Enchanted Itineraries Changed! Good Grief! Head spinning!

[steveww48]

It's possible that Enchanted sailings during October 2021 are unaffected by these changes. I'm booked on the 10/2/21 sailing (Barcelona to Rome) and I've received no communication from Princess regarding any changes (I booked directly with Princess). My booking (as of this moment) is intact, with no changes to the itinerary. However, my cruise is currently showing "Sold Out" along with the other Enchanted sailings.

 

I've downloaded the Princess document that someone else posted which lists the new itineraries for Enchanted sailings starting May 8, 2021. These new itineraries run through September 25, 2021; also listed is the TA which departs from Barcelona on November 15, 2021. Nothing is listed for October 2021 in this document. Perhaps this ship isn't sailing at all during October 2021. Or perhaps the existing itineraries will be run during October. Or perhaps the sailings during October still will be altered in some fashion but Princess hasn't yet figured that out for some reason.

 

All of the new itineraries-- except for the TA-- have eliminated Barcelona as a starting or ending port. However, the new cruise that departs Rome on Sept 25th (Voyage N139) will end in Barcelona on Oct 2nd, which is when my cruise departs. So I'm hopeful that my currently booked cruise will go as planned. Of course tomorrow may bring more changes...

 

It appears to me that for some reason the Enchanted will not be using the Barcelona port during the Spring and Summer but will be using Barcelona starting in October. I wonder if that's a Princess decision or a decision by the port?

 

 

 

 

[Geoffa30]

Call me cynical but does anyone else think that they’ve cancelled the existing cruises so that they can just increase the prices of the new ones? After all, the Mediterranean itineraries aren’t that different than before. Other than being solely sailing from Rome of course.

[Esprit]

2 hours ago, Geoffa30 said:

Call me cynical but does anyone else think that they’ve cancelled the existing cruises so that they can just increase the prices of the new ones? After all, the Mediterranean itineraries aren’t that different than before. Other than being solely sailing from Rome of course.

Itineraries not different!

You clearly haven't looked at them properly. No Athens, Mykonos, Santorini, Kusedasi and Istanbul. Let alone the West Med' ports.

[FlorenceItaly]

I think it is in poor taste for Princess to not offer transfer and price protection from April TA to May TA.

[katepanda]

7 hours ago, Geoffa30 said:

Call me cynical but does anyone else think that they’ve cancelled the existing cruises so that they can just increase the prices of the new ones? After all, the Mediterranean itineraries aren’t that different than before. Other than being solely sailing from Rome of course.

Kind of getting the same idea. I saw the new itinerary posted and have decided to book with Norwegian for better ports/price now. No way I want to do Rome for 2-3 ports on a 14 day cruise, haha. 

[FlorenceItaly]

7 hours ago, Geoffa30 said:

Call me cynical but does anyone else think that they’ve cancelled the existing cruises so that they can just increase the prices of the new ones? After all, the Mediterranean itineraries aren’t that different than before. Other than being solely sailing from Rome of course.

Perhaps they think people will book a new ship at any cost.  They will be disappointed(imo)

[Ombud]

I had Sky TA for 3300. But when it was switched to cover the Crown TA (withv1 less port) it went up 700. I sincerely hope they don't do the same thing with the Enchanted TA -- it's already a month later with fewer ports, hope not a significant price increase

[FlorenceItaly]

Just now, Ombud said:

I had Sky TA for 3300. But when it was switched to cover the Crown TA (withv1 less port) it went up 700. I sincerely hope they don't do the same thing with the Enchanted TA -- it's already a month later with fewer ports, hope not a significant price increase

It will be interesting.  For comparison sake our S7(Window Suite) Enchanted 14 day TA we paid $2699pp before taxes, and later added gratuities and drink package for around $400pp.  We have no plans to book the May TA.

[karabear15]

We are extremely disappointed by this move. We were booked for a 7-day from Rome to Athens in late April for our Honeymoon. Now we have to head back to the Caribbean for sub par ports. Even if we were to wait a month for the Europe itinerary...its not even close in comparison.  

[nini]

9 hours ago, Esprit said:

Itineraries not different!

 

Esprit- At least I am happy for you. Our itinerary has only ONE

original port and that is Rome. Everything else is different, so

hardly what we would have selected. We really do not want to go

to another line. But one offers a fabulous similar itinerary; we just

are not crazy with the line. 😔

[Esprit]

1 hour ago, nini said:

Esprit- At least I am happy for you. Our itinerary has only ONE

original port and that is Rome. Everything else is different, so

hardly what we would have selected. We really do not want to go

to another line. But one offers a fabulous similar itinerary; we just

are not crazy with the line. 😔

I think you misinterpreted my post!

