Earthquake near Santiago Chile -- Princess Sailings and Passengers

[Coral]

I think Princess is being very unrealistic about the situation as even if the airport does open on Monday/Tuesday - that doesn't mean it will be open at 100%. I think Princess does need to provide some leniency. On the other hand, I read somewhere about someone who didn't buy insurance for this trip. This is a perfect example of why people need trip insurance - for the unexpected.

 

I think YCC F/A has some very good points - if Princess wants to get people to port, they would be smart to charter planes (pick a few cities that people can get to like Dallas or LA) and even let those who had private arrangements buy a seat on the plane.

[Ruste]

The effects of the quake are reaching NZ as I post.

Reports are coming in of unusual tidal surges and many low lying areas have been evacuated.

Dawn Princess arrived in Auckland early this morning, but mid morning it left its berth and is now sitting in the middle of the harbour.

 

We have a beach house on the Coromandel and so far they have had a 30cm wave and are waiting on a metre. DD is on the Sapphire and she got stuck at the port when they pulled up all the gangways for a while.

[Times Prince]

Our hearts and prayers go out to those affected in Chile.

 

CNN reports not only the airport closed, but also the highway from Valparaiso to Santiago is closed.

 

Having been on this road in December, I would have to question how quickly they can repair the highways, especially where overpass bridges are out (some pictures shown, but the highway was not specified.)

 

For anyone due to travel I would suggest keeping in touch with Princess' travel line (in-transit line) for latest status.

[Colo Cruiser]

The Golden is docked in Ensenada.

 

 

[irwinler]

Princess has not been very helpful yet. They say the cruise is still a go, but we can't get there. It appears that March 3 or later is the soonest we can get into Santiago and probably can't get from there to Valparaiso.

To fly to another port on the itinerary (Punta Arenas or Buenos Aires) is very expensive; about 4 or 5 time what we were paying to fly to Santiago. We will wait until tomorrow to make a decision, but we are looking at alternate cruises leaving soon from Florida.

The airlines aren't very helpful either.

Nancy

[RickEk]

Princess has not been very helpful yet. They say the cruise is still a go, but we can't get there. It appears that March 3 or later is the soonest we can get into Santiago and probably can't get from there to Valparaiso.

To fly to another port on the itinerary (Punta Arenas or Buenos Aires) is very expensive; about 4 or 5 time what we were paying to fly to Santiago. We will wait until tomorrow to make a decision, but we are looking at alternate cruises leaving soon from Florida.

The airlines aren't very helpful either.

Nancy

 

Well, this is an extreme situation. I'm sure they are burning the midnight oil trying to figure out what to do... They certainly don't want the ship to leave empty...

[Cruise Junky]

There's some coverage on CNN involving Island Princess and Mexico.

[YYC F/A]

While it is undoubtedly a fluid situation and therefore difficult to make immediate decisions, I have to agree with other posters that Princess has been less than on their A game thus far.

 

They insist that the cruise will depart on Tuesday 2nd March as planned, even though the reservations agents acknowledge that Princess is aware that there are no flights available that will get passengers there in time. This just makes no sense...

 

Princess official line is "it's circumstances beyond our control, so if guests can't make the scheduled departure - then they can cancel (with full 100% penalties) or make alternate arrangements at their own expense".

 

Of course Princess should not have to suffer financially for something out of their control - but rather than telling people to just go away and cancel their cruise - given the severity of the situation I would be shocked if they don't eventually look to push back the departure from Valparaiso until the following day to allow more people to make it in time. It'd be far better to say skip one en-route port of call and depart a day later, than to have 2/3rds of the ships passengers miss the departure.

 

In the meantime, it's very hard for passengers to make any kind of contingency arrangements.

[uwishufish]

Doesn't princess have tenders?

[RickEk]

Doesn't princess have tenders?

 

The problem is that passengers can't fly into Santiago and therefore can't get to the port...

[Cruise Junky]

Doesn't princess have tenders?

 

Yes, all ships have Tenders, they're lifeboats. What is a tender going to do?

