Does a standard balcony room fit 3 people on Crown Princess?

My husband, our 11 year old and I will be going on 9n the Crown Princess 9n the April 8th cruise to hawaii. We are very confused about the room categories. We just want a standard room with a balcony that will have 2 beds ( one twin for our son and a larger one for us). Which category rooms have that? My husband seems to think that we have to get a mini suite to fit the 3 if us. On the princess site the photo shows only one bed. We want to pay the least amount possible for a balcony room.what should we choose?

Yes some balcony cabins can hold 3 people. It will be 2 twins and a bed that pulls out from the ceiling at night. They used to let you have the beds below as a queen but have not in awhile. Reason being is for safety of the upper berth passenger.

If you want to guarantee that your bed can stay as a queen then you need to book a mini suite. That way your child can have the sofa bed to themselves.

You also have more room in the mini suite and a bigger bathroom with a tub.

you can use google to see photos of the cabins.

2 twins? So my husbandad and I have to sleep in separate beds??

2 twins? So my husbandad and I have to sleep in separate beds??

Yes. If you want to have a queen bed plus a twin, you need to book a mini-suite, which will also have a bigger bathroom and a bigger balcony. There is a small sofa that pulls out into a bed for your child to sleep. At least he won't be over your head in a bunk! Well worth it!

Look at the Princess website for floor layouts. There is no privacy in a mini-suite. The bedroom area and the sitting area do not have doors between them, just open space and a tiny partition which serves no purpose whatsoever!

2 twins? So my husbandad and I have to sleep in separate beds??

Princess cabins aren't too great for three. We get a mini. (Ask for a topper for the foldout couch). We did have an aft facing balcony on the Golden that the lowers could be together when the Pullman was in use. Maybe the ship you're looking at had the same set-up.

Carnival also sails to Hawaii. All cabins will have a queen and an upper or sofa (daybed) for the third.

Would have to be a triple berth cabin to handle 3 passengers,

I think the Mini Suite is the best cabin for 3 people. My friend and hie wife do it all the time when they take there son.

Tony

You could try to book a mini suite guarantee cabin.

You will not be assigned a definite cabin when booking,,but will be given a mini suite anywhere on the ship prior to sailing.

It is the most economical way to book a cabin,as long as you are okay with any location on the ship.

The Hawaiian cruise is a long (15 day) cruise.

Personally, I would want to be as comfortable as possible on such a cruise. The extra cost of a mini suite over a balcony cabin would be worth it to me for the comfort level.

My husband, our 11 year old and I will be going on 9n the Crown Princess 9n the April 8th cruise to hawaii. We are very confused about the room categories. We just want a standard room with a balcony that will have 2 beds ( one twin for our son and a larger one for us). Which category rooms have that? My husband seems to think that we have to get a mini suite to fit the 3 if us. On the princess site the photo shows only one bed. We want to pay the least amount possible for a balcony room.what should we choose?

SOME balcony cabins do.

But it is squeezy.

This is the configuration of the third bed in a Princess balcony cabin. If the beds were together, the cabin steward would have to stand on the bed to makeup and stow the upper.

EM

SOME balcony cabins do.

 

 

 

But it is squeezy.

The aft we had on the Golden was longer than a regular cabin. The ladder was set up at the end.

Yikes. Reading all of this and seeing photos reminds me why we always cruise Disney. Their staterooms are awesome!

Yikes. Reading all of this and seeing photos reminds me why we always cruise Disney. Their staterooms are awesome!

Maybe Princess is not for you and your family. You started a lot of threads. Hope you find the answers you are looking for.

Just my opinion, Princess does the best job of any cruise line sailing to Hawaii. They have Cultural Ambassadors that really make the experience memorable (ELUA). I've done NCL and can not recommend it as a good cruise around the islands. They do have the best "itinerary" but lacks in so many other aspects.

A hui hou kakou

displaced local girl

My husband, our 11 year old and I will be going on 9n the Crown Princess 9n the April 8th cruise to hawaii. We are very confused about the room categories. We just want a standard room with a balcony that will have 2 beds ( one twin for our son and a larger one for us). Which category rooms have that? My husband seems to think that we have to get a mini suite to fit the 3 if us. On the princess site the photo shows only one bed. We want to pay the least amount possible for a balcony room.what should we choose?

If the 2 beds are your preferred configuration, sorry but you have to spend more on a mini-suite with Princess.

Yikes. Reading all of this and seeing photos reminds me why we always cruise Disney. Their staterooms are awesome!

For families (and many others besides) Disney is great. For us - two older folks - the extra cost of Disney isn't worth it for us. We love Princess. If we had kids who weren't adults themselves and had more cash to spend we would likely never cruise Princess and would choose Disney. It's all about what suits each individual's situation best.

Enjoy cruising and be happy you can take your kid cruising. When my kids were young we were happy to put food on the table and take them camping. Cruising wasn't an option. :rolleyes:

You want the caribe deck balconies are better

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2 twins? So my husbandad and I have to sleep in separate beds??

Yes, unfortunately.

This happened to us on our first Princess cruise with our then 8YO daughter. Our TA did not tell us this. My DH was so upset the entire cruise.

