vjmatty

8 minutes ago, ProfMHC said:

Nov 5 Fort Lauderdale, arrive 6 AM

Thank you for noticing that, unfortunately it’s too late to edit again 😕

9 hours ago, ProfMHC said:

Transatlantic was auto rebooked for us. Not much of a date change (depart 2 days later—same return date). Naturally way too early to have booked anything else. However, the promised price reduction didn’t show up in personalizer. Sent in a ??? —- let’s see how Princess responds 

Here is the new itinerary:

Oct 22 Depart 6:00PM Barcelona

Oct 23 Mallorca (Palma) 8am to 6pm

Oct 25 Gibraltar 7am to 6pm

Oct 28 Azores Islands (Ponta Delgada), 9am to 6pm

Nov 5 Ft. Lauderdale, Arrive 6pm

All the rest are sea days.

ETA: Subject to change of course.

9 hours ago, capriccio said:

But if I remember correctly the Suite dining was advertised to be unique menus (not a single special dish as in reserve dining) and the current suite dining is offering a special breakfast menu similar to that offered in the designated specialty restaurant for suite passenger breakfasts on other Princess ships.  We booked a suite expecting different menus not the same.

I should have clarified…by same menu I meant that if the Reserve and Signature dining rooms become two Sanctuary class dining rooms, that they both have the same special menu that you are referring to. I did not mean the same menu as the soon to be former Reserve dining room. 

2 hours ago, Lucky TGO said:

Hi Guys, it's only me Tony I just like to say your cabin has to be better than mine. See photo 😳 😀

The Captain of The Rowboat,

Tont

Alcatraz?

4 minutes ago, keldaria said:

Depends on how it happens. When I say merged, I don’t mean physically merged, as you and others have pointed out that is impractical with the kitchen between them. When I say merged I mean the guest list making it a free for all first come first served where either restaurant goes for anyone. That’s not the sort of exclusive experience we paid extra for and ultimately the signature restaurant appears located in a nicer spot right off the plaza making it likely a more attractive target if it’s a free for all and less likely to not be packed if everyone is given the choice.
 

I’m a pretty reasonable guy and don’t complain much but if I can’t walk straight in and sit down every night like was promoted because they merged the lists for the dining areas I’ll be upset to say the least. It’s not about who I’m sitting next to, it’s about paying for an area that’s exclusive and purposely designed to be underbooked so it is always available for suite guest and then potentially not getting it. Yes the reserve would be available then assuming the sanctuary class isn’t oversold from grandfathered cabanas and such but still not the experience advertised.
 

This isn’t going to be a cheap trip for my family, I just want what was promised when I made the deposit or at least some consideration when selling me an “upgrade” that is just a degradation of the original service I was promised. I don’t take nicely to Princess gas lighting me over an expensive trip, especially when they don’t even have it all figured out before they decided to do it. It would be one thing if it was all clearly defined so I could plan accordingly to cancel or stick it out, but now I’m essentially stuck making a go/nogo choice based on speculation.

And that’s exactly what I meant about the numbers working. For me that means enough tables so that I can walk in whenever I want with no reservation. If that perk remains as such then I’ll be satisfied. Otherwise you’re right it’s not what was offered. 

49 minutes ago, keldaria said:

I don’t believe that because it would’ve be clearly stated that signature is exclusive to suites like the lounge was. I think some sort of merging of co-mingling will occur which is why they reference private dining instead of coming right out with it.

So in other words, two “Sanctuary Class” dining rooms formerly known as Reserve and Signature? As long as the menus are the same hopefully it won’t matter which one is assigned. If you look at the deck plan they can’t be merged, but perhaps commingling would happen. I guess I don’t care what kind of cabin the table next to me is in as long as the numbers work. 

7 minutes ago, keldaria said:

I’m right there with you and unfortunately there really isn’t a good way to know at this stage.

