Not able to choose specific cabin?

[nunyabidness]

2 minutes ago, Ralphiesmom66 said:

We decided to book a midship mini-suite knowing the class room we picked (MB) only has these rooms midship on on floors we like.

Only risk with a guarantee is that Princess can "upgrade" you to a room they consider better but that's in a much worse location.

[caribill]

4 hours ago, nunyabidness said:

Only risk with a guarantee is that Princess can "upgrade" you to a room they consider better but that's in a much worse location.

They can do that even if you selected a cabin and managed to have it marked no upgrade.

[nunyabidness]

1 hour ago, caribill said:

They can do that even if you selected a cabin and managed to have it marked no upgrade.

But you can usually call and get it (or a reasonably close cabin in the same category) back.  Not the case if you booked a guarantee and didn't have a cabin assignment from the beginning.

[SargassoPirate]

3 hours ago, caribill said:

They can do that even if you selected a cabin and managed to have it marked no upgrade.

That's why I check any bookings with Princess every morning in hopes that if I did get an unwanted "upgrade" I can have my TA get my original cabin back.  It's a bit of a pain to have to keep such a close eye on their shifty ways, but it's better than spending a cruise in an "upgrade" cabin right under the Melanoma Deck.

[TAW1963]

I think the problem the OP was referring to is something that has been frustrating to me with booking with Princess.  When you select 2 guests, then type of cabin (let's say Deluxe Balcony), you get the first screenshot picture below.  Selecting the left button gives you a guaranteed Deluxe Balcony cabin somewhere on the ship.  This is not the issue.  The problem comes in selecting the right button, supposedly allowing one to select their own cabin.  In many cases, one gets the second screenshot when selecting their desired location (aft, mid, etc) and deck number(s), which says you are only guaranteed to get a Deluxe Balcony cabin in that particular location or similar location. One is tricked into thinking they can select their own cabin, but prevented from doing so in many cases.  One can often times, but not always, one can see that many of the cabins in the desired location are available by initially selecting 3 guests instead of 2 guests.  Although it doesn't make much sense, it appears that many of these are cabins that can hold 3 or more guests and Princess wants to fill them with 3 or more guests rather than just 2 guests.  

 

 

[Wishing on a star]

All of this, with the current abysmal customer service, truly has me wanting to avoid Princess.  The cruise line I have chosen and enjoyed for years.

Sad....

Maybe we could try to make our voices heard.

Let Princess know how we are seeing this current situation.

But, alas, we are a teeny tiny drop in the bucket.

And Princess is a company that is showing every day that they simply do not care.

 

[caribill]

1 hour ago, TAW1963 said:

I think the problem the OP was referring to is something that has been frustrating to me with booking with Princess.  When you select 2 guests, then type of cabin (let's say Deluxe Balcony), you get the first screenshot picture below.  Selecting the left button gives you a guaranteed Deluxe Balcony cabin somewhere on the ship.  This is not the issue.  The problem comes in selecting the right button, supposedly allowing one to select their own cabin.  In many cases, one gets the second screenshot when selecting their desired location (aft, mid, etc) and deck number(s), which says you are only guaranteed to get a Deluxe Balcony cabin in that particular location or similar location. One is tricked into thinking they can select their own cabin, but prevented from doing so in many cases.  One can often times, but not always, one can see that many of the cabins in the desired location are available by initially selecting 3 guests instead of 2 guests.  Although it doesn't make much sense, it appears that many of these are cabins that can hold 3 or more guests and Princess wants to fill them with 3 or more guests rather than just 2 guests.  

 

 

 

When you get that response the number of available 2-person cabins is zero so you are offered the opportunity to book the GTY.

 

Princess will accept a certain number of GTYs for the category and level and if that number is filled, the category/level will be marked "sold out."

 

So Princess is not playing a trick by not allowing you to select a specific  2-person cabin. None is available at that moment.

 

As you point out, cabins at that category/level may be available for 3 or 4 people, but that is not what you searched for.

[Cruise Junky]

6 minutes ago, caribill said:

 

When you get that response the number of available 2-person cabins is zero so you are offered the opportunity to book the GTY.

 

Princess will accept a certain number of GTYs for the category and level and if that number is filled, the category/level will be marked "sold out."

 

So Princess is not playing a trick by not allowing you to select a specific  2-person cabin. None is available at that moment.

 

As you point out, cabins at that category/level may be available for 3 or 4 people, but that is not what you searched for.

It’s happening with brand new releases. Nothing to do with no cabins for 2 being available.   

[TAW1963]

22 minutes ago, caribill said:

 

When you get that response the number of available 2-person cabins is zero so you are offered the opportunity to book the GTY.

 

Princess will accept a certain number of GTYs for the category and level and if that number is filled, the category/level will be marked "sold out."

 

So Princess is not playing a trick by not allowing you to select a specific  2-person cabin. None is available at that moment.

