So sad - Our Sun cruise from Sydney to SFO has been cancelled..

[S&D]

Thankyou Ken,

 

So well put..... as always.... and yes...

 

that just about sums up the whole situation as most of us see it...:o

 

We are so upset by the whole thing, and we are just hopeful that some of the group may get together on the Dawn in 2009. We pray for better luck on that cruise for everyone who decides to go.

 

Even though we will mostly all change direction, we shall carry the hope of meeting up with our friends on the roll call..on other voyages in the future.

 

We will keep in touch, that's for sure, some FANTASTIC friendships have been made over the last year on our thread.. and the last Dust's cruise....we shall always carry them with us in our hearts.

 

Thinking of each and every one of you.....

 

Lots of love and hugs

 

S&D:( :o

[arxcards]

 

Two, while it is not common knowledge, the Port of San Francisco was supposed to rebuild a terminal for Princess lines in order for them to start and terminate cruises in San Francisco. This was promised by the city. As usual, in San Francisco nothing happened, and any of you that have been through San Francisco on Princess realize that you're docking at an ancient cargo dock with no upgrades. Princess had warned San Francisco, I believe sometime last year, that they were going to break their contract and pull out of San Francisco if San Francisco didn't fix the dock. Nothing has happened and that combined with the inexpensive fares offered in Australia, I believe made the decision for Princess to change the itinerary of the Sun an easy one.

 

Jim & Jennifer Smith

 

There are recent discussions on the Princess boards that Dawn Princess will replace SP to do these cruises from San Francisco in 2008.

[stansthos]

I do think what the last few posters--"our dying SUNSETS "--have said to Globaliser were the points I was trying to make--in a more tactful manner. We are all angry--and rightly so--Globaliser made the mistake of putting a name to that face--by suggesting that I not "rant" and try to understand Big Daddy (Princess upper management). We have saying in Texas for that--he did not have "a dog in this hunt." Enough about him, seveal posters who know him say this is not typical, so on to the bigger issue....... Ken and Jim Smith and others say cancellation is becoming typical of how the Carnival types are running Princess and HAL. Always $$ over customer loyalty. There are other cruise lines, as one TA pointed out, and for the first time in 2 decades, Tom and I are seriously considering "Jumping Ship." But for now, I am going to follow Jim Smith's advice and tell everyone I know what an injustice this was. We are booked on the Crown for starters in July----pity our tablemates. ;) Globaliser, we will be in London next month--want to meet at your favorite pub, and you can see what is meant by "DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS"??? :eek: :p :D

Sandra and Dave, we sure do hope to meet up with you all again. We had planned a pre-cruise trip to your end of OZ, and we were looking so forward to seeing you all and Mick and the rest of the gang there. This has been a terrible week for us. We were taking the family and friends to our hill country lakehouse for Memorial Day and had to cancel as it is suppose to rain for the next 6 days. Maybe Texas is not God's country after all!! Everyone have a great holiday weekend. :)

 

Jennifer

[phillipahain]

Stanthos

 

I agree wholeheartedly that Carnivals "new game" running Princess shows no ounce of care for loyal passengers

 

This is not the 1st time they have suddenly cancelled a heavily booked cruise and not had the decency to tell any of the passengers

 

Last time it was 3 weeks before they told the TAs

 

Add on all the other nibbling away at little things and the use of docks like Crown Bay in St Thomas or Cargo Docks in many ports which are miles from the town and it gets clearer by the day that their only concern is Carnival ........passengers are a blasted inconvienience to be endured for x or y or z days

[bdjam]

Two, while it is not common knowledge, the Port of San Francisco was supposed to rebuild a terminal for Princess lines in order for them to start and terminate cruises in San Francisco. This was promised by the city. As usual, in San Francisco nothing happened, and any of you that have been through San Francisco on Princess realize that you're docking at an ancient cargo dock with no upgrades. Princess had warned San Francisco, I believe sometime last year, that they were going to break their contract and pull out of San Francisco if San Francisco didn't fix the dock. Nothing has happened and that combined with the inexpensive fares offered in Australia, I believe made the decision for Princess to change the itinerary of the Sun an easy one.

