August 10-20 Golden - Edinburgh Tattoo

[samoyed]

We booked the August 10 Golden Princess cruise SPECIFICALLY BECAUSE it offered the Edinburgh Military Tattoo as an excursion. The excursion as advertised, would require a substantial level of activity. No problem. We’re both very healthy 50ish people who get a lot of exercise. The Tattoo excursion is very popular and was sold out with many people on the waiting list. At the beginning of the cruise we received a bizarre letter that there would NOT be any stops to go to the bathroom and there would NOT be a toilet on the bus. My wife needs to go to the bathroom every few hours (I generally like to also). The letter made absolutely no sense to me and I refused to cancel as encouraged. My wife on the other hand even after talking to Princess staff, up to the cancellation deadline, did cancel out of concern of not being allowed to go to the bathroom. Like my wife, many other passengers also took Princess at their word, and canceled. The bus ride into Edinburgh was to be 2 ½ hours each way, and the letter only offered the use of very limited facilities at the Tattoo.

 

When I was boarded the K17 excursion bus without my wife, the first thing the guide said was that there WOULD be a toilet stop before Edinburgh. When I stated that I was repeatedly ENSURED there would NOT be ANY toilet stops, the guide said I should look at it as a bonus. I said it was not a bonus to those that were coerced into canceling the excursion. The guide said that Princess had contacted them and requested the toilet stops. Some passengers on the bus said that they were told PRIOR to the cancellation deadline that the toilet stop would be added.

 

I never received a reasonable explanation of why passengers were told different things. My initial theory was to use “blue” cardholders to free up space for “gold” and “platinum” cardholders. When I inquired at the excursion department I was told that all passengers were told the same thing, which was that the bus would stop if time allowed. This was totally untrue. Firstly, I know that Princess told some passengers that the tour operator was told to provide a toilet stop. Secondly, my wife and I were told absolutely NO toilet stops and NO toilet on the bus. Yes, there was even a toilet on the bus but it was not needed.

 

This excursion was a once in a lifetime opportunity and was to be the highlight of our cruise. I think what upset me most was the arrogant, unapologetic, confrontational attitude of the excursion department on why people were told different stories. My wife missed a chance of a lifetime. Throughout this incident the excursion department exhibited total incompetence and mendacity.

 

More on the excursion department and tour desk… Although I booked five excursions through Princess, we also like to do some exploring our own. On previous non-Princess cruises I could always obtain a quality map from the desk at the ship. The Princess website maps and the maps provided on the first day were too general, way off-scale, missing entire streets, and missing street names. Take the Dublin map for example. Try using that map to walk from St Patrick’s Cathedral to Grafton Street. When you inquire at the tour desk, after waiting in a long miserable line, you are given a degraded copy, of a copy, of a copy, of what at one time, was a decent accurate street map. Additionally, after I was in Dublin, I realize that when copied, my map had St. Patrick’s Cathedral and points west chopped off. When you stay in a hotel in any European city you can obtain a decent street map from the Hotel. Princess should do the same. The cost is usually defrayed by the ads from stores and restaurants. I would have been willing to even pay you a couple of dollars for a REAL street or walking map. The copy of the maps for the Edinburgh Royal Mile and the Edinburgh Castle provided passengers, from the DK Eyewitness Travel Guide were fair quality. They were also a copyright violation unless Princess obtained prior permission before making all those copies.

 

There were some great things about the Princess staff. The dining room staff, spa staff, and cabin steward were superb. My three massage treatments in the spa were exquisite and a sure cure after sleeping on the worst mattress I ever experienced in my life. My August 10 Golden Princess cruise was a disappointment however, mostly due to Tour department and desk.

 

Did anyone who pre-booked the Edinburgh Tattoo excursion receive the letter in their cabin that stated there would not be ANY restroom stops and that the excursion was NOT recommended for wheelchair passenger? If so, what did the experienced Princess cruisers do, ignore the letter?

[Toto2Kansas]

We were on the same cruise with you and we DID receive the letter. (In fact, I still have it in my papers that I brought home with me) I went down and talked to the Purser and they said the letter was accurate, there would be no bathroom stops or bathrooms available during the bus ride.

