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Cruise VP says Princess not coming to Cayman
February 20, 2006

As the Cayman Islands sets out to welcome one of the world’s largest cruise ships in June, one major cruise line has decided not to return to Grand Cayman next season.

The Freedom of the Seas, owned by Royal Caribbean, is expected here with its 3,600 passengers, while Princess Cruises’ Grand Princess will continue on its Mexican route.

The Grand Princess made weekly Wednesday calls with 3,300 passengers for about three years to the Cayman Islands.

In January, the ship was redirected to a third port in Mexico, Playa del Carmen, with the company citing engine problems as the reason for bypassing the George Town Port.

In an exclusive interview with Cayman Net News, Vice President for Caribbean and Atlantic Shore Operations at Princess Cruises, Steve Nielsen, said several key factors led to a change in destination.

He disclosed that reviews and passenger feedback on the new port in Mexico have been extremely good and eclipsed that of Grand Cayman.

He explained that passengers preferred the longer hours spent in Mexican ports than a half-day in Grand Cayman, which is badly affected by insufficient tenders.

He said late arrivals in Grand Cayman were due to engine problems, which reduced the ship’s speed resulting in it staying here for only seven hours.

Mr Nielsen said Princess Cruises decided to shorten the journey of the Grand Princess to meet passengers’ request for long stays at destinations.

The company then lengthened the time spent in Belize and the three Mexican ports and that has led to an overwhelming choice from passengers, he said.

He added the confidence vote meant that Grand Cayman could not have the Grand Princess in the winter of 2006-2007, even after the ship was repaired.

The Princess Cruises official said the complaints about getting ashore late were plentiful and the organisation had to act on behalf of its customers.

In an earlier interview with Cayman Net News, Marine and Cargo Manager at the Cayman Islands Port Authority, Joseph Woods, said the number of tenders were sufficient.

He said the issue had to do with Grand Princess arriving at the George Town Harbour late due to its engine problems. He added that the port did all it could to facilitate the ship.

Mr Nielson said the sister ship Star Princess would remain on the same route and would stay on its weekly Wednesday schedule, the same as the timetable held by the bigger ship – the Grand Princess.

Another reason given by the cruise official for the move is that Grand Princess had been rerouted from its base last year from Port Everglades in Florida to Galveston in Texas.

Cayman Net News asked Mr Nielsen if economics and fuel costs played a part in the decision to delete Grand Cayman from the Grand Princess’ cruise holidays, and he said no.

He said there were no immediate plans to have the ship chart the Cayman Islands’ waters again.

The Freedom of the Seas carrying 3,600 passengers is due to arrive here in June from Florida with Grand Cayman in the Cayman Islands, Montego Bay in Jamaica and Labadee in Hispaniola as its destination.

Cayman Net News

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Is Grand Princess another vessel with ongoing engine problems then?

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Originally posted by lasuvidaboy:
...what is there really do do in the Caymans?? I find them very clean....and organized but a bit boring.

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Yes, but that applies to many of the Caribbean ports of call.

[ 02-21-2006: Message edited by: Ernst ]

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Originally posted by Ernst:
Could be that people on vacation on such a small, booring island will tender to these ships to do some sightseeing.

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Some of do that already Ernst

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Originally posted by PamM:
[qb]"...meant that Grand Cayman could not have the Grand Princess in the winter of 2006-2007, even after the ship was repaired"

Is Grand Princess another vessel with ongoing engine problems then?

Pam[/QB]

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Yep.... Initially reported '' here and there'' during the summer season in Europe. Seems Princess prefers '' gambling'' than ''maintaining''.
A saga not unsimilar to that of NCL's DREAM....how long did this situation persist before something was finally done ??.
Also not exactly foreign in substance to Celebrity's Millie class and their ''pods problems''; the breakdowns have been frequent ( average 2 per year,each ship)...but emergency drydock VS the more radical but practical solution ( scrub pods, back to standard propulsion ) seems to be the way the big lines think.

Baffles the mind, really....

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Princess pullout won’t affect business says Port
February 23, 2006

The Port Authority is not expecting an adverse effect on the local cruise industry with the withdrawal of the Grand Princess, which brought 3,300 passengers here weekly.

Last week, Steve Nielsen, the VP for the Caribbean and Atlantic Shore Operations at Princess Cruises – the ship’s owners – said it would not continue on the Cayman route.

