Princess Tour passengers left behind

[Waynetor]

This is based on post in the current Royal Princess New Zealand thread but I thought it may be worth a separate post.

 

The Royal is doing a circle NZ cruise and was in Picton a couple days ago.  Picton is the port on the South Island where ferries from the North Island come and go.  It is a major wine production area. 

 

The Royal was to leave Picton at 6pm but the Captain announced departure would be delayed due to a late arriving Princess tour group.  When the group had still not arrived by 10:45 the ship prepared to leave and set sail at 11PM

 

Turns out the tour group were caught behind a major accident that blocked the hwy. With all the other vehicles similarly caught it took a long time to get clear and then was clear it would be a 5 hour detour to get back to port.  The next port, after a sea day is Tauranga but there are no flight there so Princess will fly them to Auckland to catch up with the ship there. Their personal valuables, passports and medications were taken off the ship and were to be taken to the passengers.

 

No mention of how many people or if any private tour groups were also affected.  No mention in the thread, but I assume Princess is covering all expenses - not sure about any refund for missed time but I would think likely enough to cover missed days on the ship. 

 

This is rare, but can happen in areas with few roads.  I seem to recall a case several years ago when ferries between mainland Mexico and the island of Cozumel were cancelled due to rough sea and a lot of people were stuck on the mainland missing their ships.

 

Private tours can save you a bundle but in a case like this, anyone on a private tour would have a huge expense. 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

perhaps, it would be better to title this thread "Princess was forced to leave Princess Tour passengers behind" instead of a more scandalous sounding "Princess Tour Passengers left behind"

[azbirdmom]

Yes, this happened on the cruise that returned on December 15.  I was on that cruise and we had befriended a couple who were on the tour, enough so that we became "travel companions" in the app.  So I could tell they were still off the ship.

 

There were a total of 19 people on the tour on a small bus.  The accident that occurred was on a treacherous stretch of road that has frequent accidents and it happened before the bus had even started back to the ship.  Sadly one person did pass away (as far as I heard soon after the incident, I hope there weren't more, there were a total of 7 airlifted).  There really wasn't any way around the accident, save for going over 6 hours out of the way, something that wasn't deemed feasible.  So the ship did send staff to the rooms to collect what they deemed as important enough for those folks to need for a couple of days on land

 

They returned to the ship 3 days later in Auckland (next day was a sea day, then Tauranga, then Auckland).  They ended up spending two nights in Blenheim and one in Auckland.  Princess paid for food, travel, and lodging.  From what I understand communication wasn't the best initially but Princess made up for it once the group returned to the ship including setting up a lunch for the group with the Captain and some officers (a nice touch was a dessert with a design of their ill-fated tour number on it), a bridge tour, and yes some, reimbursement.

 

I said we got to know a couple but our friendship group ended up growing by 3 as another wonderful couple and a woman who were on the ill fated tour became friends too upon their return.  One of the good things that came out of it was that at least this group of folks bonded while facing uncertainty.  Attitude is everything when something unexpected happens.

Edited December 18, 2023 by azbirdmom

[PacnGoNow]

1 hour ago, Waynetor said:

This is based on post in the current Royal Princess New Zealand thread but I thought it may be worth a separate post.

 

The Royal is doing a circle NZ cruise and was in Picton a couple days ago.  Picton is the port on the South Island where ferries from the North Island come and go.  It is a major wine production area. 

 

The Royal was to leave Picton at 6pm but the Captain announced departure would be delayed due to a late arriving Princess tour group.  When the group had still not arrived by 10:45 the ship prepared to leave and set sail at 11PM

 

Turns out the tour group were caught behind a major accident that blocked the hwy. With all the other vehicles similarly caught it took a long time to get clear and then was clear it would be a 5 hour detour to get back to port.  The next port, after a sea day is Tauranga but there are no flight there so Princess will fly them to Auckland to catch up with the ship there. Their personal valuables, passports and medications were taken off the ship and were to be taken to the passengers.

