MustangGT

29 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

I have no problem with B2B'ers getting to book for the following cruise.  As stated, they can line up early in morning anyway ahead of new cruisers boarding.  However, bookings should be standard and made on the final full day of the voyage.  Having bookings done on the first sea day is something easily unknown to other guests who have plans to book for the next voyage (and didn't get in this voyage).  I guess you need to make your request known to the Mgr ASAP during voyage 1 in order to have a shot at voyage 2.

 

I would also join with those stating disappointment in newer ships having less loungers.  It doesn't surprise me if PCL built more cabanas to try and rake in the big bucks.  In the past, I saw those empty and seemed like hardly anyone wanted to pay.  I imagine they have added some to the Crown Class ships which never had them originally.

 

I have thought for a long time that the Crown Class ships have the best Sanctuary in terms of loungers and shady area.  There is very little shade in general with the Royal Class ships IMO.

 

I agree.  Well said!  We also prefer the Crown class Sanctuary but Royal and Regal are better than Sky.

11 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Anymore, I think about the only way to get loungers in the Sanctuary in the Caribbean sector is to book at least a B2B so you can have a chance on the second leg. 

Didn’t work for us. Maybe a B2B2B might work.

We are on our 2nd of our B2B and haven’t talked to any passengers who cruisers who weren’t booked for multiple weeks.  Very popular itinerary!

If I go before my husband, I just explain, “He’s parking the car.”

I agree, saving a seat is okay - an entire row?  Nope!

1 hour ago, TracieABD said:

We had a similar situation. We were a little luckier, as we don't normal get off the ship- so we could book port days. Both of us noticed that they could get a few more loungers in there... and if this is a money making venture- why not? Many Sanctuaries have 3 rows of loungers...

 

If the Sanctuary is so popular- why don't they increase the size? 

Tracie - we agree!  The manager did say they are going to add more beds during dry dock but a re wanting to make more space available for wheelchairs so they may remove the tables at each lounger.

We appreciate inclusion but not sure why you wouldn’t want a table with your lounger?

I think limiting the number of loungers results in booking more cabanas.  JMHO - I have no marketing degree! 
 

Glad you enjoyed your port days.  Our loungers were full sun and we couldn’t tough it out.

2 hours ago, lx200gps said:

That's exactly what we were told, by a lady who was on the previous cruise to this one. She also mentioned that she somehow missed being told, early in that cruise, that she could book for the following cruise, so she had to wait in line with us to try and book this week, only to be shut out like we were. Question: when you say "They asked people on the first sea day....", are you saying they actually asked only those already IN the Sanctuary if they wanted to book for next cruise, or did they send a notice to ALL B2Bers in their cabin?  If the former, that's astoundingly bad news.

I am the lady!  Yes, they asked the ones in the Sanctuary on the first sea day about the following week. Once I found that out, we were able to snag the last cabanas for the sea day afternoons.

I spoke to the Manager today and there was obviously a disconnect between us.  He said Corporate policy is that no one can book the Sanctuary except on Embarkation Day.  He said B2B passengers would just line up before 8:00 a.m. on that day so it is just easier to allow B2Bs to book ahead. Well, that makes sense!  When Corporate policy doesn’t work - just make up your own.

Bottom line, it’s always a challenge to get a spot on particular itineraries.  We probably won’t have a problem on our next B2B in June.  Baltics and then Norway and Iceland! 😂

1 hour ago, lx200gps said:

We're actually on the Sky right now. Can't help with how many spots there are, though there are both loungers and much larger cabanas at significantly higher cost. When we boarded yesterday, we used our Elite status to board VERY early and race upstairs to book, only to be told all sea days were already fully booked. As we had plans for the port days, we were SOL. Apparently there are 850 B2Bers on board right now and they have priority over everybody else because they were apparently able to book the Sanctuary for this trip on the PREVIOUS cruise.

