Earthquake near Santiago Chile -- Princess Sailings and Passengers

[Tradewind40]

"If people decide to 'self-insure' then I think they have, and deserve, little recourse. If they wish to gamble they will lose some and win some."

 

Now this part I would normally agree with, as for years until I got a reasonable year round medical/travel policy, I self-insured and saved a bundle.

 

However, if a cruise line decided to take up valuable space and manpower in a port during a disaster and put me in danger by insisting I ignore travel advisory alerts and certain aftershocks to preserve its bottom line instead of going to another port and cancelling my cruise, I'd take issue.

 

And, that's what happened to the 3/2/10 passengers, so they have a legitimate complaint.

[WCAB]

I cannot help but believe that the passenger is getting the shaft in this instance. If they had a policy that in very fine print states that the policy does not cover an act of God and Princess is stating that if the passenger felt in danger or just could not find a flight into the port city there would be no compensation, this basically leaves the passenger out in the cold. There appears to have been little the passenger could do to protect their investment. A cruise credit does little for those that have to wait another year to get time off work and may not be in a position to take another cruise. I know some people plan for several years, especially for a cruise of this duration.

[Cruise Junky]

I tell you, this has been a very valuable lesson. I've just spent some time on Insuremytrip.ca looking at all the fine print, you really have to be careful on what you buy for an insurance policy.

[cherylandtk]

What is the relevance of your many posts re-iterating the fact that there was a travel advisory to Chile? Maybe I am just not getting your point, but let's say Princess had decided it was too dangerous for anyone to travel there...all they would have done is gone to another port, revised the itinerary and told people to do their best to get to that new embarkation port. People would have been just as stuck trying to get to that port on little notice. Either way passengers are left confused, stranded and unhappy, so why are you so focused on that particular aspect of this whole mess?

[Tradewind40]

"I tell you, this has been a very valuable lesson."

 

Oh, we've learned several!

 

1: Avoid Princess and associated lines if possible, as this incident and yesterday's CC Q&A exposes their corporate culture and values, or lack thereof.

 

2: Do not book your flights through cruise lines.

 

3: Do not take out your travel or medical coverage with cruise lines.

 

4: Do not book tours, hotel, transfers with cruise lines as you'll pay double at least.

 

Number 4 I knew from before, when we've booked above noted at 20% to 50% of that quoted by the cruise company.

 

Lots of lessons here! I'm not so sure the other cruise lines will thank these guys though!;-)

[sackman]

It's a shame there wasn't an NCL or Celebrity or similar ship dealing with this situation at the same time so we could make judgements as to which line handled it better.

[cherylandtk]

I cannot help but believe that the passenger is getting the shaft in this instance. If they had a policy that in very fine print states that the policy does not cover an act of God and Princess is stating that if the passenger felt in danger or just could not find a flight into the port city there would be no compensation, this basically leaves the passenger out in the cold. There appears to have been little the passenger could do to protect their investment. A cruise credit does little for those that have to wait another year to get time off work and may not be in a position to take another cruise. I know some people plan for several years, especially for a cruise of this duration.

The only thing passengers can do to protect their investment is to read and understand the policies they buy. Far too many still think insurance will cover all unforeseen events, when in fact they only cover specific, named events. A little time spent here will be very educational. I am so sorry that so many people are learning such a hard and difficult lesson about this.

 

There are many policies that will cover cancellation for this reason (earthquake at the port city), but Princess' plan does not. Many third-party policies do not give any-reason coverage unless you buy it for extra cost and within a certain time frame, but Princess' plan gives any reason coverage in the form of credit to all plan purchasers at any time. Every traveler needs to evaluate their needs, their desired coverage and which plan is best for them. Yes, it is boring and tedious. So is most homework, financial planning and studying. But you will be better off for having done it.

[Tradewind40]

"What is the relevance of your many posts re-iterating the fact that there was a travel advisory to Chile?"

 

Cheryl, don't follow most of your reasoning, as a material change such as a port of embacation would likely void your contract, and other airports weren't shut down totally or partially, and customs were working, they were safer, the ports were fully functional,....... and so on!

 

The reason I think the point about the travel alert and aftershocks is important is because the company, Princess Cruise Line, was urging people to ignore that alert and to come into an area of danger, which Lima wasn't, likely voiding their EM insurance, in order that Princess could avoid cancelling the cruise. In other words the passengers' safety ran a bad second to Princess's bottom line.

