KarateMan

I know the feeling as I have been through it myself and it can be very stressful and distressing to be told "you will have to wait and see"

My bet is you will get your cabin back. However you need to be persistent with them as it is highly likely that your cabin has already been allocated to someone else. (Don't believe others when they say they have to hold it), I learnt just this August that the moment Princess gives you an automatic upgrade that your original cabin is allocated to someone else. When I turned up on the Diamond Princess someone else's name was on my cabin, the beds were wrong and I had their suitcases delivered. I was fortunate enough to decline an unwanted upgrade and get my original cabin back.

My personal thoughts on upgrades is that Princess needs to abolish this ridiculous practice or amend it. They are treating it like a "shuffle" or some sort of game. If they seriously want to upgrade someone as they have a shortage of cabins then they should make it a worthwhile upgrade. In many cases upgrades are a way to get people out of desirable cabins, force them into a higher category that is somewhat inferior, unwanted or disliked by passengers.

I think you will get your cabin back.

Also follow up with an email to as many departments as possible demanding your cabin back just so there is an official record you have requested it and not just the word of the phone consultant.

I personally think the likelihood of anyone travelling to these countries prior to a cruise is very slim given the media coverage and high risk to life the virus carries.

It may be a hard policy to police.

I think the cruise line only implemented this policy "to make it look good" and reduce the irrational fear that some people may have that they will pick up this virus on a cruise.

As said I think the likelihood of anyone with this virus going anywhere near a cruise ship is extremely slim.

Same applies to any hotel you might stay in or any friends' or relatives' houses you might visit and stay in.

It's a germ filled world, you can't clean it all.

Be sensible yes, in terms of personal hygeine but, little point in going beyond that, because you have to accept that others won't.

Then, there's all the stuff about kids today aren't developing good immune systems because they've not been exposed to enough thanks to parents obsessive about cleanliness.

Possibly. A cruise ship is the only place I have ever unpacked my luggage. In hotels I have always lived out of a suitcase. I lay the suitcase out and have its contents packed in an order I need. I have never had to use drawers or cupboards in a hotel.

I keep clean. I tend to avoid hand sanitisers too much as they can be detrimental to your health by allowing superbugs to become resilient to their contents.

Another true story that came from a cruise ship is that some other passenger (lets call him a complete nutter) proclaimed he collected the foil wrapped butter and smeared it on his coat-hangers in his cabin to stop the squeaking. How revolting! How would you like butter getting on your clothes because some nut smeared it on a coat-hanger. I suppose it was to easy for him to remove them from the hook and place them on the floor or in a drawer.

Though my ideas on cruise ship cleanliness is to have a quick clean out of your cabin when you arrive. It is your home for the next week to six weeks in my case. Best to get rid of any left over germs and it may stop you getting sick on the trip of a lifetime.

Dude, you woke up on the wrong side of the planet. And please keep your shrimp off my Barbie.

 

Ken

I would bet money on the fact that whatever the abbreviation is it is certainly not something polite. It sounds derogatory and has connotations of an insult. By the way if you have seen how teens and people in their twenties communicate with each other these days over mediums like facebook you will see they are using the letters d and h to call someone something rude. The rude connotations are there. They always have been. Particularly the emphasis with capital letters d has always looked like it stands of a part of the male anatomy and H always looked like it stood for head.

We don't bother with cleaning and sanitizing the cabin but we avoid the buffet like the plague.

I used to think exactly the same way. Then one day I realised when someone explained why they do it.

Imagine all the drawers to store clothes in your cabin. Ask how old is the ship and try to think how many passengers have used them in the years the ship has been in service.

Then ask yourself is it possible the steward has cleaned out every drawer and cupboard space.

Over time bacteria and germs build up and some surfaces may never get cleaned or touched by cleaning staff. People may not put clean clothes into the drawers and to be perfectly honest you don't know what has been in the drawers.

How do you know which draw was used to store dirty undergarments worn by the previous passenger before their washing cycle. Their bags are packed away. It is unlikely they will get out their suitcase to thrown in the dirty jocks or nickers.

As I said I used to think like that but it makes sense to help clean and helps contribute to a cleaner ship and prevent the spread of germs.

time, my DH picked .

I don't know what this means or why people keep writing the letters D and H but seriously it looks offensive and the moderators really need to filter out and ban that word.

