Regal Cruise/acapulco Now Canceled

[Colo Cruiser]

2/20/2007

Update on Regal Princess

 

 

Prior to Regal Princess' arrival yesterday in Acapulco, it was discovered that the ship had sustained some damage to one of its ballast tanks. Following an assessment of the damage and the associated circumstances, it has been determined that the ship touched bottom as it was departing Huatulco on February 18.

 

At no time during the subsequent sailing to Acapulco was the safety of our passengers and crew compromised.

It has been determined that the required repairs will unfortunately take longer than we had originally anticipated, and we deeply regret that it is necessary to cancel this current cruise. The ship was scheduled to depart yesterday, February 19, on a 10-day Panama Canal sailing between Acapulco and San Juan.

We are making arrangements to return passengers home and, in the meantime, they will be staying aboard Regal Princess, with all the ship's services available to them.

As a result of the cancelled voyage, we will give passengers a full refund, including air fare. We will further provide passengers with a future cruise credit equal to 35% of the cruise fare paid for this voyage.

Following some preliminary repairs to Regal Princess, it will proceed to a dry dock where repairs will be undertaken. At this time we expect that the following cruise may also be impacted, but the extent is not yet known. We hope to provide this information as soon as possible. The next sailing, a 12-day South America voyage, is scheduled to depart on March 1. There are 1,552 passengers and 683 crew aboard Regal Princess.

[Julia’s Journey’s]

Hope they get it repaired and to SJ before the next cruise.:D

[NSWP]

Oh no..hope they fix it before her last cruise on Aug 31. We are on it.

And I hope they fix it well.:(

[Juliadlf]

Prior to Regal Princess' arrival yesterday in Acapulco, it was discovered that the ship had sustained some damage to one of its ballast tanks. Following an assessment of the damage and the associated circumstances, it has been determined that the ship touched bottom as it was departing Huatulco on February 18.

 

 

How does something like that happen to a ship, ie touch bottom? Don't they have all these fancy instruments which tells them the depth of the waters they are sailing or docking in?

 

Julia

[Colo Cruiser]

The seas were apparently very rough as the ship left the harbor with a lot of pitching and rolling.

 

Very hard to maintain an accurate depth reading in those type of seas.

It is already a very tricky entrance/exit to Huatulco.

[rykersdad]

Oh man, I feel sorry for the pax's who got cancelled, better to be safe than sorry, but still a large pill to swallow.

How old is the Regal?

.......can you hear worry in my type???? booked on the Grand in 101 days............. fingers crossed, toes crossed:o

[Juliadlf]

The seas were apparently very rough as the ship left the harbor with a lot of pitching and rolling.

 

Very hard to maintain an accurate depth reading in those type of seas.

It is already a very tricky entrance/exit to Huatulco.

 

Okay it would make sense that it could happen but wouldn't the captain have an idea of the sea conditions before they docked so they wouldn't get into that type of situation? Aren't there sea warnings so they know what is coming?

I am truly a novice so forgive my ignorance.

 

Julia

[longduo]

We have friends who were set to cruise on the Regal out of Acapulco on the cancelled cruise. They say the ship arrived about 3 hours late. They were all boarded on the Regal. Then it didn't sail but they were given little information. They were given free drinks the first night. The next day passengers were offered free tours in Acapulco.

 

Colo Cruiser, you may find it interesting. I forwarded your original post from this thread to our friends. They replied that that was much more information than they had been given.

 

As Princess attempted to get flights home for all the passengers they continued to stay on the Regal with food and free drinks tho' the pool was closed as were the shops and casino since the ship was in port. They did have some shows.

 

Yesterday (Thursday, Feb. 22) our friends were being moved off the ship to the Hyatt (I'd hope at Princess expense!) to await word of flights home.

 

Longduo

[Druke I]

Sea bottom, sand bars, etc., in a constant state of flux, and in some cases, in constant need of dredging. Not unusual for a ship to scrape bottom or "tip a prop".

[Druke I]

delete-duplicated post.

[dforeigner]

I wonder how bad the damage is if the ship is still in Acapulco. I noticed that it is anchored in the middle of the bay.

 

 

[Colo Cruiser]

We have friends who were set to cruise on the Regal out of Acapulco on the cancelled cruise. They say the ship arrived about 3 hours late. They were all boarded on the Regal. Then it didn't sail but they were given little information. They were given free drinks the first night. The next day passengers were offered free tours in Acapulco.

 

Colo Cruiser, you may find it interesting. I forwarded your original post from this thread to our friends. They replied that that was much more information than they had been given.

 

As Princess attempted to get flights home for all the passengers they continued to stay on the Regal with food and free drinks tho' the pool was closed as were the shops and casino since the ship was in port. They did have some shows.

 

Yesterday (Thursday, Feb. 22) our friends were being moved off the ship to the Hyatt (I'd hope at Princess expense!) to await word of flights home.

 

Longduo

 

 

This info came from the Princess website.......

 

and they have now canceled a second cruise effectivley postponing any sailings until March 13th 2007.

 

Does not look good for any future sailings onboard the Regal right now. :)

[Juliadlf]

Sea bottom, sand bars, etc., in a constant state of flux, and in some cases, in constant need of dredging. Not unusual for a ship to scrape bottom or "tip a prop".

 

I learned something new today. Thanks!

 

Julia

[mii]

It is also posted on the Cruise Critic home page. Been there all day.

 

Marilyn

[cruiseinator]

Sea bottom, sand bars, etc., in a constant state of flux, and in some cases, in constant need of dredging. Not unusual for a ship to scrape bottom or "tip a prop".