 

Glad you asked.

[Tradewind40]

"It's a shame there wasn't an NCL or Celebrity or similar ship dealing with this situation at the same time so we could make judgements as to which line handled it better."

 

I guess we pretty well know one thing, they sure couldn't have handled it any worse I don't think. Maybe someone could suggest seriously how a bigger hash of it could have been made!

 

I can think of several non serious ones like throwing people overboard perhaps.

[cherylandtk]

Tradewinds, thanks for the answer. I was curious as to your thinking, and that explains it. Oddly, interestingly, strangely perhaps, changing ports does not void the cruise contract. It is specifically addressed in there, in fact. So keeping the port, changing the port, does not matter. No financial difference to Princess either way as far as pay out to passengers. So while they may have been thinking of their bottom line in how they handled the PR and goodwill (or lack thereof) which port they used made no difference. Except perhaps docking fees.

 

I don't understand what EM insurance is? eta-if you mean Emergency Medical, I cannot speak for a personal policy, but I am pretty sure most trip policies don't care if you change itineraries. I know mine does not have an exclusion for this. Have not had time to check Princess', but I believe they mostly just care about date and the general cruise. Folks who made it on the Star this week are still covered even though their itinerary changed. Many policies do exclude civil unrest damages, but they don't exclude coverage in an area with a travel advisory.

 

I was also just getting ready to reply to your post about "what we have learned". I heartily agree with 2, 3, 4. Sadly, I think #1 is not limited to just Princess. This is pretty standard stuff for most lines. Carnival tends to be better about getting their air pax to the next port, but not always. They are good if flights are available, if not, they cannot create flights, and pax are stuck. The goodwill Celebrity did (posted earlier) is not a guaranteed action. Princess sometimes does goodwill gestures, this time not.

 

The main point is that sometimes cruiselines choose to make a goodwill gesture, but are not contractually obligated to do so. Far too many people rely financially on these 'random' goodwill gestures, when they would be better off buying a really good insurance plan. And again, I am truly sorry for pax on this cruise who are finding this out the really hard way. Please, please, please, for anyone reading this who does not already know, take the time to read and understand what your cruise contract, your insurance policy and cruise air will and will not get you.

[Tradewind40]

"Oddly, interestingly, strangely perhaps, changing ports does not void the cruise contract."

 

Lesson #5 ;-) Wow, although I was aware that ports during a cruise could be added, dropped, or changed at the line's will, I thought embarcation was sacrosanct. Hopefully, my next cruise won't have my Saint Thomas embarcation moved to Sydney. ;-)

 

So you're sure that if the cruise line changes where they pick me up and/or drop me off, they have no responsibility to me other than to pick me up and set me down on some dock somewhere? Blows me away!

 

EM Extended medical!

[Tradewind40]

Take a look at Toeknee's post about his Princess Platinum travel insurance:eek: on related CC thread!

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=875278&page=91

 

It just keeps getting worse!

[Coral]

It sounds like a lot of Canadian travel insurance companies do cover when the state department (or equivilent of) in Canada advises against travel to the country (according to some posts on another thread).

 

I have no clue what US policies cover (and I am sure it varies).

 

I am extremely disappointed in the posts from those who contacted Princess's insurance (BerkeleyCare) and were told this is not covered as a qualifying event and reinbursement is going to be cruise credit. This story just keeps getting worse! Especially when Princess points people to use their travel insurance if they can't make it to the ship ---- I just referred to the Q and A they provided and it does say "If they have Princess travel protection they should contact our provider immediately to begin the process of obtaining a future cruise credit."

 

I have to wonder if this type of situation occurs again on a cruise I am on - I probably should go to my doctor and come down with symptoms that would not be very good for me to travel so I would have a medical excuse. Pathetic, I know.

 

There was a situation a few years ago that I thought was bad. Passengers disembarking in Spain on an RCCL cruise (I believe) couldn't disembark because of strike workers so they were all missing their flights if they were flying out that day and many insurance companies were not covering flight changes because insurance didn't cover for strikes....!

 

Good luck finding insurance that covers most things!

[billet]

"Oddly, interestingly, strangely perhaps, changing ports does not void the cruise contract."

