Live - Sky Princess - Norway Fjords - 11 June - 14 nights

[wowzz]

1 hour ago, Airwavey said:

MDR menu a starting point eg can get starter AND pasta and main and pud,.... and mix/match other items

Some of the meat and vegetable combos on the MDR menu can be a little strange,  so I frequently "pick and mix" the various menu options,  and virtually always order a double helping  of potatoes. 

Your server really should have told you that mixing was possible. 

[insidecabin]

13 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Some of the meat and vegetable combos on the MDR menu can be a little strange,  so I frequently "pick and mix" the various menu options,  and virtually always order a double helping  of potatoes. 

Your server really should have told you that mixing was possible. 

Also you can have as many as you want, often double up any seafood starter.

[insidecabin]

Marine traffic and VTS have 10:51/11:09  arrival.

[insidecabin]

If your spend was $748 + $109 for 1 WiFi= $857

 

$30*14*2*1.25= $1050

 

$200 saved 

 

Fancy one of those retreat pool cabins.

on emerald the aft cabins on 14 have easy access to outriggers and buffet.

[phabric]

I was on the Sky May 28-June 11.  I got off  went you got on.  During the June 4-11 cruise, there was a emergency alarm go off, something about the engine.  June 4-11 cruise, Wednesday June 8 and Thursday June 9, the port times changed, (we still had the same amount of time in ports) due to engine problems.

 

I always book my flights EzAir with Princess.  I was wondering for in the future,

how people contacted EzAir -

 - did people have to contact EzAir themselvies 

- did EzAir automatically change their flights

- go to Guest Services or Captain Circle to inquire what to do

- how did they find out about their new flights

 

The WiFi was bad going through the Fjords June 4-11, I received $35 refund = to 3 days of WiFi. I purchased WiFi separate not in the Plus package.

 

On June 11, my sister had a non stop 2:05pm flight with a Princess transfer and I had a non stop 5:05pm flight with a post cruise excursion to LHR.  Both of us would have had EzAir change our flights.

 

Most planes are now travelling full making it hard to put other displaced passengers on another flight.

 

I wonder how many passengers will be staying at hotels for a night or two.

 

 

 

 

[wowzz]

58 minutes ago, insidecabin said:

If your spend was $748 + $109 for 1 WiFi= $857

 

$30*14*2*1.25= $1050

 

$200 saved 

 

Fancy one of those retreat pool cabins.

on emerald the aft cabins on 14 have easy access to outriggers and buffet.

The PP cost at the time was £30 or $40, not $30 as in your calculation 

[Airwavey]

56 minutes ago, phabric said:

I was on the Sky May 28-June 11.  I got off  went you got on.  During the June 4-11 cruise, there was a emergency alarm go off, something about the engine.  June 4-11 cruise, Wednesday June 8 and Thursday June 9, the port times changed, (we still had the same amount of time in ports) due to engine problems.

 

I always book my flights EzAir with Princess.  I was wondering for in the future,

how people contacted EzAir -

 - did people have to contact EzAir themselvies 

- did EzAir automatically change their flights

- go to Guest Services or Captain Circle to inquire what to do

- how did they find out about their new flights

 

The WiFi was bad going through the Fjords June 4-11, I received $35 refund = to 3 days of WiFi. I purchased WiFi separate not in the Plus package.

 

On June 11, my sister had a non stop 2:05pm flight with a Princess transfer and I had a non stop 5:05pm flight with a post cruise excursion to LHR.  Both of us would have had EzAir change our flights.

 

Most planes are now travelling full making it hard to put other displaced passengers on another flight.

 

I wonder how many passengers will be staying at hotels for a night or two.

