ISLAND Dry Dock Delay????? - Next Cruise Departing DEC 7 and not 6th???

[Steelers36]

I just got off the phone with a Princess BVE rep who called me to say they were cancelling our ISLAND BVE for tomorrow, WED, Dec 6. I tried to press on "operational reasons" and I got as far as ship coming in late. I then deduced they probably thought a reduced BVE experience and so we cancel. Late call for sure on that one. I was naturally unhappy with rug pulled out on plans at the 11th hour and was on hold a while.

 

I checked Bridge cam and frozen on Nov 28. I checked Port Everglades ship schedule and ISLAND is listed as arriving on DEC 7 5:45am and departing 4:00pm. This is 24 hours BEHIND schedule. If this is true, a whole ship full of people need to be put up in hotels all of a sudden - or those already in hotels extended.

 

I tried quizzing the rep on the change of departure date and she wouldn't say. Mgmt has gone home on west coast. I am supposed to hear back tomorrow on follow up on a couple of matters. But they won't be in until 8:00am PT and 11am ET.

 

Before I go further, has anyone out there sailing ISLAND Dec 6 from Port Everglades been notified of ANY sort of boarding delay?

 

Thanks.

[Steelers36]

Seeing confirmation from 2-3 cruisers now on the Roll Call. This has to be a logistical nightmare for Princess as I imagine they have blocked up hotel rooms all over the area for tomorrow and will have to transport people back and forth, paying for that. This is unfortunate for the cruisers. I am reading Aruba dropped, $150 OBC, Dec 7 departure confirmed. Notices getting out there. Also a 15% FCC - that is significant. I wonder if they are also paying hotels and meals?

[Steelers36]

Looks like front-line reps only got notice, etc, around 6pm PT or so. Hotels and accommodation might depend on how people booked and insurance. Not for me to figure out or know as we are not sailing.

[neetadee]

Just got 2 bulletins in the past hour. How is it possible they didn’t know til the 11th hour? We extended our hotel and car. Timing for Thursday is not clear.

[Steelers36]

This is for real. Princess has blocked off space at the Convention Center for excess baggage if pax want to leave there. They will provide some hotel assistance. Passengers with Princess insurance could just book their own and claim if they want. Unfortunate situation, but sounds like Princess will work to help everyone needing help.

[Steelers36]

Just got 2 bulletins in the past hour. How is it possible they didn’t know til the 11th hour? We extended our hotel and car. Timing for Thursday is not clear.

 

A gentleman on the Roll Call cannot extend his hotel as it is sold out tomorrow.

 

If you go by the Port Everglades schedule, Island is expected in at 5:45am.

 

Bridge cam is not on right now. I'd say check it tomorrow night and see if sailing for Port Everglades from Freeport. Based on what we know now, unless Princess is saying otherwise, Thursday is a normal check-in day with 4pm departure planned.

 

They have a lot of logistics to deal with. Good luck to all.

[Steelers36]

Just got 2 bulletins in the past hour. How is it possible they didn’t know til the 11th hour? We extended our hotel and car. Timing for Thursday is not clear.

 

All I know is that there were several meetings today on this - you can imagine this would be a huge disruption for Princess to figure out port changes (drop of Aruba), how to compensate passengers, how to put up passengers for a night in FLL port area, etc, etc. Perhaps it took that much time to get all the ducks in a row.

 

What none of us know is what has caused the delay in dry dock and why it wasn't known yesterday for example. Maybe it was something they thought could overcome in time. I can only guess that cruisers on this sailing will glean some info once they get on board and off on the trip.

 

It looks like Princess is working to try and take care of people as much as possible.

[Seas the Day]

This is frustrating. They should have realized earlier that there were issues. We went to the front desk of our hotel and asked to stay another night but we're told there were no rooms available. Then my husband found a room online for $50 more than we paid initially, but when my husband asked the front desk if we could stay in the same room - we were told that the room we paid for was a lesser category and we will have to move tomorrow. When I called Princess, the rep was very nice, but couldn't do anything. I was told that they did not reserve rooms for people like us and it was a good thing we were able to get a room at all. I asked what was going on and she said the Dry Dock was for refurbishment, and the ship is in Dry Dock in Fort Lauderdale.

