Sun Princess - Original

[Fortunate 2 travel]

Mr. Padgett needs to make an announcement, or the rumor mill will continue.  Why all the silence?  The website now says the Sun is sailing in 2024, the month no longer listed.

[eroller]

27 minutes ago, kathy49 said:

at this point passengers need more than photo ops.

 

Right.  Well at least someone is enjoying the new ship.  😜 

[Cdude]

John Padgett should be FIRED!!!

 

No way to run a company, unless your mission is to destroy brand!

 

After this paid cruise on 3/9, should I be privileged enough to sail on her, I will NEVER sail on Princess again. Vacation is supposed to bring stress relief and that’s why we pay good money for it. Maybe I missed something in the small print.

[Vinnyv20032003]

27 minutes ago, Cdude said:

John Padgett should be FIRED!!!

 

No way to run a company, unless your mission is to destroy brand!

 

After this paid cruise on 3/9, should I be privileged enough to sail on her, I will NEVER sail on Princess again. Vacation is supposed to bring stress relief and that’s why we pay good money for it. Maybe I missed something in the small print.

 

I agree vacation should bring stress relief. I work in the airline industry, changes have rarely brought me undue stress. I have always had the mentality of just rolling with the punches, as many of us have with the lives we live. This time around is a bit different, mostly because this particular cruise vacation has so much meaning to all of us.

 

It would be bad enough if we were talking about an inaugural season of short Bahamas cruises (3-4 nights). Those LAST-MINUTE cancellations may still afford those inconvenienced with the opportunity to find another viable option. That example brings with it many other cruise departures of varying lengths from the same region to the same region, around the same dates. Or may be those inconvenienced decide on a hotel beach vacation, or an amusement park vacation instead. The fact is there are option people would be OK with!

 

The Sun Princess inaugural season of Mediterranean itineraries is a far different situation from the aforementioned. For many, this is a trip of a lifetime. Deciding to travel from the USA to Europe may be a once in a lifetime thing, and it is a big decision for many to make. The amount of planning, coordination is tremendous. It's not a matter of do you want to do the waverunners or the beach cabana at Princess Cay. There are not many other viable cruise itinerary options Feb - April in that region. And many people will not be as comfortable traveling Europe via another means. The level of inconvenience here is significant.

 

Don't get me wrong it's beyond exciting planning all of it. But you plan and coordinate all of it, with the expectation of doing it. Not having control over the situation AND not receiving good information from the corporation is disheartening. 

Edited February 15 by Vinnyv20032003

[kathy49]

2 minutes ago, Vinnyv20032003 said:

 

I agree vacation should bring stress relief. I work in the airline industry, changes have rarely brought me undue stress. I have always had the mentality of just rolling with the punches, as many of us have with the lives we live. This time around is a bit different, mostly because this particular cruise vacation has so much meaning to all of us.

 

It would be bad enough if we were talking about an inaugural season of short Bahamas cruises (3-4 nights). Those LAST-MINUTE cancellations may still afford those inconvenienced with the opportunity to find another viable option. That example brings with it many other cruise departures of varying lengths from the same region to the same region, around the same dates. Or may be those inconvenienced decide on a hotel beach vacation, or an amusement park vacation instead. The fact is there are option people would be OK with!

 

The Sun Princess inaugural season of Mediterranean itineraries is a far different situation from the aforementioned. For many, this is a trip of a lifetime. Deciding to travel from the USA to Europe may be a once in a lifetime thing, and it is a big decision for many to make. The amount of planning, coordination is tremendous. It's not a matter of do you want to do the waverunners or the beach cabana at Princess Cay.

 

Don't get me wrong it's beyond exciting planning all of it. But you plan and coordinate all of it, with the expectation of doing it. Not having control over the situation AND not receiving good information from the corporation is disheartening. 

above points are all good. Most going on a cruise starting in Europe will be extending that trip either on the front end (probably most) or an extension after the cruise. It is a long expensive flight from US to just stay for a week or 10 days  taking into account some jet lag for most. This is a major investment for most.  Considering the distance most travel to the cruise at a minimum management of PCL should have made a decision one week out. There seems to be no consideration here  for passengers.