 

Sadly, on our last three Princess trips, on the Enchanted in September, on the Sky in November, and now on the Sky again, it's  gotten progressively more difficult to get decent loungers, at least for sea days. The Sanctuaries on these newest class of ships are getting smaller, with more open space/fewer loungers, many more cabanas in direct sun, more $$$ cabanas and even lounger-stealing hot tubs taking up space. There are far fewer loungers than, for instance, on the older ships like the Ruby, Crown etc.  Given our recent experiences, i can't see how anyone without status has much chance of getting any decent spot, even on port days. As for sea days..... ;o(

I wish you luck, OP!

I agree with @lx200gps - not a fan of the layout and lack of loungers. There are only about 20 but plenty of room for more.  I think they would rather book the cabanas by keeping the # of loungers low.

Now, my rant on the Sanctuary on the Sky!  Apologies in advance!
 

We are also on the Sky now.  We were on the cruise prior to this one and although being first to the Sanctuary when we boarded, no loungers were available for sea days.  We booked afternoon for the port days but on the second port day decided we could not handle the sun.

We were hoping for better luck as “turnaround passengers” but on previous cruises you couldn’t book the following cruise until the last day of the first cruise.  When I mentioned on day 3 that we were looking forward to booking loungers for the next cruise, the manager told me they were all booked already for sea days.  They asked people on the first sea day ( when we couldn’t get a lounger) if they wanted to book the following cruise.  So, even being onboard, we were out of luck.

We bit the bullet and booked a cabana for the sea day afternoons as we had OBC to burn.

I definitely mentioned this on the survey- Princess inconsistency - passengers should be able to expect the same procedure on every ship!

Rant over 🙂

On 2/10/2023 at 12:42 AM, cr8tiv1 said:

 

More reasons NOT to cruise Princess' MEGA ships.  Princess should think about designing smaller ships.  I know, I know, I know...in my dreams.  Hey, let's call the next class of ship:  Dream Ships.  Less than 2000 passengers, Window Suites on Fiesta Deck, no class distinctions, Alfredo's, an International Cafe, walk around Promenade Deck, and a no smoking casino.

 

My apologies.  I just connected the thoughts:  holding Princess accountable for "Best Wifi at Sea".  Now back to regular programming.

I would book it in a heartbeat!!!
Our favorite ship was Pacific Princess. 

16 hours ago, voljeep said:

Is there an 'elite' line to enter before entering the terminal?

Not at Fort Lauderdale. Everyone is in the same line for security and then split into Blue/Green lane for check in. Once checked in you will be directed to the Elite Lounge if boarding has not begun   
 

We found the F’urchins!!

Thought of you & Jon!

The answer to “Can I get the same table every night?” Is hard.

Since Princess thrives on inconsistency, the answer will be, “Maybe.”

We have had success (last year on Regal) but are currently on Sky and the answer is “Only if you come to the dining room at 5:00 each evening.”  Even with reservations, we are standing in line for 20 minutes.

YMMV

So happy for you!!!

Don’t forget breakfast for Suites! One of our favorite perks!!

9 hours ago, Astro Flyer said:

Here’s a photo I took in Genoa in November 2019 showing our ship the Sky Princess docked next to Pacific Princess (now the Azamara Onward)…also a massive difference!

 

We never sailed on one of the Renaissance Cruise ships when they were sailing for Princess but are booked on 2 of them as Oceania ships. At nearly 1/5 the size & less than 1/5 the passenger capacity of Sky it’ll be a different cruise experience & we’ll enjoy all of them. 😁

 

Thanks for sharing the picture!  We sailed Venice round trip on the Pacific Princess in 2017 and board the Sky Princess tomorrow for our first cruise on that ship!

We loved the Pacific Princess and hope you enjoy the Oceania ships!

Tracie - can’t thank you enough for your Live!!  I always enjoy them but we are boarding on Saturday and your posts have amped up our excitement!  We are doing a B2B and, like you guys, have no big plans except enjoying the ship!  We have scheduled the Helmet Dive excursion in Cozumel but other than that, no “have to be doing”.
Except some Pickleball.  Yes, we have gone over to the dark side!  Lol!! We have only been playing for a couple of months but the addiction is real! 🤣😂

Safe travels and can’t wait to read about your next adventure!

1 minute ago, t&atravel said:

Here you go…princess.com.  Select Contact numbers

 

https://www.princess.com/learn/faq/onboard/keeping-in-touch/

Pardon me while I wipe the egg from my face! ☺️

When I looked at Princess earlier, it brought up only some ships - not including the Sky.

