Last Passengers on Board – they held the ship!

There has been some discussion on the boards about whether Princess will delay sailing for passengers. They DO !!! Here is our experience for the Emerald Princess 12/16/2007 sailing. We find it amazing and incredible Customer Experience. (see Lessons Learned at bottom if you don't want to read the whole story).

 

Some background: We booked through a local TA, bought Princess travel insurance (upgraded to Travel Care gold), Princess arranged flights, and Princess transfers from the airport. This was our 11th Princess cruise.

 

Our normal pattern is to fly in the day before but hotel/flight availability and cost made the Princess travel our best option for this cruise. Flights were from Austin TX to Atlanta GA, connecting there to Fort Lauderdale, scheduled arrival at 2:38PM. Plenty of time to make a 5:00 PM sailing, right?

 

Here's What Happened

4 AM – sailing day – we were awakened by an automated call from Delta saying our 7:20 flight had been moved to 10 AM, and our second leg was rescheduled to a later flight arriving in Ft. Lauderdale at 4:09 PM. Still time to make the ship… we hope. I spent the next two hours researching options, including phoning the airline. There were none, but I found out the reason for the delay – no crew for the airplane.

 

Digging through the Princess Cruise Answer Book, we finally found the “Enroute Delays” phone number (1-800-545-0008) embedded in the text on page 13 (not in the important numbers summary on page 4 !!!). We had to wait until after 7 AM Central to call this number as it opened at 5AM Pacific time. Joanne advised them of our flight changes as we were leaving for the airport and they indicated we could still make the ship.

 

Our 10 AM flight was further delayed – the crew arrived late. We arrived in Atlanta with less than 30 minutes between flights. Hurrying through the airport and trams, we arrived at the gate expecting the boarding process to be underway. No such luck. There sat the plane. No crew again. (AAARGH !). The pilot later arrived and kept us advised of the crew status (coming from NY), but could not board and prep the plane without the full crew present. Our flight time came and went. Delayed 20 minutes, then 30…

 

We called the Enroute Delays number again. They indicated we would probably miss the sailing and it would be the airline’s responsibility to get us to our first main port, St. Thomas. We would be reimbursed up to $500/day by Princess travel insurance. (we could think of worse places to have to spend a day or two on our own).

 

Seeing as our luggage was on the plane we took the delayed flight to FLL, touching down on the tarmac at 5:02 PM with visions of the Emerald Princess sailing off into the sunset in our minds.

 

Entering the concourse we were surprised to see a Princess representative (Nancy) AT THE GATE (how she got inside security I’ll never know). We identified ourselves, and she immediately got on a walkie talkie saying “I’ve got them!”, leading us at a fast walk to baggage claim (past agents from other cruise lines waiting there) to where another uniformed Princess agent waited with a luggage cart at the luggage carousal. “Did you label your luggage with the Emerald Princess tags?” Yes, we had. The luggage started coming – but not ours. More walkie talkie action – and Nancy turned to us – “You have a decision to make: Do you want to wait for your luggage or do you want to make the ship?” It took us about a millisecond for both Joanne and I to answer: “SHIP !!!”. Now we set off at a dead run for the bus outside. A whole bus. Just for us. With a quick “Thanks” (no time to say "hello, goodbye") we departed.

 

Then the bus got delayed at the entrance to the port … When we finally arrived, the ship was still there and here was another Princess rep to take us in hand – running with us to the entry door of the terminal which was … locked. We then sprinted to the end of the building closest to the ship, entering through a loading dock (behind a truck that was backing up to that dock!). With the quickest security check we have ever experienced, we went through barricades up the stairway to the only remaining gangplank. There we were met by a waiting Senior Purser’s officer who welcomed us and personally handed us our cruise cards so we could be badged into the ship’s security system at entry. He led us to the Purser’s desk where we completed check-in and he communicated to the bridge "they're onboard!". His manner communicated pure delight that we had arrived onboard Emerald Princess.

 

Following the brief check-in we got in line to register our “lost” luggage – but before we reached the head of the short line we looked to our right to see, coming up the gangplank, ALL of our luggage. WHOO – HOO !!! We had made it !

 

The ship sailed at 6:02 PM. Delayed for us (there had been announcements they were waiting for two more passengers – that was us)

 

We will never know and be able to thank all those who helped us, but were honored to hand a personal Thank You note to Captain Giorgio Pomata, who most certainly had to have been responsible for the decision to delay departure.

 

So – if you’ve read this far here are the Lessons Learned:

• Always label your luggage with the Princess Tags before leaving home
  
• Use the “En Route Delays on Sailing Day” phone number (Pg 13 in the Cruise Answer Book) when encountering travel delays which put your arrival in jeopardy. Have those numbers with you.
  
• Have Travel Insurance (it saved us a LOT of stress, providing a backup plan) - bring copy with you.
  
