beckntom

That's an interesting proposition, but the answer is . . whole length of cruise.

We are on the 24th sailing. Not much point on belaboring the stories we are reading. They are what they are, and we just have to hope for the best and make up our minds to have a good time no matter what!

I was also on the December 6th sailing, and things went as smoothly as glass. Maybe you'll be that lucky on the 17th, and we'll be that lucky on the 24th. We'll soon find out!

Hi all! My first post and first cruise! Booked a guaranteed unassigned forward balcony cabin, category BF. (Least expensive balcony cabin) Departure March 13, 2016 out of Houston - Western Caribbean. Today received email with cabin assignment. Complimentary upgrade to an assigned category BD, aft (but almost mid-aft!). Checked the deck plan, happy with the location AND the upgrade would cost $60 per person if it weren't complimentary. I think my first cruise is off to a good start!

Welcome to Cruise Critic, and congratulations! We are booked on the January 24th sailing and also booked a BF. I think this may have been our first GTY ever. We were also assigned a BD yesterday but pretty far back on Baja deck. In fact, VERY far back! Today I saw a BD on Caribe come available, so we switched for that one. (You can do that even on a GTY as long as the desired cabin is in the same category as the one assigned.) Caribe balconies are the largest, so we are very happy with where we ended up.

Our daughter and SIL are on the sailing that finally departed this morning. I would be interested in knowing the revised itinerary, if anyone has heard.

Just now; Star from obstructed OZ to B2 on Caribe deck for $99.00-10 day Coastal.

Love Princess :D:D:D

Theo

Good for you, Theo.

Backtracking to your first day . . . I totally agree with you about Princess balcony cabins vs Royal Caribbean's. I do miss that sofa in the Princess balcony cabins. On Princess, it's all about that closet space, aka the "dressing area." I'd personally much rather have that space go into "living" space, with a sofa. I can imagine your disappointment when you opened that cabin door. As far as Royal's interior promenade is concerned, though, that's why we gave up on Royal Caribbean. We just didn't like never seeing water as we walked about the inside of the ship. It felt too much like being in a massive hotel.

So, Princess has turned out to be our line of choice (after trying RCCL, HAL, Celebrity, and Carnival). But isn't it great that we have choices? :)

Now I'm off to lunch because your food pictures have totally spiked the hunger pangs. :rolleyes:

Well said, JimmyVWine and jasbo49. Thanks for your comments. And, of course, thanks to sandy999 for an excellent review as well.

Such a coincidence. The day the free gratuity sale started, our cruise price (for 12-6-15) went up to more than cover the "free" gratuities Princess would be giving us. I was disappointed but not surprised.

Wait until you are on the ship and ask the Captain's Circle rep.

 

No matter what anyone at HQ might say, the CC rep will have the correct answer for that cruise.

Thank you.

Technically no. They are adults and they have their own CC status now.

When they were children they sailed under you number. When they turned 18 they are under their own CC membership numbers.

Not that it matters, but my daughters are in their early 50s, so long past "children" status. :) Cruising, on Princess anyway, has just never been their chosen travel mode.

I would certainly like to get clarification on this. In another thread (where I did not ask--it's just being discussed), they are saying those in same cabin ARE eligible. Any idea whom I would ask at Princess? (I know better than to ask one of the phone representatives.) I don't want to embarrass my daughters or myself by being turned away at the door, or when the server sees their cruise cards.

Thank you.

I am Platinum. My two adult daughters sailing with me in the same cabin are not. Will they be allowed to accompany me to the platinum/elite/suite lounge? I would certainly hope so, since we are in the same cabin.

Newport - Newport Tour and Guide - - Very very happy with Tammy. She took care of everything, great vehicle, super willing to customize (for example, two of our party wanted to go to mass, so she rearranged the whole day to accomodate). We did highlights of newport and Breakers and Elms.

 

Totally agree. One of the best tours of our 2014 itinerary. Tammy makes you think yours is the only tour she will give that year; it all seems to be fresh and new and interesting to her. We included a visit to Doris Duke's home and thoroughly enjoyed that as well.

There's a lot more to do at Costa Maya than stay at the plaza. I think it's probably a mistake to rate a port based on its plaza at the pier. We've actually had some fun port days at Costa Maya. At least take a cab over to Majahaul and walk around there. Even if you don't like the beach, the people watching is great. :)

shamda, you have my sympathy. I would not have been happy with that balcony view at all, although I admit I think my pre-cruise research would have kept me away! This location may not fall under the true definition of "obstructed," but it darn sure is an obstructed view. I'm pretty sure you weren't just looking to complain or expecting compensation. Hopefully, as you said, your post will be helpful to others and prevent someone from booking this location.

You'll just need to smoke cigarillos.

I laughed out loud! :D

I guess we HAVE to do Obstructed View cabins only.:D

 

Theo

 

Sent from my GT-P7510

It definitely wouldn't be right otherwise!

Paul is right. Our opinions are pretty useless. :) The only way you'll know for sure whether Princess is a good fit is to try Princess yourself. There's really not much to disappoint because, like the other lines you're soon to sail, Princess tries hard to please; it's just all a matter of whether the experience is what you prefer over other experiences. Go and find out. And please come back and tell us what you thought. I would be very interested in your perspective.

One of my complaints about the RCCL voyager class ships is that on the royal promenade deck where all the shops, guest services, cafe etc are located, there is no window to look out. It could be a huge storm outside and you would not know it.

Totally agree. You might as well not be on a ship at all.

People like you????? A bit harsh isn't it? They asked a simple question and you usually are very nice about answering questions.

True. I've never seen "Thrak" be anything but nice. In fact, I've thought about complimenting him on his positive, upbeat posts. He must have had a bad day, so I'm forgiving him for this one. I hope the OP can, too. (Enjoy your cruise! I'm glad you asked the question. We are all still learning here, no matter how long we've been cruising or on Cruise Critic!)

No stripe means you do not have a color printer. :)

That's funny, Paul! :D

Thank you, everyone, for the helpful information. In this case, no news is good news! :) I appreciate the links, info, and help in trying to get this mystery solved. I guess maybe we'll find out the answer when we board. I will hope for one of those "non-troublesome" groups and not the kind detailed by Cruisin' Chick. :)

Thanks, RickEk, for the info on that "harvesting" site. I'm with Thrak: Holy cow!

Hey Becky,

I don't have anything to add to this thread other than to say all is well with you and Tom.

Hi, Paul. We're doing great! Please give Jennie our regards.

A quick google search only reveals the couple of posts that you've made here and on another site... :)

That's interesting, because I've only posted here on this thread and on the Roll Call. No other site. Thanks for checking for me.

Anyone heard of a possible group onboard the January 11, 2015, of the Emerald Princess out of Houston? I have noticed the aft sections of Baja and Aloha--and much of Caribe--decks are completely booked. (Not the aft facing, but the far aft sections.) It's quite odd since these sailings in January are otherwise rather sparsely booked.

A friend is going with me on her first cruise ever, and I don't want her cruise to be impacted by a large group taking over any venues. There are other dates that work for us, but this one covers a birthday so I'd rather stick with it if possible. I know some of you will say that groups don't affect a ship or the sailing, but I'd just rather not take a chance.

It's weird, you'd think Princess could pull back the unsold cabins . I just checked a couple of popular online sites and they're showing it sold out. She's a big seller of Princess.

Our TA says that's exactly what happened recently: Princess "took back" her few remaining unsold GTY cabins. We were late in booking so have a GTY balcony booked for that cruise. It will be interesting to see what happens over the next 16 months.