Just returned from the Crown Princess Hawaii-Tahiti trip. Poor weather caused cancelation of ports in Maui, Kauai and cancelled virtually all excursions on the big island. Christmas Island also cancelled because of "inadequate pier". Princess has now removed Christmas Island from the itinerary. So out of 7 ports we only entered 3. We also had 8 full days at sea, in rough seas, as a result. It was a tense time for all passengers and crew.<BR><BR>So far princess has only offered a voucher for $150 for each passenger. We are planning to work through our travel agent to see if we can do better. For a rather expensive trip we were disappointed that princess didn't do more. Any advice or experience would be great.<BR><BR>In addition one of the air charter planes out of Tahiti had mechanical problems and close to 400 passengers spent the night at the airport after their flight was cancelled.<BR><BR>If you are taking this trip, plan carefully.<BR><BR>

Hi Tracey,<BR><BR>Keep working with your travel agent. It will take a while. He/she should tell Princess the $150 is unacceptable for that many missing ports. May have to write more than once.<BR><BR>I can not comment on the 400 passengers stuck in an airport since it is hearsay. I do not believe Princess would let passengers sleep in an airport for one of their cancelled charters unless the new flight was leaving in a short time and it would have been impractical to hire buses for a short a hotel stay.<BR><BR>Sorry to hear of your terrible experience.<BR><BR>Paul<BR><BR>

I just heard from a friend that was on this same cruise with you tracey and he backed you up on everything, including the cancelled flight in Papette and the long overnight wait in that airport. What a mess. We monitored his progress on Princess web cam and saw what terrible weather that you had.<BR>The one thing he didn't mention is that Princess had taken Christmas Island out of their itinerary. I plan on getting with my travel agent this morning to see if this will happen as we are scheduled to do this same cruise in February only we will be sailing both ways on a back to back.<BR>Thank you tracey for the info that you provided.<BR>Toto

Thanks for the advice about contacting princess. In everyone's experience what is a reasonable amount of compensation in a situation like this?<BR><BR>As far as the overnight at the Tahiti airport: I understand part of the problem was that all of the passengers had cleared immigration already so the paperwork would have been a nightmare. In addition Omni Airways (the charter operator)probably had no other flight available. Tahiti sure isn't a hub for many airlines. The only flight on the airport display other than the Princess Charter was a 3 am flight to New Zealand.<BR><BR>There were simply no other planes at the airport.<BR><BR>As far as christmas island, the crew on the ship told us that as far as an actual port it isn't very impressive. The crew is not allowed to disembark, there are no toliet facilities or any shore excursions. It's really just a stop to break up the long days at sea. So don't be too discouraged if this stop is removed. I really would have rather had an additional day somewhere else.<BR><BR>As far as taking the ship round trip I would recommend that highly. Many people on our cruise took that option. Apparently the cost of the round trip cruise was more cost effective than the airfare for the one way trip. Plus those who were "cruising back" weren't as upset about missed ports, knowing they would have another opportunity.<BR><BR>If anyone is looking for shore excursion advice for Moorea, Bora Bora and Tahiti I'm happy to offer it. Can't tell you much about the other stops unfortunately.<BR>

Thanks tracey- We have actually done this same cruise before some years ago and we found Christmas Island fascinating, that is one reason we choose this cruise over others such as the Legend of the Seas from New Zealand to Hawaii.<BR>The stop there does help to break up the sea days since without it there would be 5 total in a row.<BR>We are just hoping that the pier is repaired in time for our cruise in February but if it's not we will just have to make do.<BR>I totally agree about the round trip, this back to back cost us about the same as one way with air back in 1993. If anyone has the time, they can do it both ways for about the same amount of $$ as one way with air.

