Luckybee

The good news is you gave me the answer I wanted. The bad news is I guess I will now have to board early in Feb to get the sanctuary lol at least for a couple sea days I had originally thought I wouldnt bother since Im in an aft penthouse, but it is one of the ones without the super wide balcony. Did you go directly to the sanctuary or to a concierge to book?

That is very helpful ! Thank you

Enjoy the cabana :) If you have a chance can you advise if there are any sun loungers not under cover (not under the tarp like material ) in full sun. I've viewed videos and it seems there are not . I want to verify if possible

Thanks Memoak !

After studying the wine menus (over and over and over lol) I have made a final decision to forgo the packages and bring my own wine on to the ship . Obviously I will pay the corkage fees but at least I will have chardonnays that I enjoy as I found the lists lacking. I'm doing a 10 day cruise and 5 bottles will suffice ( I will be solo) if Im able to "move" the bottle. So lets say I open a nice bottle of Cakebread or Far Niente in my suite. I drink a glass on my balcony...I then go to Crown Grill, bottle in tow, and drink another glass or 2 and have another glass left in bottle which I take back to my suite to consume the next day. Can I do this ?

Thank you for your experiences. So based on what you both said I checked the app again and today it allowed me to book. Lol so much for "360 can only be booked onboard". This is the third time I've called princess since booking and the third time I was given incorrect info. I can't comprehend how a company allows that to continue, If I allowed that in my business I'd be out of business 😞

So I've made my specialty dining reservations for a Feb 10 day cruise for 6 nights of the 10. Wanted to have 3 nights for casual venues/room service and wanted to book 360 for 1 night. A few nights still show availability and when I click onthe available time and it takes me to "reserve" I get an error message. Since I'm a glutton for punishment I called dining( and yes I know about the misinfo they provide lol ) only to be told 360 can only be booked on board which is contrary to everything I've read. Suggestions ?

I dont disagree. But the general population who dont go to casinos dont qualify for freebies either. What makes the qualification unique in this instance is that she and others who qualify for little at the land based casino were offered free cruises on princess.

Obviously then the invites for the land based casinos are much better than those given once you've already sailed with them.

This is what surprised me so much as it relates to the promos for the land based casino. Quite frankly I get why they've made the offer to the elite(higher level) card holders but many who may go to the casino once every few weeks with a couple of $100 were also given free balcony cabins. I cant imagine what the expectations for gambling are in those cases and for that matter Im not sure I will be gambling much based on what I've seen on youtube for machine selection on Princess ships ( I play 3 reel high limit slots almost exclusively). Dont misunderstand, Im not complaining, Im happy !

I mentioned this in another post that partially explains why so many ships are full. I have never sailed Princess before. I am a prolific slot player at Fallsview casino in Niagara Falls. They have recently done a promotion with Princess where a ton of free cruises have been given away. The promo has been done there at least twice. I was offered a suite which Ive booked in a Penthouse. My secretary who plays just a little was given a free balcony( and she had no interest in taking it lol). Many others who I know were given a range of cabin options. 100's if not 1000's of free cruises were handed out to be used by March of 2025 with few restrictions(had to book by a certain date and was good for Caribbean, Alaska, Coastal and a few other locations). Although I dont know for certain it is my understanding that this promo was done with other casinos as well. That is alot of booked cabins/suites with only port fees and taxes to be paid. We all know why Princess is making the offer....and it would explain why the ships might have less unsold cabins.

I understand the sentiment but isn't that a sad state of affairs ?

I've been to St John/SaTT more than once. 3 hours on St John gives me enough time. 2 hours does not. Maho Bay Beach on St John generally is very good for turtle snorkelling. So is the Caneel area. Not a huge fan of Magen's

Jadn13 No I'm not (but I am set on either Maho or Caneel Beach Club for the turtles) and thats why I'm trying to figure out timing. I quite liked the idea of not having to taxi to and from red hook and ferry as I do know that can be a pita. So the boat tranfer is attractive but I will need 3 hours on St John to make it work.

I vented about the phone service once before and it certainly hasn't improved. I'm getting nowhere just trying to get a simple question answered regarding a shore excursion. I can't even get the agent to understand my question and it isn't complicated. I'm fortunate to have a land based casino free cruise, which if I was paying for I'd be reconsidering given what I've seen so far from the phone customer service. Here is my question if anyone knows ..STT-295 excursion length says 4 1/2 hours...excursion detail says 45 min from ship to St John, 3 hours on St John and 45 minutes back...so far so good, which gives me 3 hours on St John which is enough time for me to go to Maho for snorkelling . But when one clicks to book the time of the excursion comes back as 10:30 am- 2:00 pm which is only 3 1/2 hours and not enough time on St John. So the first agent tried to tell me that 10:30 -2 is 4 1/2 hours (seriously) and then when I insisted on being tranfered to someone who knew the excursions I of course was accidently on purpose disconnected. The 2nd agent told me I could get more clarification on the ship and that it was "somewhere in between 3 1/2and 4 1/2 hours and it would leave maybe/possibly 45 minutes before 10:30 to allow for traffic"....a bit difficult given 1. ship arrives in STT at 10 am and 2. "traffic" ? lol given it is a boat transfer... It shouldnt be this difficult to decide if an excursion's timing would work for me or are my expectations too high ? To be fair I have only been on a feww cruises doing 99% land based trips...perhaps mass market cruising really isnt my cup of tea( or glass of wine:) ?

