Captain Tony Yeomans - please read

[sidari]

So if the numbers above in a previous posting are correct, how would you contact the Ruby from say the UK?.. ie what code numbers would be required before....764877443 ? and would it depend on which port is being visited or does that not matter?

[bythehex]

Condolences on the loss of your mother.

 

I think some people here are being a little unreasonable in expecting a family dealing with a sudden death (I presume it was sudden) to troll the Internet to find a ship's phone number. You expect the number Princess provides you to work. If not, then you expect the main office to be able to reach one of their ships. That seems so self-evident that their failure in both these areas is jaw-dropping. I do find it inexplicable that the CB said they would not help -- assuming they knew why your brother was trying to reach you, that's the biggest mystery in this whole saga.

 

If you do write to Princess, you might consider leaving out that whole lack of condolence issue. Without being insensitive, it seems to me that you didn't actually put yourself into a position where those onboard could offer you help and comfort: you used your own cellphones, you used Internet ashore. It's not clear from your post that Lars the Purser even knew why you were to call home right away. To me, the real outrage of your story is the total inability of those ashore (both family and Corporate) to contact your ship, plus the apparent unwillingness of the folks on the CB to aid in an emergency -- that's what you should focus on because that's what they can actually fix. Best of luck to you.

 

Thanks for your condolences, but allow me to correct you on something. Passenger services DID know what happened - after I had reached my family on my cell phone, we went to passenger services and TOLD them that my mother had died. We were most certainly in a position where those onboard should have and could have offered help and comfort; they didn't.

 

Now, you heard that my Mom died and you offered YOUR condolences. That's the appropriate reaction. You would have thought someone would have said "Sorry to hear that", standing right there face to face at the desk. But that didn't happen.

 

So yes, the condolence issue IS in the letter I sent to Princess.

 

Sharon

[NeurosurgeryNP]

As below - this is how you contact the ships. If you use the link below, it will get you to a Inmarsat ship's directory and it will give you the sattelite phone numbers. You have to add +870 to the phone numbers as the "country code,". It doesn't matter where you are dialing from apparently, just make sure you add the +870 to the number of the ship you are trying to contact.

 

 

 

You have to dial 870 in front of those numbers listed byt the other poster.

 

You can get this info from :

http://www.inmarsat.com/Services/Maritime/Ships_Directory/default.aspx?language=EN&textonly=False

 

Any ship with the Inmarsat system, will have a listing in this directory. You have to read the following paragraph on this site. It talks about adding the "country" code for the number - all Inmarsat system country code is 870:

 

Contacting an Inmarsat terminal by phone, fax or telex, is as simple as dialling any international telephone number, providing you have the correct combination of codes.

 

You need to dial:

• International access code +
  
• Inmarsat ocean region code +
  
• Inmarsat Mobile Number (IMN).
  

International access code

 

Use the normal international dialling code for the country you are in - e.g. 00 in the UK or 011 in the US.

Inmarsat country code

 

Inmarsat has its own country code - +870 - which automatically routes the caller to the Inmarsat customer regardless of which Inmarsat Ocean Region the terminal is located - i.e. anywhere in the world.

This can be used for dialling Inmarsat numbers beginning with 3, 5, 6, 60, 76, 77 or 78.

We recommend that callers to Inmarsat terminals begin using the +870 country code with your next call.

In the unlikely event you experience any problems dialling the +870 country code, please contact the Inmarsat Customer Care Helpline on + 44 (0) 20 7728 1030.

[CruisinChris]

For what it's worth I couldn't remember "inmarsat." I googled, in the following order:

 

ruby princess call sign (one way to reach a ship using a ship to shore operator)

ship to shore radio

call a cruise ship

reaching a cruise ship (brought up inmarsat ad and tickled my brain)

inmarsat

 

The 1-900 number princess provides is just an interface for inmarsat. IT sounds like the family got a menu - perhaps there was a way to get an operator or other live person.

 

ANyway, I wasn't trying to be critical and am certainly sympathetic to the OP's loss and agree that Princess' lag in publishing the number is pathetic. However, the 1-900 number is outsourced to another vendor - they are equally culpable in having updated their menu or having additional operator assistance available. All that said, you don't need to use that service to reach the ship. As to the CB's unwillingness to help - it's entirely possible that even they didn't have the contact info - especially if Princess was late in publishing it. I don't have the impression that there's a lot of ship-to-ship communication that goes on.

 

Regarding condolences, the person you were speaking to face-to-face should have acknowledged your loss. As to passing that on to other staff - I actually think that would have been inappropriate.

