SunshineCoast

10 hours ago, TopofWorld said:

Thank you very much for the reply. That was the thread that prompted my question. My point was why advertise/offer something as unlimited but only in 1 venue?  Your case might hold, or maybe it was the exception. One has to wait until onboard to find out, but still I believe it is a crappy move on Princess part, if only 1 venue is available for casual dining lunch. Just my 0.02.

I think many of us agree.  Why have a 'British/Irish' pub concept on board and not serve pub lunches - especially as there are only 2 other venues (one of which is Kai Sushi which wasn't advertised as such.  We only found out whilst on board by reading a posting from 'dides' saying it was Casual on Diamond so made a point of asking, otherwise we would have missed out on a very enjoyable experience).  'Casual' meals are a large 'chunk of the expensive Premier package for those who don't drink a lot of alcohol or those who mainly stay on board on port days.  Hopefully Princess will 're-think' the food serving hours at O'Malleys. 

23 minutes ago, TopofWorld said:

Hi ev1. On another thread, it was mentioned that the Sun has ONLY 2 casual dining restaurants and one of them is open only for dinner. All other restaurants have been designated as specialty dining. Is that correct? If yes, then it stinks big time. A premier package customer (with unlimited casual dining) would then essentially have only 1 option for lunch. I do know that he/she can try the buffet and other restaurants, but what is the point of selling it as "unlimited" if there is only 1 restaurant available? Am I missing something? A brand new ship with only 1 casual dining restaurant open for lunch? If that's  the case, I trust the lines would be quite long.

Below a copy of my recent posting:

"It's worth checking with Kai Sushi on the Sun.  We had casual dining with our Premier package and as O'Malleys never opened for lunch and we could get pizza in several locations on the ship we asked at Kai Sushi and they said they were doing 'Casual' - it was a multi-course 'tasting' lunch.  We really enjoyed the experience - much better than our evening at Butchers Block which in our opinion was a lot of 'hype' over quality -  but that's probably because we prefer good quality meat balanced with fresh vegetables.  We also weren't fans of the cooked meat being paraded around all the tables prior to carving - especially as 2 guests the evening we were there had 'streaming' colds.  Oops- I've digressed.   Anyway - try asking and I hope they are still doing it."

Ps. It was definitely a Casual and a different menu from their evening Speciality.

2 hours ago, chamima said:

 

Thanks for the idea but , because you had the Premier package, I wonder if they just counted that as one of your Specialty dinners. We "only" have the Plus package.

The placement of Kai Sushi really doesn't warrant it as a Specialty to me. It's open to the Piazza, similar to Crooners. It's nothing like the experience you'd get in the Crown Grill or Sabatinis but has the same designation and all inclusive $39 price.

Definitely was classed as a 'Casual' meal.  We used our 2 Specialities at Butchers Block and The Catch. 

Hope you have a wonderful holiday. 

10 hours ago, LACruiser88 said:

I concur when it comes to the Sun.  That really sucks!

 

We have at least 6 future bookings (not on the Sun) of 30+ days in length where we could use more included casual meals with our Plus Package.

It's worth checking with Kai Sushi on the Sun.  We had casual dining with our Premier package and as O'Malleys never opened for lunch and we could get pizza in several locations on the ship we asked at Kai Sushi and had a multi-course 'tasting' lunch.  We really enjoyed the experience - much better than our evening at Butchers Block which in our opinion was a lot of 'hype' over quality -  but that's probably because we prefer good quality meat balanced with fresh vegetables.  We also weren't fans of the cooked meat being paraded around all the tables prior to carving - especially as 2 guests the evening we were there had 'streaming' colds.  Oops- I've digressed.   Anyway - try asking and I hope they are still doing it.  

5 hours ago, Easyrider949 said:

UPDATE: 

 

I’m pleased to announce that Princess Cruises has recognized and satisfied our complaint regarding our EZair booking due to their unreasonable short notice cancellation of our Sun Princess 2/18 sailing. They did the right thing, so thank you Princess!

 

As individuals, when we have been harmed by others we do have a loud voice via Social Media, writing emails to the various folks within the top echelons of the company, and working with your TA to support you. They do monitor these social postings, so there is hope to be heard.

