| dd/mm/yy |
2009 |
Incident |
| 27.2.09 | From a passengers: I just returend from a 2 week Souther Caribbean cruise from Ft. Lauderdale. Staff had colds the first day, including our waiter. By the second week every other person was sneezing and coughing. Nothing was done to contain this and no announcement was made. Not sure if they even realized how many people were sick! | Illness |
| 23.2.09 | Caribbean
Net News reports strong winds prevented two of the four scheduled
cruise ships from docking at Port Zante (St. Kitts) over the weekend.
While Island Star and Carnival Victory were able to berth, Ventura
aborted efforts on Saturday, after trying to berth in winds up to 32
knots. On Sunday, unusually strong winds gusting as high as 45 knots
forced Grand Princess to turn away. Unrelated
missed ports: In other news, several cruise ships skipped port
calls at Guadeloupe and Martinique because of labour unrest on the
islands. Silversea's Silver WInd skipped Sri Lanka because of civil
unrest. |
Missed port calls |
| dd/mm/yy |
2008 |
Incident |
| 29.12.08 | Antigua
Sun reports the the ship diverted to safe harbour, anchoring
outside English Harbour. It had to be diverted to that part of the
island because it was having problems with its bow thruster. Due to
this mechanical problem, the ship had to be anchored and the cruise
line made the choice of securing the ship in the safe port of English
Harbour considered much more sheltered than St. John’s. The decision
was also made on the basis that the prevailing high gusts of winds
being experienced in Antigua required that the ship, its passengers and
crew go to the safest position which is in English Harbour’s sheltered
bay. |
Thruster problems |
| 22.11.08 | Cruising
Talk reports the ship has been delayed by overnight poor weather
and will not be arriving in Civitavecchia until at least 1430 today. FROM A PASSENGER: At around 9pm during dinner, there was a
sharp lurch and then a hard drop and the ship shuddered
noticeably. Several hours later, the ship lurched again and then
came down hard and shuddered again and the power to the entire ship
went out. The ship seemed to drop again, and vibrated very hard. about
5 minutes later power was restored only briefly, and then went out
again. Power was out for about another 5-10 min and then came
back on, but not to propulsion. We drifted for about 30 min
before limited propulsion was restored. There was VERY limited
notification as to what happened, just the usual all is well and we are
working on restoring power and propulsion. The ship was to arrive
at 6am, but we were proceeding only at about 5 knots and on only one
screw. We finally limped ashore and arrived at 1230pm. We
had to be assisted by 2 tugs to get us docked- something I NEVER saw on
any other port call for this ship. The scene ashore was totally
anarchy with little comment from Princess. I heard from an
engineer when i questioned him that we lost a generator as well as
damaged a stabilizer- but again nothing from Princess in terms of
compensation, assistance or comment. Overall a very bad situation
on their part. What I want to know is how seas of only 4-8 feet
could take out a modern mega-ship like Grand Princess? Yes
winds were like 40MPH but that should be nothing for a ship this large
and modern. Another passenger
adds: the subsequent cruise
sailed at 830PM but missed Cannes
due to wind. There were quite a few ships caught in the unexpected
storm and a ferry is missing. There was damage to one window in
Sabatini's but no damage to any passenger cabins and no injuries. She also suggested that the power outage was not as long as mentioned
above, and that Princess did everything possible to make a bad
situation better. And another writes: I can confirm that during
second seating dinner, 9ish, a crash sent our cutlery and glasses all
over the table. I can also confirm that around 11 pm - 12:30 am we were
hit by several waves the biggest of which cut power and engines.
