JoieNsk

Laurie, thank you for the fun reading! You have a great sense of humor! I have no practical use of reading this thread, don't even know how I ended up here :))) I think it was due to Disney part, as I am a Disney fun too. But it is so enjoyable to read what you write, that I keep coming back here 🙂 Thank you!

The new cruise we booked is not on Star. I don't care about inaugural or not inaugural. I want the cruise to happen. And I don't think it is safe to book any inaugural cruise on the new ship - from the "actually happening" perspective. The new cruise is on the Sun, and she is already sailing. So at least the ship exists 🤣 So the itinerary might keep staying as existing one too. At least it is more likely than any itinerary on the newer ship. And yes, compared to people who got cancelled a week before the cruise - like it happened this year - we are much better off. But still - the "for your convenience" crap from the email - they must think that their customers are not very smart, for sure. That kind of bothers me, really. When we got Holland America cruise cancelled - we got our money back + additional FCC in the amount we already paid towards the cruise! Not $100 per a cabin. That was a deal. I guess Princess must be doing so well now, that they don't care if people book with them or not. So they don't even make an effort. This is our first time on Princess. So I don't know if they always do business in this interesting way?

Really??? 🤣 As I didn't want to deal with all that "for your convenience" FCC crap from the email, I found another sailing kind of around the same time frame, with reasonable enough price, so I can rebook before they took our money and put it into that extremely convenient for them FCC with limited dates and limited expiration. I mean reasonable as we had an amazing fare booked, and there is nothing comparable to that now, so the deal is lost for sure. I had to chose smaller room for shorter cruise, as the rooms and the nice prices are gone by now. I had half of the cruise paid already, with both Amex offers and gift cards. So I had to skip the refund option. I called our big box travel agency we have the cruise booked with, and it seems like they had no idea the cruise was cancelled. Their agent called Princess to rebook for me, and appeared that they already cancelled and transferred the money into FCC, without even asking us if we wanted this option. Not even that - the Princess agent was telling the other agent, that the FCC was less than the money we actually paid. But she didn't know why. The travel agency agent made a wild guess that they substructed the taxes, and they were going to refund the taxes. Basically nobody knew for sure where our $220 went. Appeared to be, they weren't gone anywhere, as in the end all the money we paid got transferred to the new itinerary. So - as usually - it's a mess, and nobody knows nothing.

We received cancellation email today about 10 nights Mediterranean out of Barcelona on October 1st 2025. The wording of the email upper on this thread is nicer than the one we received. "Dear Valued Princess Guest, We are writing to share an important update regarding the delivery and launch of our second spectacular Sphere Class ship, Star Princess. Princess Cruises, in collaboration with shipbuilder Fincantieri, has made the difficult decision to postpone the delivery of Star Princess until Fall 2025. Following a thorough evaluation of the remaining construction milestones, both parties have determined it is necessary to adjust the ship’s delivery date from late July 2025 to late September 2025. Unfortunately, this will result in the cancellation of the multiple inaugural sailings originally planned, including yours. While this decision was not taken lightly, we believe it is essential to ensure that Star Princess’ delivery upholds the impeccable standards expected by our esteemed guests. The new inaugural sailings of Star Princess will sail roundtrip from Barcelona and include an 11-day Mediterranean voyage on October 4, 2025, and a 7-day Mediterranean voyage on October 15, 2025, that precede a 14-day transatlantic crossing to Fort Lauderdale on October 22, 2025, for the ship’s first Caribbean season. These three new cruises will open for sale on April 30, 2024. We understand the inconvenience this may cause and extend our sincerest apologies. In recognition of this, we have automatically turned all funds paid to date into a refundable Future Cruise Credit (FCC) and will add a $100 per stateroom onboard credit (non-refundable) to your account. This FCC and bonus OBC can be applied when rebooking any Princess cruise sailing by November 30, 2025, when booked by November 30, 2024. Alternatively, if you would like to forgo the bonus OBC and simply cancel your booking for a full refund, please complete this form by May 6. If you do not complete the form by May 6, you will retain your FCC and Onboard Credit. Star Princess represents the next generation of cruise ships within the Sphere Class – following in the footsteps of her sister ship, Sun Princess, which debuted in February. Mirroring Sun Princess, Star Princess will shine with exciting new features, such as The Dome, the cruise industry’s first geodesic feature on the top deck; and The Sphere, the captivating, suspended glass Sphere Piazza at the heart of the ship – all while retaining the timeless elegance Princess is renowned for. We appreciate your understanding and patience during this time of adjustment. Our commitment to delivering exceptional experiences remains unwavering, and we eagerly anticipate welcoming you aboard Star Princess as we embark on this remarkable journey together."