For several winters the ship called here but in January it was redirected to Playa del Carmen in Mexico, citing engine problems for bypassing George Town.

Following good reviews of the new route by passengers, Princess Cruises opted not to return to Grand Cayman in the near future, said Mr Nielsen.

Marine and Cargo Manager of the Port Authority, Joseph Woods, said the absence of the ship would not create a headache for the Island.

“The loss of Grand Princess will have a minute effect on business for the port and the Island in general.

“Grand Princess was not a vessel that called Cayman all year round; it only called during the winter season,” he said.

With 330 cruise calls for the same period, according to Mr Woods, the cancellation of 12 is not considered any blow to the cruise business here.

According to Princess Cruises, the Mexican destinations achieved a higher rating than Grand Cayman and that helped to oust the local port for the 2006 to 2007 winter season.

Mr Woods said his organisation could only comment on that claim after seeing the passenger evaluation of the ports in Mexico and Grand Cayman.

He noted that the Island is a very popular destination with Princess Cruises’ passengers, pointing to recent Cayman Net News reports.

“Princess Cruises seem to have some customers who are not happy with the move because they wanted to visit the Cayman Islands. However, that is a matter for Princess Cruises to deal with,” he said.

Another reason presented by the cruise line for keeping the ship away from George Town is insufficient tenders, which results in late arrivals onshore.

In coming to the defence of the quality of the services at the port, Mr Woods said the organisation has visitor satisfaction as a top priority.

“The Port Authority is an organisation that consistently makes improvements to its facilities and operations and will continue to do so,” he said.

He added that the port has no responsibility for the tenders, which are operated by a private company.

He noted that the Cayman Islands is one of a few countries, which has a ‘pre-clearance’ entry that allows immediate cruise passenger disembarkation on arrival here.

“There is no waiting for Immigration and Customs to board their vessel to issue clearance upon their arrival. It is all done electronically before the ship arrives in Cayman,” he explained.

The port official said the Freedom of the Seas that is scheduled to call here regularly with 3,600 passengers would more than make up for the cancelled seasonal visits of the Grand Princess.

The Freedom of the Seas begins operations here in June, while the Grand Princess now serves Playa del Carmen in Mexico in place of Grand Cayman.

“It is not as if a cruise line is completely withdrawing from the Cayman Islands, it is merely the repositioning of a vessel on a different route,” Mr Woods said of the move.

The sister ship, Star Princess, will continue to call at Grand Cayman on Wednesdays, the same schedule held by the Grand Princess.

Mr Woods said the loss would not be significant, given the huge number of cruise lines requesting calls to the Island.

“There are many occasions that we have to deny requests for calls simply because we are over capacity for the days requested. The cruise lines have had to readjust their itineraries and call at other ports in order to call at Grand Cayman,” he said.

He added that the port values the business of all cruise lines and companies, whether seasonal or regular callers and would work with them in a dynamic market.

Cayman Net News

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Then why does it take so d@m& long to tender to shore at Grand Cayman?

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Of course, Princess use their own tenders at Grand Cayman, unlike Royal Caribbean who use the larger local tenders.

The real problem with Grand Cayman is two-fold: firstly there is a shortage of jetty space for tenders to dock: and secondly the main street by the tender jetties is incredibly crowded.

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Originally posted by Frosty 4:
First off I hate Mexico as stated here many times. But to cut Grand Cayman ? Where can I go to put my money now?? Ha Ha !!! RCCL has more cruises to the Western Carribean that almost anyone. I did find GC to be cleaner than most of the other islands visited. You'll notice if you start off in Martinque and go North the islands do get better.
If and when Cuba opens up to US passengers,Mexico can dry up and blow away and its dry already!!
IMHO
Frosty 4

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Grand Cayman is on its way out - the government has seen fit to let the island become overrun with turists; as many as 20,000 a day tendering ashore. It's overcrowded, there's not that much to do and it's becoming dirty and run down.

There's much more to Mexico besides Senor Frogs and Carlos & Charlie's in Cozumel or the pier at Costa Maya. The real beauty is in the ruins at Chichen Itza and Tulum, the solitude of Playa del Carmen.

Unfortunately, due to the mass-market nature of the lines calling at these ports, most people never gain a depper appreciation of all that Mexico has to offer and it's much more than GC's Turtle Farms or their formerly famous Seven Mile Beach.