 

Lesson #5 ;-) Wow, although I was aware that ports during a cruise could be added, dropped, or changed at the line's will, I thought embarcation was sacrosanct. Hopefully, my next cruise won't have my Saint Thomas embarcation moved to Sydney. ;-)

 

So you're sure that if the cruise line changes where they pick me up and/or drop me off, they have no responsibility to me other than to pick me up and set me down on some dock somewhere? Blows me away!

 

EM Extended medical!

 

That is incorrect. The contract of carriage for Princess does state they will get you to the original port of embarkation or disembarkation.

 

" If the scheduled port of embarkation or disembarkation as specified in the passage ticket is changed, Carrier will arrange transportation to it from the originally scheduled port."

[Cruise Junky]

Did you guys see in the latest Princess News that the passengers that stayed on can't get off in Brazil because their visa's won't allow it? they have to disembark at another port before the ship hits Brazil :eek:

[imsulin]

Now, I like Princess, and have enjoyed my cruises, but they really blew it on this one, IMO. Makes me re-think booking Princess in the future.

[Shangrila Seeker]

Everyone is saying what went/is going wrong but not offering their solutions.

 

What would you like Princess to do?

[greatam]

Did you guys see in the latest Princess News that the passengers that stayed on can't get off in Brazil because their visa's won't allow it? they have to disembark at another port before the ship hits Brazil :eek:

 

I believe it is because most do not HAVE Brazilian visas. You need a visa to enter Brazil. Some air passengers even need a visa just to transit GIG.

 

Easier and cheaper to fly home out of Buenos Aires anyhow.

[kazu]

Sorry to barge in here, but I wouldn't count on Princess treating you right. We had an incident with them, certainly not like this, but fairly bad and we were never treated right. That's why I don't sail Princess any more.

So, don't count on it is all I will say. Just my opinin and my experience. Jacqui

 

For all you folks slamming Princess. A lot of us are long time Princess cruisers and I myself have many cruises under my belt. I know you that you have your cruise disrupted by the Terramoto but nature happens. I have been thru a lot of problems cruising and Princess has always treated me right. This is why my in my opinion, most of you folks are overacting, in the end princess will do right by you. Maybe things have changed and I am completely wrong but I feel you will all end up O.K. I can only speak from my own experience but I bet a year from you will all laugh about this. Please cut princess a Little slack until the end and remember that situation is fluid.

[PescadoAmarillo]

In contrast, 2 weeks ago, the Celebrity Mercury had to leave Charleston one day late because they needed to clean the ship after a noro outbreak. Not only did Celebrity put everyone up in a hotel for free, and give them a $50 for food, anyone who wanted to cancel the cruise was granted a FULL REFUND plus a 15% discount on a future cruise.

 

Maybe Princess needs to take a clue from Celebrity.

Wow! I did not know that. For the record, RC was also offering full refunds for anyone not wanting to take a California Riviera cruise during the H1N1 outbreak last spring.

[BosoxI]

The only thing passengers can do to protect their investment is to read and understand the policies they buy. Far too many still think insurance will cover all unforeseen events, when in fact they only cover specific, named events. A little time spent here will be very educational. I am so sorry that so many people are learning such a hard and difficult lesson about this.

 

There are many policies that will cover cancellation for this reason (earthquake at the port city), but Princess' plan does not. Many third-party policies do not give any-reason coverage unless you buy it for extra cost and within a certain time frame, but Princess' plan gives any reason coverage in the form of credit to all plan purchasers at any time. Every traveler needs to evaluate their needs, their desired coverage and which plan is best for them. Yes, it is boring and tedious. So is most homework, financial planning and studying. But you will be better off for having done it.

 

 

Thanks for your most informative posting. Buying any kind of insurance is confusing, for me, at least. So I'll stick with Princess whose Platinum coverage appears to be in line with similar policies costs, better actually when considering the cancel for any reason. Plus, getting a 100% credit suits me. But it sure does pay to investigate. Thanks again.

[PescadoAmarillo]

I tell you, this has been a very valuable lesson. I've just spent some time on Insuremytrip.ca looking at all the fine print, you really have to be careful on what you buy for an insurance policy.

Truest words spoken!

 

I never worried about it either, would just buy whatever insurance my TA suggested, until 2003. By then www.insuremytrip.com was up and running, and I have since spent lots of time reading the fine print.

 

How many people think that they are covered for something as simple as trip delay, when their flight is due to arrive at the embarkation port at noon, the ship is due to sail at 5pm, and the trip delay clause doesn't kick in for 6 (or longer) hours? Probably even more than believe that purchasing Princess Air means the ship will wait for you.