 

the more I think about the private dining situation the more I wonder if suites will maintain their access to the signature but rather than a full merger, I wonder if they’ll just take a small portion of the non-suite sanctuary class cabins and move them into the signature restaurant so they can have a little better balance between the 2 and not as much congestion at the reserve restaurant. I mean the space doesn’t make it easy to merge them and allowing a free for all between the 2 would mean potentially a lot of mad suite guest. It wouldn’t be hard to take 15-20% of the non-suite guests and say “congratulations your private dining is at the signature restaurant” and leave the rest in the reserve. 

I’m wondering how dining is going to work also. I don’t think the suites will be infringed on because the Reserve restaurant population has been cut in half and they are only adding the 12 DO cabins. That should give relief to the overcrowding in Reserve dining that was observed in the earlier sailings. Signature dining should not be affected, as there will still

have to be two separate dining rooms since they can’t be combined with the kitchen being in between the dining rooms. But then again at this point I have learned not to underestimate Princess’ ability to come up with more bad ideas. 

1 hour ago, oteixeira said:

Cool, maybe I just don't mind the walking as much?  LOL

Oh I love walking, and get my 10k steps in no problem. My knee can’t do more than 5 flights of stairs though and the wait for elevators on that ship is ridiculous.  I’m keeping an open mind about Sun though, and giving it a fair chance. 

38 minutes ago, oteixeira said:

I mean I understand that can be the case depending on the line, but you never answered my question, we kind of zigged when we were currently talking about zagging.  Again, I have sailed behind the door.  Going to the room is no different then a room on most of the rest of the ship, which was your argument for it not being a great set up.  So, have you ever sailed behind the golden door?  
 

I’m the one you asked, and yes I did answer your question. You’re confusing two different posters. 

53 minutes ago, oteixeira said:

May I ask if you have ever sailed behind the golden door?  I enjoy a lot of things in the main ship and it is no harder to go back to my room on deck 17 then it is to go back to my room on deck 5, or deck 14 (balcony on most NCL), etc.  The person I was referring to earlier spends a lot of time in the Casino, the idea is really to enjoy the ship but have a place to go back to that is away from the crowds so you can relax (in a public setting).  

Yes I have. In fact, to illustrate my ability to compare, I’ve been in a Royal Suite, Crown Loft Suite, Owner’s Suite and Grand Suite on RC; Royal Suite and Aqua Sky Suite on Celebrity, Penthouse Suite and Window Suite on Princess, as well as Princess Grill and  Queens Grill on Cunard.  The most enjoyable for me were those suites that had their own areas for dining and lounges but not far removed from everything else. I liked Queens Grill on Cunard and Owners Suite on Deck 8 near Central Park on Oasis Class the best.  My least favorite was the Crown Loft Suite on Oasis class ships. There is only one set of elevators because  deck 17 is very small. Also, the CLS itself, while beautiful to look at, was impractical as the stairs got old quickly lol.

1 hour ago, TRLD said:

I think it is more that Princess is getting more concerned abouts it's demographics. Other competing lines have been successful in lowering their average age demographic.

 

While Princess has added a couple of features that will increase its appeal to some families, it is no where near the family friendly lines.

 

More of grandkids willing to go on Princess with grandparents, instead of grandparents going to Royal or NCL when they cruise with kids and grandkids.

 

In order to get its demographics more into mid 50s instead of mid or high 60s it has to make it more attractive to 40/50 demographic which will include a few more children and young adults.

Agreed, I don’t know why so many people equate Park 19 with the water parks and amusement type rides on other more child-oriented ships. Park 19 is just a glorified sports deck.

I also agree there’s a difference between younger couples and family-oriented. Many couples now are deciding not to have children.

