seagunthera

Can anyone speak to the stock found in the Princess stores onboard?  I always buy a few cosmetics but am concerned the stock could be years old. TIA:)

1 hour ago, jagoffee said:

Did Princess immediately change you cabin to the new one or are they waiting for your payment.

 

 

They changed it and to0ok payment during the same phone convo. The rep was amazing!

10 hours ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

that's not how upgrades work. They will not upgrade as cabins become available, and if they have more than one bidder for the same cabin, why would you think YOU would win the bid?

 

Also, for our upcoming cruise, even the cheapest balcony is almost the same price per person as I paid for all three of us in an inside. I paid $2,500 for all three of us, and right now balcony is $2,200 pp. So, my $150 pp bid from inside to balcony does not equal "an honest price for that cabin".

The M6 CC class cabin was a few dollars (under $20) more than I paid for the Cat MF so your situation is clearly not the same as mine. But thanks for your input. 

Here's my first (and last) attempt at bidding: 

I paid for a forward facing mini some time ago and later put in a bid for one of the forward facing Club Class mini's as none were available at the time I booked.  I entered my bid for the maximum allowed ($150 per person- for reference, $50 was the minimum) as I really wanted one of those CC forward cabins.  My bid was never accepted or denied.  Then, one morning, I just happened to log on to look at the inventory of cabins for this cruise and low and behold, a forward facing CC mini popped up as available.  I immediately placed a hold on it and called a Princess rep to make the switch  After a few minutes on hold, the rep came back on the line and asked me for a credit card to pay for the upgrade to Club Class: $101 for the two of us to upgrade from a MF cabin to a M6.

Two take aways:  

1- It seems no one is monitoring the inventory and offering available cabins to those who have bid via the new upgrade program.

2- It's also obvious that the minimum "weak" bid of $50 per person actually turned out to be the honest price for that cabin.

After years of sailing with Princess, I must admit I'm a little disgusted...

26 minutes ago, Coral said:

I have been on several cruises over Christmas and New Years and most of the decor has been removed by January 1st on my cruises.

Thanks.

I'm hoping they leave the Christmas decorations up until we board on the 28th!

I'm booked on a 12/28 cruise and am wondering if Princess leaves the Christmas decorations up until after we celebrate the New Year?  Input from those who have traveled during this time is greatly appreciated!

Interested and following!

3 hours ago, PacnGoNow said:

I really don’t think it is because of the bidding.  You didn’t say how far out?

 

We love CC and it’s to their advantage to sell them upfront and if they become available after final payment or up to sailing time, get that revenue back by the bidding process.

 

If you’re trying to book within 90 days of sailing, then there could be bidding going on or they may be sold out.  Seems a lot more popular during these covid times.

Two of the cruises I've received bid/upgrade emails for are more than 90 days out. 

8 hours ago, caribill said:

 

The ability to bid on an upgrade does not happen before final payment and the bids are not necessarily accepted/rejected soon after bidding starts.

 

So if you want to pay for an upgrade you have plenty of opportunity before final payment to do so.

I beg to differ: I have received two upgrade/bid emails on cruises where final payment is not yet due.  Oof!

10 minutes ago, AtlantaCruiser72 said:

@seagunthera - Obviously quite a few people are willing to upgrade w/o choosing a specific room as NCL, MSC, Carnival, Royal, Celebrity and now Princess all offer a bid upgrade system. If it wasn’t producing revenue (ie lack of interest) then cruise lines would have abandoned the product offer by now. 

Agreed.  That said, I've cruised with Princess three times over the past 6 months and have 4 more cruises booked over the next 6 months and I'm not sure I'll stick with Princess if they decide to only allow upgrades via bidding. Other lines like Celebrity have better perks and promotions in general and as you pointed out, they also employ bid upgrade systems. One of the reasons I choose Princess over the others is the ability to select specific CC mini's and suites I like.  

Thank you for this trip report- keep it coming!

I was just searching a few cruises I have booked looking for available suites to pop up here and there and I notice that most CC mini's and regular mini's on all decks except Deck 8 are now showing as unavailable.  I have a terrible feeling that this new bidding process is going to make it next to impossible for a person to upgrade their cabin on their own and pay the difference.  I, for one, will not be happy if this winds up being the case.  Who wants to bid on/pay extra for a cabin they don't know the exact location of (i.e. wind up in an aft suite right over the crew smoking section, etc.)?!  Would love to hear thoughts on this. 

I received a bid notice on a booked mini suite but on the email, it lists only my name (and not my two minor children traveling with me in the cabin).  Has anyone experienced this?  If so, the per day bid applies to all three passengers, correct?  My son's fare as a 3rd passengers was only $249 so I can't imagine a situation where upgrading to a suite would be at a reasonable price.  

Does anyone have any experience booking a cabin for their teens?  I'm the only adult so I don't have another person over the age of 21 to attach to the extra cabin/ booking.  I know the site says teens must be 16 and older in order to hold their own booking (my son will be two weeks shy of 16 @ the time of sailing...sigh) but I'm wondering if there are any work arounds or something I am missing.  If it matters, I'm looking at the cabin right next door so that balconies can be shared.  TIA!

Quick question:  If the stock is purchased from a joint brokerage account (shared with my husband), I assume I may have the OBC applied if I sail solo, is that correct? Thanks in advance for your help:-). 

I am doing both and will report back!

I decided to ditch that aft suite after speaking to a rep who told me that yes, there's a high probability that smoke would be an issue.  Such a bummer....

2 hours ago, nini said:

Just assume that it is so. After reading many threads of different ships and aft balconies, this seems to be the case. I really do not know what it would take to get the point across to Princess.

I think you are correct and it's such a bummer. All the other suites and CC mini's are booked so it's this suite of a regular balcony.  

3 hours ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

Ask on the roll call for her first sailing. 

I will definitely do this!

I have booked E730 on an upcoming Sapphire cruise and am left to wonder if I will also be subjected to the smoke?  I will be very annoyed if I am unable to enjoy the balcony because of it.  Does anyone have any advice about finding out where the crew smoking section is once the Sapphire returns to service?

1 hour ago, Papa Yoda said:

 

I won't book Sapphire since every time I do -- those voyages are canceled!!!

Don't jinx us!

I have E730 on the Sapphire on hold and am now thinking twice about the smoke.  UGH!  Has anyone ever complained and if so, what did management say?

I'm thinking of booking a Vista suite on the Sapphire for an October sailing.  I know I get 2 cruise credits for single occupancy but am wondering if I get yet another for booking a suite? 

Thanks in advance!

I booked an 80's theme cruise out of LA on 10/19 and am thinking to change my cabin to E730.  This is a Vista suite but I have a few concerns and am wondering if anyone has any info they might share with me: 

1- the cabin is above Club Fusion so I'm wondering if I should be concerned about noise issues. 

2- does anyone know if the smoking section is directly below this cabin or if it is on the starboard side of deck 7?

Thanks so very much for any insight!

On 4/24/2022 at 10:43 AM, Rick&Jeannie said:

Interesting!  I've never heard of that angle on the testing.  Note however (I just recently learned this) you can use those orange labelled iHealth test kits at home with the iHealth online proctored service.  I believe it was either $20 or $25 per person/test.  I am using this as a "Plan B" for an upcoming cruise if I cannot get into CVS where we usually test.

I paid 24.99 to do this online test this morning and after waiting for over 2 hours, I finally gave up and am heading to CVS.  DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!