Swine Flu in Mexico, is it safe to go. (Merged Threads)

[californiagirl]

Cflutist, thank you so much for posting! What exactly does this mean for our 5/2 cruise?

[smixsell]

It's about time! Lets hope that they really mean it and will follow through with this. :) I think this is a fair solution, and i will not hesitate to travel with them again if they follow through with this "50% of the fair paid" credit toward a future cruise.

 

If they don't follow through with it for some reason, then it's "adios Princess."

[jetwet1]

What it means is that if you book a future cruise you will receive a discount equal to 50% of the fare excluding port charges and taxes that you paid for this cruise.

 

However what I cannot figure out from the wording is if they will only apply one person discount per cruise or if we can use both our discounts on one cruise.

 

If it's the latter then I am a happy boy, if not then they can stick it and I will go back to being grumpy :D

[cflutist]

Cflutist, thank you so much for posting! What exactly does this mean for our 5/2 cruise?

 

I read it to mean, if you go on the cruise, you will have the following itinerary and will receive a 50% future credit on their cruise fare paid, for any sailing booked by the end of April 2011.

 

Best to call Princess and ask for clarification.

 

Per Princess News Release:

 

Sapphire Princess

 

 

MAY 2 - MAY 9, 2009

 

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Los Angeles

Depart at 4:00 PM

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Santa Barbara

Arrive at 7:00 AM

Depart at 6:00 PM

Monday, May 4, 2009

San Diego

Arrive at 7:00 AM

Depart at 6:00 PM

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Ensenada (Service Call Only - No Passenger Disembarkation)

Arrive at 8:00 AM

Depart at 12:00 PM

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

At Sea

Thursday, May 7, 2009

San Francisco

Arrive at 7:00 AM

Depart at 8:00 PM

Friday, May 8, 2009

At Sea Saturday, May 9, 2009

Los Angeles

Arrive at 7:00 AM

[Toto2Kansas]

Cflutist, thank you so much for posting! What exactly does this mean for our 5/2 cruise?

 

It means that they will be giving you a 50% credit towards a future cruise from the amount you paid for your cruise fare on the 5/2 sailing. But there is always a time limit envolved for it to be used, so don't loose track of the date.

 

Princess will follow through with this!

[hubofhockey]

It's about time! Lets hope that they really mean it and will follow through with this. :) I think this is a fair solution, and i will not hesitate to travel with them again if they follow through with this "50% of the fair paid" credit toward a future cruise.

 

If they don't follow through with it for some reason, then it's "adios Princess."

 

I am happy for all of the affected passengers. I fully understand that this wasn't in the "passenger contract" but it's still the right thing to do.

[californiagirl]

So if my cruise cost me x dollars, they are giving me 50% of x credit on another cruise of my choice? If that is the case, then I am a happy californiagirl!!

[smixsell]

I just spoke with a princess cust svc rep, who recieved an e-mail update while i was speaking to him, CONFIRMING that a credit equalling 50% of the fair you paid for your Sapphire 5/2 cruise will be given to you good toward the purchase of any future cruise booked through 2011 (February of 2011 I think).

 

As for me I think this is relatively fair.

[jetwet1]

Yep, now why the hell couldn't they do that yesterday...Oh I know, they didn't think there would be a back lash like this ?

 

Anyways I am a happy person now :D

[JoJo79]

What it means is that if you book a future cruise you will receive a discount equal to 50% of the fare excluding port charges and taxes that you paid for this cruise.

 

However what I cannot figure out from the wording is if they will only apply one person discount per cruise or if we can use both our discounts on one cruise.

 

If it's the latter then I am a happy boy, if not then they can stick it and I will go back to being grumpy :D

 

PER PERSON, it's about time! All it took was a national paper getting involved! Really, I think Hell just froze over!

[hubofhockey]

Yep, now why the hell couldn't they do that yesterday...Oh I know, they didn't think there would be a back lash like this ?