 

 

 

 

Captain's original announcement last night was that who had booked travel through Princess, Princess staff were already working on new arrangements including overnight hotel if necessary. Presume that includes/is the Ez/Air you refer to

 

Independent travellers had to arrange their own changes

[insidecabin]

3 hours ago, wowzz said:

The PP cost at the time was £30 or $40, not $30 as in your calculation 

That should say £30*14*2*1.25

 

The 1.25 is the conversion to $

[Northeastcruiser007]

Our family of four have disembarked today. We missed our onward travel and have now had to book a hotel and new onward travel tomorrow, at very  considerable cost.

 

In my view, Princess have been dishonest. They implied  on board that the closing of the shipping channel, as a result of the Isle of Wight yacht race today, was a surprise to them. Guest Services staff were blaming the yacht race. 

 

This really is not honest. This is an annual event.  Five years ago we did the exact same cruise and the ship left Bergen early to dock on time, to beat the shipping lane closure.

 

This year Princess would know the lane would close, as usual, and even confirmed this when we phoned them weeks ago. They said the ship had been scheduled to accommodate this.

 

If they had mechanical problems and feared they might miss the window of opportunity they should have been more cautious on their return journey and not assumed they could make up the time. There had been no mention of engine trouble in recent days and the ship appeared to be proceeding at a normal speed.

 

I don't see why my insurers should have to bear the cost of this. Princess are presumably blaming the yacht race to avoid passengers asking them to cover their costs.

 

I do hope everyone adversely affected by this has managed to make alternative arrangements to get home safely. It has been a very stressful day.

 

I have nothing but praise for the hardworking bar staff, waiters and cabin stewards who were wonderful, but Princess's management and admin leaves much to be desired.

 

Just for information, next year's yacht race date is readily available through an on line search. Perhaps Princess could check it out.

[Buckeye10640]

7 hours ago, Airwavey said:

Currently holding station off the coast of Isle of Wight waiting permission to enter for docking. More on this later. UPDATE - 10.40 and expect to Dock 11am.

 

We left Ålesund on Wednesday in 30 knot winds, and they used 2 tugs for additional control of the ship. 

 

The Captain explained this over the tannoy and warned of big swell out in ocean, several metres, and strong wind. As we anticipated, therefore, it was somewhat a "interesting" night at sea that night. Ship was bouncing and rocking all over the place, and quite noticeable up here on deck 

 

The 8.15pm showing of 5Skies was basically full around 8pm.

 

A very brave choice of show/topic - computer gaming - given the type/age profile of the passengers. We've seen somewhere, pre-cruise, that it was part of Princess's drive to getting a younger clientele, but I can't see how a blockbuster contemporary show will itself attract a younger clientele - who choses a cruise because of a 1 night show??? 

 

It was very slick and high tech though and quite professional. Don't think they had the best choice for make lead singer though. 

 

The ship arrived in Bergen on Thursday at 7am as planned - with a notified all back on board of 1.30pm.

 

We were off the boat by 7.10 and headed straight for the Bryggen old buildings area. It took us about 25 minutes to get there as the ship was docked at the Dock furthest away. But being there before 8am meant it was empty of tourists, great for photos. 

 

After that we put in another 9 miles around Bergen (another 15 caches). We did return to Bryggen when the shops were open. We also decided not to take up too much time with a sit down fish/shellfish meal at the fish market but shared a hot smoked salmon baguette which was delicious. 

 

We were back on board by 1pm.

3 tour buses rocked up late at 1.45, and it was 2pm by the time all the passengers were on board (takes some quite a time to get from bus to gangway). 

But at 2pm Captain notified us that we were still 2 passengers short. They finally ran down the dockside at 2.10.

 

The final formal evening was lovely. The MDR menu was a real push-out - eg tomato bisque, beef wellington, lobster tail, duck breast with noodles - and even the chocolate special really did look the part tonight. 

 

Friday's Sea day was a general laze between the occasional event eg quizzes, eating - there's always eating isn't there - hot tub/swim and lazing in cabin. 

 

Where our cabin is, S210 on deck 16, with a glass walled corridor outside our room looking on to the Retreat Pool has been a lovely position. We took a walk around the ship on Friday to places we haven't been eg laundromat, Wedding Chapel, and remarked how enclosed it felt in the inside between-cabin corridors. 

