"Change Date" Itineraries Not Necessarily the Same

[diane.in.ny]

I was looking at a South America cruise and was on the detailed page for the Royal, which shows the itinerary and gives the options for other information including excursions, air, etc. and to book a cabin.

 

On the page is the Change Date option I'm sure we are all familiar with. Clicking that I saw that a few days later the Star was sailing the same itinerary.

 

At least I THOUGHT it was the same itinerary. IT WAS NOT!!!

 

I decided to click on it because I wanted to see cabin availability and price.

 

What caught my attention was the sail away time on embarkation day was different than that of the Royal. So I took a closer look.

 

And, no, the itineraries are not the same! Close, but not the same with some different times in port and some different ports of call.

 

Since this different itinerary thing under the same listing was new to me, I am guessing it might be new to other Princess cruisers so that is why I am starting this thread. I was all set to book the Royal but I actually like the Star itinerary better. And it would never have dawned on me it was a different itinerary because it had the Change Date option (which says to me all is the same except the date - and in this case the ship) versus a listing of its own.