Some people take the letter D to represent a part of the male anatomy while the letter H to represent the word Head.

Can people please stop using this combination. It looks crude and offensive and it in poor taste.

If I felt I needed to resort to the above strategies to avoid getting a cold, I would either stop going on cruises or I would put up with the cold.

For some people who travel, getting sick will prevent them working on their return home and they lose income over it.

I have seen sickness on cruise ships far too many times to be complacent about it.

Time is money, cruises cost money, excursions cost money. If you get sick and cant enjoy then you have lost and wasted money.

Sadly some people who are sick travel when they should be at home. Also the cabin stewards do not have the time to wipe down every surface in the cabin with the meticulous care that a passenger can do.

People who do wipe down every surface in their cabin are actually helping people like you to not get sick by their vigilance to help stop the spread of germs and diseases.

You should be thanking them for their contribution to public hygiene as health and hygiene effects everyone.

So in theory people who clean things themselves could have cleaned up germs, preventing themselves and others they meet catching a travel bug and you criticise them for it???

Lately I have been bringing on board my own sanitising wipes and wiping down every single surface in the cabin when I board the ship. The phone, the remote, inside every drawer, every coat hanger. Everything gets a wipe down now.

I am fully vaccinated every year. Fully immunised for life against hep A and B.

Try to avoid the lifts and walk as much as possible. Try to avoid the buffet where possible. When run down and exhausted avoid the gym you need your healthy blood cells to keep you healthy and an intense work-out will only decrease your immunity when you are already more fatigued than usual.

Some anti-biotic may work but I would only use as prescribed by a Doctor. My cruise to South America I went through the checklist with the Doctor and although it was highly unlikely that I would catch something like Malaria, I was given doxycycline to take, this is more of an anti-bacterial anti-biotic and can prevent this.

On my last two cruises I have managed to come away unscathed by illness.

I have been on Celebrity Solstice in March 2013 and came home with a cough. I was on Arcadia in 2009 and 2012 and on both occasions came home with a cough. The Doctor diagnosed something and I cant remember but by the time I post this I probably will have remembered.

I have only contracted norovirus once on Oriana in 2006. From what I noted on board is that the level of cleanliness by staff was considerably lax compared to other ships and it is any wonder the virus got out of control. I have been on other ships where there was a norovirus outbreak and never caught it and I do believe that the level of vigilance by staff makes a difference with how they clean. There was an outbreak on the Golden Princess this year. Every night I noticed them spraying the entire passageway from ceiling to floor with some sanitiser. I never got sick on that trip.

I agree with you that your travel agent was negligent and they should be liable for changed costs. Threaten to take them to any agency that oversees their workplace practices in your country.

I can speak from experience here as I have flown Qantas from New Zealand to Australia.

You are right to worry. My bet is that they will not make the ship on time and that the customs and boarding people will have left by the time they arrive.

When a plane lands in Sydney it must join a queue to land and also landing at that time customs and baggage handlers will have multiple flights to deal with. You could be waiting more than 15 minutes for your luggage. the time taken to exit the plane is another factor if you have seats at the rear and clearing customs.

On average you will be stuck at the airport from anywhere from an hour to 90 minutes after you land.

After that you have to get from the airport to the dock and in good traffic that is 20 minutes by car. Similar by train when you add up station waiting times.

I personally would object to them taking that holiday with that flight as it would only result in extra costs and stress and they will inevitably miss the ship. A insurance company might find a loophole and not pay up as it would be unreasonable to expect to meet your travel deadline with such foolish schedules.

Get onto their travel agent. Threaten them with all the action you can and be in their face at their office, demand to speak to the manager about it and tell other customers in their shop what the agent has done.

You should not wear the costs and definitely do not accept the given flight. It is inevitable that they will miss the ship.

Just looking at the deck plans I realised Princess have changed the terminology of what was. I noticed people saying "mini-suite" well years ago those cabins people are referring to were just balcony cabins and it appears the mini-suites of years gone by have had their name changed to penthouse suits.

They have to be careful with terms like that. I have stayed in land based hotels where the hotel bathroom is larger than one of Princess's mini-suites and the bathroom even had a larger television.

We get it. You won't sail Island. Thanks for posting.

I know people get that. What I would really like to see is the ability to do some sort of poll to gain other peoples opinion. This thread has been relatively quiet and the changes to the ship are quite radical.

We have all heard the line about why Princess stated it is being changed. I called them on it and described their propaganda as BS.

