capriccio

The best place to start research on excursions is in the appropriate Ports of Call board. For these ports go to https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/456-caribbean/ for the islands and https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/54-panama-canal/ for the Canal ports. On the latter board you will need to use the search function by port (upper right corner). Good luck with your research,

A good question (which I don't have the answer to) since that configuration looks like it is either a shared kitchen area or two distinct kitchens without the details in the diagram. Another example of a large white space is between the Reserve and Signature Restaurants that has been identified as a shared kitchen. If that is true in this case, neither Crown Grill nor O'Malley's serve breakfast so I would suspect little, if any, early morning noises. I'm not sure what time dinner service ends in both restaurants and what you would consider too late.

We have always received PQPs on EZ Air United flights. We've also been on the free upgrade list each time. The best upgrade was made at the gate at Heathrow to business class om 2019.

Don't forget to share the cruising experience info with her. The Alaska Cruises page on the website is a good start: https://www.princess.com/en-us/cruise-destinations/alaska-cruises Make sure she scrolls down to the bottom of the page for the links to the Alaska Onboard Experiences and, especially, the North to Alaska Program link (https://www.princess.com/en-us/cruise-destinations/alaska-cruises/north-to-alaska-cruise-activities).

Which is exactly why I said a percentage, not all. Given that I am not a cruise line venue designer I wouldn't know. I just worry that the Princess designers don't know either.

I've seen some comments here on CC that the Lounge access is still restricted to the original 80 cabins in the Signature Collection but I haven't seen a direct quote on that. Having looked at the pictures of that lounge, I have my doubts that it was even big enough to old a sizeable percentage of the Signature Collection passengers.

Look at the old numbers of cabins that made up the Signature Collection: The Signature Collection Suites breakdown (total = 80) SO - Signature Sky Suite - 4 S2 - Signature Owner's Suite - 10 S4 - Signature Penthouse Suite - 36 S9 - Signature Suite - 30 (which have a mini-suite layout) and the new numbers making up the new and improved Sanctuary Collection (total = 219) : "The new Sanctuary Collection aboard Sun Princess includes three levels of stateroom types – Signature Collection Suites (80), Mini Suites (123), and Premium Deluxe Balconies (16)" Some reserve minis were "promoted".

For comparison purposes the MSC Meraviglia has about 100 cabins and the newer MSC Seascape has 131. Their pool sections also have a full bar, an expansive grill serving breakfast and lunch, and multiple hot tubs. Neither were busy the weeks we were on our 2 Caribbean cruises but I’ve heard they can be crowded, like all ships, during holiday periods.

From the Sun Princess thread, this is a quote from yesterday’s press release: The new Sanctuary Collection aboard Sun Princess includes three levels of stateroom types – Signature Collection Suites (80), Mini Suites (123), and Premium Deluxe Balconies (16) I think there are fewer than 20 S9 cabins so this seems more than a doubling of the number of cabins in the Sanctuary Collection.

Not yet.

Now there will be a daily race to get lounge chairs in the sun (since it seems like there is no shade).

Thank you. I noticed that which doesn't personally impact us on the upcoming cruise but does mean that we will not be reserving multiple Sanctuary cabins on Princess when traveling with our kids and granddaughters. Just one more plus in the MSC Yacht Club column (on our 2 cruises the few children in the YC were extremely well behaved).

The Sun Deck no longer exists as a separate venue on the new deck plans. The entire area is now the Sanctuary Club.

I can speak to a comparison with MSC’s Yacht Club and there is no comparison based on all my readings to date. All YC cabins have butlers and stewards, on their builds within the last 5 years or so all YC venues and cabins are co-located in a private area, plus their private island (designed from the ground up by them) is gorgeous and includes a dedicated YC area with a restaurant. Since this is a new class of ship you would think Princess might have sent secret shoppers/cruisers on other lines with the ship within a ship concept to report back on what works like cabin sizes, service-many have butlers, drink inclusions, lounge, pool, restaurants, etc. and, most importantly, fares and what doesn’t.

Wow. I guess I'm totally naive. That would never have occurred to me!

I don't understand why the YC wristband isn't required when visiting YC specific venues. That is an easy and unobtrusive form of identification.

Is that a current photo or a pre-launch mock up? At one time I read that only the Signature suites would have a coffee maker. After yesterday's announcement of the inclusion of many other cabins into the Sanctuary Collection who knows? I'm not sure even Princess corporate knows but I am sure customer service couldn't tell you.

Now there will be a daily race of many more people than there are lounges.

Lori - I see that I misled you because the Africa & Middle East forum is set up differently from others that are broken down by area and country or just country. I guess there aren't enough cruise ports in Africa to warrant that. You can obviously post questions there - just make sure you include the port's name in the title. If you want to research the entire forum: go to Search in the upper right corner of the page and enter each port's name individually. For example, I entered Cape Town and got this result:

Since this is a new class of ship you would think Princess might have sent secret shoppers/cruisers on other lines with the ship within a ship concept to report back on what works like cabin sizes, service-many have butlers, drink inclusions, lounge, pool, restaurants, etc. and, most importantly, fares and what doesn’t. I can speak to a comparison with MSC’s Yacht Club and there is no comparison based on all my readings to date.

Especially if we had known that over 100 (IIRC) of them were going to be upgraded!

The Sun Deck/Sanctuary is one of the major reasons we booked an S9 (it certainly wasn't for the terrible short backed balcony chairs that don't even recline a bit). This is a Caribbean cruise and we always book the Sanctuary for the entire week on other Princess ships. I was already concerned about the apparent lack of any shade now I can add being concerned about even getting any place to sit.

That is the only change to our S9 booked with the Plus package and still including the Plus package. The Sanctuary Class Indicator is new although the S9 is a suite designation and was already included as a suite. Plus Beverage Package + Juice Bar 1 $514.43 $514.43 MedallionNet 1-device WiFi 1 $104.93 $104.93 Fitness Classes (2 Classes) 1 $55.09 $55.09 Premium Desserts (2 per day) 1 $73.22 $73.22 DND - Free Medallion Shipping 1 $7.00 $7.00 Crew Appreciation Included 1 $126.00 $126.00 SANCTUARY CLASS INDICATOR 1 $0.00 $0.00

What has changed, in addition to the astronomical fare increase for future bookings, is that the already booked suite guests will be sharing the same amount of space with more than twice as many people as when they originally booked.

And the Concierge Lounge will be more crowded too but at least you booked at a much lower fare I presume. Our S9 fare for a 1 week cruise for 2 passengers increased from under $5000 including the Plus package to $8300 with the Premium package included. if we decide to keep the booking, it will be one and done at those fares.