Star Princess going or not?

[JohnCW]

I think the delay on the part of PC is to get as may resources to the telephones today. With the advent of the internet, you need a consistent story and resolution to the story. People that don't know each other talk - travel agents who help sell cruises might not be as available on weekends. Can you imagine if you booked through a travel agency, news came out that the cruise had been canceled, customers would be accomodated on different ship or cruise on a first come first serve basis, and you couldn't get ahold of your agent? Your agent would more than likely lose your business and whom would he blame?

[zqvol]

If and when we get an answer from PC on Monday about the fate of the Star I think their will be a collective sigh of relief if the April cruises are simply cancelled and our money refunded. The most intriguing thing will be the excuse they offer for not providing cancellation info much sooner. This thread was started on Friday and if you go back to the beginning you will see that not one of the legitimate issues raised here has been addressed by PC. The silence from Princess to those of us scheduled for April has been deafening. Whatever expert determinations that needed to be made could and should have taken place in Jamaica. The stalling and delay tactics have only resulted in a lot of ruined vacations and irate customers. I will reiterate my comments about this one more time. None of us appreciate being fed misinformation or half truths and this is all I have gotten from Princess since Friday. For those of you who feel this is a selfish attitude then so be it. I am at least truthful.:)

Mis information? Half truths? How about simply they don't know yet. Oh, that is not OK for you. Your ranting is going to accomplish nothing. Until the Star is in a dock and examined they have no idea what it is going to take to repair the ship. It may be that the bulk of the damge is external and cosmetic, no one on this board knows.

 

Calm down and it will work out.

[zqvol]

Hey JerseyGirl,

 

In your cruise contract, which I have read cover to cover over this weekend, it states that they have a right to substitute ships although I personally have a hard time swallowing that a Carnival ship would be a substitute for a Princess ship. I have seen this suggestions on other boards and postings. It would make economic sense to me as a business decision, but it is not suitable to me.

Why do you think that Carnival has a ship sitting around for Princess to use? If they sub another lines ship then that line is going to have to cancel something, so that is just not going to happen.

[ECCruise]

Why do you think that Carnival has a ship sitting around for Princess to use? If they sub another lines ship then that line is going to have to cancel something, so that is just not going to happen.

 

I think the poster is probably referring to the 3 Carnival ships--Ecstasy, Sensation and Holiday--that have been used for Katrina housing. There was a six month agreement on those ships, starting around the beginning of September, which would mean that, unless extended, would be expiring beginning of March.

[Goldryder]

To assist in trying to fathom a timespan for this investigation the link below takes you to the various regulations regarding fire safety aboard revenue making vessels, regardless as to whether they carry cargo or passengers the rules apply...there are no exceptions.

 

The investigation team now have the task of checking that each and every applicable regulation was met, if not exceeded. They have to go through a multitude of procedures on top of finding out what started the fire and where it started and so on. As you will see from the list on the link, there are many many checks that have to be made. This is just one tiny part of the investigation. The regulations are set by the International Maritime Organisation and are known as SOLAS, or Safety Of Life At Sea. They must be adhered to, failure to do so can lead to the removal of the operating certificate for the company, heavy fines and sometimes even imprisonment.

 

https://mcanet.mcga.gov.uk/public/c4/solas_fire/Contents.htm

 

The regulations lay out the basic minimum by law required on every ship.

 

Full SOLAS regulations can be found here, it covers every single thing to do with safety at sea...

 

http://www.imo.org/Conventions/contents.asp?topic_id=257&doc_id=647

 

It was introduced after the loss of Titanic and has been updated ever since, the next date that all ships must meet the regulations is 2010. At this point many of the older ships will either be decommissioned or have been adapted to meet the regulations in full.

 

When the current investigation is being done, the inspectors will have to check against every appropriate regulation and ensure it has been met or exceeded. This will add to the time that the investigation takes and subsequent repair done.

