Royal Princess Misses April 30 Disembarkation in LeHavre

[Al54]

I thought the ferry would have been an option - do you mean Portsmouth instead of Plymouth? It’s about 150 miles from Southampton to Plymouth!

 

 

 

I had a look to the ferry timetable : the first trip of the season was may 4! But a very good idea for next cruisers : who knows!

 

 

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[AF-1]

Regarding EZAIR, we would disagree.. There are times (especially with International flights) where Princess has deals almost too good to be true. We recently booked Business Class from JFK to Singapore through EZAIR and saved about $1500 per person over the lowest publicly available fares. Our flight was on a China Air 777....and was one of the best flights we have ever taken (and we have been traveling for over fifty years). When it comes to air we do prefer to book our own air, but always check the cruise line's fares just in case its worth our while.

 

Hank

 

I agree, just book thru EZAir for our Feb cruise. Saved almost $400 over the airlines websites; plus got the same exact flights I wanted from the airlines

[RDC1]

I had a look to the ferry timetable : the first trip of the season was may 4! But a very good idea for next cruisers : who knows!

 

 

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That is interesting because they do have winter schedules. I took it two years ago in early April.

 

When did you check the schedule? On the one I use the days drop off after departure and it only displays for the next 6 months.

Edited May 5, 2018 by RDC1

[pris993]

Interesting. We hit a problem on our first Princess cruise. Weather prevented the ship from docking; we were held at the terminal for the entire day and about 6:30pm were loaded onto buses for transportation to a hotel.

 

Princess took the approach that if your had booked "the entire package" with Princess' date=' they provided a hotel along with transportation from terminal to hotel and again back to the terminal the next morning. They defined the "entire package" as air, transfers, and the cruise.

 

Yes, it was a long, stressful day. We tried to order food, but found that the police were stopping all incoming traffic as the terminal was deemed to be over-crowded. The bathrooms in the terminal ran out of all supplies. (really, there wasn't a storage room somewhere in the terminal????) Despite all the difficulties, we felt that Princess did the best they could FOR US.

 

If you booked less than the entire package, you were totally on your own as to your overnight arrangements. In fact, if you came by car you were not allowed into the terminal and were kept in your vehicle in the parking lot with access to a port-a potty. Yeah, those people had serious reason to complain.[/quote']

 

When you book yourself, when I problem arises, you know not count on anyone or wait to hear what the cruise line is going to do...you are then free to jump on problem solving the issue yourself. Some like to be independent and some don't... different approach to travel. We book our cruise, our air, hotel and insurance all separately. Have for 20 years, don't even use a travel agent.

[Al54]

That is interesting because they do have winter schedules. I took it two years ago in early April.

 

When did you check the schedule? On the one I use the days drop off after departure and it only displays for the next 6 months.

 

 

 

You're probably right, I suppose I had a look at the timetable (Le Havre-Portsmouth), after the dayly departure time, the calendar was still there (french website) but not the departure : sorry, a senior moment!

 

 

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[rocklinmom]

Wow. So there were passengers who were supposed to disembark in Le Havre and the port was missed. I would assume like most here that Princess would get them to Le Havre for their flights home or continuing vacation plans. I can't believe that doesn't appear to be true for some passengers. That is crazy. There are indeed passengers embarking and disembarking in Le Havre this summer, along with in Southampton. And next summer, they are adding an itinerary that embarks/disembarks in Dublin as well (so three loading/unloading ports). I am interested in this because I am considering the Dublin one. If our cruise were to miss Dublin port, does that mean that Princess might not necessarily get us back to Dublin for our flight home? That, as discussed here, they might go on to Southampton and we are on our own (and own expense) to get there?

[caribill]

When you book yourself, when I problem arises, you know not count on anyone or wait to hear what the cruise line is going to do...you are then free to jump on problem solving the issue yourself. Some like to be independent and some don't... different approach to travel. We book our cruise, our air, hotel and insurance all separately. Have for 20 years, don't even use a travel agent.

 

It is one thing to jump on a problem when you are on land with an array of communication options.

 

It is another thing when you are on a cruise ship when many passengers need to jump on a problem and communication options are limited and in big demand or expensive.

[Al54]

It is one thing to jump on a problem when you are on land with an array of communication options.

 

 

 

It is another thing when you are on a cruise ship when many passengers need to jump on a problem and communication options are limited and in big demand or expensive.

 

 

 

Totally agree with you. And it's also another thing when you have to embark and the ship is not at the pier! I should be curious to know how people embarking in Le Havre managed this incredible problem. And I absolutely refute the argument (seen a lot on this thread) that, if you didn't take plane or hotel with Princess, they are perfectly right to ignore you : it should be right if people had missed their independently booked plane, but not if the ship missed the disembarking/embarking port. The cruise was booked with Princess, and the way you were supposed to go to port has nothing to do with the fact that the ship was not here while YOU were!

