Felt

Yes we have the slider in the US and you have to give them a credit card number to charge the additional upgrade cost to if your bid is accepted.

My comments are only based on my experience so you can take that with a grain of salt. Last Oct Princess announced a new pricing policy which was going to reward people who booked early with the lowest prices and not have as many price reductions as the the sailing date got nearer. We booked a mini suite when a particular cruise on the Sum Princess was offered and saw the price go up over 50% in the last 7 months. Then they introduced the Sanctuary staterooms for some balcony, mini suite and all suite guests and grandfathered in all those who were already booked in stateroom in those areas that qualified. The end result is that the cabin next to ours now goes for twice what we booked it for. As far as booking at the last moment, think that after the 90 day period where people can opt out and get a full refund is the best time to look for deals. In looking for cruises after my busy season came across 1 penthouse suite left approx 2 months before the cruise which I am sure someone recently opted out of. Got a reasonable discount off list (not nearly as much as my aforementioned counter offer for the same type of stateroom) but enough to make me book it on the spot. Less than a week later the cruise was listed as sold out.

There is a section after you log into the cruise planner about upgrading and you have to enter your booking # etc to find out if you qualify. Think final payment has to be made first before they tell you if you can. Only downside is they can wait as close to 2 days before you sail to notify you if you have been upgraded-not enough time to even print new luggage tags if you have already left.

There is a section after you log into the cruise planner about upgrading and you have to enter your booking # etc to find out if you qualify. Think final payment has to be made first before they tell you if you can. Only downside is they can wait as close to 2 days before you sail to notify you if you have been upgraded-not enough time to even print new luggage tags if you have already left.

Being spoiled is one of the reasons some suggest not taking the upgrade. The biggest thing that spoiled us on the last cruise was access to the concierge lounge which was right across the hall from our suite. Only 46 cabins had access to the lounge out of over 1,800 cabins. The concierge was so helpful on many occasions I gave her a $ 50 tip at the end of the voyage. We have another cruise scheduled in a mini suite prior to the other one I mentioned in another penthouse suite but since Princess added the Sanctuary perk to our benefit might not be too different than our suite experience. But definitely yes-probably will never go back to a balcony cabin.

My experience was very satisfying. Put in a bid for an upgrade from a Mini Suite to an upgraded suite at approx 75% of the max. As it got close to the cruise date decided to max out my bid to insure having the best opportunity to have my bid accepted. Two days before my cruise got an e-mail from Princess saying that there were no requested cabins available to upgrade me to but they could offer me a Penthouse suite for only $ 350 more for both of us than I had bid. Jumped on it as the additional perks alone more than paid for the extra $ 350. I'm sure the Princess figured that since we had bid so much to begin with, we wouldn't mind paying an extra $ 350. They were right as the final cost for the Penthouse Suite was less than half its original rate for that suite. Probably someone cancelled and they already had gotten their money for the cabin and anything extra they got from me was gravy. Don't feel too sorry for them. Saw another side of cruising I never knew existed and just got off another Princess cruise about a month ago that I booked the Penthouse suite for and have another Penthouse suite booked for a future cruise. I am hooked.

We picked the best day for us and want to make sure we got a reservation in for it given the limited total number of seats. Thought about doing what you suggested but decided against it.

Booked the cruise less than a month ago so not even close to December 1 unfortunately. The person who I talked to at Princess said to go to the guest services and they would refund the money that I had paid. Again due to the misinformation, lack of information and inconsistent into I have been given, I believe it when I see it.

When calling up to add my daughter to our cruise asked our Costco agent to ask Princess about whether the 360 dining was free as we were in a penthouse suite and she came back and said no we had to pay for it (which we had already done when we booked it.)

As usual you get conflicting, wrong or no information from Princess over any question you ask. Just got an e-mail from them re dinning which said 360 dining was complementary for me as as Suite guest on my upcoming cruise at the end of April. Yet I had already booked and paid for my 360 dining a couple of weeks ago. Call Princess and as usual got someone who had to go ask and told me that it was complimentary for me and I could get a refund when I got on board at guest services. Didn't believe anything I was told given my previous interaction with them on many things.