Wishing on a star

One of the many 'bad' decisions by Princess.... Very 'institutional' in appearance and vibe as well. Even the loungers in the Sanctuary on the newer ships look like this. Just square boxy institutional looking frames. WOW.... They paid money for these, so no way they are going to change them now. I expect these will be the same on the new SUN Princess.

We can only go by the smoking areas on other ships.... And, I think it is pretty safe to say NO.. No smoking on that cabana deck. There is not supposed to be smoking in cabins or on balconies. And, I would consider this area to be like these cabana cabin balconies. Smoking areas have been much more restrictive. Examples are an area on one side of the aft public deck area, the casino... What I want to mention is this... remember that there is double high blue glass along that cabana deck area. This will be there, just out from / below those deck 10 cabins. I thought maybe I wanted one of those larger/deeper balconies there on deck 10. The ones that are not 'inset' but are on the 'bump out' areas. But, most all were taken, and none that were non-adjoining and the layout we want are available. We chose a balcony on a bit higher deck, so that might not be a factor.

Thank you so much!!! Following for sure. It will be amazing to FINALLY see some video coming in! I am interested in anything that might be 'adult' focused. Will there be ANY open public area onboard that is adults only? Currently there is deafening silence from Princess on this, as well as everything else...

Yes, the deck plans show what you describe... the retreat pool is 'enclosed', not covered but enclosed, with cabins on port and starboard... the elevator/stairwell in the back, and the bar in the front. I am not sure what the confusion is???? btw: Love the REGAL and the open Retreat Pool area and the super nice Sanctuary.

Yes, the design of the back of the ship, with NO cabins, severe lack of wake view area.... That might be one of several big 'negatives' on this ship. I am still excited to be booked to be onboard when she gets here to the U.S.

Not covered... but what I call 'enclosed', and not open to the sea view.. as there are cabins on both sides of it. The open area is the deck overlooking down into where the pool is.

OHHHH... I was thinking 'penthouse suite' and one of those AFT. Yes, if you are on the port side of the ship, then this will be covered and not visible from above. SORRY! was thinking the on on the Port side - AFT)

This video, from the starboard side on the Enchanted shows the same.

Here is a video.... check at about 1:15 minutes in. You can see the railing of the deck above, which overlooks this balcony. The photos and videos and deck plans all speak for themselves.

Yes, the AFT of this ship is tiered or stepped, so decks can be seen from decks above. Here is a good video, drone, showing the back of the ship. Start at about the 5:00 minute mark.

Thanks again blue_water ! I am hoping and begging the others here to report back how their excursions to JVD go!!! Especially the third party shore excursion. Hopefully there will be some videos that will show just how much 'activity' the operations at Gertrudes will create on the water. I just don't see White Bay as the place for jet-skis and stuff. : (

I would say that many if not most cruisers have quite a few more than a couple of drinks!!! 🍷 🍹 🍺 🍸☕ 🧋 There really is no reason for questions... it is easy enough to break down the break-even point. For each person... YMMV !

Again... I recommend heading out onto Princess Cays early.... and remember, the lunch and bars will probably shut down earlier than you might think. Enjoy!!!!

When comparing Princess Cays to these other well 'developed' private islands, yes, it is very simple and rustic. We still enjoy it! If the weather and water are nice.. a day under a blue sky, sunshine, and palm trees is nice! Last time, we rented what is now my favorite bungalow! I do wish that Princess would develop a better private island/beach, one with an actual better beach. Have some nice more 'resort like' areas, even they are a bit of an uncharge. DCL is now right over on the other side of Eleuthera... Would be nice!!!! (But, that is the sargassum 'windward' Atlantic side of the Island.

We do enjoy our specialtycoffee beverages, waters, Alfredo's.... sodas are included... as well as gratuities and WIFI. Unless one really does stick to the offered water, tea, lemonade, etc.. The PLUS package does start to save pretty quickly.

All chairs are there for the taking! Be off the ship early to find shade or your favorite spot. They do rent umbrellas, or those big blue 'clamshells'. Yes, the PLUS package works while you are at Princess Cays, when you are sailing a Princess ship. The bars, and everything else will start shutting down early... They want to close down and everything and everyone back onboard well before sailing. While the lunch buffet is not 'stellar' like the buffet onboard. We find it to be good for a beach-day. I hope you have good weather and a great day when you are there!

Shanna, if they system will allow you to 'bid', on these categories... Then you can put in your bid. You can bid the lowest, or try bidding higher to increase your odds.... The thing is, the number of available cabins in each of these categories will probably be what increases your odds, and determines which of your bids could be accepted. I believe that the 'system' might look at how much you paid, increased by the amount of your bid, and then determines by the actual total fare/revenue that they will get for that category of cabin, as it determines which bids to accept. If you booked thru Princess, and they have your email and everything is working, you could get an email about your bid. If you booked thru a TA, it might be possible that this would go to your TA, and you might not be notified right away. Many report that they check their cruise booking online, and see the change in their cabin, even before that notification comes thru. I understand that, if your bid is accepted, and they assign the new cabin, then you are pretty much locked in.. Especially if the cruise is sold out, I doubt that there would be any other available cabins in your new category to move another one. Example: they assign you a Balcony cabin that is far forward, over a loud venue, etc... You might not be able to move to any other Balcony.

