AtlantaCruiser72

Princess has been marketing to families with children as far back as the launch of the Grand Princess. That is nothing new. 3rd/4th guest “kids” sail free offers have been done pre pandemic as well….. Princess spent a large sum of money well before the Covid shutdown redoing the kids/teens centers fleetwide to modernize them with Discovery Channel and Animal Planet branded experiences. Princess merely does not add all the “toys” that Royal, Carnival, Disney, and NCL have slapped on the top of their ships. Want to sail w/o kids? Viking, Oceania, Virgin, etc will all gladly take you vacation dollars.

Travel agent webinar this Thursday at 2pm EDT with Fall 2023 - Spring 2024 “Americas” deployment (Caribbean, Panama Canal, Mexico, California Coastal and Hawaii) Cruises go on sale 8/10/22. Further discussion below

I agree on principal, about a new ship being homeported in a “Marquee” port, but as far back as I can remember Princess has not ever based a ship in either Miami or Port Canaveral. They do have an on and off history with cruising from Galveston/Houston, and Carnival Corp has been VERY bullish on increasing capacity from Galveston. The redeployment of Ruby to Galveston for winter/spring 2023 was a rather last minute affair due to the decision to further reduce capacity in SE Asia and Australia/NZ and homeport Royal in San Francisco in place of Ruby. NCL certainly think that placing their new shiny Prima in Galveston is a good idea. RCCL will sail the relatively new Harmony of the Seas from there alongside the Adventure of the Seas. Carnival will have the brand spanking new Jubilee along with the still fairly new Vista, Breeze and the Dream. The market has changed and grown since Princess last did long term planning and homeported from the area (albeit from the Ill-fated Bayport terminal). Hence why I suggested Sphere #1 “could” be homeported there, with the LNG bunkering being a big factor alongside the nod to Galveston in the Webinar invite. I most likely will be WAYYYY offbase and proved completely wrong in this theory, thankfully I have only 2 more days to be proved wrong or right!

This is the exact same reason I booked the Coral Dining room for all 10 nights of my upcoming Panama Canal cruise

Galveston will be equipped for LNG bunkering. To my knowledge FtLauderdale and San Pedro will not. Could it be possible that if Sphere class #1 debuts winter 23/24 as planned that she sails from Galveston? Harmony of the Seas too!

One nugget was them specifically calling out Galveston in the invite as a seasonal homeport for fall 2023 - spring 2024. Will be interesting so see which ship they base there and what itineraries look like.

I got the webinar invite today and accepted - starts at 2pm EDT Thursday. As I get information I will post, especially if there is any update on Sphere Class delivery date/deployment

Which is why I said "purely ship related note" - I am already on record that neither itinerary is very good. Neither has great Glacier viewing options, with no Glacier experience from the ship itself. Juneau is primarily limited to Mendenhall, which that early in season may not yet be very active.

However those rooms are often known to suffer from noise until midnight (or later) due to the Vista Lounge (Grand) / Club Fusion (Sapphire) right below them

On a purely ship related note - I'd take the Konigsdam over the Grand anydays, if for no other reason than Kongisdams larger shower stalls w/ glass doors and handheld showerheads in all room categories up to and including balcony as compared to Grand Princess' RV like showers with clingy-curtains. I think the HAL dining options are superior as well.

Per this thread there is supposed to be a webinar on the 28th with a preview of the Fall 2023- Spring 2024 "Americas" sailings - Caribbean, Mexico, Panama Canal, California coastal and Hawaii would all be part of that release. I have yet to receive an invite via email from Princess, but if I do get any information will comeback and post ASAP

Vancouver is an expensive city to get to. I would not go to the expense for such a short sailing that leaves out so much of what makes Alaska wonderful, especially if this is your first trip to the region. Also due to the early season many marquee excursions may not yet be running, wildlife may be scarce and numerous shops/attractions may have yet to open. Either go later in the year when you can take more time, or wait a few years. I cannot recommend you do either sailing.

At long last!!!!!! I have to feel that “if” there is any change to the launch of the Sphere class vessels this is when we will get a clue.

Ok, so I’m starting to think Carnival corp are considering fitting out the first Sphere Class vessel for another brand (P&O, Aida or Costa perhaps) rather than Princess. With planned launch in less than 18 months and ZERO information (not even a vessel name or homeport) it does leave one to wonder.

Lately the Casino dept has routinely been paying cruises in the last 7-10 days prior to travel. You are at their mercy unfortunately.

However, going back at least 20-25 years, Princess has not has a ship based in either port that I can remember. All the Princess ships have been homeported in Ft. Lauderdale which to my knowledge will not have LNG capability. If Sphere were to be homeported in Ft Lauderdale she would be entirely reliant on visiting a Caribbean port each week that offers LNG bunkering with that capability (are there any?). Which is also unlikely unless she is restricted to a single itinerary pattern as Princess likes to offer alternating Eastern/Western itineraries to sell as b2b.

The rumored announcement date was May, then it slipped to June, then to July, then August and now we are hearing "sometime in September". Princess and HAL are the last 2 major lines to not have Fall 2023 to Spring 2024 Caribbean, Mexico, Panama canal, Hawaii and California Coastal sailings available for bookings.

That could very easily be worded that way since she has no schedule published beyond September 2023, so cannot officially speak to her deployment past then. What it also does not say is that when the fall 2023- spring 2024 deployment IS announced that she will be deployed elsewhere.

Well, time will tell I guess. Latest rumor is that the remaining fall 2023 to spring 2024 deployments will now not be announced until September. There may still yet be changes for existing deployments Princess plans on making once the finish the Emerald/Regal redeploy.

Since fall 2023 to Spring 2024 Mexico, Hawaii, California Coastal, Caribbean and Panama Canal cruises have not yet been announced there is no way to A) Know if this is true and B) If true where she would be repositioned.

This is the default descriptor/placeholder that the Princess GDS reservation system has since traditional dining was discontinued. Princess now has “Dine My Way” aka Freestyle dining. No pre set times or allocated tables/dining companions. All open seating in all dining venues. Reservations are not required, but can be made via the Medallion Class app in advance of sailing if you wish, or even once onboard. When making reservations you can link friends traveling with you, choose which dining venue you prefer, the time, and whether you wish to have a table for just your party, or if you wish to share with others. Table #s are not assigned and you may have different waitstaff each evening. You “may” be able to arrange the same table/section/waitstaff once onboard but it is not guaranteed.

Carnival Corp has made it VERY clear they have no intent of building small to mid-sized ships going forward. Nothing on order for Seabourn (and rumor of the line being up for sale) The last 3 HAL ships have “just” squeaked in under 100K GRT. Princess has not ordered a ship under 100K GRT in 20 years. The new Queen Anne for Cunard will be over 110K GRT. The numbers speak for themselves.

IF Princess had their 2023/24 Fall/Winter Caribbean cruises available to book I would have booked a 10 day Southern Caribbean sailing. They need forward bookings and are really missing out by continuing to delay opening deployments.

@KKB which dining room(s) are you eating in? Last time I was on Caribbean Princess one of the two center dining rooms (think it was Island) had AC issues and was consistently too warm for me. Wondering how the temps are. Also if you have eaten in the Palm dining room have you noticed any vibration/noise from engines/propellers? Glad you seem to be having a good cruise so far!

Im willing to bet it will be a La$er Tag cour$e … $$$$$ That said I’m VERY impressed with the overall decor of the ship! She’s a real stunner.