Golden Princess missing South Island..

[Hawka]

We were on Diamond 29 Sep ex SYD we missed Fiordland, Dunedin & Akaroa.

 

We booked tours privately in Dunedin - train & Cadbury - both refunded no prob.

 

No compensation was offered by Princess I didnt expect it as I thought that was just the way the cookie crumbled & I thought their cruising contract was pretty clear that due to weather ports can be missed. And I was happy enough not to cruise through a massive gale LOL. And we had a fab time regardless & we could see the weather we turned away from was hideous - we even saw water spouts from the clouds to the sea so it seemed a good call from the Captn.

 

Should I have inquired about compo for missed ports? :confused: Just curious.

 

We didnt return early to Syd- we had an overnight in Wellington to fill in time.

the Diamond is behind the Golden wonder if she had to abort any ports too ??

was checking the cruise tracker , glad you still enjoyed the cruise and i say the same if have to miss ports so be it the safety of all on board is more important then risking life and limb , if it happens to me i will just do another cruise to nz another time

glad no probs with refunds too

Edited November 21, 2015 by Hawka

[Hazydavo]

According to sea scanner Explorer is still heading towards Milford. She's 8hrs out.

[Hawka]

i am looking at live tracker no boat near milford found another tracker explorer is near flinders island tassie

Edited November 21, 2015 by Hawka

[Hawka]

just found that one is playing funny games with me found another that is saying what you said other one had solstice up top of south island and this one says it has left milford sound would say it must have missed the bad weather just then

Edited November 21, 2015 by Hawka

[Hazydavo]

i am looking at live tracker no boat near milford found another tracker explorer is near flinders island tassie

 

Yes Shipmate also says she's near Tassie. That would appear more likely...

[The_Big_M]

That's not how Princess credits work, if they're giving them a credit, they'll get a credit for 30% of what they paid for this cruise to use on a future cruise.

 

Agreed. And it will be off whatever price the person books at, not that they have to pay the 'full' price.

[likeadisguise]

We were on Diamond 29 Sep ex SYD we missed Fiordland, Dunedin & Akaroa.

 

We booked tours privately in Dunedin - train & Cadbury - both refunded no prob.

 

No compensation was offered by Princess I didnt expect it as I thought that was just the way the cookie crumbled & I thought their cruising contract was pretty clear that due to weather ports can be missed. And I was happy enough not to cruise through a massive gale LOL. And we had a fab time regardless & we could see the weather we turned away from was hideous - we even saw water spouts from the clouds to the sea so it seemed a good call from the Captn.

 

Should I have inquired about compo for missed ports? :confused: Just curious.

 

We didnt return early to Syd- we had an overnight in Wellington to fill in time.

Did they substitute anything for the missed ports? That could make a difference.

[GUT2407]

the Diamond is behind the Golden wonder if she had to abort any ports too ??

was checking the cruise tracker , glad you still enjoyed the cruise and i say the same if have to miss ports so be it the safety of all on board is more important then risking life and limb , if it happens to me i will just do another cruise to nz another time

glad no probs with refunds too

 

Diamond was ahead of Golden, only missed Akaroa.

 

My opinion is if Capt doesn't want to go there (or stay there in our case) neither do I.

[MicCanberra]

Diamond was ahead of Golden, only missed Akaroa.

 

My opinion is if Capt doesn't want to go there (or stay there in our case) neither do I.

 

agreed. :D

[to_dee]

Did they substitute anything for the missed ports? That could make a difference.

 

Our orig itin was to be:

Day 1 Sep29 Syd

Days 2-3 Sep30-1Oct At Sea

Day 4 Oct 2 Fiordland

Day 5 Oct 3 Dunedin

Day 6 Oct 4 Akaroa

Day 7 back to origin itin ie Picton Tauranga, Akl, Bay Isl, Syd

 

Due to weather instead we did:

Day 1 Sep29 Syd

Days 2-4 Sep30-2Oct At Sea

Day 5 Oct 3 Wellington (overnight)

Day 6 Oct 4 Wellington

Day 7 orig itin

 

When we diverted to Wellington the plan was go back south for Akaroa but the weather was too bad to leave Wellington hence to the overnight.

 

In fact when we did leave Wellington to travel Picton, according to the Capnt the next day the winds over night were sustained at 150km/hr for a solid 5 hours he made the point that it wasn't gusting at 150kms it was sustained so pretty breezy LOL.

 

Anyway the answer to your question is in lieu of our planned itinerary we did an extra day at sea plus 2 days in Wellington.

 

Would the addition of Wellington mean no % type compo that has been mentioned for the Golden? The only mention that was made on board was if you booked day tours via Princess the funds would be refunded onto your on board account.

 

ETA - by the way we still totally loved our cruise & big fans of Princess (was our 1st Princess cruise only on Disney prior to this) and if the Captn says divert I am never going to complain I would far rather be safe & comfortable than riding out some hideous storm. But hey :o human nature :p if there is % being given off a future cruise I want to know

Edited November 21, 2015 by to_dee

[likeadisguise]

They don't usually give credits for weather disruptions, but it seems like they might have figured that you exchanged two ports for the two days in Wellington, so the only thing "lost" was the scenic cruising in Fiordland. That's just a guess, though.

