Upper Bob

Here is a thorough video showing one of the Vista Suites on the Enchanted Princess. This will give you a good idea of the space available for three people. There are only six of these cabins on the Sky, Enchanted, and Discovery Princess ships. I had the opportunity to tour one of them on a recent Enchanted cruise and I will say that three would be a little crowded in my opinion. These cabins do have a deeper balcony than all the other suites on the ship, aside from the aft Penthouse and Sky Suites. They combine the sitting area with the bedroom, just like the Window Suites on the Grand and Caribbean Princess. FYI, I have never used this TA, but he has some really informative videos on numerous Princess cabin types.

Starting December 1st, the 360 Experience (only available on Enchanted and Discovery) was no longer complimentary for full suite guests, though I believe they still might be extending this benefit to those who booked their suite prior to that date. While on the Enchanted in November for a TA crossing, this directive was sent to the concierge on both ships and we were informed that we would be the last sailing where all full suite guests would be invited for free.

First time using the bidding program and was not expecting anything to happen, as both legs of our BTB on the Sky have been shown as completely sold out for the last several weeks (as are the other sailings on either end). Placed bids back in mid-November just above the minimum for an upgrade from Reserve Collection Mini (M6) to three different suite classes (S4, S5, S6). Just notified today (24 days out) that our bid was accepted for a Premium Suite (S5). Very happy travelers now and we had that exact category last November for a TA on the Enchanted and really enjoyed the cabin. As someone mentioned earlier, just because a sailing is sold out doesn't mean there will not be late cancellations or shuffling of cabins.

They just put this collage back up today on Enchanted after correcting for some staffing changes in Civitavecchia/Rome.

Tried two different times calling only to get representatives at the overseas call center who had absolutely no idea what I was asking. She confused onboard Medallion Net with the Medallion shipping and never quite understood what the Plus or Premier packages entailed. After being put on hold five consecutive times I had to hang up. I guess the only way to talk to a knowledgable Princess CVP these days is to already have the contact info for a specific individual. Since there is no longer a Captains Circle rep onboard the ships, my only option is to speak with GS once I board. We're just going to enjoy this cruise and not let it bother us anymore🍷🚢

Yes, when I look at my travel summary, it only shows the three standard items. I should have followed up immediately upon receiving the new booking confirmation, but that time era back in February was not too long after the new packages were introduced and many people were posting of issues with their trip summaries reflecting inaccurate information. My point is that back in February (when the new packages were in place with new pricing) I was checking on availability and pricing on higher category cabins. I saw a cabin that was available and looked at the pricing for Premium Plus and then called Princess directly to change to that cabin. The cruise fare that I was charged at that time on the phone (and what showed on my new confirmation) was the exact same price I was seeing online when searching for a cabin using the newer Premium Plus option at $60/day. There was obviously no option to select a fare with the older Premium Plus package at $50/day. I will try and call Princess tomorrow and see if I have any better luck than I did with the chat agent. If not, I will just chalk it up to the continued problems from uninformed phone and chat representatives since Princess changed their call centers. Even with having to pay the additional funds for medallion shipping ($10), OceanNow onboard ordering ($15), and two casual dining charges ($30), It's still not worth the extra $150/ea that my wife and I would have to pay to be "current" with the Plus package for our upcoming 15 night voyage.

I'm trying to figure out where I stand when it comes to my current booking (Nov 2023) and the Princess Plus Package. I just spent a half hour trying to reason with a chat agent to no avail, and want to make sure I understand the facts. I originally booked a TA back in October of 2022 and then rebooked into a higher class cabin in February of 2023 (receiving a new email from Princess titled "Princess booking confirmation." I know that all bookings prior to December 16, 2022 included the old Princess Plus, but that any booking subsequent to that date would include the new Princess Plus and would be priced accordingly (with no option to select the old Plus package). The reason this came up is that I just noticed the $10 shipping charge for the medallions. Now the chat agent is telling me I do not receive the additional benefits such as casual dining, deserts, fitness, juice bar, etc. unless I pay the additional $10/day for each of us. I do not see how Princess (I used a phone agent back in February) could not have charged for the current fare at that time, which could have only included the newer Plus Package. There was no mention of pro-rating the fare since I would not receive the additional benefits, nor was there any mention of upgrading to the newer Plus.

I was curious where the Suite breakfast would be held after the recent renovation on Enchanted, since Sabatini's (the normal venue) was moved up into the former Bistro Sur LeMer location and The Catch by Rudi into Sabatini's spot. We will be looking forward to this when we are on the TA in 9 more days!