 

Also I think the Retreat Pool and its 2 hot tubs above is little found by most passengers even though it is open to all.

 

The info we needed for disembarking was under our door on Friday wake up, as was a new Disembarkation Video on the ship TV. All seems to make sense. 

In summary

Packed bags outside your room by 8pm latest - ours were ready and moved along the corridor by our steward by around 6pm. And they were gone from corridor by the time we returned from dinner.

The luggage tag is colour and number coded and we will use this for finding luggage in the terminal. 

We have a time to go to an onboard holding area eg ours is designated to the Take 5 Jazz Bar, from which we will be called down. At the time all this was happening during Friday morning our notified vacate room time was by 08.30 and go to Jazz for an expected 9.50 call for disembarkation. Breakfast service available in World Market and Estrella. 

That was all OK... Until around 9.00pm, during dinner, on Friday night. And then the Captain made an announcement 

 

The Captain had tried to go fast to make time to get us into port by 5.30. Because he had been informed by port authorities that the Channel would be closed at 5.30 because of the - ANNUAL! - Round the Island yacht race. Expected docking time now 11.30.

As a result those with Princess ongoing travel arrangements eg flights, will have new arrangements made by Princess including possible overnight on Saturday. Those travelling independently will need to make new arrangements. Don't expect to make any Heathrow flights before 5pm or Gatwick before 5.30. Making cabin ship telephone free for use, and WiFi too though only use this if you need too so as to allow bandwidth for those who need to sort out new arrangements.

 

Essentially everything pushed back by 4 hours. 

 

The queue at Guest Services, which we could see from the Piazza whilst having coffee, was horrendous. 

 

This morning, Saturday, new info was beneath our door. Our new time was now to vacate room by 1pm and meeting time 2.05pm.

Around 9am this morning Captain updated us again. We may get in slightly earlier. And as of now, 09.56, he had just said - in what was a decidedly curt and unapologetic manner - that he anticipates 11am docking. 

 

And all because of a yacht race WHICH PRESUMABLY HAS BEEN IN THE DIARY FOR MONTHS!!! 

 

For us it just means we set off to drive back to Devon 4 hours later. For independent flight passengers the consequences for many will be horrendous. 

 

As we finish some random things we have found out in the last couple of days that would have been useful to know earlier:-

- can get free "lemonade" (American "home made" style with lemon bits in) rather than plain water.... and glasses of cola

- oaty biscuits to go with the cheese, if you ask

- the grey terminals either side of Customer services gives you a print out of your account so far

- if you ask you can get a baked potato with MDR meal

- MDR menu a starting point eg can get starter AND pasta and main and pud,.... and mix/match other items

- Breakfast tea comes from a thermos and can be stewed, but have seen others get it as tea bag in a cup which is more controllable. Or bring a tea bag down from room and ask for hot water to make at table 

 

Other observations peeps may find useful:-

- Haven't used our electric adapter, which works with any known electrical sockets, plus has 4 USB B and 1 USB C socket. The only power we have used has been from the USB B outlets built into the bedside lamps which we've used to charge phone, camera, power brick (Photo of sockets) 

- WiFi - Using straight Google as browser was best. Firefox, DuckDuckGo - crappy, Twitter - crap, Facebook - crap. Still think it is vastly oversold and overpriced at $100+. 

- Room was well soundproofed - from the corridor outside, from the balcony /sea outside, and from next door rooms either side - hardly heard a peep . Even the chairs being set out on the open deck above barely noticed

- Television Live had the following available channels 
BBC World News
BBC - Random programmes with no selection/choice eg Dr Who, Doctors, Father Brown, Bargain Hunt... 
Sky News
Sport 24
Sky Sports News
CNBC - business news
Prime One - no idea, random dramas?
National Geographic
Bridge Cam - need to be on this to normally hear disembarkation messages

- World Market - no trays, have to hand carry all or do return journeys.

