Are Midship cabins really the preference of Princess Cruisers? Or is there something else going on here?

[Lady Arwen]

We love the standard mini suites on Royal class ships on Lido deck, which are forward of the pool area and buffet.  Don’t care for aft…been there, done that.  Mid ship would not be my first choice.

[JF - retired RRT]

12 hours ago, cruzin4us said:

I'm another aft (1st choice) or forward (2nd choice)......For me it's all about the rock'n and roll'n.    I want to sleep like a baby.     I also have 3 guarantees that were just given room assignments.  All are mid-ship (my luck)....LOL

You could ask to move.

[PRINCESS Sweet Pea]

If midship balconies are available, then yes, why not upgrade.

Princess has been seeing aside covid isolation cabins, and they will not be mid-ship, because they need to be at the end of a hall to be isolated from traffic.

The main thing is that, yes, Princess sells midship cabins at a slight price increase over forward or aft.  Lucky for anybody that likes to be far forward, or likes those aft cabins!!!  

We were forward in a high deck only once.  Never again.  The motion up there, and all the walking were awful!

[dreaminofcruisin]

11 hours ago, Buckeye10640 said:

Used to prefer aft until I tried Lido and Sun Deck (on Enchanted). Now I prefer forward on these decks. Never had a mid-ship cabin. 

 

Thanks for this.

We are also aft people, but for our January cruise thought the Sun Deck on Enchanted looked interesting. I specifically booked Sun Deck to try out that area. Wouldn't you know it, Princess "upgraded" me to a mid-ship on a lower deck, so I ended up having to spend an hour on the phone with them getting my old cabin back. Fortunately, they did send an email notifying me about the upgrade.

Glad to hear you like the Sun Deck since I am working hard to stay there!

😁

[JF - retired RRT]

30 minutes ago, TravelGirlinDallas said:

Do they email you when they change your cabin, or do you just have to keep checking your booking constantly?

Maybe, sometimes. Some report no email notification. Some report TA got it, but didn't notice or notify the customer.

It's a toss of the dice. Watch your booking, if you're picky.

[mom says]

13 hours ago, TessieTravels said:

Is this normal for Princess Cruises?  A preference for mid-ship vs forward or aft cabins?  Or, (and I suspect more realistic) due to Princess "upgrading" guests so that we are consolidated closer together in mid-ship cabins due to staffing OR so that more ideal cabin locations are available for new bookings?

This is not unique to Princess. "More ideal" is certainly in the eye of the beholder, but the most popular locations and categories are usually booked up early, and that includes midship cabins. And aft cabins for those who value a wake view or (in some cases) larger balconies. The pricing on cabin categories should tell you something.

 

I have chronic motion sickness, but can manage quite well with a lower, midship cabin. I wouldn't book a cruise that only had forward or aft cabins left. Plus, a more central location minimizes how far I have to trek to get to the various public areas. These legs aren't getting any younger.

 

I don't see the criuiselines consolidating occupied cabins just to reduce the number of steps a steward needs to take in a day. They would still have the same number of cabins to care for.

[4x4bob]

On our trans Atlantic cruise we marked our reservation "Do Not Upgrade" since we were low mid ship.

 

Then the E-Mail came stating that we had been upgraded to a higher class cabin.😵

 

I quickley checked the ship map to see that we had been moved exactly two cabins farther down the hallway.  When I told the the Wife she just shook her head wondering why Princess even bothered. 

 

Then I told her that the cabin were were moved out of was a tad bit cheaper and Princess had a better chance of selling it. 

 

Now we have a Mini Aft reserved and the Wife and I take turns checking our reservations just to make sure we have not lost it in a unwanted upgrade.  

Bob

[Mike45LC]

Based on all of the people who report being "upgraded" despite their "Do Not Upgrade" requests, I decided to be proactive -- Princess cannot upgrade me now, because I just printed out my luggage tags!!!  (Isn't that how it works?)

