ONCRUISEMODE

Today I was looking at Cruise Critic for information on Dunedin. We are taking the Sea Princess on October 13th and Dunedin is one of the ports.

Look at what I stumbled on:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=113316

I normally cruise Celebrity and our Princess cruise in October will be our first time on Princess. I will say that we booked her for October 17th out of Sydney and they cancelled that sailing. Their attitude about the inconvenience I experience was poor. We are sailing Century from San Francisco to Sydney and had already made reservations to fly home on October 31st with Qantas. In order to redeem my desire to see NZ for the first time, we now had to fly to Brisbane (extra cost and time). Princess could not care less about this.

Wouldn't you love to be able to listen to Princess Management discuss this problem and how they TRULY feel about their customers. However, it seems like their actions are speaking for them.

It is stupid for any business to lose the customers they already have, as it is much easier to keep an existing customer coming back than to get news ones. So when they only do something when it may lose more than the customers affected, is just puzzling.

I truly agree with you regarding the very poor PR that Princess is demonstrating. However, I have a feeling it is not affecting their bottom line... It would be very interesting to truly know.

I Second that, Taxi for sure. Have a good trip.

Thank you for your assistance....

i recommend you just catch a taxi, if you are cruising from portside. Just ask the taxi dispatcher for a taxi with room for luggage. If you are cruising from the grain terminal, on the other side of the river from the airport, you may need to compare prices.

thank you very much

I asked the consultant if this was as a result of my posting on facebook and she said it was.

 

You had more luck then I did. I posted on Facebook and several people joined in but it didn't have any results that I know of.

I have a question since you live in Brisbane. For round trip transportation (airport to port) would you recommend Con-X-ion?

Anyone who has any experience can provide info. I am about ready to reserve it and thought I would ask CC members their opinions.

There seems to be some inequities between how Princess manages their American customers and how they manage their Australian customers.

 

Below is a link to how an American couple got a full refund.

 

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/investigations/Couples-Anniversary-Cruise-Goes-Awry-270080001.html

 

 

Just my opinion, but very shoddy on the part of Princess

IMHO Princess doesn't treat Americans any better. The couple received a refund due to contacting NBC News.

Seems to me SeaDog and SeaHag is doing as much whinging about the whingers.

Yes, they don't seem to see the other side.

people whinging about itinerary changes is all i'm hearing. MOVE ON!

If a port is that important to you....FLY.

Cruising is about having a good time and not whining .

Please read the above comments. While they agree with your point, you can't ignore the fact of what is said above.

I once took a cruise just to go to a certain port. I had been there on a mission trip and went again just to bring items needed for these folks that I met previously. I would have been very disappointed had we not been able to stop at that port. Had it been for weather, then that's understandable....but do to mechanical reasons that had been know for some time....not acceptable.

Look, we know you had a great time but re-read the above comments. They are very valid.

Lydia

While I agree with both points being made and that Princess may be legally right to do this (as Seadog & Sea Hag said cruises do it all the time for various reasons), morally they are wrong. They have known for months of these issues and yet waited until weeks prior (and well after final payment) to change itineraries. As oncruisemode points out, some people wanted specific ports which Princess knew they were not going to deliver.

Very True

Of course the ship has the right to change the itinerary, weather, security etc. all influence these decisions. However this issue is about a well known problem with the ships propulsion which means that planned itineraries cannot be maintained.

 

For a lot of people their cruise holiday is a once a year treat, saved for and planned well in advance. Is it reasonable to basically substantially change this holiday without giving people advance notice and the opportunity to switch to another cruise. I don't think so.

 

If I had planned to go to the Gold Coast and suddenly found I was going to Melbourne instead I'd be unhappy...wouldn't you?

 

Some people cruise for the cruise and for others exploring new ports is important, either way it's your holiday you paid for it!

 

So many other lines cruising here now, I love Princess just not the local offering, if they don't lift their game they will lose out to the competition.

 

 

Sue

Well said Sue.

