Balcony vs Mini Suite? Is it worth paying extra? Deciphering cabin categories.

[Laughing Gull]

Is it better to book the most expensive balcony one can afford or pay a bit extra and reserve a mini-suite? On cruise dot com a mini suite is only $140 more than the balcony. Is it "worth it" to pay the difference regardless of location or should I be more concerned about location than size of cabin?

 

What do all the different categories mean? BA, BD, BF....:confused: I find this all very confusing.

[Tophat4321]

Yes. Pay the difference:)

[Laughing Gull]

OK :) pay the diff and do not worry about where the cabin is located or should I obsess or location of mini suite?? I mean, as long as I am not under or near pools, elevators or restaurants I should be ok, right ?

 

What is a half open half closed balcony?

[cruise2relax]

It really depends on your preferences. We have booked cabins on various decks both Mini-suites and balcony cabins over the years. We have settled into our favorite category because it suits us. For example, we do not spend a great deal of time hanging out inside our cabin, so the mini was nice but not necessary (although the full bath was great). We like the balcony the best and always choose the Caribe deck due to its oversized balcony that is half covered and half uncovered. It suits us best. As to placement on the ship, the advice is true that mid-ship is best for low movement, but depending on where you are cruising (low-seas in Western Caribbean for example) it may not matter.

 

Just my two cents.

[azbirdmom]

We like the mini suites for the extra space in the cabin and having a full tub is a plus too. The second letter in the code is the location with "A" being more mid ship. On some ships, AE may not have a balcony so be sure to fully read the descriptions before booking.

[TwinCruiserMom]

We have never had a mini suite and that is fine with us. I would rather spend the extra money on excursions :) Most of the mini suites have uncovered balconies and that is not something we are interested in. We also have no need for the sofa area as we spend most of our cabin time on our balcony.

 

The categories of balconies reflect their position on the ship. The cheapest balconies are way forward and the most expensive are generally high up or midship.

 

Our favorite balcony cabins are on the Caribe deck either BB or BA. They are very large at 9' x 9' and half covered and half open.

[Laughing Gull]

I just checked and the most expensive BA oceanview/balcony on Lido or Caribe is $1708. The cheapest AE mini suite/balcony is $1698 on Dolphin. OR....a mini suite/balcony on AD Emerald is $1848.

 

Is there a preference for a booking website or am I not supposed to ask this question here?

 

We might spend a lot of time on our balcony since we prefer that to the more crowded pool areas (and especially since we won't be guiding kids from one activity to another!) We'd probably prefer a balcony where no one can look down at us.

[robgvic]

the only difference between BF and BA is location. On the CB BA is on Lido deck and I think that is common.

[robgvic]

We are BA in CB but it is forward on Lido. No problem for us

[Times Prince]

I just checked and the most expensive BA oceanview/balcony on Lido or Caribe is $1708. The cheapest AE mini suite/balcony is $1698 on Dolphin. OR....a mini suite/balcony on AD Emerald is $1848.

 

Is there a preference for a booking website or am I not supposed to ask this question here?

 

We might spend a lot of time on our balcony since we prefer that to the more crowded pool areas (and especially since we won't be guiding kids from one activity to another!) We'd probably prefer a balcony where no one can look down at us.

The booking website or any specific references to TA's may not be discussed, so sorry we can't help you further in that regard.

 

The type of cabin balcony really is specific to the class of ship one is looking at. For instance, if looking at the Sun / Sea / Dawn Princess, all balconies are covered, cut out from the vertical side of the ship. For Grand/Star/Emerald/Crown/Ruby/Golden the balconies on Baja deck or above are covered. -and these are what you might prefer. most minisuite balconies on this class of ship are on Dolphin deck and are fully open. there are some Emerald deck minisuites that are covered, and are highly prized.

For Coral / Island Princess, the situation is similar, but there are some minisuites in the "bump out" sections that have no balcony at all.

 

We have found that we don't have to book the BA category to get a nice balcony cabin. We prefer covered balconies and have gotten some great cabins for a little less money. The trick is to book the cabin that you'd like - and if it is specific cabin number, then mark it as "do not upgrade".

[2pbears]

I just checked and the most expensive BA oceanview/balcony on Lido or Caribe is $1708. The cheapest AE mini suite/balcony is $1698 on Dolphin. OR....a mini suite/balcony on AD Emerald is $1848.

