WingerSupreme

So the only a la carte option is Premium? Do they at least have 24-hour plans that can be bought on board?

Thank you, that wording is very odd, but I think it is meant more for the multi-night dining packages, and someone just copied and pasted it.

Doing an 8-night Celebrity cruise in December, and my wife really wants to go snorkeling, so that's one excursion we're definitely going to book. The four ports are Labadee, Taino Bay (Puerto Plata), St. Thomas (Charlotte Amalie) and St. Maarten (Philisburg). Any recommendations as to which would be the best (or worst) place to snorkel, or any specific recommendations on excursions? Thank you!

Dumb question time, two of them actually. I'm not cruising until December 2024, but I want to book the Murano for my birthday (which occurs during the trip). If I place a reservation now... 1) If I cancel the reservation, I get the charges refunded, correct? 2) If the price increases between now and then, do I have to pay more?

Princess does have them listed the same, the TA must have some deal on guaranteed cabins.

@Itchy&Scratchy how much did you pay to win that upgrade? And the problem is the cost difference between guaranteed and choose our own is significant with the TA I'm looking at ($250 CAD), so that's a tipping point.

Thank you, by itinerary I did mean everything involved with the trip, including ship and cabin. I've heard contrasting statements on upgrades from guaranteed cabins, some people say they happen often, others say they happen almost never.

I did, they're basically booked solid.

@Steelers36 It's in USD, I'm just doing the calculations myself to make it easier for me to figure out.

My wife went back to school (part-time) so the earliest we can leave is December 14th (with a flight on the 13th) and the latest we can return is January 5th. Otherwise, we would definitely find another time to cruise.

I can't talk about TAs specifically so you're kind of putting me in a bind, but the total cost difference between a GTY and picking our own is $300 CAD. Through the Princess website, an Interior Cabin works out to $3,435 CAD (before tips). Through the TA, a GTY Interior is $2,819 CAD (before tips), and choosing our own is $3,069 CAD. So yes, it's still a good deal to choose our own (compared to the standard Princess rate), but it's a difference of $250. Also, when I mentioned "losing the ability to get upgraded," I wasn't talking about bidding on an upgrade. There are situations, like the first person who responded to me, where you book a guaranteed inside cabin but get bumped to oceanview or balcony without needing to bid on an upgrade. Anyways, while I appreciate your help, I wasn't really looking for tips on which rooms to book or whether or not I should book a GTY, I was looking for information from people who have booked them and what their experience was - did they get bumped up a category, did they get stuck in the worst room in the ship, etc.

Yeah for some reason, balconies and oceanviews are basically the same price on this trip. Although I actually noticed that with a couple trips on various cruiselines, some have obstructed balconies cheaper than oceanviews.

I'm booking through a TA that's got a really good price on the guaranteed cabin, so for us it'd be about $300 CAD ($224 USD) to upgrade, and it removes the chance (however slim) of being bumped up to a better cabin without bidding. Also, I understand your point about the refundable deposits, but we're pretty committed, and I have built-in travel insurance through my Visa (plus I will buy additional insurance for the cruise itself).

@Cruise Raider I think I understand what you're saying. Prior to the bid, if you wanted to change cabins within the same category, that would've been mine. However after you bid on (and win) an upgrade, you're locked into that cabin. Right?

@Steelers36 just making sure I have this correct. If I get assigned an ID cabin and there's another ID cabin available that I like better, I can move with no issue. But, if there's an IC/IB cabin available, I'd have to pay/bid to upgrade. Is that right?