I have just been informed by Princess that due to tidal constraints, our new cruise departure time is now 0100 6 July instead of 0800 6 July as originally planned. Message from Princess:
"Please be advised that due to tidal constraints, Ruby Princes will now depart from Venice on July 6 at 1:00am and NOT 8:00am as originally scheduled. All passengers are requested to be onboard by 12:30am. The revised itinerary displays in full at the end of this notification.Please contact passengers accordingly."
Having had pre authorisation to board any time before approx 0700, I booked my BA flight from LGW on 5 July to arrive at 2240. I appreciate that this still gives me a bit of time before the 0100 depature, and that I don't want to leave anything to chances (delayed flight etc), has anyone had a similar experience with Princess before? I've dealt with plenty of air flight schedule changes but never with cruise ships!
Oof - that's going to be stressful... I was worried about my flights for a similar cruise, I land at 11:30am with a 6pm Departure in Venice (onboard 2hrs before sailing).
First thing I did was start to structure a contingency plan- luckily for you if you were to miss it you would have 2 days to get to Athens, I just tested availability on United for same day award travel and they had some 12.5K Coach and 20K Business redemption's available. Having said that I have never booked a same day award so don't know if it is tough to pull off or not.. good part of the story is that there are a lot of flights that go there (indirectly).
Not the ideal, but for me I want 'Plan B' to kick in immediately so I can pick up the ship ASAP without trying navigate Venice with my few words of Spanish and a little Japanese...
For us an earlier flight isn't an option (bailing straight out of work and onto a plane from JFK) but would you be able to adjust your flight with BA? Might want more of a cushion than what you have currently.
#1 rule of cruising - Never, ever book your flight to arrive less than 18 hours (day before) the cruise departs.
#2 rule of cruising - See rule #1
Unfortunately some of us don't have a bag full of leave days. I don't mean this in a spiteful way at all but thats the reality.
I emailed the CEO of Princess cruises to give him a peace of my mind - not that it would achieve anything, just wanted to vent (a little). When we book a cruise in reliance of of an 0800 departure time, which is brought forward by 7 hours because of tidal constraints, you just don't expect to be left high and dry (ironic I know).
I guess this is a point of principle than anything but the fact of the matter is, if there are schedule changes, whether it be weather or mechanical, customers ought to be protected. There may be better regulation in place to protect consumer's interests in the airline industry but from a customer service perspective, cruise lines should not be allowed to get away with this by referring to a disclaimer in the reservation that they can alter departure times as necessary.
Or perhaps I'm just slightly fearing for my personal safety if I had to fly from Venice to Athens as a plan B...
It's possible they will pick up the change fee if you booked the flights yourself, but I would not count on it. You would get a much faster answer if you just contacted who you booked the cruise with, I'm sure they have a listing of what they will and won't do for people affected by the time change.
If you booked the air through them that's a no brainer, just tell them you need to have it changed.
If not I would have a backup plan to get to Athens for Sunday and join the cruise there.
Programs: UA 2P, Celebrity Elite, RCCL Diamond, Princess Platinum
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Unfortunately, you are a cruise lines' "captive audience". Only after an experience like this (or similar) do any of us actually sit down and read the fine print on the cruise lines' contract (which has to be signed before you can even print your boarding pass and documents). They can change anything they want -- including the entire itinerary, change of port stops, times of departure etc. etc.
Lots of info about similar situations posted on various boards at Cruise Critic.
Although your notification from Princess states that all passengers must be aboard by 12:30, generally check-in must be at least 90 minutes before departure. The 12:30 all-aboard is probably stated for the benefit of checked-in passengers who have spent the evening enjoying Venice.
Hope it all works out without too much stress for you.
Unfortunately some of us don't have a bag full of leave days. I don't mean this in a spiteful way at all but thats the reality.
I guess for me, I wouldn't book a 12 day cruise if I can only be there for 11 of them.
Quote:
I emailed the CEO of Princess cruises to give him a peace of my mind - not that it would achieve anything, just wanted to vent (a little). When we book a cruise in reliance of of an 0800 departure time, which is brought forward by 7 hours because of tidal constraints, you just don't expect to be left high and dry (ironic I know).
I guess this is a point of principle than anything but the fact of the matter is, if there are schedule changes, whether it be weather or mechanical, customers ought to be protected. There may be better regulation in place to protect consumer's interests in the airline industry but from a customer service perspective, cruise lines should not be allowed to get away with this by referring to a disclaimer in the reservation that they can alter departure times as necessary.
I'm not sure what you would have them do, keep the ship there later into the 6th when tidal conditions are favourable again, and risk missing another port of call? You elected to fly in almost 12 hours after your cruise begins. This isn't any more Princess' responsibility than it would be for someone on the current cruise who decides that instead of staying on the ship until the morning of the 5th, they book flights home on the 4th when the ship arrives in Venice. If the ship is delayed until later on the 4th, but still is able to disembark on schedule, those people still miss their flights, but it's their own fault.
Whilst I'm also concerned a little about my timing too I believe as long as I have a passport and a creditcard with no oversea transaction charges then whatever- if I miss the ship it's very likely that the 'Amazing Race' to Dubrovnik will be a blast, and likely a lot more fun and memorable than getting there on time.