 

We cancelled the tour after looking very forward to it for many months. I agree, I was really ticked off when the returning passengers told us about the bathrooms on the bus and the stops the buses made.

 

I had thought about contacting Princess when I returned home, but then realized if I did I would only receive one of their form letters telling me they were very sorry for the misunderstanding.

 

It just sickens me to be misinformed as they did to all of those that had booked the Tatoo. Such a shame that both my husband and myself missed the tour of a lifetime. :(

[Bestbubba]

We were on the 20 August sailing and pre-booked the Tattoo on-line. We also received the letter and were concerned about what to do but decided to go the "Don't drink anything and don't think about it" route and hope for the best.;) I would have been furious if we had cancelled and then found the information was incorrect.

 

Glad you enjoyed the rest of the cruise though, but your wife must have been so disappointed and rightly so.

 

Sue

[AV8OR]

This is very interesting. Is there any way you can scan and post the letter to the boards? It's almost inconceivable that the line would make such a misrepresentation. I'm wondering how many folks canceled out on account of this letter.

 

Hope you had a great cruise otherwise!

[travellady]

It's equally inconceivable to think they could schedule a tour and not have a bathroom stop. Obviously, there was a way to do it as they added it in at the last minute, but come on, going potty or not isn't something we plan.

[spongerob]

I am just completing my review of this same cruise, and included similar comments about the letter we received. We went on the tour in spite of the dire predictions about the lack of facilities during what was anticipated to be an 8-9 hour trip. I completely understand the sense of disappointment and outrage that has been expressed. My first reaction upon seeing the letter was "What the f---?"

 

HOWEVER:

 

Let's cut the tour people and Princess a little slack. They obviously received this information from the tour company they contracted to run this tour. This was a unique tour; one that most on board probably had no experience with. I am positive that no one in the front office on the ship just made this all up. The information came from somewhere. Incidentally, I noted that the company that put this tour together was the same one that organized the Doyle's Cabaret tour in Dublin. And if you were on that one, you know how well that one went, too. It makes me wonder if they contracted their tours to the low bidder. Sure looked like it.

 

The suspicious part of my mind (I am a Scorpio after all, so there is a conspiracy behind every tree in my world) wonders if this letter wasn't intended to scare off as many older and infirm people as possible. It was quite a madhouse getting from the parking area through the crush of people on the Royal Mile to our seats. The sad part is, for those who missed the Tattoo, was the show made every effort required to get there worthwhile. Rage on , folks!

[GottoCruise]

Did anyone who pre-booked the Edinburgh Tattoo excursion receive the letter in their cabin that stated there would not be ANY restroom stops and that the excursion was NOT recommended for wheelchair passenger? If so, what did the experienced Princess cruisers do, ignore the letter?

 

Ignored the letter, of course!!!

FYI - (We were on a bus with a "wheelchair person", & we all were let off our Bus right at the entrance - no walking thru the Royal Mile full of folks waiting in line ....no hill to 'climb' - easy as pie!

 

Our seats wre fabulous - front and center........are we experienced Princess cruisers??? - YES! and Just very lucky, :D

 

Information was posted on the board about past Tattoo experiences - no mention of any bad problems....pays to do your homework' (sometimes - :rolleyes: )

Truly sorry for those that cancelled and missed this experience.......We (also) chose this itinerary as it was a first Tattoo for us.......

[TravelArtist]

Yes, we received the message, but completely ignored it. Number one, it wasn't going to deter us, as the Tattoo was a dream of a lifetime for my cabin mate and me. Number two, don't drink and bear it out. Number three, we knew we could wear "protective gear" to help with incontinence, in case we needed it. There were plenty of opportunities to purchase this onshore too.

 

I agree with Renee. Do your homework and you won't be surprised. Also, as we had a CC meeting onboard the August 20th sailing, the opportunity to ask other, more experienced passengers was inadvertantly provided by Princess. The only problem we had was our tour guide screwed up and we lost good parking and 1 hour of shopping up the Royal Mile. We were PISSED! and he got NO tips. In addition, we had to hike up 4 flights of very steep stairs. No way someone handicapped could have done that. It's a good thing wheelchair bound people weren't on our bus.

