1st Time Offered an upgrade bid Coral Princess

[OzKiwiJJ]

We've done it! Only a lowish bid so I'll have to keep my fingers crossed. A mini-suite would be so much more comfortable on a long cruise like that.

 

I seem to be having a lucky day today which is why we decided to put in a bid. I was checking out my favourite shoe shop sale and found a nice pair less than half price. The shop also had a 50% off second pair sale so I found another pair at a similar price. Except that pair had already been reduced and 50% off that price came to just over $20!!!! I got two pairs of dressy shoes for more than $50 less than the original price of the first pair. Then I wandered past a dress shop and spotted a top I really liked at 30% discount. While I was in the shop I saw another top at 50% of the already reduced price, so I bought both. Then I discovered another clothing brand had 30% off some lovely plain linen tshirts. I'd bought two of these previously and they are very nice to wear so I bought another three colours. So I'm hoping my shopping luck carries through to the upgrade bid. Oh, and we also bought a Powerball ticket. If we win that we might just spring for a suite! 🤣

 

 

[mr walker]

20 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

So I'm hoping my shopping luck carries through to the upgrade bid. Oh, and we also bought a Powerball ticket. If we win that we might just spring for a suite! 🤣

 

If you win big Powerball jackpot, a few of your friends here on CC will hoping you spring for a cruise for us - doesn't have to be a suite 🙂 

[OzKiwiJJ]

12 minutes ago, mr walker said:

If you win big Powerball jackpot, a few of your friends here on CC will hoping you spring for a cruise for us - doesn't have to be a suite 🙂 

Oddly enough just after we bought the ticket I thought it would be fun to host a cruise get-together for all us regulars if we won the big prize! We'd have to wait until Lyle got here next year though.

[MicCanberra]

I just hope your mini suite has the shower over the bath. Lol.

[OzKiwiJJ]

8 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

I just hope your mini suite has the shower over the bath. Lol.

Don't they all have that except for accessible cabins? That's one of the main reasons for trying to get a mini-suite. I can live without the extra space but the balcony cabin shower is going to be a real annoyance for 110 days! 

[MicCanberra]

Apparently, someone had the bath over the shower instead.

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 minute ago, MicCanberra said:

Apparently, someone had the bath over the shower instead.

I must have missed that! 🤣

[arxcards]

8 hours ago, BuzzBuzzen said:

That price for 110 days, to a minisuite, would have my name on it. Cheers, Buzz.

I agree, but $13K is for the same cruise with more elbow room and not much more amenity. It is only the minimum bid to upgrade. If I could justify it at the time, I would be all for it, but would rather spend 13K on more immersive tours than cabin space. I can see the temptation.

[MMDown Under]

On 1/6/2024 at 1:07 PM, Ozwoody said:

Hi Jean, I'm with you I would not like a bath over the shower either, be difficult getting up there at my age. 😂

Should be an age restriction for passengers on baths over tubs on ships.  An accident just waiting to happen..  

[MicCanberra]

5 hours ago, MMDown Under said:

Should be an age restriction for passengers on baths over tubs on ships.  An accident just waiting to happen..  

I don't know of any ships with baths over tubs.

 

Some lines were enforcing age restrictions (70) for cruises not long ago, people were not happy.

People need to take responsibility and measures for themselves as well, if they think they may fall they should get a cabin without the bath.

[Jean C]

This current bit of bath/shower discussion developed from an earlier mis-type of mine where I said bath over shower instead of shower over bath - people are being literal, hehehe 🛀 

[BuzzBuzzen]

13 hours ago, arxcards said:

I agree, but $13K is for the same cruise with more elbow room and not much more amenity. It is only the minimum bid to upgrade. If I could justify it at the time, I would be all for it, but would rather spend 13K on more immersive tours than cabin space. I can see the temptation.

I think, if some one can afford a 110 day world cruise,  another 6 grand pp  for more space is well worth it. Years ago we paid for an upgrade to a Penthouse Suite on Diamond Princess and loved the space, after previously cruising in balcony cabins. That cruise was only 8 days. 

It is a personal decision for everyone . To each their own. Cheers, Buzz.

