JoieNsk

Laurie, thank you for the fun reading! You have a great sense of humor! I have no practical use of reading this thread, don't even know how I ended up here :))) I think it was due to Disney part, as I am a Disney fun too. But it is so enjoyable to read what you write, that I keep coming back here 🙂 Thank you!

The new cruise we booked is not on Star. I don't care about inaugural or not inaugural. I want the cruise to happen. And I don't think it is safe to book any inaugural cruise on the new ship - from the "actually happening" perspective. The new cruise is on the Sun, and she is already sailing. So at least the ship exists 🤣 So the itinerary might keep staying as existing one too. At least it is more likely than any itinerary on the newer ship. And yes, compared to people who got cancelled a week before the cruise - like it happened this year - we are much better off. But still - the "for your convenience" crap from the email - they must think that their customers are not very smart, for sure. That kind of bothers me, really. When we got Holland America cruise cancelled - we got our money back + additional FCC in the amount we already paid towards the cruise! Not $100 per a cabin. That was a deal. I guess Princess must be doing so well now, that they don't care if people book with them or not. So they don't even make an effort. This is our first time on Princess. So I don't know if they always do business in this interesting way?

Really??? 🤣 As I didn't want to deal with all that "for your convenience" FCC crap from the email, I found another sailing kind of around the same time frame, with reasonable enough price, so I can rebook before they took our money and put it into that extremely convenient for them FCC with limited dates and limited expiration. I mean reasonable as we had an amazing fare booked, and there is nothing comparable to that now, so the deal is lost for sure. I had to chose smaller room for shorter cruise, as the rooms and the nice prices are gone by now. I had half of the cruise paid already, with both Amex offers and gift cards. So I had to skip the refund option. I called our big box travel agency we have the cruise booked with, and it seems like they had no idea the cruise was cancelled. Their agent called Princess to rebook for me, and appeared that they already cancelled and transferred the money into FCC, without even asking us if we wanted this option. Not even that - the Princess agent was telling the other agent, that the FCC was less than the money we actually paid. But she didn't know why. The travel agency agent made a wild guess that they substructed the taxes, and they were going to refund the taxes. Basically nobody knew for sure where our $220 went. Appeared to be, they weren't gone anywhere, as in the end all the money we paid got transferred to the new itinerary. So - as usually - it's a mess, and nobody knows nothing.

We received cancellation email today about 10 nights Mediterranean out of Barcelona on October 1st 2025. The wording of the email upper on this thread is nicer than the one we received. "Dear Valued Princess Guest, We are writing to share an important update regarding the delivery and launch of our second spectacular Sphere Class ship, Star Princess. Princess Cruises, in collaboration with shipbuilder Fincantieri, has made the difficult decision to postpone the delivery of Star Princess until Fall 2025. Following a thorough evaluation of the remaining construction milestones, both parties have determined it is necessary to adjust the ship’s delivery date from late July 2025 to late September 2025. Unfortunately, this will result in the cancellation of the multiple inaugural sailings originally planned, including yours. While this decision was not taken lightly, we believe it is essential to ensure that Star Princess’ delivery upholds the impeccable standards expected by our esteemed guests. The new inaugural sailings of Star Princess will sail roundtrip from Barcelona and include an 11-day Mediterranean voyage on October 4, 2025, and a 7-day Mediterranean voyage on October 15, 2025, that precede a 14-day transatlantic crossing to Fort Lauderdale on October 22, 2025, for the ship’s first Caribbean season. These three new cruises will open for sale on April 30, 2024. We understand the inconvenience this may cause and extend our sincerest apologies. In recognition of this, we have automatically turned all funds paid to date into a refundable Future Cruise Credit (FCC) and will add a $100 per stateroom onboard credit (non-refundable) to your account. This FCC and bonus OBC can be applied when rebooking any Princess cruise sailing by November 30, 2025, when booked by November 30, 2024. Alternatively, if you would like to forgo the bonus OBC and simply cancel your booking for a full refund, please complete this form by May 6. If you do not complete the form by May 6, you will retain your FCC and Onboard Credit. Star Princess represents the next generation of cruise ships within the Sphere Class – following in the footsteps of her sister ship, Sun Princess, which debuted in February. Mirroring Sun Princess, Star Princess will shine with exciting new features, such as The Dome, the cruise industry’s first geodesic feature on the top deck; and The Sphere, the captivating, suspended glass Sphere Piazza at the heart of the ship – all while retaining the timeless elegance Princess is renowned for. We appreciate your understanding and patience during this time of adjustment. Our commitment to delivering exceptional experiences remains unwavering, and we eagerly anticipate welcoming you aboard Star Princess as we embark on this remarkable journey together."

