Royal Princess Aft & Caribe-like Balconies - Photo

[JerseyGuys]

That's totally bizarre. They double-booked the same space? Based on what? You booked based on the deck plans and were confirmed so how could they book space in suites that aren't on the deck plans and didn't exist? It's worth writing to Alan Buckelew and let him know that the treatment you received was unacceptable.

 

Pam do you know of a method to contact Mr. Buckelew to complain about this. Appreciate any advice

[Eppe4]

That's totally bizarre. They double-booked the same space? Based on what? You booked based on the deck plans and were confirmed so how could they book space in suites that aren't on the deck plans and didn't exist? It's worth writing to Alan Buckelew and let him know that the treatment you received was unacceptable.

 

Pam,

 

Totally bizarre is one of the thoughts that we've had. We put a lot of effort into picking our cabin and marking it NO UPGRADE, it was orginally booked through Princess the day the bookings opened. The only "excuse" we were given is that the ship is in the process of being built and changes were made!! So, that leaves us 2 options, take the mini suite in a location we don't want or cancel the cruise. We've already purchased our air, but more importantly, we've made so many wonderful "new friends" that it would tear me apart to cancel. We love the sanctuary, so that's where we'll be during the day but we were dreaming of beautiful sights from our aft balcony for 30 days and it just won't happen. Next month we're sailing on the new Celebrity Reflection, so after 47 Princess cruises it might be time for us to move on, this is far from the first big problem we've had with Princess but I remain quiet most of the time.

[Eppe4]

After these posts I checked my Personalizer and we were moved from Cat D4 D727 to Cat D4 A736. I had booked on Dolphin deck because I wanted one of the larger, half covered balconies that are on Baja and Dolphin deck but not on Aloha. We received no notification from Princess and this cruise has not been transferred to a TA yet. I'm not happy about the reduced balcony size, but at least it is a Cat D4 cabin for now.

 

It looks like Princess realized that the layout of the S2 aft cabins was not good with no room for aft doors to the balcony. Looking at Emerald and Marina deck, what the appear to be doing is not creating new suites but moving their location slightly. They are shifted into the and adjoining Cat D4 aft cabin and a portion of the old cabin is being made into a Balcony/ Balcony along the side of the ship.

 

On Emerald deck the new Deluxe Balconies are now E726 and E727 and the relocated Suites are now E728 and E729. Cat D4 cabins E730, E731, E732, and E733 are apparently unchanged.

 

If you are booked in the middle four Cat D4 cabins you appear to be OK. If you were booked in the outermost cabin on either side you will be moved :(

 

Brian,

 

Thought that you would also be moved. Guess all of those great sail away parties we had planned for the 30 days are history. With all of the balcony doors opened it would have been wonderful, now we're all moved through out the ship. We are waitlisted for an S-2 but according to Princess the list is so long it will no longer automatically accept any more people, SUPPOSEDLY is has been done manually but right now I don't believe anything Princess say or sells!!!!!

[Eppe4]

Thank you for letting us know about this. It is extremely distressing news. I feel horrible for you. Our cabin is in the same position as yours was, but on Baja Deck. We have heard nothing yet about any changes to our reservation as of yet, but if we do we will be cancelling the cruise. There were literally only 4 cabins on this ship that I cared to occupy: ours, yours and their 2 mirror cabins on the opposite side of the ship. If they remove all 4 of these as Deluxe Balcony Cabins, then the Royal will sail without us.

 

 

Thanks guys, really appreciate that you understand this issue. I will tell you they counldn't care LESS who cancels this cruise. If Princess wasn't confident with the deck plans they shouldn't have offered the cabins for sale so early. So, who's the looser here, the customer of course!!!

[Eppe4]

I'm booked for the TA in D731 and still show the same room.

 

Jim,

 

You're safe at least that is what I was told on one of the conference calls yesterday. D-730 and D-731 are in place. But you've lost all of us, we were going to have some wonderful sail away parties on those aft balconies.