I outlined examples of other similar ships with a similar size and layout and emphasised that what is happening to Island Princess is quite a radical departure from what is considered normal even by the standards of other contemporary lines.

I can even throw in another class of ship as an example. The Radiance class operated by Royal Caribbean. Again a very similar sleek layout with the ability to navigate the Panama canal. It is a ship not unlike many ships built to navigate the canal given its length and width are at the maximum allowable dimensions to transit the canal.

What I would really like to see is some sort of poll that questions cruisers and asks 1.) are they fully aware of the radical changes of the Island Princess, and 2.) would they sail that ship again in the future knowing there are other contemporary ships like the Vista class, Spirit class, Radiance class that are of similar design.

I think this is an issue that should be brought into the public eye because I am assuming everyone on these forums are passionate cruisers and love being on ships. I would dread to see the day that cruise ships have evolved into just cabins and dining rooms - which is kind of how Princess are taking this revolution of the Island Princess and I do use the word revolution not evolution.

I personally would never stay in an obstructed view. If you want the balcony then go for it. If saving money is your thing then just go for an inside. That is what I always do. It is either inside or balcony for me. You are not seeing anything special from your obstructed view as the view is blocked so you may just as well book an inside and have exactly the same. If it is natural light you want then get that idea out of your head right away. People tend to sleep in their cabins and they sleep in them when it is dark. My guess is most people are not in their cabins during the day so purchasing an obstructed view for natural light is counter-productive as you never use it.

In my opinion all obstructed view cabins should be smashed out of ships and done away with and the area should be used for public space and bars.

To be perfectly honest I think that "spin" about the ship being built with so called viewing areas for the Panama canal and Alaska is a load of BS! I recon Princess are spinning that line to hoodwink the people into believing it is necessary to make such changes based on what some "bean counter" architect came up with who probably grew up in a lunatic asylum.

I certainly was not born yesterday and did not come down in the last shower. They may be able to fool some people with that "spin" but they certainly will not be able to fool me.

The Coral class is not unlike the Vista class or Sun class or Spirit class. All of those ships have a promenade deck. In place of the two tier entertainment venue on the Vista class they have a two tier dining room and the mid-ship areas are for entertainment. At present I would say the entertainment venues to cabin ratios on a Vista class to Coral class are almost identical albeit the layout is somewhat different.

To suggest that the Coral class had some extra space that other ships do not have when clear evidence proves that they are not unlike their contemporary counterparts is just complete lunacy and Princess have probably employed "spin doctors" to implant that idea in the minds of many to justify their unreasonable upgrade to the ship.

Bastardizing the ship design - and in this case diminishing the quality of the experience - in order to stem the loss of revenue is only one alternative Princess had in this situation. It's becoming more and more obvious that there is no one at Princess who has any creativity any longer...all the focus is on maximizing revenue no matter what the cost to the product. Buckelew was bad enough...Schwartz seems to be even worse.

Would you avoid this ship over the changes?

One thing to note is that Coral Princess and Island Princess are similar designs to the Vista class, Spirit class etc. Although different they are a class of ship not unlike the Sun class as well.

Why on earth change a ship to such an extreme extent when precedent is and other lines have ships of similar size and passenger ratio. It makes no logical sense at all.

That is probably why some insurance companies refuse to insure certain people or make the costs of travel insurance so prohibitive that they are unable to travel. If you speak to some of the elderly people you will soon learn that due to health complications they have to give up travel at a certain age. The biggest issue with health and travel is the cost of insurance or the refusal of insurance.

Another possible reason for the changes to the Island Princess could be the future opening of the new larger locks on the Panama Canal. Those locks will allow ships larger than the Island and Coral to do the canal itineraries. That would free them both up for cruising other parts of the world.

But with the changes to Island Princess I would never sail on it anywhere in the world. Not for a free cruise and I certainly would not accept anyone paying me to cruise on it. It is blacklisted for life.

The only Princess ships I will sail on are the Grand, Golden, Star, Diamond, Sapphire, Coral, Sun, Dawn and Sea. When those ships are gone its bye bye Princess unless they replace them with similar sized ships.

I dislike these changes too, but keep in mind that the major loss areas were designed specifically for the Panama Canal and Alaska. All those public viewing areas (which are so wonderful) are needed for those two itineraries, but less so in the Mediterranean which has lots to offer but nothing like Glacier Bay. Similarly "On the Bayou" is a great show, but has a definite US theme that would be less germane in the Med.