 

[vjmatty]

1 minute ago, Mike45LC said:

Based on all of the people who report being "upgraded" despite their "Do Not Upgrade" requests, I decided to be proactive -- Princess cannot upgrade me now, because I just printed out my luggage tags!!!  (Isn't that how it works?)

 

 

Yes, just like you can't overdraft if you still have checks 😉

 

[Kay S]

I wonder, has anyone ever been upgraded out of a CC mini suite?  I wouldn't think so, unless it were to a full suite, but who knows what goes on in the algorithm of Princess?

[Westsail32]

I prefer Deck 8 mid-aft.  It's close to both the midship elevators, I spend most of my time at Crooners, and it's closer to the laundry.  Once I accepted an upgrade and I ended up on deck 12 way forward.  I hated it.  It was a hike everywhere, I couldn't take the stairs (I normally do from 8 for exercise) and there was no laundry in sight.  After that I've always said "no upgrades".

[ontheweb]

4 hours ago, TravelGirlinDallas said:

Do they email you when they change your cabin, or do you just have to keep checking your booking constantly?

They are supposed to e-mail you or if you use a TA, your TA. But, sometimes things get lost in cyberspace. I know once we were upgraded to a cabin I did not want as instead of having cabins above and below us it was below the casino bar. I found out only by looking at the personalizer. Our TA said he never got the email; Princess said they sent it. (I sort of believe both, but especially our TA.) It was too late to get our original cabin back, but after much hassle and time consumed, he got us one near where we had originally booked.

[sandancer]

5 hours ago, TravelGirlinDallas said:

Do they email you when they change your cabin, or do you just have to keep checking your booking constantly?

They didn’t email us. We didn’t know about it until our TA called to ask if we knew we had been moved. 

[PacnGoNow]

3 hours ago, Mike45LC said:

Based on all of the people who report being "upgraded" despite their "Do Not Upgrade" requests, I decided to be proactive -- Princess cannot upgrade me now, because I just printed out my luggage tags!!!  (Isn't that how it works?)

 

That’s right.  They can’t change your cabin!  😂 

[Wink87]

2 hours ago, sandancer said:

They didn’t email us. We didn’t know about it until our TA called to ask if we knew we had been moved. 

Yikes! I just reserved my first Princess cruise and got a cabin and location that is ideal for so many reasons. If I tell my TA to mark it "no upgrade" is there still the chance Princess might do it anyway?  I've never had this happen on another cruise line.

[Buckeye10640]

7 hours ago, dreaminofcruisin said:

 

Thanks for this.

We are also aft people, but for our January cruise thought the Sun Deck on Enchanted looked interesting. I specifically booked Sun Deck to try out that area. Wouldn't you know it, Princess "upgraded" me to a mid-ship on a lower deck, so I ended up having to spend an hour on the phone with them getting my old cabin back. Fortunately, they did send an email notifying me about the upgrade.

Glad to hear you like the Sun Deck since I am working hard to stay there!

😁

Good luck! We liked Sun Deck on Enchanted so much last year we booked 2 cabins down for this year!

[Mike45LC]

16 minutes ago, Wink87 said:

 If I tell my TA to mark it "no upgrade" is there still the chance Princess might do it anyway?  

Out of many Princess cruises, they have never changed my cabin without my permission.  But based on what others report, yes, Princess can change your cabin despite a "Do Not Upgrade" notation on your booking.  

 

(Of course, this does not apply to a "guaranty" booking.)

[PacnGoNow]

36 minutes ago, Wink87 said:

Yikes! I just reserved my first Princess cruise and got a cabin and location that is ideal for so many reasons. If I tell my TA to mark it "no upgrade" is there still the chance Princess might do it anyway?  I've never had this happen on another cruise line.

It is more possible during covid times. 
But, make sure your TA marks it NO Upgrade, especially if you Like your current cabin.

Check your cabin every once in a while.

