Why cant I choose a specific cabin?

[christybell]

Hello, after many cruises but none with Princess we fancy giving the line a try. My issue is every cruise I look at I do not have an option to choose my own cabin, the only option is Guarantee. Is this normal?  Our cabin is important to us (we love an aft) so not willing to settle for a guarantee. Any /all info appreciated

 

Thanks

[PacnGoNow]

1 hour ago, christybell said:

Hello, after many cruises but none with Princess we fancy giving the line a try. My issue is every cruise I look at I do not have an option to choose my own cabin, the only option is Guarantee. Is this normal?  Our cabin is important to us (we love an aft) so not willing to settle for a guarantee. Any /all info appreciated

 

Thanks

You don’t say how far out this is?  

Normally, you can select the cabin, unless:  It’s already sold out or if you’re closer in, say, just after final payment, they could be working upgrades.  Many variables. 

 

Or, if you are just before final payment, you might wait till after final payment and recheck, in case there were cancellations in your category and you can then secure a cabin you want.

Aft balconies are very popular.  I have been able to pick mine every time, except once, I did a guarantee.  It worked out great.  YMMV

[wowzz]

2 hours ago, christybell said:

Hello, after many cruises but none with Princess we fancy giving the line a try. My issue is every cruise I look at I do not have an option to choose my own cabin, the only option is Guarantee. Is this normal?  Our cabin is important to us (we love an aft) so not willing to settle for a guarantee. Any /all info appreciated

 

Thanks

This is common when the ship is close to full capacity.

But, you can book say, a certain grade of cabin in  a specific location, so a deluxe balcony, aft, for example. 

But, not all available cabins are shown on the Princess web site. We booked a Princess cruise on Saturday for July - hardly any cabins available on  the website,  but our TA was able to give us lots more options. 

 

[Dar & Bob]

I noticed on the new Sun Princess, the Reserve mini suites have showed Guarantee since the day they went live.  I was going to email or call my CVP but haven't as of yet.  Not sure why this is.

 

[christybell]

2 hours ago, PacnGoNow said:

You don’t say how far out this is?  

Normally, you can select the cabin, unless:  It’s already sold out or if you’re closer in, say, just after final payment, they could be working upgrades.  Many variables. 

 

Or, if you are just before final payment, you might wait till after final payment and recheck, in case there were cancellations in your category and you can then secure a cabin you want.

Aft balconies are very popular.  I have been able to pick mine every time, except once, I did a guarantee.  It worked out great.  YMMV

Thanks, I am looking at November 2023 on Caribbean Princess. I have checked multiple dates and guarantee is the only option showing across all categories I have looked at which I find really odd

[AZjohn]

16 minutes ago, christybell said:

Thanks, I am looking at November 2023 on Caribbean Princess. I have checked multiple dates and guarantee is the only option showing across all categories I have looked at which I find really odd

It looks like there are 8 different cruises available that month and at least that many distinct categories.

It might help if you gave a lot more specifics so someone could help you.

Cheers,

John

[Parrottdizes]

13 minutes ago, christybell said:

Thanks, I am looking at November 2023 on Caribbean Princess. I have checked multiple dates and guarantee is the only option showing across all categories I have looked at which I find really odd

I did some checking for that date and ship.....premium balcony, aft facing. On the 14 day they were all guarantee, however on the 7 day there were some cabins available on Baja deck. I have noticed that on the longer cruises (ones that can be a B2B) Princess only holds so many available on the 14 day cruise.......the rest are for the 7 day cruise. A person can do a B2B and still get the same cabin (if they are lucky).

[wowzz]

18 minutes ago, christybell said:

Thanks, I am looking at November 2023 on Caribbean Princess. I have checked multiple dates and guarantee is the only option showing across all categories I have looked at which I find really odd

I looked at one cruise at random, and had a fair choice of balcony cabins that I could select.

As John says, more details would help.

I still think your best bet would be to contact a reputable TA that specialises in cruises, as they will see full cabin availability.   

[Cruise Raider]

Sometimes, if you want to book a specific cabin, if it sleeps more than 2 people, you may need to plug in 3 passengers in a mock booking just to get them to show up.  

[christybell]

Thanks for the replies, apologies it is Sky Princess NOT Caribbean Princess we are looking at departing Nov 25th 2023.  

 

 

[davekathy]

6 minutes ago, christybell said:

Thanks for the replies, apologies it is Sky Princess NOT Caribbean Princess we are looking at departing Nov 25th 2023.

 

I just did a mock booking (US website) for your sail date and ship and I could pick any available stateroom. 

[gah_cruise]

9 minutes ago, christybell said:

Thanks for the replies, apologies it is Sky Princess NOT Caribbean Princess we are looking at departing Nov 25th 2023.  