We were also on that Doomed Voyage & we were among those "Unfortunates" stranded at the Papeete Airport.<BR><BR>I do want to comment that, although Princess cannot be held responsible for bad weather, when we missed the ports at Maui & Kauai, they should have been prepared with alternate plans. A free cocktail hour & offering of $150 off a FUTURE cruise is not compensation, in my opinion.(We don't drink & we probably would not sail on Princess again.)<BR><BR>There were no lectures or presentations about our destinations, as there had been on the our Ocean Princess cruise in Alaska. Yet, the only presentation we did get was a very discouraging lecture about Christmas Island from the Tour Director. In retrospect, he probably knew that the pier had been destroyed & that we would not be able to get off the ship. This was his way of softening the blow.<BR><BR>For us, the last straw was getting stuck in the Papeete Airport. Princess buses took us to the airport at 5PM to catch the 8:45PM chartered Omni flight out to Los Angeles. This was all arranged by Princess for us as part of the fly/cruise package. Two other flights were leaving after us. Our plane did not take off as scheduled but no one would tell us what was happening. The other planes left but we were still waiting in the hot, unair-conditioned airport. At about 11PM we were told that a part was broken & that a mechanic was there to repair it. No food or water was provided for us! There was no Princess representative there to keep us informed. At 1:30AM we were told that we could not take off & that we would have to return to the airport the next night. We were also told that Princess buses would be out front to take us to hotels; however,at 2:30AM we were still stuck at the airport because the Security Guards would not let us leave! They had taken our visas as we were departing but now they did not know what to do about letting us back into their country. By this time, we, passengers, were getting upset. We had been waiting in that airport for NINE HOURS. We were hot, tired, hungry, & frustrated!! The Security Guards told us that if we did not keep quiet, we would be arrested.<BR><BR>Finally, at 2:45AM,we got on buses, but the bus drivers would not tell us where we were going. We were taken to a shabby, Third World hotel with no central air-conditioning, no food, & no water. All our luggage had to remain on the plane.<BR><BR>Finally, later that morning, a Princess Rep did come to the lobby of the hotel & told us that Princess would allow a 5-minute international phone call & would reimburse us for incidentals if we submit our bills after we got back home. Breakfast & lunch were provided at the hotel but we missed breakfast & lunch consisted of curried goat meat & bottled water. That evening the Princess buses picked us up & took us back to the airport. We departed a day late.<BR><BR>The irony of this situation was that of the 440 people on this flight, half were taken back to the ship to sleep comfortably in a stateroom,eat decent food, & relax in air-conditioning while the rest of us suffered. They could have taken us all back to the ship & let us wait in the public areas if there was no room for all of us to sleep.<BR><BR>This whole situation was handled incompetently by Princess!

I have cruised a dozen times and in my experience once your cruise is over, you are on your own! I deparked in Miani after sailing through the edge of a hurricane and of course, expected delays. Our flight at 11:30 was gone as we were held on the ship until 1:30 in the afternoon due to some immigration problem. The RCCL reps at the RCCL desk in Miani airport absolutely would not help us. Our flight had left on time but most flights were delayed for hours. We struggled for hours in line with our luggage until we managed to fly at 8pm, the airline put us into first class seats, which was wonderful, but threw us off the plane in St Louis and again we had to beg and beg for a seat to Kansas City. I am not a complainer but it was just terrible. I just figure that I am lucky that it has only happened once. I have always known that if you have trouble upon deparking you are on your own. We always book through the cruise line but it sure did'nt help us. The cruise was over, they had our money and that was that!

Another interesting note...<BR>I contacted princess directly telling them I am interested in booking another cruise with them (although after my hawaii tahiti trip I am still not sure). I inquired about my $150 credit toward a future cruise. Would you believe they told me that their records show we all have already recieved a $150 shipboard credit that was on our folios for the trip! I was so stunned. I made it clear that this was not at all true. The only refunds/credits we recieved were the $20 port charges. When I pressed further Princess told me that it was my burden of proof to prove that I had not been credited the $150. I am to fax my copy of my folio to them with a request letter. I was so stunned I called back again and got the same news from another agent. <BR><BR>Additionally another member of our party had been given surprise gifts of massages that were to be presented onboard. Well my friends did go for massages but never were told ANYTHING about the gifts. They only discovered this in an embarrasing conversation with the gift giver upon returning home. They too called princess and were told the same thing. It is the passengers burden of proof, they are to fax the gift givers credit card statement to prove the gift was given. Can you imagine, "Thanks for the gift, can I get a copy of your credit card statement?" <BR><BR>WHAT IS GOING ON WITH PRINCESS! I would love to do another trip, they have great itineraries but this type of service is deplorable!<BR><BR>Is anyone getting anywhere with them?

<BR>Good grief! I know Princess is getting lax in their customer service lately but with no backup plan for one of their charter flights is certainly unacceptable.<BR><BR>I guess it is time for everyone to stay away from Princess' repostioning cruises. They cost less but it is not worth the aggravation.<BR><BR>Paul

Paul, this trip was not a repositioning. It was just the first of the season. Ugh! I wish I could give princess some sort of excuse.

