Princess Diamond tender issue in Phuket

[Pushka]

Currently tendered in early morning in Phuket Thailand. An announcement just now from The Captain. First time I've heard him call from the Bridge himself. The local authorities have just banned the ship from using their tenders contrary to their agreement. Currently 700 people waiting to disembark and many of us haven't even joined the queue yet. So long delays. Captain sounds very unhappy (putting it nicely). Trying to hire more local boats. Tenders being put back after just an hour.

[By The Bay]

Could be a way of providing work for the locals? Maybe a bit of "coffee money" would help.

 

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[Pushka]

Could be a way of providing work for the locals? Maybe a bit of "coffee money" would help.

 

Sent from my GT-I9500 using Forums mobile app

 

 

I am sure that is the whole idea. But moving 3000 people takes a while. Significant delays to all excursions. 1000 people now moved on but queue length is still over 700 and we haven't even joined it yet. Crew aren't allowed to go offshore yet either. Three large passenger boats have just shown up - 'miraculous' indeed ;). A very expensive tender port for Princess today.

Edited January 5, 2017 by Pushka

[kitkat343]

so sorry - hope you are able to have a nice day there and thanks for letting us know.

[cotswoldmalta]

I wish you the very best of luck, for our selves, one month and we'll be there, yippee!

 

 

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[Pushka]

I wish you the very best of luck, for our selves, one month and we'll be there, yippee!

 

 

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I wonder if the cost of this might cause Princess to rethink. Hiring five large capacity boats for the day and on the day at a moments notice would be extremely costly as Princess had no choice and the operators could charge whatever.

Edited January 5, 2017 by Pushka

[Bill B]

I used to vacation in Thailand for four months a year. I've stopped going because of: general incompetence, insane driving, a total lack of safety, corrupt police and Immigration officers.

 

I'll be on the Diamond in less than two weeks and don't plan on going ashore at Phuket.

[kenexx]

I'm in Bangkok at the moment. Was supposed to be on this cruise but cancelled it due to the high possibility of too many kids. I feel perfectly safe. Traffic is bad but that's nothing new. Shopping excellent as always. Food wonderful. Great place to spend some time.

[OzKiwiJJ]

I wonder if the cost of this might cause Princess to rethink. Hiring five large capacity boats for the day and on the day at a moments notice would be extremely costly as Princess had no choice and the operators could charge whatever.

 

Local idiotic officials probably don't realise that all they are doing is making the cruise line reconsider visiting that place again. :rolleyes:

 

The local boat operators might make some money today but local businesses will lose in the long term of the cruise ships stop coming.

Edited January 5, 2017 by OzKiwiJJ

[Bill B]

Local idiotic officials probably don't realise that all they are doing is making the cruise line reconsider visiting that place again. :rolleyes:

 

The local boat operators might make some money today but local businesses will lose in the long term of the cruise ships stop coming.

 

That's Thai foresight for you. :rolleyes:

 

If Princess is smart, they'll drop Phuket and add Langkwai.

[Tranquility Base]

If Princess is smart, they'll drop Phuket and add Langkwai.

They head there tomorrow.

[caribill]

This is not the only port that local boats are used for tendering.

 

Belize is another example.

[Pushka]

Local idiotic officials probably don't realise that all they are doing is making the cruise line reconsider visiting that place again. :rolleyes:

 

The local boat operators might make some money today but local businesses will lose in the long term of the cruise ships stop coming.

 

 

Exactly TripleJ. I suspect it's cost the cruise line a lot of money today.

[Bill B]

They head there tomorrow.

 

Aaaah... my cruise's itinerary does not include Langkawi (I'd trade it for Phuket in a heartbeat).

[Pushka]

This is not the only port that local boats are used for tendering.

 

Belize is another example.

 

 

Yes. Agreed. Same arrangement in both Lombok and Bali the other day. But those ports allowed the use of tenders also. For 30 minutes this morning the tenders were used then the Captain announced that contrary to their agreement the local authority refused the ship the use of the tenders. Perhaps I should elaborate more after leaving here.

 

We go to Langkawi tomorrow. No more tenders. We could have overnighted in Penang maybe last night.

Edited January 5, 2017 by Pushka

[jeromep]

Yes. Agreed. Same arrangement in both Lombok and Bali the other day. But those ports allowed the use of tenders also. For 30 minutes this morning the tenders were used then the Captain announced that contrary to their agreement the local authority refused the ship the use of the tenders. Perhaps I should elaborate more after leaving here.

 

We go to Langkawi tomorrow. No more tenders. We could have overnighted in Penang maybe last night.

 

Sure, any more information on your whole experience with local boats vs ship's tenders would be both interesting and educational.

