Can I cancel my cruise at the pier if I am give WS?

[RickEk]

We're considering a cruise out of Galveston in Dec. 2012 so I'm following some threads on this board. What is a window suite? Does it have a balcony? What deck are they on?

 

The Crown Princess and her sisters (Emerald and Ruby) don't have Window Suites. They are available only on Caribbean Princess, Golden Princess, and Grand Princess. On those ships, they are located on Fiesta deck forward on the starboard side of the ship. They do not have balconies, but have two large windows, but in all other aspects are designed like other suites.

[05mak05]

Astroflyer is correct. Also, all of you who said that we would not be moved to a Window Suite or Family Suite are correct. We have a mini suite two decks above the non smoking side of the promenade deck. We are really looking forward to enjoying the fresh sea air. I will try to find out if smoke wafts up to mini suites on the other side of the ship. If it does, then we probably won't book guarantees in the future. If it doesn't, then we feel pretty safe continuing to book mini suite guarantees. I had expected that after the change in smoking policy, most smokers would go to HAL. However, some have reported that the casino and 1/2 of the promenade have become crowded with smokers. I am a bit worried about the location of the casino on the Golden. It is on the promenade deck. Some have reported smokers standing at the casino entrance, so smoke could escape to both sides of the outdoor promenade deck each time to doors are open. I like to walk there, but I can also walk on the upper decks, if the promenade smells bad. Sometimes, I like to sit on the promenade too, but I can always just sit on our balcony. I will report back on the smoke situation.

Thanks for the info on Window Suites. I'll scratch that from my list of concerns about picking the mini-suites for our cruise on the Crown. Next question: Is the non-smoking side of the ship for the casino and promenade port or starboard. We've been on the higher aft balconies on RCI ships where the smoke drifted right up to our balcony. Same with side balconies.

I was excited to read that balconies on Princess were now non-smoking, however, smoke from the outdoor decks didn't occur to me. Please do report back on the smoke situation. I appreciate all of your guidance. MK

[Katie333]

I don't think the OP was looking for an upgrade (and yes I understand all the 'told you so' warnings about the risk of booking a guarantee). With that said, there are only a few ships that have the risk of being upgraded and losing a balcony. We had a mini guarantee on the CB and didn't know we could have gotten a window suite. I don't think it would have been the end of the world for us as the suite perks are really nice.

 

Dena, could you call your TA or Princess to see what they say about the WS situation? The Princess insurance should cover you but read it and get the answers directly (though the links to the Princess site and its policy should be sufficient confirmation as provided by Astroflyer).

 

Good luck!

[generichandle]

Just an FYI. I got sick last couple days before cruise in December. Had to file for insurance. It is non-trivial. Got back all my cruise, but flight is 'use within year, with that exact airline'. Lots of hassle and info to gather too.

 

It IS a lesson to order what you will like or accept that GTY could be minimum. And "always look on the bright side of life ......". :D

 

Enjoy cruising!

 

Doug

[dog]

AE mini suite category has a balcony but no bath tub & twin beds do not convert to a queen.

 

Dena how did tis work out for you? Did you like your cabin or cancel at pier?

[Stevesan]

We have platinum insurance from Princess and my understanding is that we can cancel for any reason. We booked the lowest mini suite guarantee and have not had an assignment with less than 1 week to sail. I fear we will get our assignment at the pier.

 

I figured any upgrade would be OK except a family suite since they lock the balcony when underway to Hawaii. On our last cruise we were in the mini near the family suite and no one was in it. Also, the family suite wasn't even listed on the Princess website for our sailing, so I figured they were not putting people in those rooms since the balcony is not usable. We never sailed Golden before and did not realize that the Golden has a category called Window Suite. These do not even have balconies. We do not want to sail without a balcony because we were looking forward to fresh air now that the new smoking policy is in effect.

 

So can we cancel at the pier if the worst happens?

 

Where's the issue?

Only four of the fifteen days are in Hawaii.

[contentsam]

We have booked AE and BD guarentee. We have received upgrades to AA and BA. We think Princess policy will up grade to the category that you booked. Woops, we did get an upgrade, BC (Carbi) to AC mini suite once. Once we were doing a B2B and never had a cabin assigned to us until Thursday before the cruise. We take our chances and always were pleased where Princess put us. If you are worry call you TA or Princess.

Sam

[KruzPrincess]

These posts are from February and Dena's original post says she was cruising in a week. I'm curious what happened, too. I just read one of her current posts on the Celebrity board that said she hasn't cruised Princess since November, so I guess she cancelled??

[sassyredhat]

My insurance also said cancel for any reason. When my DB and his GF couldn't go for medical reasons, we canceled.

Because we were traveling together, they allowed us to cancel BUT we have to link our claim with my brothers AND provide the medical proof from her dr.

It's a pain in the neck trying to get all that paperwork.:rolleyes:

So cancel for any reason may be what it says, but you will have to prove a good reason.

Pat

[LEtue]

I wouldn't consider the WS to be the worst that happens. Those usually go first because they are generally the least expensive of the suites and you still get the benefits and a large room with a great view.

 

How much time do spend in there anyway?

 

 

I wouldn't cancel if we were upgraded to a WS or Family Suite as the suite perks would make up for the loss of the balcony .

 

Some of us don't want the benefits of a suite or the extra space. Enjoying the balcony is a very important part of the cruise. In our case we booked late and all that was left was a balcony guarantee. I would be very disappointed to end up in a WS but would gladly take any balcony on the ship and let someone else move up. It isn't about getting something for nothing for a lot of us.....

[aaerobear]

Interesting that on the Golden the WSs are not on the same deck as the casino, so i guess there would be none of the sound (or perceived smoke smell) there

[Cruisin' Chick]

Interesting that on the Golden the WSs are not on the same deck as the casino, so i guess there would be none of the sound (or perceived smoke smell) there

 

The window suites on the Fiesta deck are by the cigar bar. When we were walking around the Golden on our 2010 cruise, the hallway where the WS were really stank of tobacco. I would imagine with more smokers wanting to head to the cigar bar, after the new rule went into affect, the smell will be much stronger.

 

It wasn't just our imagination that we were smelling the tobacco

[Dena]

These posts are from February and Dena's original post says she was cruising in a week. I'm curious what happened, too. I just read one of her current posts on the Celebrity board that said she hasn't cruised Princess since November, so I guess she cancelled??

 

Princess assigned us a mini suite which is what we booked, so the family suite was never an issue. Something work related came up, so we had to cancel anyway.

[Treven]

Wish Princess would upgrade me from an Oceanview to a window suite!:D. I'd take the one Dana was worried about getting.

[caribill]

Where's the issue?

Only four of the fifteen days are in Hawaii.

 

That means 11 of the days the balcony will be unusuable.