You should send your grievences in writing to the company and file a complaint with the better business bureau. They will have to resond to the complaint and the BBB will try to mediate compensation. But don't look forward to getting very much back because they are a big corporation and will never want to admit to any wrongdoing (i've been down that road before). It's worth a shot as offering a measley $150 credit is terrible!

Well, I hate to make a bad situation worse for all of you but I have some further news to share.<BR>We are booked on this same cruise, only back to back this February. I was so upset about the Christmas Island missed port that I was finally able (after going through many channels) to contact someone on Christmas Island. The original Pier was never damaged. There was a temporary pier that was destroyed but tenders could have still loaded and offloaded at the original pier. The problem was that the officials did not want to clear the ship so that the passengers could come ashore, at least this is what I have been told by someone not affliated with Princess Cruises. I was told that this was in no way any fault of Princess, except for the fact that they did not tell the passengers the complete truth about this missed port. It is still questionable as to whether we will be going ashore in February as they have not decided as yet whether they want to go thru the hassle of clearing the ship.<BR>We did this same cruise back in 1993 so this is not a new itinerary for Princess. I have checked and they still have Christmas Island listed as a stop on the Itinerary. We will have two chances to stop and we will have to see what happens.<BR>As for the talk about Christmas Island given on the ship, they were not discouraging you from going ashore with tales of very primitive conditions and the like, because that is exactly what you would have found there. Many people go ashore just to turn around and go back to the ship. You have to like the primitive atmosphere in order to enjoy this type of stop.<BR>The problems that were had at the airport in Papette is the exact reason we booked this both ways instead of just one.<BR>Just thought I would share this bit of information with others that sailed in November.<BR>Toto

This is intriguing about Christmas Island not wanting to "clear the ship". What exactly does that mean? I know there were rumors onboard that maybe there were safety concerns post 9/11 but we wrote that off to paranoia. Do you have any more details?

The person that I contacted on Christmas Island really didn't go into a lot of detail, and didn't seem to want to give much more info when I asked. Just the facts that they had re-built the temporary pier and the storm took it again. As I said, he informed me that the permanent pier could have still been used. He mainly talked about the officials not wanting to get up early on Sunday morning to clear the ship. I know that the Crown also didn't stop on it's return trip as I watched the web cam, just to see.<BR>Kim (my Christmas Island contact) said that he hoped that all would be straightened out by February.<BR>He definitely said that it was no fault of Princess Cruises (and he is definitley not affiliate with the Line)<BR>but that it was completely the fault of the officials on Christmas Island. I have arranged to meet with Kim if we should stop there in February. Would be happy to report back when we return in March if you would like me to.<BR>Toto

I am confused.<BR><BR>Poor weather prevents the ship from docking at the islands, so you want a refund? You should only receive a refund for unused port charges.<BR><BR>The cruise line has the ability to cancel any ports without compensation for any reason (especially weather reasons) - this is in the passenger contract that everyone signs before they get on the ship.<BR><BR>I definitely would not be upset if the cruise cancelled a port because of weather - this is for the security of the ship, staff and the cruisers.<BR><BR>As far as chartered planes - the cruise line contracts with a company to provide air. It is that company's resonsibility to get you to the destination. If the chartered plane was late - go after the chartered plane's company for a refund or next time book your own air.<BR><BR>It is funny - most complaints about cruises is due to weather and air problems. In most cases - both circumstances are beyond the cruise lines control.

To comment on Sara's remarks: Right here,on Fodors' web-site, one of the travel tips is to book the flight through the cruise line in a foreign country. This is basically for some form of recourse in case problems arise. At the Papeete Airport, we tried to talk to any representative or official with Omni Air. No one would talk to us. We were told that they were hired by Princess and that Princess was responsible for us; however, there was no Princess Representative at the airport.

Sara is Absolutely Correct about the Cruise Contract. The Cruise Lines have the right to Cancel a Stop or Substitute a Stop for any Reason.<BR>Standard Airline Contract are only to get you from Point A to Point B, it does not state when or how. The problem is no one reads these contracts or knows what they mean.<BR>On another note, I can agree with Gifts often not being delivered. After finding out $30-60 gifts were not delivered by Cruiselines, I now use an Independant Company because of Clients not getting Gifts I paid the Cruiselines for.