 

Is there a preference for a booking website or am I not supposed to ask this question here?

 

We might spend a lot of time on our balcony since we prefer that to the more crowded pool areas (and especially since we won't be guiding kids from one activity to another!) We'd probably prefer a balcony where no one can look down at us.

 

 

No, you are not supposed to ask that question here, but I think we are allowed to suggest that you go to ************* dot com. Give them the information about the cruise you want to book and they will allow many TA's to compete for your business (offer their lowest price). We often do this and have saved quite a bit of money in the past.

 

If you plan to spend a lot of time on your balcony then you might want to consider getting a nice balcony (Caribe deck) in a good location (midship) rather than spend that extra money on a minisuite.

 

Good luck and enjoy your cruise.

[2pbears]

No, you are not supposed to ask that question here, but I think we are allowed to suggest that you go to ************* dot com. Give them the information about the cruise you want to book and they will allow many TA's to compete for your business (offer their lowest price). We often do this and have saved quite a bit of money in the past.

 

If you plan to spend a lot of time on your balcony then you might want to consider getting a nice balcony (Caribe deck) in a good location (midship) rather than spend that extra money on a minisuite.

 

Good luck and enjoy your cruise.

 

OOPS. I guess I'm not allowed to suggest that as they *****'d out the website name. Sorry.

[robgvic]

I hear about all the good prices from online agencies but have yet to find them good. I always get the past passenger rate from Princess and my agent there will call when there is a price drop. I don't think I can do better than USD699 on the CB in early December

[cogo]

Contact your local Travel agent!!! Do your research on line for best pricing - but make sure you are comparing apples to apples - and use an agent - especially when you are a new cruiser! Most TAs love to help with all of these questions - and many of them are princess specialists - you don't pay extra to use a travel agent!

[bgbaird]

COGO is exactly right. We have never found anything on-line that our real live TA can't do for us. In addition, if she doesn't have an answer, someone in the agency usually does.

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

I like the minisuite for the extra space. Having said that, on the the last two Princess cruises we had a balcony cabin. I guess it all depends on how much time you spend in your cabin and what you are willing to spend on that particular moment in time.

 

Barbara

[Wormy53]

We either go for the minisuites or caribe balcony - depending on what we want on that particular cruise. If we want more balcony room - the caribe balcony room is great. If we are on a longer cruise and want more room in the cabin - the minisuite gets the nod. If you are on a grand-class ship -try to get the aft balconies C752 & C753 - and you get a great room for BD price. Enjoy!!

[gertz]

Contact your local Travel agent!!! Do your research on line for best pricing - but make sure you are comparing apples to apples - and use an agent - especially when you are a new cruiser! Most TAs love to help with all of these questions - and many of them are princess specialists - you don't pay extra to use a travel agent!

 

Yes always book MS.

I do agree to do all the research you can. The only thing we use a TA for is to transfer the booking from Princess to when the price is right. Quit using them a long time ago.

[sirwired]

Is it better to book the most expensive balcony one can afford or pay a bit extra and reserve a mini-suite? On cruise dot com a mini suite is only $140 more than the balcony. Is it "worth it" to pay the difference regardless of location or should I be more concerned about location than size of cabin?

 

What do all the different categories mean? BA, BD, BF....:confused: I find this all very confusing.

 

To answer your second question: The two-letter codes refer to specific sets of cabins on-board the ship. If you look at the on-line deck plans, all of the cabins are color-coded. The key shows you which color belongs to which category.

 

If you pick a specific cabin, than that will be your cabin when you sail. If you select a "Guarantee" cabin, then you will receive a cabin at the category you paid or better.

 

As an added twist, even a "better" category cabin may end up being less desirable, as some of the "better" categories have cabins you may enjoy less than the category you booked, so a Guarantee cabin ends up being something of a crap shoot.

 

I'm of the opinion that the cruise lines treat the categories within a cabin type more like price controls than actual sets of physical rooms. If they want the cruise to be cheaper, they simply let people book a GTY in the category for the price they currently want to charge. I'm convinced there are far more cabins in the upper categories within a type than people actually pay for. If they want to drop the price of a cruise, they just open up the lower categories for GTY bookings and move almost everyone up to higher cabins. This means they can avoid providing refunds for the price drop to those already booked.