 

Obviously at this time Princess will be trying to sort out replacement cruises and so forth should the ship be taken out of commission long term. It is not an easy task to fit 2600 or so passengers a week into other cruises for an indetermined number of weeks. Their contact with booked guests may not be a efficient as you might want it to be. This is something, thankfully rare that happened. They have alot of rescheduling to do and its going to take time and patience on both sides. And to reiterate something said elsewhere this morning...when getting all wound up over a probable cancelled cruise, spare a thought for a family who are having to schedule a funeral. Everyone was and will be stunned by what occurred for a very long time, be patient, have a backup cruise in place wherever possible and remember the Liffidge family who are going through alot worse than a cancelled cruise right now.

[zqvol]

I think the poster is probably referring to the 3 Carnival ships--Ecstasy, Sensation and Holiday--that have been used for Katrina housing. There was a six month agreement on those ships, starting around the beginning of September, which would mean that, unless extended, would be expiring beginning of March.

Those ships have already been to drydock and are starting their regular sailings this week and next.

[duke052]

Johncw.. Another case of some talking and not knowing what there are talking about. A TA can reach Princess a lot easier than the general public can...and Princess can reach us. We just know that things like this take time and patience is key . Hitting Princess with a million phone calls just to get the same response doesn't help anyone. Everyone needs to take a step back and take a deep breath.

[JohnCW]

I just "talked" to a Star rep on the telephone, she said the Star is still in Montego Bay(*****?) and that they would have more news a 12:00 today. I asked her if that was PST or EST and after a prolonged "uuugh" she said PST. So my earlier post this morning about PC using the weekend time to rally the troops, plan the work, and work the plan gave PC far to much credit.

[drjochen]

it looks like the deck area where maybe the poolis located is buckled...if this is true, how can they repair this in time???

 

Yet they are still telling us the 4/2 cruise will go on as schedulued.........

[Goldryder]

I just "talked" to a Star rep on the telephone, she said the Star is still in Montego Bay(*****?) and that they would have more news a 12:00 today. I asked her if that was PST or EST and after a prolonged "uuugh" she said PST. So my earlier post this morning about PC using the weekend time to rally the troops, plan the work, and work the plan gave PC far to much credit.

 

 

Star still has not arrived in the Bahamas, let alone docked or anything else. Princess are in unknown waters, no pun intended. I would envisage the next statement to appear on the website in around 10 or 12 hours time. Once the ship has docked and been placed into drydock, there might, only might be some idea about the cause etc.

 

To be brutally honest if I had a cruise booked aboard this ship in the next 3-6 months, I would treat it as cancelled until you here officially to the contary from the Princess website news section, as so far their 4 statements thusfar have been very accurate, and from the horse's mouth, so to speak.

 

Waiting to hear if the cruises are going ahead will just lead to frustration for everyone, customers and telesales alike. I honestly think the best thing would be to have a back up plan at the ready on a 'just incase' basis. And be realistic, and try not to take out your frustrations on the telesales people, they know as much as you do right now, and that ain't alot.

[rkdahl]

I just "talked" to a Star rep on the telephone, she said the Star is still in Montego Bay(*****?) and that they would have more news a 12:00 today. I asked her if that was PST or EST and after a prolonged "uuugh" she said PST. So my earlier post this morning about PC using the weekend time to rally the troops, plan the work, and work the plan gave PC far to much credit.

 

John, I can assure you that you know more about whats going on with the Star than the average telephone rep at Princess who's handling evey other ship, other issues, new bookings, etc. I work in a large call center business and it takes a long time to accurately comunicate information to all reps on all shifts. They are overloaded with information and are very busy with 'normal' stuff and it just plain takes time.

 

So have patience and wait till you see the internet posting on the Princess web site about what the plans are for the Star, then call and if you're lucky the phone rep will be aware of that posting, and if not you can refer them to it.

[drjochen]

Mis information? Half truths? How about simply they don't know yet. Oh, that is not OK for you. Your ranting is going to accomplish nothing. Until the Star is in a dock and examined they have no idea what it is going to take to repair the ship. It may be that the bulk of the damge is external and cosmetic, no one on this board knows.