 

Our t/a was on the ball, this was brought to our attention immediately.

[wineforhealth]

Jim,

 

You're safe at least that is what I was told on one of the conference calls yesterday. D-730 and D-731 are in place. But you've lost all of us, we were going to have some wonderful sail away parties on those aft balconies.

 

Our t/a was on the ball, this was brought to our attention immediately.

 

Joyce

 

I'm also bummed, I too was looking forward to having some great aft parties. Thank you for the update on my room status.

 

Have a great holiday season

[5:00_Somewhere]

I can suggest you check your Personalizer because I just did and was upgraded to a mini A428 from my aft Deluxe balcony R731. I never heard a word from Princess at all and sure didn't want that location either. But I won't give up the sailing. Good luck.

 

Judy from SW Florida

 

Yup, you're right. I just checked and they've moved us from B734 to R734. Completely unacceptable! I've done all this research to find these specific cabins for a reason. Time to call Princess. This sucks. :mad:

[DonnasMom&Dad]

Pam do you know of a method to contact Mr. Buckelew to complain about this. Appreciate any advice

 

Hi Jersey Guys:

 

Try this address, I've sent a few e-mails, and got some results. :confused: :D

 

Cato :)

 

 

<abuckelew@princess.com>

 

Completed Cruises !

 

Pre-cruise Days - The Big Red Boat, 1993 ??

 

1st cruise - Coral Princess, 19 November 2008, 10 day Panama Canal, FLL to ACA

2nd cruise - Coral Princess, 15 May 2009, 3 day Repositioning, Los Angeles to Vancouver.

3rd cruise - Sapphire Princess, 25 November 2009? 7 day Mexican Riviera.

4th cruise - Golden Princes, 12 June 2010, 7 day Alaska. (Golden Anniversary Cruise)

5th Cruise - Island Princess, 04 October 2010, Vancouver - Los Angeles, Repositioning

6th cruise - Sapphire Princess, 05 January 2011, 10 day Mexican Riviera. LA to LA.

7th cruise - Golden Princess, 11 May 2011, 3 day, LA to Vancouver, Repositioning

8th cruise - Sapphire Princess, 14 May 2011, 1 day, Vancouver to Seattle, Repositioning

9th cruise - Coral Princess 19 May 2011 2 day, San Francisco to Vancouver, Repositioning

10th & 11th cruises - Coral Princess 02 July to 16 July 2011, round trip Vancouver - Whittier Alaska, B2B

12th & 13th cruises - Sapphire Princess, x2, Cabins, 18 Sep. 2011, 1 day, Seattle to Vancouver, Repositioning

14th & 15th cruises - Golden Princess, x2, Cabins, 24 Sep. 2011, 1 day, Seattle to Vancouver, Repositioning.

We have now reached Elite status with Princess Cruise Lines

16th cruise - Oasis of the Seas, 26 Nov. 2011, 7 day, Western Caribbean, Ft. Lauderdale, Ret.

17th & 18th cruises - Crown Princess B2B, 03 - 10 Dec & 10 - 17 Dec 2011, 14 Days, South & western Caribbean

19th cruise - Grand Princess, 31 Mar. - 07Jun.0212 7 Days, Eastern Caribbean, FLL - FLL

20th cruise - Island Princess, 06-16 June 2012, 10 day cruisetour Vancouver - Wittier

21th cruise - Emerald Princess, 16 day, 10 - 26 Sep. 2012, TA, Copenhagen - New York

 

 

Future & Hopeful Cruises !

( Already booked )

 

22nd cruise - Carnival Ecstasy 10 - 14 January, 2013, 4 Day Bahamas, Port Canaveral Ret.

23rd cruise - Sapphire Princess 31 March - 06 April, 2013, 7 Day Coastal LA - LA

24thh cruise - Royal Princess 16 June - 05 July, 2013, 19 Day Inaugural cruise, Southampton - Venice.

