Just Back From The Grand - There is a tender problem

[canderson]

 

As far as not having problems tendering when on the Galaxy - the Galaxy is a small ship and has far fewer people to get off.

Just returned (12/17). The key is that Celebrity has been using a combination of its own and contracted tenders to keep things moving, rather than depending upon just its own life boats. The size of the ship really isn't relevant. The number and size of tenders simply needs to be scaled accordingly.

[Host CJSKIDS]

I'm so sorry to you all and now nervous about our cruise on the Star Princess. Wouldn't you know that although I'm in a full suite and get priority tender tickets to get off, our traveling companions aren't so we'll have to wait. I've had to tender at Grand Cayman on Disney and can say that they handle it very well there as they always seem to go their own special place on the pier. Now I'm not thrilled that we have to tender in 3 different ports.

[johnny cruise]

I'm so sorry to you all and now nervous about our cruise on the Star Princess. Wouldn't you know that although I'm in a full suite and get priority tender tickets to get off, our traveling companions aren't so we'll have to wait. I've had to tender at Grand Cayman on Disney and can say that they handle it very well there as they always seem to go their own special place on the pier. Now I'm not thrilled that we have to tender in 3 different ports.

 

We just got off the star. You might not wait to get on the tender but you might have to wait to get off on CI.

 

More Later:(

 

Johnny Cruise:D

[chasetf]

Grand Princess plans to go to Roatan next year instead of Grand Cayman. I wonder if it is an option to make the switch now? It might not be the best replacement, but at least people would stand a better chance getting off the ship.

Only if they are the only ship in port. I wonder if the port is large enough for the Grand. We were there on the Zenith and it pretty well filled the pier.

 

If this is another ship in port and they have to tender.. I donot know where the tenders would dock.

 

The other fact is it's a longer leg to get down and back. Wonder what the port times (arrival and departure) will be?

[jssabs]

For what it's worth, I sent a letter to the President of Princess along with a printout of this thread.

[Princess Bride]

Thank you !! Thank you !!!

 

I wish more and more people would write letters to the President of Princess and include copies of all of these complaints in the envelope.

 

 

Surely someone at Princess headquarters cares & will appreciate feedback, constructive criticism.

[Trvlbugs]

I also just faxed off a letter to public relations. Haven't heard anything as of today but we will see. Please if anyone hears back from them let me know.:)

[watcher_62]

I also sent a fax copy of the thread to Customer Relations at Princess (second fax I've sent on the matter). The more we raise the issue, the more likely they will take steps to improve things!;)

[negc]

Tendering problems are not limited to Princess or any other specific cruiseline and given the damage that this year's hurricanes did to the ports of call in the western Caribbean, some delays and difficulties are to be expected. What should not be expected is the "who cares" attitude on the part of the Princess' personnel that the OP reported.

We sailed on Dawn Princess through the Canal a few years ago and encountered this same attitude when we took a horrendous shore excursion to Puerto Amador. Only when a few hundred passengers gathered at the shore excursion desk the next morning to protest the manner in which the whole fiasco was handled did they grudgingly provide a partial refund of the excursion fee. Later when my wife and I wrote Princess to commend one of their Acapulco based employees for helping us make our flight when Princess had taken us to the Acapulco Princess and hadn't made arrangements to transport us back to the airport in time for our flight, Princess barely acknowledged our praise for their employee, but expended several paragraphs trying to lay the blame for the mixup on us and our travel agent.

We cruised Dawn Princess twice (once to Alaska and once through the Panama Canal). The Alaska cruise was wonderful and I couldn't find words adequate to describe the wonderful way we were treated by everyone working on the ship and on the land tour we took in advance of the cruise.

On the Panama cruise, the ship's personnel gave everyone the impression that they didn't want to be there, didn't want to deal with the passengers, and hoped we would all go away.

I prefer to think our first experience on Dawn Princess was the norm and the second was an aberration, but reading the OPs report, I have to wonder.

[crazy4themouse]

Tendering problems are not limited to Princess or any other specific cruiseline and given the damage that this year's hurricanes did to the ports of call in the western Caribbean, some delays and difficulties are to be expected.

 

 

I completely understand about the hurricanes and the related problems they caused, but when people are coming back (such as my TA) from Grand Cayman and saying that they had no problems, while witnessing the Grand having horrid problems with tendering, I have a hard time not holding Princess accountable. The attitude, I agree with you -- it's unacceptable even if the problem were entirely out of their control.

