Deluxe Balcony cabins on Sky and Enchanted

[emeraldlake]

It seems that all deluxe balcony cabins on Sky and Enchanted Princess are on Reserve only for 2020 and 2021 cruises. 

Does anyone know why Princess is doing this?  Is this something that is regularly done when a new ship is deployed?

 

[Colo Cruiser]

24 minutes ago, emeraldlake said:

It seems that all deluxe balcony cabins on Sky and Enchanted Princess are on Reserve only for 2020 and 2021 cruises. 

Does anyone know why Princess is doing this?  Is this something that is regularly done when a new ship is deployed?

 

The Princess website is really screwed up for bookings on these 2 new ships.

Have been trying to book a Med cruise on the enchanted for fall of 21. 

Trying to book 21 or 28 day cruise and most cabins show sold out or a GTY but they are not sold out. They have them held for the 7 day segments that make up the 21/28 day.

Have my TA working in it.

Also try putting in 3 or 4 in the cabin. Sometimes that will cause actual cabins to show up.

[emeraldlake]

Princess will not budge on opening cabins for longer cruises that are made up of more than one segment.

My TA and I have tried several times and they will not open a cabin.  Guess they are trying to make you

book as more than one cruise which is more expensive if you really want that cabin. 

 

It just seems that all the other cabin types are available except for deluxe balcony cabins which are all

"Reserve" for 2020 and 2021 and when you call Princess there is no answer as to why.  

[Colo Cruiser]

2 minutes ago, emeraldlake said:

Princess will not budge on opening cabins for longer cruises that are made up of more than one segment.

My TA and I have tried several times and they will not open a cabin.  Guess they are trying to make you

book as more than one cruise which is more expensive if you really want that cabin. 

 

It just seems that all the other cabin types are available except for deluxe balcony cabins which are all

"Reserve" for 2020 and 2021 and when you call Princess there is no answer as to why.  

I think it depends on how much clout a TA has with Princess and who they talk to.

We have had some luck in getting them to release cabins for the longer cruises.

[idahospud]

4 minutes ago, emeraldlake said:

Princess will not budge on opening cabins for longer cruises that are made up of more than one segment.

My TA and I have tried several times and they will not open a cabin.  Guess they are trying to make you

book as more than one cruise which is more expensive if you really want that cabin. 

 

It just seems that all the other cabin types are available except for deluxe balcony cabins which are all

"Reserve" for 2020 and 2021 and when you call Princess there is no answer as to why.  

I've tried as well, and you're right, Princess is not budging. They have blocked out certain decks for the different lengths. For example, a 21 day Med on the Enchanted will let you into the Caribe MA minisuite cabins, but the 14 day will mostly only let you into the Riviera and Marina MA cabins. 

 

I'm hoping they start releasing cabins later on. But now, when the schedule has first come out? Highly unlikely.

Edited August 18, 2019 by idahospud

[nini]

I know the reason!!!!!!! Guess what- this is NEW Princess thing and it REALLY

upsets me! You can now only reserve Premium Deluxe Balconies if you have a minimum 

of 3 in your party, if that particular Premium Deluxe can hold more than 2 passengers.

SURPRISE! 

They are trying to maximize their profit. New tactic. I am not pleased.

[emeraldlake]

I just called Princess again and was now told that ALL Deluxe Balcony cabins on Sky and Enchanted for 2020 and 2021 can only be booked as Guarantee.  The cruise planner I talked to said to book as guarantee and when you get your assignment you can either try to change cabins or cancel.  WHAT???  This does not make any sense so far in advance. 

 

I too am not pleased with these new tactics.  

Edited August 18, 2019 by emeraldlake
x

[Colo Cruiser]

4 minutes ago, emeraldlake said:

I just called Princess again and was now told that ALL Deluxe Balcony cabins on Sky and Enchanted for 2020 and 2021 can only be booked as Guarantee.  The cruise planner I talked to said to book as guarantee and when you get your assignment you can either try to change cabins or cancel.  WHAT???  This does not make any sense so far in advance. 

 

I too am not pleased with these new tactics.  

Cruise Planners or PVP's are powerless in their position.

Some have never even stepped foot on a Princess cruise.

[emeraldlake]

24 minutes ago, nini said:

I know the reason!!!!!!! Guess what- this is NEW Princess thing and it REALLY

upsets me! You can now only reserve Premium Deluxe Balconies if you have a minimum 

of 3 in your party, if that particular Premium Deluxe can hold more than 2 passengers.

SURPRISE! 

They are trying to maximize their profit. New tactic. I am not pleased.

Yes, you are correct.  I just tried to book Deluxe Balcony and Deluxe Balcony obstructed.  If you put in 3 passengers, they will 

come up.  Now I am even madder than before.

[idahospud]

7 minutes ago, emeraldlake said:

I just called Princess again and was now told that ALL Deluxe Balcony cabins on Sky and Enchanted for 2020 and 2021 can only be booked as Guarantee.  The cruise planner I talked to said to book as guarantee and when you get your assignment you can either try to change cabins or cancel.  WHAT???  This does not make any sense so far in advance. 

 

I too am not pleased with these new tactics.  

Did you talk to your TA yet? Sometimes we can call (we have a special number, not the standard Princess phone #) and get access to cabins not showing on our system or on Princess.com. With that being said, the new bookings for Sky and Enchanted have been a pain in the bum all around for us as well. They have really tightened up availability on those ships.

Edited August 18, 2019 by idahospud

[Colo Cruiser]

2 minutes ago, idahospud said:

Did you talk to your TA yet? Sometimes we can call (we have a special number, not the standard Princess phone #) and get access to cabins not showing on our system or on Princess.com. With that being said, the new bookings for Sky and Enchanted have been a pain in the bum all around for us as well. They have really tightened up availability on those ships.

