We booked Discovery Princess (tears)

[atexsix]

10 minutes ago, cruisingrob21 said:

There is no "change" fee - but if you booked under a promo and that promo is no longer available or its a new promo, to "refare" you they will have to cancel and rebook - which is probably the "change fee" they are referring to.  Refunds only happen after final payment if there is a price drop in the current promotion.  I'm betting you are seeing "drop and go" pricing which is only offered after the final payment for new bookings.  It never hurts to ask however.

 

The older grand class ships had all their mini suites on deck 9, and a few on deck 8.  This allowed for large balconies for all mini suites.  The newer royal class ships do have them scattered about which means you can score a mini suite on deck 16 (my favorite location since I am more of an upper deck person myself) which is near pools, hottubs, open decks, and lots of food and drink options.  The downside is other than a few minisuites on deck 8, the balconies on the minisuites are a fraction of what they were on the grand class ships.  The premium deluxe balcony can be decoded as follows:

• premium = large balcony, potentially with a wake view
• deluxe = room has a loveseat instead of a small storage unit for the mini fridge (I think its put near the desk in the deluxe cabin).  You'll find these similar to most HAL balconies
• balcony = bed, desk, deskchair

We're on Marina deck mainly for the same reason, we're going to be eating up there a lot more than with cruises past, we're just not in the mood for a lot of fuss, all the testing and forms and medallion woes are enough as it is; plus dining casually allows us to pack less and who can beat the location, it'll be a short flight of stairs away.  

 

Our only concern is noise but I can't see that many people using the wakeview pool area up in Alaska.  

 

Edit: when we sailed HAL last September, there were multiple reports from people that the buffet left the MDR in the dust in terms of food quality and choices; maybe it'll be the same on Princess.

 

 

Edited May 12, 2022 by atexsix

[cruisingrob21]

58 minutes ago, atexsix said:

We're on Marina deck mainly for the same reason, we're going to be eating up there a lot more than with cruises past, we're just not in the mood for a lot of fuss, all the testing and forms and medallion woes are enough as it is; plus dining casually allows us to pack less and who can beat the location, it'll be a short flight of stairs away.  

 

Our only concern is noise but I can't see that many people using the wakeview pool area up in Alaska.  

 

Edit: when we sailed HAL last September, there were multiple reports from people that the buffet left the MDR in the dust in terms of food quality and choices; maybe it'll be the same on Princess.

 

 

The 4 day voyage I went on last week was pretty cold - except on the SB return to Seattle where we were going about 20 kn and had a 20kn tailwind.  I ate most of my meals on the back open deck aft of the buffet, and on that day there were a lot of people back there with legs in the pool.  Was it crowded? No, not even close, but it was lively.  

 

I can't comment on the dining room vs buffet on this voyage, but on my voyage in December on the Majestic I ate in both venues and found the food comparable.  The presentation is always better in the dining room obviously.  Princess has regrettably gone back to 80% self serve in the buffet so everyone is sharing the same serving spoons - we really like HAL that serve nearly everything in the buffet.  In December, Princess had most everything served like HAL does it other than a very few "grab n go" cups of veggies or chips/crackers for snacking.  However, the flip side of this is that the buffet is so large on the Royal class ships, everything moves pretty fast and gone are the lines of the Grand class ships.

 

If you are looking for hottubs don't forget about the ones just aft of the sanctuary on deck 18 - they were hardly used when the others were full.

[atexsix]

15 hours ago, cruisingrob21 said:

The 4 day voyage I went on last week was pretty cold - except on the SB return to Seattle where we were going about 20 kn and had a 20kn tailwind.  I ate most of my meals on the back open deck aft of the buffet, and on that day there were a lot of people back there with legs in the pool.  Was it crowded? No, not even close, but it was lively.  

 

I can't comment on the dining room vs buffet on this voyage, but on my voyage in December on the Majestic I ate in both venues and found the food comparable.  The presentation is always better in the dining room obviously.  Princess has regrettably gone back to 80% self serve in the buffet so everyone is sharing the same serving spoons - we really like HAL that serve nearly everything in the buffet.  In December, Princess had most everything served like HAL does it other than a very few "grab n go" cups of veggies or chips/crackers for snacking.  However, the flip side of this is that the buffet is so large on the Royal class ships, everything moves pretty fast and gone are the lines of the Grand class ships.