The itineraries are hugely different and many of our original ports of call have gone.

My response was to highlight that the itineraries had indeed changed.

 

[nini]

3 hours ago, Esprit said:

I think you misinterpreted my post!

The itineraries are hugely different and many of our original ports of call have gone.

My response was to highlight that the itineraries had indeed changed.

 

No problem. I just hope that we will all be sailing soon and

remain healthy.

[AtlantaCruiser72]

I feel like the new Enchanted Mediterranean 7 day itineraries are designed more to appeal to the EU/UK market who want a 7 day fun in the sun type of sailing closer to home and not really geared to US & Canadian travelers.  The same could be said for the northern Europe sailings all switching to Southampton.  There is a strong possibility that for much or all of the 2021 European season that US based travelers may not be able to travel to the EU/UK without a quarantine period upon arrival.  Princess are adjusting their schedule to be less dependent on multiple embarkation ports (allows for more consistent and cost effective application of health protocols at embarkation) to also account for fewer travelers from the US & potentially Canada as well

[Ken the cruiser]

11 minutes ago, AtlantaCruiser72 said:

There is a strong possibility that for much or all of the 2021 European season that US based travelers may not be able to travel to the EU/UK without a quarantine period upon arrival.  Princess are adjusting their schedule to be less dependent on multiple embarkation ports (allows for more consistent and cost effective application of health protocols at embarkation) to also account for fewer travelers from the US & potentially Canada as well

If this does turn out to be the case, I sure hope the UK and the EU let us folks know in the US and Canada that we will face quarantine restrictions well before our FPDD on our summer and fall cruises we have booked both in the Med out of Rome as well as in northern Europe leaving out of Southampton. That would really be a bummer if "they", whomever they might be, waited until March or April to let us know Europe is closed to travelers from the US and Canada without first quarantining for a predesignated period of time.

[vjmatty]

On 9/25/2020 at 1:41 AM, Geoffa30 said:

Call me cynical but does anyone else think that they’ve cancelled the existing cruises so that they can just increase the prices of the new ones? After all, the Mediterranean itineraries aren’t that different than before. Other than being solely sailing from Rome of course.

I thought about that.... but if that's their plan, they'd be taking a huge risk of people not booking another cruise. Plus the hassle and expense of Princess staff canceling and rebooking what could be perfectly good sailable cruises by the time we get there.....I just don't see them giving up so many "birds in the hand" to make a few more bucks when the cost of losing bookings could be so high.
 

What I don't get is why not just change the ships or itineraries without canceling the cruises? Then people could just decide if they want to keep their booking anyway and Princess wouldn't have to offer any goodwill. It seems they're making things a lot more complicated than  necessary. 

Edited September 26, 2020 by vjmatty

[Ken the cruiser]

I want to thank you @AtlantaCruiser72 for your above post #38. After I posted my comment, I went and did some research which quickly reminded me that most if not all EU and UK countries, in some form or fashion, are still closed to US tourists. 😵 Here's one of the links I found that seemed somewhat up-to-date as of 9/10/20:

 

https://thepointsguy.com/guide/places-americans-can-travel-internationally/

 

So, for Princess to be hedging their bets by redesigning their European itineraries to accommodate the potential for a slow reopening to US travelers to Europe makes good sense, even though it might cause some folks to get really upset, especially if the prices go up on the new itineraries. OTOH if Princess didn't make any changes and US tourists were not allowed to freely travel to Europe when the final payment for their applicable cruise was due, there would probably be a lot of US passenger cancellations which would definitely not be a good thing for Princess in so many ways. Besides that these changes might also give Princess an edge I would think to reserving the necessary pier space at Civitavecchia if other cruise lines decide to subsequently follow suit and alter their Med itineraries as well.

 

In any event, thanks for your thoughts as they helped me rationalize why Princess might be doing what they did.

Edited September 26, 2020 by Ken the cruiser

[atchisog]

I agree with Ken above, begs the question what is Princess Cruise's "thinking" about the voyages of the Island and Pacific in Europe 2021?  I'm booked on the Nov 8 2021 Island and I'm thinking it will be cancelled.

 

Thoughts?

[HS2BS]

Here is another scenario that Princess might be thinking about. Substitute the Enchanted for the Discovery! The build on the Discovery is well behind schedule, and it’s entry into the Market is not scheduled until 11/3/21 in Europe and then transitions to the Caribbean for only 4 weeks. From the Caribbean it begins a 50 day(3 segments beginning on 1/06/22) cruise around South America to Los Angles.
 