 

No mention of how many people or if any private tour groups were also affected.  No mention in the thread, but I assume Princess is covering all expenses - not sure about any refund for missed time but I would think likely enough to cover missed days on the ship. 

 

This is rare, but can happen in areas with few roads.  I seem to recall a case several years ago when ferries between mainland Mexico and the island of Cozumel were cancelled due to rough sea and a lot of people were stuck on the mainland missing their ships.

 

Private tours can save you a bundle but in a case like this, anyone on a private tour would have a huge expense. 

Thank you for posting this Wayne.

 

Glad to hear the outcome from @azbirdmom too.

 

 

[skynight]

Seems like Princess acted correctly. 

[satxdiver]

We (50) started out on a Princess tour to Cape Breton Island from the port in Sydney NS on a tour bus.  The bus broke down about 15 miles from the port and we were stranded on the side of the road for 3+ hours when a new bus came to pick us up and return us to the ship.  They had to use a bus that was supposed to take a tour that afternoon which was canceled at the last minute.  When we returned to the ship they canceled the tour and gave us each $100 OBC along with apologies from a ship officer. Princess had chartered all the busses in the area.  The tour operator was profusely apologizing but no more busses to be had.  I had often wondered about pax left behind on ship tours and what happened.  It made me realize the benefit of using a ship tour versus a private one.  Interesting story.

 

[msmoger]

17 minutes ago, satxdiver said:

We (50) started out on a Princess tour to Cape Breton Island from the port in Sydney NS on a tour bus.  The bus broke down about 15 miles from the port and we were stranded on the side of the road for 3+ hours when a new bus came to pick us up and return us to the ship.  They had to use a bus that was supposed to take a tour that afternoon which was canceled at the last minute.  When we returned to the ship they canceled the tour and gave us each $100 OBC along with apologies from a ship officer. Princess had chartered all the busses in the area.  The tour operator was profusely apologizing but no more busses to be had.  I had often wondered about pax left behind on ship tours and what happened.  It made me realize the benefit of using a ship tour versus a private one.  Interesting story.

 

 

We were supposed to be on that tour.  Oh well, "stuff" happens 😉

[ivanp91]

I was on a Disney cruise out of NYC back in 2016, when they did sailings that included a stop at Port Canaveral with included tickets and transfers to Disney World. Similar situation on the way back to the port at around 8pm, a horror car and motorcycle accident and there was literally no way to get around it (sadly also a fatality). Because the day at Disney was the main draw for the cruise, we were "lucky" in that 99% of the guests were caught up in the delay, including many of the crew. One of my memories is of the cruise director standing on the side of the motorway looking at all the stopped buses. We ended up back on the ship at about 1.30am. If it wasn't such a unique circumstance I have no doubt we would have been left behind and that would have ended the cruise (next port was NYC for debarkation).

[Torfamm]

10 hours ago, Waynetor said:

This is based on post in the current Royal Princess New Zealand thread but I thought it may be worth a separate post.

 

The Royal is doing a circle NZ cruise and was in Picton a couple days ago.  Picton is the port on the South Island where ferries from the North Island come and go.  It is a major wine production area. 

 

The Royal was to leave Picton at 6pm but the Captain announced departure would be delayed due to a late arriving Princess tour group.  When the group had still not arrived by 10:45 the ship prepared to leave and set sail at 11PM

 

Turns out the tour group were caught behind a major accident that blocked the hwy. With all the other vehicles similarly caught it took a long time to get clear and then was clear it would be a 5 hour detour to get back to port.  The next port, after a sea day is Tauranga but there are no flight there so Princess will fly them to Auckland to catch up with the ship there. Their personal valuables, passports and medications were taken off the ship and were to be taken to the passengers.

