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Royal Princess Sold Out for Jan 19, 2014??


nukesubsailor
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I began the on-line booking process on the Princess web site for a 01/19/2014 Caribbean cruise. One of the first pages showed prices for all types of cabins. As I went farther to the point of selecting a cabin, the web page showed all cabins marked as sold.

When I have done the same process on cruises on other ships, if the cruise was sold out the first page said it was sold out and gave no prices.

I know that cabin categories change after May of 2013 and the booking pages on the web site may look different, but I find it hard to believe that a cruise still 13 months in the future would have every cabin sold out.

I already booked a cabin on this cruise through my travel agent last August but I was just checking the web site to see if the cabin next to me was taken yet. Can anyone enlighten me on this?

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I know that cabin categories change after May of 2013 and the booking pages on the web site may look different, but I find it hard to believe that a cruise still 13 months in the future would have every cabin sold out.
Not unusual. I took a 31-day cruise several years ago that was sold out TWO YEARS before sailing. The Star cruise I took in March was sold out over a year before sail date. I booked the Royal 10/9/13 cruise last Spring and was #104 on the waitlist for any balcony cabin. By early August, the waitlist was over #450. Some Royal sailings aren't even taking waitlist any more.

 

Bottom line: believe it. It doesn't happen often but it's not unusual, particularly for a brand new ship.

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While I agree it is not unusual to have a ship Sold Out this far in advance, the new booking engine makes it impossible to know that without a lot of wasted time trying to find a cabin.

 

The old software did not show you unavailable categories; the new one not only shows you categories that have no availability it makes you click through all the various prices and options (mid ship, fore, aft, upper, lower and mid) trying to find one of the 'advertised' cabins only to discover that there is not one single balcony cabin left on a sailing.....the new system still leaves a lot to be desired. :(

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Something does seem odd with the Princess site today. I booked a corner suite for the Christmas 2013 last March when they first became available. The suites usually sell out fast for Christmas cruises but there have been many cabins available every time I look. I have been looking at other decks - not sure which one I really want and couldn't believe my eyes this morning when everything is sold out. Just doesn't seem right.

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I think it's something odd specifically with the Royal's availability: no matter what random cruise date I picked, all cabins were sold out, all the way through April. That's pretty unlikely. Maybe they pulled down her availability until they figure out what actual cabins they're going to build on this ship. Probably would have been good to figure that out first, but hey, no plan is ever perfect.

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I think it's something odd specifically with the Royal's availability: no matter what random cruise date I picked, all cabins were sold out, all the way through April. That's pretty unlikely. Maybe they pulled down her availability until they figure out what actual cabins they're going to build on this ship. Probably would have been good to figure that out first, but hey, no plan is ever perfect.
I agree with your assessment. The last Grand Med before the Maiden TA had a lot of availability just recently and it is shown as sold out now. I think Princess is taking a break to get their act together before showing Royal availability again ;)
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I agree with your assessment. The last Grand Med before the Maiden TA had a lot of availability just recently and it is shown as sold out now. I think Princess is taking a break to get their act together before showing Royal availability again ;)

They are also doing some reconfiguring of cabins during the build and are reassiging some people to different cabins. I think this may also have something to do with all cabins showing sold out. A few days ago there were many cabins available on our cruise.

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I agree with your assessment. The last Grand Med before the Maiden TA had a lot of availability just recently and it is shown as sold out now. I think Princess is taking a break to get their act together before showing Royal availability again ;)
They are also doing some reconfiguring of cabins during the build and are reassiging some people to different cabins. I think this may also have something to do with all cabins showing sold out. A few days ago there were many cabins available on our cruise.
That is exactly what I was referencing. We have been caught up in the Royal reconfiguration and have lost the Dolphin deck aft cabin we specifically choose for the larger, half covered balcony. My reference to "taking a break to get their act together" was that they better figure out what they are doing on the Royal and what cabins will be for sale before they start selling them again. Just MHO.
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There is something big going on with the Royal Princess. We had an aft cabin and asked for no upgrade. This was a November 2013 booking. Princess just notified us of an upgrade and that the cabin we originally reserved was being reconfigured. Still fighting with them.