 

Calm down and it will work out.

 

I am sorry, but I am fully with flyguy404 on this.

The people at their 1-800 number do give out information, which is wrong (like on Fri afternoon "the ship has already left Jamaica" and "you will know on Saturday" and last night "your cruise will happen as planned").

 

The fact is that we do NOT want to go on that ship at this point and that my parents are scared to death to go on a ship that was in flames a week earlier (they are worried that there is damage to electric systems, A/C etc. and the latest video with the buckled floors shows VERY clear that this damage is NOT cosmetic...). Would you want to be in this pool?

 

But I also cannot affort to book something else until I have a confirmation that I will get my cruise fare back. I will not put another cruise on my credit card, I have never been stupid enough to pay interest on outstanding charges and I will not this time...

[duke052]

John More bad information. The Star left Jamaica on Sat night. It is well on its way to Nassua. Check the web cam .

[zqvol]

Star still has not arrived in the Bahamas, let alone docked or anything else. Princess are in unknown waters, no pun intended. I would envisage the next statement to appear on the website in around 10 or 12 hours time. Once the ship has docked and been placed into drydock, there might, only might be some idea about the cause etc.

 

To be brutally honest if I had a cruise booked aboard this ship in the next 3-6 months, I would treat it as cancelled until you here officially to the contary from the Princess website news section, as so far their 4 statements thusfar have been very accurate, and from the horse's mouth, so to speak.

 

Waiting to hear if the cruises are going ahead will just lead to frustration for everyone, customers and telesales alike. I honestly think the best thing would be to have a back up plan at the ready on a 'just incase' basis. And be realistic, and try not to take out your frustrations on the telesales people, they know as much as you do right now, and that ain't alot.

Just a thought, but based on what we can see the ship may not have to go to "dry dock" for repair. Certainly to a ship yard, but since the damage appears to be so high up, unless a big section is going to be replaced they may be able to repair while afloat.

[wasup254]

It looks like the web cam is not updating but maybe once an hour. I refresh and the times on the top stay the same.

 

Marlene

[zqvol]

I am sorry, but I am fully with flyguy404 on this.

The people at their 1-800 number do give out information, which is wrong (like on Fri afternoon "the ship has already left Jamaica" and "you will know on Saturday" and last night "your cruise will happen as planned").

 

The fact is that we do NOT want to go on that ship at this point and that my parents are scared to death to go on a ship that was in flames a week earlier (they are worried that there is damage to electric systems, A/C etc. and the latest video with the buckled floors shows VERY clear that this damage is NOT cosmetic...). Would you want to be in this pool?

 

But I also cannot affort to book something else until I have a confirmation that I will get my cruise fare back. I will not put another cruise on my credit card, I have never been stupid enough to pay interest on outstanding charges and I will not this time...

As long as your travel plans are flexible that is fine but I suspect that you are looking at a minimum of 14 days for any refund and probably closer to 30 days. I also think that it is going to be at least another 72 hours before PC decised anything about any future cruises though they have made a decision on the 4/2 cruise.

 

(edited after reading update on 4/2 cruise)

[Goldryder]

FYI..this is the shipyard she is heading for, their site shows the facilities awaiting her, including the largest drydock in the Caribbean area...

 

http://www.gbshipyard.com/

 

If they can patch her up for a transatlantic to her builder, then thats what they will do. It is wholy dependant on what the authorities allow Princess to do and what restrictions they place on her. Its not Princess's decision, they have to comply with the investigators requests and orders. Her decks are buckled and if the inspection team decide that she is not in a seaworthy or safe condition, then they have the final word. Princess will not know what the immediate future holds for this ship until that point. They cannot speculate about immediate future cruises, so there is absolutely no point whatsoever in demanding answers to questions they cannot give answers to.

[CruisinFinsUp]

News

 

3/27/2006

Star Princess Update -- 6:00 am PST

 

 

Following a preliminary assessment over the weekend of the damage to cabins aboard Star Princess resulting from last week's fire, it has been determined that additional out of service time is required.