 

Anyways I am a happy person now :D

 

I don't think it's fair to suggest that it should have been done yesterday. From an economic standpoint, this was a major decision and there may have been internal debate if the percentage would be 25% or any amount up 50% or more. While I have agreed all along that Princess should have found a way to take care of you guys, I have ZERO problem with the result, the timing, or the process.

[Toto2Kansas]

I don't think it's fair to suggest that it should have been done yesterday. From an economic standpoint, this was a major decision and there may have been internal debate if the percentage would be 25% or any amount up 50% or more. While I have agreed all along that Princess should have found a way to take care of you guys, I have ZERO problem with the result, the timing, or the process.

 

I totally agree with you. Nuff said, or I will get myself into real trouble here. :o:o

[cathycruise]

I don't think it's fair to suggest that it should have been done yesterday. From an economic standpoint, this was a major decision and there may have been internal debate if the percentage would be 25% or any amount up 50% or more. While I have agreed all along that Princess should have found a way to take care of you guys, I have ZERO problem with the result, the timing, or the process.

 

I concur. :)

[Clutterlady]

I knew Princess would come through! When the fire on the Star Princess occurred, our cruise was canceled as we were due to sail on the Star a few weeks later. We too received the 50% credit which we used in 08 ,plus full refund.We received notification from our TA within a few days of the fire and official notification from Princess within a week.

 

Glad everything has worked out for everyone:)

[WeBeGone]

Check out this important website:

 

http://doihavetheswineflu.com/

[jbrambach]

Check out this important website:

 

http://doihavetheswineflu.com/

Cute. Thanks for the chuckle:D

[jetwet1]

Not to beat a dead horse but all the other lines managed to figure out what they were doing yesterday, I really get the feeling that Princess figured that with it only hitting a few cruises they could skate on this.

 

Now will say this, half of my reaction to this whole thing was down to the shock at how badly Princess was handling the whole thing, I am used to Princess being a very customer service orientated company and they were dropping the ball big time.

 

Now I also had a direct comparison with HAL and how they handled our cruise with them that got hit by 3 hurricanes ! and how well they were on the ball with that.

 

Anyways, it's history, life goes on, no matter what happened we get to spend a week with the family, almost at home :rolleyes: and were going to move on.

[MMDown Under]

The latest from Princess:

 

4/30/2009 Statement on Swine Flu - 12:00 p.m. PDT

 

Three of the seven affected cruises were sold as voyages exclusively to Mexico, and we therefore realize that these passengers are not receiving the cruise vacation they had anticipated. Therefore as a goodwill gesture we are offering these passengers a 50% future credit on their cruise fare paid, for any sailing booked by the end of April 2011.

These sailings are:

Sapphire Princess (departed April 25)

Star Princess (departed April 27)

Sapphire Princess (departing May 2)

 

The other four cruises with modifications feature Mexico as a smaller portion of the itinerary, and these passengers will either visit alternative ports or spend an additional day at sea.

 

 

I wonder if the cruise industry realises what their decision making procedures do to their industry, as a whole, not just to the people on the affected cruises.

 

"Three of the seven affected cruises were sold as voyages exclusively to Mexico, and we therefore realize that these passengers are not receiving the cruise vacation they had anticipated."

 

What an understatement! In this instance, passengers, who hadn't sailed, should have been offered an automatic refund.

 

Re heading north, rather than south - doesn't the industry understand that people take these Spring cruises as they are over winter and long for warmth?

[SeattleCruiselover]

:) My winter coat is still out - we live in the SF bay area, and it's really chilly, esp in the morning and evening - as well as my scarves, gloves and hats. I have an impression some (non-CA residents) on this board do not realize how damp/cold CA could be still in spring time. The mighty Pacific ocean sure can blow cold wind even in May.

 

I'd love to visit Oregon some day. I heard it's just gorgeous (and you guys have great peaches! :D) with beautiful waterfalls, etc. But knowing how cold it is in Nor Cal right now, I wouldn't want to go up there any time soon. Unfortunately, the current weather forecast is not really on our side, though -- even So Cal is supposed to be chilly (in the 60's during the day). I am hoping and praying (literally!) it'll warm up by this weekend.