25thcruise - Emerald Princess, 01 Oct. - 16 Oct. 2013, 16 Day Cruisetour, Toronto Via Quebec City to New York City

26th cruise - Royal Princess, 14 November - 01 December, 2013, Eastern Caribbean, Fort Lauderdale Ret.

 

Edited December 22, 2012 by Donna's Dad

[Eppe4]

Yup, you're right. I just checked and they've moved us from B734 to R734. Completely unacceptable! I've done all this research to find these specific cabins for a reason. Time to call Princess. This sucks. :mad:

 

Good luck with THAT phone call and please report back on the run around that you get! However, very sorry that you were also moved.

[steelhead1]

After reading all of these posts I'm not sure what to think. We booked the Royal for Nov. 3rd originally B734. I put it on hold and when I paid the deposit next day it showed our cabin as a D4 guarantee. So I called Princess, got no explanation why, so I changed to D729. Still shows us in this cabin on the personalizer, so guess we'll just wait and see what happens.

[caribill]

Of course this also affects people in those 14 cabins on all the Royal cruises, not just the trans-Atlantic.

 

Lots of people are in for this big surprise.

[MustangGT]

Yup, you're right. I just checked and they've moved us from B734 to R734. Completely unacceptable! I've done all this research to find these specific cabins for a reason. Time to call Princess. This sucks. :mad:

 

I agree that this is not acceptable! Now you are in a cabin that will accomodate 4 which means bunks in the way :-(

I find it interesting that Princess has not updated the deck plans on the website. The cabins that people are being moved from still exist on the site. Not good, Princess!:mad:

[emairs]

We have an S2 cabin - E726. I just checked my personalizer due to this thread, and our cabin is now E728. We have received no notification of this change in cabin number.

 

I checked the deck plans, and it's still showinhg as E726.

[IECalCruiser]

We have an S2 cabin - E726. I just checked my personalizer due to this thread, and our cabin is now E728. We have received no notification of this change in cabin number.

 

I checked the deck plans, and it's still showinhg as E726.

Your cabin has been renumbered and is being reconfigured. You will be gaining the space formerly occupied by Deluxe Balcony E728 and you will gain a true aft door. In exchange you will give up space along the side to make a new Deluxe Balcony cabin E726.

 

If you go to do a booking it will show E726 as a Deluxe Balcony and E728 as an S2 Owners Suite.

[john_galt]

I'm feel very sorry for anyone who lost their D4 room and I hope they move you to a nice cabin. You ought to get a mini-suite, at the very least. However, this thread was music to the ears of us interested in the S2's. Now I know what I'm doing in 2015! Can't wait for the dates to open up. My wife and I are thrilled! :)

 

I got srewed out of the owner's suite on the Nordic Empress in 1990. The ship was six weeks late being delivered and our sailing date was lost. OBC and a balcony room (rare at the time) didn't come close to making up for the loss. I never sailed RCI again. :(

[stunnedinva]

Hmmm. I've also been moved from an aft-facing balcony to an MA guarantee. :confused:

[stunnedinva]

Yup, you're right. I just checked and they've moved us from B734 to R734. Completely unacceptable! I've done all this research to find these specific cabins for a reason. Time to call Princess. This sucks. :mad:

 

Interesting--I was booked in B734 too--but on the TA.

Edited December 23, 2012 by stunnedinva

[IECalCruiser]

Hmmm. I've also been moved from an aft-facing balcony to an MA guarantee. :confused:

I feel slighted. Instead of being upgraded to a Cat MA, we were shifted from a large half covered Caribe style balcony, cabin D727, to the much smaller standard balcony, cabin A736. It is still an aft Cat D4 but I had also wanted the much larger, half covered, balconies on Dolphin and Baja deck. I like the aft cabin but if I am forced to have the 5' wide balcony I would have said to heck with the aft and booked a Cat DF and saved $500/person. I booked the cabin ten minutes after they went on sale and I had my choice of cabins. Not a happy camper :( :( Edited December 23, 2012 by IECalCruiser

