Sea Princess on the go slow....

[Kiwi_cruiser]

There are two threads on the Australia & New Zealand Cruisers forum about the Sea Princess on the go slow.... :(

 

See: "Slow Sea Princess" and "More bad news on Sea Princess"

 

I was wondering if anyone here has head anything about the Sea Princess and maybe her going in to dry dock early?

[LC1968]

Thanks for posting that info. What an ethically-compromised company!:mad:

[caribill]

 

I was wondering if anyone here has head anything about the Sea Princess and maybe her going in to dry dock early?

 

There have been two threads on these boards, both of which did refer to the Australia boards.

 

No hint on the threads about when it might get fixed or what the actual problem is.

[DTZSCruise]

I just completed a 12 day cruise from Perth to Singapore on Sea Princess. Once on board, my group and I were determined to have a great time...and we did!

 

However, as many have already noted, Princess management is doing a inadequate job with regard to communicating with passengers on the "technical issue" hounding the ship. E-mails to Princess prior to departure, in which I expressed my concern, and asked for more detailed information were never answered. All passengers received a $200 on board credit to compensate for port call changes. Prior to sailing we were told that one port would not be visited (Lombok). As a result, we spent the initial six days at sea. The cruise staff did not add any additional entertainment or events as a result of this extra time at sea...despite having considerable time to do so. Once on board we were notified that all of our port calls, with the exception of Kuala Lumpur, were being cut short by an hour...the explanation given (by a passing crew member...nothing from the Captain) was "tidal issues"...tide tables are published years in advance, a low tide should not have surprised the navigator.

 

I completely understand the contract of passage allows Princess to make itinerary changes, I am let down by the manner in which Princess management is handled this situation. I think that all cruise lovers fully understand that unforeseen circumstances, emergency maintenance issues and force majeure are often the exception to the rule during the course of a cruise, but happen none the less. However, none of these reasons appear to be what has stricken Sea Princess.

Sea Princess has been crippled for several weeks. From my perspective, rather than fixing the problem at one of the many available ship building and maintenance ports the ship has recently visited, Princess appears to be satisfied with operating a less than fully functional ship. If the problem is more complex than what I have inferred, no information has been shared with me beyond that she, “…has experienced technical difficulties which have resulted in our inability to operate at full speed.” Therefore, to the layman, it appears Princess will continue to operate her, at the expense of delivering the customer what we booked nearly a year ago. It seems like a conscious choice to sacrifice the product they are providing the consumer rather than fixing the issue. This causes great concern to me as a passenger. It makes me question what other “short cuts” Princess is making, how will these effect ultimate safety while on board?

 

Moving beyond my concern regarding them operating a ship with known mechanical difficulties, the manner in which they addressed is also unsettling. The cruise will now start with six sea days. The ship sailed slower from the cool temperatures of Perth to the warm weather. The ship was now be at sea for six continuous days. While six days at sea may be paradise for some, I think if you look closer at the product offered for those six days, you will recognize the stressful situation created for passengers and crew. The Sea Princess is not one of the new, big, improved ships that are featured on your commercials. This ship is over 20 years old. The entertainment options are her are limited. The venues to eat, relax and unwind are equally limited (when compared to other ships, and when faced with no diversion for six days).

 

Due to lack of competition, Princess appears able, and satisfied, to offer an inferior product to the Australian market than they would in other locals.

[SmoothSailingMax]

Excellent post thank you, we are going on her on 29th of September and have also had a change in itinerary and notification of "speed Issues" but like you our family is determined to have a great time regardless, it would be great if Princess would proactive and fix the ship. due their dishonest disregard to their customers we will never sail with this line again.

[lovevacadays]

How crazy is all of this!!! If this ship is having such issues, I think Princess should not let it sail until fixed. Or sell it to some low-end, random cruise line. I am happy with the Princess product but if I had this happen it might make me rethink Princess. Bad on Princess......:eek::eek::eek:

[dchip]

What on earth is Princess line of reasoning with the Sea Princess??? There is obviously a problem,yet she sails cruise after cruise with excuses. There is no way I would be booking a cruise on her now.

 

Did I understand correctly that she is doing a World Cruise before a dry dock? Really? If that's true, all I can say is YIKES!!!!

 

Cheers, Denise

[cdngrl]

it would be much better if princess would just come clean and keep cruisers informed!

they keep selling what they want to happen instead of selling what it is!

let booked passengers know the issues and give them the choice of opting out. then sell or market the cruise to people who want 6 sea days (there are some of us!) and shortened port time.

[shredie]

Are they STILL having problems on that ship? It has been going on for ages now.

[windsor26]

I am on the Sea Princess now Everyone knows of the engine problems which have been around since January. The repairs which should jhave happened in Singapore were obviously not completed as our highest speed is 17/18 knots. However the captain and Princess have come to the party generously after problems which they COULD have ignored and given us nothing.

Due to bad weather in Koh Samui we had tendering problems the 20 tender journey was taking 1.5 hours if they could get you on a tender. We then left 8.30pm instead of 4p.

Then we had a medical emergency and off loaded 2 passenger into a hospital when we had to deviate our journey So No Benoa.

Thankfully these people are progressing well.

As this was medical and weather Princess could have said nothing but they gave everyone a further $100 credit and a 50% credit of the cost of this cruise against a future booking before end of 2015 and I think this is most generous.

Not everyone is unhappy only those who always have a half empty or cannot make lemonade. We are happy and we are on a cruise so no moaning.

[Love.II.Cruise]

JMO, but it seems like the ships that are in Australia are abused, not by passengers, but by Princess. It seems they do not get the proper TLC (maintenance) as other ships in the fleet. :confused:

[Colo Cruiser]

Still no excuse! Take the ship out of service for as long as necessary and fix the problem! :cool:

They did this with the CB a few years ago too.

Edited September 12, 2014 by Colo Cruiser