Pa Announcements

[Jospen]

ARE THERE ANY? IF SO HOW OFTEN ? CAN YOU SWITCH THE VOLUME DOWN?.......Our last cruise on Fred Olsen, the PA announcements were only from the Captain & they were announced in advance on the daily times.

[Toto2Kansas]

Very seldom will you hear announcements on Princess. In fact, for the captain's daily report, if you are in your stateroom and you want to hear it, you need to turn your TV to a certain channel or you'll miss it. Nice and quiet when it comes to announcements on princess ships. :)

[Jospen]

Excellent, I can't wait...... I will need to though..... the cruise is not until Oct 2009!

[caribill]

In-room announcements are only in emergencies or unusual circumstances (we will have to bypass today's port).

 

Public area announcements include the daily report from the bridge (usually at Noon), a list of upcoming activities, and sometimes endless pleas to attend the art auction.

[YoPhilly]

Very, very few in-cabin PA announcements on Princess. I've only heard them for muster, debarkation and missed ports.

[Jospen]

How often & why does this happen? Are you compensated ?

[Jospen]

How often & why does this happen? Are you compensated ?

[Jospen]

How often & why does this happen? Are you compensated ?

[Julia’s Journey’s]

How often & why does this happen? Are you compensated ?

 

It all depends, could be unsafe waters to tender in if a tender port, could be a number of reasons they can miss a port, the Captain doesn't make the decision easily and depending on the circumstances they could compensate or not.

[paul929207]

How often & why does this happen? Are you compensated ?

 

We have been on 12 Princess cruises and have never missed a port. I believe there is little compensation when a port is missed. If you read the fine print, they are covered.

[custompcsys]

In 4 cruises I've missed one port - Victoria BC - because high winds made it dangerous for the ship to dock. The captain waited over 2 hours anchored in the harbor to see if conditions would change. When they didn't we went on to Seattle. The CD put together an extra show on the fly in the Princess theater and there were a few other activites added.

 

Compensation was limited to refunding of the port charges for that port, which ended up being less than $10 pp. If you read your passage contract they have the right to skip ports and change itineraries as needed. If the captain says its unsafe I'd rather enjoy the extra time on board and not risk something a lot worse.

[Colo Cruiser]

Are you compensated ?

 

 

Princess is not required to compensate for missed ports , that is part of being on a ship, things happen.

 

 

Maybe an $8 port charge refund. :)

[NeurosurgeryNP]

Yeah - all we got on our January CB cruise when we missed Princess Cays was the prot charges refunded. The crusie staff was great and put together another Patter for the extra unanticipated sea day and we had a ball at sea!

 

It is very nice with the lack of PA announcements compared with other lines.

[Vic The Parrot]

In-room announcements are only in emergencies or unusual circumstances (we will have to bypass today's port).

 

Public area announcements include the daily report from the bridge (usually at Noon), a list of upcoming activities, and sometimes endless pleas to attend the art auction.

 

 

 

Do they test the whistle @ noon also? :)

[Stevesan]

Princess is not required to compensate for missed ports , that is part of being on a ship, things happen.

 

 

Maybe an $8 port charge refund. :)

 

 

Land resorts don't refund for rain days, either!:p

[Toto2Kansas]

How often & why does this happen? Are you compensated ?

 

Missed ports happen occasionally on all cruise lines. Princess Cays is one that if the seas are rough, since it is a tender port, they just can't safely get the passengers transferred safely there and back when the sea conditions are not good.

 

There are a few others that are missed also, one in Hawaii, because of rough seas is often missed, there was one in Tahiti, because of rough seas that was often missed also, and I am sure many more. Recently, we missed Mykonos on an Egypt/Aegean cruise because of poor conditions.

 

I suggest all new cruisers totally read their cruise contract. This explains the cruise lines liability when things like this happen.

They take the safety of the passengers and the ship into consideration before going into port weather by tender or docking.

 

As for compensation, that is solely at the cruise lines discression. For Mykonos, we didn't even receive our port charges refunded, but no big deal. as they really are quite small. Most times, there is no compensation offered unless there are several ports missed on an itineary, and even then, it is in the form of a shipboard credit usually and isn't all that much.

 

Reading the complete cruise contract will let you know ahead of time what can be expected, and what is covered that they will not usually compensate for.

[Katie333]

We've had a port substituted (I believe it was San Juan for Princess Cays), and this happened about 2 weeks in advance of the cruise due to some repair issues on PC.

 

They did refund the port charge and apparently didn't charge us anything for the San Juan stop.

 

While I was disappointed at the time, I ended up really enjoying San Juan. Now of course, substitutions are not always possible but I think Princess also misses out when they have to skip a stop (none of those shop and tour kick backs etc), so they would avoid missing stops if at all possible.

[Druke I]

Some captains blow the whistle (horn) at 12Noon, just prior to the traditional noon position report.

 

Others don't - there does not seem to be a fleetwide standard.

 

Personally, I love it when they blow the whistle (horn). Makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up - and if leaving a port, brings a tear to my eye.

[be1498]

Missed ports happen occasionally on all cruise lines. Princess Cays is one that if the seas are rough, since it is a tender port, they just can't safely get the passengers transferred safely there and back when the sea conditions are not good.

 

 

We missed Princess Cays on our first cruise in 1992, aboard Regal Princess, due to rough seas. The Captain gave us free rum punch all day to compensate!

[flvol77]

One thing I disliked about Carnival - their announcements in the hall ways were very Loud.

 

They also make a announcement around 10 pm which we weren't too found of.

[PescadoAmarillo]

Personally, I love it when they blow the whistle (horn). Makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up - and if leaving a port, brings a tear to my eye.

Me too. I love it when we are in port with another Princess ship and they blow the horns back and forth when the first one leaves. I suspect the locals may get kind of tired of it (but maybe not, $$$), but it still gives me goose bumps.

 

As for announcements, I think it's all relative. Princess has more than some cruise lines, but less than others. My last few Princess cruises seem to have had more, particularly about lunch time, announcing the afternoon's activities (just read the Patters, or watch the morning show!). It think it may depend on the CD too.

[YoPhilly]

How often & why does this happen? Are you compensated ?

 

No compensation. Things happen.

 

Last November we left Istanbul at 6:00 p.m. and were supposed to arrive in Mykonos the next afternoon. During the night, a storm forced us to drop anchor in the Dardanelles until early morning. Because it would have been dark by the time we arrived in Mykonos, the captain announced that we would skip that port in order to arrive on time in Egypt.

 

Yes, we were disappointed but had to agree that it was better to have the full amount of port time in Egypt. :)

[Cruisin' Chick]

In nine cruises, we missed only one port, Kona, due to high waves which would have affected tendering. The captain did make a PA announcement that was piped into the cabins. The only other announcement I heard in there would have been the muster is coming one.

 

Other than that, all PA announcements are heard if you are out of your cabin, including the ones about disembarkation starting.

 

Personally I could do without hearing about bingo games and art auctions as I'm not interested in them at all, but if I was, the times are in the Patters.

[Toto2Kansas]

We missed Princess Cays on our first cruise in 1992, aboard Regal Princess, due to rough seas. The Captain gave us free rum punch all day to compensate!

 

Back in 1992, things were so different, weren't they? Now it is just, 'so sorry we missed that port', that would be your compensation. lol

 

I still miss the good ole' Days. :)

[Jospen]

I assume if the port is missed one will get the refund on any excursions booked? If an alternative port is reached, are excursions offered at that port? What are port charges? Are they charged in addition to the cost of the cruise? I have booked the cruise but not received any paperwork from Princess yet...