Sapphire Princess Staying In OZ Winter 2020?

[sewgood]

33 minutes ago, datone said:

   A full suite that has cost us less than $100 each per day!    As we often sail inside will have to make the most of this.    Probably the only time we get to experience this as we are reluctant to pay the usual suite prices.

How lovely. I am so pleased for you.

We have never sailed in a Princess suite before either. Just managed to get one today before thay ran out.

Last time we were on the Sapphire we did 37 days in an obstructed view. This will be a bit of a change.

I am going to take my time at breakfast.

Enjoy your cruise.

[datone]

13 minutes ago, sewgood said:

We have never sailed in a Princess suite before either. Just managed to get one today before thay ran out.

Last time we were on the Sapphire we did 37 days in an obstructed view. This will be a bit of a change.

I am going to take my time at breakfast.

Enjoy your cruise.

 

Pleased to hear you grabbed a suite.   Our last cruise was an inside so big change for us too.   Yes - looking forward to the Sabatinis breakfast.

[aussierangers]

Yes a bit stressful but by 3.30pm all was working fine, booked direct and got exactly what we wanted Syd-Fiji 12 nights. Our first time in a balcony cabin, we are usually "insiders" but these prices meant we could splurge.  Really looking forward to a relaxing leisurely winter cruise, a nice bonus as we werent expecting to do anything till much later in the year.

Booking and confirmation all done very quickly as were EZAir flights. Does anyone know if these Sapphire cruises are gratuity free, ie is the ship considered to be "based" in Australia? I read conflicting advice. And I notice that we are not being offered MedallionNet via Personaliser yet, even though it will be fitted before we sail. 

Grateful to all you keyboard jockeys who kept us informed today of booking status, meant I didnt have to keep checking and watching nothing but a blank screen and spinning wheel while my dreams of sun and sand in July started drifting away.  

Hope everyone gets what they want!

[Relaxing Robbies]

58 minutes ago, aussierangers said:

Does anyone know if these Sapphire cruises are gratuity free, ie is the ship considered to be "based" in Australia? I read conflicting advice. And I notice that we are not being offered MedallionNet via Personaliser yet, even though it will be fitted before we sail.

My travel summaries say onboard currency is AUD, so yes Australian based cruises and no gratuities.

For our Perth to Sydney booking we chose the Value fare including the wifi and drinks package. Never had a drinks package before, but seemed like a good deal.

 

We also booked the 4 day Perth down to Albany and Margaret River so we have a b2b. For this the Value offer wasn’t available, but we snagged a good deal on an aft Vista suite on that one. Never had a suite before, so that will be fun.

 

It sure was a stressful time trying to secure bookings. At first I had the computer and 2 ipads trying the Princess website while on hold to them on the telephone. Finally realised it would be easier through my travel agent. She secured what I needed fairly quickly when I messaged her, and there was also some obc available. Happy camper here.

[subaru94]

1 hour ago, Relaxing Robbies said:

My travel summaries say onboard currency is AUD, so yes Australian based cruises and no gratuities.

For our Perth to Sydney booking we chose the Value fare including the wifi and drinks package. Never had a drinks package before, but seemed like a good deal.

 

We also booked the 4 day Perth down to Albany and Margaret River so we have a b2b. For this the Value offer wasn’t available, but we snagged a good deal on an aft Vista suite on that one. Never had a suite before, so that will be fun.

 

It sure was a stressful time trying to secure bookings. At first I had the computer and 2 ipads trying the Princess website while on hold to them on the telephone. Finally realised it would be easier through my travel agent. She secured what I needed fairly quickly when I messaged her, and there was also some obc available. Happy camper here.

We were the same intention was to book directly with Princess, emailed my travel agent who rang me back while I was waiting for Princess, so booked with her, very happy as really enjoyed the Sapphire Princess, will be third time on this ship for us.

[OzKiwiJJ]

With this event many people who usually book direct with Princess were disadvantaged. I am still waiting for a call back from Princess from about 2:45pm when I finally got through to someone after sitting on the phone for over 3 hours in the queue. Luckily about 15 minutes before I got through to Princess I shot off a Plan B request for booking to one of the online TAs for the cruise I wanted -the 30 night Round Australia from Sydney. I have got a guarantee cabin with them but their booking conditions, ie final payment date three months earlier than the Princess final payment date, is a bit tough. Unfortunately that cruise is now showing as sold out so even if Princess do get back to me I probably have zero chance of getting a booking under the usual Princess terms. Not happy! 😡

[cheznandy]

9 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

With this event many people who usually book direct with Princess were disadvantaged. I am still waiting for a call back from Princess from about 2:45pm when I finally got through to someone after sitting on the phone for over 3 hours in the queue. Luckily about 15 minutes before I got through to Princess I shot off a Plan B request for booking to one of the online TAs for the cruise I wanted -the 30 night Round Australia from Sydney. I have got a guarantee cabin with them but their booking conditions, ie final payment date three months earlier than the Princess final payment date, is a bit tough. Unfortunately that cruise is now showing as sold out so even if Princess do get back to me I probably have zero chance of getting a booking under the usual Princess terms. Not happy! 😡

If you are using a FCD, you may be able to get around the early final payment. When that time is due, call and ask if you can extend it inline with when Princess require it, even if it means paying the Princes deposit equivalent.

