Sapphire Princess 2022 deployment?!

[PACD_JG]

Just curious - where are you all seeing the price?  On the Travel Summary?  Mine only shows "Taxes, Fees, and Port Expenses" - $956! and the "Special Services for this booking."  By the way, what can I expect from 2 Cruise Night Coupon Books?

[gerig]

1 minute ago, PACD_JG said:

Just curious - where are you all seeing the price?  On the Travel Summary?  Mine only shows "Taxes, Fees, and Port Expenses" - $956! and the "Special Services for this booking."  By the way, what can I expect from 2 Cruise Night Coupon Books?

I heard those books are close to worthless

[compozer]

Yes, those books are worthless!!

[azbirdmom]

6 hours ago, Skeet100 said:

Anyone travel in any of the Royal R600 suites who can share any info that might help me make my decision?

 

Yes, I've been in those suites on the Royal and also on the Regal.  They are very nice inside and are close to the Concierge area where you can easily grab coffee or snacks.  But the balcony is quite small.  If you had an aft balcony on the Sapphire, that's a much better location for Alaska.  The aft suites on the Royal class ships are very nice, some are huge and all have wraparound balconies.  But they are a higher category.

[PACD_JG]

FWIW, I spoke with somebody at Princess (only on hold for 2 minutes) and when I gave him the new booking number from the Travel Summary, he verified that my new room assignment was indeed the same one that it shows.  Unfortunately, he couldn't help me so he transferred me to Customer Relations, and now I've been on hold for 15 minutes.  So far...

[Papa Yoda]

 

An S4 on Sapphire has a totally exposed balcony - not the best for Alaska.  We much prefer Vista suites aft, especially Dolphin deck, on the Grand class ships. 

 

While S3, the suites aft on Dolphin on Royal class are very nice - huge mostly covered balcony and useable at sea (given decent weather).  But that said, we'd never do a Royal class ship in Alaska.

[KreinKrunker]

11 hours ago, jack dcruiser said:

  Not happy, we booked this cruise with an Aft cabin, now I am in the middle of the ship.

Us too, although we were upgraded to a deluxe balcony.  Travel agent had it changed to an aft balcony yesterday.

[gerig]

16 hours ago, Papa Yoda said:

 

An S4 on Sapphire has a totally exposed balcony - not the best for Alaska.  We much prefer Vista suites aft, especially Dolphin deck, on the Grand class ships. 

 

While S3, the suites aft on Dolphin on Royal class are very nice - huge mostly covered balcony and useable at sea (given decent weather).  But that said, we'd never do a Royal class ship in Alaska.

Unfortunately we have no choice but to stay with the royal of next September.  I did get an aft suite on Dolphin deck

[compozer]

I love the Dolphin decks.     Are you in the same category you originally booked.    If not, are you having to pay an increase?     Thanks

[gerig]

1 hour ago, compozer said:

I love the Dolphin decks.     Are you in the same category you originally booked.    If not, are you having to pay an increase?     Thanks

No I booked a vista on dolphin deck.  I believe the cruise was price protected.  They tried to put me in an S5 forward and I explained I booked the cruise the first week it was listed in order to get an aft suite on the Dolphin deck

[compozer]

gerig, 

that is the same with us.   We booked a vista.  Then they said we had a guarantee, next we were in a S5 and I finally connected with a rep and said - "no way on the bow for Alaska" and she was able to change it to a penthouse on Riviera deck.   But they are charging us the difference.    I have not received the exact amount yet.  Our son was put mid ship (originally in cabin next door) and she was able to put him in the balcony next to us.   My TA said their price was price protected.   So, why isn't ours????   Never got an answer from her.    She was on hold for hours yesterday and never got through to a rep.   So she is not happy either.

 

I get so mad at Princess - so many times there are perks for all cabins but the suites.  They  never seem to be included.  Hell, we pay a small mint for them.   No pleased at all.

 

Glad it worked out for you.     Now, if we could only get the original itenerary back!!!

[Skeet100]

22 hours ago, gerig said:

Did you book with a TA or do you own this booking?

I booked through costco, but I was looking at the princess site with my login to get the current infomation. 

[Thrak]

19 hours ago, gerig said:

I heard those books are close to worthless

 

19 hours ago, compozer said:

Yes, those books are worthless!!

 

 

Be aware that there are two different coupon books. The "standard" one from Princess is pretty worthless but the other one is said to have at least one good coupon. Take the couple of minutes to look through the coupon books to make certain there isn't a coupon that's worthwhile.

[gerig]

23 minutes ago, Skeet100 said:

I booked through costco, but I was looking at the princess site with my login to get the current infomation. 

 

24 minutes ago, Skeet100 said:

I booked through costco, but I was looking at the princess site with my login to get the current infomation. 

At this point I don't think you have the visability to see where they have placed you

[compozer]

23 minutes ago, Thrak said:

 

 

 

Be aware that there are two different coupon books. The "standard" one from Princess is pretty worthless but the other one is said to have at least one good coupon. Take the couple of minutes to look through the coupon books to make certain there isn't a coupon that's worthwhile.

The only good coupon is buy one specialty dinner, get one free on the first night.  But if you are in a suite, you already get the first night free.