 

-gina-

[johnny cruise]

I completely understand about the hurricanes and the related problems they caused, but when people are coming back (such as my TA) from Grand Cayman and saying that they had no problems, while witnessing the Grand having horrid problems with tendering, I have a hard time not holding Princess accountable. The attitude, I agree with you -- it's unacceptable even if the problem were entirely out of their control.

 

-gina-

 

Gina

 

Wait till barb and i tell you about GC and Princess people. We will have a compleat review by friday.

 

Johnny Cruise:D

[senatorgirth]

Could someone please post the name, office telephone number, and/or fax number of the President of Princess Cruises? Those of us on upcoming Grand cruises want to make our voices heard--now!

[AgVball]

I don't have the phone/fax in front of me...

but I know their email is passengerrelations@princesscruises.com

Not sure if they can help from a "pre-cruise" standpoint - but it doesn't hurt.

[Guest AdmiralNelson]

(Since Carnival owns Princess, that makes little sense to me.) The Liberty carries 2694 pax at capacity, and the Grand 2600.

 

As a Princess Cruises Officer I like to correct some misconceptions. It is very easy to compare ships on paper, it is also easy to compare the situation of two ships in the same port on the same day and conclude that if one ship experiences problems that the other does not, that it must be crew performance that caused the problems.

 

These assumptions are generally wrong though; the fact that Carnival owns Princess does not mean they are run by the same people. Both companies are operated separately and in fact as Carnival owns many of the piers in many resorts (especially in Mexico) it means that their ships get priority when two ships from respective companies are berthed together (as recently happened in Galveston). Also Carnival owns the Puerto Maya pier in Cozumel and therefore even though the pier was destroyed in the hurricane it means their tenders get priority, hence less problems in those situations.

 

Furthermore, looking at the brochure of one ship and quoting the figure that it carries 2600 passengers gives a false sense of the ship’s capacity. Last week the Grand Princess sailed with 2938 passengers and all ships sail with different figures almost each and every cruise. Figures given in brochures are based on 2 people sharing a cabin in standard cabins or 4 persons in such allocated cabins. As there can be occasions where a high number of passengers are children (as with the Grand Princess currently) the number of passengers rises as cabins host more than usual figures.

[senatorgirth]

[As a Princess Cruises Officer I like to correct some misconceptions.

 

AdmiralNelson, thanks for sharing your perspective. Can you serve as a liaison to Princess management on this Grand Princess tendering problem? It's increaisnlgy clear that there are problems--is management aware? If so, what are the doing about it? Those of us on upcoming Grand cruises are becoming deeply concerned.

[johnny cruise]

(Since Carnival owns Princess, that makes little sense to me.) The Liberty carries 2694 pax at capacity, and the Grand 2600.

 

As a Princess Cruises Officer I like to correct some misconceptions. It is very easy to compare ships on paper, it is also easy to compare the situation of two ships in the same port on the same day and conclude that if one ship experiences problems that the other does not, that it must be crew performance that caused the problems.

 

These assumptions are generally wrong though; the fact that Carnival owns Princess does not mean they are run by the same people. Both companies are operated separately and in fact as Carnival owns many of the piers in many resorts (especially in Mexico) it means that their ships get priority when two ships from respective companies are berthed together (as recently happened in Galveston). Also Carnival owns the Puerto Maya pier in Cozumel and therefore even though the pier was destroyed in the hurricane it means their tenders get priority, hence less problems in those situations.

 

Furthermore, looking at the brochure of one ship and quoting the figure that it carries 2600 passengers gives a false sense of the ship’s capacity. Last week the Grand Princess sailed with 2938 passengers and all ships sail with different figures almost each and every cruise. Figures given in brochures are based on 2 people sharing a cabin in standard cabins or 4 persons in such allocated cabins. As there can be occasions where a high number of passengers are children (as with the Grand Princess currently) the number of passengers rises as cabins host more than usual figures.

 

 

Barbara and I are looking for alternitive vacation for our next time out. We will never sail the star again and are thinking about never cruising again. We think cruising just got to crowded.

 

We will be looking for a Refund on are 7 mile beach toure.

 

Johnny Cruise:mad:

[spongerob]

THERE IS NOTHING WORSE THAN LINES, especially on vacation! And to miss out on the beach is just horrible. I just don't know what to say.

