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11 Princess Cruises cancelled in San Diego due to labor shortages

Princess Cruises tells CBS 8 that 11 sailings departing from San Diego are cancelled from September 1st through November 13th.

SAN DIEGO — "At first, I was disappointed. Now, I'm pretty angry," said Win who lives in Bankers Hill.

Win says his vacation on the Diamond Princess was cancelled one month before he was supposed to leave.

"I’m angry they chose to wait up until this point for people who made vacations and pet sitting and house sitting and now it’s all blown away," said Win.

Win’s cruise was not the only one cancelled. Princess Cruises tells CBS 8 11 sailings departing from San Diego are cancelled from September 1st through November 13th. 

Princess Cruises says,

"Over the past year we have operated hundreds of cruises thanks to the tens of thousands of our Princess team members that have rejoined our fleet to deliver exceptional Princess vacations. However, like others in the global travel industry we have experienced some labor challenges. With rising occupancy levels on the ships that have already returned to service and our commitment to guarantee the Princess experience is exceptional, Princess has made the difficult decision to cancel a limited number of voyages (11 sailings) on the Diamond Princess beginning September 1, 2022 through November 13. This will provide us with the additional time needed to overcome our labor challenges.

Guests with bookings during this time period will be offered three options, either a transfer to an equivalent cruise with a $100 per person to spend onboard, a future cruise credit offer of 100% value of cruise fare paid plus a $100 on board cruise credit person or a cash refund.

Princess will protect all travel agent commissions on all bookings paid in full as of Monday, August 8."

"I don’t think $100 on a ship is a good deal whatsoever not for the inconvenience of this," said Win.

Stewart Chiron, known as “The Cruise Guy," a cruise industry expert who has sailed on nearly 300 cruises. 

"There will be lots of disappointed people in San Diego who wanted to make that quick drive to the port and have their luxury vacation, but this was the right move if they can't provide Princess experience, then lets wait until they are ready," said Chiron.

"It takes a lot of revenue away from San Diego," said Win. 

"It's unfortunate. They were certainly counting on number of passengers coming in and flying in maybe and that translates into hotels and restaurants and shops," said Chiron.

Win is planning to get a refund.

"I'm probably going to get my money back at this time. Princess does not interest me. If I booked another, I have no guarantee they won’t cancel those," said Win. 

The Diamond Princess is one of four Princess cruises that was re deployed to the United States after port closures in Asia. They plan to resume sailing at November 20th. 

“Princess Cruises has been an important part of the Port of San Diego’s growing cruise business and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. While the cruise industry – and travel industry as a whole – continues to face unprecedented challenges, the cruise lines have shown and continue to show resilience. We look forward to the Diamond Princess sailing from San Diego," said Michael LaFleur, Port of San Diego Vice President of Maritime.

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