- If you keep a manual list of your spend to x-reference to your account print out your job will be easier if you note where you made that sirens eg Estrella, Vista Lounge, International Cafe etc. All our billing was accurate

- the room temperature control was very responsive. Could go from cold room to warm room very quickly

- from what we could see on returning to boat crew smoking is far aft, deck 4? - level with keel of the lifeboats. 

 

Our last bill printout last night was $748 (after deducting paid for gelato and my Medallion accessory ). That is for alcoholic drinks, tea/coffee speciality, and daily Crew Appreciation. In addition we separately paid $105 (?) for a single WiFi.

 

Someone earlier said it would have cost us £840 - say $1030 currently - at the old £30 pppd rate to go Premier. So $750 actual spend has saved us a bit of money, ~$280. Or around 28 extra alcoholic drinks?? But we accept that on the package we would have probably willingly have had more to drink, so can in hindsight see the value in it... especially as you don't need much extra drink to make it worthwhile..

 

We are leaving an additional tip for room steward though still confused if this currently goes to him or if he has to hand it in to a pool. 

 

So, that's it for now.

Will we cruise again? Maybe. It's still not our holiday of choice, we are more rucksack/no luggage in hold of plane/doing it independently type of travellers. But maybe if there was a v. cheap offer, to somewhere interesting, in the sun, we might do again. That said we are "planning" an Antarctica cruise for Xmas/New Year this year. And here's to 3 weeks backpacking in Albania in September.

 

Happy to answer any follow up questions

 

NB - "Why are some of our photos upside down? “
I wish I knew. They are all the correct way up in my phone album but some turn when I post. Sorry! And it won't let me upload the ones I've chosen today. 

Thanks for your review. I am seriously looking at this itinerary for next year. Being in the US we have not yet cruised out of the US/Canada/Carribean. I have been on Enchanted and loved 5 Skies (and Rock Opera),  yes an interesting choice for what tends to be an 'older'  passenger base but I much preferred it over the traditional shows.  Saw you were on Sun Deck outside the Retreat Pool. That is our preferred area as well. Glad you had a good trip!

[KikiKruiser]

13 hours ago, Northeastcruiser007 said:

Our family of four have disembarked today. We missed our onward travel and have now had to book a hotel and new onward travel tomorrow, at very  considerable cost.

 

In my view, Princess have been dishonest. They implied  on board that the closing of the shipping channel, as a result of the Isle of Wight yacht race today, was a surprise to them. Guest Services staff were blaming the yacht race. 

 

This really is not honest. This is an annual event.  Five years ago we did the exact same cruise and the ship left Bergen early to dock on time, to beat the shipping lane closure.

 

This year Princess would know the lane would close, as usual, and even confirmed this when we phoned them weeks ago. They said the ship had been scheduled to accommodate this.

 

If they had mechanical problems and feared they might miss the window of opportunity they should have been more cautious on their return journey and not assumed they could make up the time. There had been no mention of engine trouble in recent days and the ship appeared to be proceeding at a normal speed.

 

I don't see why my insurers should have to bear the cost of this. Princess are presumably blaming the yacht race to avoid passengers asking them to cover their costs.

 

I do hope everyone adversely affected by this has managed to make alternative arrangements to get home safely. It has been a very stressful day.

 

I have nothing but praise for the hardworking bar staff, waiters and cabin stewards who were wonderful, but Princess's management and admin leaves much to be desired.

 

Just for information, next year's yacht race date is readily available through an on line search. Perhaps Princess could check it out.

 

Our thoughts exactly!  Not only did many miss their flights (we barely made ours), but anyone booking transfers into London or elsewhere also missed the transfers and had difficulty finding alternative transportation.  A colossal mess!

[cublet]

Hello,

 

I would like to gatecrash this thread with the following.

