Ocean Princess - Cabin Advise

[tcdcruiser]

Planning on a 14 day port intensive curise on the Ocean Princess. This will be our first small ship experience. Have ejoyed many Balcony and Mini Suites cabins on the Grand Class ships, and I'm considering a Balcony midship cabin on the Ocean Princess.

 

Any advice about cabins, categories, etc on the Ocean Princess would be appreciated. Advice about cabins to avoid would also appreciate.

 

Also, does the Ocean Princess rock and roll a bit more at sea due to its smaller tonnage?

 

As always - thanks to all in advace.

[paul929207]

We have spent nearly 100 nights on the Tahitain/Ocean in either balcony (BA or BB) or minis (AA or AC). All were fine. The only time we felt a lot of rocking was when we sailed thry hurricane Danny last summer.

[DrivesLikeMario]

I'm new to the OP also, but what I found out while researching cabin locations is that if you want an open balcony front with metal rails vs. one that has a solid metal sheet, go for Cat. BC cabins on Deck 7. The Cat. BB ones that are midship have the full metal balcony front and you can't see through that when you're sitting on the balcony. With the metal railings, you can look through to see the ocean when sitting down. Just depends on what your preference is.

[Pam in CA]

Also, does the Ocean Princess rock and roll a bit more at sea due to its smaller tonnage?

The Ocean Princess has stablizers just as the larger ships do which help control side-to-side movement. No matter the size of the ship, there's little that can be done to control up/down forward-to-aft movement. Larger ships can perhaps span the distance between waves but smaller ships cut through them better. On the other hand, having fewer decks means they are less susceptible to wind. There is probably more movement on a smaller ship but as with anything else, it depends on the ship's speed and direction, wave height and direction, current speed and direction, wind speed and direction, etc.

[tcdcruiser]

Once again, thanks!

 

Regarding an earlier reply... except Deck 7 mid-ship - do all other other balconies have metal bars (vs metal sheet)?

[DrivesLikeMario]

The majority of balcony cabins on these ships have the full sheet metal (no bars).

[caribill]

The majority of balcony cabins on these ships have the full sheet metal (no bars).

 

 

????

 

The majority of the balcony cabins on the Ocean Princess are as on the picture below.

 

Also, see other views at http://fp.caribill.com/ from when it was the Tahitian Princess. The cabin life part shows the balcony from the cabin view.

[paul929207]

I have been on the Ocean 4 times, the Pacific 2 times and the Royal 1 time. Twice we had a mini and the rest a balcony. We have never had the sheet of metal. All of ours have been like the ones shown in Caribill's photo a bove.

[DrivesLikeMario]

Yes - notice the balcony cabins on deck 7 - they do not have the metal railings all the way down. Your view is blocked when sitting down according to people I know that have had these cabins and not recommended them. There are 50 cabins like this on Deck 7 and I would not want one. I like the open railings much more than the metal that goes all the way down. I don't like the closed-in feeling. It's a personal preference and something for future cruisers to be aware of. I was just trying to inform the OP with what I had learned in researching this ship.

 

This is not for the minis at all, just the balcony cabins on Deck 7.

[snrlnd]

We sailed the Tahitian now the Ocean and had a mini. I felt it was much nicer that than the minis on the rest of the fleet (larger ships).

[paul929207]

Yes - notice the balcony cabins on deck 7 - they do not have the metal railings all the way down. Your view is blocked when sitting down according to people I know that have had these cabins and not recommended them. There are 50 cabins like this on Deck 7 and I would not want one. I like the open railings much more than the metal that goes all the way down. I don't like the closed-in feeling. It's a personal preference and something for future cruisers to be aware of. I was just trying to inform the OP with what I had learned in researching this ship.

 

This is not for the minis at all, just the balcony cabins on Deck 7.

Are you talking about the 6 inch or so strip of metal along the bottom of the balcony. This does not obstruct the view. I think it is just to prevent things from rolling/falling off the balcony

[tcdcruiser]

I think everyone was right. While the BB cabins on Deck 7 are not full metail, they do appear to have more metal and less bars than the cabins above and aft. Thanks.

[DrivesLikeMario]

Are you talking about the 6 inch or so strip of metal along the bottom of the balcony. This does not obstruct the view. I think it is just to prevent things from rolling/falling off the balcony

 

No. There is more of a metal sheet on the Deck 7 Cat. BB balconies than on the Cat. BC ones. I know people that have had the BBs and said they couldn't see out while sitting down on the balcony and that they felt 'closed in'.

 

It may not bother everyone, it's just something to be aware of before booking. :)

[SingerEsq]

First, personally I love the smaller ships. We first sailed one of these gems when they were with Renaissance.

