With two back-to-back sailings cancelled for Regal Princess due to undisclosed technical difficulties, future cruisers have been anxiously waiting to find out if a third voyage would be scrapped.
The week-long Western Caribbean sailings that were scheduled to embark from Galveston, Texas, on October 27, 2024 and November 3, 2024, were both cancelled at the last minute – with passengers of the first voyage only learning the news two days before they were due to set sail.
But thankfully, Princess Cruises had some good news to share. In an update released on November 1, 2024, the Carnival-owned brand confirmed that the next sailing – another 7-night Western Caribbean cruise – will be able to go ahead as planned on November 10.
“Repairs on Regal Princess are progressing as planned in preparation for her scheduled November 10 departure from Galveston,” shared the cruise line.
“We are actively communicating with guests booked on this voyage to keep them informed. Our team remains focused on ensuring a safe and enjoyable experience, and we look forward to welcoming guests aboard,” continued the statement.
The 3,560-passenger ship will be operating a week-long cruise to Cozumel, Mexico; Costa Maya, Mexico; and Roatan Island, Honduras – and will continue to offer identical itineraries with Galveston as her homeport until mid-January 2025.
In fact, the two cancelled sailings would have been her first two voyages based out of her Texan homeport – as the vessel was in the middle of making her way to Texas from Southampton, U.K., when things started going wrong onboard.
While the cruise line has not confirmed the exact nature of the technical errors that temporarily removed the 2014-launched ship from service, it’s likely connected to an engine room fire that occurred during her recent Transatlantic crossing and subsequent power outages that happened later in the sailing.
Princess Cruises Increases the Compensation
Understandably, the guests who had been looking forward to their cruise vacations were disappointed by the last-minute cancellation.
Initially, Princess Cruises tried to make things right by providing guests with a full refund of their cruise fare and shore excursions reserved through the cruise line, and offered guests a 25% credit to use on a future booking.
They also offered to cover nonrefundable airfare change fees of up to $200 per person. But for some, this gesture wasn’t enough to match the inconvenience and disappointment they felt.
“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, who was supposed to be on the October 27 sailing, posted on X.
Perhaps in response to the online criticism, Princess also announced that they would be doubling the 25% future cruise credit to 50%.
“As a gesture of goodwill, guests who were affected by the cancellations of the October 27 and November 3 sailings will receive an increased Future Cruise Credit (FCC), raised from 25% to 50% of their original cruise fare,” the cruise line said in a statement.
“This enhanced FCC will be automatically applied to guest accounts and can be used for bookings made by May 31, 2025, and sailing by May 31, 2026,” continued the memo.
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Most likely, if cruisers rebooked on Regal Princess in the future, they probably wouldn’t encounter this same issue – especially if it really is connected to a freak incident, like an engine room fire.
Regal Princess generally has a good reputation. At only around 10 years old, she is still fairly young, and underwent a refurbishment in 2017.
That said, cruise ships operate 24/7 all year long, and sometimes things simply go wrong – although the crew members do work hard to maintain the ships.