 

I'd say that you've chosen the wrong vacation for your expectations. Cruising is often less than perfect, and lines are part of the bargain. Sooner or later you are going to miss out on a beach day, too. I don't know how to make you feel better, cruising is what it is and has a lot of uncertainty when it comes to schedules. It probably isn't the best thing for those who expect absolute precision.

[johnny cruise]

. It probably isn't the best thing for those who expect absolute precision.

 

 

Or a Refund:mad:

 

JC

[budaman]

Good Morning All!

 

Below are my feelings on the tendering issues pertaining to the Grand. Let me preface this by saying our first cruise on Princess is in Feb. and have only cruised once before on the Rhapsody in April.

 

1) I know there is going to be tendering problems in Grand Cayman and it will not ruin my vacation.

2) We need to quit using the Hurricane as an excuse for the tendering issues in Grand Cayman....Cozumel yes at the present. The facilities for tendering in Grand Cayman are just as functional now as they were pre Ivan.

3) Grand Cayman is allowing too many ships in Port on certain days because they need the tourist dollars to rebuild their economy which I feel is shortsighted in the long run.

4) Princess is ignoring the issue because they have already decided to abandon GC as it pertains to the Grand.

5) The Grand had tendering issues last year also. I did some search history to check.

6) Why did Princess when they restructured the Port stops this year not make Grand Cayman the first Port on Monday. The distance from Galveston to Grand Cayman is almost the same distance as Galveston to Majahual. There are usually only 3 or 4 ships in Port in GC on Monday and more important fewer Carnival ships than there are on Wednesday.

7) Princess just needs to admit there is an issue rather than sticking their heads in the sand and pretending it doesn't exist. I see this more as a benefit to the new cruiser that does not pay attention to these boards and gets blindsided on their first cruise which could deter them from returning.

8) If the Grand does not depart until 7PM, why is the last tender at 4:45. I think that is causing much of the frustration in Grand Cayman.

 

Sorry this is so long.......got on a roll and couldn't stop:p

 

Mike

 

www.homepage.mac.com/csealove/

[negc]

As a Princess Cruises Officer I like to correct some misconceptions. It is very easy to compare ships on paper, it is also easy to compare the situation of two ships in the same port on the same day and conclude that if one ship experiences problems that the other does not, that it must be crew performance that caused the problems.

 

These assumptions are generally wrong though; the fact that Carnival owns Princess does not mean they are run by the same people. Both companies are operated separately and in fact as Carnival owns many of the piers in many resorts (especially in Mexico) it means that their ships get priority when two ships from respective companies are berthed together (as recently happened in Galveston). Also Carnival owns the Puerto Maya pier in Cozumel and therefore even though the pier was destroyed in the hurricane it means their tenders get priority, hence less problems in those situations.

 

Furthermore, looking at the brochure of one ship and quoting the figure that it carries 2600 passengers gives a false sense of the ship’s capacity. Last week the Grand Princess sailed with 2938 passengers and all ships sail with different figures almost each and every cruise. Figures given in brochures are based on 2 people sharing a cabin in standard cabins or 4 persons in such allocated cabins. As there can be occasions where a high number of passengers are children (as with the Grand Princess currently) the number of passengers rises as cabins host more than usual figures.

 

You make some good points about the possible reasons for tendering problems involving the Grand Princess. However, the main complaint of the original poster and others was not so much the problems they encountered but the attitude of the Princess' staff concerning those problems. Having encountered that same "attitude" on one of our two cruises on Dawn Princess, and in our subsequent dealing with Princess' home office, I must say that the staff's unsympathetic attitude did much to destroy whatever good feelings that we had about the line from our previous experience on the same ship. Unless and until Princess recognizes that the manner in which they deal with their guests needs monitoring and, in some instances, serious improvement, you can expect similar complaints. Sometimes all a complainant wants is a sympathetic hearing, and possibly an apology and a promise to try to improve matters in the future.

[johnny cruise]

As a Princess Cruises Officer I like to correct some misconceptions. It is very easy to compare ships on paper, it is also easy to compare the situation of two ships in the same port on the same day and conclude that if one ship experiences problems that the other does not, that it must be crew performance that caused the problems.

 

These assumptions are generally wrong though; the fact that Carnival owns Princess does not mean they are run by the same people. Both companies are operated separately and in fact as Carnival owns many of the piers in many resorts (especially in Mexico) it means that their ships get priority when two ships from respective companies are berthed together (as recently happened in Galveston). Also Carnival owns the Puerto Maya pier in Cozumel and therefore even though the pier was destroyed in the hurricane it means their tenders get priority, hence less problems in those situations.

