The day it went off the rails…for the third time

G was up and out early on disembarkation (Saturday) morning. I knew he would want to use cellular service to check on things at home. I was slower to get started, and was surprised when he burst into the cabin and told me he had heard from another passenger that the next Regal Princess cruise was cancelled. 

No, I insisted. That person must be confused. I mean, there had been two cancellations. They must have been thinking about one of them. But I threw on some clothes and went to an upper outside deck where I had a cell signal. 

I could not believe it. Another Cancellation Notice appeared in my emails, dated the day before. I checked the cruise date, hoping this was another case where Princess was just late sending this out. Nope. It was for the cruise leaving the next day. We had been checking emails in all our ports, but didn’t have internet on the ship. Everything was a go when we sailed from Cozumel at 5pm on Thursday. And changed just a few hours later. 

This was the last thing we needed to see. Our plan had been to spend one night back at the hotel, pick up our third suitcase, and board the Regal for two cruises the next day. Now what were we going to do?

Our first step was to get back to our hotel and claim that suitcase. We considered just calling it quits and flying home, but home was getting close to two feet of snow, and even if we had been able to get a flight, the thought of dragging suitcases through that snow to the front door almost made me cry. But I contracted with someone to clear our driveway just in case we ended up flying home the next day. 

In the end, we decided to stay until Thursday this week and booked flights to go home that day. We hoped that if Princess was going to cancel a fourth cruise, they would do it before Thursday. I decided not to worry about transfers to Hobby and from our home airport to our house until we knew more. We’d already shifted our Galveston Express transfers around twice, and our driver Michelle at home, we knew, would rearrange heaven and earth to pick us up. No need for her do that and then change our minds. 

We actually got the same suite again at the hotel, and that little dose of familiarity was welcome at that point. I took a week’s worth of dirty clothes down to the laundry room and settled in for a few hours. It was busy on the weekend, and the two washers were full but finished. I waited 30 minutes and then moved the wet clothes in one of them to the folding area. I did not need a laundry confrontation after the morning we’d had, but, luckily, the clothes owner didn’t show up for another hour and when he asked if I had moved the clothes, I said they were there when I arrived 90 minutes earlier. 🤥 Idiot.

We phoned Princess that day and the next, and the next, and the Filipino phone agents told us that we couldn’t cancel our final cruise without incurring a cancellation penalty. The lack of customer service is breathtaking, though it shouldn’t be. We ought to be used to it by now. The agent assured us the ship would sail on November 17, which, sadly, meant nothing. They were telling people the ship would sail even after Cancellation Notices had been sent out for the October 27 cruise. 

We got another food delivery from Kroger but were basically leaning toward flying home on Thursday, and thought we’d argue the cancellation charges later. I was certainly over all this. 

And then yesterday (Tuesday) we received notification from Princess that the ship is fixed and will definitely sail on Sunday. And that is the assurance we have been waiting for (although a fourth cancellation still wouldn’t surprise me). In fact, we immediately took all of our bonus FCCs and booked the Thanksgiving cruise (very pricey but the bonus FCCs covered it) and the cruise after that. We will have to change cabins every cruise but we will deal with that.  I hope the on board experience is as wonderful as it was on the transatlantic. It’s the only reason I’m returning. The only reason I didn’t fly home October 27 ($450pp for last minute tickets, which were cancelled just hours after booking, and we used part of that credit for flights home on December 8). 

I also called Galveston Express to see about moving our transfers for a third time, to December 8, and the guy who answers the phone is always a bit gruff but provides excellent service and he asked if we had been on a cancelled Regal cruise and I told him we had been on three cancelled Regal cruises and he readily changed our reservation. Michelle is now set to pick us up on December 8, and I seriously hope this all doesn’t go to hell in a hand basket before Sunday. 

We also had to extend our hotel but we couldn’t get the same room so we’re moving Thursday into a cheaper room (same property) for twice the price because it’s the weekend. That was painful but we are still hoping for compensation for some of these hotel charges we are racking up WHEN WE WERE SUPPOSED TO BE ON THE SHIP!!! 

Meanwhile, we have been exploring Galveston Island, visiting Moody Gardens and the Railroad Museum and taking long walks on the beach, and I spent today placing Amazon and Kroger orders and booking the flights and transfers for December 8. I had only brought enough meds to last through November 24, but most of what I take are supplements.  I ordered them and more toiletries to be delivered and, most importantly, a new Music Cozy sleep mask with Bluetooth earphones. The charging cord on mine is so close to being completely broken that it’s no longer charging dependably. I got 18 months of nightly use out of it, so I can’t complain. But a brand new one was delivered to the front desk tonight. Cruise on!

We’ve already received the shareholders OBC through Stockperks (less than one day turnaround).  I have to figure out how to print luggage tags here at the hotel and, oh my, I bet Lesle onboard hasn’t held our table reservation for the 17th cruise and we still have to deal with that once we board. 

But for now I’ll be happy to just get back on that ship. I’ve seen quite enough of Galveston Island to last a lifetime.  And, frankly, reading online about how well everyone else’s cruises are going when you’re sitting in a hotel room because yours was cancelled gets old after three weeks. 

Basic but comfortable

(Our room has a king bed). 

Law and Order SVU reruns on TV pale in comparison to drinks and live music, 

but football on a 55” TV makes me smile. 

Life, even when it’s not great, has some redeeming qualities.