Ruby Princess Balcony Cabins

[HawkeyeGrandma]

Planning our 2nd cruise for our 30th wedding anniversary. 1st cruise was for our 25th on RCI and we had an inside room. Pretty excited about a balcony but have no clue what will be our best choice. Factors to consider: Cost, least amt of ship movement, best side of ship, privacy, location to elevators/public areas. Anything other advice you can think of would be greatly appreciated.

[Kiwis Afloat]

We were on Ruby this January for our 30th and we had a balcony room on Caribe deck. We were in the middle of the ship C509 and I would have no hesitation in recommending this area and this cabin. The decks on Caribe are the biggest on the ship. They are half under cover and half out in the open. There are 4 chairs on the deck -2 that recline and there is a table too.:) Either side of the ship is fine. :)

[LuvTheGoodLife]

following refers to 'side' of ship balconies only, i.e. those on starboard or port sides of any ‘Grand’ class ship (Grand, Golden, Star, Diamond, Sapphire, Caribbean, Crown, Emerald, Ruby etc) and not any balconies that face directly aft....

 

Baja deck balconies are sized 9 ft. wide x 5 ft. deep and have full ceiling overhang/balcony cover. Lido, Aloha, Riviera (found on Caribbean, Crown, Emerald, Ruby only) decks have the same covered balconies. You can stand at the railing of these balconies and look down on to part of the Caribe deck balconies and all of the Dolphin deck balconies.

 

Caribe deck balconies are sized 9 ft. wide x 9 ft. deep and have ceiling overhang/balcony cover over the first 5 ft. Standing at the railing, you will overlook Dolphin deck balconies below.

 

All of the cabin interiors/bathrooms of the balcony cabins are the same with respect to size (unless it is a handicapped cabin).

Dolphin deck balconies (all balcony cabins are actually mini-suites and thus bigger than regular balcony cabins on the interior with sitting area, 2nd TV and bathtub/shower combination instead of the small shower stall found in the regular balcony cabins). The balcony is sized 9 ft. wide x 7 ft. deep and has no ceiling overhang/balcony cover as protection from sun or rain.

 

Emerald deck has several mini-suites each side with fully covered balconies. The last mini-suite cabin towards aft end on each side has extra wide balcony – approximately 7 ft. deep x 18 wide, according to someone who stayed in one of these. Emerald deck on some Grand Class ships also has some regular balcony cabins near the front that have the balconies set back under the roof and back from the railing. You look straight out to the water but cannot look down on the water. The walking track goes past these balconies and walkers can see you on your balcony. I do not have any measurements for these Emerald deck balcony sizes.

Hope this helps. Enjoy your cruise!

 

[serene56]

I learned by reading the boards what was the best balcony on that class of ship by reading I found that C753 was the best. Its a BB located on the aft corner. The balcony is huge. (now I never had a BB side balcony so I really cant compare.)

[cruisingsuze]

We have been assigned a cabin on the Lido Deck, Forward, Starboard. Can anyone tell me if this is a good thing? My travel agent didnt meet the final payment deadline (she was in Europe) and we lost our mini-suite on Dolphin. While I know that we wont have the same amount of space, what about noise? What about vibration? Please advise????

[akeasley]

I personally love the Lido deck because you are on the same level as the Horizon cafe and the pool. I've stayed on the Lido deck twice (L106) and haven't had any noise problems or any trouble with vibrations. Alot of people use the elevators in the middle of the ship and don't even walk down the hall past the cabins on that deck so you should be ok. Bummer on the upgrade though....

[Cruz-OR]

Cabins near the elevators are very convenient and there is little need to worry about noise levels. If you are worried about noise just book a cabin two or three cabins down the hallway.

[cherylandtk]

We have been assigned a cabin on the Lido Deck, Forward, Starboard. Can anyone tell me if this is a good thing? My travel agent didnt meet the final payment deadline (she was in Europe) and we lost our mini-suite on Dolphin. While I know that we wont have the same amount of space, what about noise? What about vibration? Please advise????

New room location aside, are you saying your previously booked mini was cancelled because your TA was on vacation in Europe and failed to make your final payment on time?? And the best she could do to fix her error was to get you booked into this BA? If that is correct, she needs to be refunding you not only the cost difference of the room, but sending you some serious credit or gifts for screwing it up so badly in the first place. This falls under her errors and omissions policy, and she needs to be doing some serious sucking up to you right about now. If she isn't, you need to run to the nearest competitor agency as fast as you can. This is an unacceptable failure on her part, especially as she was on vacation and forgot about you.

[HawkeyeGrandma]

We were on Ruby this January for our 30th and we had a balcony room on Caribe deck. We were in the middle of the ship C509 and I would have no hesitation in recommending this area and this cabin. The decks on Caribe are the biggest on the ship. They are half under cover and half out in the open. There are 4 chairs on the deck -2 that recline and there is a table too.:) Either side of the ship is fine. :)

 

Well, we never made the cruise for our 30th but 2 years later we are booked on the Ruby 1/27/13 and in cabin C509! How amazing is that? We can't wait!