I am not going to be responsible for that 🙂 My data gave them an idea that they need to price down the suite I am bidding at, and significantly :))) That 's what I meant. If I would like the price they were selling the suite for to begin with - I would probably book it right there (maybe not really, as the other suites still would be less expensive, and I am happy enough to book one of them :))) Maybe I don't understand something, but my idea of bidding is to get something at a bargain price. So I don't really get how my bargain pricing for example will give them an idea that I would be willing to pay even more than they try to charge as a regular price?

I only have experience with suites on RCI's older ships. I am sure the newer ships have experience significantly elevated compared to older ships. And I only was at NCL Haven on the ship, where they had a "nicer" Haven - with dedicated restaurant etc. So my comparison is not apples to apples one. NCL was significantly nicer, many more perks etc. But the price in general for a Haven suite on NCL is very much higher too! If you can get Haven for the price you are comfortable with - you will probably like it better that RCI, I think. The ship within the ship is nice, especially on a bigger more crowded ship. For me personally it also very much depends on the itinerary. If we are doing port-intense exciting itinerary - in Europe, or some other interesting place - I would be happy with just nice bigger room. The other stuff doesn't matter much, as we would not spend much time on the ship. So I would be happy to chose suite on older RCI ship, as they normally are much better priced, even though not as nice as Haven rooms on NCL, or even on newer RCI ships.

I suppose - why not. Maybe next time they will offer lower prices right from the beginning - taking in the data I provided to them :))))

I suppose it is a higher probability that somebody in a not-suite cabin get an upgrade, compared to a suite cabin, as there are less suites on the ship. And they probably will be happier too 🙂 As suites are nice enough already, even without upgrade. So it was not very smart move on my end to skip the savings I get with the big box travel company for this elusive game :))) Next time I hope I will be smarter! :)))

I hope your cousin is doing well, and on the way to full recovery! It does give very different perspective to all these "money" games. I truly wish everybody on our cruise will make it - no cancellations, no "no-shows", no emergencies!

Thank you. I am happy with our cabin. This itinerary is a pricey one, but I booked it right when the dates were released, so got - as I feel - reasonable price. But RS is nice in my opinion, especially for the 12 days, so I would not mind to get that one, paying a small bid over what I already paid 🙂 I got spoiled - we had couple amazing deals during COVID and right after, and tried some extremely nice cabins which are normally out of our price range :))) But I feel the time of deals is over - at least for a while :)))) I will take it though. I better have no deals, but no COVID either!!!

Thank you! I suppose emergencies happen. And people can cancel. But I wonder how many cancellations can happen so close to the sailing date? Even if somebody has to cancel (I can't even imagine a no show, but anything can happen I suppose...) - the cruise line keeps the money. So they don't loose anything, right? Of course it never hurts to get even more money. Maybe that?

We never did Royal Up before, as we always book through a big box travel agency who doesn't participate in the program. But I decided to try to book without them, to see how this upgrade bidding would work. The cruise is one of the pricey rare itineraries - British Isles. So I realized soon enough, but after 30 days unfortunately - that was not an itinerary for that. I wish I would just stay with our big box agency for this one. Too late, I didn't. It is 60 days away - sharp, as of today. I checked yesterday - the cruise doesn't even show up on the web-site anymore. I checked the big box travel agency site. The cruise still shows up there, but when you click through - it shows up as "no rooms available". None at all. Nevertheless we received a Royal Up invitation :))) We have an OS, so the only cabin we can be upgraded to would be a RS. Actually we were offered a 2-bedroom, but we are two adults, don't need two bedrooms, and RS is way nicer than a 2-bedroom. No RS were available for more than a year on this sailing. So I wonder what is the purpose of this Royal Up bidding? I still put a bid - why not. Not much, a bit over the minimum - whatever I am comfortable paying. But I am truly puzzled... I wonder if somebody with the experience have an explanation? Thank you in advance for any info!

If the in the one on the front is not an error, it is also going to be great place - for front views. Even though it is small, and it is not completely on the front.

The on on the top is called The Haven Sun Deck. I think this is its panorama... https://www.cruisecritic.com/cruise/norwegian-ncl/norwegian-jade/the-haven-sun-deck-393594/the-haven-sun-deck--v448025 https://www.cruisecritic.com/cruise/norwegian-ncl/norwegian-jade/the-haven-sun-deck-393594/the-haven-sun-deck--v447980

The one the bottom is the one with access from the courtyard. It is called Courtyard Villas Private Sundeck. I think this is the panoramas I posted above are from this deck.