Regal Princess - Guaranteed Cabins Only?

[So_Tweetie]

We just booked a cruise on the Regal Princess in a mini-suite, and were only given the option of a guaranteed cabin. After confirmation, I decided to run through mock bookings to gauge availability, but from mini suites to penthouse suites I was only offered guarantees. Is this normal for the Regal, something new Princess is trying or, maybe the website is going through an update...? The cruise is over 120 days away so I would be surprised if it's close to sold out. 

[snoozecrooze]

1 hour ago, So_Tweetie said:

After confirmation, I decided to run through mock bookings to gauge availability, but from mini suites to penthouse suites I was only offered guarantees. Is this normal for the Regal, something new Princess is trying or, maybe the website is going through an update...?

I would recommend speaking to a TA or a CVP because only they have the ultimate answers regarding what cabins are really available. There have been a few threads on this topic recently [#1 / #2] but there are no real conclusions to gather for why public access to open rooms has narrowed so much, other than the assumption that it's just another potentially shrewd money-making move (many people have their own assumptions as to how the calculus comes together).

[So_Tweetie]

9 hours ago, snoozecrooze said:

I would recommend speaking to a TA or a CVP because only they have the ultimate answers regarding what cabins are really available. There have been a few threads on this topic recently [#1 / #2] but there are no real conclusions to gather for why public access to open rooms has narrowed so much, other than the assumption that it's just another potentially shrewd money-making move (many people have their own assumptions as to how the calculus comes together).

Thank you, I really hope it is not a new approach to business considering Princess already has a price increase structured in for those wanting to select their own cabin. I guess everyone having guarantees instead of assigned rooms would make it easier to auction off upgrades. 😏

[HBDave]

11 hours ago, So_Tweetie said:

We just booked a cruise on the Regal Princess in a mini-suite, and were only given the option of a guaranteed cabin. After confirmation, I decided to run through mock bookings to gauge availability, but from mini suites to penthouse suites I was only offered guarantees. Is this normal for the Regal, something new Princess is trying or, maybe the website is going through an update...? The cruise is over 120 days away so I would be surprised if it's close to sold out. 

I wouldn't be surprised if the cruise is nearly sold out in specific categories. Cruise lines are sailing at full capacity now and are doing better than pre-pandemic.

[So_Tweetie]

32 minutes ago, HBDave said:

I wouldn't be surprised if the cruise is nearly sold out in specific categories. Cruise lines are sailing at full capacity now and are doing better than pre-pandemic.

I am able to see a few individual cabins available for balconies and interior, so I hope for the company's sake our sailing is close to sold out. I am experiencing a similar booking process for other cruises we're looking at though which makes me think there is more to this. Time will tell, I love picking my own cabins. 

[ExploringTheGlobe]

Two of my friends and I booked on the Regal a while back for an October cruise.  We only could see guarantee rooms but we went through our Princess vacation planner and he was able to get all 3 of us in cabins right next to each other.  So he could see what we couldn't. 

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, So_Tweetie said:

I am able to see a few individual cabins available for balconies and interior, so I hope for the company's sake our sailing is close to sold out. I am experiencing a similar booking process for other cruises we're looking at though which makes me think there is more to this. Time will tell, I love picking my own cabins. 

What is the date of your planned voyage on Regal?  I'd like to look on Princess.com and compare to what shows on my agencies booking engines.  Thanks.

 

Also, what Category(ies) are you interested in?  Inside and Balcony?  I am curious to see if I do see more availability outside of Princess.com.  IDK why they are throttling cabin choice.

Edited June 29, 2023 by Steelers36

[MTAK]

12 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

What is the date of your planned voyage on Regal?  I'd like to look on Princess.com and compare to what shows on my agencies booking engines.  Thanks.

 

Also, what Category(ies) are you interested in?  Inside and Balcony?  I am curious to see if I do see more availability outside of Princess.com.  IDK why they are throttling cabin choice.

If you're willing to check another, yesterday I was looking at Discovery for January 13, 2024. For a regular balcony:

 

Deck 8: Sold out

Deck 9: A few available around elevators

Decks 10-12: All guarantee, at the 'Select your own' price. 

[So_Tweetie]

29 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

What is the date of your planned voyage on Regal?  I'd like to look on Princess.com and compare to what shows on my agencies booking engines.  Thanks.

 

Also, what Category(ies) are you interested in?  Inside and Balcony?  I am curious to see if I do see more availability outside of Princess.com.  IDK why they are throttling cabin choice.

I am booked in a mini-suite on the Nov 5 sailing, was hoping to see availability for those and for suites (of course hoping that they would sell all minis and bump me 😆). 

[Steelers36]

40 minutes ago, MTAK said:

If you're willing to check another, yesterday I was looking at Discovery for January 13, 2024. For a regular balcony:

 

Deck 8: Sold out

Deck 9: A few available around elevators

Decks 10-12: All guarantee, at the 'Select your own' price. 

