Is This Common Practice?

[CATGUY7]

Booked on Caribbean Princess for the last week in July 2014. Logged into cruise personalizer yesterday and found that the Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos port has been changed to Nassau. I know Grand Turk doesn't have a lot to offer, but I really have no desire to return to Nassau. We can change to an earlier date, which according to the itinerary is still stopping at GT, but this was the week we picked based on the itineraries offered initially by Princess. We have received no correspondence from Princess regarding the port change. This is only our fourth Princess cruise, but is this a common practice to switch ports and offer no explanation to booked passengers? I will call Princess tomorrow to confirm that the change actually occurred, but I am irritated, to say the least.

[fishin' musician]

FWIW, I've really enjoyed Grand Turks, but it requires getting out of the Carnival Compound. I hope you end up with the itinerary you purchased.

[-Lew-]

It doesn't happen often, but as you've learned, it does happen. We've seen itinerary changes before embarkation and while cruising for one reason or another.

 

My guess is there was a scheduling conflict where too many ships were scheduled to call on Grand Turk on that particular day and the CB lost out. Although I'd much prefer going to Grand Turk than Nassau, you can still have a very nice day in Nassau. Only you can decide whether a change to your cruise plans is in order.

 

Lew

[CATGUY7]

Hopefully I'll find out tomorrow when I call why the change occurred. At least it's still early enough to book the same cabin for one of the other two weeks the itinerary is offered. I guess it pays to check the personalizer weekly, if not sooner!

[-Lew-]

 

Hopefully I'll find out tomorrow when I call why the change occurred.

I'd be very surprised if you'll get a definitive answer. Princess Operations knows why the change was made, but that info is liekly not relayed to the reservations office or even customer service.

 

With all due respect, does the reason really matter? The change was made.

 

Whatever you decide, enjoy your cruise...

 

Lew

[CATGUY7]

I was hoping it was an error since no notification have been made, but I realize it will probably not change back to the original itinerary.

[JimmyVWine]

I was hoping it was an error since no notification have been made, but I realize it will probably not change back to the original itinerary.

 

The change may be noted in your Personalizer under Important Notices.

[CATGUY7]

I did look there, but there was nothing about the change. Thanks to everyone for your replies.

[Cruise Junky]

Are you absolutely positive you booked the sailing with Grand Turk? There are a few sailings with Nassau.

[1025cruise]

If they did change it, all they will tell you is operational reasons. They won't give any details beyond that.

[CATGUY7]

Are you absolutely positive you booked the sailing with Grand Turk? There are a few sailings with Nassau.

 

I printed my itinerary the day I booked - 4/17/13, and as late as early last week I was looking for excursions and Grand Turk was listed. When I search the three dates listed showing that itinerary, they all show Grand Turk. But when I look at the detailed itinerary, it changes to Nassau.

[Cruise Junky]

I printed my itinerary the day I booked - 4/17/13, and as late as early last week I was looking for excursions and Grand Turk was listed. When I search the three dates listed showing that itinerary, they all show Grand Turk. But when I look at the detailed itinerary, it changes to Nassau.

 

Yep, I'd say you definitely booked Grand Turk. That sucks.

[Treven]

It doesn't happen often, but as you've learned, it does happen. We've seen itinerary changes before embarkation and while cruising for one reason or another.

 

My guess is there was a scheduling conflict where too many ships were scheduled to call on Grand Turk on that particular day and the CB lost out. Although I'd much prefer going to Grand Turk than Nassau, you can still have a very nice day in Nassau. Only you can decide whether a change to your cruise plans is in order.

 

Lew

That has happened to me on my first Caribbean cruise. But in my case it didn't matter as I'd never been there.

[cherylandtk]

FWIW, about a quarter of our Princess cruises booked a year or more in advance have had port and itinerary changes made well in advance of the actual cruise. (so this does not include on-the-fly changes due to weather or political issues.) All we ever were told was 'operational reasons'. The notification eventually showed up in the Personalizer, but the itinerary itself was changed almost immediately online. There was no other notice or contact made. That far in advance, Princess is not going to make a big deal out of it; if you don't like the change you have plenty of options to cancel or rebook a different itinerary.