So now we book mini suites to accommodate us together and our 16YO daughter in the pullout. Such a bummer we need to spend so much more money just because the design of the Princess ships are stupid.

Tonit964: I am sorry that you think the design of the ships are stupid but your TA should have known that and told you at the time you booked. There used to be a time when the room stewards could still make the beds as a queen but that is no more. It is for safety for all involved. There really is no other place to put the pull down in the balcony cabin.

That is why most people who need to book a triple book a mini suite. It just makes life easier.

fairytalelover: As far as Disney goes: yes they have bigger cabins but it cost a lot more than cruising on Princess.

All cruise lines have good and bad things. And not everyone agrees on what is good and bad.

Does anyone have a picture of a mini with the sofa opened up? We never have had an issue in a standard balcony for 3 on Princess. We cruised on Celebrity this summer with a pullout and hated it. DD (16) much prefers a pull down - says they are more comfortable. Plus it was a pain climbing over the sofa early in the morning or late at night to get out on our balcony. I am curious to see if there is enough room in a mini to get past the open sofa.

We're also going to Hawaii with 3 people in our cabin and got a mini-suite. For privacy, we plan on using a colorful shower curtain (shown below) as a partition between the sofa bed and our bed and use strong magnets on the ceiling to hold it up at night and pull it back to one side during the day.

Us too Thrak @ camping and food on table, them were the good times;)

Enjoy cruising and be happy you can take your kid cruising. When my kids were young we were happy to put food on the table and take them camping. Cruising wasn't an option. :rolleyes:

Us too Thrak @ camping and food on table, them were the good times;)

 

Enjoy cruising and be happy you can take your kid cruising. When my kids were young we were happy to put food on the table and take them camping. Cruising wasn't an option. :rolleyes:

Yep when our kids were young no holidays, Mrs Gut and I went 18 years without as we were both studying and had health problems.

My dad went 50 years in his own business with only 10 days off.

Yikes. Reading all of this and seeing photos reminds me why we always cruise Disney. Their staterooms are awesome!

Try getting a room on a Disney ship that is the size of a mini-suite with a comparable balcony for the same price as what Princess charges. Frankly, if you are used to DCL pricing, the cost of a mini-suite should be no shock at all.

Such a bummer we need to spend so much more money just because the design of the Princess ships are stupid.

It really isn't that much more money. Granted, if you don't need the extra bed or the tub, then there is no need to spend the extra money. But if you have a third person, the additional charge for a mini-suite isn't that much. On most cruises we have taken, the price of the mini-suite is a modest increase and more than worth it for the extra room. For example, I just randomly checked a cruise under the current sale pricing and for a 7 day Med cruise, Balconies were $1,399 and Mini-Suites were $1,599. For a 14 day Med cruise on Crown, a Caribe Deck Balcony was $2,149 and a Dolphin Mini-Suite was $2,499. Those prices come out to $25-$28 more per day. I guess it is all relative, but I certainly do not consider $25 per day to be "so much more money" to get a bed for the third person that allows the two adults to sleep in the same bed, plus a sitting area, plus a bathtub with a shower that you can actually turn around in.

 

It really isn't that much more money. Granted, if you don't need the extra bed or the tub, then there is no need to spend the extra money. But if you have a third person, the additional charge for a mini-suite isn't that much. On most cruises we have taken, the price of the mini-suite is a modest increase and more than worth it for the extra room. For example, I just randomly checked a cruise under the current sale pricing and for a 7 day Med cruise, Balconies were $1,399 and Mini-Suites were $1,599. For a 14 day Med cruise on Crown, a Caribe Deck Balcony was $2,149 and a Dolphin Mini-Suite was $2,499. Those prices come out to $25-$28 more per day. I guess it is all relative, but I certainly do not consider $25 per day to be "so much more money" to get a bed for the third person that allows the two adults to sleep in the same bed, plus a sitting area, plus a bathtub with a shower that you can actually turn around in.

Since a balcony won't work for us, I never even price them out so you may be right as far as how much more a mini suite is than a balcony but for example, our cruise in April is $500 total more than if we were able to book a balcony.

That's a chunk of change that we don't have to spend on the other lines we sail.

It doesn't stop us from sailing Princess because we like Princess but I stick to my comment, well, I will change it up a bit to Princess balcony staterooms are poorly designed for 3 pax.

Tonit964: I am sorry that you think the design of the ships are stupid but your TA should have known that and told you at the time you booked. There used to be a time when the room stewards could still make the beds as a queen but that is no more. It is for safety for all involved. There really is no other place to put the pull down in the balcony cabin.

That is why most people who need to book a triple book a mini suite. It just makes life easier.

 

All cruise lines have good and bad things. And not everyone agrees on what is good and bad.

Oh, I totally agree with what you're saying. We no longer used that TA anymore after that as she should have told us but didn't. I understand the safety issue with not putting the beds together when the upper berth is in use.

I know there is no other place to put the pulldown but that is why compared to Royal Caribbean, Carnival and NCL, which have a pullout sofa for the 3rd pax, Princess balcony cabins are poorly designed. If the others can do it, so could Princess.

However, we still sail with Princess because we like it, it just bothers me that we have to spend more for the room because of poor design.