 

 

 

can book these from UK SKY 25th Nov 2023

[Wishing on a star]

Are you booking for two passengers?

The problem could be that the Princess system, in all of it's infinate  wisdom,  has flagged all of these cabins  (Deluxe Balcony, including those AFT) for 3 passengers.

 

You could try acting like you are booking for three and see what shows up.

If these do show available,  to book this for two might take some real efforts by you or your TA.

 

[christybell]

Its specifically an aft balcony I am looking for and all I can see is guarantees, however I assume a guaranteed aft wont guarantee an aft facing balcony

[Wishing on a star]

Okay,  I just checked....

Those AFT facing balconies are the PREMIUM DELUXE BALCONY category.

Make sure you are searching for those.

 

I just acted I was booking for 3 and 4 passengers.

Some of them do show available.

As suspected...  when you search for 2 passengers, it will only offer GTY.

 

Good luck!!!

[gah_cruise]

6 minutes ago, christybell said:

Its specifically an aft balcony I am looking for and all I can see is guarantees, however I assume a guaranteed aft wont guarantee an aft facing balcony

The ones that I posted an image of are Balcony Aft Deck 12

 

[Wishing on a star]

 

Yes, if you put in a GTY for a PREMIUM balcony, then you will get a premium balcony.

But on the sky, there are premium balconies that are not AFT facing.

This is problem that Princess needs to address, for sure.   This is not right.

 

Contact your TA, or whoever you are working with at Princess, and ask about this.

There are two ways that you can try.

Go ahead and book the GTY, then have them give your booking a cabin assignment, to one of those AFT balconies.

Or - Book, with a supposed third passenger to get the cabin, and then cancel that third person.

 

Good Luck!

[Wishing on a star]

Those available in the image are not PREMIUM DELUXE balconies.

 

Christy needs to make sure she has selected the PREMIUM DELUXE category.

it will show GTY.

If she acts like there will be three or more passengers, she will see that some of those are still available.  As mentioned above.

[franktown]

Aft facing balconies sell out very quickly.    Usually those balconies and Club class mini suites sell out first.

[donaldsc]

I do not know how thing s work in the UK but are you working w Princess directly or do you have a TA.  A good TA might be able to access stuff that you can not do directly.

 

DON

[PacnGoNow]

1 hour ago, christybell said:

Its specifically an aft balcony I am looking for and all I can see is guarantees, however I assume a guaranteed aft wont guarantee an aft facing balcony

You’ve been given great advice on here.  I agree, you should contact a TA/CVP, as they could check it further.

 

It’s not always under GTY.  This cruise can be booked as a 7 day, 14 day or a b2b.  They will hold some cabins to be booked as a 14 day.  It also originates as a TA 15 day journey to FLL over Thanksgiving.  Maybe some doing a b2b with your sailing.  
 

Let us know how it works out.

 

 

 

 

 

[christybell]

1 hour ago, gah_cruise said:

The ones that I posted an image of are Balcony Aft Deck 12

 

Yep, but I specifically want an aft facing, thanks anyway appreciate your help

[christybell]

58 minutes ago, Wishing on a star said:

Those available in the image are not PREMIUM DELUXE balconies.

 

Christy needs to make sure she has selected the PREMIUM DELUXE category.

it will show GTY.

If she acts like there will be three or more passengers, she will see that some of those are still available.  As mentioned above.

Thank you for taking the time to explain, appreciate it 🙂 

[wowzz]

6 minutes ago, christybell said:

Yep, but I specifically want an aft facing, thanks anyway appreciate your help

Good luck - booking relatively late means that you unfortunately may not get much choice.

[Wishing on a star]

Thanks Christy!   I hope this is helpful and you can get this worked out.

I don't know for sure if this is more of problem when booking from outside of the U.S.   (just noticing that)

 

This is not a short notice upcoming booking.  Nearly a year out.

This has nothing to do with those cabins being booked up.

This has nothing to do with holding cabins back for Back-2-Back bookings.

Christy should see that some of these Aft facing Deluxe Premium are available.

They do show up when selecting to book for 3 or 4 passengers.

 

NOTE:  Do be aware that these balconies are deeper/bigger on some decks than on others.  So also pay attention to that when choosing.  And, you might not want that upper deck, just under the pool deck, as it has less cover, and is seen by those looking from the pool deck above.

 

This booking issue is a problem that has existed with Princess for quite some time now.

 

She should be able to get an Aft facing cabin by using one of the two ways that I mentioned.

A good TA or good Princess Rep might be helpful.

 

Yes, this is a pain.  It is a problem for those booking for two.

It simply isn't right.

But, I don't know if Princess really knows or cares.

 

I would do whatever 'hokey pokey' dance necessary if I were booking and really wanted one of those.

 

Edited December 26, 2022 by Wishing on a star