Chairs removed to make more room?

[Doug R.]

3 hours ago, cflutist said:

Regardless of the chair situation we are starting to book on other cruise lines.

Am in Sydney right now waiting to board the Majestic on Wednesday with 3600 other passengers. But really enjoyed our Land of the Midnight Sun cruise on the Pacific with 680 passengers, in an Owner's Suite.

Just returned from 15 nights in Antarctica on Silversea with 200 pax and 215 crew.

An all inclusive was very refreshing, no nickel and diming like on Princess, no EFFY, bingo, or art auction promotions. No casino.  Just two lounges and two entertainers at night, daily briefings, and lectures. All shorex/landings were included. Liked them so much that we booked a 18 night cruise to the Russian Far East, islands of the Bering sea, and Western Alaska on a ship with 140 pax.

Also have a 20 night booked on Oceania. Btw, all of their cabins have sofas and chairs.

Obviously you are an affluent cruiser. However those of us who are middle class have fewer options than you.  We are at the mercy of the mainstream lines and cannot flee to the luxury lines. I still love Princess, although I am cognizant of the cutbacks, and will continue to sail with her, unless Celebrity or another line has a more appealing itinerary.

[geocruiser]

3 hours ago, Doug R. said:

Obviously you are an affluent cruiser. However those of us who are middle class have fewer options than you.  We are at the mercy of the mainstream lines and cannot flee to the luxury lines. I still love Princess, although I am cognizant of the cutbacks, and will continue to sail with her, unless Celebrity or another line has a more appealing itinerary.

Like you I still love Princess.  But I have been looking a HAL again.  I will not pay a lot more for a cabin with two chairs in it while I can cruise another line and get more for my money and two chairs.

When choosing my next cruises I will first check Princess and then shop around.  Before this chair thing, over the past 5 years or so, I just booked with Princess.  Now that will change.  Since 2015 I have cruised Princess 16 times.  Before 2016 I spread my cruise with other lines and Princess Too (11 cruises on Princess before 2015).  But now the chair thing is a deciding factor for me. It really is too bad.  but that is the way is goes.  No chair, no cruise, other cruise line.

[cflutist]

4 hours ago, Doug R. said:

Obviously you are an affluent cruiser. However those of us who are middle class have fewer options than you.  We are at the mercy of the mainstream lines and cannot flee to the luxury lines. I still love Princess, although I am cognizant of the cutbacks, and will continue to sail with her, unless Celebrity or another line has a more appealing itinerary.

My TA says that all HAL cabins have sofas.

[Yukonjake]

Just off the Ruby last week. One chair at the desk, two on the balcony.

Edited March 11, 2019 by Yukonjake

[Loreni]

I think all of us, regardless of how much we budget for cruising, should make careful cost/benefit calculations.  I did before I decided to cruise with Princess 15 years ago.  After my initial substantial investment of time researching what each line offered, it was easy to stick with Princess because it made vacation planning less time consuming.  If I’m being completely honest, the loyalty program probably influenced my behavior as well.  It was easy to become complacent.  

 

Some lines that I had ruled out, like NCL and HAL, have changed in the last 15 years.   

In the case of NCL,  I would think the onboard experience would be very different when school is in session. Carnival, NCL, and MSC have all been able to provide a promenade deck on their new-builds.  Since they are family friendly lines, as in RC, they may have more comfortable rooms.  I can schedule my travel when school is in session.  

 

I have so much research to do.

 

 

[MissP22]

1 hour ago, Yukonjake said:

Just off the Ruby last week. One chair at the desk, two on the balcony.

That sounds OK to me. Just bring in 1 chair from the balcony.

Problem solved. 

[Loreni]

Or bring a chair.  Problem solved.

[geocruiser]

22 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

That sounds OK to me. Just bring in 1 chair from the balcony.

Problem solved. 

It does not solve the problem for me.  I don't find that moving a chair in and out of the balcony is a solution.  Because:

1.  This is a cruise line that states "come back new"  .  I am not in the furniture moving business.

Ex. Move the chair inside.  Then there is one chair on the balcony for two people.  Then move it outside.  Inside, outside, back and forth.  Not for me.

2.  There will be some PAX who can not move the chair back and forth.

3.  Rain and salt on the chair, at times.

4. Inside cabins don't have a balcony to get the chair from.

5. How to solve the problem--two chairs inside the cabin.

[jeeper2]

57 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

That sounds OK to me. Just bring in 1 chair from the balcony.

Problem solved. 

A few years ago we were up in arms about the uncomfortable replacement balcony furniture.  Some folks decided to forgo a balcony room in favor of an outside cabin (no longer an option on the Royal Class) and a spot in the Sanctuary.  In my opinion, a balcony chair is a worse option than the bed for seating, and a second seat is needed.  

 

These days we typically book a mini-suite, and occasionally a suite, for the additional space, tub, and seating.  However, on a shorter itinerary, I would book a balcony.  The closet / dressing area is the reason a sofa is not possible, but I do love that area!

[stoneharborlady]

1 hour ago, MissP22 said:

That sounds OK to me. Just bring in 1 chair from the balcony.

Problem solved. 

I dont think so, not exactly a comfortable chair for your cabin.

[Kingofcool1947]

1 hour ago, geocruiser said:

It does not solve the problem for me.  I don't find that moving a chair in and out of the balcony is a solution.  Because:

1.  This is a cruise line that states "come back new"  .  I am not in the furniture moving business.

Ex. Move the chair inside.  Then there is one chair on the balcony for two people.  Then move it outside.  Inside, outside, back and forth.  Not for me.

