruisers on these boards who are on the same sailing that seem, knowledgeable, fun and interesting.

 

I thought your pointers about expectation were really valuable. Also, libraries can be great, and I am so glad that you reminded people of that.

 

I haven't checked your itinerary but did you visit Tiangin? It was the original port for Beigin, a very ancient city and very European in historyl The missionary from the "Chariots of Fire Movie" was barried there. We spent one week, twice a year there and during my morning walks I came to really enjoy the sights. The ritual of morning exercise, in many forms. Women on bicycles with their arms and hands covered by cloth for sun protection. The flexibility of women I would encounter on my morning walks. (Stretching on fences etc.) Were you there ( on a tour or even on your own) you wouldn't have seen these things, but did you stop there?

 

Thank you so much for your wonderful detailed information and responces,

 

Shannon Gardner