I wrote it in such a way to attempt to avoid posters who state the obvious (such as the Jones Act - of course it  would never come into play). No I did not succeed. Ha!

No biggie but I was surprised Princess denied our route deviation request to disembark in Lisbon, three days before the cruise ends. Yes, we understand it is within the cruise line's right to reject deviation request, and sometimes they do, and in our case they did.  Yes Princess asks that deviation request be submitted 30 days or so in advance but Princess will act on requests closer to the embarkation date (and even when pax are onboard). No, it is not a problem for us as Princess approved our disembarkation one port/one day earlier, in Cadiz. No, the Jones Act does not come into play. We often request route deviations and disembark (days) early if it suits our travel needs. Yes, sometimes the ship misses the deviation port due to weather or other issues, and it's on us to adjust our plans. Yes we pay full fare and staff gets tips for all days (we book Premier package). No, Princess does not prorate a fare if pax departs early. 

I guess my question is: Isn't it odd that Lisbon would be denied and Cadiz would be approved? If you had to guess, wouldn't you think (Immigration) officials would be staffed in Lisbon, and the request for disembarkation in Cadiz would be a problem (b/c officials aren't available)? Yes, I am assuming it was an Customs/Immigration issue and I could be way off with my guess of why we received a "Sorry, nope" to Lisbon.  Here's what Princess said in their email (Princess's wording is why I assume it's related to having no officials on hand to OK our disembarkation).  Finally, when we received the "Sorry" email I immediately contacted Princess to request the deviation to occur one port earlier, and it was approved in less than 18 hrs. And no, I didn't see anything in our booking that indicated exactly why the request was denied.

42 minutes ago, Keith1010 said:

I am not sure but glad that they got this out to the TA’s knowing if it was me I would want to know as soon as possible.  If it was me, I would ask the TA why they didn’t get the word out to you.  Others I know have heard from their TAs hours ago.

We share a hobby of reading/posting on CC. And we also share a travel agency. Guess some clients are more important than others.

3 hours ago, Keith1010 said:

Those on Serenity are also hearing about their cruises via their TA's.

Keith

Unless they aren't. Like me. How hard would it have been to "cc" the pax booked on this itinerary and include something like "your TA will provide further information" or "your TA will be contacting you soon with options" or something similar?

I'm booked on Mumbai-Piraeus and haven't heard a peep. If it's true there are only ~100 passengers on this cruise, what gives that I hear about the cancellation not from my TA (who works for the agency of choice for many CC members) nor from Crystal? 

Ibis, Everyone involved (Crystal, other cruise lines, pax, crew, provision providers, excursion providers, airlines, ports, etc.) is dealing with having what they thought were set plans now be up in the air. This is an extremely complicated matter, with no easy solutions. Crystal is working overtime trying to figure this out. Let's all take a breather and let them work on this.

What kml246 said.

16 hours ago, wowzz said:

Is that a Saturday departure . You should be OK.

If a weekday, yes, you are crazy !

15 hours ago, david63 said:

You will just have to hope that the ship is not delayed arriving in Southampton. I have been onboard when the ship has not docked until 11:00 - rare occurrence I know but it can happen.

I know it's not a smart idea to book an 11am LHR flight when the ship doesn't officially allow passengers off until 7am. Delays happen, especially when you least expect it. I am holding a mid-afternoon backup flight that I can cancel once we're at the airport and checked in for our 11am flight. It's more than 4x the cost of the 11am flight, so I'm hoping we don't need to take it.

Thanks for all these suggestions. We've an 11am International flight out of LHR that I have every confidence in making so we booked a car for a 730am pickup at Southampton. We'll be off early, and I have no doubt the driver will arrive early, too.

OK, time to cue the "You're crazy to cut it so close" posts. We're good with the tight connection, that's all that matters. And if we miss our flight, we'll swim to France.

Sorry, found my answer in the FAQs.

"The problem is 200% covid blameable   Huh?

100% SES (the satellite provider) said they had issues blah blah blah

100% NOW EVERYONE wants internet"

Of course everyone wants internet. A successful company figures out how to deliver goods/services its customers want, at a price that results in satisfied customers as well as profit for the company.