• Carry all your "cruise busters" (id's, meds, glasses, critical stuff) with you personally on the airplane.

Our Thanks and Kudos go to Princess Cruises for OUTSTANDING CUSTOMER SERVICE !!! They really made a difference for our cruise.

 

(P.S. We are choir directors taking our first Christmas off in over 30 years, and it was during the first day at sea where we met the priest onboard and learned our services were needed leading music at the Christmas Masses. After the almost divine intervention getting us onboard ship, how could we say “no”?)

Bob (a.k.a. Times Prince)

Happy to hear you got on board :)

 

Also, I am not in the least bit suprised that you had this problem with Delta. :P

 

Glad it all turned out okay though!

to where another uniformed Princess agent waited with a luggage cart at the luggage carousal. “Did you label your luggage with the Emerald Princess tags?” Yes, we had.

 

So – if you’ve read this far here are the Lessons Learned:

• Always label your luggage with the Princess Tags before leaving home

Great story! And yes, this really answers the question about whether to put your luggage tag on before you leave home or after arriving at the port city. Having the insurance and your passport also made a huge emotional difference since you knew you had the possibility of Plan B (flying to the next port) or even Plan C (reimbursement).

Fantastic that it worked out well for you!

What an experience! Glad to hear they waited, but how stressed you must have been. Nancy

There has been some discussion on the boards about whether Princess will delay sailing for passengers. They DO !!! Here is our experience for the Emerald Princess 12/16/2007 sailing. We find it amazing and incredible Customer Experience. (see Lessons Learned at bottom if you don't want to read the whole story).

 

Some background: We booked through a local TA, bought Princess travel insurance (upgraded to Travel Care gold), Princess arranged flights, and Princess transfers from the airport. This was our 11th Princess cruise.

 

Our normal pattern is to fly in the day before but hotel/flight availability and cost made the Princess travel our best option for this cruise. Flights were from Austin TX to Atlanta GA, connecting there to Fort Lauderdale, scheduled arrival at 2:38PM. Plenty of time to make a 5:00 PM sailing, right?

 

Here's What Happened

4 AM – sailing day – we were awakened by an automated call from Delta saying our 7:20 flight had been moved to 10 AM, and our second leg was rescheduled to a later flight arriving in Ft. Lauderdale at 4:09 PM. Still time to make the ship… we hope. I spent the next two hours researching options, including phoning the airline. There were none, but I found out the reason for the delay – no crew for the airplane.

 

Digging through the Princess Cruise Answer Book, we finally found the “Enroute Delays” phone number (1-800-545-0008) embedded in the text on page 13 (not in the important numbers summary on page 4 !!!). We had to wait until after 7 AM Central to call this number as it opened at 5AM Pacific time. Joanne advised them of our flight changes as we were leaving for the airport and they indicated we could still make the ship.

 

Our 10 AM flight was further delayed – the crew arrived late. We arrived in Atlanta with less than 30 minutes between flights. Hurrying through the airport and trams, we arrived at the gate expecting the boarding process to be underway. No such luck. There sat the plane. No crew again. (AAARGH !). The pilot later arrived and kept us advised of the crew status (coming from NY), but could not board and prep the plane without the full crew present. Our flight time came and went. Delayed 20 minutes, then 30…

 

We called the Enroute Delays number again. They indicated we would probably miss the sailing and it would be the airline’s responsibility to get us to our first main port, St. Thomas. We would be reimbursed up to $500/day by Princess travel insurance. (we could think of worse places to have to spend a day or two on our own).

 

Seeing as our luggage was on the plane we took the delayed flight to FLL, touching down on the tarmac at 5:02 PM with visions of the Emerald Princess sailing off into the sunset in our minds.

 

Entering the concourse we were surprised to see a Princess representative (Nancy) AT THE GATE (how she got inside security I’ll never know). We identified ourselves, and she immediately got on a walkie talkie saying “I’ve got them!”, leading us at a fast walk to baggage claim (past agents from other cruise lines waiting there) to where another uniformed Princess agent waited with a luggage cart at the luggage carousal. “Did you label your luggage with the Emerald Princess tags?” Yes, we had. The luggage started coming – but not ours. More walkie talkie action – and Nancy turned to us – “You have a decision to make: Do you want to wait for your luggage or do you want to make the ship?” It took us about a millisecond for both Joanne and I to answer: “SHIP !!!”. Now we set off at a dead run for the bus outside. A whole bus. Just for us. With a quick “Thanks” (no time to say "hello, goodbye") we departed.

 

Then the bus got delayed at the entrance to the port … When we finally arrived, the ship was still there and here was another Princess rep to take us in hand – running with us to the entry door of the terminal which was … locked. We then sprinted to the end of the building closest to the ship, entering through a loading dock (behind a truck that was backing up to that dock!). With the quickest security check we have ever experienced, we went through barricades up the stairway to the only remaining gangplank. There we were met by a waiting Senior Purser’s officer who welcomed us and personally handed us our cruise cards so we could be badged into the ship’s security system at entry. He led us to the Purser’s desk where we completed check-in and he communicated to the bridge "they're onboard!". His manner communicated pure delight that we had arrived onboard Emerald Princess.