[chamima]

11 hours ago, LACruiser88 said:

Based on what we have heard from our friends onboard, the diesel fuel in the water is total BS!  Fake news! 

 

As of a few days ago, the "Bell Box" (where Room Service preps all of their deliveries) was an empty space with wires hanging down from the ceiling.  And, several of the restaurant venues were not anywhere near ready for patrons.

 

 

 

 

 

 

10 hours ago, eroller said:

 

Deception?  From Princess Cruises?  NEVER!  

 

 

Princess never said there was diesel fuel in the water.

That statement was from an Italian newspaper that a poster on here found.

 

 

 

42 minutes ago, Cdude said:

John Padgett should be FIRED!!!

 

No way to run a company, unless your mission is to destroy brand!

 

After this paid cruise on 3/9, should I be privileged enough to sail on her, I will NEVER sail on Princess again. Vacation is supposed to bring stress relief and that’s why we pay good money for it. Maybe I missed something in the small print.

 

I remember saying, many years ago, (and many, many Princess cruises ago!!) that I would never sail Princess again because they started to charge for Cappucinos!  🤣

 

*****

Edited February 15 by chamima

[sfoh]

10 hours ago, eroller said:

Based on that rationale all the crew should have been disembarked recently for this second cancellation, yet I’ve read nothing of the sort.  

One of the stories in Italian media yesterday stated crew were being disembarked. That conflicts with reports from folks with friends (presumably crew) on board, so who knows the real situation. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[cruising.mark.uk]

25 minutes ago, Vinnyv20032003 said:

 

I agree vacation should bring stress relief. I work in the airline industry, changes have rarely brought me undue stress. I have always had the mentality of just rolling with the punches, as many of us have with the lives we live. This time around is a bit different, mostly because this particular cruise vacation has so much meaning to all of us.

 

 

I'm confused.  Are you suggesting that people should just 'roll with the punches' when flights are cancelled at short notice, but not when an inaugural cruise suffers the same fate?  Flights are cancelled at short or no notice every day and some passengers would have been booked on those flights for reasons that had significant meaning to them (what if the flight was taking them on a once-in-a-lifetime holiday or to a wedding / funeral / birth?).  I don't think it's right to differentiate - it is always unfortunate when travel arrangements are cancelled very near to the date / time of departure.  Whether individual passengers are able to roll with the punches or not will depend entirely on their individual circumstances and the purpose of the journey, irrespective of the mode of travel.

[kathy49]

4 minutes ago, sfoh said:

One of the stories in Italian media yesterday stated crew were being disembarked. That conflicts with reports from folks with friends (presumably crew) on board, so who knows the real situation. 🤷🏻‍♂️

JP and top leaders of PCL...apart from them no one.  And given the actions sometimes I wonder how much they really know?

[kathy49]

3 minutes ago, cruising.mark.uk said:

I'm confused.  Are you suggesting that people should just 'roll with the punches' when flights are cancelled at short notice, but not when an inaugural cruise suffers the same fate?  Flights are cancelled at short or no notice every day and some passengers would have been booked on those flights for reasons that had significant meaning to them (what if the flight was taking them on a once-in-a-lifetime holiday or to a wedding / funeral / birth?).  I don't think it's right to differentiate - it is always unfortunate when travel arrangements are cancelled very near to the date / time of departure.  Whether individual passengers are able to roll with the punches or not will depend entirely on their individual circumstances and the purpose of the journey, irrespective of the mode of travel.

You are comparing apples and oranges here. When a flight is cancelled per the contract they have to reschedule you on different day or maybe same day different routing etc. They get you to your destination. The important thing is they are regulated and get you to your destination. Often within hours. I see no comparison to this situation.

