<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">The start of a Princess cruise scheduled to begin today in earthquake-ravaged Chile will be delayed until Thursday to accommodate passengers having trouble reaching the ship.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Princess says it'll hold the 2,600-passenger Star Princess in Valparaiso, Chile until noon on Thursday. The ship arrived as scheduled early today in the port town -- the terminus for a 12-night voyage from Buenos Aires.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">"Because air flights are continuing to operate in and out of (nearby travel hub) Santiago on a limited basis over the next several days, we recognize that passengers are having difficulties reaching Star Princess as planned," the line says in a statement.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Princess says the Star Princess will operate a revised itinerary for the next cruise with calls in Ushuaia and Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Montevideo, Uruguay. It'll end in Rio de Janeiro on March 16.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">In an unusual move, Princess also announced that passengers scheduled to disembark Star Princess today who face difficulty getting home due to the flight delays in Santiago can remain on the ship for the next cruise, disembarking from any of the ports on the sailing up to and including Buenos Aires.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Princess spokesperson Julie Benson tells USA TODAY passengers who choose to remain on board will be charged a day rate of $50 per person for inside and outside cabins or $75 per person for balcony cabins and above.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Benson says the ship should have plenty of space for passengers from the just-ending cruise who choose to stay on board for the coming cruise as the line anticipates a number of passengers scheduled to join the ship this week will be unable to reach it due to the flight delays.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Santiago is more than 200 miles northeast of the epicenter of the quake and was less affected than the closer city of Concepcion. Still, flights in and out of Santiago's airport has been only slowly returning to normal. <br /></span></p>