 

Also, I want to recognize and thank all of those who were empathetic and supportive of our situation. We appreciated your comments and positive thoughts.

 

For the mean spirited, judgmental, know-it-all, and nasty people on this social forum who were quick to tell us how stupid it was for us for go on an inaugural cruise, that they would never go on one, and those who thought insurance was the answer, when it wasn’t, and that we deserved what happened to us because we should’ve planned better, (even though the reason we booked BtBtB cruises was just in case the ship was delayed being delivered for the 1st & 2nd sailings). We hope you have a blessed day.

 

As an early adopter to new technology and willingness to explore new concepts we are very much aware of the shortcomings they can bring, but they also can bring excitement and joy. Try being a pioneer sometime and enjoy the journey.

 

With all of the issues and hurdles we had to get over getting to the Sun Princess, we really did enjoy our experiencing on the Sun Princess inaugural cruise. We look forward to being on her again in October. Also, we look forward to being on the Star Princess inaugural transatlantic crossing.

Nicely summed up.  Sorry you had all the stress (not only with Princess but some of the unwarranted comments to your posting) but pleased you finally got the correct outcome.  Let's hope Princess have learnt a lot over the past few months and in future will keep customers better informed so that they are aware of shortcomings and can make informed choices.  Enjoy your future cruises.

2 hours ago, TRLD said:

There are a few other lessons in this besides do not book an inagural cruise. The key is to be flexible and be willing to adjust based upon the circumstances.

 

All one can count on when booking with a cruise line is getting refunded those things booked through the cruise line. When you book other non refundable things in advance one should be aware that one does so at risk.

 

While the cruise or other travel company will refund monies paid to them cost protection is usually not part of and refund 

 

A large part of the OPs issue was the change in airfare cost changes after the cruises were canceled. 

 

One of the key elements to minimizing the impact of such changes would be to be flexible. For example even if they could not cancel the third cruise. They could have used the money from the two cancellations, kept their original flights (would have had to coordinate with Princess if they were purchased through them to avoid them getting automatically canceled) and spent the time in Europe instead. Pretty cheap to get around Europe once you get there with either short flights or train trips.

 

By keeping focused on the cruises only they may have resulted in more out if pocket expense and potentially missed out on other worth while experiences.

 

If you travel enough you will encounter bad situations sooner or later. The amount of loss one suffers can be impacted greatly by one's decisions and how flexible they are.

The OP has already said they have health issues but even apart from this - how at a few days notice could they arrange 20 days in Europe during the tail end of Winter (still cool and wet lots of the time) to travel (carrying over 30 days of 'luggage') by 'plane or train from country to country.  In fact had they tried to do as you suggested, 6 days into their first 10 days they would have learnt their second cruise had been cancelled and would then have another 10 days of accommodation and travel to organise.

I expect many of us, including the OP,  have learnt over the past couple of months from all the publicity there has been about the Sun's last minute cancellations and still not being fully operational on the new Inaugural cruise that some cruise lines suppress critical information but having done over 30 cruises with 6 different cruise lines including 2 inaugural (only going onto CC periodically to get info on future potential cruise holidays) this was the first time I have been made aware not to expect a new Ship to be fully operational.  'Glitches' - yes.  Cruises cancelled 2 weeks/4 days prior to start and further still none of the 'extraordinary cruise experiences' being available on what would have/will be the 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc. cruises - NO. 

Some customers have now been offered a 'move-over' deal of 100% money refunded, some other costs met and a free 14 day future Mediterranean cruise - why did Princess not make this offer from the on-set.  It doesn't sound like customers on the new Inaugural sailing were even given the opportunity to cancel and have their monies refunded and only found out about the 'extraordinary cruise experiences' being unavailable once they were on the ship.

Can we please stop telling people "they should have known better".  We could all eliminate all our mistakes with the clarity of hindsight.

18 minutes ago, Esprit said:

Sorry to read your misfortune.

With all your cruise experience I would have thought you would have had a "Plan B"? 

Taking non direct flights also cost considerably less when flying "last minute".

Whilst beneath some, I would have accepted economy seats just to get where I wanted to be.

Really!  If that is your 'sorry' reply, I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of something you wasn't empathetic about.