 

I boarded a coach at 07:15 Saturday morning from Celebrity Silhouette. And there I remained until 17:30 when the said coach arrived at my local (Bristol) drop-off point having waited for Sky Princess passengers to disembark. This latter activity was not helped by some idiot setting-off the fire alarm in the luggage reclaim hall.

 

Listening to some of the coach drivers' conversation during the morning, some had been informed Friday evening of the forecast late arrival of the Sky Princess though there were mixed messages, discussed above, as to why.

 

Regards,

 

Cublet

[Coral]

23 hours ago, phabric said:

 

 

I always book my flights EzAir with Princess.  I was wondering for in the future,

how people contacted EzAir -

 - did people have to contact EzAir themselvies 

- did EzAir automatically change their flights

- go to Guest Services or Captain Circle to inquire what to do

- how did they find out about their new flights

 

My EZ Air flight was cancelled on 12/30. I found out on 12/29 while at dinner on the ship and while we were still in port (wondering if Princess front desk people would help me or if I would have to call and I still had cell service). I went to Passenger Services desk seeking help. They were clueless and had no clue what to do. About 45 minutes after I was first notified of the cancellation and while still at the Passenger Services desk, I did get an email that United had rebooked my flights. The guy who really didn't want to help me was relieved.

 

I had 5 more cancellations the next day. Much easier to work with airlines.

[Aulanis]

11 hours ago, KikiKruiser said:

Our family of four have disembarked today. We missed our onward travel and have now had to book a hotel and new onward travel tomorrow, at very  considerable cost.

 

In my view, Princess have been dishonest.

I would agree with what you are saying, I assume from your  CC name you  are from Northumberland/ Durham. We are from  North West - Preston not  as far but found ourselves in a  similar position.
Daft as it might sound it was lucky there was a rail strike as we held advance  tickets which without the strike would have been useless and a total loss.

I anticipated most of the problems and sent this "chat"   

checked as we left the ship and it was not answered 15 hours  or so later.
I will be sending a complaint to Princess as otherwise they will not be doing  anything to improve.
  When the Captain first came on air regarding being an engine/generator short  and unable to reach full speed he seemed to suggest it was something that they  had no control over and thus we could not complain about it?
 OK it seems it is not an easy repair but  they could  have left Bergen hours  before rather than put almost everyone under some stress.  As well as delay the next cruise another 3000 unhappy pax.
 The ship being able to reach full speed  would also be important should an  emergency  or severe weather occur.  Wasnt that part of the problem with the  Virgin ship that floundered  off the Norwegian coast?  
   There was also the detour at Lofoten Islands  because the ship was TOO BIG to
go through the inside passage???  
 I cant see there being ANY excuse for that faux pas.

When we did get ashore at Southampton  our luck improved.  I had spent  an hour or two looking for a hotel  in Southampton or London  but prices  were crazy - travelodges that were not full were around £150  most were £200  I couldnt see Princess wanting to reimburse that.
Got the local  bus to the station and a train to Waterloo was sat in the station.  
They barely glanced at the tickets which were not for that time - .  Took the tube to Euston and  found the LAST Preston train had gone 30 minutes  before.   Spoke to a "helper" on the station and asked if we could go to Manchester  instead.  Reply was if you have a ticket you can  try to get home any train any route adding that that was the last train. Had hoped we could then do a short  hop to Preston  which is  normally served by 2 train companies but  they had none  running by the time  we would get there.
 Well hotels were cheaper  in Manchester so that seemed a plan,  On the train I thought to ring the taxi people we use from time to time and yes they would   send a car for us. £60 but still less than a hotel and we would actually get home. 
  Got off the train and taxi arrived 15 minutes later.  So got home around 7.30pm.
I am going to ask Princess if they will reimburse the taxi fare.   
 

[insidecabin]

1 hour ago, Aulanis said:

I would agree with what you are saying, I assume from your  CC name you  are from Northumberland/ Durham. We are from  North West - Preston not  as far but found ourselves in a  similar position.
Daft as it might sound it was lucky there was a rail strike as we held advance  tickets which without the strike would have been useless and a total loss.

