Newbie with several Questions re Island princess Grand European Cruise

[teddie2]

Hi new to cruising so I have a few questions that might be obvious to others.  There is a cruise two other couples and my H and I are interested in however its just about fully booked up. There are a few rooms left but they are in bad locations like on a deck below lots of activity above or below like the pool and nightclub or the gym  or near the elevators (which may or may not be bad not sure I have been reading differing opinions). There is one obstructed view cabin way in the very back of deck 9 which is a quiet deck as only rooms above and below but its the only cabin left on that deck.  It is the very last cabin. I have no idea if this is good or bad.  I don't care about a balcony or a view as we don't plan to be in our room except to sleep. So if anyone has any thoughts on that .. that would be great.  That said, there are a few cabins in the bad locations we could book hoping other cabins open up before the trip as its so far in advance. So I am wondering how often that happens and it would have to happen for three of us so three rooms.  Also, the agent told me there is a long wait list for room changes so that might complicate things as well.. Trying to decide if we should just give up on this trip and find another. So trying to get some idea of the odds of getting better rooms.  
We really started to look at this too late.  

WE loved the itinerary and Royal Caribbean also has a similar itinerary but they are way more expensive for a balcony which one couple wants and they don't have do it yourself laundry and worst of all is 900 unrefundable deposit.  I am not finding any other cruise line with this varied itinerary.. It goes to Spain, Portugal, France and Morocco end of July and we need to stay with the summer as one person is a teacher. 

Any thoughts appreciated.

Thank you

 

[teecee60]

Your itinerary looks absolutely fantastic but also fairly pricey... (if I have the right date... care to share the specifics?) I recently spent 17 nights doing a transatlantic on the Island Princess and enjoyed it very much. (inside cabin) I will be doing 20 more nights on it in January. It IS a little older and smaller but still quite comfortable and enjoyable.

 

The Bayou Cafe specialty restaurant was thoroughly enjoyable with the BEST food on a cruise ship in nearly a decade. I also spent a fair amount of time at the Wheelhouse and Crooners'.

 

Be aware that you can get that same cruise for several hundreds of dollars per person less than Princess prices by going through a well known online travel agency. (that cannot be mentioned here) Have you checked the prices of airfares through Princess EZ Air? You can save a LOT of money that way.

 

Best of luck and let us know whatever you decide. 

Edited October 10, 2023 by teecee60

[Ombud]

JMHO if only crappy rooms are available and I really wanted the cruise I'd book a guaranteed room in a better category. That way I'd get at least that level but probably better (ie: midship mid level). And be prepared to up bid 

5 hours ago, teddie2 said:

the agent told me there is a long wait list for room changes so that might complicate things as well.

Ok. Really REALLY disagree. Room changes happen all the time unless you mark it NO UPGRADE and even then they happen. Always to what Princess deems more desirable (I book what I want & mark NO UPGRADE still have to make sure I'm not shifted). And with the ability to bid up for a more desirable category there are more not less shifts

[teddie2]

Thank you all. There are just a handful of rooms for all categories. We are fine with interior Cabins..don't care about a balcony or view but there are only 2 balcony left on the entire ship in not so great areas and  any interior Cabins are right by the elevators and again on a deck that has noise above or below. And there are only about 10 rooms total left on tbe ship.

It's the 20 day Grand European Explorer cruise Jul 10 island princess. 

Only one room on a quiet deck and it's the last room back of the ship.I would take it but not sure my friends will be happy with what is left. So that's the issue.  I thought I would be better off booking directly as far as price and more control over my booking but maybe not?  I have frequent flyer miles so not concerned about airfare.

At this point just a decent room.

[PacnGoNow]

7 hours ago, teddie2 said:

Thank you all. There are just a handful of rooms for all categories. We are fine with interior Cabins..don't care about a balcony or view but there are only 2 balcony left on the entire ship in not so great areas and  any interior Cabins are right by the elevators and again on a deck that has noise above or below. And there are only about 10 rooms total left on tbe ship.

It's the 20 day Grand European Explorer cruise Jul 10 island princess. 

