vwlmember

Well, they refunded $725. Only half. This is getting ridiculous. Another phone call on Monday. 

Has anyone received a refund for their deposit or Princess Plus upgrade?  They told me back on May 6th that it would take 10-15 business days to process the refund. I went away for a few weeks and returned on Monday. No refund yet. Called just now to ask why, after 29 business days, was my refund not processed. I was told it was put into a future cruise credit. Um, hell no. I asked them to return the $1450 to my credit card as I have no interest in cruising with Princess any time soon. They said they will process a FCC refund and I should receive the refund in 3-5 business days. I also asked for an invoice showing the cancelation of the cruise and the refund of my deposit so I can cancel my trip insurance and get that money back. They acted like I was asking for the moon. Considering that they canceled the cruise,  this level of effort on my part is ridiculous and ensures I will not cruise with them. This would have been our first Princess cruise,  it ended up being the last as well. 

We were on the Beyond in 2022 for the President's Cruise. We booked the cruise when it first became available,  later it was made into the PC. The price escalated rapidly after the announcement. 

There were a lot of advantages. We had free gifts on our bed for five of the nights, special live entertainment was brought on board, and met both Captain Kate and Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, plus Captain Dimitrios Kafetzis was present. It was a dream cruise and well worth doing. 

3 minutes ago, Coral said:

It is the shipyard that is delayed, not the cruise line. 

Directly from their email.....

"Princess Cruises, in collaboration with shipbuilder Fincantieri, has made the difficult decision to postpone the delivery of Star Princess until Fall 2025."

5 minutes ago, ian441672 said:

I was booked on the inaugural 19 day B2B in a Penthouse suite so am a bit disappointed to read this. Although it is better to find out this far in advance rather than a week or so. I will see what’s on offer for the end of September and decide whether to try my luck once more. A bit gutted though, but I’d rather have a ship that has everything working and ready, than only half of the things working and available and have that daily disappointment. 
 

Oh well……

The new inaugural sailings of Star Princess will sail roundtrip from Barcelona and include an 11-day Mediterranean voyage on October 4, 2025, and a 7-day Mediterranean voyage on October 15, 2025, that precede a 14-day transatlantic crossing to Fort Lauderdale on October 22, 2025, for the ship’s first Caribbean season. These three new cruises will open for sale on April 30, 2024.

September is a no go.

5 minutes ago, Mark_K said:

FYI

 

March 7, 2024 - Royal Caribbean International has announced a delay in the debut of its new ship, Star of the Seas, leading to the cancellation of its first two sailings scheduled for 17 & 24 August 2025.

 

Currently under construction at the Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland, the second Icon-Class vessel is now expected to enter revenue service on 31 August 2025.

The cruise line expressed regret over the impact on booked guests' vacation plans and provided options such as transferring bookings to the rescheduled inaugural cruise or opting for other ships.

Star of the Seas, powered by LNG, will operate year-round from Port Canaveral, offering seven-night cruises to the Caribbean and the Bahamas, with its maiden voyage featuring Western Caribbean destinations.

Let's see........Icon was ready a month early and had multiple unpaid cruises and a transatlantic so she was well prepared before the inaugural. Utopia of the Seas will be ready three days early. Star will be two weeks late with a year's notice to cruisers.

Princess screwed up the Sun launch in spectacular fashion at the last possible moment. Now they cancel 11 cruises on Star. Granted it is with considerable notice, but two in a row is not confidence building.

I will still give Royal the win.

1 hour ago, PacnGoNow said:

Thank you for the update!

 

 I wonder if the regular guests have been advised, or just the casino players at this time?

 

 

 

I just received the notification and am not a casino player. Guess I will go back to Royal since they seem to have their act together.

I just booked an 8-night on the Spectrum in April '26 out of Shanghai. Price was very reasonable for an aft verandah. Not looking forward to the long flight to get there from Boston. 

Oasis went through Amplification back in April 2019. Highly unlikely they will make any large scale changes during this dry dock.

The Quantum class is my favorite of the nine ships on which I have cruised. Spent a week on Anthem of the Seas and was blown away. I went skydiving on a ship while at sea! Drove bumper cars. Went three hundred feet up in the air on Northstar. Took in some great music inside a two story music hall. Had a drink in a pub and one made by a robot. Had a spectacular Italian meal at Jamie's. Spent hours sitting in the beautiful and relaxing Solarium. Watched fabulous entertainment in 270. Ate pizza whenever I wanted. Drank great wines in Vintages. The kummelwack made my eyes water in a good way. All that, and I still did not do everything. Am booked on Odyssey of the Seas next March and cannot wait to get onboard. This family of ships are a destination without a single port required. 

My wife and I are booked on the September 30th cruise in a D1 Premium Deluxe Balcony on deck 15. Cannot wait! 578 days and counting down!

5 hours ago, TYCruise said:

 

 

I couldn't agree more and it was the first thing I thought of.  Compared to the Royal class ship, the Sun's Piazza looks more like the lobby at an office building.  Hopefully it looks better in person.

 

Sun Princess:

 

 

Discovery Princess:

I get it. But look at all the daylight on Sun Princess. 

On 2/11/2024 at 10:56 PM, keesar said:

If you have mobility issues, that could be a factor as it is a long walk to the elevators.  However, great views of the wake and a true balcony.

Yes, it is a long walk to the aft elevator bank. Having mobility issues would make that walk difficult. 

How about a Sunset Veranda?  Great locations and a real balcony. The cabins are a few feet longer than the average IV.  

21 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

What is the current charge per day to upgrade from the Always Included to the Premium Beverage Package?

If your cruise is after this Thanksgiving, wait for the Black Friday deal. I upgraded the two of us for $185 total. Well worth it at that price.

Was in SV 8336 on the Beyond. It was great.  There was some noise from the mooring lines when first in port. Other than that, nothing. We actually have the same exact cabin booked for our Panama Canal cruise on Beyond this December. 

They also went to China and Greece. I seem to remember a Hawaii trip but cannot find confirmation anywhere.

Been in SV8336 on the Beyond and only heard noise from the mooring ropes being deployed on the port mornings.  The balcony did get almost complete sun. 

6 minutes ago, yogimax said:

I'm showing $2528 for this cruise which includes D+ discount.

That price is through RCL directly I assume. I used an online TA. The instructions in the first post did not specify if it had to be a RCl direct booking.

Ship: Odyssey of the Seas

Destination: Bahamas roundtrip from Bayonne

Dates: March 23, 2025

# of Nights: 7

Cabin Type: Obstructed Balcony (2E)

Total Price (inc. taxes & port charges, exc. gratuities): $1583.22 for 2 people

Average Price Per Night (per Person - USD): $113

Other Perks: $100 OBC

Beyond SV 8336 in the center. Beautiful room. Could hear the mooring lines being deployed some mornings. 

Well, now I am glad I upgraded to the premium drink package for our Panama Canal cruise on Beyond next December. Hopefully they don't raise the prices again before we go!

No one should be surprised that there is a shortage of personnel fleet wide. Icon needed 2300+ people to fully staff the new flagship. A large percentage of those would be experienced staff from the fleet, bolstered by new employees. 

They just put the Ascent into use and needed 1400 crew members to staff that new build. Where do you think they came from? They would not use rookies. As they were already tight on staffing, the transfer of even half of the 1400 new crew needed would put a strain on all of the other ships.

8 hours ago, mtnesterz said:

I'd be interested to know which lines are offering discounted excursions. I don't mean a TA's offering, which you couldn't name here. 

Celebrity. I just cancelled and rebooked excursions for our Dec 24 cruise.