Missed the glaciers
 

Golden Princess, 7/26 to 8/2/08.
Our Capt too much of a pansy to take the ship to the galciers. The ship says a safety factor- I say naught. Princess has plenty of photos showing a ship in the fjord with much more ice bergs surrounding them then what we encountered that day. Which was a very clear day I may add. One passenger told me as we walked down the steps that our captain is not one of the best in the Princess fleet- then we should have been assigned a different captain!.

I wrote and complained to Princess (we had other issues on the trip), but their customer relations dept has given us the cold shoulder.

So far no reason to book another cruise with Princess.

Am also curious if others have similar experiences with Princess.
I read Carnival part of the Princess family - so another I won't book. I have been on 3 other cruises. So I have a little experience with cruising.

Right. Who is that captain to make a safety decision without getting your expert opinion first? Do yourself a favor and avoid other "Princess family" cruise lines as well: Holland America, Cunard, Costa...

Princess has a loyal following and for good reason. We will be on one of their ships in Feb. and this will be our 4th Princess cruise. Have we had problems on others? yes. Once we could not tender into Raratonga as the Capt. determined this was unsafe due to choppy seas. Later we could not tender in another (Moorea I think) fro the same reason but the Capt. went to Bora Bora that day and back to Moorea the next w/o incident. All the while Princess had to scramble to rearrange shore excursions and did so remarkably well. On another cruise we met one incredibly rude staff member and I complained. I am satisfied with the response I received. However overall the Princess experience has been 99% positive and no matter how hard they try no one is perfect not should they be expected to be.
As for the issue with the capt. I don't think any rational person can expect to take the word of just another passenger that the guy is incompetent. There is simply no way you can judge him based on that. Sorry I can't agree with you there. I get the idea that you think your disappointments equate to someone elses problems. I can't agree there either. Sometimes things can't be helped. JM2C.

I agree w/Spurs and Jacketwatch; the captain is certainly more qualified than passengers to evaluate safety issues. I've been on 35 cruises and there have been 6 or 7 times that we were unable to land in a port due to choppy seas, gusting winds, bomb threats or ice (the cruise lines were Crystal, Cunard and Princess). In some cases, alternate ports were arranged and in other cases we had an extra day at sea. Given that none of us - passengers nor captain nor cruise line - control nature, most passengers appreciated the concern for the well-being & safety of the passengers and crew. In terms of complaining to Princess, it never hurts to let a vendor know when you're not happy with the service they provided, but since the passenger contract clearly indicates that some ports may be skipped due to safety, etc reasons, I don't think you'll get very far. Speaking from my own experience, I've found Princess to be very accommodating when flight delays caused me to miss the first two days of the cruise - even though the fault was not theirs, they gave me a refund for the two days that I missed. On another cruise, I had a cabin that was directly over the nightclub, so after being polite persistent with the Purser's desk, they moved me to another cabin.

It's a always a shame when someone's vacation doesn't live up to their expectations - hopefully your future trips will be more to your liking.

This can happen on any line. We missed Hubbard Glacier on RCCL due to too much ice.

In the end, the Captain is responsible for the ship and all the passengers. He can decide whatever he wants to do. This is true on all lines.

I should add that if glaciers were a priority - you probably should not have planned to go to Tracy Arm for your glacier choice. The twin Sawyer glaciers is the most difficult (for all cruise lines) to get close to and it is the most often missed glacier(s).

You have a far better chance of seeing a glacier if going to Hubbard or Glacier Bay on your trip but that is not guaranteed either as I missed Hubbard on my RCCL cruise.

Is posting your complaint twice making you feel better?? Since you so obviously know much more about sailing a large sea going vessel, why didn't you go up to the bridge and take over from your "pansy"?

Actually this post appeared on cruisecritic and it was posted there TWICE as well as here. The reception there was chilly to say the least. Oh well.

Our Tracy Arm scenic cruising was cut in half for the same reason. Same feeling: didn't understand why.

I don't think a different captain would help, as there was a local person navigating the ship. They should've demand a different one :))

Yes, this left a bitter after-taste. No, the whole impression of a cruise has not changed.

Well one can never call E.J. Smith a pansy. :S-

Over and over and over, I post about Tracy Arm and non NCL ships sailing there. There is LESS THAN A 25% chance of glacier access with ANY cruise ship sailing there.

IF you have glacier priorities, NEVER book an itinerary with Tracy Arm, except on NCL and then you must pay for the add on Tracy Arm jet boat tour.

YES, it does sound good, stating it's for safety etc, however, it is MUCH more dependent on TIME, cruise ship simply time out and have to start back out at a certain time. Conditions have to be just about perfect for the access.

So next time, do your homework and understand everything about the glacier access. Anyone with future Tracy Arm plans, and glacier priorities, book AN ADDITIONAL tour.

Remember that only a very small portion of an iceberg is above the water. Most of it is below which is where the damage occurs to the ship.

Ship radar and sonar systems will give the captain the information he needs to decide whether or not the channel through the icebergs is clear enough for the ship.

http://tinyurl.com/5enwlv

Good luck on your boycott as the people who own Princess also owns the following: Carnival, HAL, Cunard, Costa and Seabourne. That's 6 in all.

If you don't like Princess, you probably won't like NCL, RCCL etc as they all do the same things. I think the best way for you to avoid disappointment on a holiday is to go on a road trip by driving. Then you can decide if you should drive through a snow storm, hurricane or whatever is in your way.

On second thought, maybe staying home is a better idea as you maybe disapointed by the hotel doorman who held the door open too long and let in the cold air, or the chef who put too much or too little dressing on your salad.

I was at the Yellowstone right when the big fire is happening. How dare they have a forest fire when I planned my trips months ago!

Since you double posted your complaint, I will double post my reply. Look at the positive, ignore the negative and don't let little bleamishes ruin your holiday! You will be much happier.

""One passenger told me as we walked down the steps that our captain is not one of the best in the Princess fleet""

No offense but a passenger who is a total stranger would not be my authority on whether or not the Captain is qualified.

I think that is ths Idea. To MISS the Glaciers & not hit them & that is why the Captain did what he did. I guess I can't add any more to what the other posters have said to your OP but get over it. Oh, yes I can add one thing- please don't post it on any other sites that we here may read we have gotten over it for you.

:D :D

LOL Ron

Actually the OP posted this on cruisecritic as well and did so in two different threads. The reaction there was the same as here only more so in terms of numbers and incredulity. I do wonder if Seth ever got even a faint idea of how unreasonable his stance was. I hope so. JM2C