I am not going to be responsible for that 🙂 My data gave them an idea that they need to price down the suite I am bidding at, and significantly :))) That 's what I meant. If I would like the price they were selling the suite for to begin with - I would probably book it right there (maybe not really, as the other suites still would be less expensive, and I am happy enough to book one of them :))) Maybe I don't understand something, but my idea of bidding is to get something at a bargain price. So I don't really get how my bargain pricing for example will give them an idea that I would be willing to pay even more than they try to charge as a regular price?

I only have experience with suites on RCI's older ships. I am sure the newer ships have experience significantly elevated compared to older ships. And I only was at NCL Haven on the ship, where they had a "nicer" Haven - with dedicated restaurant etc. So my comparison is not apples to apples one. NCL was significantly nicer, many more perks etc. But the price in general for a Haven suite on NCL is very much higher too! If you can get Haven for the price you are comfortable with - you will probably like it better that RCI, I think. The ship within the ship is nice, especially on a bigger more crowded ship. For me personally it also very much depends on the itinerary. If we are doing port-intense exciting itinerary - in Europe, or some other interesting place - I would be happy with just nice bigger room. The other stuff doesn't matter much, as we would not spend much time on the ship. So I would be happy to chose suite on older RCI ship, as they normally are much better priced, even though not as nice as Haven rooms on NCL, or even on newer RCI ships.

I suppose - why not. Maybe next time they will offer lower prices right from the beginning - taking in the data I provided to them :))))

I suppose it is a higher probability that somebody in a not-suite cabin get an upgrade, compared to a suite cabin, as there are less suites on the ship. And they probably will be happier too 🙂 As suites are nice enough already, even without upgrade. So it was not very smart move on my end to skip the savings I get with the big box travel company for this elusive game :))) Next time I hope I will be smarter! :)))

I hope your cousin is doing well, and on the way to full recovery! It does give very different perspective to all these "money" games. I truly wish everybody on our cruise will make it - no cancellations, no "no-shows", no emergencies!

Thank you. I am happy with our cabin. This itinerary is a pricey one, but I booked it right when the dates were released, so got - as I feel - reasonable price. But RS is nice in my opinion, especially for the 12 days, so I would not mind to get that one, paying a small bid over what I already paid 🙂 I got spoiled - we had couple amazing deals during COVID and right after, and tried some extremely nice cabins which are normally out of our price range :))) But I feel the time of deals is over - at least for a while :)))) I will take it though. I better have no deals, but no COVID either!!!

Thank you! I suppose emergencies happen. And people can cancel. But I wonder how many cancellations can happen so close to the sailing date? Even if somebody has to cancel (I can't even imagine a no show, but anything can happen I suppose...) - the cruise line keeps the money. So they don't loose anything, right? Of course it never hurts to get even more money. Maybe that?

We never did Royal Up before, as we always book through a big box travel agency who doesn't participate in the program. But I decided to try to book without them, to see how this upgrade bidding would work. The cruise is one of the pricey rare itineraries - British Isles. So I realized soon enough, but after 30 days unfortunately - that was not an itinerary for that. I wish I would just stay with our big box agency for this one. Too late, I didn't. It is 60 days away - sharp, as of today. I checked yesterday - the cruise doesn't even show up on the web-site anymore. I checked the big box travel agency site. The cruise still shows up there, but when you click through - it shows up as "no rooms available". None at all. Nevertheless we received a Royal Up invitation :))) We have an OS, so the only cabin we can be upgraded to would be a RS. Actually we were offered a 2-bedroom, but we are two adults, don't need two bedrooms, and RS is way nicer than a 2-bedroom. No RS were available for more than a year on this sailing. So I wonder what is the purpose of this Royal Up bidding? I still put a bid - why not. Not much, a bit over the minimum - whatever I am comfortable paying. But I am truly puzzled... I wonder if somebody with the experience have an explanation? Thank you in advance for any info!

If the in the one on the front is not an error, it is also going to be great place - for front views. Even though it is small, and it is not completely on the front.