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There is something big going on with the Royal Princess. We had an aft cabin and asked for no upgrade. This was a November 2013 booking. Princess just notified us of an upgrade and that the cabin we originally reserved was being reconfigured. Still fighting with them.

 

The number of D4 rear balcony cabins on each of 7 decks is being reduced by two. This is being done so that the suites on both sides can have a door to a rear balcony.

 

Some people will stay in the cabin they booked which continues to exist in the same location, but will have a different cabin number.

 

Some will be moved to an existing D4 cabin on a different deck.

 

Some have been upgraded to a mini-suite mid-ship.

 

Some have been changed from an assigned cabin to a GTY.

 

Of course, all of this applies to all of the Royal itineraries that were available for booking, so at least 38 sailings and a possible 532 bookings are affected.

 

A note explaining the situation should have been sent by Princess to all those affected (and not through a travel agent) but that was not done. That would have been a better way to handle the situation although it would not lessen disappointment.

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So, am I understand this correctly - they have enlarged the corner suites by one or two cabins?

 

I booked one the first day they were available but have been having second thoughts if I want to spend that much money. I usually book suites but these are really expensive. I booked because I figured there would be a door on the stern and also one on the side but Princess was telling me just one on the stern.

 

I may not cancel now if the cabins are going to be larger.

Thanks for any help explaining this.

 

Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas.

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So, am I understand this correctly - they have enlarged the corner suites by one or two cabins?

 

I booked one the first day they were available but have been having second thoughts if I want to spend that much money. I usually book suites but these are really expensive. I booked because I figured there would be a door on the stern and also one on the side but Princess was telling me just one on the stern.

 

I may not cancel now if the cabins are going to be larger.

Thanks for any help explaining this.

 

 

The suites should be about the same size. They are taking some space that was on the side of the ship from the corner suite and making a new balcony cabin facing the side.

 

Result is same number of cabins, but in effect the former rear facing balcony has become a relocated side facing balcony.

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The suites should be about the same size. They are taking some space that was on the side of the ship from the corner suite and making a new balcony cabin facing the side.

 

Result is same number of cabins, but in effect the former rear facing balcony has become a relocated side facing balcony.

 

So the corner suites no longer have a wrap around balcony?

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I just looked on the Princess site and the revised deck plans are there. SO it looks like they took one aft balcony and added it to the corner suite but they took away space on the side and added a new balcony cabin. The original deck plan showed a deeper balcony on the stern than the aft balconies but now they made it smaller and it is the same size as the balconies. Not sure if I like the new look. We live on the balconies and was looking forward to the huge balcony. Then to top it off - they have us in a side suite and not the corner one anymore - they changed our cabin - we got downgraded!!! What the hay???

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I just looked on the Princess site and the revised deck plans are there. SO it looks like they took one aft balcony and added it to the corner suite but they took away space on the side and added a new balcony cabin. The original deck plan showed a deeper balcony on the stern than the aft balconies but now they made it smaller and it is the same size as the balconies. Not sure if I like the new look. We live on the balconies and was looking forward to the huge balcony. Then to top it off - they have us in a side suite and not the corner one anymore - they changed our cabin - we got downgraded!!! What the hay???

 

I just looked at the plans and they do not seem changed to me. There are still six D4 aft deluxe balconies shown on each of the seven decks.

 

The revised plans should only show four on each deck.

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I tried to copy and paste but no luck

 

My old corner suite number is now the number of the "new" side balcony cabin. and the corner suite number is now the number of the eliminated aft balcony cabin.

 

Here is where I have been looking

http://www.princess.com/learn/ships/rp/deck_plans/index.html

 

But I see you found the plan when doing a booking and it is indeed changed as the picture below shows.

 

Cabins_zpsc76d8db1.jpg

Edited by caribill
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I just looked at the plans and they do not seem changed to me. There are still six D4 aft deluxe balconies shown on each of the seven decks.

 

The revised plans should only show four on each deck.

I still see the old deck plans. Actually a step backwards because these still show that the outer D4s still exist. Over the weekend they had shown the S2's with new numbers but not any more. The Royal deckplans are still NOT ready :(:(:( Edited by IECalCruiser
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