Live from the 9/4 CP after Frances!

Well, here we are on the last day of our little journey! We sailed on Mon instead of Sat due to Frances and then our itinerary was changed from Eastern to Western without the third stop of Costa Maya/Jamiaca/Princess Cays. It's been a wonderful cruise but we're wondering where all the people are? Supposedly we're 2/3 full but every nite they roll up the carpets in all the bars (except Skywalkers) at midnite and there is no one at all throughout the ship...very unusual! Even the dining rooms are 1/3 filled at all times...it's so bizarre!

The week's been way too short after planning for so long for a 7 day and being cut, but that's the breaks! (Sure would've loved to have been delayed by the two days the other cruises got!). We were in port with 6 ships in Cozumel yesterday which was cozy.

This just seems like everything is off kilter (SP?)...will just have to do another to get the real feel of this cruise...however, not having any lines, crowds, waits makes it a very relaxing time! :o

We did, however, make sure we took advantage of the lobster tails in Cafe Caribe last nite for happy hour snacks while we did sail-away at the back pool and then went in and dressed for dinner (which, of course, was lobster!)

Had our Cruise Critic get together the first day out and our group of 90+ became a little gathering of 20 or so...it was cool and we're planning to do dinner tonite for the final farewell!

Got my future booking certs so we're off to plan another (after the next one which is planned, of course!)

If Ivan would just deter us a little (and then float off to sea...) :rolleyes:

Thanks for the report. I was curious how things were going. Did you get upgraded?

Glad you are having a great cruise despite the changes. What did Princess do for those of you who did show up for this cruise in the way of compensating for the abbreviated trip? Were there credits for future bookings etc offered or was there just twice as much lobster. : )

This has been a very quiet cruise!! I don't think the ship is half full even though the staff says we are only about 400 people short..HA :rolleyes: .

I asked about upgrades when we checked in. I was told to check with the Pursers desk that there were plenty of upgrades available for a fee. :( No Thank you.

We are having a very quiet and relaxing cruise. No major complaints. Food and service has been great. The spa has been my favorite place. I've had several treatments with our onboard credit.

We arrive in fort Lauderdale early tomorrow morning hopefully before Ivan :)

So happy to hear your great attitudes!! It sounds wonderful and very relaxing, considering the rocky start!!. You won't have any problem getting into port. A little too early yet!!! Have a great night!! :)

Sounds like you are having port days every day with fewer people on the ship. Glad you are enjoying it.

I am glad you are having fun and glad to hear you made it to FLL to cruise. I am sorry your cruise was cut short by Frances :( We were on the 8/28-9/6/04 sailing before you which was the 9 nighter.

The whole hurricane situation was not as fun for those of us delayed as people think. I think a positive attitude got us through. We found out once on board about the new ports but hey we were glad to be able to cruise! We knew our Captain would keep us safe!

Even more so I know it was not fun for those of you on the 9/4 cruise and most IMPORTANTLY those of you in Florida on land who were hit yet again with Frances :( and my prayers are with you with Ivan approaching.

On our extended cruise most of us missed work, were delayed getting home and incurred hundred's of dollars in additional cost from everything from extra parking, calls home from Cozumel Thursday and such. In my case my Mother in law missed a few days of work due to our delay, missed doctor's appointments, my husbands leave papers expired, ran out of medications etc.

There were many children and teachers missed the start of school who live in the North East. There were Doctor's on board who had surgeries scheduled, folks who lived in Palm Beach and through out Florida not knowing what they would find when they got home.

BUT I KNOW THIS IS NOTHING COMPARED TO WHAT THOSE OF YOU IN FLORIDA HAVE BEEN THROUGH AND CONTINUE TO GO THROUGH AND THAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART. WE WERE LUCKY TO BE SAFE BUT WE KNOW WHAT THOSE OF YOU LOST AND ARE STILL GOING THROUGH WITH THIS HURRICANE SEASON AND I AM SO SORRY.

Princess did give "free" calls and internet but there are less than 4 ship to shore phone lines. We only spoke to one lady who was able to get a line and that was at 3:00 am.

The line to the internet was always 30-50 people deep and you were limited to 10-15 minutes.

Being out at sea for the majority of the delay caused the internet to get bogged down and it could take 10 minutes to get into Yahoo and get 1 email off. Most of the major airlines websites were back logged and you could not change our flights each time they announced another delay.