My room on the Aloha deck was one of the last to have power restored at
about 2 am, so it wasn't just 15min like reported, my series on deck 12
camped out in the hall until power was restored. |
Delayed embarkation |
| 31.3.08 |
Press in Jamaica reported what appeared to be a fire when the ship was in Ocho Rios -- residents in the area reported the ship came to a halt and there was thick smoke surrounding the vessel. Princess Cruises later reported there had been a breakdown of one of the ship's engines and damage to another. The ship cruised at reduced speeds with delayed arrivals in ports. Repairs were planned without taking the ship out of service. | Engine breakdown |
| 2.1.08 |
The port call at Cozumel was canceled because of rough seas
and weather. On January 4 the ship stopped at Freeport instead of
Princess Cays. |
Canceled port call (Weather) |
| dd/mm/yy |
2007 |
Incident |
| 25.3.07 |
A
22-year-old man and a 20-year-old woman were rescued after
"accidentally" going overboard from their cabin balcony. The two
were
reported to have gone overboard at 1:30
a.m. when Grand
Princess was approximately 150 miles off the coast of Galveston. They
were recovered after a four-hour search, one found at 5:30 a.m. and the
other at 6 a.m.. The female returned to the US for medical
attention;
the male continued on the cruise. UPDATE MARCH 30: The Colorado
Springs Gazette reports that the jumpers were both trained for
water survival. The 22 year-old-male is an Air Force Academy
cadet with extensive training in water survival, which includes how to
leap into the water from a high dive platform and how to stay afloat by
inflating clothing with air. The 20-year-old woman is a trained
lifeguard. This has led some to speculate that their going
overboard was a stunt designed to demonstrate (two days before
Congressional hearings) that the cruise industry could effectively and
competently save passengers who go overboard. Watch here for
further updates. |
People Overboard -- Rescued Alive |
| dd/mm/yy |
2006 |
Incident |
| 4.11.06 |
According to a passenger, at
approx 19:20 (local time) the ship appeared to run aground while
heading to sea from Liverno, Italy. Approx 1/2 mile beyond the
harbor entrance, just as the pilot appeared to have disembarked, the
ship appeared to come to a soft stop. For the next 30 minutes (from our
starboard balcony) it appeared that the ship's officers tried many
combinations of thrusters and props at varying speeds and directions
trying to twist and pivot the ship back and forth on it's axis until at
about 20:00 she began to regain her way forward. No notice was or
has been given to passengers. In an unrelated incident, a
week and a half ago the Golden Princess in the waters around Rhodes
reportedly scraped bottom (sustaining some damage to itself and
to the reefs). |
Grounded |
| 1.4.06 |
Two crew members jumped ship from the Grand Princess on its
turnaround day in Galveston. As a result, crew members were
restricted in shore leave in Galveston on subsequent visits. A
bit more information here. |
Jump ship |
| 4-11.3.06 |
It was reported by CBS TV in Dallas-Fort Worth that a couple
staying in the Vasco de Gama suite had an encounter with bed bugs
onboard the ship. The family said they are disappointed the
cruise line did little to eradicate the bugs while on-board.
According to the TV report, the company spokesman admitted fault and
offered the family its "unreserved apology". |
Bed Bugs |
| 11.2.06 |
The ship returned to Galveston 1.5 hours
late at
the end of the cruise (because of high winds) causing some passengers
to miss flights home. Princess-arranged bus transportation to the
airports was anarchic, causing further delays. One passenger says
it took 3 hours to get to Hobby Airport, twice the time normally
required because the bus driver kept getting lost on the way.