Yes they had a few changes. These things happen all the time. If you read your contract it states that they can do it without penalty in most cases.

A cruise is not just about the destination. If more people accepted change and moved on they would have more chance of enjoying themselves.

I agree with you but...its also not good business practice to change ports because of mechanical problems and expect all your clients to grin and bear it.

Some ports are very important to people for many reasons.

Well i just found that the ship was full of whingers actually.

Its hard to please some people.

On your cruise, did the itineraries get changed?

It's not the TA's fault at all, the first she heard of this was yesterday. She has never booked anyone else on this ship so did not know the history & Princess Cruises told her nothing and have not responded to her enquiries so far. She has to deal with NZ rep for them, I think it's Go Holidays. The problem is appalling customer service by Princess Cruises - they have not emailed me personally once to advise the changes, they have not put any messages on my cruise personaliser, but they had the gall yesterday to email me and ask me to book more shore excursions!!

Insurers say I cannot claim as the cruise is not cancelled, and a refund is not a realistic option as we have non refundable flights, a 3 day luxury train trip just getting to Perth plus hotels and transfers pre-paid for - it would be a total nightmare and we would loose thousands. Just going to have to grin and bear it. The good news is that Geraldton seems to be back on the list.

Why not try contacting them directly via Facebook?

The ACCC is the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and is an Australian government body tasked with looking after consumers rights (among other matters). Here is a link to their web site http://www.accc.gov.au/consumers

You think they would help an American??

OnCruiseMode

I don't know how Facebook works...but I sent them a message that I had to pay $1.00 for it to go on their inbox.

Then I went to another Princess Cruise Facebook page...and there I posted the message again.

This is what was stated: You wrote on Princess Cruises's timeline. View post in "Posts To Page".

I was wondering if anyone can see the post when you log on to Princess Cruise timeline.....

Lydia

Might be time to let that toothless tiger, the ACCC, know about the false advertising that Sea Princess is peddling about selling a cruise to ports that they know they cannot visit due to their known speed restrictions due to a known faulty propulsion system. :mad:

 

If they cannot help, get a good bush lawyer and off to a kangaroo court. :D

 

Limping around the ocean is not what people envisaged when the booked their cruise.:(

 

Take action as suggested by RNGALNG. A boycott and raising the issue by many could hasten its repair. I know I will not be traveling on Sea Princes until it is fixed. ;)

Who are the ACCC and how does one get a hold of them?

Also, I am going to go on their facebook page and write my concerns.

It may not be the TAs fault for not knowing about the limping ship but it is their fault for giving up and saying it is all too hard to get the refund.:(

You know, I have yet to meet a TA that works hard regarding cruise ship travel. About 3 weeks ago, another cruise I was on gave a military discount. The savings was about $500. My TA gave all these excuses for not calling the cruise line. I finally said, "just do it". Sure enough, I got the deal. However, he made such a big deal about it that I must have wasted an hour on the phone with him when it could have taken 10 minutes.

ONCRUISEMODE

I thought that may be the case.

Still $100 for a almost totally different cruise to what was purchased when Princess knew what issues were onboard already, is very poor.

Equally poor by the TA for not making their customers aware of these issues that Princess were experiencing whne they booked.:(

I learned about the limping Sea Princess from Cruise Critic and my TA did not have a clue about it. He still hasn't heard anything.

Just had an email from my travel agent saying our cruise due to depart Perth on Sept 13th is now departing Sept 14th ( so who pays for this extra night in a hotel as we are arriving by train from Sydney on the 13th?), and we are losing the ports of Geraldton, Broome and Bali with a PNG port of call thrown in instead, Port Douglas replaced with Yorkys Knob in Cairns, and the Kimberly cruising cut short. So the only ports that they are calling at that were on the original itinerary are Darwin and Airlie Beach. I am totally appalled as it is clear from this thread alone that they have known there are problems and that these changes will have to happen since May, but they happily took our money in June and said nothing. This puts us at sea for 5 whole solid days - a living nightmare for me. Also I have no desire at all to go to PNG. The $100 per person credit is a joke, almost an insult. We are told cancelling is not a realistic option as we have flights, hotels, and a 3 day train trip linked with the cruise and the agent says it's a nightmare getting any refund out of a cruise line. Our cruise personaliser itinerary has been blocked and we can't access any on line information. Totally appalled at Princess Cruises, they are unprofessional and rude. This is the first and last time we will book with them.

