Live from the Sky Princess, 15 day Transatlantic, 10 Nov - 25 Nov

[Rick&Jeannie]

We actually don't mind "extra" sea days...We've been to the Azores before and basically done the exact same tour that we had lined up. 

[Bedruthen]

We have also been to the Azores. It the opportunity to get off the ship, and properly stretch our legs that hurts. We are not massive fans of continuous sea days and needed that break to face the next 5 days before we hit the Caribbean.

[Bedruthen]

So the strike dates were known before we even embarked

[Bedruthen]

So the strike dates were known before we even boarded? We were never going to dock today.

 

Edited November 14, 2023 by Bedruthen

[david63]

To be honest the Azores gets missed more times than it visited for one reason (normally weather) or another.

[Bedruthen]

19 minutes ago, david63 said:

To be honest the Azores gets missed more times than it visited for one reason (normally weather) or another.

That’s not the issue here though. We had a survey yesterday in our cabin saying Princess want to exceed their passengers expectations. Well they need to manage them first. They could have let us know, well in advance, that there was a possibility that we may have to miss The Azores. Then the announcement today would not have been unexpected. Instead the Captain announced that they had just learnt of the strike action, which is simply not true. Celebrity changed their planned call to Lisbon and went in yesterday instead of today. So clearly it was known by the Cruise Lines. 

[trinitygirl]

Yep, that’s my guess.  Strikes are always arranged in advance in Europe with court permission granted first, especially for essential services.   They knew, but didn’t tell us.  Not sure why we went into port but…. I doubt I will ever be here again, so while I love sea days and am perfectly happy to spend the day with my book, also really disappointed not to see the lakes.  Although the weather was crappy so not the best day to take photos.    My excursion was $120 and if I also get the port fees refunded (still not showing on my portfolio) that’s most of an extra massage which will be nice.

[Rick&Jeannie]

Disappointing that Princess continues to be so secretive about things such as this. I guess we should expect it until we get a leader *other* than John Padgett.

[Ugarte]

With a tropical depression currently brewing in the southern Caribbean and moving north as it strengths, the dodgy loss of the Azores may be just the tip of the proverbial iceburg.

Edited November 14, 2023 by Ugarte

[Rodarm]

Blame princess. Anyone ever think that maybe there was talk that the strike would be resolved and we would be able to get in? Maybe princess tried their best and was told at the last minute that we couldn't dock? I know for sure we were on thrusters at one point so someone somewhere must have thought there was a chance. You know what they say about 'assume'.

[Twolittleboys]

Just now, Rodarm said:

Blame princess. Anyone ever think that maybe there was talk that the strike would be resolved and we would be able to get in? Maybe princess tried their best and was told at the last minute that we couldn't dock? I know for sure we were on thrusters at one point so someone somewhere must have thought there was a chance. You know what they say about 'assume'.

 

They may well have hoped that the strike gets cancelled but I do think at a minimum they should have announced right at the beginning of the cruise that there was a good chance the stop would be cancelled.

[Rick&Jeannie]

56 minutes ago, Rodarm said:

 I know for sure we were on thrusters at one point...

The thrusters were used to "spin in place" to turn around. 

[Coral]

We were there last November and it was really foggy.

[Yehootu]

We left Lisbon for the Azores and had to go south for weather. We docked in the Azores 9hrs late and only did so to fuel up. We docked in Lisbon early and stayed an extra hour so that the ship could restock stores. Mad rush off the ship and all the stores that were open were over run with people grabbing up what ever they could.

[Rick&Jeannie]

It's always entertaining to hear that the entertainment staff has "madly scrambled" to come up with a schedule of activities when this happens. C'mon Princess! How gullible do you think we are? Common sense would dictate that you always have a "standby" schedule so that you're never caught unprepared. 

[CHOOSE-2-CRUISE]

6 hours ago, Bedruthen said:

We have also been to the Azores. It the opportunity to get off the ship, and properly stretch our legs that hurts. We are not massive fans of continuous sea days and needed that break to face the next 5 days before we hit the Caribbean.

If you are not as you say "massive fans of continuous sea days" then why would you book a transatlantic cruise??

[Stromer1969]

On 11/12/2023 at 8:41 PM, gsmith2424 said:

Has anyone else noticed a credit for Port Fees/Taxes on your folio for this cruise? We got one for almost $20 and have no idea why. Wanted to see if anyone else has seen this and if so they know the reason.

