LIVE from the Ruby Princess: April 2-9, 2023 Western Caribbean from Galveston

[FrankieJayIII]

i am sorry to hear you are going through this.   

 

you'll notice a few type of people in this experience.  

 

those who realize things happen  and there is nothing you can do about it so make the most of every experience 

 

and for a lack of a better word:   Karen's 

 

im sorry this has happened to you, try to enjoy cozumel! 

[Honolulu Blue]

2 hours ago, talkorpi said:

Omg y’all this cruise is CURSED! It’s my seventh cruise and I’ve never had a port cancellation but now I got two in a row! Sweet!

 

Caribbean Princess also came in with us and turned right back around too. They missed Roatan the day before we did. Not a great week for the western Caribbean. Can we just go to Grand Cayman instead??

 

Lots of VERY very angry guests in the Piazza saying NSFW words and screaming at Guest Services. I feel terrible for the crew - this isn’t their fault and I just want to go give all of them a hug. They had to bring in a security detail and I’m pretty sure they’re gonna have to take a couple people to the brig because they were so “animated.”

 

Capitan said we are going to try to do an overnight in Cozumel. Unfortunately I don’t like Cozumel and it was the only port on this trip that I DIDN’T have plans for, but now I feel like I will have to get off just because it might be the only chance we get all week!

 

Third time’s a charm, right Capitan? 
 

Right???

🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻🫠🫠🫠

Some random comments from someone who's going out right after you guys come back:

 

* I'm sorry you've had these cancellations.  I've had over 20 cruises and only one port cancellation while at sea (Nassau, due to high winds).  I had another cruise where one port was dropped pre-cruise to be replaced with another one; the same cruise had a bunch of ports switched around due to high winds/slower travel times/extra fuel consumption.

 

* I'm sorry you have such rude, impatient... passengers on your cruise.  I expect better from Princess.  I hope none of them are doing the B2B thing. 

 

* Our cruise only goes to Cozumel and Progreso, so we should be OK on winds.  I've been to Coz quite a few times and a little bored with it - though I've never done an overnight there.  Progreso would be new for me if we get there. 🙏

[talkorpi]

9 minutes ago, Honolulu Blue said:

Some random comments from someone who's going out right after you guys come back:

 

* I'm sorry you've had these cancellations.  I've had over 20 cruises and only one port cancellation while at sea (Nassau, due to high winds).  I had another cruise where one port was dropped pre-cruise to be replaced with another one; the same cruise had a bunch of ports switched around due to high winds/slower travel times/extra fuel consumption.

 

* I'm sorry you have such rude, impatient... passengers on your cruise.  I expect better from Princess.  I hope none of them are doing the B2B thing. 

 

* Our cruise only goes to Cozumel and Progreso, so we should be OK on winds.  I've been to Coz quite a few times and a little bored with it - though I've never done an overnight there.  Progreso would be new for me if we get there. 🙏

Thanks. You don’t have to apologize - I’m still having a good time. I always tell people not to apologize if they never did anything wrong themselves 😂 

 

While it’s true that the quality of this cruise dropped significantly after the first two sea days I can’t fault Princess 100% on this. What is disappointing is how people are acting along with how Princess hasn’t really padded the schedule much. I am hoping we will get some additional OBC or FCCs or a partial refund or SOMETHING but I know not to expect it. 
 

I hope you will have better weather for your cruise and some more friendly passengers! The food and service on Ruby is great so you still have that to look forward to!

[Honolulu Blue]

1 hour ago, talkorpi said:

While it’s true that the quality of this cruise dropped significantly after the first two sea days I can’t fault Princess 100% on this. What is disappointing is how people are acting along with how Princess hasn’t really padded the schedule much. I am hoping we will get some additional OBC or FCCs or a partial refund or SOMETHING but I know not to expect it. 
 

I hope you will have better weather for your cruise and some more friendly passengers! The food and service on Ruby is great so you still have that to look forward to!

You should soon receive a refund for the port charges, unless they want to say that the charges for an extra 24 hours in Coz is the same or more than Roatan PLUS Costa Maya.  If they were to go that route, I'd expect more dirty words from your fellow passengers.

 

I'm not quite sure how they'll handle the onboard excursions that were bought for the canceled ports.  They could refund the payment method or give OBC.  Watch for it if it applies to you.

 

Thank you for your kind words!  And thank you also for the heads up on the food and service!!  It's one of Princess' 80s themed cruises, so that should get rid of some of the grumpy oldsters - hopefully to not be replaced by younger grumps.

[smithmlmx]

Currently on Caribbean Princess. (in front of you) Fortunately no yahoos on board that we have seen. Over 500 kids on board so more than a little crowded, There are 4 consecutive cabins next to us with 4 passengers in each cabin. We also missed Roatan, and Cost Maya today. Many, including us did not take the 30 min shuttle to Belize City because of the high winds.