 

No mention of how many people or if any private tour groups were also affected.  No mention in the thread, but I assume Princess is covering all expenses - not sure about any refund for missed time but I would think likely enough to cover missed days on the ship. 

 

This is rare, but can happen in areas with few roads.  I seem to recall a case several years ago when ferries between mainland Mexico and the island of Cozumel were cancelled due to rough sea and a lot of people were stuck on the mainland missing their ships.

 

Private tours can save you a bundle but in a case like this, anyone on a private tour would have a huge expense. 

Reputable private tour companies also get you to the next port possible if you miss your ship while touring with them. It is foolish to book with a tour operator that doesn't make that guarantee. Ships can never wait indefinitely for passengers.

[startedwithamouse]

Princess guarantees you get to the next port. 

[TRLD]

2 hours ago, Torfamm said:

Reputable private tour companies also get you to the next port possible if you miss your ship while touring with them. It is foolish to book with a tour operator that doesn't make that guarantee. Ships can never wait indefinitely for passengers.

An example.  A few years ago on a South American cruise Princess passengers were on two different planes leaving Cusco after visiting Machu Picchu.  The first plane departed on schedule.  The second plane had a bird strike on takeoff, aborted and slide off of the runway.  Cusco airport was closed for 24 hours.  On that plane were some passengers on the Princess excursion, a group that coordinated the excursion on cruise critic, two couples that booked through American Express and one other couple. The ship could not wait in Lima and had to depart.

 

The ship made an unscheduled stop in Mantra Ecuador.

 

Princess took care of all of their passengers handling all hotels and transportation to get to Manta.  It is my understanding that they did get some OBC for the missed time on the ship, but do not recall how much.

 

The two couples that booked through AMEX also made it to Manta with AMEX taking care of the arrangements necessary.

 

One other couple doing it on their own also made it to Manta but at their own expense.

 

The group that coordinated on cruise critic (I remember one comment in the  Roll call where they were planning the tour - we are on the same plane as the Princess tour what can go wrong).  Did not meet the ship until a few days later at the normally scheduled stop is Costa Rica.  They were responsible for all expenses to get there. No compensation.

 

A guarantee from a local tour company may not mean much when the next stop is in another country.

Edited December 19, 2023 by TRLD

[CalLuvsCrusingToo]

Clarification please, was this a Princess tour, or Private tour?

Thread Title says Princess tour.

Was it?

 

[PurpleTraveller]

2 minutes ago, CalLuvsCrusingToo said:

Clarification please, was this a Princess tour, or Private tour?

Thread Title says Princess tour.

Was it?

 

 

Yes, it was a Princess Shore Excursion. Princess looked after them and got them back to the ship in Auckland. I was on the ship and everyone was very pleased when they got rejoined us.

[Torfamm]

49 minutes ago, TRLD said:

An example.  A few years ago on a South American cruise Princess passengers were on two different planes leaving Cusco after visiting Machu Picchu.  The first plane departed on schedule.  The second plane had a bird strike on takeoff, aborted and slide off of the runway.  Cusco airport was closed for 24 hours.  On that plane were some passengers on the Princess excursion, a group that coordinated the excursion on cruise critic, two couples that booked through American Express and one other couple. The ship could not wait in Lima and had to depart.

 

The ship made an unscheduled stop in Mantra Ecuador.

 

Princess took care of all of their passengers handling all hotels and transportation to get to Manta.  It is my understanding that they did get some OBC for the missed time on the ship, but do not recall how much.

 

The two couples that booked through AMEX also made it to Manta with AMEX taking care of the arrangements necessary.

 

One other couple doing it on their own also made it to Manta but at their own expense.

 

The group that coordinated on cruise critic (I remember one comment in the  Roll call where they were planning the tour - we are on the same plane as the Princess tour what can go wrong).  Did not meet the ship until a few days later at the normally scheduled stop is Costa Rica.  They were responsible for all expenses to get there. No compensation.

 

A guarantee from a local tour company may not mean much when the next stop is in another country.