 

I feel for you guys. It's 70 degrees and beautiful up here today. Just think what you are missing....:D

[cruisecrasy]

I wonder if the cruise industry realises what their decision making procedures do to their industry, as a whole, not just to the people on the affected cruises.

 

"Three of the seven affected cruises were sold as voyages exclusively to Mexico, and we therefore realize that these passengers are not receiving the cruise vacation they had anticipated."

 

What an understatement! In this instance, passengers, who hadn't sailed, should have been offered an automatic refund.

 

Re heading north, rather than south - doesn't the industry understand that people take these Spring cruises as they are over winter and long for warmth?

 

Re: heading north or south!! Your complaint is amazing!

 

Weather on the northern west coast is still better than where most are comin' from anyway..

As 'SeattleCruiselover' stated - its 70 up here now anyway..

 

The cruiselines are attempting to make a bad situation at least palatable - IMO anyway, cruising somewhere is better than nowhere and especially not to where u cld get sick or even dead and all u are upset about is that folks will not get very warm weather?????

 

Have happy cruisin'!

[Cruise Gypsy]

Check out this important website:

 

http://doihavetheswineflu.com/

 

 

That is a good one.

 

Two thumbs up to Princess for coming thru - nice job.:D

[MMDown Under]

Re: heading north or south!! Your complaint is amazing!

 

Weather on the northern west coast is still better than where most are comin' from anyway..

As 'SeattleCruiselover' stated - its 70 up here now anyway..

 

The cruiselines are attempting to make a bad situation at least palatable - IMO anyway, cruising somewhere is better than nowhere and especially not to where u cld get sick or even dead and all u are upset about is that folks will not get very warm weather?????

 

Have happy cruisin'!

 

Cruising in cold weather or taking a land vacation in warm weather, with refund money, is a no brainer! And I've just returned (sick) from cold weather to the warm sub tropics. :)

[Colo Cruiser]

Interesting story on the local news about 2 people locally who have confirmed H1N1 virus. One is a woman who just returned from a Mexican Riviera cruise; the other is a baggage handler at the Denver airport. No mention was made of ship or cruise line.

 

Just saw that.

[gottimom]

You may think that you are benefitting by Princess offering you a 50% return on this cruise to be applied to a future cruise but the only one that benefits is Princess. The credit is applied with the contingency that you book a future cruise, ensuring them the repeat business and profit to be gained as a result of this business. I'll guarantee you that there is enough margin in their markup of the cruise that they are still making a profit even if it is a small percentage. This in no way compensates us for the frustration of a last minute change in this itinerary and ports of call which we would not have chosen for a normal cruise package. We would have preferred some type of onboard credit compensating us for a portion of this cruise or providing us with the option of rebooking (cancellation is of course out based on Princess's policy). This would have addressed the lack of customer service having been provided by Princess for this particular cruise. Other lines have taken a more proactive approach to this situation providing their customers with far better incentives to maintain customer loyalty. Princess should have followed their example and concerned themselves with "customer delight" rather than the corporate bottom line. My wife and I have sailed 24 times with 8 of those sailings with Princess. We presently have a future booking in place with Princess for December. We will of course make this best of a bad situation and enjoy our time together as we always do when we cruise but Princess has failed to provide us with the level of customer satisfaction that we would have expected of them and deserve to expect of them.

[Cruisin Bob]

Interesting story on the local news about 2 people locally who have confirmed H1N1 virus. One is a woman who just returned from a Mexican Riviera cruise; the other is a baggage handler at the Denver airport. No mention was made of ship or cruise line.

 

Well get ready for lots more cases (and lots of bad info)

 

I do not think they can stop this flu. I think they are just trying to slow it down so they get the stored antiviral medications to various locations and let the drug companies ramp up production of more medicine.

 

Like VP Biden said you probablly do not want to be on mass transit anytime soon.