 

So bottom line, as many on these boards have often said, so if you don't like it, go to a different cruise line. I take the opposite tact (partly because I have four future cruise credits still hanging fire with Princess) to book as many times as I can and never stop talking about this. At dinner, at lunch, by the pool, and on tours. This subject will always be mentioned by me, especially to new cruisers who state that they just love Princess.

Ahem…as a resident of the San Francisco Bay Area, could you please provide some facts to back up your speculation? The cruise terminal that was to be built in San Francisco was not specifically for Princess and as far as I know there was no deal between the cruise line and the city for a terminal. The terminal failed because it was poorly conceived. As usual in San Francisco, development is carefully planned in order to minimize environmental disruption and maximize what’s best for the city. There is no “break” of an agreement between Princess and San Francisco – Princess itself has stated that it’s year round sailings from San Francisco have changed due to the larger market in Southern California. In addition, there continues to be Alaska summer sailings from San Francisco through 2008 (if the schedule holds).

 

No other cruise line has a ship home porting in San Francisco – further proof that the failure of the cruise terminal did not only affect Princess. Further, San Francisco is looking at re-fitting Pier 27 for a cruise terminal – just announced a couple of weeks ago – and this effort will have the proper scope for such an undertaking.

 

Finally, Princess has come to an agreement with the city of San Francisco to "plug" in their ships while in port in order to reduce engine emissions...at a considerable expense to both entities. I'm not quite sure why they would do that if there was some lingering dissatisfaction between the two.

 

As for talking bad about Princess to your fellow passengers, how does ruining their cruise help to change the business model of the cruise line? Personally, if I was on a Princess ship trying to enjoy myself and a fellow passenger continually talked down about the cruise line, I’d find some way to lose myself from that passenger on the ship. Especially if he or she didn’t have their facts correct. Just because you're unhappy with Princess, it doesn't seem right that you would choose to try to ruin it for others. But then again, trying to blame the move of Sun Princess on the City of San Francisco doesn't seem right either.

[CruiseKidz]

Has anyone considered that it isn't a coincidence that Star cruises, normally basied in Hong Kong, announced basing one of their ships, Gemini in Australia from later this year, last week. Now the Aussie newspapers are full of ads for both cruise lines. It was only last May that P&O Australia cancelled numerous cruises on the Pacific Sky out of Singapore as they had sold it. I know a travel agent who had booked people on a cruise on Saturday to have to call them on Monday to cancel.

cruiseKidz

[bdjam]

And yes, it's ALL about money. That's what Carnivore is about. Don't forget Carnivore owns Princess. If you haven't read the book "Devils on the Deep Blue Sea", I suggest you pick it up.

 

Meanwhile, Holland America and Celebrity / Azamara have some really nice sailings and pretty small ships. :D

With all due respect, I think it important to remember that if it weren’t for Carnival Corporation’s capital reserves, Princess Cruises would be nothing like it is today. More than likely, Crown, Emerald and Royal would not have come on line and Caribbean Princess would have been questionable. And while HAL, Celebrity and Azamara (what a name for a cruise line) might have the smaller ships that so many of us clamor for, they aren’t the Princess product, which, Carnival or no, has pretty much remained the same over the last 11 years that I’ve been sailing them.

Yeah, it’s all about money and meeting the needs of the market – so as to meet the stockholder’s dividend expectations. The double edged sword comes from the fact that cruising isn’t exclusive anymore…and the advantages to that are offset by disadvantages such as the repositioning of ships for the financial health of the stockholders without regard to individual passengers.

[florisdekort]

Celebrity just opened reservations for 2 amazing pacific crossings... 41 nights from San Diego to Sydney (b2b2b) in fall '08, and 42 nights from Sydney to Vancouver (b2b2b) in spring '09... both on Millennium...

 

Also, Azamara's itineraries in Asia and the repositioning cruises from Europe to Asia via Dubai and India are stunning...

 

Floris

[Pam in CA]

I think one of the big points for people after the cancellation is the unprofessional manner in which this has all been done by Princess - as a courtesy to the many inconvenienced and disappointed passengers surely a) the staff and TAs (both in the US and Aus) should have been fully briefed PRIOR/simultaneously to any grandiose press announcement in Aus to be able to better deal with upset clients there has been so much conflicting information this had added to the upset - apart from adding to TAs difficult job of trying to find out exactly what is happening b) the passengers should have been FULLY informed first and in a timely and professional manner

I haven't read all of the posts but I do think people need to lighten up and realize that they have been notified almost a year before the cruise. I'm on the similar Sapphire Princess cruise next year and if Princess cancelled it, I wouldn't be as upset as some people seem to be. Yes, I'm looking forward to it but it's not the end of the world. My deposit would be returned and I'd move on and find another cruise.