Just happy to see some warm sunshine

[telecheck]

Hard to believe that you have missed two ports in a row especially there is no hurricanes or rainstorms in the Caribbean region now. Really very unusual.

 

And just FYI. Last week when I was on the Discovery, the original itinerary actually included Monterey. However, that port was cancelled as the city council refused to accept cruise ships anymore. Princess decided to add an add an extra day in San Francisco to make it an overnight stay. I was pretty sure that the port fee for extended time in SF must be higher than the original port fee in Monterey, but Princess still decided to refund me $10 as OBC. Basically Princess was the one to absorb the additional port fee in SF.

[wrongwaywatson]

6 hours ago, phatlad said:

Nothing yet. And they just now canceled our second port stop I’m not hopeful for any sort of goodwill for that either. 
 

absolutely garbage first impression of Princess cruises. Guess I’m sticking with Royal Caribbean. 

How is the weather Princess's fault?   This doesn't just apply to Princess.  Either it is safe or it isn't.   Oh, by the way, the Allure of the Seas also missed the port.

[wrongwaywatson]

3 hours ago, talkorpi said:

Thanks. You don’t have to apologize - I’m still having a good time. I always tell people not to apologize if they never did anything wrong themselves 😂 

 

While it’s true that the quality of this cruise dropped significantly after the first two sea days I can’t fault Princess 100% on this. What is disappointing is how people are acting along with how Princess hasn’t really padded the schedule much. I am hoping we will get some additional OBC or FCCs or a partial refund or SOMETHING but I know not to expect it. 
 

I hope you will have better weather for your cruise and some more friendly passengers! The food and service on Ruby is great so you still have that to look forward to!

We are on the Caribbean Princess, which also missed Costa Maya today and Roatan earlier in the week.   All water excursions in Belize were also cancelled yesterday, due to winds.  I'm curious why you think Princess owes us something, other than our port fees?  They didn't cause the winds.  It costs them more money for us to be onboard than if we docked and left the ship.  Why should they pay us for something beyond their control?   

This is our 16th cruise and this is highly unusual, but it happens.  

I'm happy to say I haven't seen any people behaving badly about this on our ship.

[talkorpi]

4 minutes ago, wrongwaywatson said:

How is the weather Princess's fault?   This doesn't just apply to Princess.  Either it is safe or it isn't.   Oh, by the way, the Allure of the Seas also missed the port.

Lots of people are frustrated because we missed Roatan while Allure (and the other two ships also scheduled to call that day) was able to dock just fine. While I am not an expert in maritime navigation I do understand the frustration when our ship was the only of the four that was unable to dock and we have missed TWO ports instead of one. 
 

Again, not saying it is 100% Princess’s fault, but wanted to provide some context to explain the general sentiments onboard.

[sirclean]

What internet speed are you seeing on board now? 

(we were on the Ruby a few weeks ago, and the speed was often as low as .1 or .3 MPS.  Has it improved?)

[talkorpi]

3 minutes ago, wrongwaywatson said:

We are on the Caribbean Princess, which also missed Costa Maya today and Roatan earlier in the week.   All water excursions in Belize were also cancelled yesterday, due to winds.  I'm curious why you think Princess owes us something, other than our port fees?  They didn't cause the winds.  It costs them more money for us to be onboard than if we docked and left the ship.  Why should they pay us for something beyond their control?   

This is our 16th cruise and this is highly unusual, but it happens.  

I'm happy to say I haven't seen any people behaving badly about this on our ship.

I have just been told by multiple longtime Princess cruisers to expect some sort of compensation in cases like this as that is what they have always experienced. As this is my first time on Princess and also my first time with port cancellations I have no reference so I trusted these comments. 
 

I’m not one of the guests that is down yelling at guest services and whatnot, I think that is very inappropriate. Again, just wanted to relay what I was told.

 

I’m happy to hear that the passengers on the Caribbean seem to be behaving better. Ruby has not had a port day yet and it’s now day 5 so I think that explains why our passengers seem a bit rowdier. Also have lots of first time cruisers onboard so if this was my first cruise experience, I would be pretty POed at the situation as well (not excusing the behavior or taking it out on the crew though).

 

I had a chat with one of the guest services officers for about 30 minutes about shore excursion refunds with my folio and whatnot and I found myself continually apologizing on behalf of the incidents I was witnessing earlier. I’m glad the crew can’t see any of the comments in our FB roll call 🫣 They work so hard and I have been giving lots of extra gratuities today because of what they’re dealing with and not being able to get a break while in port.