[OzKiwiJJ]

20 minutes ago, BuzzBuzzen said:

I think, if some one can afford a 110 day world cruise,  another 6 grand pp  for more space is well worth it. Years ago we paid for an upgrade to a Penthouse Suite on Diamond Princess and loved the space, after previously cruising in balcony cabins. That cruise was only 8 days. 

It is a personal decision for everyone . To each their own. Cheers, Buzz.

It's not the extra space that enticed us to bid, although that is very nice to have. It's the thought of coping with those tiny showers in the balcony cabin bathrooms for 110 days. We're not small people! 

[Ozwoody]

Really its what your willing to pay for a bit more comfit.

If you can afford it do it.

 

Our budgets are usually tight, so to have longer cruises which we enjoy, and prefer, it often means internals or OVs. Balconies we only get on very short cruises.

 

On a WC spending $70k odd grand for an internal is a major investment, prefer to save the difference for visiting the places we go to.

 

However if you have the wherewithal for balconies or suites go for it, wouldn't think twice about if it was me.

 

I'm the spend less cruise more type.

Edited January 9 by Ozwoody

[ceeceeDee]

3 hours ago, Jean C said:

This current bit of bath/shower discussion developed from an earlier mis-type of mine where I said bath over shower instead of shower over bath - people are being literal, hehehe 🛀 

And loving every minute of it, Jean!😂

[ceeceeDee]

8 minutes ago, Ozwoody said:

Really its what your willing to pay for a bit more comfit.

If you can afford it do it.

 

Our budgets are usually tight, so to have longer cruises which we enjoy, and prefer, it often means internals or OVs. Balconies we only get on very short cruises.

 

On a WC spending $70k odd grand for an internal is a major investment, prefer to save the difference for visiting the places we go to.

 

However if you have the wherewithal for balconies or suites go for it, wouldn't think twice about if it was me.

 

I'm the spend less cruise more type.

We tend to cruise a bit less so we can spring for a balcony or better. I doubt if we'd cope with an interior, although we have sailed in an ocean view (window) several times and it wasn't too bad. Of course with the cost of living et al, if we want to cruise more frequently we may have to grin and bear ocean views unless the cruise line has a deal going where they offer the price of a balcony at ocean view price. 🙂

[mr walker]

18 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Oddly enough just after we bought the ticket I thought it would be fun to host a cruise get-together for all us regulars if we won the big prize! We'd have to wait until Lyle got here next year though.

Oh I can see it now. Julie & Rolf hosting a party at the Cruise Bar on the eve of Lyle & Lynn's cruise departure with all the CC folk attending 🙂 Who knows. maybe it will happen!

[Jean C]

2 minutes ago, ceeceeDee said:

And loving every minute of it, Jean!😂

Fingers and brain not playing nice. I only just "got" it, even quickly checking my spiel before submitting, I saw what I expected to see rather than what was there!

 

I used to work for a major, very prestigious, law firm so you would expect them to get things right 🤔 I was attached to Personnel (hate the term "human resources") for a while. At a team meeting shortly before Christmas, the HR Director proudly showed us the meal at a restaurant voucher that had been produced for the staff Christmas gift that year. It was personalised with the law firm's name. I don't know how many people had previously seen/approved it, but the first thing I noticed and said was "they've got the name wrong"! They'd mis-spelled one of the names of the firm, using an alternative spelling for a name that could be spelt in more than one way 🤣 They hurriedly had them reprinted 😂

[OzKiwiJJ]

48 minutes ago, Ozwoody said:

Really its what your willing to pay for a bit more comfit.

If you can afford it do it.

 

Our budgets are usually tight, so to have longer cruises which we enjoy, and prefer, it often means internals or OVs. Balconies we only get on very short cruises.

 

On a WC spending $70k odd grand for an internal is a major investment, prefer to save the difference for visiting the places we go to.

 

However if you have the wherewithal for balconies or suites go for it, wouldn't think twice about if it was me.

 

I'm the spend less cruise more type.

We had a little windfall and since this is probably the only chance we'll have to do a world cruise we're hoping to spend the windfall on a bit more comfort. 

