talkorpi

The GS rep I talked to this afternoon told me that those types of decisions come straight from corporate. I think they want to do something to make things right. All pitchforks should be pointed at Santa Clarita

If I were the captain with total free control here is what I would realistically have done differently: Having the forecasts available and already knowing that we were gonna be pushing safe limits in both Roatan and Costa Maya, I would have personally changed course and routed towards Grand Cayman on the morning of our second sea day when we had heard that the Caribbean Princess was unsuccessful in her docking attempts at Mahogany Bay. Our forecast was allegedly even worse than theirs so I feel like it would be pretty clear that docking would be difficult. This would’ve given plenty of time and kept it as a second sea day. I would have then spent the day in Grand Cayman and Jamaica on the days we were supposed to be in Mahogany Bay & Costa Maya. Continue on to Cozumel as normal. It would be a logistical headache but those ports did not have known weather issues and the ship could have realistically traveled that distance in that time. Not sure how this would have worked but in my head that is what I would’ve done. I was secretly praying we would reroute to Grand Cayman and while I knew that wouldn’t happen, maybe that’s what got me through the extra sea days 😂 I am also biased because Grand Cayman is my favorite port but I feel like this would’ve made more sense. Hindsight is 20/20.

Haha, thank you for the thoughts. Yes it stinks but I have been really impressed with the hard products on Princess so far. Personally find the ship and food to be MUCH better than any Carnival cruise I have been on. Interactions with the crew have been fantastic as well. Entertainment is admittedly not as good but I feel like the wonky itinerary and cancellations don’t make it fair to judge as a lot had to be made up on the fly. They did a better job of that today than yesterday, I’ll give them that. Don’t worry, I’m not giving up on Princess over this like so many others have said. I’ll hang on to my FCD and I still hope to use it sometime soon. Probably won’t be doing any more Western Caribbean cruises with it though 😂 I’ve had my eyes on the ten-day eastern Caribbean itineraries on Enchanted Princess next year, but it’s a little too much time away from work and a little too expensive for me to afford at the moment. We will see!

MDR Lunch. Unfortunately I did not get a photo of the menu and it is not in our app as there wasn’t planned to be an MDR lunch today. Fried Mozzarella (realty, really good) Chicken Club Sandwich Beef Roulade (very weird, it had pickles inside, but was still interesting) Chocolate something (it was like cake with mousse on top) Chocolate chip ice cream

Princess did a better job at adding activities today from the missed port. I guess they had practice from yesterday 😂😂 Today’s new patter:

Here’s the speedtest I just ran. I haven’t been able to do things like video chat or streaming but I can do things like google images or upload photos to CC (with a little patience, of course 😉)

Yes you are correct. However, a Carnival ship was able to dock in Mahogany Bay just 30 minutes after we gave up which has of course caused great resentment among the passengers who were able to watch that happen as we sailed past 😳

I have just been told by multiple longtime Princess cruisers to expect some sort of compensation in cases like this as that is what they have always experienced. As this is my first time on Princess and also my first time with port cancellations I have no reference so I trusted these comments. I’m not one of the guests that is down yelling at guest services and whatnot, I think that is very inappropriate. Again, just wanted to relay what I was told. I’m happy to hear that the passengers on the Caribbean seem to be behaving better. Ruby has not had a port day yet and it’s now day 5 so I think that explains why our passengers seem a bit rowdier. Also have lots of first time cruisers onboard so if this was my first cruise experience, I would be pretty POed at the situation as well (not excusing the behavior or taking it out on the crew though). I had a chat with one of the guest services officers for about 30 minutes about shore excursion refunds with my folio and whatnot and I found myself continually apologizing on behalf of the incidents I was witnessing earlier. I’m glad the crew can’t see any of the comments in our FB roll call 🫣 They work so hard and I have been giving lots of extra gratuities today because of what they’re dealing with and not being able to get a break while in port.

Lots of people are frustrated because we missed Roatan while Allure (and the other two ships also scheduled to call that day) was able to dock just fine. While I am not an expert in maritime navigation I do understand the frustration when our ship was the only of the four that was unable to dock and we have missed TWO ports instead of one. Again, not saying it is 100% Princess’s fault, but wanted to provide some context to explain the general sentiments onboard.

Thanks. You don’t have to apologize - I’m still having a good time. I always tell people not to apologize if they never did anything wrong themselves 😂 While it’s true that the quality of this cruise dropped significantly after the first two sea days I can’t fault Princess 100% on this. What is disappointing is how people are acting along with how Princess hasn’t really padded the schedule much. I am hoping we will get some additional OBC or FCCs or a partial refund or SOMETHING but I know not to expect it. I hope you will have better weather for your cruise and some more friendly passengers! The food and service on Ruby is great so you still have that to look forward to!

