CatMom72

34 minutes ago, dog said:

If OP can’t reply, maybe someone else on-board can.

Your cruise is coming soon! Excited?😜 

Yes! Expecting medallions to arrive today!

15 hours ago, leck57 said:

 

As most people on here are saying,  it is the short legs showing as available and not the longer combined cruise legs. Recently found that myself. Could get a specific cabin for the Norway 7 day segment or the Baltics 14 day segment but couldn't for the 21 day combined, yet the same cabin was showing as available on the shorter legs.

Out of curiosity, was it cheaper to book that room category for the 21-day (as opposed to booking the 7-day and 14-day separately)?

9 hours ago, dolls123 said:

From the OP "This thread will only be photos of the ship with no commentary or reply to comments, I just want to keep it simple."

@dolls123 I am not making “comments.”  I am asking questions. The questions are simple requests for information/facts and do not require anyone to provide any opinions or “commentary.” I don’t see a problem with my post.

28 minutes ago, Adios_Texas said:

Love by Britto ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

 

 

Thanks for posting these! Can you tell us what these dishes are? 😃 Also, is this classified as “experiential dining”?

21 hours ago, Castaway Cowgirl said:

Does Princess ever arrive early to this port?  We are trying to figure out if we can squeeze something in there.

Most Alaskan cruises that begin and end in the US only make those weird stops in Victoria to avoid violating the Passenger Vessel Services Act (a sort of cruise-ship relevant version of the Jones Act).  It’s also the reason round-trip Hawaiian cruises coming out of California always make a quick and seemingly pointless stop in Ensenada before returning to the US.

32 minutes ago, CalTexCruiser said:

 

If they can keep the space previously identified as the Signature Restaurant as dedicated dining for suites only, that would go part of the way in delivering what they promoted.

 

For the Sanctuary Club, I suppose that was always intended to be a shared space with non-suite guests.  The only thing lost would be the small dedicated suite area of the Sanctuary, which did not have the space to hold all suite guests anyway.

 

 

 

To be fair, the space that was originally “suite-only” was insufficient for 80 suite cabins, just as the combined Sanctuary Club space is now insufficient for 215 cabins.

4 hours ago, ian441672 said:

Just looking at the newly released inaugural Star Sanctuary rooms pricing. 
 

For the entry level Signature Suite pricing is £6049 all in. For the Sanctuary mini suite it is £4024. 
 

Wasn’t sure if I am missing something, but for a same size room, the extra £2000 odd gives me lounge access, a coffee machine and 1 mini bar set up? Is that worth it?

 

I was considered rebooking my cancelled original inaugural Star cruise to this one. I was in a Penthouse Suite now showing at £6519. Sure I’d get a nicer room and lounge access, but lose exclusivity in dining and sanctuary area with everything being more crowded and next to no exclusivity. What is the main benefit now of upper suites for £2500 extra?

 

So disappointed. I loved the Retreat concept on Celebrity and was looking forward to comparing and switching allegiances over but now there is nothing at all to draw me over. 
 

I’m in a quandary, I do hope they review the suite offering as a whole. I doubt it!

Yeah, this is a real head scratcher.  Why would anyone pay that much extra for EXACTLY THE SAME ROOM?!  The lounge looks nice, but not for that price.

All I can say is that I’m glad both of my suite bookings on the Sun are prior to October 14. I’m not sure I’d be interested in booking a suite after that, especially not at these (much) higher prices. Under the new system, I’d be paying significantly more money for significantly less exclusivity.  Not sure what Princess management is thinking here…

17 minutes ago, dog said:

 

Yeah, I don’t really see the difference between S9 and M1 after 14 October. S9 still costs a lot more than M1 in the new price structure and the only added benefit is access to the suite lounge.  The lounge looks beautiful, but it hardly seems like it would be worth the extra cost if that’s all you get. 😕

36 minutes ago, dog said:

Corrections sent out- starts October 14/24

Hopefully you are in the D0 after 14 October…

1 hour ago, whitcruising said:

I was already booked in a suite and received an email saying I was “upgraded”  It isn’t an upgrade for me as I had already booked a suite and it doesn’t include the premiere package (which I had also already booked). I’m not the poster from FB but I did receive the email. I sail June 1st, 2024  

 

I am in an S4 for June 1 and I got the email, too. I don’t see that I’m getting anything different than I was already getting yesterday lol.