 

The bottom line is that Princess is a business and they have many ships to juggle around and position where they can maximize demand and revenue. If I were a shareholder (I'm not), I would expect a company to do so. Giving passengers almost a full year's notice is, IMHO, not bad PR or not caring about their passengers. If any other type of business gave you a year's notice, you wouldn't blink.

[S&D]

Hi Pam,

Thanks for the reply.

 

I think you will find that it's not so much the actual cruise being cancelled for this group, although we were all looking forward to it so much...yes..we CAN all book other cruises and we all will!..:)

 

The sad part was, ..:( that a lot of us have been corresponding for about a year and a half, and we will miss the great friends we have all made on our 136 page roll call.

 

Hundreds of emails and a lot of international phone calls, and even visits - have

eventuated through these pages.

 

We do hope we all get to cruise together soon on other voyages.

 

We hold hopes that most of the group will get together on a similar itinerary the following year on the Dawn.

 

Sincerely

 

S&D:)

[stansthos]

I haven't read all of the posts but I do think people need to lighten up and realize that they have been notified almost a year before the cruise. I'm on the similar Sapphire Princess cruise next year and if Princess cancelled it, I wouldn't be as upset as some people seem to be. Yes, I'm looking forward to it but it's not the end of the world. My deposit would be returned and I'd move on and find another cruise.

 

Sandra, Pam admits she did not have the full story......Not really sure why anyone would post when they are not aware of all the facts. I guess she was just trying to make us feel better-----didn't work. I'm sure the few SUNSETS who are now booked on the Sapphire in inside cabins, paying more money, and having to start all over with their shore excursions (some are already full), are feeling much better with her supportive post.

 

Like everyone else, we did consider the Sapphire's inside cabins since we would at least be travelling with some of our DUSTERS--Lorraine and Tom, Ray and Mirella, Hilary and Mick, (and our new friends, Sissy and Robert), and others, but we are still hoping Princess will come to their senses and give all of us a better compensation.

 

When we were at dinner last night with friends drinking margaritas, we decided we would see if all the SUNSETS would like to make a trip to LA and picket Princess headquarters. :eek: That way we would all get the chance to be together--we could even plan some excursions, dinners, drinks, etc.--and go back to our protesting 60's mode. ;) Our Aussie friends could come over, and we could make lemonaide out of lemons and have some fun. This creative group could make some wonderful signs for us to carry around. :D

[BigTimeCruiser]

What's amazing to me is how all the Cruise Critic folks who sailed previously on the Diamond and booked on the Sun Princess, could book the cruise over 1 year ago; make shore excursion plans; make hotel arrangements; make airline reservations; totally coordinate with each other, but never hear anything from Princess about the cancellation. I would think that if our group were in charge of annual scheduling of ships we probably could do a much better job. This is the 2nd ship that was completely sold out that Princess decided to cancel--the last was the 52-day cruise for the Pacific Princess.

Needless to say, we are not "happy campers".:mad: :mad:

[phillipahain]

Dead Right Curt

 

Like you we were caught up in the Pacific Princess Fiasco and we never even got any form of apology from Princess

 

They really have landed a huge can of worms this time thats for sure

[GottoCruise]

To all our SUNsets & D.U.S.T.S.CC friends - Did anyone ever consider Booking as a "Group' directly w/Princess?? (or in 'groups' of 8 cabins? might be easier??) For every 8 cabins booked there is a 'free berth' those $$ could be divided amongst everyone.....and perhaps the communication would be faster and better since you could speak w/Princess Group Dept. directly about the cruise. I know Lorriane and/Ken are fantastic organizers.......it wold be a huge job - but might pay off..........Just an idea.........Big hugs to all.........and as an aside We are doing fine and booking cruises again! Just booked a 'Family' cruise to Alaska for our 50th Anniversay in 2008 - all 17 of us!