 

If you are looking for hottubs don't forget about the ones just aft of the sanctuary on deck 18 - they were hardly used when the others were full.

Hopefully the people up there won't be able to see too much onto our balcony, I found this photo somewhere on the web and it seems to be mostly covered.  Our stateroom is also underneath the stairway connecting the Lido and Sun Decks, that should cut down on some of the noise.  By the time people walk around it, there's only a small area people will be directly above us.

 

I also looked at a ton of pictures of the Sky Princess with the exact same layout and it doesn't look like an area of the ship where children would be running about. It strikes me as a spot where people stand and look at the passing scenery, thank God we're not going to Glacier Bay.  I might post this picture in the Princess forum and see what others have experienced.  I think we'll be fine at night which is the biggest concern obviously, and if we're not, well it'd only be a week of lost sleep.  

 

 

Edited May 13, 2022 by atexsix

[Petronillus]

On 5/11/2022 at 10:48 AM, rj59 said:

I have 100+ cruise days on HAL, and am Elite on Princess, so . . .

Forgive me for going off topic, but how do the CCL companies handle each other's loyalty points? Specifically, does one accrue points to one's Mariner account when sailing on Princess?

[RuthC]

18 minutes ago, Petronillus said:

Specifically, does one accrue points to one's Mariner account when sailing on Princess?

No. 

[cruisingrob21]

On 11/26/2022 at 11:49 AM, RuthC said:

No. 

If you call the loyalty department of a carnival brand and let them know your status on another carnival brand they usually will at least give you the first tier status bump.  So on princess that you put you at gold even if you haven't ever cruised with them before.  it's not much but better than nothing.

[oaktreerb]

58 minutes ago, cruisingrob21 said:

If you call the loyalty department of a carnival brand and let them know your status on another carnival brand they usually will at least give you the first tier status bump.  So on princess that you put you at gold even if you haven't ever cruised with them before.  it's not much but better than nothing.

What is the first tier on Princess?  What is the sequence?  Where does gold fit in?

[brovol]

Princess is our favorite line, and that is especially true since the medallion technology!  Princess and HAL are very similar in terms of service, demographic, style, and many other things.  Last Princess cruise my wife and I went on was perhaps the best cruise overall we had been on in over 35 cruises.  My only complaint was that the buffet could have been more robust.  Everything else was simply awesome.  The medallion is amazing.  And the internet on the Sky Princess in the Caribbean worked perfect.

 

I have two HAL cruises booked, one during Christmas, and another in April, and honestly kind of disappointed I didn't book Princess cruises instead.  We really like HAL also, but prefer Princess.

[brovol]

On 4/3/2022 at 9:44 PM, atexsix said:

Thanks for the feedback.  I've had a few issues with the Medallion app, but minor, I don't know how important the profile is, but it seems to think I'm a female and won't let me change it, I'm assuming that can be fixed during embarkation.  On food, we're just keeping an open mind, I looked up the MDR menus on Princess and nothing really blew me away but we'll see; I'm full blooded Italian and pizza doesn't thrill me the way it does others, but I will try to get in there and sample it at least once.  For the life of me, I can't figure out why they'd send a ship without an indoor pool to Alaska.  We're not swimmers, but we enjoyed sitting in there people watching, reading, puzzles, etc.  The music was a little loud on HAL's Lido deck too though.  

Honestly, after many cruises on Princess ships it is hard to believe that someone wouldn't enjoy at least most the food.  It is excellent; and while food taste is subjective, my strong assumption is that you will enjoy the food on your Princess cruise.  This is a HAL forum, so most folks here cruise HAL a lot, but trust me as someone who has cruised many times on both HAL and Princess, the experiences are far more similar than different.

[Greysandy]

Princess is more efficient at getting specialty coffees out quickly, HAL has better craft cocktails. The almond croissants are much better on Princess, but I do miss the walk around Promenade as a nice outdoor light exercise activity.

[oaktreerb]

On 12/4/2022 at 5:37 PM, oaktreerb said:

What is the first tier on Princess?  What is the sequence?  Where does gold fit in?

anyone here know the answer?

[Florida_gal_50]

1 hour ago, oaktreerb said:

anyone here know the answer?

Here is a link.  Gold is the one after your first cruise is complete.  
https://www.princess.com/cruise-tips-vacation-ideas/cruise-destinations/cruise-tips-advice-and-information/cruise-membership-benefits.html