If you are not big on shows, and 'partying', but like to be where the 'vibe' is, and enjoy being at sea, then you should be very happy! The Piazza that Princess has is the perfect offering. Depending on who the band and entertainers are onboard, the Piazza could be LOUD on some nights, and more laid back. (but not a snooze-fest) on other nights. We have seen everything from 'Rock' band shows to 'middle of the road' bands who do numbers like "Isn't she wonderful" (Stevie Wonder) and "Hello" (Lionel Ritchie) The piano entertainer at Crooners will alternate with the band/entertainer on the main level of the Piazza throughout the evening. Things to note, and enjoy - The international Cafe. breakfasts sandwiches snacks all day... This is where you will get your nice specialty coffees. Gigi's/Alfredos - Def. use your Plus Package to get the BEST pizza. (this. used to be free/included) Enchanted has The Catch by Rudi, right? This would be one of the specialty (uncharge) restaurants that you might want to try. The adult pool area... The main pool area will be louder, busy, with the huge MUTS screen playing concerts/videos/movies. (unfortunately, they enclosed the adult retreat pool with cabins, so most seating is on the deck overlooking.) Princess will have a lot of the same things as CCL - the casino, game shows, etc... ENJOY!!!

Is your cruise on March 7th? That means that bidding has already been open for quite some time. I am not sure how that would affect your chances at getting a better cabin. The website is showing that March 7th on Enchanted is 'sold out'. Are you seeing the ability, invitations to bid, for these better categories? I don't know what kind of personal recommendations we can make. But, for me... 10 days/nights in a small inside cabin... I wouldn't want to do that. Do you have you days onshore planned? Are you booking excursions?

Not saying that I think this is good, at all... But, trying to figure out why such silence... Apparently, cruise bookings are at all time highs... Financially, cruise lines are trying to bring up their bottom line and stay afloat. Given these two things.. maybe the cost of creating all of these adds and PR, and putting them out there, is something that they do not feel is necessary. All I know is, I don't care about slick corporate PR.. in a few weeks, I am hoping that we have plenty of good cruiser feedback and videos!!!

If you book online, directly thru the Princess website.. maybe you could go thru CHAT? We keep hearing about mixed results, with a few cases where people thought they had the NO UPGRADE, and then somehow the cabin gets moved???? With the new bidding system in place, any real upgrade seems to be very very rare. This reminds me... I need to have my current bookings marked NO UPGRADE... if this can still be done. We really want the cabin that we have booked for next year. It is showing RESERVE now, is I am glad we went ahead and put a deposit on it. ( PS.. sorry about getting that cabin number wrong, as I know she had mentioned 720. )

It does look like this cruise is very heavily sold! I do not know if you have a deposit/hold on E704, but right now the website is ONLY showing GTY for many areas and categories. I have never sailed above the Vista Lounge. Maybe not too bad, and does eventually close down??? There is one possible advantage to being above that AFT deck just below. Easy to run down there and get set up with those loungers, if that is the vibe you might like. There might be a slight possibility of moving to a better location? I would def. keep my eyes open to see if anything, by chance, were to become available.

I do not know anything about day passes at these resorts. But, as nobody else has tried to answer, I will try to help. But, are your two options Divi Little Bay and Sonesta Maho beach? If you want to be on a calmer beach with little ones, then it would be Divi Little Bay. Maho, as you might know, is the one where the airport runway is, and the jets come and go right over head. When cruises are in port, this beach can get packed. The surf can be higher, with a steeper drop-off for little ones. Sonesta Maho is a bigger resort, with more resort options, and I believe they have a kids program. I know that Divi has had day passes for their beach and facilities. One might have to rent a room at the resort, if there is not a min. number of nights, in order to have the all-inclusive options included.

Thanks for the link! I got a chance to check it out during daylight, and there is quite a bit of the sargassum. On the other SXM webcam there, is that showing Simpson Bay Beach??? It is a far off view, but it looks like that is clear. Dinghy's beach club is there. I haven't seen any photos or cams of Orient Bay, but the other current post here is saying very little Sargassum at Orient Bay. It might be wise to try to follow the situation at different beaches before we go. Which, is not foolproof, because we know it can change quickly!

Try this... you might find that the issue is how Princess totally controls and mismanages the cabin availability. The system holds these cabins for parties of 3 or more. Act like you are booking for 3 guests... and see what availability comes up! If I am guessing correctly, even TAs have not been able to access these cabins. So, the one work-around might be to book with a third person... then you can always go back and cancel them. PS: If you get a cabin that you like... make double sure that it is marked NO UPGRADE. And check back often to make sure that your cabin has not been changed, and is till showing NO UPGRADE. Good Luck!