 

SirWired

[cynbar]

Add us to the list of those who love the minisuites. The extra room in the cabin, the separate seating area with a full sofa and 2nd TV, and most of all, the FULL BATH with tub/shower combination and vanity are well worth the extra cost. It's true that those above you can look down, but personally we have never had a problem with this, and the mini suite balconies look right down to the sea which is a nice plus. There really are no bad categories here. The AAs are in the middle of the ship, but we had an AC last time and thought it was fine, ours was near the laundry and the elevator so that made up for a longer walk to some places on the ship. Most of the minisuites are on the Dolphin deck, so you will be between 2 passengers decks which means no noise (except sometimes on the balcony!) from the pool deck or the nightclubs.

[Laughing Gull]

Whoa, that's a lot of information. Thank you :)

 

Unfortunately the travel agents where I live are not very experienced and do charge fees. I am considering booking online through an airline IF they can match the price found elsewhere online. For some reason Princess own website seemed the most expensive and least choice?

 

When I tried booking online the mini suites came up more expensive than I thought originally but Caribe C231, C722 and C723 are available and within my price range. What do you think? I will ask about C752 and C753 but they are probably long gone!

 

And when I think about it, on our last cruise our daughter shared a regular balcony cabin and we were fine.

[synet165]

Go for the mini-suite, you won't be sorry. We cruised Princess for the first time last August and had an AA minisuite on the CB, worth the money, we turned out to be less than a balcony. Have been on other lines and the balcony staterooms always had a sitting area, but it appears that the ones on Princess don't.

 

The full size bathroom is great, the sitting area is like having your own living room, 2 TVS and even though it had an open balcony, never saw anyone looking down. The pool sides were always packed, got our sun tan on the balcony.

 

The most important thing is that you don't have to sit on the bed, nice sofa and chair in the mini suite.

 

Take the plunge, enjoy yourself and be comfortable (all depends on what you want from a cruise). We enjoyed it somuch that we booked an AA minisuite on the CB on May 9th. This time on the starboard side, right near the elevators.

 

Enjoy life:)

synet165

[Laughing Gull]

Thanks All. We ended up booking a BB Caribe balcony room as the only mini suites in our price range were on Dolphin deck and I didn't want a totally open balcony. If anyone has any tips specific to BB Caribe cabins, we would be most grateful!

[Wormy53]

Whoa, that's a lot of information. Thank you :)

 

 

When I tried booking online the mini suites came up more expensive than I thought originally but Caribe C231, C722 and C723 are available and within my price range. What do you think? I will ask about C752 and C753 but they are probably long gone!

 

And when I think about it, on our last cruise our daughter shared a regular balcony cabin and we were fine.

 

When we go with a balcony cabin, we always go towards the aft area or midship. (It's easy to get up the stairs to the pools and buffet!:))

[Wishing on a star]

Thanks All. We ended up booking a BB Caribe balcony room as the only mini suites in our price range were on Dolphin deck and I didn't want a totally open balcony. If anyone has any tips specific to BB Caribe cabins, we would be most grateful!

 

 

Laughing Gull,

 

That is EXACTLY what we did!!! :D

 

We have a catBB, towards the aft, reserved for our December cruise.

The bigger, half-covered, balconies on the Caribe really appealed to me.

I did not want a balcony that was totally and completely exposed.

 

What ship will you be on?

 

There are wonderful AFT facing balconies, but they are coveted and very hard to come by.

 

The mini-suites on Emerald deck have covered balconies... Those would be a consideration for me.

 

Remember, when you go on Princess.com and pull up a saiing, it will only display six available cabins to choose from. It is not that a Travel agent is offering a better selection... it is just that they are in communication with Princess.... If you were to call Princess, and let them know what specifications you have ( category, covered balcony, aft or mid-ship, etc...) the customer service rep would probably give you several cabins to choose from. It is just that their online site list ONLY six available staterooms.

 

Yes, sometimes online travel agencies can offer a better deal.

Just check all the biggies. (some are listed right here on CC)

Just be sure you are dealing with somebody reputable, as they pretty much 'own' your booking, and you will not be able to deal with Princess directly. Make sure you are aware of all 'fees' that may be levied by the travel agency.