A Princess Cruises ship that hit a dock at San Francisco's Pier 27 Thursday morning has been delayed in departing on its next voyage as it waits for clearance to set sail.
Ruby Princess was scheduled to depart for Alaska Thursday afternoon, but the ship was still docked as of late Friday morning.
In a statement issued at 4 p.m. Friday, Princess Cruises said the ship will depart on Sunday at the earliest. The company released the following statement:
"Following today’s inspection by the U.S. Coast Guard, Princess Cruises has been advised that Ruby Princess will be cleared to sail once the area damaged in yesterday’s incident in San Francisco has been fully repaired.
Repairs are underway and our technical experts estimate that repairs are likely to take upwards of 24 hours, and the new estimated departure time from San Francisco is 1600 local time on Sunday, July 9.
As a result, the itinerary for Ruby Princess is being revised and the ship will now sail a 7-day Pacific Northwest/Alaska voyage, visiting Ketchikan on July 12 and Prince Rupert on July 13, returning to San Francisco on July 16 for disembarkation as originally scheduled. Guests will be free to come and go from the ship while alongside in San Francisco beginning this afternoon.
Princess has considered all possible alternatives and has selected this itinerary to preserve as much of our guests’ precious vacation time as possible. We deeply regret the disappointment the delays have caused and appreciate our guests’ understanding as we manage this unexpected situation.
Guests who elect to cancel their cruise will receive a 100% refund of their cruise fare, post-cruise hotel packages and transfers booked through Princess, prepaid shore excursions and other prepaid items and taxes, fees and port expenses. Each guest will also receive a 50% Future Cruise Credit of the cruise fare paid on this voyage, which may be applied to any future Princess cruise that is booked by February 1, 2024 and sails by February 1, 2025. They may remain onboard until 1100 local time on Sunday, July 9 to better assist with alternative plans they may be making.
Guest who will continue with their Princess vacation will receive a 75% refund of the cruise fare paid as well as unused pre-paid shore excursions booked through Princess and the refundable portion of the taxes, fees and port expenses for the missed ports. Each guest will also receive a 75% Future Cruise Credit equal to the cruise fare paid on this voyage, which may be applied to any future Princess cruise that is booked by February 1, 2024 and sails by February 1, 2025.
Upon arrival to San Francisco on July 6, Ruby Princess made unexpected contact with the dock at Pier 27 as she was returning from a 10-day roundtrip Alaska voyage. There were no injuries and at no time were any of the guests or crew on board in danger. Ruby Princess now has 3328 guests and 1161 crew onboard."
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No one was hurt Thursday morning when the ship made "unexpected contact" with the dock while docking, the company said.
The ship, filled with 3,328 guests and 1,159 crew members, was returning to San Francisco following a 10-day roundtrip cruise to Alaska, the company said.
Embarkation for the delayed voyage was completed on Thursday. There are 3,256 guests and 1,161 crew members on board, according to the company.
The company said it was working hard to maintain as much of the planned itinerary as possible and that it would provide goodwill compensation once the full effect of the necessary charges is known.