[Kiwi_cruiser]

Dawn Princess is now back at its berth

 

[GrandBistro]

The ports in San Pedro and Long Beach were closed for a couple of hours earlier today, which delayed the Sapphire's turnaround in San Pedro. She is now underway, just an hour off schedule.

[Coral]

I'm in touch with both my local contacts on the ground in Chile (we have our own dedicated ground handling/transfer company in Santiago that provides services for my company) so the information I am getting is from our local people down there and not assumptions. I'm also in touch with various airlines and Princess Cruises in my capacity as a TA helping several of my clients whom are booked on this voyage. As a TA, I can see factually that there are no seats on flights. This is again, not an assumption.

.

 

I just wanted to say that Travel Agents in situations like this are worth their weight in gold! Even though you may not have the answers you want today - I definitely feel more comfortable knowing that I have a travel professional on my court trying to find the right/best solutions when travel plans go "unplanned". Your clients are very fortunate to have you. I would hate to go through a situation like this with an online agency. Or even booking directly with Princess when they are saying "be there Tuesday - we have no clue how you are getting there but see you onboard".

[Sam n Janet Evening]

Hello,

Captain Perrin came on the PA this afternoon and said we were going to be sailing on to Puerto Montt to be there by 8:00 am and that we were to head to Valparaiso as scheduled. The airport in Santiago is suppose to be back open on Monday. He also said that thing were still fluid and could change. He also said that they needed the independent passanger disembarkation forms turned in no later than 9:00pm to night, so they could assist passangers if our plans changed.

 

Caio

[Coral]

Hello,

Captain Perrin came on the PA this afternoon and said we were going to be sailing on to Puerto Montt to be there by 8:00 am and that we were to head to Valparaiso as scheduled. The airport in Santiago is suppose to be back open on Monday. He also said that thing were still fluid and could change. He also said that they needed the independent passanger disembarkation forms turned in no later than 9:00pm to night, so they could assist passangers if our plans changed.

 

Caio

 

Thanks for the update. Hopefully everything goes as planned and you all are able to get on your planes and home with out incident.

 

I love the fact that Princess corporate and onboard the ship have their terminology in sync with each other with the term "fluid".

[YYC F/A]

I just wanted to say that Travel Agents in situations like this are worth their weight in gold! Even though you may not have the answers you want today - I definitely feel more comfortable knowing that I have a travel professional on my court trying to find the right/best solutions when travel plans go "unplanned". Your clients are very fortunate to have you. I would hate to go through a situation like this with an online agency. Or even booking directly with Princess when they are saying "be there Tuesday - we have no clue how you are getting there but see you onboard".

 

Thanks for the kind words Coral. The situation in Chile is a tragedy and my thoughts are with people there. But my company has clients that are already en-route that are now stranded at their connecting airport in the US and need to be helped, so I've had a hectic weekend so far trying to figure out some plans - and it's nice to know that there are people that appreciate what efforts TA's can make in these situations.

[Bowie MeMe]

TA's are great! Your efforts for your clients will be appreciated when they have time to reflect. My TA as best friend (just happened to be my SIL this time) story was when the bombing in the London tube happened and we were in the air flying to London as the first part of an African safari. TA realized what was happening and got us a rental car reservation and a hotel in Brighton Beach so that we skipped London hotel on the tube and had a safe place to stay. We really enjoyed our time though it was certainly NOT what we had planned. TA was a wonderful asset. To all TA's good luck helping your folks in Chili --you are appreciated.

[Cuizer2]

Doesn't princess have tenders?

 

Yes, every ship has tenders. So what are you suggesting?

[editor@cruisecritic]

Hi. Melissa Paloti, our managing editor, boarded Windstar's Wind Star yesterday in Costa Rica, says there's no impact whatsoever....

 

Carolyn

 

Carolyn Spencer Brown

Editor in Chief

Cruise Critic

 

 

I am concerned about the seas if there is any problem with the waves from the earthquake today........my sister is in route to Costa Rica on Coral.......? Would love any opinions or news on how it may affect the ship sailing? thanx, sailinsal

[editor@cruisecritic]

Yeah, just saw the segment. It's from Mexico's Huatulco -- basically using viewer photos and Island Princess is docked there. But there's no impact.

