With two back-to-back sailings cancelled for Regal Princess because of undisclosed technical difficulties, future cruisers have been anxiously ready to search out out if a 3rd voyage could be scrapped.
The week-long Western Caribbean sailings that had been scheduled to embark from Galveston, Texas, on October 27, 2024 and November 3, 2024, had been each cancelled on the final minute – with passengers of the primary voyage solely studying the information two days earlier than they had been because of set sail.
However fortunately, Princess Cruises had some excellent news to share. In an replace launched on November 1, 2024, the Carnival-owned model confirmed that the subsequent crusing – one other 7-night Western Caribbean cruise – will be capable to go forward as deliberate on November 10.
“Repairs on Regal Princess are progressing as deliberate in preparation for her scheduled November 10 departure from Galveston,” shared the cruise line.
“We’re actively speaking with visitors booked on this voyage to maintain them knowledgeable. Our staff stays centered on guaranteeing a secure and pleasant expertise, and we sit up for welcoming visitors aboard,” continued the assertion.
The three,560-passenger ship might be working a week-long cruise to Cozumel, Mexico; Costa Maya, Mexico; and Roatan Island, Honduras – and can proceed to supply equivalent itineraries with Galveston as her homeport till mid-January 2025.
In actual fact, the 2 cancelled sailings would have been her first two voyages based mostly out of her Texan homeport – because the vessel was in the course of making her approach to Texas from Southampton, U.Okay., when issues began going improper onboard.
Whereas the cruise line has not confirmed the precise nature of the technical errors that briefly eliminated the 2014-launched ship from service, it’s doubtless linked to an engine room hearth that occurred throughout her latest Transatlantic crossing and subsequent energy outages that occurred later within the crusing.
Princess Cruises Will increase the Compensation
Understandably, the visitors who had been wanting ahead to their cruise holidays had been disenchanted by the last-minute cancellation.
Initially, Princess Cruises tried to make issues proper by offering visitors with a full refund of their cruise fare and shore excursions reserved via the cruise line, and supplied visitors a 25% credit score to make use of on a future reserving.
In addition they supplied to cowl nonrefundable airfare change charges of as much as $200 per particular person. However for some, this gesture wasn’t sufficient to match the inconvenience and disappointment they felt.
“You cancelled our cruise lower than two days prior. 10 of us had this deliberate for over a 12 months. You assume 25% cruise credit score covers this?!?”, one annoyed cruiser, who was presupposed to be on the October 27 crusing, posted on X.
Maybe in response to the net criticism, Princess additionally introduced that they’d be doubling the 25% future cruise credit score to 50%.
“As a gesture of goodwill, visitors who had been affected by the cancellations of the October 27 and November 3 sailings will obtain an elevated Future Cruise Credit score (FCC), raised from 25% to 50% of their unique cruise fare,” the cruise line stated in an announcement.
“This enhanced FCC might be routinely utilized to visitor accounts and can be utilized for bookings made by Might 31, 2025, and crusing by Might 31, 2026,” continued the memo.
Learn Additionally: Cruise Hive Dialogue Boards – Princess Issues
Almost definitely, if cruisers rebooked on Regal Princess sooner or later, they in all probability wouldn’t encounter this identical challenge – particularly if it truly is linked to a freak incident, like an engine room hearth.
Regal Princess usually has a very good status. At solely round 10 years previous, she remains to be pretty younger, and underwent a refurbishment in 2017.
That stated, cruise ships function 24/7 all 12 months lengthy, and typically issues merely go improper – though the crew members do work arduous to keep up the ships.
