Is there no partial refund for port of call being cancelled? Have read conditions & realize that Princess can do this & virtually anything else they want to cancel/change. There must be some recourse. We booked this cruise, in February, because of the Panama Canal & the ports of call. One port of call changed(reasonable) due to "operational reasons". Okay, we can understand. On the day we made the final payment one port of call was eliminated due to "operational reasons". Not reasonable & not okay! Call to Princess customer service & then to customer relations was a waste of time.
If we wanted a boat ride we would have booked a cruise from New York to London!
Other than a refund of port charges for canceled ports, there is really nothing else. It might help if you provided details for us, such as the cruise you are referring to and the ports. If we have more information we might be able to explain why the ports were canceled.
Princess Cruise Lines, voyage #2901, on Island Princess, leaving Ft. Lauderdale on Dec. 24, thru Panama Canal, Ending at Acapulco on Jan 3. Change of ports from Puntarenas to Puerto Caldera in Costa Rica. Way less excursions offerd from Caldera.
Port of Huatulco, Mexico was canceled, on Sept 18, just coincidentally the date the final payment was due.
We're sure there are all kinds of reasons it can't be done, but do you supposed there was any thought into staying another day at Puerto Quetzal or getting into Acapulco a day early(likely cruise ship berths are not available.)As apposed to cruising at half speed to cover the distance from Puerto Quetzal past Huatulco to Acapulco or going normal cruising speed & then getting in a holding pattern for 24 or so hours.
What is the typical charge for a cruise ship to stay at a port of call?
You might get a laugh out of this, as I did. I new at this point it was useless talking to this lady in customer relations. I proposed this analogy. You going on a cruise & while you are gone you hire me(I am a house painter) to paint the interior of your home(6 rooms). You pay me $5000 in advance. When you return you find that I did not paint one of the rooms. My explanation is "operational reasons"! No partial refund offered. Her reply,
"I would not pay a house painter in advance!"
I don't know if this is the reason in your case, but I know Island Princess and Coral Princess have missed several port calls at Puntarenas recently because of labor problems. Fishermen have blocked the ships' access to the harbor in protest of a government policy that bans them from shark "finning", the practice of removing sharks' fins. It may be a preemptive move on Princess' part.
It also may have something to do with them cancelling Huatulco.
Unfortunately, cruise ships don't always have the option of substituting another port when one is canceled. I have been on cruises when they could do it, and some when they couldn't.
The house painter analogy isn't applicable to this situation, unless there was a contract stipulating such conditions in the terms of the contract. Your cruise ticket is the contract that was agreed to.
As long as they refund the port charges for the missed port I am always satisfied. I see it as they honored their end of the contract. They have (CCL) on occasion given a little extra. I have never asked though, or demanded it.
My best advice for the future is to read the ticket contract and understand it fully before agreeing to it. That way you won't have the misconception they owe you more than what they think they do.
Dwayne,
I have read the ticket contract & understand it! It's just the screw you attitude that this company(the only cruise company that I've dealt with) seems to have. I know we could get on the boat in Miami & off in Acapulco with no stops in between & they would be with their contract rights.
Even though I've have never been on a cruise I am capable of understanding at least some of the basic reasons for having to change/cancel/ not being able to substitute ports, etc.
It's just the way they did it & the explanation, that sticks in my craw. On the exact day final payment was due, the cancelation notice comes out! Tell me it was a coincidence! For "operational reasons." Come on! In this day & age of full disclosure & having to explain everything, the old "just do it because I told you to" isn't enough/acceptable. Tell me, "it's for my own good, security reasons, retaliation for the shark finning, because of the economy we have to cut expenses just to break even on this trip." Okay, we can handle it. NOT "operational reasons".
If you get away from the legalese, the painting analogy does apply. It just plainly goes to intent. They thought they were getting all of the rooms painted for what they paid, I thought I was getting the number of ports of call that I paid for.
Things always come up that you have to work around, weather induced changes, overbooking, equipment malfunction, etc. It's just too bad we have to start out with our primary service provider, this way.
We'll have a great trip anyway.
Originally posted by froze-to-death:
Change of ports from Puntarenas to Puerto Caldera in Costa Rica. Way less excursions offerd from Caldera.
They are only 30 KM apart so I am sure the tour guides will be out in full force if they know the ship is re routed
If you are looking for a private tour have a look at Okey dokey tours ...
__________________
Lyn
FORMER CRUISES:
Alexandr Pushkin, Carnival-Holiday, HAL-(old)Westerdam, Orient lines-Marco Polo, Royal Olympic-Olympic, NCL-Dream, Dawn-Princess, ACCL-Grande Caribe, Oceania-Insignia (3), Regatta(4) Marina (1) St Lawrence Cruise Lines-Canadian Empress
I thought I was getting the number of ports of call that I paid for
Missed ports are a fact of life for cruisers. Yours is not a unique situation. It doesn't happen every time but it does happen several times in a given year. At least you knew the changes before you boarded the ship. I've been on cruises where the next port was cancelled the very morning we were to arrive - in both cases it was swells making tendering dangerous since there was no pier.
Dwelling on the vague reasons given by Princess isn't going to do anything other than set you up to be miserable on the cruise. When that happens we typically see people return here to post a laundry list of every little thing they didn't like on their cruise. Don't let that happen. Drop it and move on. You may find you like the at-sea time more than the ports. I usually do.
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