I know it sounds like fun getting 2 "free" days at sea but remember 98% of us did not know how we would get home. The last few days people were ready to get off the ship!

Most of us spent a long time getting home and the FLL airport was a zoo. I can not tell you how many flights where a husband and wife would separate to go on different flights, for example one man had to get home. He owned his own business. His wife could not get on the flight and was told the earliest they could get her out would be Thursday yet she was crying because they had 3 young children at home.

Another lady who got on our flight which was the last flight on the day to CLT was a Math Teacher. She had to get home to her 3 children who were set to start school the next morning and she had to teach. Her husband was left at the airport and was going to try and get to Miami and get a flight from there.

We met friends who lived all over Florida who did not even know where they would go once Princess got us in and what they would find.

We met one couple who had driven from Tampa and were late getting to the port and had less than a 1/3 tank of gas to get back home and there was no gas available.

Princess does have a lot of empty cabins on your sailing, they have too! We saw large groups of people got off the ship in Grand Cayman to fly home and again in Cozumel.

From last Wednesday on when we were able to get the latest Frances projections and info about delays from the internet and CNN we starting worrying. Princess was not as quick on the gun as some of the other cruiselines in making announcements and keeping us informed. Yet, we knew ships that were in port with us had already made announcements about closures and delays. I believe some of the delays were due to the corporate office of Princess being in California which can not be helped due to the time change.

I will say Princess is a great cruiseline and they did keep us safe but it was frustrating getting information from them. It was easier and more accurate to wait in line and get it from you great folks. You all were quick and accurate with the information on the stickies you posted!

I met Untailored Bostonian in the elevator and he was great!

Once the delays were "officially announced" the staff started sending letters inviting us to stay on board. The port was closed as well as the Florida area airports so the only chance of still cruising on the 9/4 cruise was to drive or have flown in earlier in the week so they had plenty of open cabins.

Each day they would give us a letter and each day the letter would invite us to continue on our cruise through Saturday September 11, 2004 and it would give prices, the first was for leaving Sunday at 2200 and I believe the price of a balcony was $499 and then each day they announced we would still be delayed they would send another letter and they price would drop $100.

Even though they had a full sailing with us still on board, buying drinks, using the casino's etc. I know Princess lost money.

Anway, I glad you were able to go. During dembarkation we saw A LOT of people getting off so I can not believe Princess would let cabins go empty instead of showing good will to those who stuck in out through this mess!

The hurricane was not Princess cruise lines fault and we enjoyed our cruise and will cruise with Princess again for sure.

Have a safe return and hope you get to sail again soon! To my Florida friends prayers are coming your way and keep us posted! My Dad lives in Bradenton FL so keep us up to date!

DC

Thank you so much for your posting. We were on board the week before you and knew people doing a back-to-back, we were wondering how well Princess kept you all informed. I noticed during our cruise that the television NEVER showed weather for the Caribbean - I suppose they do not want their passengers to worry.

You guys are all great and the one thing we can count on with these boards is the positive attitude of most 'experienced' cruisers. :)

Disneycruiser #1...I kept thinking (while we were holed up in the hotel for those long 4 days and knowing you were all getting an extra 2 days cruise) how absolutely challenging and maddening it would be for all those on the many ships that were delayed to try to get flights home on Labor Day, after everything had been closed for 2 days! I knew that it was not a cakewalk for all of you and probably not something many could just shrug off!

We were watching and waiting and watching and waiting all day Fri...Sat...Sun and I never got info from my TA cuz her office was closed and she had no power so my info came from another cruiser I met on the boards whose agent was in Detroit. We heard that there were hundreds of Floridians escaping the hurricane who booked before the 48 hour deadline knowing that they had no power and wouldn't for some time...maybe that's why the ship seemed so empty cuz they were'nt planning on participating like those of us there for a 'vacation' :rolleyes:

We did get nicely compensated from Princess though and that made it very positive an experience. All the cruise lines were offering big bene's to their passengers for the inconvenience and I know they lost lot's of dollars in so many ways!

But...such is life and we are watching and praying for those who are in the path of Ivan the terrible...damn, can't believe we were in Grand Cayman last week!

Thanks to all of you with good wishes and we send our best to those on the 9/11 sailing!

Jeani