 

Carolyn

 

Carolyn Spencer Brown

Editor in Chief

Cruise Critic

 

There's some coverage on CNN involving Island Princess and Mexico.

[saevans]

I was very upset with the flight situation, but I stopped to think about what has happened to Chile and decided to move on and find a flight from somewhere. As hubby always says, "What can be fixed with money is not really a problem," so...I began a flight search. We just arrived from NJ (where the snow almost cancelled our flight) and were leaving out of Miami a day early. Avianca cancelled our flight for Sunday and had no seats on any other flight until 3/11. The only flight I could find out of Miami was about $2500. I then found AeroMexico out of Orlando for $1300 each and booked it. Thanks to very good friends, who we are current visiting, we will get a ride to Orlando. This is by far the most expensive flight that I have ever taken!

 

I did speak to Princess several times. I suggested that the ship stay in port for a day to allow more passengers to make the cruise. I was told that it was out of their hands since port authorities determine how long a ship can stay there. It was implied that Chile would not allow the Star to remain a day longer. If this is true then perhaps Princess is not all wrong?

[anzt888]

My flight from Toronto -> Santiago is canceled. I changed my flight to Mar 06 departure. That's the first day of flights flying down. I checked all the airlines, it seems no flight will fly until Mar 06. Good luck, guys.

[Colo Cruiser]

Hello,

Captain Perrin came on the PA this afternoon and said we were going to be sailing on to Puerto Montt to be there by 8:00 am and that we were to head to Valparaiso as scheduled. The airport in Santiago is suppose to be back open on Monday. He also said that thing were still fluid and could change. He also said that they needed the independent passanger disembarkation forms turned in no later than 9:00pm to night, so they could assist passangers if our plans changed.

 

Caio

 

 

Thanks for the update.

Things will change, and people will miss the cruise.

 

Prayers go out to the people of Chile.

[YYC F/A]

This was just released by Princess Cruises

 

"Voyage 9006: Departing Valparaiso Tuesday, March 2

 

Star Princess is still scheduled to arrive on Tuesday in Valparaiso, Chile on Tuesday, March 2. Based on information that the Santiago airport will be closed for the next 72 hours, at this time we expect embarkation to commence as planned.

 

However, this is a very fluid situation and could change at any time. We encourage passengers to make any necessary adjustments to plan their flight to arrive in Valparaiso on Tuesday, March 2.

 

As we receive new information, we will continue to keep our passengers advised of any changes to their cruise itineraries. In the meantime, our thoughts are with those in Chile who are affected by the devastating earthquake."

 

 

Princess continues to acknowledge that the airport is closed until Monday, they are aware that the first flights to leave from N. America won't depart until Monday night arriving on Tuesday - and that in any event these flights are all completely full.

 

So the most up to date information is that Princess expects to sail from Valparaiso on schedule, and will leave behind a significant number of passengers (perhaps as high as 3/4 of the passenger load) because it is just not possible for people to get there in time.

 

As I've said before, this does not make sense. It's very frustrating. I have clients whom I cannot get down there in time - so we have to look at the logistics of getting them to Ushuaia or somewhere like that. I have some clients whom paid for business class for flights to South America and got the last seats up front on an internal South America flight into Santiago to arrive on Tuesday - but even though these clients are lucky enough to have a flight in on Tuesday, our local ground handling company is hard to reach due to communication issues, and even they don't know yet whether the road is even passable to Valparaiso from Santiago. So we send our clients to Santiago not knowing if they can even get to the ship or if there are hotel rooms in Santiago to accommodate them if they cannot.

 

I fully understand that Princess is having to adjust to the situation as best they can - but in the opinion of my clients (and I can see their point), by continuing to tell people that they have to be on the ship by Tuesday afternoon makes no sense given the logistical situation, lack of flights, and unknown local infrastructure. It also means we're being told as TAs by Princess to knowingly "encourage" our clients to try and get to a city that is still recovering from an Earthquake, and where we cannot even guarantee that there are transportation services or hotels available.