Another passenger (on the same bus) says passengers destined for
Bush Airport (IAH) were abandoned at Hobby Airport and left to
find their own way to Bush. (See thread at Cruise
Critic) |
Ground transportation nightmare |
| 4.2.06 |
Two hours after leaving Galveston, a passenger suffered a heart attack and required urgent onshore medical attention. The ship made a sharp turn while traveling at 21 knots, causing 18.5 degree list (at 24 degrees the ship would be in trouble) which resulted in glassware, dishes, ornaments, and numerous objects sliding off tables in the dining room and shelves in shops. Twenty-seven passengers and ten crew suffered injuries, mainly cuts and bruises (including some who were injured when TVs in their rooms slid off shelves -- reportedly, 82 television sets were destroyed by the list). According to Princess, the vessel experienced a “roll greater than normal” during the execution of the turn. The ship was met by the Coast Guard eight miles offshore to transfer the sick (reportedly dead) passenger from the ship. An injured crew member was also taken off the ship by stretcher. Unconfirmed reports were that 300+ passengers left the ship at its first stop, in Costa Maya | Severe List --- Injuries For pictures of shops after list, click here |
| 1.2.06 |
A passenger has written to say that again the ship's
itinerary was changed for "technical reasons," dropping Grand Cayman as
a port call. Passengers on subsequent cruises were
informed: Due to increased
passenger satisfaction scores based on our recent itinerary changes,
the decision has been made to enhance the itinerary for the remainder
of the season, therefore the 1/2 day call to Grand Cayman has been
canceled and replaced with a full day call to Playa Del Carmen on March
22, 2006, from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm. In addition, the port times in
Belize and Cozumel have been extended. We recognize that some passengers may be
disappointed as a result of this itinerary change and are pleased to
provide your clients with a non-refundable goodwill credit of usd $25
per person. This credit will be applied to your client's onboard
folio. |
Itinerary change |
| 23.1.06 |
The port call at Georgetown, Cayman Islands on January 25 is
cancelled on the seven day cruise running January 21 - 28 from
Galveston. Passengers were initially told it was because the port
of Georgetown was closed to all cruise ships that day. But a
passenger contacted the port and learned that was false. The port
says the ship cancelled its planned call for "technical reasons."
The ship is replacing Playa del Carmen for Cayman; passengers are being
given a $75 onboard credit. For full story see Cayman Net
News. |
Cancelled Port |
| dd/mm/yy |
2005 |
Incident |
| 13.9.05 |
Repairs were not completed while the ship was in Venice and
the ship is operating at decreased speed. Time of stay has been
shortened in several ports (Dubrovnik, Corfu, Katakolon, amd Mykonos)
but the ship is otherwise expected to stick to the published itinerary. |
Propulsion problem - Itinerary change |
| 8.9.05 |
The ship reportedly suffered engine problems while sailing in the Eastern Mediterranean en route to Istanbul. It missed its scheduled calls at Istanbul and Kusadasi, stopping instead at Samos and arriving in Piraeus (Athens) yesterday. Repairs are expected to be completed on Sunday when passengers embark/disembark in Venice. Passengers reportedly "rioted and protested" and were subsequently given a $400 onboard credit. One passenger wrote: We were informed by the bridge that there were propulsion problems that would cut our speed from 22 to 11 knots. It was apparent there were problems because if you watched the wake there was a very noticeable difference between the two sides. While we were disappointed at missing the two ports we were liberally compensated by the cruise line. They gave us one on shore excursion at no cost and also gave cash credit toward either excursion or on board charges. | Propulsion problem -- Missed ports |
| 12.7.99 |
Princess reported a passenger missing in the
Mediterranean. He apparently fell overboard from the private
balcony in his cabin. |
Passenger
overboard |
| dd/mm/yy |
Outbreaks |
| 16.5.10 |
The Daily Mirror reports dozens of passengers on a Mediterranean cruise were yesterday confined to their cabins as a result of norovirus. More than 2,500 people are on board - and the number of people becoming ill was said to be growing by the hour. Passengers David and Jackie Greenslade have been confined to cabin since Wednesday.David: "It was supposed to be a dream holiday but it's turned into a nightmare. People are dropping like flies." A spokesman for the cruise line said: "Out of 2,468 passengers only 30 have been affected so far." The Daily Echo subsequently reported that Princess said 57 people had reported ill, and that there had been an outbreak on the precceding cruise. According the the newspaper, the cruise line had notified passengers when they boarded the cruise that there had been an illness outbreak on the cruise that had just ended. |