I anticipated most of the problems and sent this "chat"   

checked as we left the ship and it was not answered 15 hours  or so later.
I will be sending a complaint to Princess as otherwise they will not be doing  anything to improve.
  When the Captain first came on air regarding being an engine/generator short  and unable to reach full speed he seemed to suggest it was something that they  had no control over and thus we could not complain about it?
 OK it seems it is not an easy repair but  they could  have left Bergen hours  before rather than put almost everyone under some stress.  As well as delay the next cruise another 3000 unhappy pax.
 The ship being able to reach full speed  would also be important should an  emergency  or severe weather occur.  Wasnt that part of the problem with the  Virgin ship that floundered  off the Norwegian coast?  
   There was also the detour at Lofoten Islands  because the ship was TOO BIG to
go through the inside passage???  
 I cant see there being ANY excuse for that faux pas.

When we did get ashore at Southampton  our luck improved.  I had spent  an hour or two looking for a hotel  in Southampton or London  but prices  were crazy - travelodges that were not full were around £150  most were £200  I couldnt see Princess wanting to reimburse that.
Got the local  bus to the station and a train to Waterloo was sat in the station.  
They barely glanced at the tickets which were not for that time - .  Took the tube to Euston and  found the LAST Preston train had gone 30 minutes  before.   Spoke to a "helper" on the station and asked if we could go to Manchester  instead.  Reply was if you have a ticket you can  try to get home any train any route adding that that was the last train. Had hoped we could then do a short  hop to Preston  which is  normally served by 2 train companies but  they had none  running by the time  we would get there.
 Well hotels were cheaper  in Manchester so that seemed a plan,  On the train I thought to ring the taxi people we use from time to time and yes they would   send a car for us. £60 but still less than a hotel and we would actually get home. 
  Got off the train and taxi arrived 15 minutes later.  So got home around 7.30pm.
I am going to ask Princess if they will reimburse the taxi fare.   
 

UK bookings will be covered by package regulations.

 

As this was a princess failure totally within their control they should cover your extra costs to get you home.

 

 

 

[Izzziee]

We were isolating in our cabin on Baja, when the captain made the announcement we were given no new times for disembarking, guest services were obviously busy so didn’t pick up (on hold for over 90 mins) and my crew chat too went unanswered after 10 hours, then it was closed with no reply. We therefore could make absolutely no new arrangements and had no way to talk to anyone about it.

`Some time well after midnight a letter was slipped under the door with our new times but it was way too late to do anything.
Added to this, due to the fire alarm in the terminal we were still on board over lunch,eventually we were told lunch would be bought to isolating guests but when nothing had arrived by 2.45pm we tried to contact room service - no reply and guest services -no reply and since they had reset the app ready for the next cruise we couldn’t even order on the app not even water…  eventually after shouted messages to the room steward through the door he contacted someone who bought food. It had obviously been sitting out for hours because it was literally stone cold sweet and sour chicken, no hot drink and one set of cutlery between us. The whole thing has left me wondering wether to cancel the 5 weeks cruises I have booked with princess 😞

[PacnGoNow]

13 minutes ago, Izzziee said:

We were isolating in our cabin on Baja, when the captain made the announcement we were given no new times for disembarking, guest services were obviously busy so didn’t pick up (on hold for over 90 mins) and my crew chat too went unanswered after 10 hours, then it was closed with no reply. We therefore could make absolutely no new arrangements and had no way to talk to anyone about it.