[eclue]

7 minutes ago, talkorpi said:

Lots of people are frustrated because we missed Roatan while Allure (and the other two ships also scheduled to call that day) was able to dock just fine. While I am not an expert in maritime navigation I do understand the frustration when our ship was the only of the four that was unable to dock and we have missed TWO ports instead of one. 
 

Again, not saying it is 100% Princess’s fault, but wanted to provide some context to explain the general sentiments onboard.

The Allure docks at a different port from the Princess port. That is why they were able to dock. They do not use Mahogany Bay...that is for Carnival Corp ships only.

[talkorpi]

2 minutes ago, eclue said:

The Allure docks at a different port from the Princess port. That is why they were able to dock. They do not use Mahogany Bay...that is for Carnival Corp ships only.

Yes you are correct. However, a Carnival ship was able to dock in Mahogany Bay just 30 minutes after we gave up which has of course caused great resentment among the passengers who were able to watch that happen as we sailed past 😳

[talkorpi]

9 minutes ago, sirclean said:

What internet speed are you seeing on board now? 

(we were on the Ruby a few weeks ago, and the speed was often as low as .1 or .3 MPS.  Has it improved?)

Here’s the speedtest I just ran. I haven’t been able to do things like video chat or streaming but I can do things like google images or upload photos to CC (with a little patience, of course 😉)

[wrongwaywatson]

5 minutes ago, talkorpi said:

I have just been told by multiple longtime Princess cruisers to expect some sort of compensation in cases like this as that is what they have always experienced. As this is my first time on Princess and also my first time with port cancellations I have no reference so I trusted these comments. 
 

I’m not one of the guests that is down yelling at guest services and whatnot, I think that is very inappropriate. Again, just wanted to relay what I was told.

 

I’m happy to hear that the passengers on the Caribbean seem to be behaving better. Ruby has not had a port day yet and it’s now day 5 so I think that explains why our passengers seem a bit rowdier. Also have lots of first time cruisers onboard so if this was my first cruise experience, I would be pretty POed at the situation as well (not excusing the behavior or taking it out on the crew though).

 

I had a chat with one of the guest services officers for about 30 minutes about shore excursion refunds with my folio and whatnot and I found myself continually apologizing on behalf of the incidents I was witnessing earlier. I’m glad the crew can’t see any of the comments in our FB roll call 🫣 They work so hard and I have been giving lots of extra gratuities today because of what they’re dealing with and not being able to get a break while in port.

 

12 minutes ago, talkorpi said:

Lots of people are frustrated because we missed Roatan while Allure (and the other two ships also scheduled to call that day) was able to dock just fine. While I am not an expert in maritime navigation I do understand the frustration when our ship was the only of the four that was unable to dock and we have missed TWO ports instead of one. 
 

Again, not saying it is 100% Princess’s fault, but wanted to provide some context to explain the general sentiments onboard.

In Roatan, Allure doesn't dock at Mahogany Bay, like the Princess ships do.  Depending on the direction of the wind, that could make the difference in them docking and Princess skipping.  

We have skipped ports before (never 2 like this, though) and we received port fees back and that was it.  We have never received any other compensation from Princess for it.  

Enjoy your sea day!  I'm glad you're not one of the ones complaining! LOL   You do wonder what some people are thinking!

[talkorpi]

Princess did a better job at adding activities today from the missed port. I guess they had practice from yesterday 😂😂

 

Today’s new patter:

[talkorpi]

MDR Lunch. Unfortunately I did not get a photo of the menu and it is not in our app as there wasn’t planned to be an MDR lunch today.

Fried Mozzarella (realty, really good)

 

Chicken Club Sandwich

 

Beef Roulade (very weird, it had pickles inside, but was still interesting)

 

Chocolate something (it was like cake with mousse on top)

 

Chocolate chip ice cream

 

[phatlad]

1 hour ago, wrongwaywatson said:

How is the weather Princess's fault?   This doesn't just apply to Princess.  Either it is safe or it isn't.   Oh, by the way, the Allure of the Seas also missed the port.

The weather is not Princess’ fault. The fact that there’s absolutely nothing to do on these two bonus sea days is Princess’ fault, along with the lackluster food compared to RC, however, *is* Princess’ fault. 

Edited April 6, 2023 by phatlad

[FrankieJayIII]

I am impressed with how fast they get a new patter out. 

[snoozecrooze]

@talkorpi I know you said to not apologize for anything since I'm here at my home just reading your thing but I feel like I have to apologize anyways to you for having such an unfortunate first-time Princess experience (not their fault, I know). It's honestly tragic how bad the weather has been for y'all to be snuffed out of two ports! I'm sending you and your mom all of the good vibes (and to just calmly avoid the spirits of those around you who've been....y'know, less than pleasant). Already hoping you get to sail on another cruise soon, one that will hopefully be seamless and "pain-free". You deserve one!