 

[RetrieverBeliever]

Still waiting for new cabin assignment. I have been able to get into our new booking# for over a week, and it still says M1 with price the same. There are 4 of us in the cabin, so limited M1 cabins that will work. We don't need a handicapped cabin and hate to take one from someone that needs one. I guess in the meantime I will have to patiently wait, but I did re-fare a 2023 cruise😊

[WVHillbilly]

Was able to do the work around and see my cabin and the new itinerary.  I did keep the same category (BA) but the room is directly across from the elevators on the Riviera deck we were on Baja Deck several cabins forward of the elevators.  The thing that is really bothering me is the switching out Victoria with Ketchikan; no offense to our Canadian neighbors but it is an Alaskan cruise.  I've never done an Alaskan cruise and most likely will only do it once, so should I rebook with a Ketchikan port or do the Victoria?

[seattlecruiser]

On 9/8/2021 at 4:08 PM, beavismom said:

Just to update, got a follow up call from Princess due to the cancellation.  They are going to see if they can get Princess to honor the price/promotion we had for a cruise on the Grand.  No guarantees, but they are at least doing more follow up.  I will let you know what I hear.

Hi Beavismom,   I am wondering whether or not you received any news from Princess on switching to the Grand with price protection.  We are in exactly the same situation and are getting close to cancelling if Princess is unwilling to work with us.   Thanks.

[compozer]

I received new confirmations today from my TA.     Our son's cabin has Price Protection across the top but our suite does not have it.

 

Booked same day, same ship, same cruise dates.   

Why one and not the other?????

 

 

[Thrak]

3 hours ago, WVHillbilly said:

I've never done an Alaskan cruise and most likely will only do it once, so should I rebook with a Ketchikan port or do the Victoria?

 

The solution is not to only cruise Alaska once. Book another cruise later that does visit Ketchikan. Alaska is more than worth visiting multiple times.

[compozer]

3 minutes ago, Thrak said:

 

The solution is not to only cruise Alaska once. Book another cruise later that does visit Ketchikan. Alaska is more than worth visiting multiple times.

Some people only have limited vacation time and for us,   June 2020 was the only time our son and girlfriend could go since they teach and have school commitments July and August.  Then it worked for June 2021.  Now, hopefully June 2022 will work because their wedding is planned for June 2023.   Some people go to Alaska every year while others have so many other vacation locations that they are fortunate to be able to go once.  And there are many people that can not afford a cruise at all.  

[nomadguy]

On 9/12/2021 at 2:08 PM, Thrak said:

 

Our cruise is set for May 2nd. I can't get to the Summary page but, if I change the word "summary" to "itinerary" in the url I can get to that and other pages. For my cruise I don't show much of an itinerary change and it certainly doesn't skip Ketchikan. Of course it's possible that Princess just hasn't updated this info yet. I really wish they would get this figured out and settled.

 

I also notice that my new booking shows a "category upgrade" from  BF to a BD cabin. I find that odd as I was originally booked in a BD cabin. (It's hard to figure out how they could think a cabin almost all the way aft - C726 - is a "BF" which is a forward cabin.) The new booking actually shows the exact same cabin number on the new ship. I have to wonder if that will change when I can see the Summary page.

 

For the May 2 sailing, they changed a port date and replaced Prince Rupert to Victoria. That's all I noticed on our sailing. I can see they put us in a Balcony mid-Aft on Aloha deck on Royal whereas we were in a Mini-Suite on Dolphin Deck on the Sapphire. Needless to say, I'm not a happy camper! Not sure we will pay final on February 1 or not. Not too keen on a bigger ship with another thousand of our closest cruise buddies either.

[MamaFej]

2 hours ago, compozer said:

Some people only have limited vacation time and for us,   June 2020 was the only time our son and girlfriend could go since they teach and have school commitments July and August.  Then it worked for June 2021.  Now, hopefully June 2022 will work because their wedding is planned for June 2023.   Some people go to Alaska every year while others have so many other vacation locations that they are fortunate to be able to go once.  And there are many people that can not afford a cruise at all.  

Ketchican is lots of fun, with opportunites for many varied activities, I look forward to a new experience on my upcoming second visit. Victoria is absolutely lovely; we had planned a winery tour with Tours By Locals for our canceled 2020 visit there, having visited a couple of times, and done the more popular activities before. Perhaps you can look at the other ports included in each itinerary, and see how the total itineraries meet your current needs. 

 

I do hope that you will be able to visit Alaska more than once. I have had the great good fortune to visit every US state at least twice, as both my family by birth and my family by marriage chose to live quite small, and travel somewhat big. Alaska is my favorite state to visit. 

 

Perhaps you can select the best itinerary for your current needs now, and visit again, including new places, at somw point in the future. 

 

Best of luck to you!

[vjmatty]

6 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

The solution is not to only cruise Alaska once. Book another cruise later that does visit Ketchikan. Alaska is more than worth visiting multiple times.

For some people, Alaska is a one time visit. Much as I enjoyed it and wouldn't trade the experience for anything, I have no need to go back there. Same for Norway and other northern locations. To be fair, I lived in the Adirondacks for 25 years and saw much of the wildlife you see in Alaska on a regular basis. Other locations such as the Mediterranean and the South Pacific I'd be happy to cruise multiple occasions. 

[gerig]

6 hours ago, nomadguy said:

For the May 2 sailing, they changed a port date and replaced Prince Rupert to Victoria. That's all I noticed on our sailing. I can see they put us in a Balcony mid-Aft on Aloha deck on Royal whereas we were in a Mini-Suite on Dolphin Deck on the Sapphire. Needless to say, I'm not a happy camper! Not sure we will pay final on February 1 or not. Not too keen on a bigger ship with another thousand of our closest cruise buddies either.

call them and explain the situation and ask to be moved back to a mini suite