Hal

[steveww48]

2 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

I want to thank you @AtlantaCruiser72 for your above post #38. After I posted my comment, I went and did some research which quickly reminded me that most if not all EU and UK countries, in some form or fashion, are still closed to US tourists. 😵 Here's one of the links I found that seemed somewhat up-to-date as of 9/10/20:

 

https://thepointsguy.com/guide/places-americans-can-travel-internationally/

 

So, for Princess to be hedging their bets by redesigning their European itineraries to accommodate the potential for a slow reopening to US travelers to Europe makes good sense, even though it might cause some folks to get really upset, especially if the prices go up on the new itineraries. OTOH if Princess didn't make any changes and US tourists were not allowed to freely travel to Europe when the final payment for their applicable cruise was due, there would probably be a lot of US passenger cancellations which would definitely not be a good thing for Princess in so many ways. Besides that these changes might also give Princess an edge I would think to reserving the necessary pier space at Civitavecchia if other cruise lines decide to subsequently follow suit and alter their Med itineraries as well.

 

In any event, thanks for your thoughts as they helped me rationalize why Princess might be doing what they did.

 

Perhaps these changes are related to the pandemic but I wonder about that-- it seems to me that Princess would be making some fairly arbitrary guesses relating to which countries would be opening, and when.

 

As I noted in Post #26, one common thread linking all the changes is that Princess is now not using the port of Barcelona during the Spring and Summer of 2021, but Princess will be using Barcelona starting in October 2021. The two previously scheduled cruises from Barcelona in October 2021 (including the Oct 2nd departure, which I'm booked on) have now been re-instated (they are no longer listed as Sold Out), with no changes to their itineraries. And the new set of cruises includes the TA which leaves from Barcelona on Nov 15,  2021. But none of the other new cruises (spanning May thru Sept of 2021) include Barcelona.

 

So my guess as of now is that, for some reason, Princess has decided not to use Barcelona during the Spring and Summer of 2021 and that sparked all the re-schedulings.  Perhaps there are financial reasons for this or perhaps there is some work being done at the port during the Spring and Summer that limits utilization until October 2021.  Or perhaps it is pandemic-related in some fashion but it's not obvious what that might be.

 

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

5 minutes ago, steveww48 said:

 

Perhaps these changes are related to the pandemic but I wonder about that-- it seems to me that Princess would be making some fairly arbitrary guesses relating to which countries would be opening, and when.

 

As I noted in Post #26, one common thread linking all the changes is that Princess is now not using the port of Barcelona during the Spring and Summer of 2021, but Princess will be using Barcelona starting in October 2021. The two previously scheduled cruises from Barcelona in October 2021 (including the Oct 2nd departure, which I'm booked on) have now been re-instated (they are no longer listed as Sold Out), with no changes to their itineraries. And the new set of cruises includes the TA which leaves from Barcelona on Nov 15,  2021. But none of the other new cruises (spanning May thru Sept of 2021) include Barcelona.

 

So my guess as of now is that, for some reason, Princess has decided not to use Barcelona during the Spring and Summer of 2021 and that sparked all the re-schedulings.  Perhaps there are financial reasons for this or perhaps there is some work being done at the port during the Spring and Summer that limits utilization until October 2021.  Or perhaps it is pandemic-related in some fashion but it's not obvious what that might be.

Athens BTW was another embarkation port in the summer Med cruises that was removed which subsequently caused the elimination of some more popular Greek and Turkish ports such as the one we were booked on that went to Istanbul.

[AtlantaCruiser72]

Enchanted was basically deployed (initially) on a 21 day "interport" itinerary that you could book r/t Barcelona, Rome or Athens. You could then book 14 day segments from Barcelona to Athens, Rome to Barcelona or Athens to Rome, and then complicating things even more as 7 day segments from Barcelona to Rome, Rome to Athens and Athens to Barcelona.  Basically 9 different sailing options on one ship that rolled throughout the entire summer season with passengers beginning/ending various cruise length combos in each of those main ports.  This is a complicated enough approach during normal times let alone during a pandemic with heightened safety protocols.  I think the switch to Rome only departures was to simplify the shoreside aspect of boarding/disembarkation and helping to create a consistent "bubble" around the ship for health/safety protocols.  With the new itineraries there is one start/end port only and 3 itinerary options - 2 alternating 7 day itineraries that can be booked as a 14 day b2b.  This makes managing a reduced cabin inventory easier along with tracking health/safety related issues far less complex.