3 hours ago, dog said:

My Travel Summary now says under Special Services- Sanctuary Collection.

Glad you wound up getting that after Princess gave all the D0 passengers such a runaround about it. I’m also glad they are abandoning the silly day pass strategy for the Sanctuary, as it was never clear to me how that was going to work.  My only concern now is that they upgraded so many cabins that they have created a different problem…the entire Sanctuary only holds about 300 people, and there are 215 eligible cabins (430 adults at double occupancy).  Alas, the math still doesn’t look good IMO. Oh well…at least I won’t be on the ship when it’s in the Caribbean!  I think that’s when we’ll really find out if there’s a problem with the strategy.  I am still very excited to experience the Sun!

7 hours ago, chamima said:

 

 

This is really confusing!!!

Or is it just me?

So they are adding mini suite and balcony cabins to suites in availability to the 80 loungers in the Sanctuary?  (See text in red above.)

And can someone please explain that last paragraph? How could anyone have booked a category before today that didn't exist until today?

🥵

 

Before they rolled this out, they were planning to sell day passes to non-suite passengers anyway (based on “availability”). To me, that was even sketchier, because it wasn’t clear how they would determine “availability.”  Now at least we know what we’re dealing with.  That said…they still don’t have enough space in the Sanctuary to accommodate 430 suite passengers (assuming 2 adults for each of the 215 Sanctuary cabins)…so I’m not sure they actually solved anything with this update.

3 hours ago, Wishing on a star said:

No,  I believe that all of the ones on the Sphere still remain 'Premium Deluxe'.

I think it is ONLY that handful of D0 category cabins. (AFT, with the very very extended balcony) that are now SANCTUARY cabins, with full ship-within-a-ship benefits and access.

These are the ones located AFT that had brought about such specific discussion, as the description online had mentioned Signature, but then that was removed.  Now we see why, as most of the Suite and Sanctuary staterooms and exclusive areas are located AFT.

 

Note:  Deck 14 doesn't seem to be available / loading...  Not sure if they might still be working on that deck, with these new cabin categories.

 

Princess has kept silent, and also brought about a LOT of confusion with the roll-out of the new ship... NOW it all makes sense.

I’m sure you’re right. My mother is booked in an M1 mini on deck 14 in December.  She already received the email today saying she’d been upgraded to Sanctuary Collection.

9 minutes ago, rjack22 said:

I'd like to use our Skymiles on Delta to upgrade our seats.    I don't know if this is even possible.  I saw no option for it when booking EZ Air.   Is there a phone number for EZ Air questions that I could call and speak to someone?

You should be able to do it through the Delta app

1 hour ago, dides said:

Posting this on the Star Princess build thread following the updates from those passengers who have been notified of changes directly. While nine inaugural sailings have now been cancelled and the new inaugural is now October 4 2025, this states the ship delivery date will be September 26, 2025 (a slot for a shakedown cruise maybe?).

 

The official press release:

 

MONFALCONE, Italy, (April 19, 2024) – Princess Cruises and ship builder Fincantieri today announced the mutual decision to postpone the delivery of the next Sphere Class ship, Star Princess.

Following a comprehensive review of the remaining construction milestones, both parties have elected to adjust the ship's delivery date from July 29, 2025 to September 26, 2025, which will result in the cancellation of the nine inaugural sailings.

“Despite our collective dedication and relentless pursuit to deliver the ship in late July, it has become evident that additional time is required to ensure the Star Princess is delivered to the highest standards expected by our guests,” said John Padgett, president of Princess Cruises.

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.

Guests who are booked on any of the impacted voyages will be given three options: book any Princess cruise worldwide, including aboard the new Star, sister ship Sun Princess, or any other Princess ship.

Guests who elect to rebook will receive future cruise- and onboard-credits depending on the cruise they select.  Guests will also have the option to cancel and receive a full refund of the cruise fare.

Princess will protect travel agent commissions on all bookings that have been paid in full.