How are you looking these up?  I see TONS of Balcony cabins (they are selling BE thru BA all at the same price).  Okay, so didn't see any on Deck 8.  However, the only REGULAR Balcony cabins on this deck are BF's which are indeed GTY only bookings now.

 

I see a lot of cabin choice using outside booking engine which only shows a selection of 19 at a time.  There is TONS of choice on this voyage and you should be seeing it on Princess.com.  Cannot explain why you wouldn't.

 

ETA:  If you want an Obstructed (Full or Partial), then those are on Deck 8 as Category DW.

Edited June 29, 2023 by Steelers36

[voljeep]

14 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

How are you looking these up?  I see TONS of Balcony cabins (they are selling BE thru BA all at the same price).  Okay, so didn't see any on Deck 8.  However, the only REGULAR Balcony cabins on this deck are BF's which are indeed GTY only bookings now.

 

I see a lot of cabin choice using outside booking engine which only shows a selection of 19 at a time.  There is TONS of choice on this voyage and you should be seeing it on Princess.com.  Cannot explain why you wouldn't.

Princess is 'forcing' you to have a TA, CVP, or call Princess for actual cabin availability - why? - Princess

[Lady Arwen]

Our British Isles sailing in September is sold out in all mini suites and full suites.  A few balconies spread around and a decent amount of interiors.  We booked our mini suite 11 months ago, which is actually late booking for us.  Some are on a guarantee and some you can choose your cabin.

[Steelers36]

20 minutes ago, So_Tweetie said:

I am booked in a mini-suite on the Nov 5 sailing, was hoping to see availability for those and for suites (of course hoping that they would sell all minis and bump me 😆). 

OUTSIDE BOOKING ENGINE

 

M1 = 8

M6 = W/L only

MA = W/L only

MB = >= 5 on Aloha

         >= 3 on Baja

         >= 8 on Caribe

         >= 3 on Riviera

MC = >= 6 on LIdo

          >= 13 on Marina

MD - Category not on the ship

ME = W/L only

MF - GTY only (but this is the lead-in and only ever GTY possible now)

 

PRINCESS.COM

No available or GTY only.

But this was doing a normal search for 2 Guests.

 

If you search for 3 Guests, all of the above shows up available.  There are TONS more Mini's than the minimums above as outside booking engine just shows a selection of 19 at a time of the best supposedly. 

 

IMO, Princess has a bug in the cruise search where using 2 Guests hides all the mini-suites.

 

[Steelers36]

18 minutes ago, voljeep said:

Princess is 'forcing' you to have a TA, CVP, or call Princess for actual cabin availability - why? - Princess

I'd say this only applies to Mini's when looking for 2 or less guests.  I say it is a booking engine bug that has popped up and needs fixing.

 

Seems eerily like the DB complaint.

Edited June 29, 2023 by Steelers36

[So_Tweetie]

3 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

OUTSIDE BOOKING ENGINE

 

M1 = 8

M6 = W/L only

MA = W/L only

MB = >= 5 on Aloha

         >= 3 on Baja

         >= 8 on Caribe

         >= 3 on Riviera

MC = >= 6 on LIdo

          >= 13 on Marina

MD - Category not on the ship

ME = W/L only

MF - GTY only (but this is the lead-in and only ever GTY possible now)

 

PRINCESS.COM

No available or GTY only.

But this was doing a normal search for 2 Guests.

 

If you search for 3 Guests, all of the above shows up available.  There are TONS more Mini's than the minimums above as outside booking engine just shows a selection of 19 at a time of the best supposedly. 

 

IMO, Princess has a bug in the cruise search where using 2 Guests hides all the mini-suites.

 

Thank you for the info! I can't reason how this would be intentional because they already have increased pricing built-in to the self-selection of cabins. 

[voljeep]

1 minute ago, Steelers36 said:

I'd say this only applies to Mini's when looking for 2 or less guests.  I say it is a booking engine bug that has popped up and needs fixing.

using your '3rd party search engine ... Sun Princess - 10/14/24 - Cat DB - mid aft

Princess shows - choose your own

Deck 15 - GTY

14 - GTY

12 - 12507 only

11 - 7 cabins

10 - GTY

 

and been pretty much like that since the cruise was available for booking

 

Thanks

[Dreamscaper]

I booked a guaranteed BA and ended up assigned a BD (and then billed even more money for a mini suite they had offered to upgrade us to before reneging on the offer).  I will never book a sailing again without a guaranteed assigned stateroom and I will be going through a TA in any future bookings as six plus hours of fighting with various people at Princess just to end up with the originally assigned BD has hubby saying "never again".

[Steelers36]

25 minutes ago, voljeep said:

using your '3rd party search engine ... Sun Princess - 10/14/24 - Cat DB - mid aft

Princess shows - choose your own

Deck 15 - GTY

14 - GTY

12 - 12507 only

11 - 7 cabins

10 - GTY

 

and been pretty much like that since the cruise was available for booking

 

Thanks

I concur with what PCL shows in that specific section.  There are a lot of other DB category cabins, however.