 

Furthermore, looking at the brochure of one ship and quoting the figure that it carries 2600 passengers gives a false sense of the ship’s capacity. Last week the Grand Princess sailed with 2938 passengers and all ships sail with different figures almost each and every cruise. Figures given in brochures are based on 2 people sharing a cabin in standard cabins or 4 persons in such allocated cabins. As there can be occasions where a high number of passengers are children (as with the Grand Princess currently) the number of passengers rises as cabins host more than usual figures.

 

You make some good points about the possible reasons for tendering problems involving the Grand Princess. However, the main complaint of the original poster and others was not so much the problems they encountered but the attitude of the Princess' staff concerning those problems. Having encountered that same "attitude" on one of our two cruises on Dawn Princess, and in our subsequent dealing with Princess' home office, I must say that the staff's unsympathetic attitude did much to destroy whatever good feelings that we had about the line from our previous experience on the same ship. Unless and until Princess recognizes that the manner in which they deal with their guests needs monitoring and, in some instances, serious improvement, you can expect similar complaints. Sometimes all a complainant wants is a sympathetic hearing, and possibly an apology and a promise to try to improve matters in the future.

 

 

Very well put Bill. They wont give us are 60 Dollars back from are 7 Mile Beach tour that was going to be 4 Hours on the beach, it took two hours Plus to get there and we where told it would cost us to go back early to avoid the long lines to tender back to the ship:mad: This was in GC.

 

JC

[crazy4themouse]

I'd say that you've chosen the wrong vacation for your expectations. Cruising is often less than perfect, and lines are part of the bargain. Sooner or later you are going to miss out on a beach day, too. I don't know how to make you feel better, cruising is what it is and has a lot of uncertainty when it comes to schedules. It probably isn't the best thing for those who expect absolute precision.

 

 

Why would there be lines on a cruise vacation? I expect that at Walt Disney World -- but never on a cruise. And have never experienced them, unless you count waiting 2 or 3 people deep to get ice cream or something. I have certainly never ever had to wait to get off the ship. When you want to get off the ship, off you go.

 

And whil missing a beach day due to weather or other Acts of God, missing a beach day because SOMEONE (blame whomever you wish) hasn't managed to get their act together regarding tendering when they have now had plenty of time to do so, is just plain unacceptable.

 

A cruise is a luxury vacation with a hefty pricetag, and people (rightly) expect to not be treated like cattle.

 

If the piers at Grand Cayman or Cozumel can handle X number of the large ferries, forcing some ships to use their little lifeboats as tenders, then there needs to be an absolute limit put on the number of ships in port every day. Lines will need to change their itineraries (as Princess is doing next year, but not soon enough.) Or, if one line simply has a diferent arranagement with the port and pays to use those big ferries, while another line does not, then again some different arrangement/idea/Plan B needs to be put into place.

 

Just for the record, I am one of those people who has fun no matter what. I will never fall to pieces because they ran out of lobster, or it rains, or I don't like the movies showing. But I have ZERO patience for problems that are ignored and not remedied, or even denied, and paying customers are supposed to suck it up. If you own an entity of some sort like a cruise line, and a problem is within your power to fix *no matter* what the cause or issue, then it is your responsibility to your customers to fix the problem. Period.

 

PERIOD.

[Stevesan]

As a Princess Cruises Officer I like to correct some misconceptions. It is very easy to compare ships on paper, it is also easy to compare the situation of two ships in the same port on the same day and conclude that if one ship experiences problems that the other does not, that it must be crew performance that caused the problems.

 

These assumptions are generally wrong though; the fact that Carnival owns Princess does not mean they are run by the same people. Both companies are operated separately and in fact as Carnival owns many of the piers in many resorts (especially in Mexico) it means that their ships get priority when two ships from respective companies are berthed together (as recently happened in Galveston). Also Carnival owns the Puerto Maya pier in Cozumel and therefore even though the pier was destroyed in the hurricane it means their tenders get priority, hence less problems in those situations.

 

Furthermore, looking at the brochure of one ship and quoting the figure that it carries 2600 passengers gives a false sense of the ship’s capacity. Last week the Grand Princess sailed with 2938 passengers and all ships sail with different figures almost each and every cruise. Figures given in brochures are based on 2 people sharing a cabin in standard cabins or 4 persons in such allocated cabins. As there can be occasions where a high number of passengers are children (as with the Grand Princess currently) the number of passengers rises as cabins host more than usual figures.

