Star Princess going or not?

[zqvol]

Whether the 4/2 cruise goes or not, if I were booked on her I would request a refund or discount. I didn't book a damaged ship.

I doubt that a week in dry dock will fix her, but at what point in time does the ship become non-damaged, if ever?

[cruise182]

If they didn't have contingency plans in place then shame on them! Any large corporation should have plans in place for dealing with the unexpected. Governments spend many $$$ to have such plans in place and Katrina is an example of what happens when those plans are faulty. The fire on the Star is minor compared to that and should not be as difficult to deal with, if contingency plans were in place. Part of the reason for Princess' unwillingness to make a decision may be that they have to wait to see what their insurance company is willing to do. Even though it appears that the ship is seriously damaged and needs extensive repairs, Princess might have to wait for the decision of the insurance company. Its sort of like when you are with an HMO, even if you know and your doctor knows that you need a particular procedure, you have to wait for approval from the HMO. It might not be right but that is the way it is.

 

That being said, if I were scehduled to be on the 4/2 cruise and could only travel that week, I would be frantic to find a suitable alternative before time ran out. I can't even imagine the frustration and disappointment that you are feeling. Princess could be a little more understanding and compassionate if for no other reason then to keep their client base happy and loyal.

 

Well said!! hopefully posters will not bash you or otherwise and stay within the guidelines. Unfortunately, X- poster broke the following CC guideline when I was expressing my feelings. "Do not harass, threaten, embarrass, or do anything else to another member that is unwanted. This means: don't say bad things about them":cool:

[flyguy404]

You people that are not booked on the Star for the month of April, let alone the 04/02 sailing really dont have a horse in this race now do you. Its easy to throw around names like "selfish" and the like while preparing for your future cruises on a hopefully fully intact ship. I think Princess are the ones being selfish by giving out disingenuous information about the status of the ship. Since when is it "selfish" to expect to be told the truth. My local ABC news affiliate has been broadcasting interior shots of the Star since yesterday. It does not require a navel architect to know this tub isnt going to be carring passengers for quite a while. For all you bleeding hearts who keep talking about how busy they are getting people back to the states etc...that is their job folks! If Princess is incapable of dealing with the loss of 1 life and rerouting those affected in addition to attending to passengers scheduled for next week then perhaps they are simply incompetent. From a customer service perspective this entire situation has been mishandled from the begining..and it only appears to be getting worse. So for those of you not sailing on the char in April get off your high horse and let us vent our legitimate frustration.

[Howlev34]

Well, I've read just about every post there is on the Star fire. Ironically, we received final documents on Thursday for our 4/16 Star cruise. The difference is, I'm not dancing. I'm mourning. Just like a lot of people, I too, am waiting for answers. I completely understand the frustration of cruisers on the 4/2 and 4/9 sailings. You want answers and you are not getting them. On the other hand, Princess wants answers, too, and cannot get them until they've taken care of the passengers who are flying home from Jamaica and Star gets back to Florida. This is not an easy task. Does Princess need to keep the 4/2 cruisers in the dark for so long? Probably not. My point is this: I always remain optimistic about the way human beings rise to the occasion. I'm just not all that sure that all of the arguments, all of this bickering, all of this posturing, all of this I'm right and you're not, all of the flaming, all of the name-calling, lead me to believe that anyone (except a few who understood the true nature of this tragedy and the consequences) has risen to the occasion. And I do think we need to rise above our differences. We've witnessed at least 2 tragedies this week that resulted in loss of life. Aren't we somehow better than a lot of the ill-will that people are posting? I'm sorry if this seems like a sermon. It's not--just my conclusions drawn from reading the posts. I'm as anxious as everyone else. But I think I'll wait and see what develops.

[TNTLAMB]

And maybe some of us have a horse in this race and still think we can wait until Monday or Tues., have trip insurance to fall back on, and live in a world where we believe we are not the center of it. PC didn't set their ship on fire to personally screw up your life. You can vent all you want Flyguy, but keep in mind venting makes the fire hotter.

[zqvol]

It seems that we (the cruel and unreasonable people that want some sort of answer and not just made up stories from the reps we call, who btw. can't be that busy helping other passengers, since I have never been on hold for more than a minute (oh the ship is going back to FL as we speak - got that last night - just check the live bridge cam...)) are now suddenly becoming the bad guys.

 

I am sorry, but the $10,000 we already spent are a LOT of money for us and I do NOT want to go on a charred ship or a ship that had temporary repairs or a ship that is being repaired as we sail. This is NOT what I booked. And no, I don't want to go on a ship that was housing hurricane victims 2 weeks ago.....

 

At this point, this is all driven by minimizing the financial losses for Princess - its as simple as that. The longer they can stall us, the better they can figure out how to save money with the alternatives or whatever we might or might not be offered. The Monday date is simply to buy them another 3 days without making any commitments. You can't tell me that they have not assessed the damage by now, I mean, how blind can you be? Just look at the pictures on the web....They had 48 hours now.