[Vinnyv20032003]

11 minutes ago, cruising.mark.uk said:

I'm confused.  Are you suggesting that people should just 'roll with the punches' when flights are cancelled at short notice, but not when an inaugural cruise suffers the same fate?  Flights are cancelled at short or no notice every day and some passengers would have been booked on those flights for reasons that had significant meaning to them (what if the flight was taking them on a once-in-a-lifetime holiday or to a wedding / funeral / birth?).  I don't think it's right to differentiate - it is always unfortunate when travel arrangements are cancelled very near to the date / time of departure.  Whether individual passengers are able to roll with the punches or not will depend entirely on their individual circumstances and the purpose of the journey, irrespective of the mode of travel.

I should have specified, my apologies, I meant I work in the airline industry which is a forever changing work environment on a daily basis. I was not comparing flight cancellations to cruise cancellations. You're absolutely correct when comparing the personal day-to-day impacts these cancellations have on people. And the stress that comes with travel, in general.

Edited February 15 by Vinnyv20032003

[Cdude]

40 minutes ago, chamima said:

 

 

 

Princess never said there was diesel fuel in the water.

That statement was from an Italian newspaper that a poster on here found.

 

 

 

 

I remember saying, many years ago, (and many, many Princess cruises ago!!) that I would never sail Princess again because they started to charge for Cappucinos!  🤣

 

*****

Are you saying it’s acceptable, or that price increases on coffee is comparable to what they are doing now? Just asking for a friend LOL!

[CalTexCruiser]

The short notice from Princess canceling the Sun inaugural sailings clearly puts Princess' interest above those of their customers.  Princess should have done the right thing and proactively cancel multiple cruises many weeks ahead, so customers can go to their plan B.

 

Seabourn (also owned by Carnival) cancelled our March 16 Singapore-Dubai sailing at the end of January due to the Red Sea crisis, giving us plenty of time to switch to a land-based vacation Singapore-Thailand-China-Dubai, which will be fabulous.  It's incredible how cheap hotels/tours are with the strong dollar.

 

If Princess would give their customers more than 4 days notice, perhaps they could also switch to a land-based European vacation.

 

 

Edited February 15 by CalTexCruiser

[rexdillinger]

Wednesday morning, I received a call from a very nice lady at Princess (I won’t divulge her name) but she is part of the customer service Senior Management Team. She said the information I had receive that “all cruises of the Sun up until September would be cancelled” was incorrect and she was going to review the recording of my conversation to make sure this mistake didn’t happen to anyone else. 

 

After much discussion, I believe the original information I was given was incorrect. The Sun might not sail on the 28^th, but I don’t believe they will cancel all the cruises through August.

 

She did asked me if I would take down my posts, but I told her I wouldn’t take them unless she could say with certainty, that the February 28^th cruise would be sailing.

 

 “The cruise is scheduled to sail as planned,” was her response. 

 

When I pressed her, she said she could not guarantee that it would sail, which put me right back into the situation I had been in with the February 18^th cruise: a hope and a prayer that the Sun would sail. 

 

This lady was wonderful, and she even personally helped me rebook my outbound flight at our original fare. I have no complaints with her and appreciate all she did, however there are problems at Princess and those responsible hold a much higher job title than this lady.

 

I understand that things happen, schedules get blown up, problems are discovered at the last minute, and these things can lead to a last-minute cancellation of a cruise.  However, there is no excuse for Princess’ lack of timely communication or even no communication at all.

 

Over the past 3 weeks, I sent 4 emails begging Princess to confirm the 2/18 cruise. No response. I went to their online chat; nothing.

 

You cannot convince me that Princess didn’t know that the Sun wouldn’t be ready to sail this Sunday before 8:30pm Tuesday night. 