`Some time well after midnight a letter was slipped under the door with our new times but it was way too late to do anything.
Added to this, due to the fire alarm in the terminal we were still on board over lunch,eventually we were told lunch would be bought to isolating guests but when nothing had arrived by 2.45pm we tried to contact room service - no reply and guest services -no reply and since they had reset the app ready for the next cruise we couldn’t even order on the app not even water…  eventually after shouted messages to the room steward through the door he contacted someone who bought food. It had obviously been sitting out for hours because it was literally stone cold sweet and sour chicken, no hot drink and one set of cutlery between us. The whole thing has left me wondering wether to cancel the 5 weeks cruises I have booked with princess 😞

So did you disembark?   Or, were you waiting to be taken off to quarantine or go home? 
Sorry, sounds as if a lot of things were going on.

[Izzziee]

We eventually got off at around 4pm luckily we managed to arrange a ride home, we live 3 hours car journey from the port and a family member made the 6 hour round trip.

You don’t have to quarantine in the U.K. if you have covid.

 

 

Edited June 27, 2022 by Izzziee

[PacnGoNow]

6 minutes ago, Izzziee said:

We eventually got off at around 4pm luckily we managed to arrange a ride home, we live 3 hours car journey from the port and a family member made the 6 hour round trip.

You don’t have to quarantine in the U.K. if you have covid.

 

 

Glad you made it home, finally.  Hope you have recovered. 

[Izzziee]

8 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

Glad you made it home, finally.  Hope you have recovered. 

Thanks, we are getting there 🙂

[Crystabel]

2 hours ago, Izzziee said:

We were isolating in our cabin on Baja, when the captain made the announcement we were given no new times for disembarking, guest services were obviously busy so didn’t pick up (on hold for over 90 mins) and my crew chat too went unanswered after 10 hours, then it was closed with no reply. We therefore could make absolutely no new arrangements and had no way to talk to anyone about it.

`Some time well after midnight a letter was slipped under the door with our new times but it was way too late to do anything.
Added to this, due to the fire alarm in the terminal we were still on board over lunch,eventually we were told lunch would be bought to isolating guests but when nothing had arrived by 2.45pm we tried to contact room service - no reply and guest services -no reply and since they had reset the app ready for the next cruise we couldn’t even order on the app not even water…  eventually after shouted messages to the room steward through the door he contacted someone who bought food. It had obviously been sitting out for hours because it was literally stone cold sweet and sour chicken, no hot drink and one set of cutlery between us. The whole thing has left me wondering wether to cancel the 5 weeks cruises I have booked with princess 😞

Unbelievable! If it were me, I would cancel any booked future cruises. 

[Milaandra]

On 6/26/2022 at 6:25 PM, Aulanis said:

 

I anticipated most of the problems and sent this "chat"   

 

Let us know if you ever get a response.

I'm from just outside Glasgow and we took the train...by the time we docked, we had no way to get home.  I tried to get us on a coach, but no luck.  So we ended up taking the train to Birmingham, and spending the night at an overpriced hotel to continue our travel the next day.  I checked with my travel insurance, but there's a £75 per person excess, so we're still out of pocket.  To make matters worse, I started feeling poorly on the Sunday, tested myself when I got home and yup!  I got Covid, despite being pretty careful about masks.  This was our first Princess cruise, and I'm pretty certain it will also be our last.

[nini]

4 hours ago, Milaandra said:

Let us know if you ever get a response.

I'm from just outside Glasgow and we took the train...by the time we docked, we had no way to get home.  I tried to get us on a coach, but no luck.  So we ended up taking the train to Birmingham, and spending the night at an overpriced hotel to continue our travel the next day.  I checked with my travel insurance, but there's a £75 per person excess, so we're still out of pocket.  To make matters worse, I started feeling poorly on the Sunday, tested myself when I got home and yup!  I got Covid, despite being pretty careful about masks.  This was our first Princess cruise, and I'm pretty certain it will also be our last.

The crazy issues on the ship truly had nothing to do with you getting covid. True, it looks like someone dropped the ball in not recognizing this special events thing and it had the domino effect on disembarkation, etc. 

We will not cruise on Celebrity again for more serious issues.

[Izzziee]

5 hours ago, Milaandra said:

Let us know if you ever get a response.