2 hours ago, oteixeira said:

My friend calls it "being behind the golden door" and refuses to cruise on any line that does not have that door.  😄

The issue with the golden door concept is when it becomes too removed from the other venues on the ship you might want to experience and enjoy. For example, Oasis class on Royal Caribbean has deck 17 where certain suites are on the same floor as the dining room and suite lounge, with nothing else. That’s great if all you’re going to do for the entire cruise is eat and drink. However, if you want Io go to trivia, live music, broadway shows, specialty dining, the spa, other bars, basically any kind of entertainment, it’s a pain when you need to run back to deck 17 to change, drop off bags, shower or grab something from your suite. Cruise lines need to find that balance between exclusivity and isolation. 

6 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

The majority of people getting free cruises from the casino are just paying for cruises ahead of time.

Unless you’re like me with extremely bad luck…in my case it’s a lot cheaper to just pay for my room and stay out of the casino. Lioness’ method is obviously not for everyone. 

18 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

It was yesterday afternoon and you can find it on Carmen Roig's YouTube page.  It was more of the usual rah-rah sales gab.  I didn't see all of the questions answered either, nor many of the issues raised here addressed.  That would not be in line with the rah-rah session style.

I watched it post live and did not find anything noteworthy beyond what we already know here. Definitely over the top promotionalism if that’s a word. I’m also disliking her husband the more I hear about him lol, especially the dissing of Amtrak irritated me because I love trains. Anyway I am sure they filtered out a lot of the questions we all had because she either didn’t have an answer or didn’t want to answer. 

19 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Don't be surprised if they manage to rig up some of the gauze "sails" they use on other ships.  IMO, it doesn't do much at all on Royal Class, so I wouldn't expect a lot of coverage for Sun Class, but they'll make an effort I expect.

 

I also expect there will magically be more pads on loungers that didn't have them before.

Good question….if they make the whole area homogenous then the cushions will have to match. The question is whether they will do as you say and supply more of the loungers with them or just downgrade those in the former suite area.

9 minutes ago, keldaria said:

Long term? Sure, short term all C1 and C2 cabins are grandfathered in to private dining based on their prior reserve status. Last I checked those were all sold out on my cruise next April (most cruses in general since a cabana mini-suite on the cabana deck plus reserve dining proved to be a popular combination) so in effect it will be more crowded until the grandfathered status works it way out of the bookings.

I’m seeing a lot of availability with those but to be fair I’m only booked on Europe and transatlantic sailings in the Sphere class. I don’t sail the Caribbean on Princess because they fail to service the northeast adequately, and there are so many better options in the tropical market. As for short term vs long term, at my age time goes by fast so short term is gone in the blink of an eye lol.

ETA: I should add however, that the lack of shade in the Caribbean might actually make the sanctuary unpleasant.

16 minutes ago, happy cruzin said:

Nope - not at all a “lower class” thing. 
 

I’m concerned about the possibility of 428 other people (215 cabins at double occupancy) impacting my ability to use the space and get suite-level service, that I paid for with my suite booking. 
 

With the dedicated suite space that was not a concern. 

I think it was even more of a concern. If we assume as you seem to that everyone will be out there at once, that tiny area was not enough for 160 people. The thing about day passes with the old system, if someone buys it they’re almost 100% likely to use it. Less likely with permissive included access of the 215 cabins.  As I mentioned above, even Celebrity and MSC don’t have enough seating on their decks or restaurants for every passenger entitled to be there at the same time.

But hey, we’re both speculating. We won’t know who’s right until October. 

7 minutes ago, FLAlaska said:

True but for those that had already booked, they paid for it. They are removing it without compensation and giving it to M1 who previously booked ,fo  free. It also means that in the future, there is no adult only section available to those that don’t pay these ridiculous prices that really don’t justify the fact by simply  adding the premier package. 

they are adding kids areas, taking away adult only areas. At least on Celebrity you have the solarium.

Yeah I’ve always been bothered by the fact that Princess charges for their solarium equivalent. When I do my pros and cons list between Princess and RC/Celebrity, that’s a big thorn in my side with Princess. I think the answer on Sphere class is to just get a cabana mini or otherwise large balcony. You’re going to need it if you want shade anyway. 
 

