Unwanted Room Change

[SuzyL]

For our return to cruising, we found a deal on a fantastic Penthouse Suite on Majestic Princess. It is an aft balcony and my husband chose this particular cabin based on the deck plan. We called Princess directly , booked it and received the booking with that cabin number assigned. We actually talked my brother and sister-in-law to book a room and join us on this cruise because we figured it would be a great place to hang out. As we logged in to look at possible excursions, my husband noticed they changed our room! We’ve not received any notification from Princess. Is this normal practice? We’re calling Princess to see if we can get it changed back but since that’s taking forever I thought I would reach out to those of you who may have experienced this and may have advice.

[Sea Hag]

That can happen and does happen. Was the new cabin an upgrade or exactly the same category? If it was an upgrade, did you have the cabin marked "no upgrade?" Even that isn't a guarantee, since I've seen folks who got an unwanted upgrade even after requesting no upgrade. I hope you can get your cabin back.

[voljeep]

yes, calling Princess since you booked directly with them ... just nosey, err, curious... what did they change you to ??

[SuzyL]

We were changed from Dolphin D726 to Caribe, C738. So right above the original booking but the balcony is a lot smaller. We’ve been watching videos on YouTube showing the cabin we booked and feeling so lucky…until today.

Edited October 19, 2021 by SuzyL

[justafem]

Princess has changed our room 2 times for our Jan cruise, even when marked "no upgrades".  

 

My TA has to keep calling them, changing it back to our original room and making sure it's marked "no upgrades".

 

We picked our room out carefully based on the Caribe balcony size and we actually LIKE the front of the ship.  Princess keeps moving us to the 12th floor, mid-ship.  Which sounds like an upgrade, until you realize there's the loss of almost 50 feet of balcony.  

 

Looks like the changeback has stuck this week, but I'll keep checking!

 

Good luck getting your room back!

[azbirdmom]

1 hour ago, SuzyL said:

We were changed from Dolphin D726 to Caribe, C738. So right above the original booking but the balcony is a lot smaller. We’ve been watching videos on YouTube showing the cabin we booked and feeling so lucky…until today.

 

We have been in the one you have moved to and the cabin itself is the same size.  But there is a huge difference in the size of the balcony.  Even with the narrower width, you'll fit nicely on the C738 balcony but I would definitely try hard to get the original cabin back, or at least one with a similar sized balcony (meaning stay away from those on Aloha, Caribe, and Emerald decks).  Good luck and please let us know what happens!

[skynight]

I would definitely call Princess.

For information Club Class dining area is only for full suite and club class mini suite passengers. No guests. Special mimosa breakfast only for full suite passengers. If you friends are not booked into one of these categories and you wish to dine together you would have to join them in the non club class section. Same menu, except club class has one additional evening item.

[1025cruise]

Keep in mind that some rooms/areas are being blocked off for crew and/or quarantine. You might not be able to get your original room back.

[SuzyL]

I'm having a heck of a time replying (twice my replies have disappeared...could be operator error 😜).

 

Talked to someone named Chris at Princess.  She said there was a note on our account that said "isolation" but wasn't sure what it meant and had to internally message someone to get an explanation.  As we all waited, my husband asked if she could hold B735 for us (balcony is bigger as azbirdmom noted above).  All of a sudden nothing from Chris but the phone line was still connected.  After another 20 minutes (thought maybe she was talking to someone else), we hung up.  We did see on our Princess account the B735 cabin listed...for now.  We've received nothing via email.

 

We've emailed Customer Relations just to see if we can get something in writing.  I doubt they're isolating aft suite balconies for quarantine but I guess it's possible.  Majestic has been sailing for a while so you would think by September 20 (when we booked our room), they would've blocked off those cabins they planned to use for possible quarantine.  

 

Thank you for all your replies!

[kiwimum]

We lost our Dolphin Aft balcony this week for our 10/23 and 10/30 cruise due to isolation.  Apparently they block the entire area and close the fire doors.  We relocated to Baja.   Not happy but according to PVP many were moved.

Edited October 20, 2021 by kiwimum

[SuzyL]

Wow, thanks for that information, kiwimum! Did they notify you via email? I’m sorry you learned of the change so close to your sail date. We, at least, have time to get used to the idea since we don’t sail until December. I hope it ends up being a great cabin anyway. I guess in these times we have to be ready for changes and roll with them🤷‍♀️. I just wish someone would’ve officially notified us.