 

[Steelers36]

21 hours ago, TessieTravels said:

I hope this does not come across as disrespectful in any way as that is not the intent.  It is more an observation due to Princess's persistence with not honoring our "no auto upgrades" that they confirmed is on our booking (and I understand that I agreed in the Passenger Contract that Princess has the right to move our cabin for any reason, at any time without notice). We are booked on the Island Princess in December and I have noticed something very peculiar ... it appears that Princess cruisers LOVE the Mid-ship location or Princess LOVES "upgrading" passengers to mid-ship and then work their way to forward and aft cabins.  On our particular sailing, the majority of the cabins mid-ship (from mid-aft to mid-forward) have very few available cabins, whereas Forward and Aft have quite a few cabins and entire hallways available.  Is this normal for Princess Cruises?  A preference for mid-ship vs forward or aft cabins?  Or, (and I suspect more realistic) due to Princess "upgrading" guests so that we are consolidated closer together in mid-ship cabins due to staffing OR so that more ideal cabin locations are available for new bookings?

 

All you need do is examine the cabin categories and the closer to the middle, generally the higher category and price.  Exceptions are aft facing cabins and suites as well as a small number of forward-facing premium cabins on Royal Class ships (but even they are not as highly ranked as the aft.  I agree that it is pretty universal across all lines.  Another consideration is that even mid-ship cabins under a public deck (e.g. Lido) are lower-ranked than cabins sandwiched between decks of other guest cabins.  And of course, mid-ship obstructed view cabins are also lower-ranked than other mid-ship cabins.

[SinbadThePorter]

I have no worries with the ship's motion so I can go anywhere. The problem I have with the very forward cabins is the noise of the anchor. The problem I sometimes have with the aft cabins is vibration.

 

For me quiet is much more important than steady.

[2 cruises a year]

2 hours ago, SinbadThePorter said:

I have no worries with the ship's motion so I can go anywhere. The problem I have with the very forward cabins is the noise of the anchor. The problem I sometimes have with the aft cabins is vibration.

 

For me quiet is much more important than steady.

If mid-ship, be sure you are not in a cabin above a Tender.  The machinery for lowering the Tenders is bolted directly to the beds.  You will know when you are in a Tender port.  

[TessieTravels]

On 9/22/2022 at 7:30 PM, 1emerald1 said:

Mid-ship low is my preference, due vertigo and inner ear disturbances.

1emerald1, I never even thought about how ear issues could affect someone on a ship. yikes. So great to know though in case I have family and/or friends with similar issues and I can recommend the low mid-ship location.  Thank you!

[marden1970]

7 minutes ago, TessieTravels said:

1emerald1, I never even thought about how ear issues could affect someone on a ship. yikes. So great to know though in case I have family and/or friends with similar issues and I can recommend the low mid-ship location.  Thank you!

TessieTravels - where in Sparks are you?  We're out in Spanish Springs.

[TessieTravels]

23 hours ago, PRINCESS Sweet Pea said:

But, there are those forward or aft cabins that some people might want.  And, it seems that 'no upgrade' is completely meaningless to Princess right now.    I have heard of some people who had booked their favorite aft  wake-view cabins while they were still available right after the cruise booking opened up, and now Princess is changing them!!!  Not a good thing.

Princess Sweet Pea, once I started researching it and wondering why, I started seeing a trend as well.  I think I have come to the conclusion that companies do have to try different ideas/strategies in order to see the response and not get stale or complacent.  So, maybe the response they are getting is more positive then some of us outliers that prefer the Aft or Forward cabins.  I can see the excitement in getting a "you've been upgraded" message and if stats show that mid-ship is more desirable, Princess maybe receiving more positive feedback. But, then again, I heard with their new bidding for upgrades, why would they be also doing these auto upgrades.

[TessieTravels]

23 hours ago, AZjohn said:

I think you are on the mark! 😉 

AZjohn, I have been reading about the challenges on getting back to "normal" staffing levels so I was wondering if that could it.  So, it is helpful hearing that other people think that is more the reasoning as well.