Live from the Emerald - Bummer!!!

[Kimidfw]

Sorry this happened but you aren't missing anything not stopping at Princess Cay. I was there maybe an hour and then I headed back to the ship! LOL.

I was on RCCL once and we couldn't stop at Grand Cayman due to the weather. That was a bummer.

[Coral]

[quote name='Kimidfw']Sorry this happened but you aren't missing anything not stopping at Princess Cay. I was there maybe an hour and then I headed back to the ship! LOL.

I was on RCCL once and we couldn't stop at Grand Cayman due to the weather. That was a bummer.[/QUOTE]

I would rather have Princess Cays verses Grand Caymen or St. Martin any day.

[trvlcrzy]

[quote name='Kimidfw']Sorry this happened but you aren't missing anything not stopping at Princess Cay. I was there maybe an hour and then I headed back to the ship! LOL.

I was on RCCL once and we couldn't stop at Grand Cayman due to the weather. That was a bummer.[/quote]

...but you would be missing the quiet atmosphere of the ship while lots of people are off enjoying Princess Cays!

[zacc]

Boy talk about beating a dead horse. Really, isn't it time to move onto the fun part of the cruise!?!

[PrincessMelody]

Sorry this happened OP, hope the rest of your cruise is wonderful!!:)

[Cruise Raider]

When we missed a port we were given compensation as OBC; immediately. There was no distinction between catagories; all passengers received the same amount.

 

On the Infinity, the mermaid pod systems were all the talk and I received a call a couple of weeks before the cruise stating they already knew they were going to miss a port and because we booked a balcony cabin, our compensation would be $250. Funny thing is, just a couple of weeks before this, we upgraded from an inside cabin to a balcony cabin as it was only $200 more. The kicker here is that we would have only received $25 credit each if we were in that inside cabin....so essentially, we got the balcony cabin upgrade for no additional charge as we came out even. Loved that cruise!!

I am one to not really even get off the ship at some ports....so told the TA that if they wanted to cancel all the ports, I would be more than happy if they never docked and keep getting the compensation for these missed ports....only because we had been there several times before, though.

[Cruise Raider]

On the cruise we took a couple of summers ago on the Crown, my toilet didn't work properly for eight of the 10 days. I reported it at least 3x a day and it would be cleared out but not fixed. It wasnt until I complained to the Captain's Circle rep that something was done. (The vacuum pump needed to be replaced.) I wrote Princess after returning home and they gave me a very nice cruise credit to use. Believe me, not having a working toilet can definitely ruin your cruise.

 

Once again, I agree with you Pam. I am glad you were able to get some satisfaction with an FCC.

[Pia1913]

On the Infinity, the mermaid pod systems were all the talk and I received a call a couple of weeks before the cruise stating they already knew they were going to miss a port and because we booked a balcony cabin, our compensation would be $250. Funny thing is, just a couple of weeks before this, we upgraded from an inside cabin to a balcony cabin as it was only $200 more. The kicker here is that we would have only received $25 credit each if we were in that inside cabin....so essentially, we got the balcony cabin upgrade for no additional charge as we came out even. Loved that cruise!!

I am one to not really even get off the ship at some ports....so told the TA that if they wanted to cancel all the ports, I would be more than happy if they never docked and keep getting the compensation for these missed ports....only because we had been there several times before, though.

 

You may disagree with me, but a port is a port and what kind of cabin you booked should not have any bearing on OBC. I hate class distinction. I've always thought Celebrity as being snobby which is why I no longer cruise with them.

[99Cruiser]

I went to the Mexico 5 times before they ever stopped in Cabo. Every time the water was too rough for the tenders. On my 6th attempt I finally was able to see Cabo.

 

Since I love seas days and just relaxing by the pool I (most of the time) don't care if a port is missed.

[caribill]

You may disagree with me, but a port is a port and what kind of cabin you booked should not have any bearing on OBC. I hate class distinction.

 

We were on a trans-Atlantic last year which had to skip four ports (with one port being substituted for the last one missed).