But I’m still sneaking a peak over the railing to see if there are people living it up on “our” balcony when I’m on the ship!🤪 

[kiwimum]

We received the usual Upgrade Notice direct from Princess (we use a PVP).   Yes we were upgraded, but to a stateroom with a considerably smaller balcony.   The aft balconies on Dolphin has balconies equal to Caribe on other ships.   We have heard they also quarantine incoming crew in balcony cabins when they come on board which I cannot fault.   

[4cats4me]

10 hours ago, SuzyL said:

We were changed from Dolphin D726 to Caribe, C738. So right above the original booking but the balcony is a lot smaller. We’ve been watching videos on YouTube showing the cabin we booked and feeling so lucky…until today.

 

4 hours ago, kiwimum said:

We lost our Dolphin Aft balcony this week for our 10/23 and 10/30 cruise due to isolation.  Apparently they block the entire area and close the fire doors.  We relocated to Baja.   Not happy but according to PVP many were moved.

This concerns me, as we’ve booked the same suite as OP on a different ship, Discovery, and booked Dolphin specifically for that huge balcony, as only Dolphin and Baja have the deep balconies.  Interestingly, when I was aboard the Majestic last month, the isolation area was above me.  I was E110, and isolation was Dolphin, and I had concerns before sailing about isolation rooms being directly above me, but then learned subsequently that it was isolation for newer employees just joining the ship for the 14-day quarantine period, so that didn’t concern me as much as if it had been isolation of those who actually had covid.  

We specifically want that corner aft as we don’t want one under the bar deck, or one of those narrow balconies, but the most important part of being on Baja or Dolphin is the deep overhang, and Most of those balconies don’t have an overhang back there.  So, that will be a dealbreaker for us.  

[CenTexan]

We were moved without notification other than receiving via email what seemed to be a redundant Booking Confirmation pdf. No mention that our room was changed from port to starboard, and from regular balcony to a CONNECTING balcony (same deck - Dolphin). I had to look closely at new pdf to find that the difference was that our room was changed. Man - got my adrenaline flowing.

 

Used the LIVE CHAT and was told it was for "isolation" reasons. Eventually (2 different chat reps later)  was moved to an acceptable regular (non-connecting) balcony. Found it useful to identify the room I wanted to be moved to and simply said the connecting room was unacceptable and would they please move me to Dxxx. Thankfully it worked. But now a little nervous about being moved again. . . will have to keep an eye on it. 

[Honolulu Blue]

I got an e-mail from Princess a few days ago informing me of a complimentary upgrade to the cabin on my upcoming cruise.  I went from an interior on Baja to a balcony on Baja.  I was given instructions on how to decline, but I saw no reason to refuse their largesse. 

[SuzyL]

4cats4me, I understand your concern. We did speak to Customer Relations today and they confirmed that Dolphin is being used as you indicated. They also indicated we should probably never have been assigned to that cabin as it should’ve been blocked off by the time we booked it in late September. So that answered all except one question…why we didn’t receive an email with our new cabin number. We have it now but had we not noticed the change on our own, we would not have had the chance to change from Caribe to Baja. I know it’s a first world problem but when you specifically select a cabin based on its balcony size and end up with one that is a lot smaller, it would’ve been quite a disappointment to find out on embarkation day. I hope that by the time you sail, there will be no need for isolation cabins anymore (or at least not Dolphin on the Discovery).

[Cruise Raider]

17 hours ago, SuzyL said:

I'm having a heck of a time replying (twice my replies have disappeared...could be operator error 😜).

 

Talked to someone named Chris at Princess.  She said there was a note on our account that said "isolation" but wasn't sure what it meant and had to internally message someone to get an explanation.  As we all waited, my husband asked if she could hold B735 for us (balcony is bigger as azbirdmom noted above).  All of a sudden nothing from Chris but the phone line was still connected.  After another 20 minutes (thought maybe she was talking to someone else), we hung up.  We did see on our Princess account the B735 cabin listed...for now.  We've received nothing via email.

 

We've emailed Customer Relations just to see if we can get something in writing.  I doubt they're isolating aft suite balconies for quarantine but I guess it's possible.  Majestic has been sailing for a while so you would think by September 20 (when we booked our room), they would've blocked off those cabins they planned to use for possible quarantine.  

 

Thank you for all your replies!

 

You will be quite happy with B735 .... so sorry that happened to you.  We stayed right next door in B737 on the Majestic and the location and balcony were all so perfect.  

