Princess Hiding Cabins

[Coral]

4 hours ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

which in turn means that those of us actually traveling as 3 passengers are out of luck, because the only cabins we can book are booked by a couple with a fake 3rd person...

I think Princess could set this up differently. I think the aft cabins on the Royal class ships were setup for 3 individuals. They could have designed them with a mix. That would have solved that issue. I think it was the Royal class when this issue came up. Maybe they modified them on future ships. I get it - you can't sail when you have 3 and there are no 3 passenger cabins.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

22 minutes ago, Coral said:

I think the aft cabins on the Royal class ships were setup for 3 individuals.

no, we usually use forward cabins, like E332. I hate aft balconies.

The inside cabins for 3 are also all over the place, not just aft.

Edited October 18, 2022 by Itchy&Scratchy

[PRINCESS Sweet Pea]

Why would they hide cabins that they want to sell?

Edited October 18, 2022 by PRINCESS Sweet Pea

[Tedferg]

Similar to my previous experience, Regal British Isles June 2023.

 

Princess site shows no Deck 8 OBS but online site shows many.

[Guest ldtr]

This is really nothing new. Princess and other cruise usually sailed over 100% 2 people per cabin occupancy. Usually around 105%. That enabled them to be profitable pre covd. To be profitable post covid with greatly increased debt loads, higher fuel and food costs, they need to get back to those kinds of occupancy numbers. While doing this they need to balance numbers of passengers in certain zones. As a result they cannot just accept where ever people select what ever cabins are open. Based upon what is open, the number of solo cabins, the number with occupancy over 2, they will restrict availability of some cabins on some locations in order to balance passenger locations and maximize the capacity of the ship.

 

Nothing new, and not surprising now that occupancy rates are climbing once more into the range where such management is necessary.

[Wishing on a star]

I just checked the Princess website, and unless I am mistaken, it shows availability for obstructed balcony cabins on all three British Isles sailings for June next year.   

It even shows Deluxe Balcony Obstructed when only two guests are selected.

I have seen the website only offer a GTY for less than three guests.

Edited October 19, 2022 by Wishing on a star

[ericosmith]

Not sailed on any of the Royal class ships.  Coming back from Celebrity to try one.  I have a regular balcony booked because that was all that was available.  Using the 3 person trick I see there are some deluxe balconies available.  Is there any difference between these and a regular balcony other than the sofa rather than a chair?  Is the balcony the same size? Also some of them have a slight indentation where the hallway makes a little jog.  Does that make a difference?  Thanks

[Wishing on a star]

The Standard balconies are all the standard size, except for a few exceptions, like the mid-ship bump out angled balconies. The exterior balcony doesn't matter if the interior is regular or Deluxe.    'Premium' balconies do have a larger actual balcony.  These can be AFT facing cabins, Cabins on Dolphin deck on some newer ships....   There can be a very few exceptions of standard balconies that do have a larger balcony, but are not re-categorized as 'premium'.  

 

Look over deck plans carefully!

 

Don't worry about that little cutout 'jog' that you see on the diagrams.  No problem.

 

Also, note that the mid-ship Obstructed Balconies that are right there over the central open deck area below are not really obstructed by lifeboats or anything.  Be aware that you might not want to be above a venue like Crooners is you are worried about sound/noise.

 

I understand that you can get a Deluxe Balcony. (with the slightly larger interior and seating) by booking GTY, and then calling and have Princess or your TA request to make the actual cabin assignment.  But, I am not sure.  I haven't actually done that.   There seems to be a lot of confusion about how Princess' system is working lately!!!

 

Edited October 19, 2022 by Wishing on a star

[Tedferg]

13 hours ago, Wishing on a star said:

I just checked the Princess website, and unless I am mistaken, it shows availability for obstructed balcony cabins on all three British Isles sailings for June next year.   

It even shows Deluxe Balcony Obstructed when only two guests are selected.

I have seen the website only offer a GTY for less than three guests.

How did you find them? When I try I just see Balcony / Deluxe Balcony / Premium. I thought there was 'Obstructed' as an option when selecting cabins. I select Balcony and except for Fore and Aft all Deck 8 is Sold Out.

[Wishing on a star]

Ohhh!  Are you selecting 'INTERIOR', and then that is where it shows the Obstructed balconies and Obstructed Deluxe balconies on Deck 8.  

Edited October 19, 2022 by Wishing on a star

[Tedferg]

29 minutes ago, Wishing on a star said:

Ohhh!  Are you selecting 'INTERIOR', and then that is where it shows the Obstructed balconies and Obstructed Deluxe balconies on Deck 8.  

No, I was selecting Balcony - I do see Obs Bal when I select Interior, strange. Also, it does not give me a choice to select fare type Std /Plus etc.

[Wishing on a star]

Yes, it is kind of 'wonky'

If it is not picking up the Fare type that you want...  Go like you are selecting a regular balcony.  Then see if it doesn't carry that forward when you go an change back to Obstructed.