 

As you point out, cabins at that category/level may be available for 3 or 4 people, but that is not what you searched for.

I completely agree with most of what you have said, but these cabins can be obtained for 2 people if you follow some irregular steps.  There is a long thread from the past about this.  I actually obtained one of these cabins, that seemed unavailable for 2 guests, by booking an available cabin for 3 guests and then calling Princess to cancel the third passenger.  They (the Princess customer service person) had no problem doing this.  I am not angry or upset at Princess, and we are sailing this November on the Sky Princess for a transatlantic.   I can understand this policy for new bookings near the sailing date where things are selling out.   However for sailings month away with plenty of cabins available, this is a frustrating policy that Princess is following.  

Edited April 10, 2023 by TAW1963

[Rick&Jeannie]

2 hours ago, TAW1963 said:

The problem comes in selecting the right button, supposedly allowing one to select their own cabin.  In many cases, one gets the second screenshot when selecting their desired location (aft, mid, etc) and deck number(s), which says you are only guaranteed to get a Deluxe Balcony cabin in that particular location or similar location. One is tricked into thinking they can select their own cabin, but prevented from doing so in many cases. 

 

 

Unless something has changed within the past month or so, I have not seen this happen.  I have *always* been able to find (i.e. select) a cabin I want by picking the "button on the right".  As @caribill states above...you *might* run into a situation where a particular location/type just is not available, though I don't ever recall being shown GTY cabins once I've started down that path.  Maybe I've just been lucky!  Only once was I forced into taking a GTY cabin on the one and only time we were able to sail on the Pacific Princess.  (We booked very late.)  Just a few days before sailing we were notified that we had been assigned a cabin.  We found out once we boarded that they had given us an "accessible" cabin.  (We did not need one... and we kinda felt guilty in taking it but apparently they had been holding it "just in case" and nobody else needed it.)

[Cruise Junky]

12 minutes ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

Unless something has changed within the past month or so, I have not seen this happen.  I have *always* been able to find (i.e. select) a cabin I want by picking the "button on the right".  As @caribill states above...you *might* run into a situation where a particular location/type just is not available, though I don't ever recall being shown GTY cabins once I've started down that path.  Maybe I've just been lucky!  Only once was I forced into taking a GTY cabin on the one and only time we were able to sail on the Pacific Princess.  (We booked very late.)  Just a few days before sailing we were notified that we had been assigned a cabin.  We found out once we boarded that they had given us an "accessible" cabin.  (We did not need one... and we kinda felt guilty in taking it but apparently they had been holding it "just in case" and nobody else needed it.)

As stated above, it’s happening on the new releases. There’s plenty of open cabins 

[TAW1963]

13 minutes ago, Cruise Junky said:

As stated above, it’s happening on the new releases. There’s plenty of open cabins 

Exactly.  It happens all the time on the newer releases. 

 

For those interested, here is an informative past thread about this:

 

 

Edited April 10, 2023 by TAW1963

[Paula_MacFan]

21 hours ago, kiwimum said:

Try changing the number of passengers in each cabin and see what pops up.   2 passengers in a cabin with 3 or 4 berths could be the issue.

This!  When I put in 2 passengers it says everything is guaranty only.  But when I put in 3 passengers then I can select any cabin I want.  I've noticed this for quite some time and our PVP said it was a glitch.  They should fix it!  So annoying!

[caribill]

3 hours ago, Cruise Junky said:

As stated above, it’s happening on the new releases. There’s plenty of open cabins 

 

Where have you searched to locate the open cabins that were designed for only two occupants?

[Cruise Junky]

1 minute ago, caribill said:

 

Where have you searched to locate the open cabins that were designed for only two occupants?

Princess site on opening week and a couple of Online agents. There’s been a few threads of this nature in the past month or so.  It seems to be Princess’s new thing. Annoying for a consumer.  

[caribill]

4 hours ago, Cruise Junky said:

As stated above, it’s happening on the new releases. There’s plenty of open cabins 

 

1 hour ago, Cruise Junky said:

Princess site on opening week and a couple of Online agents.

 

I was not clear in my question.

 

You say there are plenty of open cabins but also said on new releases you could not find them.

 

So how do you find there are plenty of open cabins if you could not find them with a normal Princess search for 2-occupant cabins?

[Cruise Junky]

17 minutes ago, caribill said:

 

 

I was not clear in my question.

 

You say there are plenty of open cabins but also said on new releases you could not find them.

 

So how do you find there are plenty of open cabins if you could not find them with a normal Princess search for 2-occupant cabins?

I asked a Princess cruise consultant.  It was happening to every Australia trip I looked at.  I’m used to them hiding a lot of availability on segments before but nothing like this.  Every single deck on each part of the ship when you picked you wanted to pick your own cabin it said it must be a guarantee as shown above in the screen print. It wasn’t the usual guarantee only message.  I’m not new at this.  