Good advice, be sure you know what your tour operator’s policy is before you book. Excursions involving flights are an example of a time when I personally would only book with the cruise line, especially if it’s an international flight involving visas etc.

Edited December 19, 2023 by Torfamm

[AZjohn]

Or just get good cruise insurance that will cover cost to next port (what ever country it is).

 

Days taking cruise tours are long gone. Have no fears getting us where we need to go with a passport and credit card.

 

Always DIY at any pier we have gone. Making the plans if half the fun.

 

Cheers

[iamaqt2]

3 hours ago, startedwithamouse said:

Princess guarantees you get to the next port. 

Small consolation if the next port is the end of the cruise.

[TRLD]

11 minutes ago, iamaqt2 said:

Small consolation if the next port is the end of the cruise.

At least they get you there at their expense.

 

Have seen multiple cases where cruise lines make special stops to pick up passengers.  The one above that I mentioned.  Another fairly recently on HAL where an excursion could not get back due to a mud slide.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

15 hours ago, Torfamm said:

Reputable private tour companies also get you to the next port possible if you miss your ship while touring with them. It is foolish to book with a tour operator that doesn't make that guarantee.

some tiny boat captain in a more or less impoverished Caribbean nation who ferries people to an island or a sandbar for $50 can hardly guarantee that.

 

[Torfamm]

9 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

some tiny boat captain in a more or less impoverished Caribbean nation who ferries people to an island or a sandbar for $50 can hardly guarantee that.

 

Then you know you're taking a chance.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

1 minute ago, Torfamm said:

Then you know you're taking a chance.

always

[sanger727]

27 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

some tiny boat captain in a more or less impoverished Caribbean nation who ferries people to an island or a sandbar for $50 can hardly guarantee that.

 

 

Small boat Captains working independently don't usually make that claim. I've only seen it on big third party bookers like viator. We are fine doing independent excursions but do consider how far we are going from the port.

 

We did a private tour in Hilo to the Volcano National Park. While we were in the park there was an earthquake and a small eruption. We left the park immediately but our tour guide wanted to make the other stops listed on the tour. We asked about if anything could go wrong to get us back to the ship and he mentioned that there is one road that connected where we were to the ship so if it was damaged in an earthquake it would be difficult to get back. We all voted to head straight back to the ship. There ended up being several more earthquakes and a Tsunami warning. We still made it back before the ship's tour. 

Edited December 19, 2023 by sanger727

[wolfie11]

I recall a few years ago in Juneau when thick fog rolled in unexpectedly.  Dog-sledding passengers got a free night on the glacier sharing tents with the dog mushers.  Ports are close in Alaska so no problems catching up with the ship the next day.

[MabePearl]

14 hours ago, AZjohn said:

Or just get good cruise insurance that will cover cost to next port (what ever country it is).

 

Days taking cruise tours are long gone. Have no fears getting us where we need to go with a passport and credit card.

 

Always DIY at any pier we have gone. Making the plans if half the fun.

 

Cheers

Passport, credit cards, phone and meds for a few days. Plus Princess agent phone number at port to coordinate meet up. Their contact info is on the port info sheet we get at every port.

[AZjohn]

35 minutes ago, MabePearl said:

Passport, credit cards, phone and meds for a few days. Plus Princess agent phone number at port to coordinate meet up. Their contact info is on the port info sheet we get at every port.

Forgot to list cell phone 🙂 All docs and phone numbers are accessible by cell phone as well any required surf for booking on the web.

 

How did we ever survive without a smart phone (lol).

[azbirdmom]

17 hours ago, startedwithamouse said:

Princess guarantees you get to the next port. 

 

Actually that language disappeared a while ago.  This is the current marketing promise, and of course the fine print distances Princess from issues that may arise on one of their shore excursions.  In the recent case though Princess did the right thing even if they ended up returning the group 2 ports later.