Agree 100%. Some of the behavior from our fellow guests I have seen this morning is very disappointing. Nobody is happy about this situation so there’s no point in screaming to the piazza how you “f****g paid so much f*****g money to be on this f…” you get the point

Here’s our Marine track from today to prove I’m not making this up

Omg y’all this cruise is CURSED! It’s my seventh cruise and I’ve never had a port cancellation but now I got two in a row! Sweet! Caribbean Princess also came in with us and turned right back around too. They missed Roatan the day before we did. Not a great week for the western Caribbean. Can we just go to Grand Cayman instead?? Lots of VERY very angry guests in the Piazza saying NSFW words and screaming at Guest Services. I feel terrible for the crew - this isn’t their fault and I just want to go give all of them a hug. They had to bring in a security detail and I’m pretty sure they’re gonna have to take a couple people to the brig because they were so “animated.” Capitan said we are going to try to do an overnight in Cozumel. Unfortunately I don’t like Cozumel and it was the only port on this trip that I DIDN’T have plans for, but now I feel like I will have to get off just because it might be the only chance we get all week! Third time’s a charm, right Capitan? Right??? 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻🫠🫠🫠

THEY LITERALLY JUST CANCELLED OUR CALL IN COSTA MAYA… NOT EVEN JOKING

Good morning (I know the picture seems counterintuitive) from Costa Maya! Hoping we actually dock today 🤞🏻

I think the one weakness of Princess so far compared to my last cruises is entertainment. Not a lot to offer today and the evening headliner shows just aren’t super impressive. HOWEVER, I really love the game shows they have in the evenings. These are always really entertaining and often hilarious! Liars Club is happening right now and is pretty funny. It’s like the definition round of Balderdash but for a crowd. I love that game so this is pretty entertaining. Our cruise director is really funny in this game show

MDR Dinner: Mixed salad was pretty good. Had a little too much of the oil dressing but the greens and shrimp tasted great. Vol-a-vent tasted great. I didn’t eat all of the puff pastry because it was pretty dense but the lobster bisque and shrimp was nice and rich tasting. Salmon: Nice fresh taste. Had good side parings too. Rack of Lamb: I don’t ever get to eat lamb so this was a nice treat. It was cooked perfectly and the potatoes it was paired were nice too. Crème Brûlée: classic crème brûlée executed well. The Madelines served with it were pretty dense but I think they were more for garnish anyways. Chocoholic Cheesecake: if you love chocolate you’ll love this dessert. It was really rich and a great finish to the meal. Another great night in the MDR!

I don’t want to alarm anyone but I have been seeing a lot of strings of sargassum ever since we started heading for Costa Maya

Thanks for the suggestion! We actually have an excursion booked to the Chaccoben ruins. Excited for that

Well I didn’t get to go to the arts and crafts session because there were no seats left. It was one of the only non- spa or shopping activities all afternoon but for some reason they decided to have it in (half of) Crown Grill. I got there a couple minutes before it started and there were no open seats! Dang it. Today is just not working for me luck-wise. First a missed port, then a bunch of busts in the casino with no wins, and now this! Hoping this evening gets better 😅

Lunch. Pizza line was LONG. Well worth the wait though - tasted great and I did enjoy it better than CCL lido pizza. The ultimate mai tai is one of the best drinks I have had so far, too. The ship did not feel very crowded on day one but lido was absolutely overflowing this afternoon. People were waiting in line in the hallway near the Horizon Court just to try to snag an empty table! I guess losing the free beach port left people wanting to get some sun & enjoy the pools. For me it’s just not the same but the point is the top decks are very crowded today.

I read this letter as “we are sorry that we lost out on all of your shore excursion money, please come donate it to us in the casino or spa instead” 😂😂🤔

I think they had a hard time filling the time that we were supposed to be in port today. The only thing that isn’t live music, spa, art, shopping, or designed for children in between 11 AM and 5 PM today is the arts and crafts and AA 🫠 Would’ve been nice to throw in some more trivias, an enrichment lecture, or an extra arts and crafts somewhere.

Sabatini’s photo dump. Incredible meal. Our waiter said that the guest satisfaction with the new menu has been much higher than the previous iteration. I can buy that! If you want a more in-depth review of the meal you can check my live thread here. Pictured: - Herb Foccacia & Garlic Parmesan Roll w/ oil & balsamic - Arancini - Buratta Caprese - Chef’s Panzanella with Grilled Shrimp - Pasta Primavera - Lobster Tortelloni - Branzino - Ossobuco - Chef’s specialty desserts (they brought us full sized versions of all of the desserts!) Hazelnut Rocher with chocolate ice cream and chocolate mousse Vanilla and mascarpone custard with fresh fruit Marsala wine panna cotta with blueberries Tiramisu Seriously an excellent meal that is well worth the cover charge.

That’s the passenger count. The 3080 maximum capacity is assuming every room is booked with two guest in it. It can go over as you add 3rd and 4th passengers to rooms. Sounds like the next cruise will be pretty full!