 

That these changes were prompted by the relocation to Venice, where Island is replacing much larger ships on the Grand Mediterranean itinerary. Of course Princess felt the need to squeeze in another 240+ passengers! So as long as Coral stays with the PC and AK routes, we can still hope that Princess will leave it alone. And, even with the new layout I would rather be on Island than Royal/Regal in the Med!

Re the relocation to Venice aspect. Even so, and I do want to do Mediterranean cruises in the future, I would honestly avoid this ship at all costs. I would not even accept a free cruise on this ship, I would not even accept payment to sail on it with these changes.

In that sense I have effectively blacklisted this ship. I presume that there would be other people with similar views to mine who also would avoid this ship with the changes.

To me it will come down to this. I can either pick a cruise on a crowded congested ship where the dining venues will be crowded, opportunity of getting a deck chair minimal, not getting a seat for shows in the main theatre or I could take a look at the Celebrity ships which are looking up to be a good competition. Example the Solstice class are larger than the Grand class but carry less passengers.

I think it is a very dangerous move for Princess to make. Surely as word spreads about the changes there will be people who will avoid this ship.

Lets be honest here there are going to be upwards of 200+ more passengers on that ship. It does not sound good at all.

I have just looked at both deck plans and found the new changes absolutely disgusting. It is an insult to Princess loyal passengers and a complete disregard for their enjoyment of the ship. They are taking away public space and passenger facilities all to shove a few hundred cabins on.

I seriously hope Princess passengers boycott this ship over this.

I will never sail Coral Princess once those changes take effect. It is completely off my cruise ship wish list.

Absolutely disgusted with it. As someone who loves cruising and loves being on ships this is the worst possible upgrade they could think of. I seriously wish Princess lose passengers on this ship and hope the company suffers financially for this disgusting and insulting way to treat their passengers.

If I could swear on this forum then this post would be full of expletives. Absolutely disgusting thing to do to a ship.

There is nothing wrong with Princess at the moment and I continue to book and sail with them.

Sea Princess issues were just lousy customer service and someone in their "bean counter" department really needs to be fired over that incident. It is unacceptable to leave a ship in service for so long in a semi broken down state and let the passengers itineraries suffer. That was just poor form on Princess part.

Personally I would never contemplate booking a ship like Sea Princess, Sun Princess or Dawn Princess for a longer voyage so the ship is out of the question for me booking in the first place. With Princess the only ships I would personally sail on are the Golden Princess, Star Princess, Diamond Princess, Sapphire Princess, Coral Princess and Island Princess.

I think there may be an age discrimination law in Australia preventing such sales. P&O UK can do it with Adonia, Oriana and Arcadia. I noted in the brochures there was some disclaimer when the Arcadia was doing a World Cruise visiting here. They only sell to people I think 17 an older. Forget the exact age.

Arcadia as an adult only ship is a good one and has a good mood on, it is not all retirement age people and there are plenty of younger cruisers on them.

There are however extremely strange and peculiar people that go on these ships that hate children. I recall being on Arcadia in 2009 in Fremantle when I was on a bus tour returning to the ship. There were a family with some kids in school uniform on the dock hugging and sharing happy moments with what I assumed were their family members. An older man on the tour bus started piping up in a loud voice that he hopes those children aren't boarding the ship and he would be complaining to reception if they are allowed to board the cruise.

For a World Cruise starting and ending in Australia it is better logistically for Princess to use one of the ships that is based here, rather than relocate one from somewhere else and then have to relocate it back after the WC. I have done a half-world on one of our local Princess ships and had no complaints about the ship.

 

After around 50 cruises, I also know what a good cruise is like. You are not the only one.:) We have cruised on larger and fancier ships, but I don't feel they were any better.

For me a World Cruise the ship is the make or break part of the deal. In the case of the Sun, Dawn and Sea Princess it is a deal breaker. I only pick ships that suit my lifestyle and know what I can enjoy.

My first half world cruise was back in 2002 on Aurora for 49 nights. That was my very first cruise. No complaints at all. The ship was outstanding and only on its 2nd World Cruise at that time. It was only 2 years old as well. The ship had an ideal size, it had heated pools (Sadly Sun, Dawn and Sea Princess don't), it had a covered pool (again the Sun class does not), despite being exactly the same size ship dimensionally length and width the Aurora has a much larger theatre, a much larger show lounge and a better appointed ship with internal lounges and bars.

