Princess does the right thing

[skellis]

People are debating the actions of Princess with regard to the passengers on the Star at the time of the earthquake and those trying to get to the Star for the March 2 cruise. Unfortunately, I haven't seen much concern for the Chilean crew who were or are on the Star. I spoke to a friend in Santiago today who is a Princess employee. He and his family are safe. Thank god.

 

He told me that Princess has let all of the Star's Chilean crew members off for ten days so they can see to their own families and deal with the unprecedented disaster they have to face. Not all of them are lucky enough to live in places which were not destroyed, and may find members of their family among the dead or missing from the tsunami, quake and aftershocks.

 

While I symphathise with those who had their vacations go terribly wrong, we cannot forget that there are those who lost homes, had family members or friends injured or killed and who would have had to cruise away from those tragedies or quit the job that supports them, had Princess not allowed them to take time off to deal with this disaster. In the bigger scheme of things, this was the right thing to do.

 

Personally, I would like to see a collection taken up for those families of Princess employees worst impacted by the earthquakes.

[chasetf]

Great to hear those hit hardest are being cared for to the extent possible.

[paul929207]

Well said.

[Coral]

In that case, Princess did the right thing. Glad the employees were able to spend time with their family and help them.

 

In the other situation, it was wrong to insist passengers fly to an area that just had an earthquake and not cancel the voyage, or give them their cruise fare back or money towards another cruise if they could not make the ship.

 

Doing one thing right, doesn't make the other situation go away.

[julieanne]

In that case, Princess did the right thing. Glad the employees were able to spend time with their family and help them.

 

In the other situation, it was wrong to insist passengers fly to an area that just had an earthquake and not cancel the voyage, or give them their cruise fare back or money towards another cruise if they could not make the ship.

 

Doing one thing right, doesn't make the other situation go away.

Agree with that! And then telling the passengers who made the decision to not travel based on the state's department advisory, voluntary cancellations?

I am glad they gave their Chilean employees some time off however, 10 days is not a lot in the wake of a major disaster and did they provide some monetary assistance to the affected employees?

[FLACRUISER99]

Agree with that! And then telling the passengers who made the decision to not travel based on the state's department advisory, voluntary cancellations?

I am glad they gave their Chilean employees some time off however, 10 days is not a lot in the wake of a major disaster and did they provide some monetary assistance to the affected employees?

IMO This thread was not intended to complain about Princess, plenty of other threads to do this.

[kendon]

In that case, Princess did the right thing. Glad the employees were able to spend time with their family and help them.

 

In the other situation, it was wrong to insist passengers fly to an area that just had an earthquake and not cancel the voyage, or give them their cruise fare back or money towards another cruise if they could not make the ship.

 

Doing one thing right, doesn't make the other situation go away.

 

With every passing disaster, I hope people will finally understand the importance of travel insurance.

[billet]

I am glad the Chilean staff were able to spend time with their families during this highly stressful time for all of them.

[Coral]

With every passing disaster, I hope people will finally understand the importance of travel insurance.

 

I totally agree. It appears, that Princess's Travel Insurance (Berkley Care) is considering this a voluntary cancellation and is using the "cancel for any reason" and issuing cruise credit as opposed to covering the incident and issuing a refund.

 

Obviously, this cruise cost a lot of people quite a bit of money - it is not like just applying a $1000 credit to another cruise. Some were booked on a 32 day cruise.

[greatam]

I totally agree. It appears, that Princess's Travel Insurance (Berkley Care) is considering this a voluntary cancellation and is using the "cancel for any reason" and issuing cruise credit as opposed to covering the incident and issuing a refund.

 

Obviously, this cruise cost a lot of people quite a bit of money - it is not like just applying a $1000 credit to another cruise. Some were booked on a 32 day cruise.

 

Berkley Care designs trip insurance SPECIFICALLY for the particular cruise line/tour operator/travel agent. Read through some of the Berkley care products to see the differences. The insurance company is working for their client which is NOT the passenger.

 

Just another reason to buy INDEPENDENT travel insurance (and NOT particularly the one your TA recommends, as it could also be a custom designed policy).

 

As my grandmother used to say "stick to your knitting". Cruise lines provide cruises. All the other "stuff" is fluff provided in the BEST interests of the cruise line. Buy your air, insurance, hotels and maybe excursions independently. It may take a little more research and a lot more phone calls, but the end results are generally FAR superior.

[themerle]

People are debating the actions of Princess with regard to the passengers on the Star at the time of the earthquake and those trying to get to the Star for the March 2 cruise. Unfortunately, I haven't seen much concern for the Chilean crew who were or are on the Star. I spoke to a friend in Santiago today who is a Princess employee. He and his family are safe. Thank god.

 

He told me that Princess has let all of the Star's Chilean crew members off for ten days so they can see to their own families and deal with the unprecedented disaster they have to face. Not all of them are lucky enough to live in places which were not destroyed, and may find members of their family among the dead or missing from the tsunami, quake and aftershocks.

 

While I symphathise with those who had their vacations go terribly wrong, we cannot forget that there are those who lost homes, had family members or friends injured or killed and who would have had to cruise away from those tragedies or quit the job that supports them, had Princess not allowed them to take time off to deal with this disaster. In the bigger scheme of things, this was the right thing to do.

 

Personally, I would like to see a collection taken up for those families of Princess employees worst impacted by the earthquakes.

 

Totally agree!!!!