[Ombud]

On 4/8/2023 at 6:31 PM, Rick&Jeannie said:

On 4/8/2023 at 6:14 PM, Potstech said:

Charging extra to select a room is a non starter. Glad we are looking at other cruise lines.

I don't think it was *ever* considered to be an "extra charge"...just a way to offer a small break for those who don't care about the specific cabin they cruise in...and the fact that it "helps" Princess in regards to the ability to move cabins around should the need arise.

 

On 4/8/2023 at 8:45 PM, Potstech said:

And penalizes those who prefer to select their own cabins at the price advertised instead of latter in the cruise selection.  Also there are less rooms available for making that choice.  It is an extra charge and forcing people to not get cabins they would want. 

 

On 4/9/2023 at 8:02 AM, Potstech said:

Not like this they didn't. Just cruised with Celebrity and it was not like the "new" Princess pricing.

What is so incredibly hard to understand that Princess is now offering a lower price option for those who are willing to book GTY only & accept JMHO a crappy room while those of us who can afford to pick our room do just that (albeit through a CVP or TA). 

 

@Potstech are you leaving us to post on the cruise line you will be cruising with??

[Potstech]

11 minutes ago, Ombud said:

 

 

What is so incredibly hard to understand that Princess is now offering a lower price option for those who are willing to book GTY only & accept JMHO a crappy room while those of us who can afford to pick our room do just that (albeit through a CVP or TA). 

 

@Potstech are you leaving us to post on the cruise line you will be cruising with??

You could not be so lucky. Too much fun on here.

Edited April 10, 2023 by Potstech

[Guest ldtr]

7 hours ago, Wishing on a star said:

All of this, with the current abysmal customer service, truly has me wanting to avoid Princess.  The cruise line I have chosen and enjoyed for years.

Sad....

Maybe we could try to make our voices heard.

Let Princess know how we are seeing this current situation.

But, alas, we are a teeny tiny drop in the bucket.

And Princess is a company that is showing every day that they simply do not care.

 

Not sure why you are saying abysmal customer service.  I have talked with customer service 3 time over the last 3 weeks.  Zero wait time.  Have had to cancel 2 cruises due to the delays in pass port processing.  The timing of those cruise did not allow a big enough window.  The refunds were processed and back at my credit card in 3 days.   Have replaced those cruises which 3 others in a different time period (this summer) my vacation planner took care of all issue seamlessly.

 

There were issues early in the restart but customer service now seems to be well staffed and taking care of issue quickly.

[Guest ldtr]

There was a time a few years ago where HAL showed guarantee as the choice for cabins and one had to search further down the options or call to actually select a room.  Just like now HAL shows a non-refundable no package rate and a refundable with package rate on their web site.  There is also a refundable no package rate, but it is not on the web site, you have to call to get it.

 

I suspect that Princess may be following HAL in some of the pricing choices since they are both part of the same  CCL sub group and share many back office assets.

[caribill]

28 minutes ago, Ombud said:

 

 

What is so incredibly hard to understand that Princess is now offering a lower price option for those who are willing to book GTY only & accept JMHO a crappy room while those of us who can afford to pick our room do just that (albeit through a CVP or TA). 

 

 

The problem is that they are making all cabins in the entry level for each category only GTY.

 

If I want to pick, for example, E121 on the Emerald Princess, an obstructed view oceanview cabin that has a good view, I am not able to do so because the entire category is reserved for Let Princess Select Your Cabin.

 

There is just no way to book the cabin I want if that is the cabin I want.

 

This lower price option means I cannot get the cabin I want in that category. Not at a lower price. Not at a higher price. Not at any price.

[Ombud]

Just now, caribill said:

The problem is that they are making all cabins in the entry level for each category only GTY.

 

If I want to pick, for example, E121 on the Emerald Princess, an obstructed view oceanview cabin that has a good view, I am not able to do so because the entire category is reserved for Let Princess Select Your Cabin.

 

There is just no way to book the cabin I want if that is the cabin I want.

 

This lower price option means I cannot get the cabin I want in that category. Not at a lower price. Not at a higher price. Not at any price.

Was your CVP unable to get it for you??

[caribill]

3 minutes ago, Ombud said:

Was your CVP unable to get it for you??

Don't know.

 

I was giving an example, not actually trying to make a booking at the moment.

 

I do have a booking in another type cabin at the entry level and it is a GTY and I believe at the time I made the booking there were available cabins in that category level. But my TA said only GTY was able to be booked.

[Guest ldtr]

13 hours ago, nunyabidness said:

But you can usually call and get it (or a reasonably close cabin in the same category) back.  Not the case if you booked a guarantee and didn't have a cabin assignment from the beginning.

If you catch that they have made a change within 72 hours you can often get it back but sometimes you cannot.

 

In the case of someone booking a capacity 3 or 4 room, with only 2 people and Princess has a guarantee booking with 3 or 4 people in that cabin class maybe not.