We are therefore regretfully cancelling the ship's April 2 voyage, a Caribbean sailing scheduled to depart from Fort Lauderdale. We sincerely apologize to passengers booked on this cruise for any disappointment and inconvenience this may cause.

 

Passengers booked on this sailing will receive a full refund of their cruise and air fare. We will also provide a future cruise credit equal to 25 percent of the cruise fare paid on this cruise.

 

We are continuing to evaluate the situation and will communicate any new information as it becomes available. In the meantime, we appreciate the patience and understanding from our passengers.

[PammyJeanB]

Just got a call from my TA - it's been cancelled. She said that Princess has offered us the same that they've done for this week's scheduled cruise and those poor people on last weeks. - full refund + 25% towards the next.

 

She said that we should expect a credit to our credit card w/in the next few days.

 

:(

[moonmanscott]

3/27/2006

Star Princess Update -- 6:00 am PST

 

 

Following a preliminary assessment over the weekend of the damage to cabins aboard Star Princess resulting from last week's fire, it has been determined that additional out of service time is required.

 

We are therefore regretfully cancelling the ship's April 2 voyage, a Caribbean sailing scheduled to depart from Fort Lauderdale. We sincerely apologize to passengers booked on this cruise for any disappointment and inconvenience this may cause.

Passengers booked on this sailing will receive a full refund of their cruise and air fare. We will also provide a future cruise credit equal to 25 percent of the cruise fare paid on this cruise.

We are continuing to evaluate the situation and will communicate any new information as it becomes available. In the meantime, we appreciate the patience and understanding from our passengers.

[moonmanscott]

3/27/2006

Star Princess Update -- 6:00 am PST

 

 

Following a preliminary assessment over the weekend of the damage to cabins aboard Star Princess resulting from last week's fire, it has been determined that additional out of service time is required.

We are therefore regretfully cancelling the ship's April 2 voyage, a Caribbean sailing scheduled to depart from Fort Lauderdale. We sincerely apologize to passengers booked on this cruise for any disappointment and inconvenience this may cause.

Passengers booked on this sailing will receive a full refund of their cruise and air fare. We will also provide a future cruise credit equal to 25 percent of the cruise fare paid on this cruise.

We are continuing to evaluate the situation and will communicate any new information as it becomes available. In the meantime, we appreciate the patience and understanding from our passengers.

[lindanick]

Get to Costa. They have space on two ships for 4-2. Hold a cabin. Your air would be the same. :)

[drjochen]

Finally.........thank you Princess. Now I can go on with my life.

[cruisingmen]

My flamethrower has run out of gas. I will say however that if you look closely you will find that your $20,000 dog has fleas and most likely ticks as well. When it gets to the vets office in Freeport tomorrow they are going to tell all of us what we have expected since Friday.

 

Wish you the best of luck readytocruise1953. Its nice to know their is still some optimism out there.

 

Best of luck to you flyguy404. Sorry we didn't get a chance to buy you a drink on the cruise. We've rebooked on an RCCL out of Galveston for the same dates.

[tiffany123]

custompcsys and others

 

First of all let me clarify that it was not me who posted about having reservations on the Star in both May and July. My husband and I are scheduled for the Star on July 14th. However, a friend of ours was using our computer yesterday and reading about the fire. He is scheduled for the transatlantic crossing on April 30 (not May as he wrote) and also for a 10 night Copenhagen/Oslo tour sometime in July. Between times he'll be visiting friends in London, Amsterdam and other places----some people have time and money that they can spend enjoying touring, unfortunately, that's not my spouse and I. Anyway to make a long story short, our friend has a friend who used to live in Italy and used to work in a shipyard as an ironworker for Costa and another line I can't remember. He was here yesterday with our friend and was looking at the photos. It was his opinion that the damage is extensive and will take a long time to repair. Take his opinion for what it's worth as I did not sleep at a Holiday Inn last night and am not an ironworker!

tiffany123