Poulsbo Cruisers

wonder why Princess didn't offer the full suite at a can't refuse "upsell" offer first?

 

hmmmmmmm???

About a month prior to the cruise, we received an upsell to a full suite at $1599 pp. Needles to say, we declined. We were also shocked to get the free upgrade.

We’ve booked guarantees many times. We’ve usually received the cabin assignment way before the cruise except our last cruise on the Royal. We booked a guarantee at the lowest mini suite level for our 21-day Mediterranean cruise. We hadn’t received our cabin and even printed our boarding passes and luggage tags without the cabin number. Then an hour before heading to the airport we received our cabin; an upgrade to a full suite. Well worth the anticipation.

We had club class dining on the Royal in September with our free suite upgrade. We had a great waiter and never had to wait to be seated. And while we enjoyed the experience, my DW and I agreed that it is not something we would ever pay extra for. One extra selection at dinner, sometimes just a different sauce, and different colored tablecloths are just not worth it. But, if it comes with a cabin you want for its location then I say to each his own.

We had them on the Royal last month.

To get the new price savings is it better to keep control of your reservation or work with a travel agent?

I check the prices regularly, usually every day.

In September, we booked a British Isles cruise for next July under the three for free promotion. Two weeks ago, I noticed our cabin was $100 pp less under the same promotion. I contacted Princess and immediately received the new price. Two days ago I noticed that the cabin had come down another $100 pp under the same promotion. Again I contacted Princess and received the new fare. Some of these small price changes move back and forth under the same promotion. If you are not looking for them constantly, you may miss out. As others have said, you can’t rely on a TA to notice these fluctuations.

Recently completed a cruise on the Royal. My coffee card, that I purchased on board, had the voyage number on the back. Only once did someone turn the card over to see that it had the correct voyage number on it.

By the way, I was able to use it for gelato.

I think these cabins are a great option, but they are not “absolutely private.” We just finished a 21-day cruise on the Royal in cabin B101 and we could look down onto these balconies.

We used SPB and couldn’t be happier. They took care of the visa. Our SPB tour took us to more places in a more intimate group at a fraction of the cost of using Princess. I believe we booked with them about three months out. We had a very knowledgeable tour guide. I wouldn’t hesitate to book with them again.

Great review and pictures. Thank you for doing this. We have this cruise booked for next July. Your pictures are getting us even more excited.

Good to hear. Thanks for the quick responses.

My DW and I have booked cabin M102 on the Royal Princess. We realize that the obstructed View is due to the metal railing. The Princess website states the following about this cabin:

PART OBSTRUCTED VIEWNON-GLASS BALC RAIL BALCONY ACCESS WHEN IN PORT ONLY

Our concern is with the last part of that statement. Would we be unable to access the balcony on sea says?

We recently completed a 21-day cruise on the Royal. We received our cabin assignment two hours prior to heading to the airport, which was three days prior to the cruise. But, it was worth the wait since we were upgraded from a mini suite (MF) guarantee to a full suite (S5).

We just got off the Royal and had club class dining during our 21 day cruise. We never had to wait, but other than that I just don’t get the club class experience. We never had any dishes prepared at our table. Special dishes were sometimes prepared in one set location in the club class section so if you were sitting next to that area I guess you could claim table side preparation. Sometimes the extra dish was just a main dish with a different sauce. Since we had a free upgrade to a suite, we used club class dining. But, I would never pay extra for it.

We just returned from a 21-day cruise on the Royal Princess. We received a last minute upgrade to an S5 suite (B101). Let me start by saying that my wife and I would never pay for a suite and this free upgrade didn’t change our minds. It’s not that we don’t like to pamper ourselves (we usually fly business class to Europe), it’s just that we can’t see enough benefit in a suite over a mini suite to justify the cost.

The cabin was very nice. We would have preferred a larger living area over the massive bedroom. It seemed like a lot of wasted space in the bedroom. We did enjoy the forward facing picture window in the bedroom. Even though the cabin steward lowered the blind every evening, we would often put it back up depending on which port we would be sailing into in the morning. It was really nice to view the cruise into Kotor.

The balcony was narrow for a suite, but it met our needs. The bathroom was very nice. Since we aren’t bath people, we didn’t try out the bathtub, but it was quite deep and large enough to take a comfortable bath.

OP do you think your history with the line had something to do with this? i know figuring out GTY is like figuring out airline pricing, impossible. did you book with hope of upgrade? from what i understand about princess, there is no price discount for GTY like on other lines so upgrading is the only reason i can think of to get GTY

We booked the guarantee to get the lowest price for a mini. We usually do a mini and don't care that much about the location. Since there weren't any of the M6 categories left to select, we just did the guarantee at that price. We figured we would get a little upgrade because there aren't that many of the M6 cabins, but if not that would have been okay.

I know we really hit the jackpot. This is our longest cruise at 21 days and the first time we've been upgraded to a suite. I was never expecting it with the switch to upsells by Princess. I guess it was well worth the wait. Thanks everyone for your well wishes.

I guess it would be too much to hope that we would also get the double cruise credits associated with a suite.

Wow. Just got our assignment. We had booked the lowest category mini suite. They gave us B101, a full suite for 21 days. Wow indeed!

We are leaving our house in a few hours for our cruise and we still don't have a cabin assignment. I've been a member of this board for awhile and I know this happens from time to time. We've booked guarantees many times and have always had a cabin by now. I know we will have a cabin. I'm only posting this, because I now have a little more empathy for those who have worried about this and have asked for reassurance on this board. I'm not looking for that. I just want to apologize to those who I've judged, if only in my mind, in the past over their anxiety with this issue.

I checked the price on the stateroom for the August, 2018 cruise I'd like to book, but the price has gone up from $2724 pp to $3174 in less than one week. Not sure if it will be included in the 3 for Free sale, but now I probably won't book it. It would cost $450 more for the "free" tips.

This isn't unusual. Princess usually increases the fares just prior to a promotion like this one. They did it last year at this time. It will make the promotion seem like even a better deal. :D

River cruises also have free internet. Nice perk to have.

Wow! That's a change from the previous policy which was you got credits for each segment regardless of how you booked. If you didn't speak to the Captain's Circle desk previously, I'd call them and find out if this is truly a change or is something fouled up.

Agree with this and what others have said. We are booked on a 21 day Mediterranean cruise. This cruise could have been book as a separate 11 day and 10 day cruise, as a back to back cruise or as one 21 day cruise. Whichever way we did it, it was two cruise credits.

I've never used Princess EZ Air -- how do their prices generally compare to prices when booked directly through the airline? Do we have choices on which airline to use and dates/times?

I've found that for international flights, EZ Air usually beats other airfares, sometimes substantially. But, the best thing going is that with the flexible option, you can cancel and make changes up to 45 days in advance without penalty. As to choosing which airline, it's a little more limited. Not all airlines will pop up under the flexible fare option. Also, the airlines showing up under the flexible fares may change from week to week and even day to day.

It is a northern California Coastal with a new itinerary. Some who are on my Oct. cruise booked it back when they had the $1 sale, but I wasn't sure then and now it is sold out.

2018? Or did you mean 2017?

Two years ago, we took a Princess shuttle to the airport in Copenhagen. Yes, the luggage was in a special section of the parking garage. We collected it and proceeded into the terminal. I don't remember the lines being too long though. Nothing like what we've had in Amsterdam or London.

We were in D730 on the Regal two years ago in the Baltic. We really like it. It was quiet and the balcony was huge. Would definitely book it again.