[Hawka]

Diamond was ahead of Golden, only missed Akaroa.

 

My opinion is if Capt doesn't want to go there (or stay there in our case) neither do I.

Was going by some ship tracker when I said that it read showing them after they had gone between the south and north island and had golden in front and diamond Behind her .

 

If it wasn't safe and the captain doesn't want to go there I'm fine with that too rather have a great cruise then find that I end up I don't due to a very rough trip that could have been avoided as much as possible

[to_dee]

They don't usually give credits for weather disruptions, but it seems like they might have figured that you exchanged two ports for the two days in Wellington, so the only thing "lost" was the scenic cruising in Fiordland. That's just a guess, though.

 

That makes sense :)

 

So I wonder why they are giving 30% offer to the Golden pax? Maybe as they'll just be at sea with no port stop like we had.

 

I might give Princess a call or drop them a line on Monday may as well ask.

[happysnapper]

True and they will get the port taxes and fees reimbursed.:D

 

Missed Bermuda on a Transatlantic cruise because of a hurricane. Port taxes refunded. Can't compete with "mother nature". Am sure most frequent cruisers have suffered at "her" hands. Never ever considered compensation just disappointment.

[Hailzmick]

We were on Vision of the Seas in June and missed Santorini, (one of the girls in our group cried, she just wanted to see some beach!) Captain Lis knew how disappointed most people were... But no one expected any kind of compensation. We were given back the taxes that were charged to us for docking there, (maybe about $15 per person) and then they had HAPPY HOUR for 3 hours a day for the rest of the cruise!!! Super cheap drinks and great friends, I was saying, "Santorini who?" Lol.

[MicCanberra]

They will generally do some sort of activity like this to compensate for the disappointment of missing something. Obviously for some it isn't good enough an for others it is perfectly fine.:D

[Womble99]

That makes sense :)

 

So I wonder why they are giving 30% offer to the Golden pax? Maybe as they'll just be at sea with no port stop like we had.

 

I might give Princess a call or drop them a line on Monday may as well ask.

 

Maybe in this case it is because it looks like they will be back in Melbourne ie the end of the cruise a day early rather than missing just a port or two in the middle and substituting with sea days? Only guessing, who knows they never seem to do the same thing twice from what I have seen on the boards so far.

[Wildence]

so a little off topic..

when would be a good time to visit NZ? and when would be a good time to visit south pacific? to minimize the chance of bad weather and missing ports..

[Hawka]

good question i went in oct last time got sunny days and got wet days it snowed as well on the mountains which meant rain or drizzle in the low lands dont know when is a good time to be honest for weather as it changes all the time not sure if they cop any cyclones or get affected by any near by ??

[OzKiwiJJ]

so a little off topic..

when would be a good time to visit NZ? and when would be a good time to visit south pacific? to minimize the chance of bad weather and missing ports..

 

February and March tend to have the most settled weather in NZ but it's still possible to get storms then.

Edited November 22, 2015 by OzKiwiJJ

[MicCanberra]

Predicting weather, wind and sea is beyond my capabilities. For NZ, you could have great weather and seas but still get winds from the wrong direction which could cause a missed port or sound. Conversely you could have bad weather and still get in. It really is pot luck with getting into every port. For the Islands March - September seems to be the most stable months but are still subject to any of the bad conditions. Good luck.:D

Edited November 22, 2015 by MicCanberra

[Kruser Karl]

Celebrity Solstice was in Milford sound on Saturday and Explorer of the seas on Sun seems a bit odd to me that Princess pulled the pin (Just saying).

[RosieCanberra]

Celebrity Solstice was in Milford sound on Saturday and Explorer of the seas on Sun seems a bit odd to me that Princess pulled the pin (Just saying).

 

I agree, maybe it is the size of the ship? I think I have only twice before missed ports, and both times on Princess ships. Hmmm!

[Stuartm]

We've taken 3 NZ cruises on Princess ( 2 on the Diamond and 1 on the Dawn) and we have been fortunate in visiting Fiordland on each occasion. All of these cruises were around New Year but the weather was quite different each time. We did miss one of the smaller sounds on the first cruise due to the wind but later on in the day we still got into Milford. The openings into the sounds are pretty snug for the big ships so even if the weather doesn't stop the ship sailing around the south of the island it can prevent the vessel from entering the sounds. Not sure what would be more frustrating, missing the area completely or sailing by the coast seeing the wonderful mountain vista but not being able to enter.

 

We are taking our 4th NZ cruise in December 2016, this time on the Golden. Hopefully we will be lucky for a fourth time.

 

cheers

Stu

[bazzaw]

My 4 Rules of sailing in Australian waters

 

1 Never sail north of Brisbane in Summer

2. Never sail south of Brisbane in Winter

3. Never sail across the Tasman to NZ in Spring

4 Never sail from East to West across the Bight at any time

 

 

Any more rules that I have missed? - and yes, there are exceptions to the Rules but the Rules are still valid. Otherwise you may find that you are like the passengers on Golden Princess right now

 

Barry