 

No doubt, as others have stated, this is a move by the local "authorities" to create work and money for local operators.

 

Yes, this will cost Princess, but in the long run, this is a contingency expense. They will just chalk up the cost of hiring the local boats as a cost of operating this voyage. No doubt the voyage is probably already profitable well beyond the cost of the local hires.

[Tranquility Base]

Perhaps I should elaborate more after leaving here.

Thanks for these live updates.

 

For the benefit of those of us on the next couple of cruises there, it would be great if you could ask if this will affect visits there in the short term.

[shepp]

I'm in Bangkok at the moment. Was supposed to be on this cruise but cancelled it due to the high possibility of too many kids. I feel perfectly safe. Traffic is bad but that's nothing new. Shopping excellent as always. Food wonderful. Great place to spend some time.

 

 

I'm assuming you never had to iron out a problem with the police or immigration officials. :eek:

[Pushka]

Thanks for these live updates.

 

 

 

For the benefit of those of us on the next couple of cruises there, it would be great if you could ask if this will affect visits there in the short term.

 

 

The local boats are quite large so if they start from the get go then there won't be delays next time. They certainly cleared the backlog once three boats miraculously became available for rent ;)

[Pushka]

Oh by the way - there are surprisingly few kids on board. No need to cancel because of them.

[kitkat343]

Yes, this will cost Princess, but in the long run, this is a contingency expense. They will just chalk up the cost of hiring the local boats as a cost of operating this voyage. No doubt the voyage is probably already profitable well beyond the cost of the local hires.

 

My guess is that the cruise line might accept having to hire local ships if they know about it ahead of time. Not knowing about it caused the passengers to get upset, created headaches for the shore excursion office and might screw up the ship's tour schedule which could lead to people asking for refunds. And then if they decide to leave later to give people more time in port, they need to spend more money on fuel to travel faster to get to the next port on time. I'm guessing they'd rather deal with a country where their corruption is clearly visible from the start, so it can be factored in and the boats hired in advance and not deal with this kind of a last minute mess. If the countries push the cruise lines too far, they won't come back. I really liked visiting Guatemala on a HAL cruise a few years ago, but since they charge much more for cruise ships to dock there than neighboring countries there are a lot fewer cruises stopping there. Our tour guides were all hoping the government would change their policies so they could work in tourism full time. Right now, they have to supplement their income by working in banana factories on the days cruise ships don't visit.

 

On the other hand, if they give in and hire local operators,then it is likely that more countries will demand this. And given the wages they pay their employees, they seem to like to keep expenses to an absolute minimum. This will be another push towards the cruise lines building larger ports like in Belize that don't require tenders.

Edited January 5, 2017 by kitkat343

[TracieABD]

I am on this cruise in a couple of weeks. I am hoping we get to shore in Phuket, but if not, it will be a bonus sea day!

 

Pushka- please, keep us posted!

[Duck Duck Cruise]

I used to vacation in Thailand for four months a year. I've stopped going because of: general incompetence, insane driving, a total lack of safety, corrupt police and Immigration officers.

 

I'll be on the Diamond in less than two weeks and don't plan on going ashore at Phuket.

 

I completely agree with Bill B. We lived in Thailand for 3 years and there is absolutely no maintenance on anything so I would not get on any boat in Thailand. They are famous for overloading and ignoring safety of any kind. They don't care about the water or weather conditions and the people that call themselves "Captain" are not trained and there is no license.

 

Also, they do not care about customer loyalty. All they are worried about is right now. Tomorrow doesn't exist and they only want money right now. They saw the ship and the mafia who run Phuket saw an opportunity to make money today. High season is coming to a close. I hope Princess is prepared for the possibility of casualties. Just because Princess hires a company to transport you on a bus, boat or whatever doesn't mean that you are safe especially since they had no idea that some official was going to change the agreement.

 

I am not exaggerating, remember no matter how many fancy malls they have in Bangkok the rest of the country is still a 3rd world country.

[Bill B]

We lived in Thailand for 3 years and there is absolutely no maintenance on anything so I would not get on any boat in Thailand. They are famous for overloading and ignoring safety of any kind. They don't care about the water or weather conditions and the people that call themselves "Captain" are not trained and there is no license.

 

A tourist boat to Koh Phi Phi sank yesterday. The 'captain' was probably 18... and the only thing he had driven until last week was a water buffalo in Isan.

[Duck Duck Cruise]

A tourist boat to Koh Phi Phi sank yesterday. The 'captain' was probably 18... and the only thing he had driven until last week was a water buffalo in Isan.

 

Yes, you are correct. It was an eye opener living there and we are very glad we moved. We have stories that would fill a book!