[nho9504]

For what it's worth I couldn't remember "inmarsat." I googled' date=' in the following order:

 

ruby princess call sign (one way to reach a ship using a ship to shore operator)

ship to shore radio

call a cruise ship

reaching a cruise ship (brought up inmarsat ad and tickled my brain)

inmarsat

 

The 1-900 number princess provides is just an interface for inmarsat. IT sounds like the family got a menu - perhaps there was a way to get an operator or other live person.

 

ANyway, I wasn't trying to be critical and am certainly sympathetic to the OP's loss and agree that Princess' lag in publishing the number is pathetic. However, the 1-900 number is outsourced to another vendor - they are equally culpable in having updated their menu or having additional operator assistance available. All that said, you don't need to use that service to reach the ship. As to the CB's unwillingness to help - it's entirely possible that even they didn't have the contact info - especially if Princess was late in publishing it. I don't have the impression that there's a lot of ship-to-ship communication that goes on.

 

Regarding condolences, the person you were speaking to face-to-face should have acknowledged your loss. As to passing that on to other staff - I actually think that would have been inappropriate.[/quote']

 

1) while the service is outsourced to 3rd party - someone at Princess let the ball fall because he/she or the dept, does not have a procedure in place to make sure the communication method is properly listed and is COMPLETE.

 

2) it is very possible CB has no way to contact Ruby - BUT, there is certainly ways to contact other ships in the region, when a ship is in distress situation. And there may be very strict guideline to use such method - a passenger's parent pass away, while it is a very sad event, probably does not fall into the criteria to employ the ship-to-ship communication.

 

CB staff could have explained this better to the OP's family, but either did not, or the family member in such distress, would not properly understand what it was told - all it registered in his mind would be, CB would not call on their behalf, without knowing why or listening to why.

 

3) As for condolence expressed - the face to face contact person should have said something, that I am terribly sorry of what happened. Is there anything we can assist you, please let us know. According to the OP, that did not happen. So that part is inexcusable also. However, as to the Other Staff on ship need to know about it or to express condolence, I totally agree with you - it is actually inappropriate.

 

Let's say, some people need a lot of "Hug" factor, some dont. Those who need, would find it Cold that they dont get the "Hugs". Those who dont, have no problem with that. Personally, I would prefer to keep my sorrow to myself than broadcast to the world. I would ask for, and may even demand such, if I dont get it automatically, the assistance from the ship for making arrangements, using the ship to shore phone, using the internet, etc. I would not wait for such to automatically happen. I would make sure such happen by bring the issue to the purser desk when I need the assistance.

 

There are ways to handle things. Some think the assistance should automatically happen, and if they dont, they would feel being neglected, and getting really upset to make things even worse. If the OP tells us that she came back to purser desk to ask for assistance and did not get any, then Princess failed the OP and the passengers, very badly. If the OP did not go back to the purser desk but took everything on her own hand, while all the time harbor a huge resentment against the ship personnel, well, she created more suffering than she already had from her parent's passing. Some of us simply would handle things a little bit differently and less emotionally. Our experiences with Emerald has been, if you made your complaint known, in writing, using the form that is in your stateroom, or get one from the purser desk, they come to you quickly to remedy the situation as much as they could. Of course, our complaints were trivial, comparing to what the OP has gone thru a personal loss, but the bottom line is still the same - you need to let them know what you deem is proper, instead of fuming within yourself. And DO IT RIGHT ON THE SHIP.

 

The cruise director on our 2 transatlantic crossing on Emerald, repeatedly told passengers that if you have anything you feel need to be addressed, PLEASE let us know immediately while you are still on the ship and the situation is fresh, so we can make remedy...

 

We will NEVER know the whole truth. But a few things everyone seems to agree:

 

1) Princess failed very big, by missing Ruby's emergency phone contact.

This shows clearly lack of procedures, as demonstrated by what the OP said, the HQ offices do not know how to call Ruby. Though that sounds awefully odd.

 

2) Communication guideline among ships in the fleet may need to be reviewed, should similar incident happen again. Though if No.1 is taken care of, there should be no need for ship to ship communication in order to relay info.

 

3) Ship personnel need to be trained on compassion lesson so passenger would not feel being neglected in the event of a life crisis happened when they are on the ship.

 

4) Passengers who have elderly parents, youngster childrens or whatever other reasons they feel they must be reached when accident/incident happens on shore, should make sure there are working methods to reach them when they set sail. Spend a few bucks to quickly check emails on a daily basis may be money well-spent for the peace of mind. it would be less than the price of a drink, to just check emails - only read those from "important sources" and with a Screaming Subject line, should not cost you a lot of minutes.