 

On the Tahitian (now Ocean) for Tahiti we were in a mini-suite on 8 (I think it was 8050, but pretty sure it was an AB category). As another person mentioned, I personally think the mini-suites on the small ships are so much better than on the large ships. Although they're about the same square footage, the orientation on the small ship is more of a square than a rectangle. You feel like you're in a room slightly smaller than a regular hotel room, rather than a narrow tunnel of a room. So if you can swing it, IMO you will not regret getting a mini-suite.

 

Despite the stablizers, you do get toss about a bit more IMO. We had pretty rough seas between the Tahitian Islands and the Cook Islands. But it was a great cruise.

[catsforkids]

I'm new to the OP also, but what I found out while researching cabin locations is that if you want an open balcony front with metal rails vs. one that has a solid metal sheet, go for Cat. BC cabins on Deck 7. The Cat. BB ones that are midship have the full metal balcony front and you can't see through that when you're sitting on the balcony. With the metal railings, you can look through to see the ocean when sitting down. Just depends on what your preference is.

 

We are booked for one of these cabins on the Royal - is this also the case on her?

[phabric]

We are in an AFT cabin 7116 on the Ocean. Does this cabin have full metal on its balcony. I love to sit and look at the water.

[paul929207]

Three weeks from tomorrow, we are boarding the Ocean and are assigned cabin 7044. I will see if it has a metal wall on the balcony or not and let everyone know.

[DrivesLikeMario]

Paul - You can see it pretty easily from the pictures. There's a metal bar or two at the top, then a sheet of metal going down to the base of the balcony. Not what we want, but it may not bother you at all. Just depends on what you want out of a balcony and how tall you are too. Please do report back though and let us know what you thought. Bon voyage!

 

Phabic - Sorry, can't tell you for sure about the aft balconies, maybe someone else can.

 

Catsforkids - I'm not sure on the Royal since it has a different configuration than the Ocean and Pacific Princesses.

[tcdcruiser]

Here's the part no one is going to believe....

 

Picked my cabin (gave my TA 6 different cabins), but even though all 6 are not reservered Princess won't give me any of them!

 

This cruise is 14 days, but Princess is also selling the crusie as just the first 7 days or just the last 7 days. Since the cabin I want is assigned to the 7 day tranche I can't have it. I'd have to book a B2B to get my preference.

 

Called Princess and you'd have thought I was asking the to Captain swing around to get a better look at the dolphins.

[paul929207]

Can you get the b2b for the same price? If so, you get two cruise credits instead of one by booking b2b. Be sure that OBC for things like FCC and CCL Shareholder are even or better.

[kruisey]

Here's the part no one is going to believe....

 

Picked my cabin (gave my TA 6 different cabins), but even though all 6 are not reservered Princess won't give me any of them!

 

This cruise is 14 days, but Princess is also selling the crusie as just the first 7 days or just the last 7 days. Since the cabin I want is assigned to the 7 day tranche I can't have it. I'd have to book a B2B to get my preference.

 

Called Princess and you'd have thought I was asking the to Captain swing around to get a better look at the dolphins.

 

On my cruise Nov/Dec 2008 I wonted to book the same cabin from Bangkok to Auckland. Was told could not have the cabin past Sydney because that was for passengers embarking Sydney to Auckland only.. I was forced to turn it into a B2B otherwise would have had to change cabins although that cabin had not been booked from Sydney to Auckland:rolleyes:

[DrivesLikeMario]

Here's the part no one is going to believe....

 

Picked my cabin (gave my TA 6 different cabins), but even though all 6 are not reservered Princess won't give me any of them!

 

This cruise is 14 days, but Princess is also selling the crusie as just the first 7 days or just the last 7 days. Since the cabin I want is assigned to the 7 day tranche I can't have it. I'd have to book a B2B to get my preference.

 

Called Princess and you'd have thought I was asking the to Captain swing around to get a better look at the dolphins.

 

LOL I do understand. If it makes you feel any better, after final payment is due they may release all of the cabins to be booked on either the 7 OR 14 day cruise.

[chamima]

Here's the part no one is going to believe....

 

Picked my cabin (gave my TA 6 different cabins), but even though all 6 are not reservered Princess won't give me any of them!

 

This cruise is 14 days, but Princess is also selling the crusie as just the first 7 days or just the last 7 days. Since the cabin I want is assigned to the 7 day tranche I can't have it. I'd have to book a B2B to get my preference.

 

Called Princess and you'd have thought I was asking the to Captain swing around to get a better look at the dolphins.

 

 

If you're in the US you can book the B2B and then wait a week or so and cancel the week you don't want. (Please don't flame me for this, it's just playing the game that Princess started by not letting her/him book an unoccupied cabin in the first place.)

[tcdcruiser]

I've written customer care at Princess, we'll see what happens. In the interim, maybe this image will help the solve the mystery of the metal balcony.

[paul929207]

If you're in the US you can book the B2B and then wait a week or so and cancel the week you don't want. (Please don't flame me for this, it's just playing the game that Princess started by not letting her/him book an unoccupied cabin in the first place.)

As long as you book it as two cruises, you can cancel one,