Ok, so we had a special day planned for the Azores as our son studied abroad in Portugal and the Azores and had become friends with a local guide who was going to take us around the island.  When we got onboard we saw the $19.24 port tax credit so we immediately went to guest services to ask if there were any changes or the itinerary (as you generally never see credits before you visit a port).  They told us no but when the captain came on this morning we weren’t very happy as we investigated online (see link below) and it seems quite clear that the chances of us being piloted into Ponta Delgado were slim to none.  Unfortunately, the friend/local guide was already on route to the port as he lives on the other side of the island and we couldn’t even contact him as we have iPhone and he has an android.  When we went to guest services the supervisor claims the $19.24 was for something else and we’d be credited additionally for missing this stop.  I’d like to believe him but we have some doubts given the clear “mandatory stoppage”. on the first day of each planned strike. In my heart of hearts I hope there was no deception but not too sure. 

https://mykn.kuehne-nagel.com/news/article/25ff3381-d77c-4d63-971b-4bcbbecd8146

 

[wallyj]

On 11/12/2023 at 1:41 PM, gsmith2424 said:

Has anyone else noticed a credit for Port Fees/Taxes on your folio for this cruise? We got one for almost $20 and have no idea why. Wanted to see if anyone else has seen this and if so they know the reason.

I understand the disappointment of missing a port. I am fortunate to have been able to cruise often on Princess. Occasionally upon boarding and checking my folio, there will be a credit for Port Fees/Taxes. It has been explained to me the cruiselines when finalize itineraries, do their best to estimate expected port fees and taxes and sometimes by sailing date, changes have occurred which result in a ‘refund’.
 

My last Discovery Princess sailing last month there was a ‘refund’ of taxes/fees when I checked my folio upon boarding, it was about $11. So this is something that happens occasionally.
 

Fortunately in all my years of cruising I have never had an unexpected ‘increase’ with additional fees and taxes added upon boarding, but believe the cruise lines have that clause in the contract to add if they feel necessary, think ‘fuel surcharge’ was a possibility years ago and may come up again.

 

I am 99.99% confident the initial port tax fees refund on some passengers folio is because Princess is returning ‘overpaid’ from their initial charge and NOT because they knew you would be missing the Azores.

 

For those passengers not seeing the ‘refund’ on their folios, there are other factors to consider as to the country they booked their cruise and the terms and conditions associated with their bookings as many fees and taxes are bundled into their fares. 
 

@trinitygirlsince you booked in Australia, that might explain why you are not getting the refund of taxes/fees others have reported, but I would check with guest services, even as you have noted it is a nominal amount.

 

I have see over time on the Princess site, the amount of taxes and fees change for a particular sailing, so it makes sense if the fees went down before sailing officially on the website, early bookers whose fare had the higher amount in their booking, would receive refund on board as Princess does not ‘reprice’ bookings when the taxes and fees are changed on the website.

[trinitygirl]

Hello everyone, greetings from another (unexpected) sea day.  After I left off yesterday, I had dinner in the main dining room - the indian veggie curry was DELICIOUS even if it didn't look very lovely.  I went to listen to the 'rock tenor' in the Princess Theatre - he certainly had an impressive vocal range but I thought he was let down by the orchestra - his voice and their pace were really out of sync for most of the show and it spoiled the effect for me.   Today was a lovely day, albeit being unexpected.  I had a lovely late lazy breakfast in Sabatini's, went for a walk around the ship, then repaired to my stateroom to read my book until lunchtime.  I had room service bring me lunch and tried to watch a movie, but couldn't get in to it.  I noticed that my excursion charge had been removed from my folio so on my way to the crafting session I stopped off at the spa and changed both of my remaining massages from 75 minutes to 100 minutes, which almost exactly consumes the extra OBC created by today's cancellation.  At crafting we made door banners, fixing stickers and feathers and flowers and bejewelling cards - it's not really about the thing, its more about the conversation with the women at your table - it's always a fun way to spend an hour.  Tomorrow is friendship bracelets - I have never made one before so that should be interesting. 

 

I spent the rest of the afternoon reading in my cabin and then went to drinks in the concierge lounge and dinner in the reserve section of the main dining room where I dined entirely and very satisfactorily off the vegan menu.    When I got back to my cabin I found a lovely towel animal on my bed - a whale! and an invitation to a Pirate Party in the concierge lounge tomorrow evening.  The patter for tomorrow is full on - I might end up blowing a lot of it off, but there is a lot of green highlighter on there at the moment.  I just had a lovely lovely bath and now i am going to bed to finish reading my book - I am down the nitty gritty conclusion of the latest Michael Connolly and its lucky I don't chew my finger nails.

 

Two other things - I found a duck!  It was tucked into a picture frame high up and I walked past it before my brain caught up with my eyes.  Two crew members have already offered to look after it for me - they seem to love them!  And my laundry is still not back - I left it out yesterday morning having ticked the same day return box, but it has not come back, so tonight i have done some hand laundry and strung up my travel laundry line (the bathroom is huge so plenty of room; unfortunately here there isn't a laundry line over the bath, its a half-length one very high up in the shower).   It has now been charged to my account so hopefully that mean it is going to come back tomorrow. 