 

Using other booking engine, I was being shown the tons of cabins on Deck 16 and it caps out at showing 19 of however many there are in the category.  There is no deck plan option and IDK if that just isn't setup for this new ship, so all I see is a list.  I see lots of D1, DA, DB, DC.  13 D2.  GTY only for DC, DD, DE, DF, DH.  I see 8 DG.  DF will always only be GTY.  IDK what PCL is doing with the DG and DH Cove Balconies.  Such as, is DH always GTY or not?  Anyway, I left it at just checking the numbers.

 

On Princess.com, using 2 or 3 guests and selecting mid-ship section, I saw the same availability with LOTS of cabins on almost every deck. 

 

On other booking engine, even though it only listed Deck 16 and ran out at 19, I could enter a cabin number I saw on Princess.com for Deck 11 or 12 and it would take it. 

 

So, I don't see any big difference in the case of SUN.

 

[MTAK]

52 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

How are you looking these up?  I see TONS of Balcony cabins (they are selling BE thru BA all at the same price).  Okay, so didn't see any on Deck 8.  However, the only REGULAR Balcony cabins on this deck are BF's which are indeed GTY only bookings now.

 

I see a lot of cabin choice using outside booking engine which only shows a selection of 19 at a time.  There is TONS of choice on this voyage and you should be seeing it on Princess.com.  Cannot explain why you wouldn't.

 

ETA:  If you want an Obstructed (Full or Partial), then those are on Deck 8 as Category DW.

Sorry I should have clarified. I was only looking at Mid- and Mid-Forward. The only cabins shown on Princess.com in these sections is a few on each deck (looking at 10-12) around the Panoramic lifts, which might make sense in that area, but all three decks are showing guarantee only for Mid-Forward. Do you show any Mid-Forward (10-12)?

 

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, MTAK said:

Sorry I should have clarified. I was only looking at Mid- and Mid-Forward. The only cabins shown on Princess.com in these sections is a few on each deck (looking at 10-12) around the Panoramic lifts, which might make sense in that area, but all three decks are showing guarantee only for Mid-Forward. Do you show any Mid-Forward (10-12)?

 

Yes, I do.  However, as indicated previously, changing number of guests to 3 can reveal more inventory on princess.com and it does show some cabins on those decks.  However, I see more in third-party booking engine.

 

I think guests who are actively looking to book need to quiz PCL through their TA or CVP and try and get to the bottom of this.  Of course, a TA may think nothing is wrong since they have the visibility in POLAR - just as a CVP would.  Is this a system bug?  Is it Princess trying to protect and promote usage of CVP's (of course TA's by extension)?  Who knows? 

 

My recommendation would be for members here to get access to their TA booking engine, or find another reliable third-party engine and do some investigative shopping before speaking with CVP or TA, so you know what's what and can intelligently request cabin you want. 

 

IMO, this is a major fail or screw-up by PCL and doesn't look good with guest viewpoint.  SMH once again.

[voljeep]

34 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

, or find another reliable third-party engine and do some investigative shopping before speaking with CVP or TA, so you know what's what and can intelligently request cabin you want.

link?

[Steelers36]

14 hours ago, voljeep said:

link?

If I did so, it would reveal one or two TA companies since the name is in the URL.  Otherwise, I'd be happy to.  In fact, even other ones I have looked at all contain the agency name in the URL since it is part of their web domain.

Edited June 30, 2023 by Steelers36

[MTAK]

20 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Yes, I do.  However, as indicated previously, changing number of guests to 3 can reveal more inventory on princess.com and it does show some cabins on those decks.  However, I see more in third-party booking engine.

 

I think guests who are actively looking to book need to quiz PCL through their TA or CVP and try and get to the bottom of this.  Of course, a TA may think nothing is wrong since they have the visibility in POLAR - just as a CVP would.  Is this a system bug?  Is it Princess trying to protect and promote usage of CVP's (of course TA's by extension)?  Who knows? 

 

My recommendation would be for members here to get access to their TA booking engine, or find another reliable third-party engine and do some investigative shopping before speaking with CVP or TA, so you know what's what and can intelligently request cabin you want. 

 

IMO, this is a major fail or screw-up by PCL and doesn't look good with guest viewpoint.  SMH once again.

I did find a few extra cabins by changing to 3 people, but these are regular balconies. Do some of them actually accommodate a third person with a bunk?

 

I ended up booking a Deck 8 cabin through another site - as I mentioned previously, Princess is showing Deck 8 as Sold Out.

[Steelers36]

3 hours ago, MTAK said:

I did find a few extra cabins by changing to 3 people, but these are regular balconies. Do some of them actually accommodate a third person with a bunk?

 

I ended up booking a Deck 8 cabin through another site - as I mentioned previously, Princess is showing Deck 8 as Sold Out.

In Balcony cabins, the extra beds are recessed in the ceiling, so do not pose a hindrance.  The only downside is you have two extra life preservers kicking around.

[Steelers36]

16 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

In Balcony cabins, the extra beds are recessed in the ceiling, so do not pose a hindrance.  The only downside is you have two extra life preservers kicking around.

<deleted>

Edited July 1, 2023 by Steelers36