 

 

Wow.....does this really happen often? If so, what keeps them from taking on water and from there sinking? I haven't heard of it happening much, do they cover it up? It wouldn't seem like they could with all the people on board to post it all over sites like this?

[cruiseinator]

Sea bottom, sand bars, etc., in a constant state of flux, and in some cases, in constant need of dredging. Not unusual for a ship to scrape bottom or "tip a prop".

 

 

Wow.....does this really happen often? If so, what keeps them from taking on water and from there sinking? I haven't heard of it happening much, do they cover it up? It wouldn't seem like they could with all the people on board to post it all over sites like this?

[Colo Cruiser]

Wow.....does this really happen often? If so, what keeps them from taking on water and from there sinking? I haven't heard of it happening much, do they cover it up? It wouldn't seem like they could with all the people on board to post it all over sites like this?

 

 

Seperate compartments that can be sealed off from one another in case of a breach of the hull structure. :)

 

Underwater divers put a temp patch on the hole until the ship reaches drydock.

[dforeigner]

Wow.....does this really happen often? If so, what keeps them from taking on water and from there sinking? I haven't heard of it happening much, do they cover it up? It wouldn't seem like they could with all the people on board to post it all over sites like this?

 

Double hulls, water pumps, etc.

[LA_FadeAway]

Oh man, this really sucks for everyone that was supposed to be on the next two cruises! Panama canal and South America, those aren't something most people do every ear. What a bummer!

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

And after being on the Star during the infamous fire cruise, waiting around for a flight to get you home is not a pleasant experience no matter how may free drinks they are giving you.

 

I hope Princess learned after our cruise and are better at communicating to the passengers about their flights. We waited for 4 days to get a flight home and didn't know anything the whole time.

[Chatugian]

I don't think Princess has learned about communicating with passengers during an event like this. We were on board, ready to cruise, and are now home. I'm very disappointed (this was to be our first vacation in 3 years, due to starting a business, and now we can't go again until next year).

 

I wasn't too concerned that first day - figured we'd sail a day late, miss a port, so what? But around 5:30-6pm, they announced the cruise had been cancelled and they'd get us all home. Twice during dinner (and that's another story) my husband went down to see if we had any news. Nothing. When we finally went to our room at 11pm (last time he checked - 10:15pm) - there was a notice that we were to have our luggage outside our stateroom before midnight for an 8am departure. He went downstairs and said NO WAY. If you'd let us know by 6pm, fine. But not with no notice. So we booked our own way home, for the following day.

 

Some passengers were sent on a 6 hour bus ride from Acapulco to Mexico City to catch air connections! Can you believe that? Many, many people just went where they were told. Instead of a vacation, they ended up with travel days from hell.

 

The staff was pretty awful, frankly. There were a couple of wonderful exceptions (our cabin steward Jesus Milan was fantastic), but they were generally sullen and unhelpful (and I'm talking everyone). Obviously no one was telling them anything either, and they were about to be furloughed, and they weren't going to get tips from us, so they tried avoiding. It made for a frustrating time.

 

I understand about what happened to the ship, and that that was the local harbormaster's fault in Huatalco. I'm not blaming Princess for that. But this ship obviously had management problems well before this disaster, and it just magnified them.

 

I'm very, very disappointed.

[bdjam]

Some passengers were sent on a 6 hour bus ride from Acapulco to Mexico City to catch air connections! Can you believe that? Many, many people just went where they were told. Instead of a vacation, they ended up with travel days from hell.

It's unfortunate this situation happened and that there were a number of vacations ruined. Every cruise line faces a public relations disaster when there's a problem with a ship - just ask Celebrity about their Azipods. But in the mean time, Princess very suddenly had to move 1500 plus people from Mexico back to their various home bases. I would imagine it was a logistical nightmare with planes already full and something Princess did as best they could...getting everyone home in just a couple of days. If I understand correctly, Princess refunded the price of the cruise, offered a 35% discount on a future cruise and took care of all of the travel arrangements free of charge (including refunding the air fare TO Regal Princess). I would think given all that Princess did to get people home, a little compromise would be in order.

 

Sorry that your vacation was ruined - but things happen. You're fortunate the cruise line didn't just leave you at the pier in Acapulco with a refund check...that's really all they were obligated to do.

[AngryKing]

I would imagine it was a logistical nightmare with planes already full and something Princess did as best they could...getting everyone home in just a couple of days.

 

It's my understanding that it was hard getting people home from Acapulco. Flights were hard to to come by and the only way to get people home was through Mexico City.

[macusr]

We were on Regal for its most recent cruise when the incident at Huatulco happened. We felt the ship list rather severely and people we talked to who were on deck noticed lots of dirt being kicked up (which must have been when we hit bottom). We also noticed that we had gotten very close to the rocks on the side of the harbor. But once we had cleared the harbor, nothing seemed to be abnormal. It wasn't until the next morning when we got up and learned that we would be arriving in Acapulco 2 hours late that we learned there had been "technical difficulties" but that the ship's safety had not been compromised. We stayed an extra night in Acapulco at the Fairmont Acapulco Princess and we learned from others who had taken the evening Acapulco tours that the ship had not left yet. As we were flying home through Dallas, we read on-line about the ballast tank being damaged and that the next cruise was being cancelled and the one after in jeopardy. Then, after we got home we received email from a non-passenger on board Regal that said the damage had been worse than expected - a hole in the outer hull about 15 to 20 feet long, plus two smaller holes.

[telephoneman52]

We were on the Star last March during the fire and were supposed to be on the Regal on that cruise. Had a lot of free drinks. They did let us know as soon as they knew it couldn't be fixed. Maybe the third time is a charm.