A real head scratcher.

They sell cruises but then they act like they don't want to.  🤔

[Steelers36]

3 minutes ago, emeraldlake said:

Yes, you are correct.  I just tried to book Deluxe Balcony and Deluxe Balcony obstructed.  If you put in 3 passengers, they will 

come up.  Now I am even madder than before.

What happens if you book a third person (e.g., son/daughter) and then drop them later ("Sorry, can't make the cruise"), before Final Payment?

 

[Steelers36]

You all are talking about Enchanted and Sky off in the future.  When Princess opened up WC sales for Island in 2021, they only released a very few cabins and now they sit there either showing Sold Out or virtually that.  But it certainly is not the case.

 

[nini]

I spoke with our TA and she said that this is a new Princess tactic/ policy. and,

yes, if the third person cancels you may lose your cabin and be moved.

[antsp]

We have just booked the Sky for April 2020, we have booed DW cat, when I started looking only 2 of us where travelling, only guarantees where available. Our dd is coming back from CO for the summer so she has decided to sail back to Europe, as soon as we put 3 pax in the cabin it would let us choose from all the availability, and we had loads of choice. So I’m not sure what the reasons are for the guarantee only situation, makes no sense. 

[dreaminofcruisin]

Either this was a very recent change or it depends on the itinerary.

We have a Premium Deluxe cabin booked (selected the cabin) for Februrary 2020 on the Sky and there are only 2 of us....

This is Western Caribbean if that makes a difference, though it does now look like balconies on the cruise are nearly sold out. I suspect it is because it is a new ship.

I booked it on July 4th.

[Steelers36]

I always hope every possible berth is not in use when we sail.

 

[MJSailors]

    I posted a similar question about”Reserved” cabins being noted on a British Isles cruise for Spring of 2020 on the Regal Princess.

I tried booking a Deluxe Balcony or a Premium Deluxe balcony and it showed those categories as “Reserved”. I called Princess and asked the rep as to why I couldn't choose a cabin in either of those two categories. She had no answer.

I then asked if Reserved meant Guarantee and she said yes. So,why aren’t they using the term Guarantee ?

   Some posters responded that they could book online for those categories and suggested it may have been due to the particular date of sailing I wanted. My DH and I further discussed this cruise and decided we would not proceed with booking it.

     We are in a mid-ship mini-Suite on the Sky for the March 7 cruise. I first looked at the available cabins on the Princess web site and did a dummy booking. I then called Princess and booked the cruise with the cabin that we wanted. This was done last November. I had no problems booking, there was no mention of Reserved.

This seems to be a fairly recent issue with Princess. It is not something that I find favorable as I like to find an acceptable cabin before I speak with  a Princess rep to book a cruise.

[Ride-The-Waves]

Princess has been screwing up the booking process since they began "originating" cruise segments from different ports on the same cruise.  We are doing one in September which has 5 different start dates, two from the same port.  Confuses the booking clerks as well as those posting and commenting on CC.  Its truly horrible.  Over a month ago we booked a B2B on Enchanted and looking at options the cabin category we wanted was open on both segments but if we wanted to book the B2B, a cruise option offered by Princess, none were available.  Finally able to book the category and in fact the same cabin for both segments through our TA.  Princess appears to making this much more difficult than needed.

[MCC retired]

4 hours ago, Colo Cruiser said:

I think it depends on how much clout a TA has with Princess and who they talk to.

We have had some luck in getting them to release cabins for the longer cruises.

Correct !

A Top Producer TA will have Princess contacts that can do wonders at times solving 

problems like this , and costs you nothing  .

[nukesubsailor]

Last May I tried to book a specific penthouse suite on the Enchanted Princess for two back-to-back 14 day cruises.  Princess said if I wanted that cabin for the 28 days, I had to book it as four 7 day cruises.

[deliver42]

I tried booking the Enchantment or the Sky for Jan, 2121, and couldn't pick a cabin in the Deluxe catagory. I went with HAL instead. Not playing Princess' games.

[Colo Cruiser]

21 minutes ago, nukesubsailor said:

Last May I tried to book a specific penthouse suite on the Enchanted Princess for two back-to-back 14 day cruises.  Princess said if I wanted that cabin for the 28 days, I had to book it as four 7 day cruises.

Unacceptable!!

[nukesubsailor]

58 minutes ago, nukesubsailor said:

Last May I tried to book a specific penthouse suite on the Enchanted Princess for two back-to-back 14 day cruises.  Princess said if I wanted that cabin for the 28 days, I had to book it as four 7 day cruises.

If Princess thinks they saved money on the onboard credits by making me book four 7 day cruises rather than two 14 day cruises, then they need to do better research.  While they saved $200 on the veteran and shareholders credits they will pay $200 more in loyalty credits.  Since I never was given the chance to compare the fares for 7 versus 14 day cruises at the time, I don't know if there was any difference in the totals.   The Princess web site still shows N/A when I try to see prices for any of the 14 penthouse suites in the mid aft section of the ship.  That is the section where my travel agent did book a suite for the four 7-day cruises.  Makes no sense to me.

[Colo Cruiser]

1 hour ago, Ride-The-Waves said:

Princess has been screwing up the booking process since they began "originating" cruise segments from different ports on the same cruise.  We are doing one in September which has 5 different start dates, two from the same port.  Confuses the booking clerks as well as those posting and commenting on CC.  Its truly horrible.  Over a month ago we booked a B2B on Enchanted and looking at options the cabin category we wanted was open on both segments but if we wanted to book the B2B, a cruise option offered by Princess, none were available.  Finally able to book the category and in fact the same cabin for both segments through our TA.  Princess appears to making this much more difficult than needed.

The segments are not new.