Star Princess experiencing rudder problems, missing a port.

[Valiamo]

Currently on the Star and we were advised last night the the ship is experiencing starboard rudder problems and our itinerary has been changed. The ship will overnight in Juneau and head directly back to Vancouver tomorrow morning. We will miss Ketichkan tomorrow and have two sea days vs one.

 

We expect to be back on time, and the are running the ship slow.

 

Princess has provided extra refundable OBC for everyone, and plus a future Cruise credit.

 

Weather is super up here in Alaska and the cruise is over all very good.

 

 

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[moki'smommy]

Well, sounds like they treated you fairly.

 

I'm trying to decide if all the recent ship problems are a factor of having about 20 ships and "stuff happens" or if any of this reflects sub-optimal maintenance, etc. They seem to be having more problems than other lines.

[Thrak]

Wow. Sounds like Princess is making things right and, of all the "usual" Alaska ports, I'd rather miss Ketchikan than one of the others. Of course, if one has never been to Ketchikan it would be pretty disappointing to miss the port.

[VibeGuy]

Eep. Doing a B2B starting Saturday.

 

Don’t regret losing Ketchikan but curious what this means for us.

[rocklinmom]

Oh wow I hope they get everything fixed before we sail on her in June. I would hate to miss a port but at least they gave you something for the inconvenience.

[joeyancho]

For many people Alaska is a once in a lifetime trip?. I would be very disappointed.

[Cruise Raider]

Sounds like Princess is making it right for their current passengers and kudos to you for having a good attitude about travelling problems. It makes life so much easier.

[Astro Flyer]

For many people Alaska is a once in a lifetime trip?. I would be very disappointed.

And for many passengers Alaska is their first Princess Cruise experience & not a great introduction to them.

 

Stuff happens & the compensation seems appropriate but it’ll be interesting to learn if the rudder problem can be quickly repaired or if it will be a long term problem. Our most recent Star cruise was roundtrip LA/HI and fortunately the rudder problem occurred in Alaska closer to ports & not while crossing the Pacific Ocean.

Edited May 9, 2018 by Astro Flyer

[Thrak]

Alaska was our first cruise and it got us hooked. We did the 10 day round trip out of SF on Sea Princess. It definitely wasn't a one time only though. :)

[chengkp75]

And for many passengers Alaska is their first Princess Cruise experience & not a great introduction to them.

 

Stuff happens & the compensation seems appropriate but it’ll be interesting to learn if the rudder problem can be quickly repaired or if it will be a long term problem. Our most recent Star cruise was roundtrip LA/HI and fortunately the rudder problem occurred in Alaska closer to ports & not while crossing the Pacific Ocean.

 

But, if the rudder problem had occurred at sea, you would never have known. With one rudder not functioning, the ship is completely able to navigate on the other. The problem is that the ship in Alaska is entering and leaving port daily, as well as transiting in restricted waters if doing the inside passage, with a loss of redundancy in steering requires a tug escort at all times in restricted waters. Also, the USCG can require the ship to remain in port until repairs can be made for systems like steering, while at sea, the ship is free to proceed.

[Astro Flyer]

But, if the rudder problem had occurred at sea, you would never have known. With one rudder not functioning, the ship is completely able to navigate on the other. The problem is that the ship in Alaska is entering and leaving port daily, as well as transiting in restricted waters if doing the inside passage, with a loss of redundancy in steering requires a tug escort at all times in restricted waters. Also, the USCG can require the ship to remain in port until repairs can be made for systems like steering, while at sea, the ship is free to proceed.

 

Thanks Chief...always appreciate your information.

[VibeGuy]

Could be worse; could be Azipods.

 

At least there’s some chance of repairing a conventional rudder system without drydock.

[chickadee1]

Leaving for our Alaska trip on the 26th and would hate to miss any ports! Probably would never get back this way as air fare to Alaska and back to Hartford was in excess of $1500 for 2 people not counting stay one night before cruise. I would not be happy to miss anything. Good for you to be so agreeable with the compensation but unless they flew me back, I would be very sad!!

 

Princess, fix that ship!!

[Valiamo]

Well' date=' sounds like they treated you fairly.

 

 

 

I'm trying to decide if all the recent ship problems are a factor of having about 20 ships and "stuff happens" or if any of this reflects sub-optimal maintenance, etc. They seem to be having more problems than other lines.[/quote']

 

 

 

We are being treated very well. All in all it is a great cruise, and we had great weather for the two ports.

 

They are worked great hard in the rudder and we will be enjoying the next two days at sea!

[VibeGuy]

Without descending to crassly specific numbers, how much OBC are we talking here, and what scale of FCC? Was it announced, or did you get a letter with a specific amount (which makes me think it varies by category).

