My husband & I want to book a cruise to Alaska, so I'm doing a lot of research. Your video contains loads of helpful info & tips, so thank you. I look forward to future content.
Thanks for the review. We did the same thing and upgraded to a penthouse suite as well. We’d enjoyed it. We didn’t save as much, since we had booked a large aft, balcony state room, which was at a premium cost . Our favorite perk was the 360 dining experience!
On the CP you get full suite benefits for much less when you book a window suite. I do this all the time. I get the same benefits as someone who booked a PS but much cheaper. The room is very large, the bathroom has marble double vanity and a jacuzzi tub. Since there is no balcony (but has 2 large windows) the price is significantly cheaper than the Vista and Penthouse suites and you get ALL the benefits.
I did this, using the upgrade feature, and felt it was worth it. I put in multiple bids, and matched with the penthouse. Would this be for everyone, probably not, but looking forward to trying it again. I appreciate your video's, find them very helpful, and your candor is refreshing, thank you.
As one that books way in advance I messed up. I get the offer to bid and cast a near minimum bid to go from a balcony to mini suite. Yes my wife likes the bathtub BUT I forgot that I booked a balcony I really wanted only to get a mini suite where I didn't. Stoopid me.
You missed out on an amazing breakfast experience. The menu is merely a suggestion and if the kitchen can make it, they will make it. Your coffee cup will never run dry and your pastry plate will never go lonely unless you say uncle.
Great Video Tim, that 360 dining experience looks wonderful. Hopefully it is something they will do across the fleet and open it up to non-suite guests.
Good one Tim, thanks very much for that. We watched your videos on the upgrade process you went through, so was great to watch how the end result played out. Love your work, will keep an eye out for your future content.
Thanks for this, very helpful. My partner and I are going on an Alaska cruise on the Sapphire Princess, had booked a (reserve) mini suite and was wondering if upgrading would be worth it. Thanks for saving us some $$! It will be our first cruise.
Thanks for your review. I’ve got 36 cruises on Princess + cruises on other cruise lines. I just bid for an upgrade to a mini suite on the Discovery Princess for $250 minimum & just saw a video of what my suite will look love, & if I’m selected I’m selected it will be my 1st time in a mini suite & I will feel like a KING just once in my cruising life. I’m on the April 3rd solar eclipse cruise on the Discovery Princess & have booked both the 360 experience + the chefs table just for the cruise critic group I’m in. Much thinks again.
This was a thorough and thoughtful experience/impressions video and I liked that you qualified your experience may differ from others based on your needs. I agree had you received the medallion at home and used the "green" line the embarkation would have gone much better. I did find the comparisons to your previous suite experience very helpful. There definitely seems to be a large delta between offerings. Overall I feel that a couple or larger group, who could benefit from the mini bar, all concierge benefits, priority embarkation and disembarkation (it was difficult to ascertain whether that could have been beneficial since it wasn't used) and extra space would probably get the value having this upgrade to their cruise. Agree with you that a solo cruiser might struggle to make it worth the cost.
Here’s another boarding tip. I arrive at the terminal around 9:30 am, & here in San Francisco, there is usually on a few people in line waiting to get into the terminal. You may wonder why I arrive so early is around 10 am we’re allowed into the terminal. I’ve avoided any long lines as Tim experienced, & being Elite with Princess I can be one of the earlier boarders onto the ship, drop off any carryons in me stateroom, & relax with not a lot of people on the ship. I’ve never had any problems arriving early.
I am going on my first cruise in 11 months and have been looking up so many questions. You answered my question about how to get coke cans for my in room drinks, lol. I don't mind paying, but the ease of just going to the lounge to grab a can than waiting for room service to bring or paying a possible high price of the in room fridge (done that after bars in hotels and have not always paid attention to listed pricing, lol) is a nice bit of knowledge. ( I know the fridge price is negligible compare the overall cost, but always feels good to not have "overpaid" for something when the alternative did not require any real effort. edit: I'm actually booked under Reserve Mini Suite right now, but will bid on Penthouse suite once opens up. I'm sure I'll be happy with the mini, but I actually enjoy lots of space and don't really mind spending a little bit more on that, but since this is my first cruise, I'm still up in the air of what I really would enjoy. I did once have NCL book at Haven, but canceled that to go to Cost Rica instead, lol. Did not regret. I'll look for your videos on NCL now. Thanks for your insightful video. 😄 Anyone do a bid for Penthouse from Reserve Mini and what were successful bids? ------Western Caribbean, 6 night, 2 port (Cozumel, Roatan, Costa M / Yes, I do know that Roatan and Coz can cancel for high winds) and in mid February. Also, wondering about 'stern' penthouse suites with large balconies?
We upgraded to a reserve collection family suite and it was absolutely worth it. We are a family of 6 so the extra room was fantastic. Plus no need for reservations for meals save time and frustration. We took an eleven day cruise to Alaska.
Thanks for the review, Tim. I was in a vista suite in April 2022 for a transatlantic cruise on Enchanted. I did use the Sabatini's breakfast every day. I loved it. I really enjoyed the Reserve class dining (called Club Class then.) Mostly as a solo traveler and I also don't drink alcohol, it gave me the opportunity to meet quite a few couples that I then had dinners and lunch with. I traded my mini-bar for ginger ale. I loved the bathroom on the Vista Suite and actually had a much bigger and nicer balcony than you did. I agree though $2,200 dollar value it was not. My cruise was before the bid situation, so I called Princess a few weeks before sail date and did an upsell for less than $100 dollars for the entire cruise. So my suite upsell was totally worth it on a 16 day cruise. I like your channel. Yours is the first I have subscribed to. Thank you.
Having been on 4 Princess cruises on different ships in the last 3 years, yes each cruise had that “self led” published in the daily newsletter / schedule. 😊