 

I have been involved with many muti-million-dollar projects during my career and anytime we were not able to meet out projected completion date, we knew well in advance. If Princess didn’t know the likelihood of the ship not sailing, then their project managers should be fired. 

 

In my opinion, they did know, and they knew well in advance of the original inaugural cruise, the 2^nd inaugural cruise, and for that matter, however many more cruises they might end up cancelling. In my opinion, they have a very good idea of what it will take to fix any of the “technical” issues they are having, but for some reason they believe silence is better than communication.  

 

Princess has failed their customers when it comes to transparent communication and upper management is to blame. Even though the Sun is technically scheduled to sail on the 28^th, I’m not convinced it will. How could I be after everything that has happened.

 

That’s my rant for today.

 

 

[Nofx242]

We are now all Beta testers for everything.  Sadly this is happening with any new product, you see this with all new software or games as well.  Now things are rushed and the paying public will just work with any bugs or issues and just deal with it.

 

I know this is different than a video game, but almost every game release for the past 2 years has been this way.  Even with lots of negative feedback or even a company's stock crashing things have not changed and you just see an apology.  

[kathy49]

18 minutes ago, rexdillinger said:

 

Wednesday morning, I received a call from a very nice lady at Princess (I won’t divulge her name) but she is part of the customer service Senior Management Team. She said the information I had receive that “all cruises of the Sun up until September would be cancelled” was incorrect and she was going to review the recording of my conversation to make sure this mistake didn’t happen to anyone else. 

 

After much discussion, I believe the original information I was given was incorrect. The Sun might not sail on the 28^th, but I don’t believe they will cancel all the cruises through August.

 

She did asked me if I would take down my posts, but I told her I wouldn’t take them unless she could say with certainty, that the February 28^th cruise would be sailing.

 

 “The cruise is scheduled to sail as planned,” was her response. 

 

When I pressed her, she said she could not guarantee that it would sail, which put me right back into the situation I had been in with the February 18^th cruise: a hope and a prayer that the Sun would sail. 

 

This lady was wonderful, and she even personally helped me rebook my outbound flight at our original fare. I have no complaints with her and appreciate all she did, however there are problems at Princess and those responsible hold a much higher job title than this lady.

 

I understand that things happen, schedules get blown up, problems are discovered at the last minute, and these things can lead to a last-minute cancellation of a cruise.  However, there is no excuse for Princess’ lack of timely communication or even no communication at all.

 

Over the past 3 weeks, I sent 4 emails begging Princess to confirm the 2/18 cruise. No response. I went to their online chat; nothing.

 

You cannot convince me that Princess didn’t know that the Sun wouldn’t be ready to sail this Sunday before 8:30pm Tuesday night. 

 

I have been involved with many muti-million-dollar projects during my career and anytime we were not able to meet out projected completion date, we knew well in advance. If Princess didn’t know the likelihood of the ship not sailing, then their project managers should be fired. 

 

In my opinion, they did know, and they knew well in advance of the original inaugural cruise, the 2^nd inaugural cruise, and for that matter, however many more cruises they might end up cancelling. In my opinion, they have a very good idea of what it will take to fix any of the “technical” issues they are having, but for some reason they believe silence is better than communication.  

 

Princess has failed their customers when it comes to transparent communication and upper management is to blame. Even though the Sun is technically scheduled to sail on the 28^th, I’m not convinced it will. How could I be after everything that has happened.

 

That’s my rant for today.

 

 

a very fair rant. The fact that they asked you to take down the posts I find troubling. This is a public forum and for all this agent knows is someone should have not given that info out. Their agents don't know about Feb. 28 let alone further out.

[kathy49]

7 minutes ago, Nofx242 said:

We are now all Beta testers for everything.  Sadly this is happening with any new product, you see this with all new software or games as well.  Now things are rushed and the paying public will just work with any bugs or issues and just deal with it.