 

Compensation was in two parts:

a) OBC for a decent amount

b) 10% of your price for the cruise to be used for another cruise booked in the next year

 

The latter was not based on what kind of cabin, but on how much you paid for it. So someone who had a bargain on a balcony could receive less than someone who paid a higher price for an inside.

[Pia1913]

We were on a trans-Atlantic last year which had to skip four ports (with one port being substituted for the last one missed).

 

Compensation was in two parts:

a) OBC for a decent amount

b) 10% of your price for the cruise to be used for another cruise booked in the next year

 

The latter was not based on what kind of cabin, but on how much you paid for it. So someone who had a bargain on a balcony could receive less than someone who paid a higher price for an inside.

 

That's completely different than to what I was referred to, Bill. When OBC is given, every should and does get the same amount. Your circumstances were totally different than just missing one port.

[Cruise Raider]

You may disagree with me, but a port is a port and what kind of cabin you booked should not have any bearing on OBC. I hate class distinction. I've always thought Celebrity as being snobby which is why I no longer cruise with them.

 

I don't agree or disagree with you actually. This is the only time we have received any OBC due to a missed port, so wouldn't have known any better on how this is distributed. It was explained to me that higher amounts of credit were given based on the cost of the room....I believe the pax in suites were given $500. Now, they must have based this on the avg cost of the rooms -- as we upgraded after final payment date and our assigned a cabin directly next to our friends, already booked on a balcony. They ended up paying over $1000 more for their room than we did for our last minute upgrade, so they were certainly glad that they got more than the obligatory $25. I do see your points, but I am not sure if this is class distinction or not, it is just that some got more back than others because the cost of some rooms were more than others.

[caribill]

That's completely different than to what I was referred to, Bill. When OBC is given, every should and does get the same amount. Your circumstances were totally different than just missing one port.

 

Everyone did get the same amount of OBC on that one.

[Pia1913]

Everyone did get the same amount of OBC on that one.

 

I knew that. :D

[carolugolini]

You may disagree with me, but a port is a port and what kind of cabin you booked should not have any bearing on OBC. I hate class distinction. I've always thought Celebrity as being snobby which is why I no longer cruise with them.

Hi, Pia! You tell 'em :-)

[sherman931]

Check out this link for the details

 

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/fl-emerald-outage-credit-20100729,0,5054393.story

[Pia1913]

Check out this link for the details

 

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/fl-emerald-outage-credit-20100729,0,5054393.story

 

Per cabin, not PP. Still, very nice.

[Katie333]

I hope the passengers received news of their compensation quickly. I believe it was Tuesday or Wednesday before the announcement made its way to us and that's half way through a 7 day cruise.

 

I know we can always find ways to spend money, but in situations like this, the speed of the response is as important as the result.

[jonikal]

Just arrived home (FL) after disembarking from our Emerald adventure this morning. Actually everything was fine after we got the A/C back. It's hard to believe how fast a ship's temperature gets uncomfortable w/o AC tho! I had absolutely no idea my initial posting would make it into the media! I would probably have been less flippant. My concern was mostly for the waiters and those behind the scenes in the kitchens which must have been like a sauna.

 

Thanks for all the nice comments. The Captain did his very best to keep us informed throughout and apologized profusely for the change in plans. Apparently some computer person was picked up in St Maarten to fix the problem.

 

We had pretty much accepted that these things happen and enjoyed the free glass of wine that was offered for dinner the following night. A lovely surprise then (would media attention have had anything to do with it?) when we received a letter saying they would be reimbursing us $300!

 

Unlike missing a port due to lousy weather, I guess this fell into a different category. Of course, as the FCC person told us, he had to listen to many complaints despite the generous credit offered! My one suggestion would be to ALWAYS bring a hand fan (not the battery kind since that will nullify the magnet in your card).

[TracieABD]

Glad that you made it home safely, and that the rest of the cruise was fine! Stuff happens...

 

Your attitude was great!

 

BTW. was the $300 OBC pp or per cabin?