 

The nightmare scenario for me is a percentage of fare paid for either/both, as our first leg is the “free” sailing from a move-over offer.

[bgyoshi]

Without descending to crassly specific numbers, how much OBC are we talking here, and what scale of FCC? Was it announced, or did you get a letter with a specific amount (which makes me think it varies by category).

 

 

 

The nightmare scenario for me is a percentage of fare paid for either/both, as our first leg is the “free” sailing from a move-over offer.

 

 

 

I don’t know if it’s a “secret” or not, but OBC offered was $150/pp and I believe 15% of what you paid, discount for future cruise.

 

It was announced overhead and included in written form with our Princess Patter.

 

It is disappointing for us because we are traveling as an extended family with a private chartered fishing excursion plan for Ketchikan. So we had to quickly try to make new plans as we were sailing out of Skagway before we lost reception haha. And not to mention reaching out to the company we used about a refund since it was past the cancellation time frame. Luckily, they were very accommodating.

 

 

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[moki'smommy]

I don’t know if it’s a “secret” or not, but OBC offered was $150/pp and I believe 15% of what you paid, discount for future cruise.

 

It was announced overhead and included in written form with our Princess Patter.

 

It is disappointing for us because we are traveling as an extended family with a private chartered fishing excursion plan for Ketchikan. So we had to quickly try to make new plans as we were sailing out of Skagway before we lost reception haha. And not to mention reaching out to the company we used about a refund since it was past the cancellation time frame. Luckily, they were very accommodating.

 

 

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Every decent company that offers shore excursions has a clause that you won't be billed/will get a full refund if you ship is unable to dock or tender. They wouldn't have business for long if they didn't have this policy.

[4x4bob]

Ah, Me vs Mother Nature. Last October we did a trans Atlantic from the UK back to the USA on the Caribbean Princess while she was running with only partial power on one electric drive motor.

 

Now, we are going out on the Star in 26 days. And, it is a Alaska back to the Us with the normal visits and stops in Alaska.

 

As reported one rudder in Alaska water would require a tug to go along with the Star. Don't know if Princess will spring for that or just reroute us with many sea days.

 

Will be paying attention to this issue.

 

Bob

[txwriter]

:eek::(:loudcry: I am a mixed bag of emotional distress reading this.

 

I was supposed to take Mom on her dream Alaskan trip last year, but my grandmother's health failed, so we decided to postpone just prior to final payment, and then just a week after we'd cancelled, my grandmother passed away.

 

We had to cancel our cruisetour this year and opt for a DIY 5 days prior to the trip when we had an unexpected and ungodly expensive replacement of all of our sewer plumbing under our slab foundation.

 

This past weekend, Mom hurt her arm. Doctor says it is tendonitis, and Mom is already worried about it impacting her trip.

 

Now this! Ugh. With my luck, we'd end up missing Skagway which is the only port my mom said is a "must" and the one where I have booked a private tour and have been working with the vendors to put a few surprises in for her throughout the day.

 

Just a side note: the only other cruise we ever did was booked primarily so that we could go to Prince Edward Island. It's the reason we went on that cruise instead of the Alaskan cruise we'd thought about. Guess which was the one port skipped that cruise? Yep...PEI. Mom still is sour about that one, and that was back in 1990.

 

I have the insurance, and we could cancel EXCEPT my outbound flights are not insured. Oh well, I hope this is resolved before June 2nd.

[BCCRUSINGCOUPLE]

Well at least princess is offering something which they don’t have to do so hats off to princess on this one.

 

 

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[caribill]

Well at least princess is offering something which they don’t have to do so hats off to princess on this one.

 

 

Since the problem is a Princess problem (as opposed to weather related delays) and theoretically one they could have avoided, an offering of $$$ is appropriate.

[mytime53]

We're supposed to be on the Star in 10 days. I do hope the problem is fixed by then. If it was just my husband and me, it would be no big deal. But we're taking two grandkids, and rescheduling for them might be difficult.

[madmacs]

According to Marine Traffic ship positioning, Star is till in Juneau so guess things not improved.

[Coral]

I don’t know if it’s a “secret” or not, but OBC offered was $150/pp and I believe 15% of what you paid, discount for future cruise.

 

It was announced overhead and included in written form with our Princess Patter.

 

It is disappointing for us because we are traveling as an extended family with a private chartered fishing excursion plan for Ketchikan.

 

Well - Princess may have saved you a lot of money!!! I often sail in May in Alaska and have met dozens of people who have gone fishing in Ketchikan in May and have yet to meet anyone who caught anything. Most came back very grumpy and frustrated as apparently this is not the best month to go fishing in this area.

[underscore]

According to Marine Traffic ship positioning, Star is till in Juneau so guess things not improved.

 

The original post (posted yesterday) said they would be overnighting in Juneau, so this doesn't seem to provide any more information.