Edited September 26, 2020 by AtlantaCruiser72

[AtlantaCruiser72]

45 minutes ago, HS2BS said:

Here is another scenario that Princess might be thinking about. Substitute the Enchanted for the Discovery! The build on the Discovery is well behind schedule, and it’s entry into the Market is not scheduled until 11/3/21 in Europe and then transitions to the Caribbean for only 4 weeks. From the Caribbean it begins a 50 day(3 segments beginning on 1/06/22) cruise around South America to Los Angles.
 

Hal

 

Enchanted will NOT be replacing Discovery if she is delivered late.  If that happens Princess has the Enchanted Transatlantic for clients to rebook on, Sky/Caribbean 7 day Caribbean itineraries and Enchanted 10 day Southern Caribbean itineraries, and Majestic 7 day Mexico/California Coastal itineraries.  For South America there would be no direct replacement, but Diamond could be used as replacement for the "round the horn" Buenos Aires to Santiago portion if clients really want to go to deep South America on Princess.  When Princess announced the Majestic going to the US west coast and doing a full season of Mexico/California Coastal sailings that had direct overlap of Discovery's spring 2021 sailings in the same region it was a clear signal that they expect Discovery to be late to market.  Princess has no need for two Royal Class ships (capacity wise) doing 7 day cruises from LA.

 

I suspect Discovery will launch in Late Spring 2022 and spend the summer in Europe alongside Enchanted and Sky.  Where she goes after that is anyone's guess.  Originally she was being queued up to go to Alaska for summer 2022 along with Royal and Regal, but now Majestic appears poised to fill that gap as well.

[turquoisesea]

On 9/24/2020 at 10:45 PM, steveww48 said:

It's possible that Enchanted sailings during October 2021 are unaffected by these changes. I'm booked on the 10/2/21 sailing (Barcelona to Rome) and I've received no communication from Princess regarding any changes (I booked directly with Princess). My booking (as of this moment) is intact, with no changes to the itinerary. However, my cruise is currently showing "Sold Out" along with the other Enchanted sailings.

 

I've downloaded the Princess document that someone else posted which lists the new itineraries for Enchanted sailings starting May 8, 2021. These new itineraries run through September 25, 2021; also listed is the TA which departs from Barcelona on November 15, 2021. Nothing is listed for October 2021 in this document. Perhaps this ship isn't sailing at all during October 2021. Or perhaps the existing itineraries will be run during October. Or perhaps the sailings during October still will be altered in some fashion but Princess hasn't yet figured that out for some reason.

 

All of the new itineraries-- except for the TA-- have eliminated Barcelona as a starting or ending port. However, the new cruise that departs Rome on Sept 25th (Voyage N139) will end in Barcelona on Oct 2nd, which is when my cruise departs. So I'm hopeful that my currently booked cruise will go as planned. Of course tomorrow may bring more changes...

 

It appears to me that for some reason the Enchanted will not be using the Barcelona port during the Spring and Summer but will be using Barcelona starting in October. I wonder if that's a Princess decision or a decision by the port?

 

 

 

 

We are booked on October 2 also. When I checked last night the “Sold Out”:was gone and prices listed again. I did not see a change in the price listed for our cabin. It will be interesting to see what ports they have listed for all the new itineraries listed on that posting. 

[cruisequeen4ever]

Maybe the port in Rome is offering more to cruise lines to accommodate the enhanced protocols. Maybe they’re thinking Barcelona won’t be open for cruise ships. I don’t know, but it’s a big change, and I feel bad for all who will miss out on ports they were looking forward to that have now been canceled! At this point, I just hope the European and Alaska seasons happen next summer! 

[AtlantaCruiser72]

22 minutes ago, turquoisesea said:

We are booked on October 2 also. When I checked last night the “Sold Out”:was gone and prices listed again. I did not see a change in the price listed for our cabin. It will be interesting to see what ports they have listed for all the new itineraries listed on that posting. 

You can see the new itineraries here (11 page document): https://s3.amazonaws.com/ips-cic-filestore/j283755/monthly_2020_09/1481167_EnchantedPrincessSummer2021NewItineraries_pdf.793d4e3118f2b932e7e94c529b6f5438?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Content-Sha256=UNSIGNED-PAYLOAD&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAI3TJTOYHZJGUGHPA/20200926/us-east-1/s3/aws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20200926T212824Z&X-Amz-Expires=1200&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&response-content-disposition=attachment; filename*=UTF-8''1481167_EnchantedPrincessSummer2021NewItineraries.pdf&response-content-type=application/pdf;charset=UTF-8&X-Amz-Signature=913dcead35d1546b03670ef6926e6ce7e08d6d2ce8a7e31410edd30aac29a10c

 

Edited September 26, 2020 by AtlantaCruiser72