I have never been on a Princess cruise. Well I booked a cruise with them on the Sun Princess for October 17th out of Sydney to NZ and they cancelled it.

I already booked the flight. So we had to do the Sea Princess out of Brisbane and pay the extra cost of flight for 2 R/T, luggage cost, taxi to and from the airports. That was my first experience.

Now the Sea Princess is limping and Princess is changing itineraries and times. I can't believe their attitude. I agree. Princess will not be a consideration for us, ever again.

Not ONCRUISEMODE with Princess

G'day Lynda,

 

Nelson Bay is located about 200 klm's north from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. We try to keep it a secret. ;)

Thank you. I later saw pictures and it is absolutely lovely. I need to return to Australia and stay a year next time to see everything I can't this time.

Lydia

Go to the Princess web site https://book.princess.com/captaincircle/jsp/captainCircleHome.jsp and place your pointer over the "Booked Guests" tab on the far right of the page. The first item listed is "My Booking (cruise personalizer)". Click on the link.;)

Amazing....so very simple. Thank you so much. Now I can check from time to time to see what's going on.

By the way, were is Nelson Bay? Lydia

Hi Seadog / hag - have you checked your cruise personaliser itinerary - that's how I found out about the changes to our itinerary - we haven't yet been advised by Princess themselves. Eitherway - hope you have a great trip.

How do you check your cruise personalizer itinerary? Actually, what it is?

Lydia

Hi, just reporting on our Northern Explorer 22 June 2014 cruise Brisbane to Fremantle. Alotau PNG instead of Bali. Yorky's Knob instead of Port Douglas. Loved the reef and Whitehaven Beach. Loved the rainforest skyrail and Kuranda. Amazed at the way of life in the villages of Alotau. The iteniary change did not affect us much although Broome port was a disaster for a lot of passengers. After arriving Broome on the first day at 2pm there was a massive queue to collect shuttle tickets to get into town. Can't walk across the wharf due to port restrictions so must be in a vehicle which has been granted a permit. Some did not get off the ship at all. My husband had the forsight to go early for the shuttle tickets and we did get a look at town, enjoyed some shopping & experience the townfolk. Second day my husband and I had an early morning half day excursion booked and managed to get off the ship at 5am, get through the red tape of the Broome wharf and fulfill our dream of the adventure of a lifetime to fly by seaplane over the Buccaneer Archaepelego, Cape Leveque, land on Talbot Bay and ride the Horizontal falls in a jetboat, in awe of the magnificent rock formations of the Kimberley. Swam in shark cage with the lemon sharks. A day never to be forgotten. Australia you're amazing!!! Made it back to the ship 45 minutes before 1pm departure! Weather was so warm and sunny during the whole trip untill we came to nearing Geraldton and Capt. Kent gave Geraldton the flick as it was not possible to tender due to the bad weather. Funny thing we seemed to be speeding at knots during the night to arrive Fremantle earlier than expected! Extra day in Fremantle so went to the old gaol tour - interesting. Great cruise.

Thank you for sharing your wonderful experience with us. It sounds like a fantastic journey.

Also, you have reassured me that the cruise we are taking on October 13th will still be on.

Seems my information from a few years ago is correct, must have been paying attention in that cruise lecture.:D

http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=1546

The main engines aren't connected to the propeller shafts; instead, the main engines are directly connected to large generators with one job: producing electricity. The electricity they produce is sent to electric motors, which then power and turn the propellers.

You truly do love everything about cruising. Down to the nuts and bolts. I was and am very impressed with your answers....