While I agree with Sara's comments about missing ports being in the interest of safety, I think it is important to understand the number of ports we missed and how the entire situation was handled.<BR><BR>For a twelve day trip with seven scheduled ports, we essentially missed four ports. That's a pretty high percentage. Additionally it is clear that we missed Christmas Island for a non-weather related reason.<BR><BR>After speaking with residents of the islands it is clear that the weather pattern that affected our trip was forcasted. Princess could have shifted the order of the Hawaiian ports and possibly had more success. <BR><BR>Instead each day they would tell us that the next day looked promising and we would continue to the next port. Every morning we would drop anchor off shore of the missed port only to be told we weren't going ashore. The ship would then sit anchored for several hours. Many passengers inquired if we could simply head early to ports that had improved weather. Princess' response was to post a sign saying that wouldn't happen.<BR><BR>We spent 8 straight days at sea, with the same entertainment offered daily. The ship clearly wasn't prepared for all of us to spend so much time on the ship. The entertainment quality was below average, and the food variety began to suffer as well. <BR><BR>The main stage acts that were booked couldn't board at the ports as planned so we were given options like "passenger talent show" and yet more bingo. It was clear they were desperate.<BR><BR>I'm not trying to be unfair, it's just with the travel climate the way it is now, and the expense of this trip, we would have thought Princess would have been more accomodating. I would never have purposely selected a 12 day trip that spent 8 days at sea.<BR><BR><BR>All I am asking for is a reasonable discount on a future cruise. This is something Princess can certainly afford.<BR>

Tracey-I totaly understand your frustration with this and also feel that the cruise line should have done more for the passengers. $150.00 cruise credit is good only if you book another cruise in their alloted time frame. Even a shipboard credit would have helped, but the cruise credit thing won't be used by most, and the cruise lines know this too. You had port charges added into your cruise fare that the cruise line will keep even though you did not visit those ports. I know that the port charges are not seperate any longer and are totaled with the cruise fare, but someone got them.<BR>Caribbean itinerarys will vary to avoid storms and keep passengers from missing ports, I also agree that Princess should have had a plan far in advance as to what they would do should the seas become to rough for the tenders.<BR>I hope you persue this and hopefully you will get an offer to justify the problems that you had. <BR>A great cruise is looked forward to for a very long time, sometimes months and even years. What a let down this must have been for you.<BR>Sorry<BR>Toto

I share the exact same sentiments about that cruise as Tracey. Of course, Princess Cruises has no control over the weather, but when ports were missed in Maui, Kauai,& Christmas Island, they should have been prepared with alternate plans. (Another showing of "Shrek" is not sufficient).<BR><BR>When I asked at the Purser's Desk if we were going to have any Polynesian presentations about our destinations, I was told that they did not know but that the Cruise Director would get back to me. The Cruise Director got back to me a few days later, stating nothing was planned but the ship did have a "tropical" ambience & I could buy Polynesian souvenirs in the gift shop. (On the very last night aboard ship, a wonderful Polynesian troupe did perform in the showroom.)Even the onboard band seemed inappropriate for this part of the world-it was a Caribbean.<BR><BR>When we crossed the Equator, no announcement was made. To me, this crossing should have been acknowledged at the time it occurred since this may be a once-in-a lifetime event.(The following afternoon, a silly ceremony took place.) <BR><BR>Bora Bora, Moorea, & Tahiti were as beautiful as one could possibly imagine. Being there made up for the few problems we encountered along the way. <BR><BR>My main issue with Princess Cruises is how they deserted us at the Papeete Airport. I don't doubt that what Joyce states about cruise lines' & air lines' responsibilities are accurate; however,how many travelers are aware of all these facts. Does the average traveler know & understand all that fine print in the travel contract?<BR><BR>The main safeguard a passenger has is to deal with a reputable company that stands behind its good reputation. That's what we thought we were doing with Princess. This was our 3rd cruise with them. (We had been on The Grand Princess during her inaugural season to the Caribbean & on the Ocean Princess during her inaugural season to Alaska, including the land tour to Denali Park & the glass-domed train ride to Anchorage, etc.)Princess did such a wonderful job, handling all aspects of our trips, that we had planned to always cruise with them. Not so in Papeete!! Princess virtually deserted us at the airport. It was not until a near-riot erupted, that Pricess reappeared.<BR><BR>By making our flight arrangements through Princess, we thought we would be ensuring a smooth trip home since we were so far away.<BR><BR>Cruise competition is enormous. Why does a passenger chose one company over another? The company that stands behind its good name is the most appealing. Legally, as Joyce pointed out, Princess may not have been responsible for us after we disembarked but did that company not have any obligation for our well-being? Word of mouth is a very powerful influence. It would probably be a wise public relations decision for Princess to compensate the 440 passengers who got stranded on Dec. 7th.<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>