[Steelers36]

This is frustrating. They should have realized earlier that there were issues. We went to the front desk of our hotel and asked to stay another night but we're told there were no rooms available. Then my husband found a room online for $50 more than we paid initially, but when my husband asked the front desk if we could stay in the same room - we were told that the room we paid for was a lesser category and we will have to move tomorrow. When I called Princess, the rep was very nice, but couldn't do anything. I was told that they did not reserve rooms for people like us and it was a good thing we were able to get a room at all. I asked what was going on and she said the Dry Dock was for refurbishment, and the ship is in Dry Dock in Fort Lauderdale.

 

So, this is were a Front Desk Mgr is needed. Why couldn't hotel leave you alone and then give then person coming into your room, a little free upgrade? Oh well - at least you don't have to move hotels. Maybe you would be willing to pay the $50 (or $25) NOT to move?

 

The ship is in Freeport, Bahamas. That is the dry dock site. It is not scheduled into PE until 5:45am Thursday. It's not clear to me if they are helping people who do not have Princess insurance or who did not book directly. But that doesn't seem right from what an agent told me. Of course it is going to take a bit for front-line agents to have it all correct and absorbed. Word went out not long ago. Mgmt has gone home until tomorrow. Hope it works out for you.

 

What I suspect is they are going to help people who fly in tomorrow and have no place to stay. I would think the situation is similar to an airline with a cancel/delay due to mechanical issues and they have to put you up overnight until they can put you on a flight next day??? Maybe not looking to help people as much who are already in town in a hotel and have no insurance???? I have no idea - just a SWAG.

[jennybenny]

Seeing confirmation from 2-3 cruisers now on the Roll Call. This has to be a logistical nightmare for Princess as I imagine they have blocked up hotel rooms all over the area for tomorrow and will have to transport people back and forth, paying for that. This is unfortunate for the cruisers. I am reading Aruba dropped, $150 OBC, Dec 7 departure confirmed. Notices getting out there. Also a 15% FCC - that is significant. I wonder if they are also paying hotels and meals?

 

 

 

That’s the worst! Our 10 day cruise on the Grand was shortened to 8 days last year due to dry dock delays. The new itinerary was not great, we missed Puerto Vallarta and Manzanillo. We were disappointed but Princess was generous in their refund and OBC.

We were notified a couple of days before the cruise but the rumors were on cruise critic prior so we had an inclination that we would get a shortened cruise.

They did cover hotel and air change fees for some, case by case basis. I feel like it was probably a logistical nightmare for them. It was all handled very professionally, in our opinion

 

 

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[DrivesLikeMario]

I have friends on this sailing and this is what they just sent me (basically the Island is arriving late from her drydock):

...As a result, we currently expect embarkation for your cruise to be one day later than scheduled and will occur on Thursday, December 7 from 11:00 AM to 2:30 PM.

 

Due to the delayed departure, we will no longer be able to call to Aruba on Saturday, December 9, but will maintain the rest of the itinerary and our Panama Canal transit. We are very sorry this has affected the start of your vacation and are grateful for your understanding given the circumstances.

 

As a result of the delayed departure, each guest will receive a one-day refund of the cruise fare paid as a refundable onboard credit. In light of the altered itinerary, as well as to offset ancillary expenses such as meals and transportation, each guest will receive an additional refundable credit of $150 per person applied to their onboard folio. To encourage you to come back and make new memories with us, each guest will also receive a Future Cruise Credit of 15% of the cruise fare paid, which can be used on any future Princess cruise booked before the end of 2018 or any existing booking not yet paid in full, and is non-refundable and non-transferable.

[Steelers36]

That’s the worst! Our 10 day cruise on the Grand was shortened to 8 days last year due to dry dock delays. The new itinerary was not great, we missed Puerto Vallarta and Manzanillo. We were disappointed but Princess was generous in their refund and OBC.

We were notified a couple of days before the cruise but the rumors were on cruise critic prior so we had an inclination that we would get a shortened cruise.

They did cover hotel and air change fees for some, case by case basis. I feel like it was probably a logistical nightmare for them. It was all handled very professionally, in our opinion

 

 

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The last part of your post must be encouraging for folks. There were no rumors on this one I heard of and I have been following Island keenly of late. I do know many experienced cruisers post on here warning about booking first cruise after a dry dock. We never know every little thing they are doing, but the main reason for this one was to install the new Princess Luxury Beds. We have all heard of dry dock work finishing up on the next cruise after with workers on board, etc. Well, let's just suppose there was a bed problem - perhaps a shortage or who knows? Well, you can't even sit in Port Everglades docked for an extra day with passengers on board if no place to sleep. IDK, I just try to puzzle things out in my mind - on anything. So, it's all speculation, but it would seem whatever the issue is, they could not leave Freeport now for Port Everglades.