Just went back and found what you linked.  I was going to share it but no need now!

Printing it as I sit here so I can help someone else when the opportunity presents itself!

Thanks so much!!

I wish for the days when the search function on CC was useful!

I have searched here, on Princess.com and Google and now I am asking for help.

I know I have seen a handy-dandy list of Princess ships and the emergency telephone numbers.

Can't seem to find it now that I want to leave it behind for family members.

I promise I will print it out and save it for future reference and share it here as often as it is requested!

Thanks!!!

Happy Birthday, Tracie!  Back when that big birthday hit for me, I refused to say “Sixty” so I said I was 50-10.  Now I am 50-21!  Works for me! 🤣😂

Yahoo!  Our Cielo reservations are back in the app!

Yay!!  Tracie is back!  Love your “Lives”

Fingers crossed we will board for a B2B when you get off the ship.

Can’t wait to read all about it!!

In reality, there is no longer “Traditional Dining.”

Some have been able to replicate it by reserving the same time in the same dining room and then setting up the same table once on board.

Others have been frustrated by having set reservations that are not consistently honored depending on the ship , or in our case last year, depending on the dining room.

Unfortunately, you will only know for sure once you are on the ship.

Either way, they still don’t make you cook or clean up the dishes!! 🙂

We enjoyed Allegro!

8 hours ago, sanspike said:

Anyone know when the rest of 2024 will be open?  Thanks

Depends on destination.  We booked Los Angeles to South Pacific in August last year.

Hope your destination comes up soon!

10 minutes ago, minnesotasisu said:

At the bottom of the email they provided a link to an online version of the Medallion app ( https://oceanready-personalinfo-ui.prod.ocean.com/ ) - once I logged into that and went to Dine My Way my reservation for the Cielo MDR showed up so I suspect this is another bug with the Medallion app. They are probably looking at it online and see nothing wrong while we are looking at our reservations on our app and do not see the reservation. Lets hope it is just a bug they can fix.

Interesting!!  I followed the link and my reservations are there for both weeks except for turnaround day.  Oh well!  At least I won’t have to cook or do the dishes! 😂

6 minutes ago, minnesotasisu said:

I sent an email to Princess to inquire about our Feb 25 - Mar 11 cruise on the Sky Princess:

We have made reservations for the Cielo main dining room for several nights on the Medallion app for our 14 day cruise and yesterday these reservations vanished and this dining room does not appear as an option to reserve.

 

Is this an IT issue with the app or is this MDR not available? Will there only be 2 MDR available for reservations during our cruise? If so, I suspect a lot of unhappy cruisers trying to get seated in the 2 remaining MDR.

 

This is the response I got back:

 

Thank you for your email, you have reached the MedallionClass Support Team, we will do our best to assist you.

 

We apologize for the challenge you've been experiencing and are eager to help you get OceanReady.

 

We tested your app account this morning and see no data conflicts, we also see you booked into the Cielo Dining room for dates Feb 25 to Mar 05., and the Crown Grill on Mar., 04. The remaining dates do not show any reservations.

 

The Cielo room does not appear to available for the remaining leg of your journey Mar., 06 to Mar., 11. At this time we do not have the specific reason as to why one of the dining rooms are not available currently. However the two remaining rooms are available, that being the Estrella on deck 5 and the Soleil on deck 6. Please visit the app to make reservations for one of these room to insure a desirable seating time.

 

Please let us know if you need further assistance.

 

Kind regards,

 

MedallionClass Support Team

Thanks for sharing.  Glad you got an answer even though it still doesn’t answer your questions.  Why can’t you see your reservations on your app and why did you lose the rest of your reservations?  
Guess we will figure it out onboard 🙂

6 hours ago, noisywater said:

No it did not.  Chose another dining room.

 

Thanks!

2 hours ago, noisywater said:

Thanks for the heads up.  Checked and our reservation is gone.  Just rebooked 

Were your original reservations for Cielo?  If so, you were able to set them up again?  Cielo does not come up as an option for me 🥴