Good luck!

[Tedferg]

10 minutes ago, Wishing on a star said:

Yes, it is kind of 'wonky'

If it is not picking up the Fare type that you want...  Go like you are selecting a regular balcony.  Then see if it doesn't carry that forward when you go an change back to Obstructed.

Good luck!

Interesting, if I select Interior it asks for Fare Type, but if I select Obs Balcony it goes straight to location. Must be a glitch. I did try regular balcony and went back. Same as before, Obs does not ask for fare type.

Edited October 19, 2022 by Tedferg

[Wishing on a star]

Okay...  try this.  Exit the website and go back in to clear as much out as possible and start new.  When you pull up Find Cruise, and you put all the region, dates, etc...  look for a light blue box right there, where you can go ahead and have it show the base fares in either standard or PLUS.

 

[Tedferg]

14 minutes ago, Wishing on a star said:

Okay...  try this.  Exit the website and go back in to clear as much out as possible and start new.  When you pull up Find Cruise, and you put all the region, dates, etc...  look for a light blue box right there, where you can go ahead and have it show the base fares in either standard or PLUS.

 

Excellent, it worked. BTW the option to choose Plus was shown when the list of cruises was shown. Thank you very much!

[Wishing on a star]

Great!  Hope you get the cruise all set up!

[californiagirl]

Thank you Dr Sch for starting this thread.  I booked a cruise yesterday via live chat (will never use my PCP again).  There were some extenuating circumstances which precluded me from just booking online.  I did not want to spend time on hold by calling Princess.  The man helping me was very good.  Prior to initiating the chat I used the method mentioned of doing a test booking for 3 passengers.  I saw the cabin I wanted.  At first he said only guarantees available.  I said I was certain the cabin I requested was available and asked him to run it by a supervisor.  He immediately said he knew what to do and he booked the cabin we wanted without difficulty.  There must be an extra step even Princess employees must do to override the system.  
 

This will be my first cruise as elite.  I’m looking forward to afternoon tea in our stateroom.  My husband likes Diet Coke from the can so he is looking forward to the mini-bar set up.  We both will appreciate the priority tendering.  

[DrSch]

6 hours ago, californiagirl said:

Thank you Dr Sch for starting this thread.  I booked a cruise yesterday via live chat (will never use my PCP again).  There were some extenuating circumstances which precluded me from just booking online.  I did not want to spend time on hold by calling Princess.  The man helping me was very good.  Prior to initiating the chat I used the method mentioned of doing a test booking for 3 passengers.  I saw the cabin I wanted.  At first he said only guarantees available.  I said I was certain the cabin I requested was available and asked him to run it by a supervisor.  He immediately said he knew what to do and he booked the cabin we wanted without difficulty.  There must be an extra step even Princess employees must do to override the system.  
 

This will be my first cruise as elite.  I’m looking forward to afternoon tea in our stateroom.  My husband likes Diet Coke from the can so he is looking forward to the mini-bar set up.  We both will appreciate the priority tendering.  

Send me a message on here if you can

[sunsetme]

message feature disabled! I am trying to book a deluxe balcony which I see is available for 3 but not 2 people. already booked regular balcony mid ship do not want a guarantee which could put me anywhere.

[Coral]

8 minutes ago, sunsetme said:

message feature disabled! I am trying to book a deluxe balcony which I see is available for 3 but not 2 people. already booked regular balcony mid ship do not want a guarantee which could put me anywhere.

Speak to who you booked with. Have them move you and add a 3rd person. Then you can remove the 3rd person shortly after.

[sunsetme]

It's past final payment and I booked online

[Wishing on a star]

Sunsetme...  I think one workaround is to Call Princess or your TA, and have them pull up the GTY and then go ahead and change that to an assigned cabin.    I think I have heard of doing that.

 

Yes, somehow, most of the time, the system is only 'showing' the Deluxe Balcony cabins for 3 or more guest.  Don't know why or how!

Edited October 23, 2022 by Wishing on a star

[Coral]

12 hours ago, sunsetme said:

It's past final payment and I booked online

Call Princess direct.

[john watson]

Seems logical to not disclose cabins that can accommodate three people to people who only need two beds.  Most cabins can only take two passengers and if all the three and four berth cabins were  occupied by couples some people may decline booking losing the cruise line revenue.  

 

In general cruise lines would not want to disclose all available cabins as this information would be useful to competitors and indeed cruisers looking for bargains.  My experience is that if you want to look at the possibility of booking a specific cabin or area phone up while looking at the deck plan.

 

Regards John

[Guest ldtr]

18 hours ago, Coral said:

Speak to who you booked with. Have them move you and add a 3rd person. Then you can remove the 3rd person shortly after.

or you or your TA can contact customer service, have them contact the revenue department, which manages such things, and ask them to release the cabin.