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How would you feel if Princess upgraded you from a balcony to a Window Suite?

burm

By burm,
in Princess Cruises

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DCT61

DCT61

Posted
Posted

LOVED our WS on the Grand Princess. We've had window suites on Celebrity and will have one on NCL in October. We had one of the HUGE aft balconies in our suite on the Sapphire Princess, and rarely used it. I guess weve just discovered, TO US, having private interior space is more important than private exterior space.

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PunkiC

PunkiC

Posted
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We are Elite, always book balconies, and already get the "perks". DH does all of his laundry through he ship, but I really like to hand wash my lingerie, along with most of my other washable clothing, and lay it out on the balcony to dry in the sun, so an "upgrade" from a balcony to a window suite would not make me a happy camper.

 

Sometimes, even in bad weather, I really like to get up, even in the middle of the night, and just go out and watch the ocean go by. We both love to watch the docking and sail away procedures from our deck--the line crew can be pretty entertaining. Moreover, DH loves to sun bathe, au naturale, and they really frown upon that around the pools. :p I can't imagine why.

 

I might be willing to give it a try on a very short cruise, just to see how it fit, but would definitely not want a WS on a real cruise.

 

I suspect that most people feel much the same.

 

On our upcoming Hawaii cruise all mini suites and balconies are sold out, as are all full suites, but six of the seven Window Suites are wide open, as are a few totally obstructed ocean views and some inside cabins. My suspicion is that they will try to "upgrade" some balcony passengers to Window Suites to open up some balconies.

 

I would take a move-over before I would take a Window Suite.

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Coral "Live from...." Rare

Coral

Posted
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On our upcoming Hawaii cruise all mini suites and balconies are sold out, as are all full suites, but six of the seven Window Suites are wide open, as are a few totally obstructed ocean views and some inside cabins. My suspicion is that they will try to "upgrade" some balcony passengers to Window Suites to open up some balconies.

 

I would take a move-over before I would take a Window Suite.

 

Multiple reports here show that the upgrades to Window Suites come from outside cabins. They would ask before upgrading someone from a balcony. No one has reported to being upgraded from a balcony or mini suite to a window suite - no one.

 

A friend of mine was on the Island Princess in an outside cabin. They upgraded him to a mini suite with out a balcony. They bypassed everyone in a balcony and upgraded him from a window to a window mini suite.

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jackieo

jackieo

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we are recently off the Caribbean Princess (31 Oct to 10 November) The New York to FLL trip with Sandy getting in the way, so boarded 2 November - We were therefore travelling light on cruisers. however I spoke to a lady one night who had booked a OV cabin and had had a call from Princess 2 weeks out and offered a WS for $200 each ! She of course took it and was nice enough to show me around the suite. Very very nice, the space was great but I dont think I could do without my Caribe balcony!

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aikensbest

aikensbest

Posted
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Do window suites qualify for suite perks such as breakfast at Sabatinis??

Window suites qualify for all the perks of any other suite. The list is long. We had a window suite on the Golden to Hawaii last year and truly loved it. We have always gotten a mini and thought no balcony would be difficult. Perhaps going to the Caribean, but certainly not on the water for days..cold and wet days...going to Hawaii. We are both very allergic to smoke, but neither of us had any issue with smoke in the inner hallway or in our cabin. I would take a WS again if the opportunity presented itself.

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PunkiC

PunkiC

Posted
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Multiple reports here show that the upgrades to Window Suites come from outside cabins. They would ask before upgrading someone from a balcony. No one has reported to being upgraded from a balcony or mini suite to a window suite - no one.

 

True, but since all cabins with balconies are sold out, and they have in all likelihood oversold both the minis and balconies (they always do), they will need to try to come up with balconies. The only way I can see that happening is to get some balcony or mini passengers to move up to a window suite or offer move overs to another date.

 

Moving folks from ocean view cabins into the window suites wouldn't open up any balconies.

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gpnfish

gpnfish

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I would be a little upset if they upgraded me from a mini (or even a balcony) to a window suite; love the fresh air access right off my stateroom. It's just me, but it's like going to a baseball or football game and watching from a suite instead of the stands. Might be ok if it was raining or snowing, but it takes away from the live experience. A window suite is like a oceanfront hotel room, where you can see the oceanfront if you look out the windo, but otherwise wouldn't know it was there!

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Pia1913

Pia1913

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True, but since all cabins with balconies are sold out, and they have in all likelihood oversold both the minis and balconies (they always do), they will need to try to come up with balconies. The only way I can see that happening is to get some balcony or mini passengers to move up to a window suite or offer move overs to another date.

 

Moving folks from ocean view cabins into the window suites wouldn't open up any balconies.

 

Under those circumstances, balcony people get moveover offers. They will not take a balcony away. Ever.

