azbirdmom

I was wondering if they would offer upgrades to those who had booked using a casino comp. There wasn't anything in the FAQs about it and I guess it didn't take long to find out the answer to that question. My only concern would be if this turns out to be one of those changes that accidentally cancels the reservation like other changes such as adding EZAir yourself would. The casino isn't paying their share until 7 days prior to embarkation these days so that would be my concern about taking one of these offers.

I'm even more convinced that this is something that slipped from their test environment. That same itinerary and date shows up as Caribbean Princess now.

I wonder if something from their test environment made it to their website briefly.

Got one late last night for the Love Boat Cruise next month which is sold out. We booked a couple of weeks ago and took an S4 suite on the side. Although we love aft facing will pass on this one because it’s not worth the time to bid on the off chance that someone will cancel an S3.

The Princess prices are always high but the Anchorage hotel prices in season are pretty high too. We did book the Princess rail + hotel package for our first cruise from Whittier and it was easy. Note that the rail cars will likely be the single decker version but it is still a pretty ride down to Whittier. Since then we've also done Princess cruise tours twice staying at the Captain Cook (one time booking an extra night directly through the hotel) and most recently did a DIY pre-cruise tour staying at the Anchorage Hilton. There's always sticker shock when it comes to pricing in Alaska but it sounds like this is the best option for you.

Oh there's nothing worse than not being able to get a good night sleep. What cabin were you in? I sure hope that the new cabin is better and you can get some rest! And that you enjoy the rest of your cruise.

I loved it when they would make a pasta right in the Club Class dining area. I hope that will return someday.

We are on the Love Boat cruise and if the cast is dining in Sabatini's, perhaps I can have Ted Lange make up a special mimosa for me LOL.

That has been my go-to. Love the apples and usually ask for extras.

The last time we were in a full suite was in January 2020 and we could get waffles but I think they had to go elsewhere to get whipped cream so I declined. Didn't think to ask about crepes. I certainly won't be shy about asking though! 😄

Make sure the free play on the machine matches the free play that is in the Cruise Personalizer, AND take along a hard copy of the documentation just in case it doesn't (Travel Summary from the Cruise Personalizer or Special Services Summary from Princess). I handle my free play a little differently. Let's say I have $200 in free play showing in my bank. I will download $20 or $30 to the machine - whatever I would play when I play real money. You'll know when that is gone as you'll start earning points again. If I've won and I like the machine, I keep playing. Or I just cash out and move on to another machine. The cash goes into your regular bank. Then I repeat at another machine. I use all of my free play before I start using real $$.

Thank you for sharing! We will be Club Class on the Discovery in October and may have to skip out on Sabatini's breakfast when they have the crepes and waffles.

Can't speak to the rest of it but iMessages worked for me as recently as a month ago on the Discovery Princess. Access to everything else was slow to non-existent, but at least I could get texts out to others.

I don't recall seeing the starting category for the demo booking but if it was standard balcony then yes, full suite is offered. But they didn't say that (at least from what I heard and I agree that the sound was painful at times) so we will have to wait to see what actually transpires, especially since the offer email only included up to mini suite. ETA: As someone who has done training in the past, I would always use the same test data throughout the presentation and also use criteria that could happen in real life. But again relying on realistic / consistent examples when it comes to Princess might be a stretch.

The screenshot during the demo clearly showed that the current cabin was Standard Balcony and the offers were for Deluxe Balcony and Premium Deluxe Balcony in addition to Mini. Still this is Princess and there were some other things that seemed to conflict during the discussion so we will have to see what kind of offers folks start getting within the next two weeks - because you know it will hit CC soon after the first one goes out! 🙂

We will have to see if there are any further breakdowns within a category but based on what I saw in the presentation I think you are right.

They did break out Deluxe from Balcony. I just don't know if they will separate categories within generic "Balcony" if some are deemed less desirable than others. Edited to add screen shots with some of the balcony cabins shown in the presentation.

It's going to be the high level categories per the presentation. But they did break out M1 from M6 in the Club Class category so we will have to wait to see if they further break down the balcony categories if there are any less desirable cabins within that. And actually I misstated the categories within mini suite. Meant to say MA, MB, etc. Can't edit but it was an example anyway....

Yes, they are within categories. The subcategories will be shown such as balcony, deluxe balcony or the various types of suites. But you won't see M1, M2, etc., you'll just see Mini Suite, Club Class Mini Suite, or forward Mini Suite as an example. I saw your edit. They didn't say that you would get another opportunity once you've accepted a bid, it didn't come up.

You should be able to bid if you paid with FCCs. And no you can't select specific decks or cabins. As John noted above, they did indicate that there may be some flexibility but it didn't give me warm fuzzies that they would move someone back if they didn't like where they landed. They did say that they know the more problematic categories from dealing with Upsells for a while and that they would call before accepting your bid if that came into play. But I would say that if you're bidding, be prepared to keep what you're offered.

Here's some of the screenshots from the presentation.

I made a couple of notes in red above and have a couple of extra notes below (didn't get a chance to post yesterday but will also post screenshots too in a bit): The general rule is if you paid something for your cruise fare you will be eligible to make an upgrade bid. This was in response to a question about the cabins TAs can earn, I don't know if this would work for, say, free casino offers where you've already paid to upgrade your cabin. I'm guessing no but will find out soon enough as I have one of those in December. The categories you can bid on depend on what you booked. For example, if you booked an inside you can only bid up to a Deluxe Balcony. Offer goes via email to guest and TA (if applicable). Guests must put in a credit card number before submitting their offer but it is only used to ensure that the bid is serious - no charges are made at the time of bid. When you get the email that your bid has been accepted, you must indicate your final payment type in the Personalizer. FCCs can be used but they must be payment type not discount. In response to a question they said free upgrades may still happen. And those with guarantees can bid too - the category booked will be used in building the offer. If there is a tie in terms of bid price for a specific cabin, Captain's Circle status will be used as a tiebreaker. I got the sense that there are other criteria but this one was in response to a question asking if status is taken into account in this process.

Princess Sales just had a webinar about the new process. At times there are horrible audio issues when the two ladies are talking but the part with the gentleman who did the walkthrough of the upgrade screens is worth listening to. https://www.facebook.com/PrincessVPSales/videos/1484592348657993/

The amount applied to the cruise also shows up on the Travel Summary.

That is very strange. Mine usually show as they are in the screenshot below. If you play slots, the free play should be on the machine when you log in. If they aren't or if you want to play table games, go to the cashier. Would recommend that you take along the documentation about the $400 on the off chance that the casino doesn't know about it. Yup, it happens!