Only one room on a quiet deck and it's the last room back of the ship.I would take it but not sure my friends will be happy with what is left. So that's the issue.  I thought I would be better off booking directly as far as price and more control over my booking but maybe not?  I have frequent flyer miles so not concerned about airfare.

At this point just a decent room.

You are far enough out, there will be many changes in cabins.

If it was the itinerary that I wanted, I’d call in to PCL and get a CVP and see what they can do. They sometimes can see cabins that you can’t see online.  I would not count on getting cabins close together though.

 

Near an elevator, we have not heard noises, never an issue and I’m a light sleeper.

 

@Ombudhad a great suggestion of doing a GTY for a category that you’d be happy with.

 

If you are assigned a cabin, you can watch if another opens in your category, call agent right away to change.  There are many cabins held by TA’s to book and if not sold, those will be released. This is peak season for Europe and of course it will be full, most likely.

 

PCL CVP  1 (800) 901-1172

 

[teddie2]

Great suggestions..I did call Princess and they were not very helpful. What is a CVP and GTY?

[PacnGoNow]

3 minutes ago, teddie2 said:

Great suggestions..I did call Princess and they were not very helpful. What is a CVP and GTY?

Cruise vacation planner, an agent who works for PCL Princess Cruise Line.  
We’ve had great CVP’s and some not so great.  🥴

 

Worth a shot.

 

GTY guarantee room.  Princess assigns the room.  

Edited October 11, 2023 by PacnGoNow

[ldubs]

If I really wanted the cruise I would book the best of the available less than perfect cabins.  I understand the concern being above or below a public area.   If under the pool or gym, it might not be an issue at all during the night.  Another thing in your favor is this isn't going to be like a spring break party boat.  Still, I suppose it would be a roll of the dice.  For what it is worth, when have had cabins like you are trying to avoid we didn't even notice this kind of issue.  The only time we asked for a cabin change was because of noise from an adjacent machinery space.  BTW, I prefer cabins near the elevators/stairs for egress purposes.  

 

Just my two cents.  Enjoy!  

[teddie2]

Ok thanks that's helpful we will talk about this Sat and maybe call as a group.

I don't like the idea of Princess assigning a cabin as you have no idea where they will put you. It's between the devil you know and the one you don't lol

There is that one cabin in tbe back of the boat that might be ok. And we'll maybe elevators will be ok. If we have decent wifi I will take my echo dot with me and put on white noise so it might be fine. Ok thanks for all your input!!

[DCThunder]

33 minutes ago, teddie2 said:

Ok thanks that's helpful we will talk about this Sat and maybe call as a group.

I don't like the idea of Princess assigning a cabin as you have no idea where they will put you. It's between the devil you know and the one you don't lol

There is that one cabin in tbe back of the boat that might be ok. And we'll maybe elevators will be ok. If we have decent wifi I will take my echo dot with me and put on white noise so it might be fine. Ok thanks for all your input!!

I assume you are looking at deck plans as you determine what cabins you consider "crappy" but be aware of a couple of things.

 

1.  The fitness center on Island is on Deck 6 and there are no cabins below it.  While it is open 24 hours, given the nature of its location I wouldn't be too concerned about noise from the FC.  It's also a fairly depressing space, so I don't think it's used all that much.

 

2.  Look at the different cabin categories within a specific type of cabin.  If you book a guarantee BC cabin (for instance) you can ONLY get assigned to a BC or better cabin.  So look at the locations where BCs, BBs, or BAs are located because you wouldn't get anything worse than one of those locations, and you might get a mini-suite if you were really lucky.

 

So I wouldn't dismiss GTY cabins out of hand if you are dead-set on this sailing.

[teddie2]

Ok good to know there are some Cabins near the fitness center and I thought below I will check again I am looking at the deck plan yes.  At this point I have been looking at all categories. 

[teddie2]

Actually the explorers lounge and casino are just above the rooms available on deck 5 where the fitness center is and the rooms are right next to the fitness center. So the fitness center may not be an issue as you say bit the nightlife above may.