 

But we loose our chances to find alternative arrangements.

Just an FYI: No Carnival ship housed hurricane "victims" they housed relief workers and civil servants, but it doesn't matter becasue they are all either still in dry dock or just out and have started on their regular routes.

[flyguy404]

FYI..here is a link to just one of the NUMEROUS websites that state otherwise. The folks affected by Katrina were side by side with the relief workers on three Carnival ships. This stuff is really easy to find if you simply take the time.

 

http://katrina05.blogspot.com/2005/09/three-carnival-cruise-ships-to-aid.html

 

http://www.al.com/news/mobileregister/index.ssf?/base/news/113101333559800.xml&coll=3

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=1389

[TNTLAMB]

Who cares who was on those ships and why does it make a difference?

[Titan(ic)5.6]

How about like, "We had an unexpected fire on the Star Princess and we don't quite have all future plans settled yet." Give me a break!

 

How about like, "unexpected mechanical problems and all sorts of damage take cruise ships out of service all the time". Be prepared to answer questions!

[flyguy404]

I started this thread and I care. I also care when people put misinformation on here that is so easly proven incorrest. Do you have an issue with facts and the truth?

[TNTLAMB]

Sorry for the lack of clarification. What difference does it make whether they were Evacuees or Relief workers to zqvol and why would it make a difference to you who was on the ship before you?

[tejmar]

Since the Star was scheduled to go to Europe in May, I wonder if Princess will just cancel the rest of the Caribbean cruises and concentrate on getting it ready for that sailing. That would be a good reason to send the staff home (if they actually did that) since they were probably at the end of their tour anyway. I know that they can do amazing work in a short time with the ships, but from what I have seen on TV most of the time major renovations are precisely planned events and usually the time frame is dictated by the availablilty of a drydock. That could pose a problem also. I'm not scheduled to sail until November, but I really feel for those of you awaiting some answers. I think that Princess doesn't want to release anyone because they don't want you to book with another line. That way when they give you a refund and a credit You'll be more likely to cruise with them. If they let you go now, chances are you won't be booking with Princess.

[flyguy404]

Here is a question for you folks much more experienced at cruising. How often do ships like the Star go in for "major overhaul"? An airliner goes in approx every 5 to seven years depending on the number of hours flown. Does anyone konw where Princess normally conducts this sort of maintenance? I would think this class of ship is far to new for this kind of thing. Just wondering when and where it takes place. Wasnt the Star built in Italy?

 

Thanks.:cool:

[TNTLAMB]

The Grand is due for a dry dock and refit this fall so I wouldn't think the Star was too far off. Its about 5-7 for cruise shipps too.

[Thanksforyourinfo]

That being said would you not think that for those scheduled on the char princess in 10 days would at least be given the opportunity to cancel that sailing due to obvious circumstances? Honesty and credability are always the best way to deal with people..this instance is no different.

 

Jerseygirl3 makes a good point. What's obvious to you is different to the next booking. They want to carefully make one decision before releasing money. Sure, they won't be ready for your cruise, but what about 2 weeks from that? Four weeks? As soon as they say (and they might) full refunds beforehand for upcoming cruises, people will pull out in droves. They will eventually be honest, but credibility will probably remain in the "we don't know when" catagory. That being said, there is nothing to stop you from being a thorn to them with constant calls to release your money. Even without an announcement, they don't want negative press from disgruntled cruisers. Keep bugging them, explain your urgency, insist on talking to "decision makers" instead of receptionists.

[julieh]

My daughter has a friend who is a crew member on the Star. He emailed her today and said it was the worst nightmare you could imagine. I think he was part of the crew helping with the fire control. He said all the crew are being sent home. I think they are probably having to deal with the shock and need a break. I personally can't see them sending them all home if it was for just a week or two.

 

Really sorry for all of you who don't know what is happening yet but I do think Princess will be trying to get all the facts together first. I do wish they could make their customer services as good as their cruises. All that said it was re-assuring to read that the passengers who were on the star at the time felt that the captain and the crew handled it well. I am sure they have learnt lessons from it as well.

 

Julie

[RENTny]