6 hours ago, CCSC1972 said:

My wife and I sailed on the 28 February 'inaugural cruise'. Whilst the cruise was very good in many respects, we were very disappointed to learn (in a letter from John Padgett (President) that we received in our cabin on embarkation) that elements of Park 19, Spellbound and the production shows planned for the Dome and Arena would not be available. We had no prior warning of this. The letter went on to advise that these features 'were in rehearsal' but we discovered that it was more to do with the venues not being ready. We received a $120 USD OBC (that is $60 USD each)! The production shows are a big thing for us on any cruise and the new Sun Princess shows (that continued to be promoted on our stateroom TV and in several emails received during the cruise) were a major attraction and reason to book what should have been the third (not inaugural) Sun Princess cruise. We complained to Guest Services but achieved nothing other than having our complaint logged. We asked for the $120 OBC to be removed but were advised that this could not be done. So we spent the credit on items we did not really want to purchase. To put the $120 USD in perspective, the derisory $60 USD per person OBC was not enough to purchase any of the Chania excursions that had just been made available due to an itinerary change. (On that point, I note that guests on the 9 March cruise are receiving $50 USD as compensation for the port change: we received nothing)! We do not feel that $120 USD adequately compensates for the loss of the features that were not available: we feel that we have been short-changed. Can any fellow Sun Princess 28 February cruisers update me on any compensation received over and above the $120 USD as I intend to approach Princess. 

Hope you get the compensation you deserve to make up for the unavailability of many venues and the disappointment.  It's inexcusable of Princess not informing Guests prior to sailing that the ship was not completely operational.

2 hours ago, Coral said:

I think anytime one books a brand new ship, one of the first sailings, they need to expect that things can go wrong or that things may not be fully ready.

 

I advise that in the future, you may want to wait several months before sailing a brand new ship.

 

I personally think the compensation was generous. If you recall - the cruise lines lost billions of dollars and were not able to operate for several years during the pandemic. They are still trying to pay this debt off. We all want the cruise lines to succeed and be profitable.

Sorry - I cannot see the correlation between a company losing money for a couple of years and it being ethical/acceptable to sell a 'product' emphasising spectacular and extraordinarily experiences and the purchaser not being told these were unavailable until they were actually on-board the ship - having not only paid for these 'experiences' but all the extra costs involved getting to the ship and also using precious 'vacation days' on a vacation that doesn't match it's description.  Would anyone buy a house with promises of and a brochure showing a fully-fitted modern kitchen and on completion of contract you arrive and find there's just a sink unit and accept being told "it's your fault for buying a new-build house".

We also lost a great deal of money during the Covid years but that didn't give us the right or expectation to pay the seller a reduced price for services/holidays in order to recoup our losses.

The important and unacceptable element is the fact that customers were not informed prior to the cruise that Princess could not deliver the product they had sold.

In addition - do Princess only put a value of $6 a day on these 'spectacular and extraordinary experiences'.  

I’m not going to get into a ‘you said, she said, I said’ on this but it is a really sad situation if everyone who wants to make a posting has got to have an accurate command of English grammar.  It almost makes me ‘afraid’ to post a reply (note - almost).

I agree with you that none of the ‘responses’ you quoted are ‘bitchy’ or impolite but if you re-read all the responses you will find a couple are.  

Disagree with a post by all means; give examples of different experiences certainly - but I cannot see why statements such as ‘some people just have an agenda’ and being obtuse about the wrong terminology in respect of the lifts being ‘supervised’ are necessary or helpful.  

9 hours ago, GOLDENBONNY said:

Am I the only one who has no clue that someone suppose to muster it?

 

My gosh - why the ‘bitchy’ answers to a polite posting from Sea Green.  Have you not stopped to think how this might affect this person.  

In respect of ‘muster the lifts’ - the wrong terminology may have been used but if you have sailed regularly you must have done at least one cruise where there is at least 1 member of staff in the lift area to ensure passengers are coping ok and nobody ‘pushes past’ those who have been waiting longer and with special care given to those in wheelchairs and their carers.  Having experienced several really busy times of boarding and especially when ‘cabins opened’ announced - the process does work more smoothly with a member of staff being present to help.