 

Following the brief check-in we got in line to register our “lost” luggage – but before we reached the head of the short line we looked to our right to see, coming up the gangplank, ALL of our luggage. WHOO – HOO !!! We had made it !

 

The ship sailed at 6:02 PM. Delayed for us (there had been announcements they were waiting for two more passengers – that was us)

 

We will never know and be able to thank all those who helped us, but were honored to hand a personal Thank You note to Captain Giorgio Pomata, who most certainly had to have been responsible for the decision to delay departure.

 

So – if you’ve read this far here are the Lessons Learned:

• Always label your luggage with the Princess Tags before leaving home
  
• Use the “En Route Delays on Sailing Day” phone number (Pg 13 in the Cruise Answer Book) when encountering travel delays which put your arrival in jeopardy. Have those numbers with you.
  
• Have Travel Insurance (it saved us a LOT of stress, providing a backup plan) - bring copy with you.
  
• Carry all your "cruise busters" (id's, meds, glasses, critical stuff) with you personally on the airplane.

Our Thanks and Kudos go to Princess Cruises for OUTSTANDING CUSTOMER SERVICE !!! They really made a difference for our cruise.

 

(P.S. We are choir directors taking our first Christmas off in over 30 years, and it was during the first day at sea where we met the priest onboard and learned our services were needed leading music at the Christmas Masses. After the almost divine intervention getting us onboard ship, how could we say “no”?)

 

Bob (a.k.a. Times Prince)

 

Heck of story, im glad you got onboard. The St. Thomas thing could have turned into an even bigger mess!

I was totally out of breath after reading about your wonderful and successful adventure. Good for you!!!!:p

How wonderful to hear a positive story that turned out well! Thank you :)

Great to hear all turned out so well! A big thumbs up to Princess:)

Great story! Thanks for sharing.

great story,am glad all worked out,but very intense im sure,that would of been a great commercial for deodorant lol:))),hope the rest of your cruise went smoothly;)

Good ending. :)

Thanks for sharing this uplifting story.....we all know there are happy endings out there, we just don't hear them toooo often. Kind of refreshes your feelings about humanity and good vs evil.

 

Enjoy!!! Happy Holidays...

We hear so many unsatisfied customers tell of horrible service. This was a delight to read. And you were so very correct in helping the ship with the Christmas Masses. Divine intervention indeed.

Glad you made it!! Hope the rest of the cruise is less stressful.

Thanks for sharing that fantastic story. Glad it worked out well for you. I also learned something from your story in that En Route Delay section in the cruise answer book. I did not know abut that and i thought I read the Cruise answer book but then we always go ahead of time for a cruise and least 1 day.

 

Glad you made the cruise.

 

marilyn

What a wonderful happy ending story. Thanks for sharing.

What a great story. I agree with the other poster, I'm out of breath just reading your account! How nice that it all worked out and it sounds like you had the greatest of attitudes throughout, good for you.

 

Hope your cruise was fantastic.

While I am glad they waited for you..........

 

I have seen plenty of people who board the ship in the next port who they did not wait for...... So I don't want to mislead people that the ship will always wait for people who are late.

 

I even had friends who missed the ship on one of our sailings and had to fly to the next port.

 

Theresa

How nice that you took the time out to describe such a positive story to us, and how wonderful Princess was in handling what could'vd been a disaster. It seems like it is always easier to complain, rather than take the time out to thank others (Princess) for a wonderful outcome. Hope you had a great cruise!

So glad it worked out for you. Also agreeing with the above poster who feels that other passengers shouldn't expect this treatment, as many times it doesn't work out. We rarely fly for a cruise, but we have decided to always go at least a day ahead just so we don't have to run to catch a cruise. Then you need the cruise to destress from catching the cruise.

Glad that you made the cruise and with your luggage. Also, thank you for the recommendations. Enjoy!!:)

What a story glad it worked out for you. and also give lots of kudos to princess. thats why we fly in ahead of time day early.

FASCINATING--But, what about all those other thousands of passengers who were looking forward to that scheduled departure time? Perhaps they had romantic events planned ? When you book a cruise, you sort of expect things to happen when the cruise line said it would. I would feel rather guilty about having deprived a few thousand people of their dreams and indeed, "fun"!

 

We always travel three days ahead to be sure our luggage arrives before we leave on the cruise. Perhaps that is because of our experience of several decades of business travel where we realize that you can never rely on airline travel to go as expected. Your experience just goes to show that Princess is making travel arrangements that are totally unrealistic given today's travel environment.

How wonderful that everything worked out so well. I bet you'll never forget that embarkation. ;)