 

 

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[RDC1]

Totally agree with you. And it's also another thing when you have to embark and the ship is not at the pier! I should be curious to know how people embarking in Le Havre managed this incredible problem. And I absolutely refute the argument (seen a lot on this thread) that, if you didn't take plane or hotel with Princess, they are perfectly right to ignore you : it should be right if people had missed their independently booked plane, but not if the ship missed the disembarking/embarking port. The cruise was booked with Princess, and the way you were supposed to go to port has nothing to do with the fact that the ship was not here while YOU were!

 

 

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It really does raise the question that if some was at LaHavre and refused to go to Southampton at their own expense to board, if Princess would refund or not?

 

Any body know if anyone that was booked to leave from LeHavre decided not to go on the cruise and how it was handled by Princess.

[rocklinmom]

Exactly! Princess would need to get you on and off the ship at your booked embarkation/disembarkation port. If that port is missed, they would need to get you back to that port. And I also wonder how they would handle missing an embarkation port...I guess they would get you to the next port of call? It will be interesting to see if this happens this summer with the passengers embarking in Le Havre.

[tothemall&beyond]

My understanding is that Princess does not guarantee reaching a port. So they are not financially responsible,

 

If you have Princess Air and Platinum Vacation Protection, they do!

[tothemall&beyond]

A friend and her husband were among those who were supposed to disembark on Sunday. They made it to Paris today--missing two of their four days.

 

Hi Geoherb. Yep, it took until 7pm on Tuesday for us to get there. And it was complete pandemonium and chaos on the ship for those of us who were affected.

[Al54]

Exactly! Princess would need to get you on and off the ship at your booked embarkation/disembarkation port. If that port is missed, they would need to get you back to that port. And I also wonder how they would handle missing an embarkation port...I guess they would get you to the next port of call? It will be interesting to see if this happens this summer with the passengers embarking in Le Havre.

 

 

 

I would like to know too, as I was supposed to be on the next cruise from Le Havre, but needed to cancel a few days ago because of my mother's very serious health problem. Not sure I will rebook next year!

 

 

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[tothemall&beyond]

This was more than a port of call, Princess sold this as a 14 day Transatlantic ending in Le Harve and a 15 day Transatlantic ending in Southampton. The 14 day was actually more money than the 15 day, at least when I booked. They also sold an April 30 British Isles cruise beginning and ending in Le Harve. That may still mean they don't have any financial responsibility. I was actually wondering if they were assisting passengers finding transportation between to/from Le Harve, not necessarily paying for it. The op mentioned about 300 passengers wound up in Southampton instead of Le Harve, there must have been about the same number left behind in Le Harve.

 

If you had Princess Air, Princess was paying for air arrangements and you had choice of flying home from SOU or Paris, or of flying to Paris if that was part of your EZAir. They also are supposedly reimbursing all incidental costs like pre-paid train tickets, lost hotel nights, etc. but only if you had the Platinum Vacation Protection. Luckily, we had both.

 

Princess made really odd air arrangements, though, routing some people through Zurich to Paris, others via Moscow, Oslo, etc. and most not getting there till midnight or so on the 30th. We were supposed to get an early flight on the 1st to Paris, but they gave us a late afternoon instead and had us stay in our cabin for the additional night. But we were booked to Southampton with a pre-approved route sector deviation to disembark in LeHavre, so our cabin was available for us.

 

If you didn't have Princess Air or insurance, you were on your own. People were scrambling to make arrangements.

 

Princess ferried about 200 of the 300 embarking passengers over from France on the night of the 30th. Not sure why they didn't do it for those of us stuck in UK and needing to get to Paris.

[Al54]

If you have Princess Air and Platinum Vacation Protection, they do!

 

 

 

Passengers living in France don't take plane to go to Le Havre! The cruise was sold in France from Le Havre.

 

 

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[tothemall&beyond]

It is one thing to jump on a problem when you are on land with an array of communication options.

 

It is another thing when you are on a cruise ship when many passengers need to jump on a problem and communication options are limited and in big demand or expensive.

 

We were given unlimited international calling access from our cabins and additional internet time. I called Paris twice and US once.

[tothemall&beyond]

There is no way to know how many passengers were scheduled to board in LeHavre. Yes' date=' the cruise was sold with the possibility of embarking there, but it was also sold with an embarkation at Southampton the next day. There could have been up to 300 passengers embarking in France....but there also could have been far fewer. It would have depended on what sold![/quote']

 

300 getting off and 300 getting on. We were given the numbers.

[Al54]

If you had Princess Air, Princess was paying for air arrangements and you had choice of flying home from SOU or Paris, or of flying to Paris if that was part of your EZAir. They also are supposedly reimbursing all incidental costs like pre-paid train tickets, lost hotel nights, etc. but only if you had the Platinum Vacation Protection. Luckily, we had both.

 

 

 

Princess made really odd air arrangements, though, routing some people through Zurich to Paris, others via Moscow, Oslo, etc. and most not getting there till midnight or so on the 30th. We were supposed to get an early flight on the 1st to Paris, but they gave us a late afternoon instead and had us stay in our cabin for the additional night. But we were booked to Southampton with a pre-approved route sector deviation to disembark in LeHavre, so our cabin was available for us.