 

Maybe the reason the decision is so late is they had to be assured the delay was only one day and not more?????

[Steelers36]

I have friends on this sailing and this is what they just sent me (basically the Island is arriving late from her drydock):

...As a result, we currently expect embarkation for your cruise to be one day later than scheduled and will occur on Thursday, December 7 from 11:00 AM to 2:30 PM.

 

Due to the delayed departure, we will no longer be able to call to Aruba on Saturday, December 9, but will maintain the rest of the itinerary and our Panama Canal transit. We are very sorry this has affected the start of your vacation and are grateful for your understanding given the circumstances.

 

As a result of the delayed departure, each guest will receive a one-day refund of the cruise fare paid as a refundable onboard credit. In light of the altered itinerary, as well as to offset ancillary expenses such as meals and transportation, each guest will receive an additional refundable credit of $150 per person applied to their onboard folio. To encourage you to come back and make new memories with us, each guest will also receive a Future Cruise Credit of 15% of the cruise fare paid, which can be used on any future Princess cruise booked before the end of 2018 or any existing booking not yet paid in full, and is non-refundable and non-transferable.

 

Thanks for posting the official notice text. :cool::) I'd be disappointed as a cruiser, which is natural, but I'd also think I was being treated quite fairly. I do note that accommodation is not mentioned at all (just meals and transportation).

[seachelt]

We are on this cruise and your posts here were our first notification! So thanks to the CC community. Not Princess fault though, our email isn't working properly as we are en route to FLL.

We booked flight and shuttle through Princess. Lucky for us, as they will meet us and arrange our hotel.

I agree that P is doing their best to offer compensation and assistance.

Happy Sails to all.

Seachelt

[Seas the Day]

So, this is were a Front Desk Mgr is needed. Why couldn't hotel leave you alone and then give then person coming into your room, a little free upgrade? Oh well - at least you don't have to move hotels. Maybe you would be willing to pay the $50 (or $25) NOT to move?

 

We paid $50 more, but for a studio instead of 1BR. No 1BR's available. At this point I am feeling grateful for a room.

[Seas the Day]

Hotel costs for the second night will be reimbursed by Princess once we are onboard. We must provide documentation to the Purser. I shudder to think of the lines....

[Pam in CA]

A dry dock delay is highly unusual. Rarely happens. Princess has dry docks planned down to the last minute. I’m guessing that either a contracted renovation didn’t go as planned or something else that was unforeseen, probably almost the last minute.

 

No. This isn’t the worst. The worst was years ago when the Coral was being built. She had three Caribbean cruises planned and fully booked before her 10-day Panama Canal Christmas cruise that I’d booked. She missed the first sailing, then the second, and a week before my sailing, ours was canceled. No compensation; no FCC; no OBC; just a refund. Try booking a Christmas cruise and new flights days before Christmas. I scrambled and found an RCI cruise but flights and rebooked hotels cost me a very pretty penny.

[Steelers36]

I would tend to agree in speculation - it could very well be contracted help. Again, we don't know all of the specific changes to be done in the dry dock (I was hoping my BVE time would answer some of that). The main purpose was Princess Luxury Bed install. Unless the ship couldn't sail, you would think they would try and put folks on board and continue work at sea than cancel a full day/night. But if you can't put folks in a bed .... just sayin'. (It's not unusual to have work continuing on board when the next cruise gets going post-drydock).

 

 

Also... anything 'unusual' or 'rarely happens' is bound to happen somewhere, sometime on a Princess ship near you. :cool:

Edited December 6, 2017 by steelers36

[chengkp75]

Without even addressing any possible "management shortcomings" regarding drydocks, a short, last minute delay like this could possibly be simply a "refloat" problem. One of the major jobs done during a drydocking is the removal for inspection of all valves that separate the ship's systems from the sea ("hull valves"), since these cannot be removed or inspected while in the water. The last thing done prior to flooding the dock and floating the ship is to bring the ship down into the water to a depth where all openings that were taken apart are now under water, but the ship is not floating off the drydock keel blocks. The ship's engineers, along with the shipyard supervisors, then go around and inspect every connection for leakage. If there is one, it may require raising the drydock again (a couple of hours), fixing the problem (another couple of hours), lowering the ship again ( a couple of hours), and re-inspecting before getting the okay to drop the dock and allow the ship to float. Typically, you allow a few hours of slack time for these types of problems (fairly common), but if the problems required more time to repair than alloted, then the departure could be pushed back.