[stunnedinva]

I feel slighted. Instead of being upgraded to a Cat MA, we were shifted from a large half covered Caribe style balcony, cabin D727, to the much smaller standard balcony, cabin A736. It is still an aft Cat D4 but I had also wanted the much larger, half covered, balconies on Dolphin and Baja deck. I like the aft cabin but if I am forced to have the 5' wide balcony I would have said to heck with the aft and booked a Cat DF and saved $500/person. I booked the cabin ten minutes after they went on sale and I had my choice of cabins. Not a happy camper :( :(

 

Brian, there's no logic to this--I remember you booked before I did--were waiting on tenterhooks for the Princess office to open so you could get your carefully chosen cabin. I've never had an upgrade on Princess before, but I guess if my chosen cabin no longer exists, they've gotta put me somewhere. It seems to me that they should bump all the misplaced persons to an MA.

[IECalCruiser]

Brian, there's no logic to this--I remember you booked before I did--were waiting on tenterhooks for the Princess office to open so you could get your carefully chosen cabin. I've never had an upgrade on Princess before, but I guess if my chosen cabin no longer exists, they've gotta put me somewhere. It seems to me that they should bump all the misplaced persons to an MA.

This booking hasn't been transferred to a TA yet so I will be calling Princess tomorrow and see what happens. The e-mail we received from Princess did not mention that our cabin was changed and I did not notice the change in the e-mail. Edited December 23, 2012 by IECalCruiser

[cruisingpeople]

Hmmm. I've also been moved from an aft-facing balcony to an MA guarantee. :confused:

 

I feel slighted. Instead of being upgraded to a Cat MA, we were shifted from a large half covered Caribe style balcony, cabin D727, to the much smaller standard balcony, cabin A736. Not a happy camper :( :(

 

Don't feel to slighted or upset.......... Our friends called us last night with this story about our 11/3 sailing.

On Friday, they were called by their TA to inform them that not only did Princess take them from their A- 735 aft cabin, they did not even reassign them another cabin. In other words, "Sorry Pal, you're off the ship". Luckily, on Saturday, after 2 hours on the phone with a relatively unsympathetic Princess Rep, she was able to secure them a category ME mini-suite on Lido deck in the front end of the ship. On top of everything else, Princess was initially demanding an upgrade charge for the move. The TA fought them on that item until she won out. Needless to say, my friend is walking around with a "big chip on his shoulder" about the way Princess has been handling this situation.

Joe

[stunnedinva]

This booking hasn't been transferred to a TA yet so I will be calling Princess tomorrow and see what happens. The e-mail we received from Princess did not mention that our cabin was changed and I did not notice the change in the e-mail.

 

I didn't get an e-mail--I wouldn't have known if I hadn't been reading the boards and checked "My Princess."

[caribill]

I feel slighted. Instead of being upgraded to a Cat MA, we were shifted from a large half covered Caribe style balcony, cabin D727, to the much smaller standard balcony, cabin A736. It is still an aft Cat D4 but I had also wanted the much larger, half covered, balconies on Dolphin and Baja deck. I like the aft cabin but if I am forced to have the 5' wide balcony I would have said to heck with the aft and booked a Cat DF and saved $500/person. I booked the cabin ten minutes after they went on sale and I had my choice of cabins. Not a happy camper :( :(

 

If you have a travel agent, see if he/she will go to bat for you for at least some OBC. You are not getting the cabin you booked and have paid more than you would have for the alternative you would have preferred.

[5:00_Somewhere]

Reporting back in after my call with Princess on this topic. First, I spoke with a very nice and very sympathetic customer representative ... who knew absolutely nothing about this issue until I asked about it. He was able to determine that the change was only made in their systems on Friday and he assured me that everyone in affected cabins would be informed, but that there was likely a bit of a delay due to the holiday. And he confirmed that our former cabin is, indeed, being combined with the cabin that was next to it to create a new category S2 suite, and that this is being done on several decks. The ship is apparently completely sold out and we are basically lucky to have been moved to a cabin similar to the one we originally booked. There is nothing else available on the ship for our sailing, and many categories of cabin are wait-listed, including the new suite that is taking the place of our former cabin (hey, I had to ask.) So, basically, we have to take it or leave it.