The longest cruises I have done are:

49 nights on Aurora

40 nights on Oriana

31 nights on Arcadia

31 nights on Golden Princess

I have also done short cruses as well ranging from 2 nights to 18 nights taking on average two lots of 2 week cruises per year with the exception of the above.

I have sailed on Sun Princess and Dawn Princess for short cruises only and could not fault them. Sadly for a lengthy cruise that involves a sea going lifestyle of up to 7 days straight at sea the Sun class lack the facilities and comfort that the ship above offer that I have chosen to do lengthy cruises on.

I like to do my research and study the ship well, I look at its layout, the size of public rooms, the facilities on offer and the passenger space ratio. I take all of those into account.

When I have done my research I have a list of ships I would do long cruises on, I have a list of ships I would do short cruises on and I have a list of ships I would never sail on at all.

Personally I think the only reason Princess can sell world cruises on those ships is because of the Sydney to Sydney factor. No other ship has done that for a world cruise.

I know Princess world cruises are popular from Australia and I personally cant wait for the Sun, Dawn and Sea Princess to depart out shores to make way for a ship I would do a world cruise on from Sydney.

The itineraries are always good but I would never ever book a world cruise on a ship like the Sea Princess, Sun Princess or even Dawn Princess for that matter. I have been on the ships and enjoy them for short cruises but in my opinion they are totally unsuitable for long voyages.

I don't know when Princess will get the message and start sending their better ships on World Cruises. How about something like the Coral Princess or Island Princess.

I have done plenty of World Cruise either sectors and two compete half world cruises. I know what a good cruise is like. Unfortunately I see a lot of great itineraries coming from Princess but its always the same old ships that I would never do a world cruise on.

Did you ever communicate with the people whose luggage you got? I wonder what their story was. The "official" policy is that you have 48 hours to get the original cabin back or accept the upgrade. As with lots of things on Princess, I think the policy is inconsistent across the ships and within the home office. I had a fight to keep a cabin they wanted to upgrade me out of. It was a three-day ordeal. I leave on that voyage next week, so we'll see whose luggage I end up with. :)

I never saw them. When the steward tried to deliver their luggage I told him straight away that it was not mine. The beds were in two singles as well as the fact that there was another set of names on the door.

I am guessing that the couple (two men) were possibly upgraded to the cabin after Princess tried to move me and they had to move them out when I got my cabin back. They only had a blue label on their name so clearly Princess did not care about them.

As far as I was concerned that cabin belonged to me for that cruise. I booked it over a year in advance, I wanted that location and I was entitled to have it. I could not believe they would try to upgrade me to an lower deck cabin without even asking me.

IDK... When I was upgraded two weeks ago, I called withing minutes of the email hitting my inbox. When I called Princess, the rep said that there was no need to rush- I had 48 hrs to respond. If I had not responded in that timeframe, then Princess would have assumed I was good with the change. The rep said Princess has to hold the original reservation until then- they cannot rebook it until after the time has expired. Now, what really happens???

Perhaps someone at Princess is not telling the truth.

When I received an unwanted upgrade for my last cruise I called within a few hours of receiving the email. The email was sent 4 days before the cruise. I managed to get my original cabin back.

However when I arrived at the ship my cabin had the wrong name on the doors, the wrong bed configuration and all my Captain Circle invites were sent to the wrong cabin.

Now if Princess recons they hold the cabin for 48 hours after an upgrade is issued then how on earth did someone else's name end up on my cabin door and why did their luggage get delivered to my cabin.

I don't think your analysis is correct. It's not a deliberate attempt to "shaft passengers." It's just an attempt to maximize profits by selling every available cabin. Most people would be thrilled to move from an inside to an outside cabin. Not everyone wants to be close to the pool area.

 

For instance, I don't like being any higher than the Caribbean Deck. If I were originally assigned an inside midship on the Aloha Deck or Riviera Deck and were upgraded to an oceanview on the Plaza Deck, I'd be happy.

Then how do you explain it when passengers are shafted into cabins that no-one in their right mind ever wants to purchase. There are plenty of bad cabins on ships that passengers deliberately avoid. The cruise lines know this, they cant sell them so they shaft people into them by upgrading them.