 

I know this is different than a video game, but almost every game release for the past 2 years has been this way.  Even with lots of negative feedback or even a company's stock crashing things have not changed and you just see an apology.  

the release of the new "app" is another case where it is in the testing phase with many issues. I just don't hear this many problems with other comparable cruise lines.

[Wishing on a star]

Rex...   I find it interesting that this rep from Princess. (Glad she was helpful and knowledgable!) asked you to take your post down.   

Again,  assuming that you are very sure that you heard correctly, is more 'control', 'backpeddling', and most importantly censorship...   

 

Does she not know that you can not even edit posts here after they go out.

I assume that you would have to try to contact Cruise Critic and make a request to take the post down.  And, they would do it...  But, if you shared information that you are certain that you heard/understood correctly..  I would have second thoughts about doing that.   

 

Princess can try as hard as they might to control the PR on all of this....

But, we live in the age of instant information,  and as we all know...  once something goes out there, it can be forever.

 

You had stepped out there and identified yourself as one who would share as much information as possible...  And, I can understand your commitment to stand on that.

Edited February 15 by Wishing on a star

[Wishing on a star]

6 minutes ago, kathy49 said:

the release of the new "app" is another case where it is in the testing phase with many issues. I just don't hear this many problems with other comparable cruise lines.

We have the total incompetence and issues with the new APP...

We have the total incompetence and issues with Princess customer service...  ( reps who know NOTHING..  CHAT that does not work for days...  etc...

And, the latest seems to be all of the confusion ad incompetence with the way Princess has handled the roll-out of the new ship.

On...  and on...  and on....    (why is this refrain from that song stuck in my head now!!!!)

 

Of course, all of us here know the realities.  That there are huge issues with this corporation,  from the very top down.

 

Unfortunately,  90 something percent of people will remain oblivious and continue to book up these cruises....    Princess knows this and that is why they are doing EVERYTHING in their power to keep these negative comments and information away from the general public eye.

 

Edited February 15 by Wishing on a star

[Cdude]

Interesting how the PR effort from Royal on their new ship was so positive and with Princess it’s damage control🥹

[kathy49]

8 minutes ago, Cdude said:

Interesting how the PR effort from Royal on their new ship was so positive and with Princess it’s damage control🥹

RCL did not need any damage control...it was for the most part a text book roll out of a ship with social media commentators giving great reviews as well as happy cruisers. When I hear friends that are travel agents say they are sometimes on hold for hours with Princess despite being a top producer for them I wonder what is going on with this company. Cost containment measures are now resulting in increased reports of staffing shortage and long waits on ships. Right now if I were looking to experience a very large new ship I would book the Icon.

[karatemom2]

It is frankly amazing how tone deaf Princess is being on the impact of this last minute disruption. I happened to look at the Princess Instagram page that features the "exciting" announcement of delivery of the new ship. Of course, many people are commenting on their disappointment about their cruise being canceled. Crickets in terms of any response to these comments.

 

But anyone responding with excitement is getting a gushing reply from the Princess content moderator. It's quite a stunning way to manage your social media presence in the face of crisis. Like the people who have been severely disenfranchised and inconvenienced simply do not exist!

[dides]

Just dropping by with a bit more ship news -  spotted this interesting reel showing a lot more of the Piazza with the crew handover celebrations

[Pixelskaya]

12 minutes ago, karatemom2 said:

It is frankly amazing how tone deaf Princess is being on the impact of this last minute disruption. I happened to look at the Princess Instagram page that features the "exciting" announcement of delivery of the new ship. Of course, many people are commenting on their disappointment about their cruise being canceled. Crickets in terms of any response to these comments.

 

I find it particularly funny that they refer to the February 18th saling as the "maiden voyage".
February 8th?? Never heard of that 🙄

[c-boy]

2 minutes ago, dides said:

Just dropping by with a bit more ship news -  spotted this interesting reel showing a lot more of the Piazza with the crew handover celebrations

😄 they're having a party without us