[imsulin]

Everyone is saying what went/is going wrong but not offering their solutions.

 

What would you like Princess to do?

 

Not charge anyone $50-$70/night for a room that has already been paid for in full! Not make the excuse that these passengers would have to pay much more to stay in a shoreside hotel (especially since the number of operational shoreside hotels is limited and probably fully occupied already). Reimburse IN FULL those who could not make the cruise. (Forget about a stupid and futile future 75% cruise credit!). Assist ANYONE who needs to get home. MAKE EXCEPTIONS to the waiver and AOG thing. Offer financial aid and assistance to Chilean government on the spot. Offer housing for foreign aid workers. Yes, Princess would lose money, but could well save face in the long run. I just can't believe they're charging for pre-paid cabins! I'll monitor, and then decide if I (or thousands who may see the situation as I do) will ever book another Princess cruise. Princess, do the right thing. Eat the money now, or pay later. For years.

[Tradewind40]

Everyone is saying what went/is going wrong but not offering their solutions.

 

What would you like Princess to do?

 

Well now, given that it is too late to rectify their worst sin of urging people to put themselves in danger, or to cancel the cruise as they should have, or to have diverted so as not to take up berth space needed by a badly damaged country and let their passengers off in a more secure area with a fully operating airport and customs system, or.............

 

Too late!

 

But Princess could still give some relief to both the people who bought travel insurance from them, that this situation apparently doesn't apply to or only gives a credit for on further cruises. As well they might give credits to people who refused to ignore the travel alerts and the daily aftershocks to get on non- existant flights to a March 2nd cruise embarcation that never left then.

 

Now they could try to make some amends for their abysmal treatment of passengers to date, but the CC Q&A session with the Princess executive yesterday indicated a stubborn refusal to make a gesture of goodwill.

 

Maybe they know whatever they do now will be too little, too late!

 

Hope this helps seeing as you asked.:)

[PescadoAmarillo]

Wow. It can, and does get worse. I just copied this post from the roll call for the 3/2 cruise.

 

We are currently on the Star Princess cruising toward Ushauaia -- we will not be going to Punta Arenas, Falkland Islands nor cruising around the Horn -- we are taking a strait that is higher up.

 

We got here March 2 and got the surprise of our lives when we were told by Princess reps - DMC workers - that we were going to be taken to hotels for 2 nights at $180 per night at our expense instead of to the ship. We experienced many aftershocks while at the hotel.

 

We were bused to the terminal at 7:00 am Thursday morning - arrived at terminal 9:45 am - mass chaos took until 11:00 to get checkin in (we are platinum and had the express checking) - were taken to one of the restaurants for 5 hours waiting to get our keys -- the cabin key we got at 4:00 pm was occupied -- had to go back to the get another key -- we got into our cabin at 6:00 pm -- no luggage showed up -- we found 2 pieces of our luggage outside the cabin we'd paid for this morning -- the last case came to our cabin at 11:30.

 

We left the dock at 1:30 pm and floated around in the harbour until 9:30 pm when we actually set said - they wouldn't leave until they had the computer problems fixed -- well, they're still not fixed and we're underway.

 

My husband snuck upstairs to get pictures of Valparaiso when we left the dock (we weren't allowed to leave the restaurant until we had keys) -- they were having the sail away party while we were all corralled in the restaurant -- the only ones partying were the few that got on March 1 & 2 and the ones who stayed on. They should have postponed the party until later when everyone had an opportunity to attend or let us out of the restaurant so we could at least get a descent meal.

 

Princess has put our lives at risk and have handled this whole situation abominably. We're supposed to get a letter tonight outlining how they will compensate us -- with how everything else has been, I'm not expecting it until tomorrow.

 

We heard this evening that we were lucky we got on yesterday as another aftershock destroyed the only open port in Valparaiso.

 

We are just so frustrated and angry right now -- but we've heard many worse stories than ours. We are hesitant to talk to anyone aboard because some people are very angry -- not a good atmosphere onboard even though the staff are trying really hard to boost spirits. It will take a few days for everyone to get over the stress of getting here and the mess getting aboard.

 

This is just so many kinds of wrong. And I am alone in this, or did it show extremely poor taste that the people of Valaparaiso might have been treated to the sounds of a sailaway party on a luxury cruise ship leaving their beleaguered port?