Cruisers preparing to embark on Regal Princess’s next cruise received the bad news that their voyage had been cancelled – just two short days before they were due to set sail.
On October 25, 2024, Princess Cruisers reached out to impacted passengers to inform them that the October 27 Western Caribbean sailing onboard the Royal-class vessel would not be going ahead due to unspecified technical difficulties.
“We deeply regret to inform you that due to unforeseen technical work needed for Regal Princess, we must cancel your upcoming voyage…we appreciate your understanding and regret any disappointment this causes,” reads a notification from the cruise line.
The 3,560-guest ship is currently en route to Galveston, Texas, which will be her homeport 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 7-night cruise would have called on Roatan, Honduras; Belize City, Belize; and Cozumel, Mexico.
Naturally, many of the impacted passengers are quite upset about the unfortunate turn of events and have taken to social media to express their frustration – even though Princess Cruises has offered compensation to make things right.
“You cancelled our cruise less than two days prior. 10 of us had this planned for over a year. You think 25% cruise credit covers this?!?”, one frustrated cruiser posted on X.
Indeed, all guests will receive a full refund of all money paid to Princess for this cruise and will get a 25% future cruise credit that is calculated from the total base cruise fare paid.
The credit can then be applied to any sailing made by May 31, 2025, that sets sail on or before May 31, 2026.
The cruise line will also cover nonrefundable airfare change fees of up to $200 per person.
Rocky Seas for Regal Princess
While the cruise line did not specify what exactly is wrong with Regal Princess, the 141,000-gross ton’s current voyage has not exactly gone smoothly.
While it hasn’t been confirmed by the cruise line, it’s possible that the issues that plagued the in-progress cruise are at least partially responsible for the current technical difficulties.
The current sailing, which is a Transatlantic crossing from Southampton, England, to Galveston, Texas, was offered as both a 33-night cruise embarking on September 24, 2024, and a 21-night cruise embarking on October 6, 2024.
No matter which embarkation date guests chose, all are due to disembark in Galveston on October 27 – when the now cancelled voyage would have set sail.
Regal Princess at Port of Galveston (Photo Courtesy: Princess Cruises)
However, a couple big things have gone wrong throughout the duration of the voyage.
First, on September 30, 2024, there was a fire in the 2014-launched ship’s engine room – which was thankfully put out quickly.
“Just had an emergency announcement on the Regal Princess that there was a fire in the engine room. It was followed by a raucous shuddering,” a current passenger shared on Facebook.
“Finally the captain shared that there had been a fire, but it had been extinguished and we could all go back to having a wonderful evening. I don’t know about you, but ‘fire in the engine room’ doesn’t usually precede ‘wonderful evening!’”, continued the guest.
The extent of any possible damage from the fire is unclear – with the captain and key officers likely keeping this information on a need-to-know basis to prevent panic onboard.
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More recently, current passengers reported that there was a power outage onboard as the ship left George Town, Grand Cayman, on October 24, 2024 – which was the final port call of the voyage.
“There was an electrical fire a few weeks ago…Yesterday, the whole ship lost power as we were leaving Grand Cayman. I don’t know if the two are connected, but the ship definitely has issues to fix,” a current passenger commented.
Others alleged that this wasn’t the only power failure during the sailing and claimed that the ship has been operating on backup generators since the fire, although this has not been confirmed by the cruise line.
In any case, without knowing the extent of the ship’s technical difficulties and what repairs are required, it’s unclear how long she will be out of service.
However, the following voyage – which is another 7-night Western Caribbean cruise that is supposed to embark on November 3, 2024 – is still scheduled to sail as planned.
Appeared first on: Cruisehive.com