The Princess Cruises sailing was canceled two days before embarkation

Cruisers prepare to board From royal princess next cruise received the bad news that their trip had been canceled – just two short days before they were due to sailing.

On October 25, 2024, Princess Cruisers contacted affected passengers to inform them that the Western Caribbean sailing aboard the Royal-class ship would not proceed due to unspecified technical issues.

“We deeply regret to inform you that due to unforeseen technical work required by Regal Princess, we have to cancel your upcoming trip… we appreciate your understanding and regret any disappointment this may cause,” reads a notification from the cruise line.

The ship currently has 3,560 guests en route to Galveston, Texaswhich will be her home port for the winter, from Southampton, UK. The now scratched voyage would have been the first of many Western Caribbean sailings offered from the Texas port.

This particular seven-night cruise would have visited Roatan, Honduras; Belize City, Belize; and Cozumel, Mexico.

Naturally, many of the affected passengers are quite angry about the unfortunate turn of events and have taken to social media to express their frustration – even though Princess Cruises has offered compensation to put things right.

“You canceled our cruise less than two days earlier. 10 of us had been planning this for over a year. Do you think 25% cruise credit covers this?!?”, a frustrated cruiser posted on X.

All guests will receive a full refund of all money paid to Princess for this cruise and will receive a 25% future cruise credit calculated based on the total base cruise fare paid.

The credit can then be applied to any sailing made before May 31, 2025 and departing on or before May 31, 2026.

The cruise line also reimburses non-refundable airline ticket change fees up to $200 per person.

Rocky seas ahead Royal princess

While the cruise line has not indicated what exactly is wrong with it Royal princessthe current journey of the 141,000 gross tons has not exactly gone smoothly.

While it has not yet been confirmed by the cruise line, it is possible that the issues plaguing the current cruise are at least partially responsible for the current technical issues.

The current momentum, that one is a transatlantic crossing from Southampton, England, to Galveston, Texas, was offered as a 33-night cruise with embarkation on September 24, 2024, and a 21-night cruise with embarkation on October 6, 2024.

Whichever embarkation date guests choose, they will all disembark in Galveston on October 27 – when the now-canceled voyage would have departed.

However, a few big things went wrong during the trip.

First, on September 30, 2024, there was a fire in the engine room of the ship launched in 2014 – which fortunately was quickly extinguished.

‘I just had an emergency call on the Regal Princess that there was a fire in the engine room. It was followed by a raw shudder,’ a current passenger shared on Facebook.

“Eventually the captain told us that there had been a fire, but it was extinguished and we could all enjoy another wonderful evening. I don’t know about you, but ‘fire in the engine room’ usually doesn’t precede ‘beautiful evening!’” continued the guest.

The extent of the possible damage as a result of the fire is unclear. The captain and key officers are likely to keep this information on a need-to-know basis to avoid panic on board.

Also read: Secret codes on cruise ships are known only to crew members!

More recently, current passengers reported experiencing a power outage on board as the ship left George Town, Grand Cayman, on October 24, 2024 – the final port call of the voyage.

“A few weeks ago there was an electrical fire…Yesterday the whole ship lost power as we left Grand Cayman. I don’t know if the two are connected, but the ship certainly has issues that need to be resolved.” one current passenger noted.

Others claimed this was not the only power outage during sailing, claiming the ship has been running on backup generators since the fire, although this has not been confirmed by the cruise line.

Regardless, without knowing the extent of the ship’s technical problems and what repairs are needed, it is unclear how long it will be out of service.

However, the next voyage – a new seven-night Western Caribbean cruise scheduled to begin on November 3, 2024 – will still take place as planned.