Are Midship cabins really the preference of Princess Cruisers? Or is there something else going on here?

[TessieTravels]

23 hours ago, Buckeye10640 said:

Used to prefer aft until I tried Lido and Sun Deck (on Enchanted). Now I prefer forward on these decks. Never had a mid-ship cabin. 

Buckeye10604, I'm going to have to take a look at those decks then as well as I would like to have other cabin preferences so that I can have more options when looking at prices, itineraries, or even a late booking. thank you for the recommendation!

[TessieTravels]

23 hours ago, Thrak said:

We often choose a balcony cabin in the aft portion of Caribe deck. (This is on the older ships of course as the balconies are much larger and half covered.) On our upcoming cruise (also on an older ship - Ruby Princess) we deliberately chose an aft interior cabin on Rivera deck as - not only was it much less expensive - my wife wanted to be able to just slip out the back door to the aft pool. She loves that pool and there is a bar right there as well as access to the buffet. It's her "hang out" area when the weather is warm. I didn't have a problem with choosing an interior cabin this time so we booked it. (Our TA always, as a matter of course, has our bookings marked as "no upgrade".)

 

Princess automagically "upgraded" us to a mid ship interior cabin. (Yes, as I said above, we had "do not upgrade" on our booking but, as we all know, that is more of a "request".) I contacted our TA and got the original room back. Then it happened again and, once again, we got the original cabin back. Then it happened again. By this time I was getting pretty peeved. Our TA made a special point of getting our original cabin back. This was the fourth time we "booked" this same cabin.

 

I sent a (nicely worded) email to John Padgett. I didn't expect any actual response but... I was very surprised when I got a phone call from Princess. Not only did they apologize (somewhat profusely) for repeatedly changing our cabin but they also added a credit for specialty dining to our booking. I was totally blown away. While I doubt very much that Mr. Padgett read my missive and had someone contact me it is good to know that he has efficient minions. (Seriously, why would the president of Princess take the time to read my email and respond...)

 

I still check our booking regularly but, so far, it has stayed where we initially booked.

Thrak, thank you for the tip.  I do realize that at the end of the day, Princess wants to keep us happy, but sometimes the "mechanisms" in place may cause some of their passengers undue stress and frustration.  But, now as I think about this, could this be a means to have us constantly thinking about our upcoming sailing as well??? I hope you don't mind my stealing your idea if they "upgrade" us again.  Not only for this sailing, but that is a valuable nugget of information for future sailings and even if it is on another brand.  Truly genius, because how often do those at the top hear from those of us using/loving/enjoying their products?

[TessieTravels]

22 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

Princess also believes that a higher deck is more desirable so they now place suites way up high?  On the older Grand Class ships, Suites were on deck 10.

 

I don't like the direction Princess is going with their ship building (bigger is better).  MY DAYS are numbered.

I am with you cr8tiv1, I enjoy being closer to the water line, looking for sea life playing in the wake or swimming by the ships side.

[TessieTravels]

21 hours ago, sloopsailor said:

When doing a mock booking for a mini suite on a Royal Princess cruise we are looking at, when I allow Princess to select the cabin for us, they selected M105, one of the forward facing cabins at the very front, the ones with the steel railings and potential weather related balcony access limitations. There are literally dozens of standard mini-suites available in the same price category along the sides of the ship, so I find it perplexing that the cabin they direct people to is one that most people wouldn't even consider as that location has limitations that more common cabins don't have.

Sloopsailor, you are so right! By the way, I wish I had thought about doing that to test my theory, because had I done so, it wouldn't have supported it. That is perplexing.  I have to tell you, I am so grateful to everyone for engaging in this thread, I have learned so much and I LOVE cruising and talking about cruising.  Everyone's thoughts, tips, strategies are invaluable to me. Thank you so much!

[TessieTravels]

20 hours ago, sandancer said:

Quite the opposite for us. Booked a mid ship and have been moved to aft. Not wake view - I wish!

sandancer...WHAT!?!? oh my gosh, what is going on? I'm giggling over here because now nothing is making sense.  That is so bizarre that you have been moved aft from mid-ship.  Okay, new theory, maybe Princess is just wanting us to talk about them.  Isn't there a saying that even bad news is good news because they are talking about us...

[TessieTravels]

20 hours ago, caribill said:

Yes, Princess does consider mid-ship to be a better location than fore or aft.

And, yes, Princess considers the higher the cabin is, the better the location is.

Some passengers agree with Princess about this and some do not.

caribill, which proves the saying that no one care make everyone happy.  But, a CC member reminded me that I'm still on a great vacation, so this is definitely a good problem/non-problem to have.

[TessieTravels]

12 hours ago, TravelGirlinDallas said:

Do they email you when they change your cabin, or do you just have to keep checking your booking constantly?

TravelGirlinDallas, I did get an email notifying me of my auto upgrade before I assigned my booking to a travel agent. This second time, they notified my TA, but she didn't say that Princess said it was a auto upgrade, she just asked me if I requested the cabin change.  I have read where others were not notified, nor was their TA and they found out just by checking their booking.  However, the response they received from Princess is that they did notify via email.

 

So, the valuable lesson I have learned is that even though I am now working with a TA, I am routinely checking my booking to see if I still have the cabin I booked/wanted.

[dave_k58]

12 hours ago, Lady Arwen said:

We love the standard mini suites on Royal class ships on Lido deck, which are forward of the pool area and buffet.  Don’t care for aft…been there, done that.  Mid ship would not be my first choice.

did you get much noise from the Sun deck above you when you stayed on the Lido deck? 

[TessieTravels]

5 hours ago, Wink87 said:

Yikes! I just reserved my first Princess cruise and got a cabin and location that is ideal for so many reasons. If I tell my TA to mark it "no upgrade" is there still the chance Princess might do it anyway?  I've never had this happen on another cruise line.

Wink87, yes it is still possible, but what I have learned is just to check your booking regularly on the Princess website and take Thrks advice and write a letter to the CEO if you run into any issues with the auto upgrades.  At the end of the day, I am sure that Princess wants to keep you as a happy and loyal customer.  I will report back if I run into any changes as we are in the home stretch and we sail in 79 days!!!

[TessieTravels]

1 hour ago, marden1970 said:

TessieTravels - where in Sparks are you?  We're out in Spanish Springs.

Marden1970, so are we! Near Alice Taylor school. Hi neighbor! 🙂

[JF - retired RRT]

13 hours ago, Wink87 said:

Yikes! I just reserved my first Princess cruise and got a cabin and location that is ideal for so many reasons. If I tell my TA to mark it "no upgrade" is there still the chance Princess might do it anyway?  I've never had this happen on another cruise line.

Yes. Slim, but real.

[Lady Arwen]

8 hours ago, dave_k58 said:

did you get much noise from the Sun deck above you when you stayed on the Lido deck? 

We didn’t notice anything that disturbed us in any way.  Much noisier in cabins under Lido deck.  We love these cabins because of the convenience to everything we enjoy.

[ontheweb]

10 hours ago, TessieTravels said:

TravelGirlinDallas, I did get an email notifying me of my auto upgrade before I assigned my booking to a travel agent. This second time, they notified my TA, but she didn't say that Princess said it was a auto upgrade, she just asked me if I requested the cabin change.  I have read where others were not notified, nor was their TA and they found out just by checking their booking.  However, the response they received from Princess is that they did notify via email.

 

So, the valuable lesson I have learned is that even though I am now working with a TA, I am routinely checking my booking to see if I still have the cabin I booked/wanted.

Yes, as I posted earlier (post #37), this is what happened to us (2014 Ocean Princess British Isles cruise.) And I had been reading at the time about Princess just moving passengers and expressed my concern to our TA. He assured me it would not happen to us. Which really shows Princess can do whatever they want according to the cruise contract you sign.

Edited September 24, 2022 by ontheweb

[ontheweb]

15 hours ago, PacnGoNow said:

It is more possible during covid times. 
But, make sure your TA marks it NO Upgrade, especially if you Like your current cabin.

Check your cabin every once in a while.

 

Does not matter if your TA marks it no upgrade. As I said in my post just previous to this, our TA had assured us we would not be moved as he had done everything necessary for that. But Princess can do what they want to do, no upgrade marked or not.

[dave_k58]

3 hours ago, Lady Arwen said:

We didn’t notice anything that disturbed us in any way.  Much noisier in cabins under Lido deck.  We love these cabins because of the convenience to everything we enjoy.

Thanks - I was wondering because it looks like there were lots of deck chairs above. WE have stayed on LIdo deck before, but not on Princess and loved it.  Thanks for the info

[PacnGoNow]

1 hour ago, ontheweb said:

Does not matter if your TA marks it no upgrade. As I said in my post just previous to this, our TA had assured us we would not be moved as he had done everything necessary for that. But Princess can do what they want to do, no upgrade marked or not.

Thanks, believe me I know.  It just happened to us.  But, if it does happen at least the TA can say it was marked.

We got our original back.

[Wink87]

12 hours ago, TessieTravels said:

Wink87, yes it is still possible, but what I have learned is just to check your booking regularly on the Princess website and take Thrks advice and write a letter to the CEO if you run into any issues with the auto upgrades.  At the end of the day, I am sure that Princess wants to keep you as a happy and loyal customer.  I will report back if I run into any changes as we are in the home stretch and we sail in 79 days!!!

Ty!

[cruisequeen4ever]

Midship staterooms are popular and seen as better on most cruise lines because they’re the most stable in rough seas and they’re make you equidistant to everything. 
 

Now that is not to say that is the case in the mind of everyone who cruises by any means. Many have their preference for particular locations all over the ship. That is just a generalization.