Renee (aka GotToCruise :D )

[coiran]

I haven't read all of the posts but I do think people need to lighten up and realize that they have been notified almost a year before the cruise. I'm on the similar Sapphire Princess cruise next year and if Princess cancelled it, I wouldn't be as upset as some people seem to be. Yes, I'm looking forward to it but it's not the end of the world. My deposit would be returned and I'd move on and find another cruise.

 

The bottom line is that Princess is a business and they have many ships to juggle around and position where they can maximize demand and revenue. If I were a shareholder (I'm not), I would expect a company to do so. Giving passengers almost a full year's notice is, IMHO, not bad PR or not caring about their passengers. If any other type of business gave you a year's notice, you wouldn't blink.

 

Thank you for your compassionate words - I'm sure all of us really appreciate it!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Ron

[BigTimeCruiser]

Just an FYI to anyone experiencing problems with this cancelled cruise. I attempted to contact Passenger Relations today; however the Princess Representative would not put my call through to them. Rather, the representative would only relay our conversations back and forth. It's a little difficult to communicate when you have to go through a "middle man" for everything. Not sure what was communicated to Passenger Relations.....

I attempted to call Passenger Relations today, only after I received an email reply from them advising me to go to the Purser's Desk for assistance!!!!!!!!!:mad:

[doris1930]

Did your friend get an OBC or a discount on the cruise?

 

Thanks,

Doris

[phillipahain]

Stanshos

 

Even a year away Many Many people will already have to have booked their airfares ......they will be non- refundable

 

they will have made arrangements for time off work or to fit in with other family /friends

They will have missed out on booking good cabins on similar cruises with other lines

 

All in all Princess have created a nightmare and a whole string of expensive claims

 

Princess caused a big enough problem when they cancelled Pacific Princess Far east cruise

Many of the people booked on that were also booked on the Sun

 

I cant possibly see any good reason financial or otherwise as to why Princess should cancel the bookings of 1900 very loyal Princess cruisers mostly with high level Elite status ..........the kick back is going to be bad

[ko57]

Stanshos

 

Even a year away Many Many people will already have to have booked their airfares ......they will be non- refundable

 

 

You're right there, Pat. I booked my one way non-refundable ticket 3 days before the news broke.

 

My solution is that I'm going to take an extended Australia land tour instead. I don't know when I'll sign up for my next cruise, but Princess can kiss the money I would have paid for this cruise goodbye. It's been reallocated.

[stansthos]

You know I so agree with you. My first paragraph was quoting Pam"s post #59. My post just didn't get set up that way. :confused: Then in my second paragraph, I was addressing Sandra's kind reply to Pam. Sorry for any confusion. And, you are right, many had booked their non-refundable air fares. And like everyone says, what is with Princess not communicating with us? As far as I know, no one has had direct communication with Princess in the U.S. that this cancelled cruise is even cancelled. Amazing, amazing, amazing!!!!!! :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

[Pam in CA]

And like everyone says, what is with Princess not communicating with us? As far as I know, no one has had direct communication with Princess in the U.S. that this cancelled cruise is even cancelled. Amazing, amazing, amazing!!!!!! :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

Unfortunately, this is SOP. We had a holiday cruise cancelled almost three weeks before the cruise (talk about non-refundable tickets and having to scramble to find seats on planes that were sold out months previously) and we weren't "officially" notified until 10 days before embarkation, due to depart on 12/24. It cost me an extra $1K/pp in plane tickets (coach) from BOS to FLL for last-minute flights and we had to find another holiday cruise on another line. All-in-all, it worked out fine but it was a mad scramble and potentially ruined Christmas vacation plans. Believe me, I AM sympathetic since I've experienced a cancelled cruise before but I'll take a year's notice over two weeks during Christmastime any day.

[rplusr]

Well it has certainly been a difficult week. We are so disgusted with the way Princess has mismanaged this whole thing that we may never book with them again. :mad: :mad: :mad:

 

Yes PAM in MA I have to agree that 10months out is better than 2 weeks before but in saying that we all still have a right to be bloody well "pi...sed off" and have a good whinge about it all (as us Aussies don't mind doing from time to time).

 

This was not a decision that was made in a day or a week it would have been in the pipeline for quite sometime so why sell out a cruise. Also, I believe (and please correct me if I am wrong) that at least one cruise site in Oz had details of the new itinerary on their site on Wednesday (23rd) for sale. Not too mention the new cruises detailed on P&O Aust site for the Sun and the Dawn. These are not things you organise overnight.