As far as Sea Green’s other comments - they are all valid.  We all know from experience and CC postings that Princess (and I am not saying they are the only ones) are very much under-staffed since they have gone from partially full Cruises to nearly full.  Even Princess themselves ‘own up’ to that.  Wait lines for the main Dining Room and service once seated has been a long drawn out process unless you are Suite guests or dine at 17.30 (which time does not suit many UK guests) and is totally unacceptable and not a case of ‘unrealistic expectations.  On our last Princess cruise a few weeks ago it was taking 2.5 hours from joining the long queue to being served a 2 course evening meal.  (Please no comments about adjusting the time to go as we went the time we had reservations made via the App prior to boarding.  After 4 nights of this we adjusted our evening meal arrangements - should we have to have done this -  ‘No’.)

So my comment Sea Green is ‘no’ Princess were not bad prior to Covid.  Will things improve as far as sufficiently staffed - I am sure they will do their best but unfortunately it seems there is a big problem with staff shortage in many industries at the moment so it is difficult to tell what next year will bring.  Will Princess go back to less passengers if unable to adequately staff - I very much doubt it as  they have a lot of lost revenue to recoup.  

Do we have to lower our expectations - yes I expect we will if we want to carry on cruising - but this doesn’t make it right or acceptable - especially to new cruisers and those who are not CC members and are therefore unaware that the ships are currently under-staffed.  They have paid good money and look forward to a relaxing holiday and due to the staff shortages may not get this and therefore it does come as a shock and of course they will be disgruntled - especially for those where it is their only holiday per year and they have ‘saved’ hard for it as apposed to those of us who are fortunate enough to take more than one holiday a year.

Please - when a person posts a question - if you cannot answer politely then do not reply.  It is good to hear when people have had positive Cruises with no problems but this doesn’t mean that somebody else on the same cruise has been fortunate enough to have the same experience and it doesn’t mean their expectations were too high.  

Don’t know if this helps.  Just received the following in respect of email sent to Customer Relations - as you can see they have said they are not replying to ‘postal’ communication.

Hello and thank you for your email to the Princess Cruises Customer Relations Department. Due to the current unprecedented and evolving worldwide situation, we are experiencing a higher than normal volume. 

Please accept this response as an acknowledgement and confirmation that your email has been received. It will be reviewed and responded to in the order in which it was received.  Please note that we are unable to process postal communications at this time. 

For those inquiring about voyage refunds, they are being handled manually and accurately in sailing date order priority.  We are committed to providing our guests with the highest level of service.

 We appreciate your patience and look forward to serving you in the near future. 

****PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL****

The information contained in this email and any attachment may be confidential and/or legally privileged and has been sent for the sole use of the intended recipient. If you are not an intended recipient, you are not authorized to review, use, disclose or copy any of its contents. If you have received this email in error please reply to the sender and destroy all copies of the message. Thank you. 

To the extent that the matters contained in this email relate to services being provided by Princess Cruises and/or Holland America Line (together "HA Group") to Carnival Australia/P&O Cruises Australia, HA Group is providing these services under the terms of a Services Agreement between HA Group and Carnival Australia.

Also having problems accessing Excursions for Sky Princess sailing Northern Europe in April.  I’ll try contacting our Princess Agent to see if I can get any info.

does anyone know what time the shows are on the Symphony? We are sailing next March (Caribbean) and want to book some specialty meals and it would be helpful to know the show times as we prefer to watch the shows and then go to Dinner.

Many thanks

Kr

Good morning.Would appreciate some info from anyone who has been to Mayan Eden. We don't want to Zip line - just a walk through the forest/jungle and over the suspension bridge prior to continuing with our tour to Victors Monkey Business and then snorkelling. Would appreciate a bit of info please.

***Does anyone know the cost and whether you can just turn up on the day to purchase the entrance ticket.

***how long does it take to walk to the Suspension Bridge and across if just 'strolling' and stopping for a few photographs.

Any other information or suggestions would also be appreciated.

Many thanks

Kind regards

Many thanks Guest 2000. Very helpful - especially the info about Oak Ridge. Have now crossed this off the list as too far away.

Have now sorted what we are doing so just need some info on Mayan Eden from people who have been there, so will post a separate enquiry.

Again - thanks fir your help.

we have a private tour booked (as in car and driver and we say where we want to go) so would be grateful for some suggestions as to what else to do in addition to Monkey Business, Snorkelling and Beach time. We don't want to zip-line, but is it possible to take a short walk in the Rainforest? If so how long would it take to drive there and what part of the island is it. Also - how easy a drive is it to Oak Ridge or is there a more interesting fishing village to drive to. Not interested in shopping - just scenery, etc.

Any suggestions, including timings would be appreciated.

Many thanks

We have booked Victor Bodden for a private tour and are now looking for the very best Beach Club on West Bay beach to spend a few hours in the afternoon. Don't mind if it's the most expensive if it gets us the best. Want a nice clean well kept resort in lovely surroundings, comfortable Loungers and shade with view of the sea, none or limited beach vendors. Any personal recommendations and advice would be really appreciated.

Many thanks.

Kind regards

Many thanks for posting this question. We had never heard of 'packing Cubes' until I read your post a few days ago. Sent for some from Amazon and they arrived next day (set of different sizes) and then ordered another 3 in the large size (really grateful for the Amazon next day delivery, even though only ordered the previous evening). We are away several weeks on 3 different cruises so was able to pack for the latter part of holiday in separate cubes - this will save hours of unpacking and repacking and 'rootling' for stuff at the bottom of the suitcase.

Our grateful thanks for all the opinions you have all posted - a few more hours and then our great adventure starts.

Anyone use packing cubes? I'm considering buying some but wanted some opinions.

 

Do they save space or just organize?

 

Thanks!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Many thanks for reassurance on the beds/mattresses. We prefer on the 'hard' side, so will suit us. Look forward to 'sharing' the rest of your cruise with you.

Kr

Lovely phoyographs. We will be on our way 3 weeks today, joining the ship a few days later. As the Sapphire is due for a refit a few weeks after our cruise - can you let us know what state the mattresses are in. We have had some shockers on Cruises with worn-out mattresses topped with worn out 'egg-crate' foam. Keeping our fingers crossed that this won't be the case this time. Thank you for finding the time to post.

Kr

It would be very unusual to have fog in this part of the UK in July. Also from the few experiences we have had as UK citizens sailing to and from Southampton - walking off with our luggage hasn't taken more than 30 minutes max. I don't think it is any different for overseas people. If you are paying for a private pick-up I would be inclined to have the driver waiting for you right outside your terminal at 7.30 - better to pay for an extra half hour or so and have the chance of a quick get-away. Make sure he does come right into the terminal (and the correct one). My in-laws had a car and driver and he parked the car off-site for some reason. Hopefully it is a week-end when traffic won't be so bad. Also - I'd be 'hanging around' reception soon after the ship has docked and make for the gangway the minute the announcement is made.

Wishing you luck. Have a contingency plan though - one accident on the way to the airport can easily add another hour or so to your journey.

Enjoy your holiday. We are on the Sapphire in February, leaving from Singapore. Just a few weeks before it's refit. Lucky you - New bedding.

=pris993;54977515]The main issue is fog... what can I say, that is kind of unpredictable. Just got off a ship in San Francisco, another foggy city this morning, ship delayed getting into to port because fog bank so thick. I wish you luck.

just posting some information on the above company. We wish we had come across them a few months ago as it would have saved a lot of research. Michelle's email is samuiexplorer@hotmail.com

All emails are answered promptly and they offer a variety of land tours or can arrange snorkelling tours. Just let them know what you want to see and they can put together an itinerary plus driver. We have a day with car /driver doing site-seeing and beach at a similar price as our ship was charging just to take us to a local beach area and pick us up 4 hours later.

Hopes this helps.:)

Hello Omega1

Just realised I had not replied to thank you for your suggestion. We have now contacted a company called Samui Island Explorer and they have been so helpful and have put together an amazing tour for us with a bit of siteseeing and some beach time.

Thoroughly recommend them if anyone else is reading this who is looking for a land tour or a snorkel trip.

Again - thanks Omega1.

we are arriving on a cruise ship next February and if we cannot find a snorkelling tour our second choice will be a really high quality Beach Resort with a lovely beach and swimming.

If anyone has any suggestions and also info on how to get there from the Tender drop off in Nathong we would be really grateful.

Many thanks

Kr