I have also called after booking when I noticed the date and asked to change the final payment date and they have done so, with OZ and Guru.

[OzKiwiJJ]

11 minutes ago, cheznandy said:

If you are using a FCD, you may be able to get around the early final payment. When that time is due, call and ask if you can extend it inline with when Princess require it, even if it means paying the Princes deposit equivalent.

I have also called after booking when I noticed the date and asked to change the final payment date and they have done so, with OZ and Guru.

Thanks, Chez. I'm hoping to use an FCD so I can get the OBC which is a decent amount on a 30 night cruise. Hopefully I can negotiate the final payment date as well. I don't mind paying a week or so earlier than the Princess date but three months is ridiculously early. 

[subaru94]

We have never booked directly with Princess, how long before a cruise does Princess normally require final payment please?  We are cruising in June and TA final payment due 6th April?

[aussiecruiser275]

clearly it was a busy day for Princess

 

Precious Sapphire PRINCESS Cruises has seen a record booking day for the line, with tickets going on sale yesterday for Sapphire Princess’ redeployment to Australia (CW 19 Feb). 

https://issues.cruiseweekly.com.au/2020/Feb20/cw280220.pdf

 

[thistledoo]

40 minutes ago, aussiecruiser275 said:

clearly it was a busy day for Princess

Yes, their marketing team got the demand wildly wrong.  They need a good kick up their backsides.

[icat2000]

Well we have confirmed our booking with Princess. I did hold a couple of cruises as it was so hard trying to book and we weren't decided on which ones. 

 

But we went for Coral Coast 10 day cruise on 27 July 2020. We going in a Suite. While this cruise was a little bit more expensive than the other Coral Coast sailing dates (Pete couldn't get time off then). The cruise price still works out at $175 pp per day for a Suite. Probably first and last time I ever be able to cruise in Suite. 

[badgerbill]

In for a penny in for a pound .... I checked out airfares and accom for a couple of nights in Perth for our Jun 8 over the top and  decided it was much more cost effective, and satisfying, to book the 4 night Western Australia Getaway before it.... that's my story and I am sticking with it.... 😉😇😁

[thistledoo]

We've got our gty mini suite confirmed for across the top 8 June.  Air s booked with points, just need to find some accomm in Fremantle for 2 nights.  Happy campers.

[Witchymob]

We have managed to get the cruise we wanted, got the local agent to do it as I couldn't get the website to work.  Booked 10 night coral coast on 27th July in a mini suite.  Happy with the price. We had already booked our cruise in September on the Sea Princess in a mini suite and the Sapphire one has come out cheaper.  At the moment Broome is about as far from home as I am comfortable travelling and fingers crossed everything works  out.  Maybe Princess will get the message that cruises from Western Australia are popular in winter so we can get away from the wintery weather when businesses are quiet and there is no danger of bushfires. 

[getting older slowly]

Glad to hear some of you got great bargains..

 

We got two shorter cruises from Melbourne for a B2B in a suite

 

No a bad deal only about 25-30% off... but we are happy with that

 

So deposit payed now, so have three cruises booked for this year... so all is good

 

Cheers Don

[bazshirl2]

5 hours ago, icat2000 said:

Well we have confirmed our booking with Princess. I did hold a couple of cruises as it was so hard trying to book and we weren't decided on which ones. 

 

But we went for Coral Coast 10 day cruise on 27 July 2020. We going in a Suite. While this cruise was a little bit more expensive than the other Coral Coast sailing dates (Pete couldn't get time off then). The cruise price still works out at $175 pp per day for a Suite. Probably first and last time I ever be able to cruise in Suite. 

Hope to see you on and Pete on this cruise. We also booked a mini suite. For us this replaces an October Freo to Melb 6 day cruise on the Sapphire which was cancelled as it followed the cancelled Asian cruises. 25% FCC compensation helped.

We are also booked on 7th July sailing Sydney to Freo and used FCC's to replace Melb-Syd-Freo booking on Sapphire departing March 2021. Have saved several $k's so very happy campers.