 

To be honest, if I could I would just cancel this cruise altogether and book something else. But, because of other scheduling issues the latter part of next year and the beginning of 2014, we really can't reschedule, so we're stuck. Plus, we have dear friends who will be on the sailing, so that'll help make up for the disappointment, I suppose. I'm still unhappy with the way Princess handled this, and I am concerned about a few aspects of this cabin (especially the bunk for the 4th person - although he assured me this would be over the couch and not over the bed - and the possibility that "the dreaded vent" from the Deck 6 galley will occupy the space next to our balcony), but I guess we'll just have to deal with it. Princess will still be hearing from me, though.

 

If anyone else has the same issue, good luck trying to get any satisfaction from Princess on this one. Really, really not happy about this. This is the first time Princess has ever done anything that has made me this upset with them. I guess I should be grateful for that, and consider myself lucky.

 

Best of luck to everyone else, too.

 

p.s. - I've also posted a copy of this on a thread I started last night on Princess' FaceBook page (we'll see if they let it stay there.)

 

p.p.s. - my hubby has started another thread just about this issue, since people looking at the original subject line of this thread likely won't think to look in here about this new twist.

Edited December 23, 2012 by 5:00_Somewhere

[Eppe4]

Reporting back in after my call with Princess on this topic. First, I spoke with a very nice and very sympathetic customer representative ... who knew absolutely nothing about this issue until I asked about it. He was able to determine that the change was only made in their systems on Friday and he assured me that everyone in affected cabins would be informed, but that there was likely a bit of a delay due to the holiday. And he confirmed that our former cabin is, indeed, being combined with the cabin that was next to it to create a new category S2 suite, and that this is being done on several decks. The ship is apparently completely sold out and we are basically lucky to have been moved to a cabin similar to the one we originally booked. There is nothing else available on the ship for our sailing, and many categories of cabin are wait-listed, including the new suite that is taking the place of our former cabin (hey, I had to ask.) So, basically, we have to take it or leave it.

 

To be honest, if I could I would just cancel this cruise altogether and book something else. But, because of other scheduling issues the latter part of next year and the beginning of 2014, we really can't reschedule, so we're stuck. Plus, we have dear friends who will be on the sailing, so that'll help make up for the disappointment, I suppose. I'm still unhappy with the way Princess handled this, and I am concerned about a few aspects of this cabin (especially the bunk for the 4th person - although he assured me this would be over the couch and not over the bed - and the possibility that "the dreaded vent" from the Deck 6 galley will occupy the space next to our balcony), but I guess we'll just have to deal with it. Princess will still be hearing from me, though.

 

If anyone else has the same issue, good luck trying to get any satisfaction from Princess on this one. Really, really not happy about this. This is the first time Princess has ever done anything that has made me this upset with them. I guess I should be grateful for that, and consider myself lucky.

 

Best of luck to everyone else, too.

 

p.s. - I've also posted a copy of this on a thread I started last night on Princess' FaceBook page (we'll see if they let it stay there.)

 

p.p.s. - my hubby has started another thread just about this issue, since people looking at the original subject line of this thread likely won't think to look in here about this new twist.

 

Hey Guys, thanks for reporting back in, I certainly appreciate your input. Princess didn't handle this at all, they totally dropped the ball. If it weren't for automatic upgrade notices (on a NO UPGRADE) booking we still wouldn't know. Happy to hear that you're not going to cancel the cruise. If it weren't for new friends that we've made for this thread, we would cancel. I don't consider the MA mini an upgrade for us, I worked to hard to find the perfect cabin.

 

Again, thanks for your update and Happy Holidays.