[sunsetbeachgal]

I hope everything works out as well as possible for the passengers, this is understandably very upsetting. Most people on these boards recommend against booking the first sailing after dry dock. I am in total agreement.

 

We booked the Coral in January 2016 right after her two week dry dock in the Bahamas. Lots of things weren’t quite right including hot water in cabins, buckets in the halls, pools closed until second day of cruise, etc. They had thruster or engine issues which resulted in us getting to Cozumel around 12 hours late (and then doing an overnight) and missing the next two ports, one of which due to wind. We received $100 pp refundable OBC plus 50% of base fare back as future cruise credit. A very nice and generous settlement but I still will never book another cruise just after dry dock.

 

 

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Edited December 6, 2017 by sunsetbeachgal

[Steelers36]

Without even addressing any possible "management shortcomings" regarding drydocks, a short, last minute delay like this could possibly be simply a "refloat" problem. One of the major jobs done during a drydocking is the removal for inspection of all valves that separate the ship's systems from the sea ("hull valves"), since these cannot be removed or inspected while in the water. The last thing done prior to flooding the dock and floating the ship is to bring the ship down into the water to a depth where all openings that were taken apart are now under water, but the ship is not floating off the drydock keel blocks. The ship's engineers, along with the shipyard supervisors, then go around and inspect every connection for leakage. If there is one, it may require raising the drydock again (a couple of hours), fixing the problem (another couple of hours), lowering the ship again ( a couple of hours), and re-inspecting before getting the okay to drop the dock and allow the ship to float. Typically, you allow a few hours of slack time for these types of problems (fairly common), but if the problems required more time to repair than alloted, then the departure could be pushed back.

 

Very interesting technical insight. I know from other threads you have a lot of knowledge about ships. I am sure CHPURSER also had inside info as an employee, but something made Princess postpone the end of dry dock by one day and result in the aftermath effects. I also believe they must have had assurance at the 11th hour that it will only be the one day as I am thinking they wouldn't want to have to announce again tonight of a further delay.

 

The last thing anyone wants is a leaky boat!! ;)

[voljeep]

hopefully everyone checks their emails quite frequently for exactly this reason.. wonder if anyone, and you know they will, show up today and not know about the delay?

[pablo222]

Pam,

I'm not sure where you are getting your information on Princess Dry docks. I worked 4 dry docks for Princess. All 4 were significantly late..

 

Thank you for your professional insight.

 

It is always nice to have balance to the cheerleaders here.

 

I think it's pretty common for a ship to arrive late in ft. lauderdale from freeport.

There are usually minute-by-minute posts here by folks watch the webcam

and AIS messages.

 

Also, There are often threads posted -- I am going on a cruise before/after drydock,

will there be any issues?

 

This thread would be a good reference for those folks.

[azbirdmom]

When I spoke to my corporate bosses about this ridiculous situation, their answer was very clear:

 

"Extending the dry dock to do a proper job would cost us many millions of dollars. Sailing the ship unfinished will result in many unhappy guests, most of whom can be bought off with OBC or future cruise discounts. Those who cannot be bought off and do not return will be replaced by new passengers. In the end we must balance the costs. Extending the dry dock to do a proper job might cost us an additional $20 million in costs and lost revenues. Buying off disgruntled passengers will cost us $1 million maximum."

 

That was the day I decided that Princess was not the company for me.

 

Very enlightening post. Is Princess unique in this regard or do all cruiselines operate in the same manner?

[DrivesLikeMario]

Thanks for posting the official notice text. :cool::) I'd be disappointed as a cruiser, which is natural, but I'd also think I was being treated quite fairly. I do note that accommodation is not mentioned at all (just meals and transportation).

 

You're right it's not mentioned but it will be covered. I was told by Princess to submit the one night's hotel receipt to the Purser's Desk when onboard. Thought that was unusual. They said the hotel stay has to be "reasonable", as in "no penthouse suites". lol