John Padgett announces 2026 Sky Princess solar eclipse cruise.

[cjpj]

I emailed my PVP in the first week of May saying I was intrested in the TSE cruise. She called and told me I'd be able to see them on the 13th and book on the 16th. I sent her my requested room preference (4 options). At about 630 am ET on the 16th, I checked and noticed there was only one room left from my preferences and that I was not booked (nothing in my personalized, no emails), so I quickly grabbed it. I sent her an email incase she'd booked one and i just didn’t see it. She said it was crazy busy and was glad I got my choice. It was a reserve collection mini and it has gone up over 3000 per person since I booked as of yesterday.  I havent looked today.

[CruiseSter1ing]

I was unavailable when this opened up.  The prices indicated for a regular balcony are crazy for us.  Maybe a land trip might be an option for us.  In any case, as much as I was really interested, it doesn't bother me if we miss it.  We'll just go to Florida for August 12...... 2045.   LOL

[help32250]

4 hours ago, jenf22 said:

You think you could get them to schedule an Iceland/Greenland TSE cruise for 2026?  Please?? 🙂  I think our plan for 2026 is to try and be in Reykjavik for the eclipse.  I was really hoping to see Greenland while we're in the area (ideally before the eclipse so the kiddo can start school on time in mid-August).  I'm hoping maybe NCL will have something once they get around to releasing their itineraries.

 

We were fortunate enough to be able to drive to Nebraska in 2017 and then Texas last month.

Jen ---

First of all, I LOVE the backdrop Northern Lights in your profile!

 

Now about that scheduling of an Iceland/Greenland TSE cruise ...  I think I expended the last of my 9 lives with them during the Discovery and Emerald TSEs.  So in addition to me not having a lot of love for them (right now) I think the reverse applies too.  Cunard's QM2 will actually be in Reykjavik on August 12th.  That said, being in Port is a FAR cry from being at Sea.  But the elephant in the room on Iceland/Greenland is that the cloud cover (based on history since 2000) will be at about 85%.  In other words anyone expecting to see that TSE there has about a one in six chance of doing so, at Sea or otherwise.

 

Even for The Sky Princess it will probably witness the underside of Clouds rather than a TSE ... as the historical cloud cover where it will be is about 60% probable then.

 

Fyi, I think the only reason I was able to get Princess to do these latest TSE sailings was because I had established a line of communicatio with Jan Swartz who was then (2017) their President.  So when Jan, now 4 or 5 levels above Padgett, asked Collin Steinke, then Princess's Director of Customer Service, to work with me on getting it ironed out, I was in a position of strength.

 

But after 6 1/2 years on this, the last nearly 2 working very closely with Steinke and expending the last of my 9 lives, I am done.  On the other hand I sent someone at Cunard (CC'ing Jan and Collin) a request for them to have The Queen Victoria sail a couple hours early from Tarragona to Mallorca so as to see the 2026 TSE at Sea ....

--- The Helpster

[jenf22]

17 hours ago, help32250 said:

Jen ---

First of all, I LOVE the backdrop Northern Lights in your profile!

Thanks!  That's from Alaska.  SO MAD at myself for missing them last weekend when I could have seen them from my house!

 

I did end up booking this Spain TSE cruise.  Occurred to me the kiddo will be in college in 2026.  50/50 as to whether or not classes will start by 22-Aug. So we'll see!

 

Thanks for getting this one on Princess's radar!

Edited May 18 by jenf22
spelling

[Ken the cruiser]

On 5/3/2024 at 10:27 AM, teecee60 said:

Great news for those of you who were on the Disovery Princess or Emerald Princess for the recent Total Solar Eclipse! 

 

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/princess-cruises-sails-prime-viewing-133000036.html

 

Maybe they will even have a really good astronomy enrichment speaker on board...😁

I wonder if the Elites are still going to get an email letting them know they can start booking this cruise on May 22! 😂

 

Sky Princess Departs Southampton on August 8, 2026; Bookings Open May 23, 2024

 

[billco]

2 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

I wonder if the Elites are still going to get an email letting them know they can start booking this cruise on May 22! 😂

 

Sky Princess Departs Southampton on August 8, 2026; Bookings Open May 23, 2024

 

My CVP told me Princess doesn't do that any more. Now, they give Captain Circle members a week to book their cruise. It's called Loyalty Week. "Introducing Loyalty week! If you’ve sailed with us before, you can book before everyone else and enjoy a limited time offer of up to $200 in savings per person‡ by being a valued past guest."

