Is Selecting a Cabin Not an Option Anymore?

[Musky Ike]

On the Sun, the lowest category for deluxe balcony is DF. They are all both third person and wheelchair accessible. But everybody who books a guarantee deluxe balcony is initially assigned to that category regardless of their needs. For our cruise there was no other option than a guarantee. I would not be surprised if this is the new normal.  Guarantee only, you choose the category and Princess chooses the cabin or "above". 

[aimee0715]

I just booked a western Caribbean cruise on Sky Princess in January 2024 for my annual girls cruise for my friend and I.  I initially looked at interior cabins but when I selected interior for cabin type, it showed me interior, obstructed balcony and deluxe obstructed balcony.  I did a little research and watched a Youtube about the deluxe obstructed balcony and decided to book it.  I like to pick the cabin and tell my TA what cabin I want.  I got the same message as OP that I could not select my cabin.  My TA told me that deluxe obstructed balconies are always GTY.   She said I would either get the deluxe obstructed balcony or the next category up.  She  put a note on the reservation that I would prefer the deluxe obstructed balcony rather than an upgrade.  My question is, for people who reserved this category and didn't get it, what did you get?

[Teechur]

I just did a dummy booking for my Iceland cruise on the Island Princess in September. No balconies available and mid-aft is "guaranteed only" for one or two people. For 3, you can still choose a cabin.

 

If you choose a "refundable" booking but are then forced to pick a guaranteed cabin, does your deposit then become non-refundable?

[Cruise Raider]

44 minutes ago, Teechur said:

I just did a dummy booking for my Iceland cruise on the Island Princess in September. No balconies available and mid-aft is "guaranteed only" for one or two people. For 3, you can still choose a cabin.

 

If you choose a "refundable" booking but are then forced to pick a guaranteed cabin, does your deposit then become non-refundable?

If you choose the first option to allow the cruise line to guarantee your cabin, it is a non-refundable deposit.  If you go further into the booking and choose your specific category for the extra $$ but all that are left are guarantees, then that is deposit is refundable.  
 

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, Musky Ike said:

On the Sun, the lowest category for deluxe balcony is DF. They are all both third person and wheelchair accessible. But everybody who books a guarantee deluxe balcony is initially assigned to that category regardless of their needs. For our cruise there was no other option than a guarantee. I would not be surprised if this is the new normal.  Guarantee only, you choose the category and Princess chooses the cabin or "above". 

I would say that PCL considers DG & DH lower (the Cove Balconies).  This is based on location.  They are considered Deluxe (Sun Class doesn't have any regular Balconies).

 

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, Musky Ike said:

On the Sun, the lowest category for deluxe balcony is DF. They are all both third person and wheelchair accessible. But everybody who books a guarantee deluxe balcony is initially assigned to that category regardless of their needs. For our cruise there was no other option than a guarantee. I would not be surprised if this is the new normal.  Guarantee only, you choose the category and Princess chooses the cabin or "above". 

Sun Class is a deviation from the norm of previous ships and I would suggest PCL has this screwed up if it is literally what you state.  I would like to think that the new DH is the "lead in" category and guests who elect the minimum are actually assigned to DH pending cabin assignment.  But, I guess not, since Princess.com separates them as Cove Balconies, albeit they are a Class D cabin.  It appears that DH is GTY only and you get to select a cabin for booking DG. Standard pricing for the cruise you mentioned is $884 (DH) and $880 (DG) - a trivial difference IMO. 

 

There must be some other way to handle DF for those who need/request them (such as the flag for needing a cabin for disabled guest).  I'd like to know if someone today tried to book that what intervention is required.  One might think the lead-in be adjusted to DE since only DF seems to be those 4 disability cabins.  But the Deluxe lead-in price is $898 which aligns with DF.  DE's are $923 - again a trivial increase in order to have a "better" cabin and a selection.

 

This seems to be a question for Princess sales mgmt team and IDK if it has been discussed at those online meetings with TA's that Carmen Roag (sp?) hosts as I have not followed them for many months now.  It would certainly help TA's and guests if it was better understood WTH they are doing with the cabin marketing.

 

ETA:  I did note that at least on the voyage in question, PCL is indicating Refundable Deposits on all Balcony bookings - unlike many legacy ship bookings.  I also noted Ref Dep booking notes on 3rd party engine.

Edited June 29, 2023 by Steelers36

[Musky Ike]

10 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

I would say that PCL considers DG & DH lower (the Cove Balconies).  This is based on location.  They are considered Deluxe (Sun Class doesn't have any regular Balconies).

 

Quite possibly, but in the past it was always it was always reverse alphabetically so it would be DA as the "preferred"  down to DF. We reserved a deluxe and were assigned DF. Cove should have been a separate category IMHO as well Premium deluxe on the other end. I would not like it if we get an "upgrade" to a cove.

[Musky Ike]

9 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

There must be some other way to handle DF for those who need/request them (such as the flag for needing a cabin for disabled guest). 

I talked with our TA about that as I feared them not going to the folks that need them. I was told that Mobility access reservations would be handled separately and cabins assigned at booking. Since there are so few DF I presume we will be put in a "better" category but some of those DF's on deck 16 look huge, even though when you click on it, it states 0 sq. ft. 😄 I think it is a work in progress.

Edited June 29, 2023 by Musky Ike

[Steelers36]

16 minutes ago, Musky Ike said:

Quite possibly, but in the past it was always it was always reverse alphabetically so it would be DA as the "preferred"  down to DF. We reserved a deluxe and were assigned DF. Cove should have been a separate category IMHO as well Premium deluxe on the other end. I would not like it if we get an "upgrade" to a cove.

Look at the alpha's being used.  It is not an upgrade from DF, DE, etc to DG & DH.  Won't happen - unless given a downgrade and that isn't supposed to happen in any category, but at least one member here reported a fiasco where it happened to her (I suspect a 1-off issue there).

[Steelers36]

12 minutes ago, Musky Ike said:

I talked with our TA about that as I feared them not going to the folks that need them. I was told that Mobility access reservations would be handled separately and cabins assigned at booking. Since there are so few DF I presume we will be put in a "better" category but some of those DF's on deck 16 look huge, even though when you click on it, it states 0 sq. ft. 😄 I think it is a work in progress.

No doubt a WIP.  I note also that both Cove and regular Deluxe Balconies on Sun are both listed as 236 sq ft.  I realize PCL has often used one generic sq ft value for a class of cabins, even though size can vary somewhat (or rather they give a range and not specific for the cabin involved).  

 

It seems to me they are giving disabled guests who want a regular balcony style a nice break by offering a value at the lowest category.  Clearly, they aren't going to place able guests into one of only four DF's which are all for disabled (unless sail date is nigh and no requests for that cabin setup).

 

If I was in the situation, I'd pay the extra $25/pp and pick a cabin and not sweat the situation.  

[kywildcatfanone]

Looks like they finally got the technical issues I was seeing resolved.

[2InfinityNBeyond]

Still all showing as guarantee cabins only for me. I've tried seeing if I took the most expensive options if that would matter, but it doesn't.

If Princess doesn't get that problem fixed soon, we'll be booking with another cruise line to get our choice of cabin.