[CruiseNRead]

I want to tell you how sorry I am for your loss. My family has cruised numerous times and hope that every passenger will take into account the fact that the large ships have lost much of the personal touch. Each cruiser needs to think of a large ship as a small city-and protect himself/herself accordingly. Keep cell phones activated and stress to family that email is available. As for the crew onboard the Ruby, it is unthinkable that noone came to offer condolences.

[spongerob]

5 minutes' time from someone at Princess' office could have prevented all of this. How about an e-mail to the ship? It would have been that easy.

[MaryPoppinz]

5 minutes' time from someone at Princess' office could have prevented all of this. How about an e-mail to the ship? It would have been that easy.

 

Really, what was that all about? Why do you suppose they were so recalcitrant about forwarding a message to another ship? It boggles my bogger that they would.not.try.

[TrinaLC]

Really, what was that all about? Why do you suppose they were so recalcitrant about forwarding a message to another ship? It boggles my bogger that they would.not.try.

 

Probably because they have no way of verifying the information. It could have been a prank call. Corporate is supposed to handle these things - they probably have procedures in place to sort out crank from real calls - for example, requiring a call from the funeral director before passing on information concerning a death. Another ship would not have these procedures and would be reluctant to break protocol.

 

A practical example: you can't call a sport stadium and ask for a message to be passed to John Doe football fan in seat 232A that "his wife is in labor, he needs to get to the hospital immediately" -nor that his "father has died, he needs to get home ASAP". There are simply too many prank calls and the sports authority will not pass on these messages. Period. (Sick that anyone would do this, but the reality is, people do.)

 

So I can see a ship at sea refusing to pass on a message - requiring that it go through corporate channels.

[LoraJ]

I had a similar issue with Holland America last year. My parents were on one of their ships. My cousin had passed away unexpectedly and they needed something in writing from my dad so they could bury her. There wasn't much the home office could do so I put out an APB here on the HAL boards for anyone who may have been on board if they saw my parents to check their email. And then sent an email. They checked their email on their own anyway and HAL was helpful in letting them fax things. It was a pain, but it got done. Thank goodness my parent check their email every day.

[novocaine]

Probably because they have no way of verifying the information. It could have been a prank call. Corporate is supposed to handle these things - they probably have procedures in place to sort out crank from real calls - for example, requiring a call from the funeral director before passing on information concerning a death. Another ship would not have these procedures and would be reluctant to break protocol.

 

A practical example: you can't call a sport stadium and ask for a message to be passed to John Doe football fan in seat 232A that "his wife is in labor, he needs to get to the hospital immediately" -nor that his "father has died, he needs to get home ASAP". There are simply too many prank calls and the sports authority will not pass on these messages. Period. (Sick that anyone would do this, but the reality is, people do.)

 

So I can see a ship at sea refusing to pass on a message - requiring that it go through corporate channels.

I can't believe you said what you just said. Prank call? No one is arguing with YOU. I'm really surprised you could even think about this excuse for the cruise. They should have hired you. You can argue that it's not reasonable for people to expect other ship to help the communication because of this or because of that, but why you even bother coming up with this many ridiculous excuses? If you really want a good answer, just pick up the phone and call the company and see what they have to say. Don't just "probably because", especially when someone just lost their family member. Unbelievable.

 

In any case, I hope Princess can give an official reply soon. I don't want to be on a cruise for 7 days or longer knowing my family may not be able to find me in the case of an emergency, and even worse, that their call may be considered a prank!

[bythehex]

I thought I would follow up with everyone. I just now got a phone call from Princess corporate headquarters. They have assured me that the Ruby contact number is now listed on the roster of ships, and that it's in full working order.

 

They also apologized heartily (numerous times) and assured me that everyone from the CEO on down is aware of my family's situation and they are making sure something like this doesn't happen again. Princess recognizes that there were multiple failures in this situation that shouldn't have occurred, and we all hope that no other families will ever go through the distress that we did. They will follow up with me again in the near future.

 

Thank you to Wokie once again for hand delivering a copy of my original posting to Captain Yeomans, you're one in a million. And to all of you who offered your heartfelt condolences, rest assured that your kindness is very much appreciated by me and my family.

 

I also thank Princess for proving to us that they do take their customer's seriously.