Hi Emma, by any chance is Igor the Suite Manager on the Sky right now? We have had him as the concierge on a past cruise and he was amazing. We saw him on the Discovery back in May (he was the Suite Manager) and he said he was transferring to the Sky this fall. We will be on the Sky next February and will be bidding for an upgrade to a suite.

Mary, that “premium economy” selection is for what is commonly known as the “extra leg room” in economy class. United, along with most other major airlines, has now introduced a category between economy (both levels) and business class. These seats (Premium Plus Class) are the equivalent of domestic first class seats and there are only 12-24 on each plane and that plane would have to have the Polaris seating (at least on United).

Thank you for the great explanation to Coral. We have purchased Business Class fares on EZ Air in past years for amazing prices, but like so many other things these days, the prices are no longer dramatically better than booking directly through the airline. I also have never seen an opportunity to book a "Premium Plus" seat (also called Premium Economy on United planes with Polaris) through EZ Air, just economy or business. The plan was to book an economy fair, use my United Premier status to instantly upgrade to economy plus seats, and then use the "Upgrade Cabin" option in my United Mileage Plus account for that flight. When I selected this I chose both the Premium Plus and Business Class options for a 20K miles & $550 charge. Seeing how few Polaris seats are still available for next weeks flight, as milolii says, my chances are slim for Polaris but those already in Premium Plus might move up opening their seats for us (dependent upon our priority with fare class, status, timing, etc.). EZ Air are always classified as "bulk fare" with the airlines and as such probably have a lower priority when upgrading. No matter what happens, we know that once we have arrived at our destination, and have boarded the Enchanted Princess, we will have forgotten any inconvenience from our flights 😁.

You are correct, now that I looked at the air booking confirmation date. The thing is, the only way I was going to know that the EZ Air agent cancelled the upgrade request was by calling United directly and inquiring about the status. They (United) said the money and miles were still in place for the upgrade but the request was gone. Nothing on the UA website indicated the cancelled UG. I do check the flight booking info on a regular basis, as changes with EZ Air bookings are fairly common (as most of us know).

I'm not sure if anyone else has ever had this issue, but we have not. Back in February, I had booked standard economy EZ air flights for our upcoming TA on the Enchanted out of Rome. A few weeks later I went into my United account and requested an upgrade to either Premium Plus or Polaris for miles & money, which was accepted. I called the United Premier Desk this morning to check that status and they told me that the cruise line had removed the upgrade request back in May (without notifying me). Fortunately, the United agent was able to restore my request with our same priority, given the original February request.

We are on the cruise with you (Enchanted TA) and this morning the tracking now shows USPS receipt and scheduled delivery for next Monday and we are in Colorado. Will probably be even earlier for you living in California and the shipment coming from LA.

When we had sailed in a suite previously on the Enchanted, the complimentary speciality restaurant reservation was already assigned for the first night. We went to the concierge lounge and the concierge said we could move it to any night (and any of the three venues) we wanted. This is an option if you don't want to "specialty" dine on the first night.

I used the old option just two weeks ago using the standard form and sending by email to sbpcl@princesscruises.com. Attached copy of brokerage statement and received the OBC by the next day.

I had the same issue when I went to order the medallions for shipping through the app. Even though we had Princess Plus it showed a $10 delivery fee at the “submit order” step (along with a a notice of no refunds). I used the chat function on the Princess web site and, after a lengthy and frustrating conversation with a rep, the order was placed for me at no shipping charge. This also put me back into the green lane for the second time.

Same issue here for the last 4-5 days. Went from green to blue to yellow (for one day!) and now back to blue. I know I ordered the medallions last year, but it is telling me I need to order. After several days of seeing the common error message, yesterday I finally got to where I could place the order for the medallions to be shipped. Only problem is that it wants to charge me $10 for shipping, even though we have Princess Plus package. I’m hoping that they will eventually straighten everything out (I can hear the laughs now) and I will revert to green lane with medallions already ordered and not “in progress.”

We had L107 on the Enchanted (TA - west to east) and M108 on the Discovery (Alaska inside passage). We also have M108 on the Sky next February. That being said, among the four category M6 cabins, I would prefer the two Lido deck ones over the Marina deck versions. While there is novelty in having the massive deck over the bridge that sticks way out, there is little shade and the wind can be pretty severe rendering most of the balcony unusable. With the smaller Lido version it is possible to tuck in behind and under the steel railing/ barrier and have some protection while still enjoying the outside and the side balcony is completely covered. On our TA there were at least three days where the wind was behind us and it was almost perfectly calm on the open Atlantic. On the Discovery, we had the teak furniture (no loungers) while on the Enchanted there were two of the typical pool loungers in addition to the tradition small round table and chairs (see attached pics). Both balconies had their merits but what really differentiates things is the significantly larger cabin on Lido (especially the bedroom). There were 3 large closets along the entry way (not on Marina) and the bedroom had plenty of room to move around and store things.