I did hear that they were blocking off rooms towards the aft on the Dolphin deck on the Royal class ships.  I guess if someone that has a suite needs to be isolated, it would only be fair that they serve their time in quarantine in another suite.  So happy for you that there was another large balcony aft suite available for you.  Bon Voyage!  

[Level six]

Us too!  Today got "upgraded" emai.  I called, was on hold for 3, yes 3 hours.  

 

Nope, can't get back our original cabin because it is used for isolation in case anyone on board tests positive for covid.  

 

Since we are on a B2B, we are stuck with a lesser cabin, IMO.  But, what can you do?

 

She gave us a bottle of wine.............  We leave in about 2 weeks. 

[qqwer123]

Just got an unwelcome upgrade myself. Was on hold for 45 min but she put in a request to get our room back. Could be a week before I know. Chose a specific fav room and had it listed as a no upgrade. I guess it’s not the end of the world. Just don’t want this to become a habit as I choose our rooms carefully every cruise.

[pms4104]

19 minutes ago, Level six said:

Us too!  Today got "upgraded" emai.  I called, was on hold for 3, yes 3 hours.  

 

Nope, can't get back our original cabin because it is used for isolation in case anyone on board tests positive for covid.  

 

Since we are on a B2B, we are stuck with a lesser cabin, IMO.  But, what can you do?

 

She gave us a bottle of wine.............  We leave in about 2 weeks. 

So, the free bottle of wine compensates you for 3 hours on hold.  

 

Anything for losing your cabin to "isolation"?

 

What, Princess only now decided to review isolation areas as blocked or booked and move pax accordingly?

[Bruin Steve]

We are on the Majestic October 30...When someone on our Roll Call posted this past Saturday that they had been moved in order to use their booked cabin for quarantine, I told my wife...

Her response:  "Shouldn't Princess have known about this long before NOW???"

 

I got a little paranoid.  We booked E425...particularly because of the much larger balcony and the midship location.  It's supposedly "obstructed", but the obstruction is supposedly close to non-existent...There are no lifeboats within a few cabins to either side, so, the only real obstruction is looking straight down.  But Princess considers most every other balcony cabin on the ship to be an "upgrade"...cabins with smaller balconies, cabins far forward or far aft...I really don't want those...IF Princess wanted to upgrade me to a Club Class Mini-Suite (I've sailed in those before) or higher, I'd welcome it...Anything else, to me, is a downgrade (well, almost anything...I'd take a standard mini-suite if it were close to midship...but you get the point)...

 

 

Luckily, for now, it looks like they haven't moved us...and our cruise is now under 10 days away...

Edited October 21, 2021 by Bruin Steve

[Level six]

It really does seem like they should have blocked off these rooms prior to this, I mean, we sail on the 5th.

 

OH well, what can you do?  The ship is literally empty, it seems like I could have gotten something except a bottle of wine, but? I had also convinced two other couples to book this cruise this weekend, both of them in mini suites...........come on throw me a bone and give me a true upgrade! 

[candy4040]

This week I also received an e-mail moving our Lido deck balconies to a supposed upgrade balcony.  I specifically wanted the Lido deck because of the easy access to the swimming pools for my kids.  I also had a no upgrade listed.  I sent an e-mail to our Princess Vacation Planner and she immediately changed our rooms back.  She is the best!

[Level six]

1 minute ago, candy4040 said:

This week I also received an e-mail moving our Lido deck balconies to a supposed upgrade balcony.  I specifically wanted the Lido deck because of the easy access to the swimming pools for my kids.  I also had a no upgrade listed.  I sent an e-mail to our Princess Vacation Planner and she immediately changed our rooms back.  She is the best!

You can't do that if it is a designated isolation room.  They close the whole block of  rooms no matter who you can talk to.  But, I am glad it worked for you. 

[2 cruises a year]

On 10/19/2021 at 5:53 PM, kiwimum said:

We received the usual Upgrade Notice direct from Princess (we use a PVP).   Yes we were upgraded, but to a stateroom with a considerably smaller balcony.   The aft balconies on Dolphin has balconies equal to Caribe on other ships.   We have heard they also quarantine incoming crew in balcony cabins when they come on board which I cannot fault.   

Ironically, Princess rates wake view cabins low on their scale.  They are all rated S6, and B4, lowest rating in each category.  For we lovers of the aft balconies this is a $$$ bonus, but it is easy for Princess to feel like they are giving you an upgrade by moving you out.