 

Sharon & Gerald

[Willbcruisin]

I thought I would follow up with everyone. I just now got a phone call from Princess corporate headquarters. They have assured me that the Ruby contact number is now listed on the roster of ships, and that it's in full working order.

 

They also apologized heartily (numerous times) and assured me that everyone from the CEO on down is aware of my family's situation and they are making sure something like this doesn't happen again. Princess recognizes that there were multiple failures in this situation that shouldn't have occurred, and we all hope that no other families will ever go through the distress that we did. They will follow up with me again in the near future.

 

Thank you to Wokie once again for hand delivering a copy of my original posting to Captain Yeomans, you're one in a million. And to all of you who offered your heartfelt condolences, rest assured that your kindness is very much appreciated by me and my family.

 

I also thank Princess for proving to us that they do take their customer's seriously.

 

Sharon & Gerald

 

Sharon Thanks for posting the update.

 

I hope you have found a bit of comfort from this during this difficult time. Again I am very sorry for your loss and what you and your family were put through.

[jbpinkie]

Sharon- So glad to hear that they have been in touch!!

[LoraJ]

I'm glad you heard from them. I sure hope they correct everything on their end so that doesn't happen again. No one needs the added stress in that situation. *hugs*

[Solara]

I thought I would follow up with everyone. I just now got a phone call from Princess corporate headquarters. They have assured me that the Ruby contact number is now listed on the roster of ships, and that it's in full working order.

 

They also apologized heartily (numerous times) and assured me that everyone from the CEO on down is aware of my family's situation and they are making sure something like this doesn't happen again. Princess recognizes that there were multiple failures in this situation that shouldn't have occurred, and we all hope that no other families will ever go through the distress that we did. They will follow up with me again in the near future.

 

Thank you to Wokie once again for hand delivering a copy of my original posting to Captain Yeomans, you're one in a million. And to all of you who offered your heartfelt condolences, rest assured that your kindness is very much appreciated by me and my family.

 

I also thank Princess for proving to us that they do take their customer's seriously.

 

Sharon & Gerald

Sharon, Thanks for the update. Glad to hear that Princess will correct the problem you had. Please accept my deepest sympathy on your loss.

[lynwar]

Sharon,

I'm very sorry for you loss, as well. That was a very trying week for you, I'm sure.

About the only thing I told my boys before the cruise was to use our specific e-mail-I was on it a couple of times a day. My mother is on a week to week schedule-terminally ill and was put on morphine the week we were gone-so-there was a possibility.........I'm not sure about our cell phones, though. We'd check them and they'd be roaming so Trevor would turn them off, not wanting to pay any extra charge.

I'm happy that Mike got the message to Capt. Yeomans. We met the Capt. at our meet and greet and he seemed like such a nice person. It sounds as if things are more under control now.

Just remember, one day at a time for awhile.

Take care. Love, Lynne

[kaybeeeeeee]

I thought I would follow up with everyone. I just now got a phone call from Princess corporate headquarters. They have assured me that the Ruby contact number is now listed on the roster of ships, and that it's in full working order.

 

They also apologized heartily (numerous times) and assured me that everyone from the CEO on down is aware of my family's situation and they are making sure something like this doesn't happen again. Princess recognizes that there were multiple failures in this situation that shouldn't have occurred, and we all hope that no other families will ever go through the distress that we did. They will follow up with me again in the near future.

 

Thank you to Wokie once again for hand delivering a copy of my original posting to Captain Yeomans, you're one in a million. And to all of you who offered your heartfelt condolences, rest assured that your kindness is very much appreciated by me and my family.

 

I also thank Princess for proving to us that they do take their customer's seriously.

 

Sharon & Gerald

 

Sharon,

 

First and foremost I'd like to offer my heartfelt condolences. Nobody should be treated the way you were in times of sorrow, or any other time for that matter.

 

I'm following this thread closely as we'll be on the Ruby on December 13th. Maybe I'm missing something here, but I still don't see the Ruby listed on the roster of ships as shown on the Princess website. This is where I'm looking:

 

http://www.princess.com/learn/answer/during_cruise/communications.jsp

 

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

Ken

[nho9504]

I can't believe you said what you just said. Prank call? No one is arguing with YOU. I'm really surprised you could even think about this excuse for the cruise. They should have hired you. You can argue that it's not reasonable for people to expect other ship to help the communication because of this or because of that, but why you even bother coming up with this many ridiculous excuses? If you really want a good answer, just pick up the phone and call the company and see what they have to say. Don't just "probably because", especially when someone just lost their family member. Unbelievable.