[Poulsbo Cruisers]

On our Mediterranean cruise last year, Princess decided to remove Marseilles from the itinerary. They did not replace it with another port. We spent a day cruising around the Med at 5 knots. Operational reasons was the only thing we could get out of Princess. We were informed on the personalizer, however the itinerary on the Princess website continued to show this port for quite some time. Since some of the cruise dates impacted by the change were after final payment had been made, Princess eventually agreed to allow those who wanted to, to cancel without penalty. Although disappointed, we went ahead with the cruise as we had already booked and paid for airfare.

[Pam in CA]

All cruise lines change itineraries occasionally, not just Princess.

 

Frequent reasons are docking facilities (such as if the ship has to tender instead of dock) and number of ships in port. If you've ever been to a port with over ten large ships docked or tendering, you'd see that it's awful for everyone. If it's not going to be a good port experience, then it's not worth going.

[ar1950]

..... This is only our fourth Princess cruise, but is this a common practice to switch ports and offer no explanation to booked passengers?......

 

It seems to happen on other cruise lines as well. On our RCCL cruise there were originally 3 ports scheduled. After we had booked the cruise one port was eliminated and the itinerary changed to show only two ports on that cruise. Later another port was added so we had three stops again. All of this was done without any notice to us as booked passengers. We only knew about it because we checked the itinerary online from time to time when we were planning what to do on each stop.

[A1A]

We received Curacao in place of Bonaire a few year back, so it does happen. No explanation was ever given and we had already been to Curacao before. I understand your frustration and hope everything works out for you!

[CATGUY7]

I guess I'm fortunate that we hadn't made flight reservations and we are still able to change our cruise reservations. But it seems like port schedules should be set in stone prior to listing them for booking, as lots of thought goes into the planning on this end. Just my opinion.

[caribill]

All cruise lines change itineraries occasionally, not just Princess.

 

Frequent reasons are docking facilities (such as if the ship has to tender instead of dock) and number of ships in port. If you've ever been to a port with over ten large ships docked or tendering, you'd see that it's awful for everyone. If it's not going to be a good port experience, then it's not worth going.

 

The change in question seems to have been done for a number of different sailings. And in some places (Princess and TA sites) you will still see Grand Turk and in other places will see Nassau.

 

Very confusing for those who want to know what the itinerary really is.

[1025cruise]

I guess I'm fortunate that we hadn't made flight reservations and we are still able to change our cruise reservations. But it seems like port schedules should be set in stone prior to listing them for booking, as lots of thought goes into the planning on this end. Just my opinion.

 

While that would be nice, things happen. Its not just cruise ships that dock, its also cargo. Its extremely possible that something came up later causing the change.

 

Also, read your cruise contract. All they have to do is take you on a cruise. If they have to swap out ports, they are able to.

[Pam in CA]

I guess I'm fortunate that we hadn't made flight reservations and we are still able to change our cruise reservations. But it seems like port schedules should be set in stone prior to listing them for booking, as lots of thought goes into the planning on this end. Just my opinion.

There are many reasons why an itinerary is changed and cannot be "set in stone." The cruise lines don't do it to piss off passengers and it's not arbitrary. Kind of like asking for airlines to guarantee and set their flight schedules in stone no matter what. If you think cruise lines are bad, just keep checking your flight schedule. :)

[caribill]

For the Ruby next year, the map shows Grand Turk and the list shows Nassau.

 

http://www.princess.com/find/cruiseDetails.do?voyageCode=R449&itinCode=CEG070&tourCode=&trade=&date=1214&noOfPax=2&resType=C&ship=RU&bID=PCDIR&meta=I&ppax=false&itinPort=&tourIds=&duration=&tourdur=&orderBy=&filterBy=&order=

[CATGUY7]

So it may do no good to switch weeks as the others may change also. Perfect.

[Poulsbo Cruisers]

There are many reasons why an itinerary is changed and cannot be "set in stone." The cruise lines don't do it to piss off passengers and it's not arbitrary. Kind of like asking for airlines to guarantee and set their flight schedules in stone no matter what. If you think cruise lines are bad, just keep checking your flight schedule. :)

 

That may be, but when it is done there is no reason the cruise line couldn't be more forthcoming with the reason. In our situation last year, Princess should have added a port to replace the one removed.

 

When an airline changes a flight, they still get you to the same place you booked.