ETA: Ironically, this move is making the C1 minis more attractive, until you consider the removed private dining. All these changes are just making it harder to pick the right cabin category.

4 minutes ago, dog said:

True, eventually. 
I will not be paying the Sanctuary Club fare in the future. Pushing the premium drink package with these high prices on these categories most likely will be short- lived.

So as a “lower class” passenger you’ll just have to put up with me on two cruises in the Sanctuary Club.

 

I welcome all.

lol I should clarify that is not my personal assessment of the DO category passengers, in fact I sail in a variety of cabins from an ocean view to a mid level full suite. I’m just responding to the somewhat distasteful vibes I’m getting from people on this topic. 

9 hours ago, happy cruzin said:

….but now there is NO dedicated suite space. 

I don’t think we need it….the whole area is now exclusive, with exponentially more space and a lot less passengers than under the old system.  If you’re worried about the “lower class” type passenger, they’ll be priced out of the sanctuary club rooms anyway 🤷🏻‍♀️

7 hours ago, J18ktleo said:

I booked my group in February.  S9's for $3300 and Penthouses (S4's) for $3500pp all with Premier.  They are now over $2200/2 more.

This also happened when I booked Celebrity's newest ship in Suites, within weeks. 

The reason we booked the suites was for the 'dedicated dining, lounge and pool area'.  Now that is being sold to the mini's and Deluxe Balconies and an area that was designed for 80 suites now has 135 more cabins included which means crowds at the pool and for dining.

Yes, there are some of us that like the benefits of a larger ship but also like some 'less crowded' time not amongst the masses and are willing to pay a bit more for it.

For Princess to change these aspects of this class of cabins, basically to sell access on a bit by bit basis depletes the benefits to all.

Not sure who's brilliant idea this was ('hey, let's open up the exclusive suite benefits to twice as many cabins, it'll be FINE')?

They’re also removing all of the C1 and C2 minis from private dining and removing day passes from the sanctuary. I think it is premature to assume that the numbers won’t even out when both the subtractions and additions are made. Even MSC’s Yacht Club and Celebrity’s Retreat don’t have enough space in their dining room and private deck for every single person in suites to be present at the same exact time. 

9 hours ago, keldaria said:

I’m fairly certain suites had access to both the sanctuary and the signature sun deck before. So they had access to the entire area but had a private suite only area within that area which has now disappeared.

Ok now I’m really confused. The “entire area” of the Sanctuary minus the signature Sun deck was $100 per day, and now it’s included, correct? Am I missing something?

3 minutes ago, happy cruzin said:

There was a Signature Suite area in the Sanctuary which seems to have disappeared from the updated deck plans. 
 

Original deck plans:

 

UPDATED deck plan:

 

That actually looks like a lot more room than suites originally had, like 4 times as much. The question is, do those additional Sanctuary Club cabins add up to more or less than the number of day passes that are being sold on sailings between now and October.  I personally don’t think the original Signature area was big enough for 80 suites. 

You’re better off with the Carnival card since you get points for all Carnival Corp cruise lines. 

2 minutes ago, mrmarklin said:

No upgrade at all.  As a Suite passenger, I feel "screwed".  there is actually a dilution of benefits, in that more people will be eating in the Signature dining room, and our exclusive area on top of the ship in the Sanctuary portion is given over to hoi polloi as well.  The only thing left is the Signature Lounge.  Certainly don't want a bunch of peasant types in there.;-)

Seriously, it's a step back.  I'm sailing in May, hopefully, none of the changes will be made by then.  And they will honor the target date of October.  Yeah, they had the nerve to send me news about the (non) upgrade!!!!

 

Cunard, here I come.  (Queen's Grill) 

 

If you want to have a gripe session I'll be in cabin 15639 next to the Signature Lounge>:-)

What is the difference between Sanctuary access to select balcony cabins and Sanctuary day passes being sold to the winners of the embarking day marathon, as in the old way? Either way you’d be sharing with the hoi pollloi.