I'm from just outside Glasgow and we took the train...by the time we docked, we had no way to get home.  I tried to get us on a coach, but no luck.  So we ended up taking the train to Birmingham, and spending the night at an overpriced hotel to continue our travel the next day.  I checked with my travel insurance, but there's a £75 per person excess, so we're still out of pocket.  To make matters worse, I started feeling poorly on the Sunday, tested myself when I got home and yup!  I got Covid, despite being pretty careful about masks.  This was our first Princess cruise, and I'm pretty certain it will also be our last.

When we eventually got off (last, fair enough as had covid) and went to the baggage hall I was staggered by the amount of isolating guests were there, I knew there was a lot but just wow. We got our bags and were instantly mixing with everyone, those getting off and those getting on, we tried our absolute best to only be close to the people with the same luggage tag but it was pretty hard. From what I can see people with covid were getting on coaches with people who were covid free ( hopefully I have this wrong!) 

[Northeastcruiser007]

On 6/26/2022 at 6:25 PM, Aulanis said:

I would agree with what you are saying, I assume from your  CC name you  are from Northumberland/ Durham. We are from  North West - Preston not  as far but found ourselves in a  similar position.
Daft as it might sound it was lucky there was a rail strike as we held advance  tickets which without the strike would have been useless and a total loss.

I anticipated most of the problems and sent this "chat"   

checked as we left the ship and it was not answered 15 hours  or so later.
I will be sending a complaint to Princess as otherwise they will not be doing  anything to improve.
  When the Captain first came on air regarding being an engine/generator short  and unable to reach full speed he seemed to suggest it was something that they  had no control over and thus we could not complain about it?
 OK it seems it is not an easy repair but  they could  have left Bergen hours  before rather than put almost everyone under some stress.  As well as delay the next cruise another 3000 unhappy pax.
 The ship being able to reach full speed  would also be important should an  emergency  or severe weather occur.  Wasnt that part of the problem with the  Virgin ship that floundered  off the Norwegian coast?  
   There was also the detour at Lofoten Islands  because the ship was TOO BIG to
go through the inside passage???  
 I cant see there being ANY excuse for that faux pas.

When we did get ashore at Southampton  our luck improved.  I had spent  an hour or two looking for a hotel  in Southampton or London  but prices  were crazy - travelodges that were not full were around £150  most were £200  I couldnt see Princess wanting to reimburse that.
Got the local  bus to the station and a train to Waterloo was sat in the station.  
They barely glanced at the tickets which were not for that time - .  Took the tube to Euston and  found the LAST Preston train had gone 30 minutes  before.   Spoke to a "helper" on the station and asked if we could go to Manchester  instead.  Reply was if you have a ticket you can  try to get home any train any route adding that that was the last train. Had hoped we could then do a short  hop to Preston  which is  normally served by 2 train companies but  they had none  running by the time  we would get there.
 Well hotels were cheaper  in Manchester so that seemed a plan,  On the train I thought to ring the taxi people we use from time to time and yes they would   send a car for us. £60 but still less than a hotel and we would actually get home. 
  Got off the train and taxi arrived 15 minutes later.  So got home around 7.30pm.
I am going to ask Princess if they will reimburse the taxi fare.   
 

Glad you got home OK.

Yes, we are from North East England.

We had to pay for two rooms at the Premier Inn Southampton  and were 'lucky' to be able to buy the last 4 available tickets on the only National Express coach to Newcastle on Sunday. Shockingly high fares and 12 hours sitting in cramped seats on a packed vehicle, to arrive home late on Sunday - drained, demoralised and fed up.

We will be writing to Princess and will post any updates for anyone interested.

 

Yes, I know from our pre-cruise experience they don't reply to emails or answer the phone, but they let many of their passengers down this time and they should take responsibility for that.

 

If a similar farce had happened to airline passengers it would have been all over the UK media, but somehow cruise companies are managing to keep under the radar.