We also have a Premium Suite (C102) booked for the first time for a TA on the Enchanted later this year. We have stayed in an aft Penthouse, which does have a much larger balcony (though only the cabins on Dolphin and Baja have any cover, and then only partial). After touring a Premium we saw how much bigger the bedroom was than the Penthouse Suites (both aft and mid-ship) and loved the forward facing window. The Premiums have the same narrow covered balcony as the Penthouse cabins on Rivera deck (maybe even a little longer). I think the cheaper pricing is based on cabin location. We have stayed in the forward facing Reserve Collection Mini Suites on Marina and Lido decks and did not notice any appreciable “rocking” of the ship. Definitely a longer walk to concierge lounge but closer to the Sanctuary, theater, and spa (if you utilize those venues). It’s all a matter of perspective and we look it as an opportunity to walk off those splurges that we enjoy eating 😁.

Recently off the Discovery. Standard servings at the Gelato in the Piazza are not covered by either the Princess Plus or Princess Premiere, as they are an extra cost for all ($1.50-$3.50 for 1-3 scoops). That being said, if you have the Princess Plus package you are entitled to two free premium desserts each day! These desserts are made from the same exact trays of gelato, but are a pre-determined selection (see attached image). They are also almost more than any one person could eat at a time, especially thinking about two-a-day. I have not heard if anyone has asked to only have the gelato in their "premium desserts" and thereby end up with the equivalent of a free Princess Plus gelato.

I was curious about the new Sun and Star Princess cabin numbers, so I did a little research and made some calculations. These Sphere Class ships have 2,150 cabins compared to 1,780 for the first three Royal Class and 1,830 for the last three. These two newest ships seem to reverse the trend of having more full suites than Reserve Collection cabins (formerly Club Class). It is also apparent that Princess is increasing the total number of full suites and Reserve Collection mini's as a percentage of the total cabins. They also seem to have considered the large increase in these categories with completely separate dining areas for both from the MDR's. Whether or not these new private dining areas will be large enough to eliminate waiting for a table is still unknown. I know the one time we had Club Class on the Caribbean Princess (Grand Class) last fall, pretty much every night we had to wait 30-45 minutes to be seated, while on both the Enchanted and Discovery in Club Class we have never waited. The total number of full suite and Reserve Class cabins with access to the Reserve Collection dining area on the Royal Class ships ranges from 74-84 (almost an even split between cabin classes). On the new Sphere Class, there are now 177 Reserve Collection cabins for the new "Reserve Collection Restaurant" and 72 full suites for the "Signature Restaurant." Calculations show 5.5% of the cabins on the Royal Class ships are either full suites or Reserve Collection (Club Class), while on the new Sphere Class, 11.5% of the cabins are either a full suite or Reserve Collection. This trend towards more higher prices cabins is not a surprise, as cruise lines are looking everywhere to generate more income these days. What is also not surprising is seeing those cabins being the first to fill when new sailings are released. I personally like the fact that these new, largest ever, Princess ships still have 20-23% fewer people than Carnival's Excel Class and Royal Caribbean's Oasis and (soon to sail) Ikon Class ships.

Fettuccine Alfredo and New York Strip Steak were on the MDR menu every night on the Discovery Princess first Alaska sailing of the season.

After her recent renovations in dry dock, does anyone know where the suite breakfast benefit is now located on Enchanted Princess? With Sabatini’s moving up to deck seven in the atrium (and it’s open air environment) and The Catch by Rudi taking over Sabatini’s old private location on deck five, I’m just curious where the breakfast will be. This change will also effect the Sky and Discovery after future dry docks for those ships.

I'm guessing you were on the Caribbean, as we also sailed last October in F305 and experienced climate and water temp issues. Interestingly, our problem was no cold water in either of the sink faucets or the shower (which was too hot to use!). The plumber came by at least twice but it was never completely resolved, just fixed enough to lower the water temp. As for the HVAC, we had the same situation - either too hot or too cold and no control available for us to change. In 20 years of cruising with Princess, this was the first time having these kind of unresolved issues though you always read about others having problems with their cabins. Aside from those two issues, we did love the location and it was fairly easy to head up one floor to the Promenade Deck for some fresh air. Our first time in a Window Suite as the pricing was barely more than a CC Mini. My DW did say afterwards that we will need to have a balcony for all future cruises 😆.