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scanditaly

scanditaly

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we were upgraded in a very nice Waikiki hotel from a tiny balcony room to a HUGE two room suite with no balcony. Very miXed feelings. Loved the room and really utilized all the space, BUT D spend more time down at the pool bar including spending more $$$

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PunkiC

PunkiC

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Under those circumstances, balcony people get moveover offers. They will not take a balcony away. Ever.

 

Pia, my instinct is to agree with you--if you have a balcony guarantee, they must give you a balcony--but my travel agent says this is not so.

 

She quoted the Princess language:

 

"GUARANTEE

 

If there are no available staterooms, or if you prefer not to choose a particular one, you can guarantee a room in this category (with the opportunity for a free upgrade if it becomes available) by selecting the option below:"

 

Her interpretation is that Princess can either give you a balcony or "upgrade" you to a higher category, i.e., window suite. She went on to say that while she has never seen anyone "upgraded" from a balcony to a window suite, and is aware that this would make some people very angry, the reality is that if Princess ever chose to do this, they would be covered by the above language.

 

It will be interesting to watch the movement in availability over the next few days.

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PunkiC

PunkiC

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I became so curious on this point that I called Princess and they confirmed that if you booked a balcony guarantee or mini guarantee, they could indeed and would move you into a window suite if it suited them, without asking. They went on to say that it would be unlikely that a balcony guarantee would result in a window suite, because the computer would start "upgrading" those in mini guarantees first, but it could happen.

 

This will make watching the movement of cabin availability on our upcoming cruise even more interesting.

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caribill

caribill

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I became so curious on this point that I called Princess and they confirmed that if you booked a balcony guarantee or mini guarantee, they could indeed and would move you into a window suite if it suited them, without asking.

 

I wonder how accurate that information was as, so far, nobody on cruise critic has posted it happened to them without asking.

 

CC participants are only about 5% of those on Princess ships, but if this was happening, I think someone would have posted.

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macjunkie

macjunkie

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On another thread, we have been discussing dubious upgrades and the new ability to request an upgrade only to a higher category, such as a balcony to a mini suite as opposed to a higher grade balcony in what Princess considers to be a superior location but we might not.

 

Someone wondered about the possibility of ending up in a Window Suite, to some a wonderful upgrade from a standard balcony, to others like myself a move that would have me pretty upset. I need my balcony!

 

So, people, would you be happy to move from a typical balcony cabin to a more spacious and luxurious suite WITH NO BALCONY?

 

The last Princess cruise we went on our TA said this was a strong possibility so we asked not to be upgraded as not having a balcony in Alaska for us would be a deal breaker

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PunkiC

PunkiC

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I wonder how accurate that information was as, so far, nobody on cruise critic has posted it happened to them without asking.

 

CC participants are only about 5% of those on Princess ships, but if this was happening, I think someone would have posted.

 

caribill, judging from the competence of my travel agent and the Princess CSR with whom I spoke (and I am a pretty good judge of competence) I think the information is pretty accurate.

 

They both said it would be highly unlikely, but that it could happen and that the guarantee language is written to cover an upgrade (without discussion) from a balcony guarantee or a mini guarantee to a window suite without repercussions to Princess.

 

They also mentioned that some ships have a few minis without balconies and it would be possible for a balcony guarantee to be "upgraded" to one of those cabins. They both sounded like they really knew their stuff.

 

It sounds as though macjunkie's agent gave him/her the same information.

 

I am curious, macjunkie, what ship were you sailing to Alaska?

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Coral "Live from...." Rare

Coral

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caribill, judging from the competence of my travel agent and the Princess CSR with whom I spoke (and I am a pretty good judge of competence) I think the information is pretty accurate.

 

They also mentioned that some ships have a few minis without balconies and it would be possible for a balcony guarantee to be "upgraded" to one of those cabins. They both sounded like they really knew their stuff.

 

 

It won't happen! They used insides and outsides to upgrade people to cabins with out balconies. My friend just returned from a Panama Canal and booked an outside cabin. He received a mini suite with out a balcony.

 

And you will not be able to tell by watching availability on a website on who gets the window suites. If the mini suites and balconies are truly overbooked and enough people don't cancel via illness (they know a certain percentage do this for each sailing), then they offer move over offers or call and ask if they will take a Window Suite which is rare. They won't auto upgrade balconies or mini suites to Window Suites.

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socialworker

socialworker

Posted
Posted

I find this discussion interesting because we just accepted an upsell offer from Princess to move from an obstructed oceanview to a window suite on the Golden on 1/16/13 r/t LA-Hawaii. Obviously we didn't have a balcony so we weren't giving up anything but one window for two windows and almost no amenities for a whole bunch of wonderful amenities.

 

We've done all types of cabins, although we've never had a suite before, so the category isn't much of an issue for us. In all honesty, we're just happy being onboard.

 

Thanks, Princess!!

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