[telecheck]

18 minutes ago, phatlad said:

The weather is not Princess’ fault. The fact that there’s absolutely nothing to do on these two bonus sea days is Princess’ fault, along with the lackluster food compared to RC, however, *is* Princess’ fault. 

 

I just don't understand why they could not foresee the weather situation in advance. Missing two ports in a row is really rare. They have missed Roatan already, and they should have known that missing another port would make some passengers very angry. If they knew that they might not make Costa Maya also, they should have just sailed directly to Cozumel last night. At least today passengers can spend the whole day in Cozumel rather than another day at sea. With an extra full day in Cozumel, people can go to the mainland to visit some famous ruins such as Chichen Itza or to Cancun by ferry+bus.

[talkorpi]

15 minutes ago, snoozecrooze said:

@talkorpi I know you said to not apologize for anything since I'm here at my home just reading your thing but I feel like I have to apologize anyways to you for having such an unfortunate first-time Princess experience (not their fault, I know). It's honestly tragic how bad the weather has been for y'all to be snuffed out of two ports! I'm sending you and your mom all of the good vibes (and to just calmly avoid the spirits of those around you who've been....y'know, less than pleasant). Already hoping you get to sail on another cruise soon, one that will hopefully be seamless and "pain-free". You deserve one!

Haha, thank you for the thoughts. Yes it stinks but I have been really impressed with the hard products on Princess so far. Personally find the ship and food to be MUCH better than any Carnival cruise I have been on. Interactions with the crew have been fantastic as well. Entertainment is admittedly not as good but I feel like the wonky itinerary and cancellations don’t make it fair to judge as a lot had to be made up on the fly. They did a better job of that today than yesterday, I’ll give them that.
 

Don’t worry, I’m not giving up on Princess over this like so many others have said. I’ll hang on to my FCD and I still hope to use it sometime soon. Probably won’t be doing any more Western Caribbean cruises with it though 😂

 

I’ve had my eyes on the ten-day eastern Caribbean itineraries on Enchanted Princess next year, but it’s a little too much time away from work and a little too expensive for me to afford at the moment. We will see!

Edited April 6, 2023 by talkorpi

[eclue]

10 minutes ago, telecheck said:

 

I just don't understand why they could not foresee the weather situation in advance. Missing two ports in a row is really rare. They have missed Roatan already, and they should have known that missing another port would make some passengers very angry. If they knew that they might not make Costa Maya also, they should have just sailed directly to Cozumel last night. At least today passengers can spend the whole day in Cozumel rather than another day at sea. With an extra full day in Cozumel, people can go to the mainland to visit some famous ruins such as Chichen Itza or to Cancun by ferry+bus.

It just does not work that way - permission must be granted from the port to dock at any given time. And really, who can foresee weather....it happens....

[talkorpi]

14 minutes ago, telecheck said:

 

I just don't understand why they could not foresee the weather situation in advance. Missing two ports in a row is really rare. They have missed Roatan already, and they should have known that missing another port would make some passengers very angry. If they knew that they might not make Costa Maya also, they should have just sailed directly to Cozumel last night. At least today passengers can spend the whole day in Cozumel rather than another day at sea. With an extra full day in Cozumel, people can go to the mainland to visit some famous ruins such as Chichen Itza or to Cancun by ferry+bus.

If I were the captain with total free control here is what I would realistically have done differently:

Having the forecasts available and already knowing that we were gonna be pushing safe limits in both Roatan and Costa Maya, I would have personally changed course and routed towards Grand Cayman on the morning of our second sea day when we had heard that the Caribbean Princess was unsuccessful in her docking attempts at Mahogany Bay. Our forecast was allegedly even worse than theirs so I feel like it would be pretty clear that docking would be difficult. This would’ve given plenty of time and kept it as a second sea day. I would have then spent the day in Grand Cayman and Jamaica on the days we were supposed to be in Mahogany Bay & Costa Maya. Continue on to Cozumel as normal. It would be a logistical headache but those ports did not have known weather issues and the ship could have realistically traveled that distance in that time.

 

Not sure how this would have worked but in my head that is what I would’ve done. I was secretly praying we would reroute to Grand Cayman and while I knew that wouldn’t happen, maybe that’s what got me through the extra sea days 😂

 

I am also biased because Grand Cayman is my favorite port but I feel like this would’ve made more sense. 
 

Hindsight is 20/20. 

Edited April 6, 2023 by talkorpi

[roadster08]

Don't look at it as missing 2 port days, think of it as 2 extra days for cardio.