 

This cruise was shaping up to be a truly amazing experience - not only the cruise but the people on the roll call that we had come to know even if only in a small way. We are going to miss that experience and I am so angry :mad: that it has been taken away from us because of the search for the almighty $$$$$$$$$$. That is what this is all about nothing more or less $$$$$$$$.

 

I will agree that big business does have to answer to their share holders but a business in the customer service arena also has a moral committment to their customers.

 

It all comes down to how it was all managed and from what you say it would appear that these cruise lines really do not care one iota about their passengers and customer service otherwise they would do the right thing and advise all passengers either directly or through their TA's.

 

We are having difficulty finding an alternate cruise that not only suits us but that we really want to do. It is no good just doing a cruise for the sake of being on a cruise we want the itinerary to suit what we want to see and enjoy. We definitely do no want to waste our very hard earned money doing a cruise that will not truly fit our wants and needs.

 

We have organised our holidays which luckily Reg and I are able to change if we need to. But there are a lot of our fellow cruisers who are unable to do that due to their work committments.

 

Also as a friend (that I have come to know from our SUNS.E.T.S. roll call) pointed out to me what is Princess really giving Australia. Mmmmm a ship which is 12 years old - albeit a very nice ship and definitely better than what we have here. But still it is not a new ship and the prices for the cruises are definitely what I would call a little inflated in comparison to what Australian cruisers have been paying.

 

All in all a very poorly managed debacle on their part and one which they seem to repeat with regular monotony. Obviously they have never learned the art of customer relations.

 

Robyn & Reg

[NSWP]

At the end of the day CARNIVAL could not give a hoot, they know they will fill the Sun Princess cruises whilst she is operating from Australia, as has been said..all about bodies on bunks in cabins or is it people in beds in staterooms, like why are they putting an extra 500 bunks into Regal Princess/Pacific Dawn upon refit here, bodies in bunks. Poor PR by Carnival in my opinion. The folks involved should have got a nice discount on their next cruise.:confused:

 

Oh no, any chance of a cabin uipgrade on my Regal cruise to Sydney Aug 31 is gone with that comment, might be in the brig !!

[rplusr]

At the end of the day CARNIVAL could not give a hoot, they know they will fill the Sun Princess cruises whilst she is operating from Australia, as has been said..all about bodies on bunks in cabins or is it people in beds in staterooms, like why are they putting an extra 500 bunks into Regal Princess/Pacific Dawn upon refit here, bodies in bunks. Poor PR by Carnival in my opinion. The folks involved should have got a nice discount on their next cruise.:confused:

 

Oh no, any chance of a cabin uipgrade on my Regal cruise to Sydney Aug 31 is gone with that comment, might be in the brig !!

 

NSWP - Thank you for your recognition of the poor PR by Carnival. But alas we did not get any great discount on our next cruise.

 

Oh yes it is bodies in bunks and at the end of the day it is the $$$$$ that count. Mmmmmm they have now made Regal Princess/Pacific Dawn into a 3 star cruise ship and the run of the mill ship that plies the Australian seaboard. One can only do Lifou, Vila, Isle of Pines, Noumea etc so many times in any given period.

 

Oh no you will never end up in the brig unless they put you there before you cruise as they need you to spend lots on alcohol etc etc etc. LOL>

[CassCruise]

At the end of the day CARNIVAL could not give a hoot, they know they will fill the Sun Princess cruises whilst she is operating from Australia, as has been said..all about bodies on bunks in cabins or is it people in beds in staterooms, like why are they putting an extra 500 bunks into Regal Princess/Pacific Dawn upon refit here, bodies in bunks. Poor PR by Carnival in my opinion. The folks involved should have got a nice discount on their next cruise.:confused:

 

Oh no, any chance of a cabin uipgrade on my Regal cruise to Sydney Aug 31 is gone with that comment, might be in the brig !!

 

You know your comments are really very interesting - I have asked a few people a few times what is happening at the end of our cruise - given The Sun Princess is going into drydock for 14 days when we arrive in Sydney - the penny has dropped and all jokes aside I'll bet it is to put more bunks in!!!!!!!!!!! I wonder even more now how long this has been planned:mad: