A plea for an April 2024 eclipse cruise

[help32250]

1 hour ago, Griff4AU said:

I barely remember those days. The "cool" finance folks wanted the original HP 12c and we aviators wanted an original E6B "whizzy wheel". 'Hard to imagine we put a man on the moon and lived without remote controls (other than dad yelling "change the channel ... "). 

Reminiscing aside, surely there are some folks at Princess with both the business and financial acumen to realize that the reason they are seeing a full boat this early on with this particular itinerary (how many really will book a Mexico itinerary 18 months out?) is because of the eclipse. And as much as Princess is my "sweet spot" with the cruise lines, if (when) Royal and/or X tosses an eclipse itinerary out there that has the ship on the water and chasing the eclipse, I cancel my Princess reservation that day if the Discovery itinerary still shows her in port. 

If 50+ years ago we could put men on the moon and fly around the world using slide rules, wizzy wheels and 12c's, Princess can figure out what the right thing to do is here. 

Thanks for your input.  It supports many things I pointed out in my eMail (letter) and I continuously quote such comments to them ... and trust that I add in a lot more.  And re your comment about booking another cruise (ie if Royal or X chimes in with one) I specifically used the term "jumping ship" to describe that potentiality.

[Griff4AU]

Wow, this sailing is largely sold out except for interiors and obstructed balconies on Deck 8. 

 

If you're wanting on this sailing and want a better cabin, keep checking to see if someone doesn't pay their reduced deposit and loses their spot.

 

Maybe Princess will simply say, "we're nearly sold out on this sailing - we don't need to change a thing".

 

I might just be on the HAL boat. My (then) 12yo will hate it, 

[help32250]

13 hours ago, Griff4AU said:

Wow, this sailing is largely sold out except for interiors and obstructed balconies on Deck 8. 

 

If you're wanting on this sailing and want a better cabin, keep checking to see if someone doesn't pay their reduced deposit and loses their spot.

 

Maybe Princess will simply say, "we're nearly sold out on this sailing - we don't need to change a thing".

 

I might just be on the HAL boat. My (then) 12yo will hate it, 

Don't jump ship just yet.  Remember that the deposits are "air balls" essentially until 1/1/24.  By then the die will be cast and you will have lost nothing if you want to cancel.  I even looked at what was available on HAL ... just to find that it is at least 2x $$ and would probably put me right on top of the smoke-filled Casino. 

Please give me some time to keep pounding on them and hopefully putting some sense into them.  And remember that I sent my first letter to their President and COB in late 2017.  Anyway I want to meet you guys and show you my Slide Rule, Protractor, Abacus, and black & white pictures.  But for fun, click on my "Profile Picture" to see just how much my mind is laser focused obsessed with this issue ....

[Griff4AU]

2 hours ago, help32250 said:

Don't jump ship just yet.  Remember that the deposits are "air balls" essentially until 1/1/24. 

No Sir, I look forward to shaking your hand one day. I just hope we can put the Discovery out to sea on the day. Princess can make something really very memorable here.

 

I live in an area where I will receive 100% Totality - we could stay home. However it would be special if  we were out to sea on the Discovery. Let's just hope they do something remarkable. 

 

I did check in to HAL - no chance. Not for me. 

 

As I logged in to Polar (the Princess and CCL TA booking site) this morning, I saw several (maybe 15) cabins opened up. It appears (and I may be incorrect) that many are reserving and not even putting the $200 down - so the holds are dropping off. As of a few minutes ago, they were gone. 

 

 

 

 

[help32250]

4 hours ago, Griff4AU said:

No Sir, I look forward to shaking your hand one day. I just hope we can put the Discovery out to sea on the day. Princess can make something really very memorable here.

 

I live in an area where I will receive 100% Totality - we could stay home. However it would be special if  we were out to sea on the Discovery. Let's just hope they do something remarkable. 

 

I did check in to HAL - no chance. Not for me. 

 

As I logged in to Polar (the Princess and CCL TA booking site) this morning, I saw several (maybe 15) cabins opened up. It appears (and I may be incorrect) that many are reserving and not even putting the $200 down - so the holds are dropping off. As of a few minutes ago, they were gone. 

 

 

 

 

Gold Griffter --- Are you in the travel industry (since you mentioned a "TA booking site")?  I have some very good friends (him a retired 787 Captain and her an AA Purser) and they get incredible deals.  Sorry I didn't notice your Texas location until just now.  A lot of Texans will get a Totality view, so you are really into this stuff aren't you.  If that is that case I hope you clicked on my Profile icon (with the Total Eclipse on it).  I even sent it to my Princess contact two days ago when Top Gun Maverick came out on BluRay.  I have a good relationship with him but you attract more flies with honey than vinegar ... but I'm told I can turn Corporate Ugly if I don't get what I want.  We'll see ......

[Griff4AU]

No Sir, not in the travel industry. I've been a pilot forever and I travel a lot - but not in the industry. I "accidentally own" a small TA that I don't / won't talk about here - so I use it to book for myself and friends / family. 

On the Roll Call a gentlemen names Scott showed a link that stated that in April we may be better close to the land than on the water. So I give up and just going to be of the mindset that I'm going on a ship I haven't sailed before, we'll have an eclipse and the bars better concoct a special drink for it. 

[scottsol]

6 hours ago, Griff4AU said:

On the Roll Call a gentlemen names Scott showed a link that stated that in April we may be better close to the land than on the water. So I give up and just going to be of the mindset that I'm going on a ship I haven't sailed before, we'll have an eclipse and the bars better concoct a special drink for it. 

The ideal would be to keep the berthing spot reserved but be capable of going out to sea to look for clear(er) sky’s as the situation warrants. Barring that, being at sea within 100 miles of the coast seems to offer the best chance of a successful outcome.

 

The important thing is that we keep obsessing over this so that by the time April ‘24 comes around we are too sick or too dead to care anymore.😊

[mike&elena]

On 10/27/2022 at 12:06 PM, help32250 said:

Griff4AU ---

The Deluxe Balcony is nice relative to having a deeper balcony than the regular Balcony staterooms (which should be great for the Eclipse cruise).  But I booked mine essentially the moment it was announced and did not have the expected docking side info to help me make my stateroom decision ... and I did not change once I knew it.  THAT and the fact that I prefer Balconies that look primarily towards the land (which the Port balconies will most likely have on the Eclipse cruise) AND the fact that lower level Balcony staterooms are kinda "on view" from those above.  Make sure to LOOK UP from your Balcony.  Since it appears essentially any Balcony will be able to see the horizon below the Eclipse, the critical angle will be the max angle when you look up.  69.1 degrees is the on-center position of the Moon at its Totality ... but I am checking with NASA to see how much broader a view would be needed to be able to see not only the Moon but the but also the extent of its halo.

At the end of Totality 69.5 degrees will be the angle and at the end of its partial Eclipse 73.3.  But by that time most of your Champagne will be gone and you won't care!  

Fyi, I first made my case known to the President of Princess (now it and HAL's group executive) and CCL's chairman in late 2017.  And, in full disclosure, I am a CCL Shareholder with 26 Princess cruises and suggested they schedule several such cruises including one in Port (like ours) as well as another just headed towards Mazatlan and another just departing.  Look like I may have been persuasive.  But I checked HAL's prices and they are daunting ... let alone for that other non-CCL ship which is almost $25K for two with essentially no balcony at all.

And yes, it appears to me that The Discovery Princess is all but sold out!

 

mike&elena ---

I am really looking forward to your angle measurements ... but since I essentially used a protractor on GoogleMaps to get the angle of the Dock ... I am most interested in your Center-Line angle of it.  But I've gotta tell you that your weighted string technique (do you hang your own wallpaper?) is probably a darned good one.  I even suggested to my Princess contact to ask one of the ship's personnel that knows how to use a Sextant to do it.  But I think the probably of that happening is more remote than the ship going out on a sea chase of the Eclipse.

May I suggest you prepare the biggest piece of paper (poster or "flip chart" if you as old as me) with a big thick right angle drawn on it?  Have some masking tape to fix it to the divider panel between your stateroom and the next and mark where the overhang above hits.  And you may want to take it from at least 2 positions (as far out and again as close in to the slider) as possible.  I've attached an rough example of what you might use.  The really difficult part will be getting on your hands and knees to look up from your balcony's deck to get the angle. 

As much as I intend to view the Eclipse from one of the upper decks, I think the ability for many to view it from their own balcony with just their favorite person on one arm and their favorite drink it the other hand is very enticing ... let alone for many who are physically challenged.  Who knows.  Maybe my arthritis may force me to be one of them.

I like your aggressiveness in planning to ask the Captain about a sea chase.  Fyi, I am asking my contact about several other options, one of which would be disembarking an "excursion group" while still at sea.  I recall one of my Princess ships doing exactly that (off Italy I think) for a special excursion.  Very unusual, but there is precedent. 

On reason against the Princess doing a sea chase of the Eclipse is pure math.  Whatever vessel departing the Mazatlan Dock (Princess or otherwise) would have to be really fast in order to get out to a "sweet spot" (without possible cloud cover).  And there is no guarantee against having clouds anywhere.  I think the Princess could do 20 knots but with an absolute max of 4 hours to both find and get to that sweet spot would be extremely challenging at best.  Sorry.

At the risk of probably making a lot of the people that booked this cruise but are more interested in seeing Mazatlan than the Eclipse, I will ask Princee about that too.

Again mike&elena, please post your stateroom number when you share with us your info.

 

I expect to talk with Princess tomorrow and will update all of you as appropriate.  But I can confirm that they really want to make this one of the best Princess cruises you will ever have.

 

Important Update====

Just back from a week on the Discovery Princess.  We docked in Mazatlan with the starboard side facing the dock.  Our stateroom was a Premium Deluxe Balcony on the port side, D722.  This cabin is at the back of the ship with no obstructions above, yielding a full 90 degree angle of visibility.  Attempted to measure and estimate the angle from our balcony for the cabins under the World Marketplace "bulge" and it appears to be about 83 degrees when measured from the Dolphin deck (obviously less on the higher decks).   We were able to speak with both the Captain and the 2nd Officer about the need to have a cloudy weather plan for viewing the 2024 eclipse by tweaking the itinerary or taking the ship out to sea.  The Captain has opened discussions with the Princess executive team about theese possibilities and promises to advocate for the best opportunity for us to view the eclipse!  Attached is the letter we received from Captain Arma.

Edited November 6, 2022 by mike&elena

[help32250]

2 hours ago, mike&elena said:

 

Important Update====

Just back from a week on the Discovery Princess.  We docked in Mazatlan with the starboard side facing the dock.  Our stateroom was a Premium Deluxe Balcony on the port side, D722.  This cabin is at the back of the ship with no obstructions above, yielding a full 90 degree angle of visibility.  Attempted to measure and estimate the angle from our balcony for the cabins under the World Marketplace "bulge" and it appears to be about 83 degrees when measured from the Dolphin deck (obviously less on the higher decks).   We were able to speak with both the Captain and the 2nd Officer about the need to have a cloudy weather plan for viewing the 2024 eclipse by tweaking the itinerary or taking the ship out to sea.  The Captain has opened discussions with the Princess executive team about theese possibilities and promises to advocate for the best opportunity for us to view the eclipse!  Attached is the letter we received from Captain Arma.

Great job!  I copied this for inclusion in my next discussion with the Princess Exec I am working with.  But it seems like they always try to withhold who they (names) will be talking with ... ie "the leadership team".  I want to talk with these people face to face as anything less kind of gets lost in the translation.  Very frustrating.

I was also able to find and get onto the Roll Call for this cruise.  I tried to do some cut-and-pasting but the Cruise Critic website is very difficult in trying to do it.  I saw your names on it.  I posted an item there this past Thursday requesting input from CC reviewers with exactly what THEY would like done relative to the Eclipse.  I'll try to find the posting # (I think it's about #475) to give you to respond as I really want your input. 

Thanks for running down the Captain on this one.  I never asked but many Captains are on for 6 months and off for the next 6.  So Gennaro Arma may not actually be the one for the Eclipse cruise.

[help32250]

2 hours ago, mike&elena said:

 

Important Update====

Just back from a week on the Discovery Princess.  We docked in Mazatlan with the starboard side facing the dock.  Our stateroom was a Premium Deluxe Balcony on the port side, D722.  This cabin is at the back of the ship with no obstructions above, yielding a full 90 degree angle of visibility.  Attempted to measure and estimate the angle from our balcony for the cabins under the World Marketplace "bulge" and it appears to be about 83 degrees when measured from the Dolphin deck (obviously less on the higher decks).   We were able to speak with both the Captain and the 2nd Officer about the need to have a cloudy weather plan for viewing the 2024 eclipse by tweaking the itinerary or taking the ship out to sea.  The Captain has opened discussions with the Princess executive team about theese possibilities and promises to advocate for the best opportunity for us to view the eclipse!  Attached is the letter we received from Captain Arma.

Mike&Ellena --- Yes it was #475 on the Roll Call site Posted Friday at 03:19 PM