 

Here are a few photos just in case you are interested:

 

Found this on a door yesterday afternoon:  Amen sister:

 

 

 

 

 

The Retreat Pool was splashing a serious amount of water around as I walked past yesterday:

 

The Piazza is full all day long - this morning because I was up early, I got to see it while it was still peaceful.

 

Super yummy bircher muesli with extra blueberries at breakfast, followed by a Belgium waffle - I try not to eat empty carbs at breakfast but my excursion was cancelled, so I did a bit of emotional eating to get over it.

 

Last night's vegan menu:

 

I had the roast pear starter which was delicious, but the veggie curry from the main menu as my main meal.

looks can be deceiving = this looks blah, but was so flavourful!=

 

The waiter raved about this pecan chocolate dessert but it was a disappointment to me - I had a couple of bites and left the rest.

 

and tonight's version:

I started with the mumbai dry wraps, then had the veggie soup (which was so punchy in flavour and the veggies were still crunchy) and finished with a small portion of the red pepper pasta dish, which was so delicious.  I am pretty sure there was nutritional yeast in there, it was so delicious.

[gsmith2424]

Just an FYI for everyone on this cruise we did a U-Turn in the middle of the night and now heading back towards the Azores.

[Cruise Puss]

54 minutes ago, gsmith2424 said:

Just an FYI for everyone on this cruise we did a U-Turn in the middle of the night and now heading back towards the Azores.

Do you know why?

 

Is it a medical emergency?

 

(By the way, we were on the cruise before you and were in a Penthouse Suite (R612). We thought Georgia (the lady Suite Concierge) was wonderful, as was the Suite Manager.  We loved that every morning she would come round Sabatini's during breakfast asking how we were.  We also enjoyed the pre-dinner drinks and food between 5:30 and 7:30 every night. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did. 🙂)

[gsmith2424]

17 minutes ago, Cruise Puss said:

Do you know why?

 

Is it a medical emergency?

 

(By the way, we were on the cruise before you and were in a Penthouse Suite (R612). We thought Georgia (the lady Suite Concierge) was wonderful, as was the Suite Manager.  We loved that every morning she would come round Sabatini's during breakfast asking how we were.  We also enjoyed the pre-dinner drinks and food between 5:30 and 7:30 every night. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did. 🙂)

Captain just made an announcement about 5 minutes ago, medical evacuation by helicopter. 

[Cruise Puss]

2 minutes ago, gsmith2424 said:

Captain just made an announcement about 5 minutes ago, medical evacuation by helicopter. 

Thought so. Sad for the person/s involved.

[trulytracy]

Okay, the weirdest thing just happened!

 

We awoke to the Captain announcing the ship turnaround and the evacuation. We discuss for a bit and then I get up to go to the bathroom. I walk into the open closet area which is where the bathroom door is and the light automatically goes on, and there in front of the bathroom door is....a sea bird!

 

Yes, we had been sleeping with our balcony door partly open. We know you aren't supposed to. But yesterday we were talking to some people and they said how their room is so creaky at night, but opening the door a bit equalizes the pressure a bit and makes it less creaky, so we did it, too. Plus, we like the sound of the ocean. Back to the main story.

 

So I gasp! My gasp makes the bird jump a bit and I back away and say something like, "Oh, my god!" and my husband goes, "What? WHAT?" and I just tell him to look. He tells me later he expected to see an overflowing toilet. The funny thing is that last night when we chose to leave the door open, my husband said, "A seagull will probably fly in," and I said, "Yeah, right. There's seagulls all the way out here. Sure."

 

As we discussed what to do, the poor scared bird went into the closet way into the back between my backpack and the shelf cabinet, so I got a towel, herded it out a bit, and then wrapped the towel around his (or her) body and took him out onto the balcony and closed the door. But then it seemed to be desperately trying to get back in...running along the glass door and sort of gently pecking at the glass. We were watching this wondering what was going on, when it slipped under the balcony divider to our neighbor's balcony and hasn't been seen again. I wondered if I should have given it some fresh water. It was a matter of maybe 1 minute between the time we put the bird outside and it disappearing, so we didn't have time to make a scientific decision.

 

It wasn't a white seagull. It was a brown pattern with a long pointy beak with black spots on it, and pink webbed feet. Duck-sized. I'm worried for it now.

[Ugarte]

I've also had the creaking problem in my cabin. It's more like a loud snapping; like someone dropping a marble on to a glass table top every 3 or 4 seconds. I'm very glad I brought my silicone earplugs. I'll try leaving the balcony door ajar with a dinner roll tucked into the corner by the closet for any avian quest who may call. Pilot strikes, dropped ports, 20 hour delays for medical evacuation, and a tropical depression brewing in the Caribbean. Not bad so far for a first cruise.