The on on the top is called The Haven Sun Deck. I think this is its panorama... https://www.cruisecritic.com/cruise/norwegian-ncl/norwegian-jade/the-haven-sun-deck-393594/the-haven-sun-deck--v448025 https://www.cruisecritic.com/cruise/norwegian-ncl/norwegian-jade/the-haven-sun-deck-393594/the-haven-sun-deck--v447980

The one the bottom is the one with access from the courtyard. It is called Courtyard Villas Private Sundeck. I think this is the panoramas I posted above are from this deck.

One the NCL Jade deck plan there is another area in the front of the ship - which is also marked as Haven Sun deck. But it is not where all the Haven is. I wonder if this is an error on NCL map, or there is one more area, exclusive to Haven guests?

Another one: https://www.cruisecritic.com/cruise/norwegian-ncl/norwegian-jade/the-haven-sun-deck-393594/the-haven-sun-deck--v448028

This site and these boards are just priceless! Look what I found here, on Cruise Critics: Panorama of the Haven Sundeck on NCL Jade! https://www.cruisecritic.com/cruise/norwegian-ncl/norwegian-jade/the-haven-sun-deck-393594/the-haven-sun-deck--v448215 There are many picture there too. The views are great from there, even though it is just on one side - port side as it seems.

Thank you very much! I feel even better now! I know about no restaurant, no lounge etc. The pool - like I mentioned - might still be of use to me, as I like to do my laps even on vacation, and this itinerary is going to have pretty many sea days - for me to make myself to go and exercise :))))). I read on this boards that those small pools on Jewel class - in Haven - have swim-against-the-current feature, which would be great for laps - if again this info is up-to-date. Other than that - we don't usually spend time by the pool or in the hot tub. We did Mediterranean port intensive cruise on Epic, and we didn't use Haven courtyard at all - not even once. Yes, I agree, I would not pay extra for the Haven on Jade - with the price difference on this particular itinerary - if not for the views from Haven deck!

I did go through the deck plans, and didn't see Vibe Club anywhere. Also I googled it, and according to Google - it seems like Jewel class ships don't have Vibe Club. But of course, both Google and deck plans might not be accurate.

Thank you for the advice! Do smaller ships have Vibe? I have to go through the deck plans, I guess - to see where it is. It might be a great idea, if this Vibe Club is also on the higher deck!

Thank you SO MUCH! I feel much better now. Because I did feel that I was probably wasting our money paying for this Haven room. I do still mind paying the Haven price :))) But at least we snagged the cheapest room in Haven 🙂

We booked cool Southern American itinerary on NCL Jade, starting in Miami, going through Panama canal to Calao (Lima) - in Feb-March of 2026. Right now we are booked in Haven Penthouse. But as it is 12 nights, I would rather switch to less expensive non-Haven 2-bedroom family suite, as there is second bathroom there and more space for luggage etc. If it was not Panama Canal - I would have not even booked Haven on Jade. I do like to swim - laps - on the cruise as an exercise. So Jade's against-the-current pool in Haven courtyard still has some value for me. But that would be the only thing we might use Haven courtyard for. And the price difference Haven vs non-Haven is significant enough for me to skip the Haven on Jade - if it's just for the pool. But I am thinking that Haven sun deck might be a good spot for viewing Panama Canal crossing? I am short, so crowds would be a problem for me at any viewing point. I just would not be able to see anything above other people's heads. I watched couple videos of Haven on Jade and similar ships, trying to figure out if the view from there worth considering. As the Haven sun deck is in the middle of the ship. But it might be still high enough to see back and forward. Is it? I would really appreciate if somebody has an experience with that. Thank you in advance!!!

I can chime in here. Like I mentioned before - as I work, and far away from retirement, I would try to book not more than 4 or 5 days - if doing "beach type" cruise in the Caribbean's, Bahamas or etc. I would save my PTO for something more exciting. So if Royal is aiming for younger crowd (and families with kids for example are going to be a younger crowd) - working people might prefer shorter 4-5 cruises to longer ones. As there is only so many days off people can get at work. 3-day is too short. But a week feels too long for me - for this type of the itinerary. When we go to Europe - that's totally different animal. There we prefer 10-14 days. Long flights, jet leg - all that jazz.

Sorry for the unfortunate situation with American Queen Voyages! I hope you WILL get the money back. But with Viking I am not worried that they will go out of business with our money. They seem to be doing good - at least nowadays. I just hate to give them so much money - so much in advance. I could have earned interest on those money. Instead they probably are doing it :)))) I find their payment policy extremely irritating. But even with that - I still went ahead and paid :))))) Hopefully they worth it - we will just have to see :))))