Whoops! Sorry, looks like I already posted this last week.

Edited May 20 by billco

[teecee60]

On 5/17/2024 at 4:49 PM, help32250 said:

First of all, I LOVE the backdrop Northern Lights in your profile! --- The Helpster

 

On 5/18/2024 at 10:39 AM, jenf22 said:

Thanks!  That's from Alaska.  

 

I just couldn't resist. The pic is not the Northern Lights... it's the Milky Way galaxy. 😉

[Ken the cruiser]

4 hours ago, billco said:

My CVP told me Princess doesn't do that any more. Now, they give Captain Circle members a week to book their cruise. It's called Loyalty Week. "Introducing Loyalty week! If you’ve sailed with us before, you can book before everyone else and enjoy a limited time offer of up to $200 in savings per person‡ by being a valued past guest."

Whoops! Sorry, looks like I already posted this last week.

Did you by chance post the link where us Elite folks that don’t have a CVP would see this change. 
 

Edited May 21 by Ken the cruiser

[billco]

2 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Did you by chance post the link where us Elite folks that don’t have a CVP would see this change. 
 

Isn't the fact that Captain Circle members have been able to book the 2026 Europe cruises for a week? Kind of an insult to Elites if Princess sends them an e-mail that they can book on the 22nd.

https://www.princess.com/en-us/cruise-deals-promotions

2026 Europe: Bigger and better than ever!
Introducing Loyalty week! If you’ve sailed with us before, you can book before everyone else and enjoy a limited time offer of up to $200 in savings per person‡ by being a valued past guest.

Edited May 21 by billco

[Ken the cruiser]

28 minutes ago, billco said:

Isn't the fact that Captain Circle members have been able to book the 2026 Europe cruises for a week? Kind of an insult to Elites if Princess sends them an e-mail that they can book on the 22nd.

https://www.princess.com/en-us/cruise-deals-promotions

2026 Europe: Bigger and better than ever!
Introducing Loyalty week! If you’ve sailed with us before, you can book before everyone else and enjoy a limited time offer of up to $200 in savings per person‡ by being a valued past guest.

Thanks for posting the link. Funny thing was they never did note the beginning date of the Loyalty Week for the 2026 Europe itineraries. But in the future, I guess I’ll have to keep a closer eye on the Cruise Deals section for special early booking times like this one.
 

Yes, that would be kind of an insult. But then they could have sent the early Elite notification email letting them know about the Loyalty Week deal associated with the 2026 European cruises a day before it actually started. 🤔

[billco]

9 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Thanks for posting the link. Funny thing was they never did note the beginning date of the Loyalty Week for the 2026 Europe itineraries. But in the future, I guess I’ll have to keep a closer eye on the Cruise Deals section for special early booking times like this one.
 

Yes, that would be kind of an insult. But then they could have sent the early Elite notification email letting them know about the Loyalty Week deal associated with the 2026 European cruises a day before it actually started. 🤔

Well, if the Elites do get an e-mail they will only have to pay a $99 deposit. We had to pay $400/PP. Of course, since I got up early last week, I was able to book our cabin for $6398. This morning, it would be $9074. Also, Princess caught their military OBC error. Originally, our booking showed $500. Now, it's been corrected to $250.

"The Total Eclipse Sky Princess Voyage goes on sale May 23, 2024, with rates starting at $2,199*

https://www.princess.com/en-us/news/news-releases/2024/05/princess-cruises-sails-to-prime-viewing-spot-for-2026-total-solar-eclipse-in-europe

Now the website says $3079.

Edited May 21 by billco

[jenf22]

18 hours ago, teecee60 said:

 

 

I just couldn't resist. The pic is not the Northern Lights... it's the Milky Way galaxy. 😉

My profile pic is the Milky Way, there's a NL panorama if you visit my profile page 🙂

[dreaminofcruisin]

WOW!  The prices have just gone crazy!
I booked an aft (side) balcony last week with Plus for $4808---a bit high, but it is 14 days...

Today the price in the same area with Plus:  $7308!!!