Princess fails to deliver internet services their customers want. And they charge an exorbitant fee for it.

Lucky you! We got off last Saturday. You have the absolute best Cruise Director we have ever come across, Matt Something-or-other. Matt, besides being a hoot, is incredibly friendly and his "Wake Show" is a must watch.

We were so impressed with him that we'd book a cruise simply because he's the CD.

I know Covid has changed a number of things about cruising.

Can anyone tell me if RCI is still placing the bananas in a bowl next to the condiments - specifically are bananas still being placed near the ketchup and mayonnaise?

Good luck. Worst Wifi at sea. On our recent Sky transatlantic, a text of 7 words took 15 hrs to switch from pending to sent. The recipient didn't appreciate receiving it at 2:15am.

Let's see: it was caused by switching satellites, I mean too many people were using the system, I mean a part is broken, I mean it will be working when we reach land, I mean it never works so far out at sea, I mean...

You have been warned.

Our room attendant delivered 2 copies on our recent Sky cruise. Good thing, b/c 99% of the time the internet didn't work. I don't think they could have made the font any smaller. Another reason why it was our first, and last, Princess cruise.

Don't get me started about the lack on internet on Sky. I've spent the last 4 hours contacting clients and apologizing for not replying to their emails and calls. So, in addition to spending my time in Funchal, Cadiz, Gibraltar and Lisbon working, I am now working in my hotel room instead of seeing the English countryside.

Internet onboard is worse than ever. Even texts won't go.

I'm sitting in Lisbon cruise terminal using their wifi. And I counted 33 other pax  doing the same.

So much for "Best Wi-fi at Sea" claim.

Update on Sky WiFi:

It's so slow that BA.com thinks I'm a bot and won't allow access. So, once again I'll have to take my computer to a spot off the ship to do basic business. Not how I planned to spend the day in Gibraltar.

Forget about accessing any site if you have it set for 2-step verification. 100% not possible.

You should see the line in the Internet Center. I feel bad for the staff there.

Signed,

An Unhappy Sky Passenger

Omgg. I stand corrected. Internet seems to be working??? I am in my stateroom and surfing, courtesy of Medallion Net. This is good news. Really good news. I have my fingers, toes, and eyeballs crossed that I am not dreaming.

If this posts, Medallion Net is working. We have left port so I'm not pulling wifi from the terminal.

Yes, I received that email, 4 days before the cruise began. I trusted Princess when they said "Internet will be available during your cruise, but because there may be times..." I can deal with internet being occasionally down, after all we are crossing the Atlantic. No internet at all is a different animal altogether.

FCC's? No thank you. I have no plans to cruise this line again. Pax have been told $ spent on WiFi will turn into OBC. No thank you. I want refund to my cc. Where is the Captain in all of this? I'm not interested in garbled messages about how many fathoms are in the sea. I also need internet in my line of business. If there won't be internet for the entire time, be upfront and tell us.

The whole thing is fishy. Have bills not been paid? Inquiring minds want to know.

Dear Princess,

Please please please take advantage of the opportunity you have right now to make "No Smoking inside the ship except in Churchill's" permanent.  You are never going to have a more perfect opportunity.

Spin it as a health decision, spin it as a safety decision, spin it as a environmental decision- spin it however you want. But don't let this opportunity slip away.  Let the smokers have Churchill's, let the rest of us have a smoke free environment, and be done with it. 

First time on Princess next week. Pretty sure I'm in the first group, but can't remember where that info is. I think it's on my phone.

So now all I have to do is make sure I'm wearing my PF Flyers, get to the port before sunrise, make no eye contact with other pax, pace until I'm on, then run like a crazy person, with elbows out, to make sure I get the "right" lounge chair in The Sanctuary, right?😆

Why not just buy one of the proctored home tests, have it sent to you at home, and do it 2 days prior, at home?     

Seems like a no-brainer if its such a hassle to book tests where you live.  

Yes, but I have an even better idea.

How about if Princess provide clear and concise requirements for Covid testing,  and include the date/time of the information. Since it seems too much to ask that they remove outdated info, at least a future cruiser can default to the most current info. This is not rocket science. Jeez.