This just made me laugh. Fallsview Casino in Niagara Falls was one of the early adopters of the "non smoking casino". This is my local casino and is huge! I wonder if the outdoor smoking area which is always packed and later added slot machines to the "non smoking casino" is included in the revenue total ?

I'm used to land based holidays more than ship based( only have done a few cruises and many more on land only). Normally I usually spend 1 or 2 hours in the sun then am usually doing something else for the day. For simply r and r I expect I'll simply be on my balcony but wanted to know what my options were for the "at sea" days. Thanks as this info was very helpful :)

Thanks for the replies so far. Does anyone know whether the chairs in the Sanctuary can be moved at all ie: direction or pulled back slightly to avoid the lip cover ? Are lounge chairs in the sun anywhere else available generally( dont care if it is by the pool) ?

Will be sailing on Enchanted Princess in Feburary for 10 days in Carib. First time on Princess. Since I'm in a suite I'm presuming because of early embarkation I have a decent shot of getting into the Sanctuary. That said I want to make sure I want to do so. This is a port intensive cruise and I anticipate most if not all port days I will be hitting a variety of beaches. I am a sun worshipper, and like to tan.There are 3 sea days and I will definitely want to get out in the afternoon sun on those days onboard. (Note I said afternoon as I am not into early rise and shine on vacation lol). When I first read about the sanctuary it was an absolute for me to book once onboard but having looked at many youtube videos I am realizing that many/most of the chairs appear to be shaded or covered by netting which I definitely dont want( I realize more people are looking for shade...not what I am seeking). I saw one are where the chairs appear to be partially in the sun but if they were moved back a tad could have full direct sun. Can the lounge chairs be moved ? Am I dreaming that on sea days in the afternoon if I dont hit the deck until lunch that I will find a chair in the direct sun for a couple of hours anywhere on board if I dont book the sanctuary for the sailing ? And if I do book the sanctuary for the sailing am I able to let someone else use it for the days Im off the ship? ( I am travelling alone so I dont want to waste it...could I just tell staff I wont be using the chair on x days so they can give it to someone as a freebie who could use ?)

Thanks for asking...In post 18 I asked "When I first booked on a certificate (which I had to cancel because of expected surgery) I was able to get a PH on the Dolphin deck where the balconies look huge. This time there was only one suite available on the Aloha deck which has a much smaller balcony. The cruise is not until Febuary of next year so Im hoping to be able to move to any of Marina, Riviera, Baja or Dolphin decks and I have been stalking the website but of course I could miss an opening. Can one waitlist within a category that you are already booked in ?" I also wanted to know if the suite perks apply with the certificate such as 1st night specialty dining (I have 2 different answers from reps on that) I also wanted to know if there was a way of finding further info on shore excursions since for example a couple that I might be interested in such as beach breaks dot tell you which beach you are taken to so I can determine whether I should book or DIY

My certificate was good for any of Carnival, HA or Princess. When I first called I had checked with the sub line for HA (had to push different extesions for each)but the cruises and suites I could get were more limited so I chose princess because I was able to book the suite I wanted (at least the category).

Thanks Karate...the number I have was the number on my certificate which is 1-800-819-3906. When one calls that number the recording asks that you choose between Princess, Carnival, and Holland America for booking your cruise certificate then once chosen takes you to an agent. I had assumed, perhaps wrongly, that the was just for the original booking but I will try them...Thanks for the idea !

In the meantime I wonder if anyone knows the following ... When I first booked on a certificate (which I had to cancel because of expected surgery) I was able to get a PH on the Dolphin deck where the balconies look huge. This time there was only one suite available on the Aloha deck which has a much smaller balcony. The cruise is not until Febuary of next year so Im hoping to be able to move to any of Marina, Riviera, Baja or Dolphin decks and I have been stalking the website but of course I could miss an opening. Can one waitlist within a category ?

I booked through the casino department as I was given a cruise certificate for a free suite from my local casino so I dont have the options that many have suggested. When I did my original booking a couple of months ago I didnt have any issues with the rep I dealt with. When I call now on the "already booked" line this seems to be where the problems arise. I have travelled extensively but not with Princess. I think what surprised me the most is that I have dealt with companies all over the world for bookings since I always book without an agent and I have never seen the language issue this bad even when Im dealing with a hotel in Timbuktoo where one might expect a language problem

I am a new Princess customer but have sailed on other cruise lines. I've called Princess 3 times within the last week to sort out a couple of issues and have been waiting for a call back from to no avail and have been totally unable to understand the various phone reps I have spoken with because of their extremely poor English. I explained my queries to one rep who didnt even understand what I was saying and it wasnt complicated , had to get another rep to repeat what they were saying 3 times before I could barely understand them and now when I called back to see why I hadn't as of yet heard back I have no idea what I was just told. In my profession I often deal with people whose first language is not English but they are not generally in first line customer service positions. Is this the norm for Princess or am I just not calling the right number or at the right time? Very frustrating !