Star Princess is the second in the new Sphere Class of ships for Princess. Sister ship Sun Princess, built by Fincantieri in Monfalcone, debuted in February and is hailed as the next level Love Boat featuring the iconic and elegant structural lines Princess is known for, while delivering an evolution of the brand with new eye-catching architectural spectacles like The Dome, the cruise industry’s first geodesic feature on the top deck, and The Sphere, the suspended glass Sphere Piazza at the center of the cruise ship.

 

 

At least they are notifying passengers well in advance this time.

On 4/17/2024 at 1:35 AM, Sox Fan Cruiser said:

it was actually a comforting movement like rocking a baby’s cradle.

Funny, this is how I always describe it, too. 😄

9 minutes ago, Nikkibird said:

So what do they mean when they list The Thermal Suite as a feature of the Penthouse Suite?

Princess’ website doesn’t list that as an amenity on the Sun Princess.

1 hour ago, ontheweb said:

Has anyone ever posted a thread with this kind of question before the medallion took over or on the board of another cruise line? The wonderful medallion technology strikes again. 🤦‍♂️

Despite its flaws, I still think the medallion system is far superior to the card system that is used on other cruise lines.  I was traveling with a group of 12 on NCL Joy over NYE, and let me tell you that trying to deal with all those cards at dinner was a NIGHTMARE.  There were some nights I was asked to provide my card twice before I could even get a drink, despite the fact that I had a drink package that covered the cost of said drink.  Ordering another drink?  Be prepared to fork over your card again.  Bottled water?  “Can I see your card once more?”  Sorry, but constantly having to produce that card was a nuisance, especially since NCL does not let you punch a hole in the card and clip it to a lanyard the way Princess used to do in the pre-Medallion era.  On balance, I think the Medallion is much more convenient than the card, especially when the bar staff know how to use it properly.

13 minutes ago, Sox Fan Cruiser said:

On the original deck plan only deck 17 extended for an aft view but they all do and the plans have been changed. I will maybe pick a lower level next time. But I think our ceiling is taller to give it a more open view.

 

(I’ll try for a picture of that later)

We booked the same room but two decks lower on our September cruise, so we’ll have a chance to compare directly.  I am really excited to hear your thoughts about everything else (Signature lounge, Signature restaurant, Spellbound, shows, etc.).  Hope you’re enjoying your cruise!

4 minutes ago, Sox Fan Cruiser said:

Here is the balcony. It’s a little longer because it extends past the cabin for the aft view. 

That’s why we wanted this one…the balcony looked a little bigger on the deck plan. 😄

23 minutes ago, NeutralNovice said:

 

Did you take pictures by any chance?  Particularly your balcony?  I currently have a booking that's on 17637, so all the way in aft, starboard side.

 

Also, how was your cruise, ship movement-wise?  Did you notice a lot of movement up that high and all the way back?

 

Thanks!!

That will be our room, too. 😄

1 minute ago, dides said:

No, we went to one of the media only events - no meal for these - and were told come in whatever you feel comfortable in. After my other half packed a dinner suit lol

I know my husband will be relieved as he, too, is a “fluffy cruiser” and is not a big fan of formal wear.

2 hours ago, KLM3164 said:

Well isn’t that an interesting piece of information.

 

Princess Cruises = consistently inconsistent!

I wonder if the suit-and-tie thing was only required when they were doing the media-only/by-invitation-only events.  I hope so!  @Sox Fan Cruiser, please let us know!

25 minutes ago, Sox Fan Cruiser said:

I just knew that Princess wouldn’t get the suites only experience right. They are a comfort, “welcome home” cruise line but have never been able to do the higher class service right. It’s being rolled out in exactly the way I expected Princess to do it. And I TOTALLY agree about that dumb roller glider and its location to the Sanctuary!  Look at the Grand Class ships. The outdoor part of the kids club is right above the aft adults only pool!
 

I’m going in with high hopes and low expectations.  But I’ll have a great cruise either way!  Rome is amazing!!!

I do love Rome! Can’t wait to hear your take on the Sun, @Sox Fan Cruiser!  I know it will be great even if Princess hasn’t quite gotten things right yet.