[jonikal]

Glad that you made it home safely, and that the rest of the cruise was fine! Stuff happens...

 

Your attitude was great!

 

BTW. was the $300 OBC pp or per cabin?

 

 

Sorry for not being clearer. The $300 was per cabin.

[sungifts]

We had pretty much accepted that these things happen and enjoyed the free glass of wine that was offered for dinner the following night. A lovely surprise then (would media attention have had anything to do with it?) when we received a letter saying they would be reimbursing us $300!

 

 

 

Hmmm. We were on the same cruise and weren't offered the wine. That's weird.

 

The $300 OBC was nice and I do think it was because they received so many complaints. Before that was offered, one passenger told us she was told at the service desk that Princess was not liable to the passengers for missing a stop and owed them nothing - she said he was very rude about it.

 

Another told my husband that our "compensation" was arriving in St. Marteen 2 hours early.

 

We also felt sorry for the wait staff - they were just a sweating in their suits and had to be miserable! And it did get hot VERY fast - some had commented "how bad could it have been" - but my son's inside cabin was extremely HOT - at least we had a balcony and could open the door for a breeze. (as an afterthought - when we first arrived, our a/c was turned up very high and our room was not cool at all - I'm sure had it been, it may not have gotten so hot so fast)

 

A lot of people propped open their doors and opened the balcony door for a breeze - the steward told my parents that they had to close their room door - it was against the rules to have it open - of course this made my mother mad - and she told him no - that in over 40 cruises she had never heard of such a thing and under the circumstances would not close her door!

[Colo Cruiser]

Just arrived home (FL) after disembarking from our Emerald adventure this morning. Actually everything was fine after we got the A/C back. It's hard to believe how fast a ship's temperature gets uncomfortable w/o AC tho! I had absolutely no idea my initial posting would make it into the media! I would probably have been less flippant. My concern was mostly for the waiters and those behind the scenes in the kitchens which must have been like a sauna.

 

Thanks for all the nice comments. The Captain did his very best to keep us informed throughout and apologized profusely for the change in plans. Apparently some computer person was picked up in St Maarten to fix the problem.

 

We had pretty much accepted that these things happen and enjoyed the free glass of wine that was offered for dinner the following night. A lovely surprise then (would media attention have had anything to do with it?) when we received a letter saying they would be reimbursing us $300!

 

Unlike missing a port due to lousy weather, I guess this fell into a different category. Of course, as the FCC person told us, he had to listen to many complaints despite the generous credit offered! My one suggestion would be to ALWAYS bring a hand fan (not the battery kind since that will nullify the magnet in your card).

 

Glad the rest of the cruise was uneventfull. :)

[Colo Cruiser]

Hmmm. We were on the same cruise and weren't offered the wine. That's weird.

 

The $300 OBC was nice and I do think it was because they received so many complaints. Before that was offered, one passenger told us she was told at the service desk that Princess was not liable to the passengers for missing a stop and owed them nothing - she said he was very rude about it.

 

Another told my husband that our "compensation" was arriving in St. Marteen 2 hours early.

 

We also felt sorry for the wait staff - they were just a sweating in their suits and had to be miserable! And it did get hot VERY fast - some had commented "how bad could it have been" - but my son's inside cabin was extremely HOT - at least we had a balcony and could open the door for a breeze. (as an afterthought - when we first arrived, our a/c was turned up very high and our room was not cool at all - I'm sure had it been, it may not have gotten so hot so fast)

 

A lot of people propped open their doors and opened the balcony door for a breeze - the steward told my parents that they had to close their room door - it was against the rules to have it open - of course this made my mother mad - and she told him no - that in over 40 cruises she had never heard of such a thing and under the circumstances would not close her door!

 

 

And how was the rest of the cruise?

[georoc01]

I had something similar happen on the Star a few years ago. We were delayed 6 hours leaving FLL due to engine trouble and weren't able to make it up going to Jamaica. We were 5 hours late arriving in port and all of our excursions were cancelled.

 

We received refunds for our excursions and a $300 fcc/cabin.