 

 

 

If you didn't have Princess Air or insurance, you were on your own. People were scrambling to make arrangements.

 

 

 

Princess ferried about 200 of the 300 embarking passengers over from France on the night of the 30th. Not sure why they didn't do it for those of us stuck in UK and needing to get to Paris.

 

 

 

What did the 100 not ferried did?

 

 

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[tothemall&beyond]

I would guess that passengers who had booked the cruise ending in Le Havre would have received assistance from Princess in reaching their final destination. Although ports of call on a cruise are never guaranteed, the embarkation and disembarkation ports are expected to be reached.

 

Those who had booked to end the cruise in Southampton but made arrangements to disembark early in Le Havre would likely receive no help from Princess in this case as Princess did get them to the booked disembarkation port of Southampton.

 

We were on a cruise two years ago that ended in Southampton and there were a number of passengers who had arranged to disembark a day early in Le Havre. Due to a strike by port workers, the ship could no go to Le Havre and went instead to Zebrugge, Belgium. These passengers were given the choice of leaving the ship in Zebrugge and needing to make their own arrangements to reach France or continuing on to Southampton and needing to make their own arrangements to reach France.

 

If you booked to LeHavre or booked to Southampton with a pre-approved route sector deviation (as we did, and I implored others to get may times on the roll call), and had Princess EZ AIr and/or Princess Platinum Insurance, you were OK. If not, you were on your own.

[tv24]

It is one thing to jump on a problem when you are on land with an array of communication options.

 

It is another thing when you are on a cruise ship when many passengers need to jump on a problem and communication options are limited and in big demand or expensive.[/quot

 

 

Well this is what happened to us and we patiently await a response from insurance and Princess.

[tv24]

We were given unlimited international calling access from our cabins and additional internet time. I called Paris twice and US once.

 

We were given 30 minutes of free internet time which was of no value since the internet barely functioned. I was unable to buy air tix via internet. We tried to use the phones but could not get the codes provided to work. Maybe I’m phone challenged. Eventually I was able to use the house phone in the chaotic lobby to reach BA and buy air tix. Not luxury cruising.

[Haboob]

I'm not that familiar with the UK's and EU's "package holiday" provisions

other than those folks whinge about the higher prices they pay because

of them.

 

 

But the rest of us agreed to Princess' standard Passage Contract

⋮

7. RIGHT TO DEVIATE FROM SCHEDULED ROUTE, CHANGE PORTS OF EMBARKATION / DISEMBARKATION... [Yeah, in ALLCAPS, even]

 

...Carrier may for any reason [other than mechanical issues] change the port of embarkation or disembarkation [without] liability.

⋮

 

Perhaps you clicked right by that without reading?

[Al54]

I'm not that familiar with the UK's and EU's "package holiday" provisions

other than those folks whinge about the higher prices they pay because

of them.

 

 

But the rest of us agreed to Princess' standard Passage Contract

 

Perhaps you clicked right by that without reading?

 

 

 

Wow, thank you so much! What an honest cruiseline : they even write in their contracts that they are not reliable! After all, if so many people are satisfied by the "we are responsible for nothing", why should Princess care about it?

 

 

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[RDC1]

If you had Princess Air, Princess was paying for air arrangements and you had choice of flying home from SOU or Paris, or of flying to Paris if that was part of your EZAir. They also are supposedly reimbursing all incidental costs like pre-paid train tickets, lost hotel nights, etc. but only if you had the Platinum Vacation Protection. Luckily, we had both.

 

Princess made really odd air arrangements, though, routing some people through Zurich to Paris, others via Moscow, Oslo, etc. and most not getting there till midnight or so on the 30th. We were supposed to get an early flight on the 1st to Paris, but they gave us a late afternoon instead and had us stay in our cabin for the additional night. But we were booked to Southampton with a pre-approved route sector deviation to disembark in LeHavre, so our cabin was available for us.

 

If you didn't have Princess Air or insurance, you were on your own. People were scrambling to make arrangements.

 

Princess ferried about 200 of the 300 embarking passengers over from France on the night of the 30th. Not sure why they didn't do it for those of us stuck in UK and needing to get to Paris.

I suspect they ferried the embarking passengers because while the cruise contract may provide cover for them concerning disembarking passengers I do not think that it does for embarking passengers. I suspect that if someone said I was at the port, the ship never came, I want a refund they just might have to do so. Thus the ferrying embarking passengers, but not disembarking.

[elaine5]

If you booked to LeHavre or booked to Southampton with a pre-approved route sector deviation (as we did, and I implored others to get may times on the roll call), and had Princess EZ AIr and/or Princess Platinum Insurance, you were OK. If not, you were on your own.

 

Princess recently told me that I could debark a day early in Le Havre (with an approved deviation), but that we could not use EZ Air with a deviation. This was for RT Southampton cruise this summer.

Edited May 6, 2018 by elaine5