Winter sailings in far northern Aus are the way to go particularly if you live in Ballarat or Melbourne. Hopefully Princess will redeploy in future.

We trust all who booked on these cruises are well pleased and enjoy their experiences.

Shirley and Barry

[datone]

9 hours ago, icat2000 said:

But we went for Coral Coast 10 day cruise on 27 July 2020. We going in a Suite. While this cruise was a little bit more expensive than the other Coral Coast sailing dates (Pete couldn't get time off then). The cruise price still works out at $175 pp per day for a Suite. Probably first and last time I ever be able to cruise in Suite. 

 

We are on that one too in a Vista Suite on Dolphin Deck.   Yes - one of the few times where suites are priced well below usual and thought we might as well grab the opportunity.    Doing a back to back and staying on for the 4-night one afterwards down to Margaret River.   

[OzKiwiJJ]

On 2/28/2020 at 8:36 AM, subaru94 said:

We have never booked directly with Princess, how long before a cruise does Princess normally require final payment please?  We are cruising in June and TA final payment due 6th April?

It depends on the length of the cruise:

5 nights and less - 60 days prior

6-29 nights - 75 days prior

30+ nights - 90 days prior

[OzKiwiJJ]

Well, my ongoing saga of booking the 30 night Round Australia cruise.

 

I wasn't happy with the Oz place's terms for the guarantee cabin I had booked. Wanting final payment three months prior to the Princess final payment date was making me nervous about the viability of that company. I went to phone them this morning to discuss that and also using an FCD for the deposit. No call centre on weekends, only 8am to 5pm Mon-Fri. 😲

 

So I had a look on the Princess website and there were three inside cabins available. Underneath the main pool which is not an ideal location for me as I'm a light sleeper. However it's a cabin, not just a guarantee, and I'm hoping I can change to a better cabin if one becomes available over the next week or so.

 

I cancelled the Oz booking. 😁

[Busy Mum]

4 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Well, my ongoing saga of booking the 30 night Round Australia cruise.

 

I wasn't happy with the Oz place's terms for the guarantee cabin I had booked. Wanting final payment three months prior to the Princess final payment date was making me nervous about the viability of that company. I went to phone them this morning to discuss that and also using an FCD for the deposit. No call centre on weekends, only 8am to 5pm Mon-Fri. 😲

 

So I had a look on the Princess website and there were three inside cabins available. Underneath the main pool which is not an ideal location for me as I'm a light sleeper. However it's a cabin, not just a guarantee, and I'm hoping I can change to a better cabin if one becomes available over the next week or so.

 

I cancelled the Oz booking. 😁

How absolutely crazy not being open on a weekend, surely their busiest time! Fingers crossed you can get the inside stateroom you are after! 😊🤞

[subaru94]

46 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

It depends on the length of the cruise:

5 nights and less - 60 days prior

6-29 nights - 75 days prior

30+ nights - 90 days prior

My TA (oops nearly mentioned travel agent) just say they like flying.  payment due for June April, so pretty good.  Also now booked flights with princess ezy air.

[subaru94]

Hi Ozkiwi, I had a look at princess australia cruises on princess site, is there any reason you have not gone for a obstructed ocean view you are able to reserve them, and they are on deck 8, which we have been on before and have booked for our June cruise.

[cheznandy]

46 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Well, my ongoing saga of booking the 30 night Round Australia cruise.

 

I wasn't happy with the Oz place's terms for the guarantee cabin I had booked. Wanting final payment three months prior to the Princess final payment date was making me nervous about the viability of that company. I went to phone them this morning to discuss that and also using an FCD for the deposit. No call centre on weekends, only 8am to 5pm Mon-Fri. 😲

 

So I had a look on the Princess website and there were three inside cabins available. Underneath the main pool which is not an ideal location for me as I'm a light sleeper. However it's a cabin, not just a guarantee, and I'm hoping I can change to a better cabin if one becomes available over the next week or so.

 

I cancelled the Oz booking. 😁

I reckon you will see a whole lot of cabins become available tomorrow😉, it is the 1st March when the holds are up, lots of people put holds on lots of cabins that they have not deposited on.

Not sure what time, but keep looking!!

[datone]

50 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

So I had a look on the Princess website and there were three inside cabins available. Underneath the main pool which is not an ideal location for me as I'm a light sleeper. However it's a cabin, not just a guarantee, and I'm hoping I can change to a better cabin if one becomes available over the next week or so.

We had one of the sideways inside cabins under the pool area and never heard a thing and we are light sleepers.   I would take one of those cabins in a heartbeat over the usual inside ones.   They just seem so much roomier.   If it's one of them, (A506, A507, A512 or A515) I would consider holding onto it.