If everyone is so convinced that the ship will not sail on 4/2 then why don't you all just go ahead and make plans. Do you realistically think that this ship is going to be sailing the Caribbean or other ports in the condition it is in now? This ship is supposed to sail on 4/2, 4/9, 4/16 (which I am on), and many more sailings following these. At what point do you think they are going to get these cabins fixed? While you're out on one of your excursions? So they fly a few pods to Cayman, a couple to Montego Bay, one or two over to Cozumel and then just throw those bad boy pods on the ship while docked. Let's be realistic, Princess has yet to issue a statement because there are more logistics involved here than people are anticipating. As CJSkids has stated, she doesn't seem to think it was by accident. If that's the case there requires a lengthy investigation. Plus, structural investigations, financial ramifications, PR issues, and the list goes on. It's not like we all buy our cruises and Princess stock piles the money. They have to buy food and pay for crew so they don't just have money lying around to pay everyone back. And don't begin to think that Princess won't refund your money. It will just take some time. So I'm not sure why everyone who is so convinced the ship won't sail hasn't already made alternate plans. HINT: IT WON'T BE SAILING! So make your plans and wait for the call from Princess to tell you when they will pay you back. They don't have much of a leg to stand on when you call saying you don't feel safe sailing on that ship, or you didn't pay to go on a damaged vessel. Those are both true and they would be happy to refund I'm sure. Let's not forget that legally once they make a statement release, it's final. Give them a break. Do we all have contingency plans if our house were to burn down? This was beyond the control of Princess, and people were hurt and killed. But compassion and concern aside, let's all just worry about ourselves and our vacation...give me a break. Thoughts and prayers to those on the Star this past week.

[jerseygirl3]

Princess will not "make" anybody go on an upcoming sailing who chooses not to.

 

Anybody who thinks that ship will sail in 10 days is irrational. Whether Princess has the facts to give you this minute or on Monday, to those who have to take their vacation that week, why are you not on the horn getting something else booked? You will get your refund from Princess, probably plus some add'l $$$.

 

That's what I did when my NCL Norway cruise suffered a fire. I didn't wait for NCL to tell me their plans for the future. I knew immediately that other sailings would book up quickly, so I booked an alternate ship.

[Thanksforyourinfo]

.HINT: IT WON'T BE SAILING! So make your plans and wait for the call from Princess to tell you when they will pay you back. They don't have much of a leg to stand on when you call saying you don't feel safe sailing on that ship, or you didn't pay to go on a damaged vessel.

 

The people further out can cancel without penalties, but these folks in the next few weeks are stuck in an unknown immediate future. They might not give full refunds. They might change the bookings of another ship to take these sailings, they might make a better offer than full refunds- a better cruise somewhere else or a different time. While we are talking precious days, they still need to wait for more definite answers before booking more on their credit cards for alternative vacations.

[drjochen]

My daughter has a friend who is a crew member on the Star. He emailed her today and said it was the worst nightmare you could imagine. I think he was part of the crew helping with the fire control. He said all the crew are being sent home. I think they are probably having to deal with the shock and need a break. I personally can't see them sending them all home if it was for just a week or two.

 

Really sorry for all of you who don't know what is happening yet but I do think Princess will be trying to get all the facts together first. I do wish they could make their customer services as good as their cruises. All that said it was re-assuring to read that the passengers who were on the star at the time felt that the captain and the crew handled it well. I am sure they have learnt lessons from it as well.

 

Julie

 

...yet when I just called them again 5 min ago, they said the cruise will go on 4/2 as planned.......I don't even know what to say anymore.

 

The phone answering people of course only say what they are being told - its certainly not their fault. When you ask for someone higher up, they say that no one is available.

 

I just hope the crew will not get laid off right away after the excellent job they did, I really feel for those people, too.

[drjochen]

They don't have much of a leg to stand on when you call saying you don't feel safe sailing on that ship, or you didn't pay to go on a damaged vessel. Those are both true and they would be happy to refund I'm sure.

 

Thats exacly my point - they DO NOT offer ANY refunds over the phone...

[RENTny]

I understand that they might release be looking for another ship but realistically, again, you need to think of the probablilies. What are the chances they have a similar size ship to hold each passenger in the cabin for which they paid. I know it is hard to commit to another cruise but once you investigate and purchase another option, you will be set for at least a definitive cruise. I honestly don't think Princess would want the bad PR from hundreds of customers who don't want to sail on the Star or another equivalent cruise. I'm definately not trying to minimize everyones situation. I'm in this situation as well, but Princess has much more to worry about that people realize. Look at how the media is portraying the situation in which the man fell overboard. The cruise line didn't take enough time to investigate, the authorities didn't handle the situation correctly. The PR alone on this has Princess in a bind. They will give everyone who request it, their money back. Again, there are bigger things here. People were hurt by this and one man died. Book your other plans and wait for the official announcement Monday.

[RENTny]

When I called Princess regarding the 4/16 cruise, I was told that at least a 90% refund will be returned, no matter what the situation. I think the people you are talking to know about as much as we do. Management needs to pass this along and again, once the verdict is made on the refunds, etc, it is final.

[drjochen]

If they don;t give us a full refund, I will raise hell with them - and yeah, I know I am unreasonable and selfish here....

[srpilo]

And maybe some of us have a horse in this race and still think we can wait until Monday or Tues., have trip insurance to fall back on, and live in a world where we believe we are not the center of it. PC didn't set their ship on fire to personally screw up your life. You can vent all you want Flyguy, but keep in mind venting makes the fire hotter.

 

Just curious about your "horse in the race"... So.. When exactly is the date of your Star cruise in April ???

 

 

Well??