 

My recommendation, do what my other Golden cabinmate, Angela has done and write a long complaint letter to Princess (having complained bitterly to the Purser who did NOTHING for her except fire the employee involved in Angela's complaint), stating your disasifaction with your vacation experience (did you complain to the Purser? and get their name?). Of course, her negative experience was far more serious and litigious than your disappointment in your vacation, but Princess is offering her her COMPLETE expense reimbursement, including air fare and her vacation pay as well! WOW! That's almost unheard of, from what I've seen on the boards and heard from my mom.

 

However, we got a rude surprise on the Golden (I've been on her before on a trans Atlantic, so this was a shocking surprise). The on-ship store no longer sells Immodium as they did in 2002, as they WANT you to go to the Dr. However, if you have the Norwalk virus they will waive the $60 fee. My cabinmate had diahrehha for a couple of days, took all the Immodium she had brought with her and it didn't stop her problem, so she was reduced to going to the Dr.for more. Funny thing that. When we arrived back at our cabin after visiting the Dr., a poor young steward-type guy (not our normal steward) complete with rubber gloves, bucket, spray bottle and cloths asked to come in and clean the bathroom. This is a whole new thing happening so fast after visiting the Dr., in my extensive experience of travelling around the world in 2003. We followed SARS and the beginning of the war, so our experience was unique.

 

BE WARNED! IF you are sick, you and your cabinmate CAN be quaranteened and not allowed to go on shore excursions. This happened on the Royal with sick people coming out of Agra in 2003. One lady completely missed going to the Valley of the Kings and Karnak. What a shame. However, cleaning cabins took a much longer interval from reporting sickness to the cleaning, compared with this August 20th crossing.

 

The best thing is, go prepared: include C-pro and Immodium on your meds list.

 

Travelartist, Annmarie

[bdjam]

The best thing is, go prepared: include C-pro and Immodium on your meds list.

For the safety and comfort of those on board, I would hope ANYONE with symptoms of Norovirus would go have it checked out - and if the cruise line has to resort to no longer selling remedies for the symptoms, then so be it. As we all know, the virus spreads rapidly and easily – if one is infected, lack of attention most likely will cause the ship to become infected.

[samoyed]

Thanks for the responses.

 

Sueredland – My wife was MORE than disappointed. She was also very upset (actually pi--ed) that I abandoned her and went to the Tattoo alone. I REFUSED to believe the letter however, or the follow-up conversations with the tour desk.

 

AV8OR – The letter is attached. Sorry for the quality. I don’t have a scanner so I took a picture of it. The forth and sixth bullets are comical. The forth bullet because I knew it was bulls---, although I couldn’t convince my wife; the sixth bullet because they DID accommodate wheelchair passengers very well. They apparently had a bus for wheelchair passengers (bus K2).

 

Spongerob – I did cut Princess some slack. I’m not a complainer. I’ve taken cruises on four different cruise lines and this is the first time I ever felt screwed big time. I encountered quite few ridiculous blunders by Princess on this cruise. I refused to let them bother me and rolled with it. Do you want a list? I can’t cut the tour people any slack on the Tattoo however. I don’t know if the letter “was intended to scare off as many older and infirm people as possible”. I don’t know if Princess “received this information from the tour company”. If so, it was obviously bad information and Princess rightfully told the tour company it was unacceptable. The Princess tour people were responsible for sending this letter and it was a major SNAFU. If their intent was scare people off, it worked in many cases. Thanks for the invitation to Rage On! I feel much better. I doubt we will have the opportunity to repeat this itinerary and my wife will never experience the extraordinary Tattoo performance.

 

GottoCruise – I did my homework. My wife unfortunately took Princess at their word. If we ever sail Princess again however, she too will know to ignore their scare tactics, advice, or whatever the letter was supposed to be.