2.  There will be some PAX who can not move the chair back and forth.

3.  Rain and salt on the chair, at times.

4. Inside cabins don't have a balcony to get the chair from.

5. How to solve the problem--two chairs inside the cabin.

 

19 minutes ago, stoneharborlady said:

I dont think so, not exactly a comfortable chair for your cabin.

 

6.  The easiest....find a cruise line that has two cabin chairs in the cabin category  you usually book.    

 “ If you talk the talk, then you gotta walk the walk .”   

Enjoy your cruise.

 

 

Edited March 11, 2019 by Kingofcool1947

[stoneharborlady]

8 minutes ago, Kingofcool1947 said:

 

 

6.  The easiest....find a cruise line that has two cabin chairs in the cabin category  you usually book.    

 

I really think that will be the answer for most people from now on.

[senior lady]

1 hour ago, geocruiser said:

It does not solve the problem for me.  I don't find that moving a chair in and out of the balcony is a solution.  Because:

1.  This is a cruise line that states "come back new"  .  I am not in the furniture moving business.

Ex. Move the chair inside.  Then there is one chair on the balcony for two people.  Then move it outside.  Inside, outside, back and forth.  Not for me.

2.  There will be some PAX who can not move the chair back and forth.

3.  Rain and salt on the chair, at times.

4. Inside cabins don't have a balcony to get the chair from.

5. How to solve the problem--two chairs inside the cabin.

Inside cabins never had the "barrel" chair

[geocruiser]

40 minutes ago, Kingofcool1947 said:

 

 

6.  The easiest....find a cruise line that has two cabin chairs in the cabin category  you usually book.    

 “ If you talk the talk, then you gotta walk the walk .”   

Enjoy your cruise.

 

 

I love you answer and we are walking the walk.  For us it all boils down to the fare.  A good rate in a cabin with a love seat and a chair, sold!  If not, we walk.  I have been cruising for 40 plus years and have been on many lines. So going to another line is not hard.  My world does not end if I don't sail on Princess. I have one more cruise on Princess to book (cruise credit from cancel for any reason ins.)  After that I am a free agent again!

[geocruiser]

29 minutes ago, senior lady said:

Inside cabins never had the "barrel" chair

I did not know that.  I have not been in a inside cabin for years.  Thanks for the info.

[Geoffa30]

Does this thread win the award for the thread with the most pages ever?!

 

BTW before anyone flames me, I agree that removing the chairs is a super dumb thing to do.

[voljeep]

23 minutes ago, geocruiser said:

I did not know that.  I have not been in a inside cabin for years.  Thanks for the info.

agreed - 96.4% of CC posters are elite and book a deluxe balcony cabin at least ... and a large portion of that book CC mini-suites or full suites ...

 

we're in the 3.6 % insides ... but in the 96.4 on our next cruise !!!  woo-hoo

 

well, except for that elite part ... still lowly platinum ...

Edited March 11, 2019 by voljeep

[4cats4me]

1 hour ago, senior lady said:

Inside cabins never had the "barrel" chair

 

33 minutes ago, geocruiser said:

I did not know that.  I have not been in a inside cabin for years.  Thanks for the info.

 

This is inaccurate information, because we did have barrel chairs in our inside cabins in 2014, Grand Princess.  There is also a YouTube video that depicts chairs in the inside cabins on either the Grand or Golden, and I attached the video link last week but then took it down, as I realized a few mins later it was from a Travel agency advertising its services, but when the camera panned, the chair was wedged between the vanity and the wall at the corner of the bed, a very tight squeeze for sure, but the chair was present. 

I have seen other videos that depict the insides without a chair, too, the four-person cabins, for obvious reasons, and also some two person cabins, but I do know for a fact that we did have the chair, and yes, it was a very tight squeeze for sure. 

Edited March 11, 2019 by 4cats4me

[oskidunker]

Although I have always had a balcony or mini suite my bad luck was to book two obstructed view rooms in the next two cruises. If I had known the chair was being removed, I would not have done this. One cruise is sold out this March and the one in July has 2 Balcony rooms left at an increase in cost of almost $2500.00 Per person for a 14 day cruise. So I am hoping that after the final payment, some balconies might open up at a decent price.My travel agent says 25% do not make the final payment. I would have though this was lower 

 

One note though. My Mexico cruise this month though sold out has 28 people on a wait list for Balcony and above per my travel agent. these are not new people but people seeking to get away from the 1 chair rooms. SO maybe this is their strategy. Lower classes may be harder to sell, at least to people that are here.

[Thrak]

While we would love to solve the issue by simply booking a mini suite or a full suite my retirement income simply doesn't allow that. I could easily do it if we only cruised once a year but that's not the case. This year we are booked for a 15 day Connoisseur Cruise Tour to Alaska, a 12 day Search for the Northern Lights cruise out of Southampton, and a 12 day Spanish Passage (TA from Barcelona to FLL) which includes 4 days in Barcelona. I could easily afford to book a mini (or even a full suite) for one of those but, given that we are booked for all 3 that just isn't an option. We would rather have more cruises in a regular balcony, an OV, or even an inside than be stuck with only one cruise this year.

[Colo Cruiser]

I agree!

[voljeep]

# 1000 - wow , just wow

[Wishing on a star]

Yes....   Thank you deliver42.

You can't say. "well, it is the whole 'cruise' thing",  when Princess is the only one.

[caribill]

12 hours ago, MissP22 said:

 

Maybe we can go to the buffet and at least take up space sitting down.

 

Sit in the Atrium instead. If the Atrium is full of those needing two chairs in the cabin, tell Princess why you are sitting there if someone asks.

[jwattle]

7 hours ago, Loreni said:

Or bring a chair.  Problem solved.

Mmmm...no.

I don't bring my furniture when I travel.