 

I believe you that Carnival owns piers in some ports, but Galveston? That's owned by The Port Of Galveston. If Carnival did own it, it would be run much better.

 

Tendering has little to do with the ship's size as long as all available facilities are utilized, and that is up to either the ship's captain and/or the cruise line's policies. Grand Princess Pax complain of having to wait for hours to tender to shore at Grand Cayman. We tendered from HAL's ms Veendam in GC Dec 8th with five other cruise ships anchored. We had virtually no wait for tendering, either at the ship or pier. Veendam is half the size of GP, but GP has two tender doors to Veendam's one. Veendam lowers enough lifeboats as tenders to handle to load. If Princess utilized tenders sufficiently, GP pax would not have to suffer the reported delays.

[jjnewboots]

..... However, the main complaint of the original poster and others was not so much the problems they encountered but the attitude of the Princess' staff concerning those problems. Having encountered that same "attitude" on one of our two cruises on Dawn Princess, and in our subsequent dealing with Princess' home office, I must say that the staff's unsympathetic attitude did much to destroy whatever good feelings that we had about the line from our previous experience on the same ship. Unless and until Princess recognizes that the manner in which they deal with their guests needs monitoring and, in some instances, serious improvement, you can expect similar complaints. Sometimes all a complainant wants is a sympathetic hearing, and possibly an apology and a promise to try to improve matters in the future.

 

 

AMEN!! I couldn't have said it better myself. I was on Princess the first week it sailed out of Galveston and I posted a warning to others about the tendering problems immediately upon my return so they would know to get their tickets EARLY!!! I think what was the most frustrating to me now that I have had time to reflect was the staff's attitude and how instead of just appologizing they would blame it on this or that and say it was beyond their control. Meanwhile when we would finally get ashore we would talk to other passangers on other ships and find out they got ashore in 20 minutes....wouldn't they have the same "problems" ie...swells at Cozumel??? In the end it just all left a bad taste of incompetence with me and I think the main reason was the staff's attitude. They were just down right rude. We watched a lot of people take valid complaints to the Purser's desk and the Staff and get met with rudeness. Instead of like you said appologizing they were offered excuses. We decided it wouldn't do any good to say anything to anyone on the ship. I wrote a letter to headquarters when I returned but based on what I've seen from Princess customer service relations so far on this issue I doubt it will do any good either.

 

Don't get me wrong....I'm not saying that we had a bad cruise because of this or that I wouldn't sail Princess again. What I am saying is that I would seriously consider taking a cruise where tendering is necessary especially in a port that I really want to see. This is not my first problem tendering with Princess. We had a previous problem in Alaska last year. Aside from tendering I think Princess is a fabulous cruiseline but in both tendering cruise nightmares their customer service was seriously lacking.

 

sincerely,

jjnewboots

[johnny cruise]

Why would there be lines on a cruise vacation? I expect that at Walt Disney World -- but never on a cruise. And have never experienced them, unless you count waiting 2 or 3 people deep to get ice cream or something. I have certainly never ever had to wait to get off the ship. When you want to get off the ship, off you go.

 

And whil missing a beach day due to weather or other Acts of God, missing a beach day because SOMEONE (blame whomever you wish) hasn't managed to get their act together regarding tendering when they have now had plenty of time to do so, is just plain unacceptable.

 

A cruise is a luxury vacation with a hefty pricetag, and people (rightly) expect to not be treated like cattle.

 

If the piers at Grand Cayman or Cozumel can handle X number of the large ferries, forcing some ships to use their little lifeboats as tenders, then there needs to be an absolute limit put on the number of ships in port every day. Lines will need to change their itineraries (as Princess is doing next year, but not soon enough.) Or, if one line simply has a diferent arranagement with the port and pays to use those big ferries, while another line does not, then again some different arrangement/idea/Plan B needs to be put into place.

 

Just for the record, I am one of those people who has fun no matter what. I will never fall to pieces because they ran out of lobster, or it rains, or I don't like the movies showing. But I have ZERO patience for problems that are ignored and not remedied, or even denied, and paying customers are supposed to suck it up. If you own an entity of some sort like a cruise line, and a problem is within your power to fix *no matter* what the cause or issue, then it is your responsibility to your customers to fix the problem. Period.

 

PERIOD.

 

Wait till you hear how long it takes to get into the resturant.