 

TravelArtist – I really did my homework. I’ll pass on the "protective gear" however. I also called Princess customer relations as an offeror of constructive feedback, with the preface that I did NOT want anything from them in the way of compensation. They asked for me to write it up and e-mail my complaint, which I did. They thanked me for my positive feedback on the waiters, cabin steward and spa staff and were going to forward my letter to the “appropriate senior management” who will “share in our enthusiasm for your kind commendations”. The folks I complimented deserve commendations. As for the excursion department and the Tattoo they wrote, “the operation of the various excursions is handled by independent local vendors”. They still don’t get it! The independent vendor did an outstanding job. Their tour department screwed up!

[samoyed]

Due resolution and size limitations it is difficult to read. Sorry.

[sandbag7]

Thanks for the sideways post Sam, will give hours of enjoyment to all. JFMI, what is an Edinburgh tatoo? Do you have to wear a kilt to get it?

[Hawaiian]

We attended the Edinburgh Tattoo on August 27th while the Golden was docked at Greenock and I didn't realize at the time that we would be making any stops. When we pulled into the rest stop after only being on the road for 45 minutes, my first reaction was "why the heck are we stopping? For gosh sakes, we just left Greenock"!

 

After the Tattoo, we traveled back to Greenock and did not make any stops, although several people did use the toilet on the bus.

 

Sorry to hear your wife missed the show, it was memorable!

 

Aloha,

Matt

[Flyingfish]

We too were on the Aug. 20 cruise and booked it especially because of the Military Tatoo. When we got the (at the time we thought it hysterical) note about lack of bathrooms for the trip we ignored it. We decided to go light on fluids prior to bus ride. By the way, that was no 2 1/2 hour drive. It was less. And, we did have a stop. We had a snack and beers prior to Tatoo, using the restroom at the pub. Going home was another story, our bathroom on the bus was locked, no key. Some folks were not happy and were quite nasty and vocal. We were ok, but fought madly to get to our room first. The tatoo was the best part of the trip, we did however, due to bad knees, (no knee room) have to leave our seats and got front row bottom instead (folding chairs under stands). Took fab. pictures too. Folks were so nice and helpful.

[geoherb]

Sandbag: Here's the website for the 2005 Official Ediburgh Military Tattoo. It looks like a big pageant of military bands from around the world.

 

When I was in London many years ago, the group I was with went to a smaller scale version of something similar. It was called Beating Retreat. It's a great spectacle.

 

I'm sure the Edinburgh Tattoo is even more wonderful. I don't think receiving the posted letter would have kept me from going if I really wanted to. I would have gone Sue's route of not drinking anything beforehand.

[Toto2Kansas]

We have sailed on 14 Princess Cruises and although some of you say do not believe these letters, I felt totally differently about it after discussing it with the Shore Excursion Desk staff. The letter itself sounded stupid to me, I mean how the heck could this be true? But after talking to the Shore Excursion Desk at length about it, they totally convinced me that there would be NO facilities available throughout the tour.

 

I still feel terrible that we missed the Tatoo, but when bombarded with incorrect information from the ships staff and the letter on top of it, well, what else was there to do? I don't pack things to wear under my clothing to take care of 'accidents', sorry, but that is just never been on my packing list.

 

Although tours are contracted out, I still feel that the information Princess provided to passengers was totally bogus and uncalled for. Since they are the ones selling these tours, they should be informed more to provide accurate information to those purchasing these tours.

[sandbag7]

Thanks Geoherb. Not my cup of tea, but now I know what the fuss is about. I did enjoy the New Orleans marching bands at Mardi Gras though.

Anyway, what happened to the OP can hardly be questioned; Princess certainly handled this in a strange, crass and cavalier manner, and if it happened to me, it would color the rest of the cruise. Sorry, I'm not one of those happy-go-lucky types that finds the positive in every situation. Worse for the OP is that others were not negatively impacted.

So the cruise line was wrong; this is the kind of incident that should be posted in a travel magazine; it's much different that some of the whining you see on the boards, but I don't know what can be done for the OP.

Personally, I hope you get a chance to do this another time; THIS TIME buy your own tickets if necessary! I think it's a mistake sometimes to entrust the highlight of any cruise to the cruise lines, but... that's JMHO.