 

In any case, I hope Princess can give an official reply soon. I don't want to be on a cruise for 7 days or longer knowing my family may not be able to find me in the case of an emergency, and even worse, that their call may be considered a prank!

 

Then dont go. If you are so worry and so upset about this, then find another line - people have reported other lines are more passionate, so no need to sail Princess.

 

there are procedures and protocol in place, but obviously CB has not explained such or not explained such clearly enough to the family member who called.

 

I totally understand it could happen, and within reason, from the ship's procedure side. But of course, from the OP's side this would seem "cold".

[regnig]

Sharon thank you for the update. I really would have been surprised if Princess had not responded this rapidly. I have found in the past that when they have been lacking in quality service their response has been prompt and meaningful.

 

KUDOS to Mike for delivering you message!

 

May God help you through your time of loss.

[FinelyRetired]

I am so very sorry for your tragic loss. I can't begin to imagine the stress your family needlessly underwent in an effort to contact you and your stress in trying to deal with it, make arrangements to get home, etc.

 

I want you to know how important to the rest of us your thread has been in calling attention to the horrendous difficulties you encountered. It cannot have been an easy thread to start. I thank you for doing it.

 

I'm an older, Solo lady cruiser aboard the Ruby next October for the Venice to FLL TA. This is my WORST nightmare...........lack of communication and one I've just taken for granted by leaving my itinerary, ship's contact phone # & my cell phone number with my husband, son & brother. The fact that cabin phones may or may not work is DEEPLY troubling for me as a Solo & I will be watching closely the "live" reports as they go along....THAT MUST be taken care of or I will not sail Ruby.

 

I will make sure that my cell (presently a two band) is upgraded or rent an Int'l one, I will make an effort to go to the onboard internet room & learn to pick-up & send emails......(something I've never bothered, nor felt a need to do , but now I know I need to), I will check my cabin phone often to make sure it is working in order at all times, etc. I will NEVER again take for granted that I can either be easily reached or that I can call for assistance should I need it!

 

I certainly hope that Princess will take a pro-active approach to correcting this unacceptable situation. And that they well communicate they have done so here. We all need to be reassured that the safety & support of the passenger is the highest concern for Princess.

 

Again, you did a valuable service by sharing your painful experience and I have been equally thankful for those of you who have contributed your suggestions as to how we all can make sure we have MULTIPLE methods of communication while aboard.

 

Martha

[Devil Dog]

Did your mom have an accident? Did you leave for vacation knowing she was terminally ill? . Tony is in charge of the navigation and safety. The rest of the ship is under the management of the PSD and his Senior 1st Purser. I wonder why you left for a vacation if the passing of Mom was so important for you to be there. I say this from experience. I know from the past of family deaths the remorse of guilt from others becasue the choose to leave on vacation when Mom or Dad was close to death and they did die. My brother blamed the airlines for him and his family not being able to make it back until the funeral and they missed the wake. They went on vacation............... They don't want anyone to think how heartless to leave for a vacation when your paretn is close to death. So my question is... How did your mom die? Was she sick? Or was it an accident? You should have stayed home because the quilt is so bad your have to blame someone, of course not you.

[jacketwatch]

Did your mom have an accident? Did you leave for vacation knowing she was terminally ill? . Tony is in charge of the navigation and safety. The rest of the ship is under the management of the PSD and his Senior 1st Purser. I wonder why you left for a vacation if the passing of Mom was so important for you to be there. I say this from experience. I know from the past of family deaths the remorse of guilt from others becasue the choose to leave on vacation when Mom or Dad was close to death and they did die. My brother blamed the airlines for him and his family not being able to make it back until the funeral and they missed the wake. They went on vacation............... They don't want anyone to think how heartless to leave for a vacation when your paretn is close to death. So my question is... How did your mom die? Was she sick? Or was it an accident? You should have stayed home because the quilt is so bad your have to blame someone, of course not you.

I don't think now is the time to question the OP's motives or circimstances. Its too bad this happened in your family but its illogical to extend your circimstances to every situation. We lost a loved one once while away and it was totally unexpected. I also don't agree that the OP needs to tell any more than what she has already done. Let her be. JM2C.

[MaryPoppinz]

Thanks for the update. You did a very good thing in bringing this to Princess' attention.

Something unexpected could happen to anyone at anytime -- knowing there is a way to contact the ship in an emergency is an important part of cruise planning for many people.

[Spender Nui]

Sharon, let em too express my condolences. My wife's mother passed away this past February while we were on a cruise so we understand your emotions very well.