 

We did the 35 night Hawaii/Tahiti cruise in 2019 in an inside cabin. At that time we often chose inside cabins on Princess but after that cruise I said "never again"! The Covid hit the world. After two bouts of Covid on cruises I will only cruise in a balcony cabin or better. Being able to go out on the balcony for a breath of fresh air kept us sane during the isolations.

 

We actually had a mini-suite the first time I had Covid and it made a huge difference to us both. Rolf had somewhere to sit in comfort away from me, and I didn't have to put up with him sitting on the bed when I was feeling lousy. The worst thing Princess ever did was to remove chairs ftom the balcony cabins! 🤬

[OzKiwiJJ]

38 minutes ago, mr walker said:

Oh I can see it now. Julie & Rolf hosting a party at the Cruise Bar on the eve of Lyle & Lynn's cruise departure with all the CC folk attending 🙂 Who knows. maybe it will happen!

Nah! Dream bigger than that! We'd all do a cruise with Lyle and Lynn. Maybe just a short one though!

[Jean C]

23 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

The worst thing Princess ever did was to remove chairs ftom the balcony cabins! 

Agree 👍 

[ceeceeDee]

2 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

We had a little windfall and since this is probably the only chance we'll have to do a world cruise we're hoping to spend the windfall on a bit more comfort. 

 

We did the 35 night Hawaii/Tahiti cruise in 2019 in an inside cabin. At that time we often chose inside cabins on Princess but after that cruise I said "never again"! The Covid hit the world. After two bouts of Covid on cruises I will only cruise in a balcony cabin or better. Being able to go out on the balcony for a breath of fresh air kept us sane during the isolations.

 

We actually had a mini-suite the first time I had Covid and it made a huge difference to us both. Rolf had somewhere to sit in comfort away from me, and I didn't have to put up with him sitting on the bed when I was feeling lousy. The worst thing Princess ever did was to remove chairs ftom the balcony cabins! 🤬

I'm with you, Julie. The main influence for us opting for balcony or better was the dreaded covid. I couldn't think of anything worse than being isolated in a cabin with no access to fresh air. Prior to covid we often opted for ocean view, but now we're really hesitant. We have been fortunate in that we have not succumbed to the 'juicy cough' on any of our post covid cruises, but there is no guarantee that we will continue to be so fortunate. As long as I have a balcony, I don't think I would have a problem with being isolated (mind you, I would rather not find out) as I am perfectly happy reading in the fresh air and always take a load of books on cruises. Admittedly, most times I don't end up reading them all, but nice to have the option.

[mr walker]

2 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Nah! Dream bigger than that! We'd all do a cruise with Lyle and Lynn. Maybe just a short one though!

Well, I'll play along on the idea of us doing somehting as a group - tonight's Ozlotto jackpot is $5M & we have a ticket. Let's see what we win & then we can make a plan 🙂 

[Ozwoody]

2 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

We had a little windfall and since this is probably the only chance we'll have to do a world cruise we're hoping to spend the windfall on a bit more comfort. 

 

We did the 35 night Hawaii/Tahiti cruise in 2019 in an inside cabin. At that time we often chose inside cabins on Princess but after that cruise I said "never again"! The Covid hit the world. After two bouts of Covid on cruises I will only cruise in a balcony cabin or better. Being able to go out on the balcony for a breath of fresh air kept us sane during the isolations.

 

We actually had a mini-suite the first time I had Covid and it made a huge difference to us both. Rolf had somewhere to sit in comfort away from me, and I didn't have to put up with him sitting on the bed when I was feeling lousy. The worst thing Princess ever did was to remove chairs ftom the balcony cabins! 🤬

 

If I had a little windfall I would be doing the same.😁

 

Not long now just a few short months.

You will love the cruise, it seems a long time 110 days, but its amazing how quickly it goes on a WC.

 

Edited January 9 by Ozwoody

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, Ozwoody said:

 

If I had a little windfall I would be doing the same.😁

 

Not long now just a few short months.

You will love the cruise, it seems a long time 110 days, but its amazing how quickly it goes on a WC.

 

I'm sure it will go quickly. At the end of the 35 night cruise I would have happily done it all again immediately. I'm starting to collect all the consumables we'll need for the trip. Past experience has shown that it's not always easy to the products we like in other countries plus we're not going to have that much time for shopping, we'll be too busy seeing the sights.