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Another Princess Norovirus Outbreak?

Written by T.I. Cruiser on February 8, 2012 · Leave a Comment

“One piece of good news for the next group of cruisers is that back to back outbreaks are relatively rare.”

I have never been afraid to admit when I am wrong, so here I stand before you, hat in hand. In my last blog entry “Two Princess Cruise Ships Suffer Norovirus Outbreak“, which was about the Norovirus outbreak onboard the Ruby Princess and Crown Princess I made a mistake. My exact words were, “One piece of good news for the next group of cruisers is that back to back outbreaks are relatively rare.” Well, it looks like I may have jinxed one of the cruise ships.

Yesterday it was announced that the Crown Princess would end its current cruise a couple of days early amid another Norovirus outbreak. This time nearly 4% of the more than 3000 passengers and 5 percent of the 1,178 crew members have taken ill. The Crown will be returning to Fort Lauderdale on Thursday, in an effort to clean-up and prevent any further outbreaks. A joint effort between the cruise line and the Center for Disease Control (CDC) will take part in a two day sterilization and sanitization project.

Cruisers who are being affected by this change in itinerary are being by Princess. Passengers will receive a full refund of their cruise fare, coverage of any airline change fees for those passengers who did not book through the cruise line, hotel accommodations if needed and a 25 percent future cruise credit. While I know none of this will be able to make up for the time lost and inconvenience of an altered/canceled vacation, I thought Princess was very fair in their compensation. Normally, I am the first to complain about a cruise line doing the bare minimum to make things right with wronged passengers, not this time. Let’s just hope this joint cleaning effort can get this problem under control before any more vacations and memories end up getting ruined.

Future voyages are expected to depart on time, beginning Saturday February 11th.

TIC Examines: The Princess Cruises Alcohol Policy

Written by T.I. Cruiser on December 19, 2008 · Leave a Comment

The Princess policy on alcohol is presented as perfectly as one could want. It is in a simple question and answer format that gets straight to the point. Here it is:

Question: What is the alcohol policy onboard Princess Cruises?
Answer: We kindly request that you do not bring alcoholic beverages (other than wine and/or champagne) onboard for consumption. Alcoholic beverages that are purchased duty free from the ship’s gift shop or at ports of call will be collected for safekeeping and delivered to your stateroom on the last day of the voyage. A member of our Security Staff will be at the gangway to assist with the storage of your alcoholic beverage purchases.

Question: What are the age restrictions for alcohol consumption and access to the casino and disco?
Answer: The legal drinking age of 21 years is always observed onboard and proof of age may be required. All onboard staff are trained to take seriously their responsibility to not serve alcohol to underage passengers. The age restrictions are clearly posted in the bars. Entry into the disco is limited to passengers 18 years and older. Be sure to check with the child and teen centers, however, for special disco events designed just for kids. Children under the age of 18 are welcome in the gymnasium, spa and jacuzzi; and also in the evening entertainment show lounges when accompanied by a parent or guardian.

In line with domestic age limits, as well as Princess’ company policy, the casino is reserved for passengers 21 years and older. Additionally, only those passengers 21 years and older will be allowed to purchase or consume alcohol. For those whose age is questionable, picture identification may be requested.

Additionally on a seperate part of the Princess Cruises website I was able to find this information.

You may bring wine or champagne onboard to celebrate special occasions (limit: one bottle per person). If consumed in the dining rooms or alternative restaurants, each bottle will be subject to a $15 corkage fee*.

Out of boredom I was able to gather information from other areas. Some of this information was gathered from other portions of their website and some from other places on the internet or personal experience. In any case here is my interpretation of the Princess Cruises alcohol policy:

Onboard Princess Cruise’s ships, the legal drinking age is 21 with the exception being the Sea Princess (because it carries mainly British Passengers) where the minimum age is 18. Any liquor brought onboard at embarkation or purchased in port or onboard will be stored until the end of the cruise. Passengers can bring wine or champagne onboard for consumption in restaurants or your stateroom. There is a 15-dollar corkage fee if consumed in a restaurant.

Cruise Lines Eliminate Fuel Surcharges

Written by T.I. Cruiser on December 7, 2008 · Leave a Comment

Cruise ship passengers (like me) who despise the idea of footing the bill to fill the ship’s fuel tank can now breathe easy. With the price of oil barrels falling everyone sensed that it was only a matter of time before the cruise lines yielded to the pressure from consumers and travel agents. This week the moment has finally arrived, the fuel surcharge most cruise lines had been charging has been eliminated.

In fall of 2007 surcharges on fuel started to appear. Over time, the price of oil increased and the cost of the fuel supplement followed suit. When the price of oil fell back to levels that are more acceptable, most (if not all) cruise lines begun adjusting the fuel surcharge. The cruise lines began using an overly complex formula based on the price of West Texas Intermediate Crude on particular dates and the quarter of the year in which you were sailing. If the price of crude were below a certain price, you would be issued a refund in the form of an onboard credit. This formula is no longer relevant because the fuel surcharge has been eliminated.

This week the announcement came that Carnival Corp., Royal Caribbean Cruises and Norwegian Cruise will no longer be passing on the costs of fuel to their passengers. Here is a breakdown on how each of the cruise lines will be handling the elimination and what it means to you.

Carnival Corporation

Which cruises are affected? Carnival, Costa, Cunard, Holland America, Princess and Seabourn

What it means to you:

If you are sailing prior to December 17^th 2008, you will not be issued a refund
If you are within the final payment period on a cruise that departs on or after December 17^th 2008, you will be issued a refund in the form on an onboard credit.
If you are outside of the final payment date the amount of the fuel surcharge will be deducted from your final payment total.
If you have not yet booked, the fuel surcharge no longer exists

Norwegian Cruise Line

Which cruises are affected? NCL America

What it means to you:

If you are sailing prior to January 1^st 2009, you will not be issued a refund
If you are within the final payment period on a cruise that departs on or after January 1^st 2009, you will be issued a refund in the form on an onboard credit.
If you are outside of the final payment date the amount of the fuel surcharge will be deducted from your final payment total.
If you have not yet booked, the fuel surcharge no longer exists

Royal Caribbean Cruises

Which cruises are affected? Azamara, Celebrity and Royal Caribbean

What it means to you:

If you are sailing prior to January 1^st 2009, you will not be issued a refund
If you are within the final payment period on a cruise that departs on or after January 1^st 2009, you will be issued a refund in the form on an onboard credit.
If you are outside of the final payment date the amount of the fuel surcharge will be deducted from your final payment total.
If you have not yet booked, the fuel surcharge no longer exists

While the fuel surcharges have been eliminated that does not mean they will not return. In fact, it is my position that if the price of oil were to climb again the implementation of the fuel surcharge would happen even more rapidly. We have dealt with the fuel supplement for a year and now have gotten a reprieve. In the minds of the cruise lines we are already conditioned to accept a temporary fuel surcharge, making any reinstatement that much easier.