Comparing balcony cabins on different ships

[ActiveTraveler]

When tyring to choose a cruise line, one factor I am looking at is cabin size. One thing I noticed was not all ships in the same fleet have the same floor plans for staterooms. I also noticed not all cabins in the same category are the same size. Princess has 322-square foot mini-suites on some ships and completely different mini-suites on others, if the information on its website is accurate. This drove me crazy as I discovered ships in the Princess fleet that do have airy, spacious mini-suites with a good layout don't have International Cafe, the atrium-area eatery that some people said has a lot of great food.

Can someone give me a side-by-side comparison of balcony cabins on different lines or ships? That would be much easier than searching one ship at a time just to figure out if it has good balcony cabins. Besides Princess, I am interested in premium cruise lines, one notch below luxury. That means I am not considering RCI, Carnival, or Disney but I am still willing to look at HAL and a few others people recommended. :rolleyes:

[cb at sea]

Your best bet is to post questions about specifc cabin numbers on each cruiseline's board...someone who has actually sailed in those (or similar) cabins will respond! Good luck!

[kitty9]

Again, the same advice------go to a travel agent, pick up some brochures, and ask questions

[InternetAgeTraveler]

Thats a tricky proposition since each ship and cabin has pros and cons. Size alone is not the only factor, a big cabin under the dance floot might not be to your liking. There a number of websites that have details on ships, including cabin size but most cruisers have an itinerary in mind, and starting from there see which cruise ships offer it.

 

[BratDet]

The IC is more like a small bakery/cafe. It has one little display case with treats in it...baked goods most of the day...desserts and sandwiches later in the day. I do love having it available- but my first cruise did not have one (Celebrity).

It did not keep me from having a fantastic cruise.

 

Last year, I was on the CB and the IC was a treat, but I was in a regular cabin- with a balcony. This year, another balcony cabin for my summer CB sailing. I did not have a minisuite and again we had a great time.

 

Keep looking and reading and eventually you will get brave enough to book a cruise. Good luck!

 

Bernadette

[kitty9]

Oh, and by the way, it would be totally and completely impossible for anyone to give you a side by side comparison of every balcony cabin on every single ship out there. Do you realize how many ships there are out there, and how many different types of balcony cabins are available? There are thousands.

[MsJDP]

Great site: cruisedeckplans.com

[EmmaN]

Great site: cruisedeckplans.com

 

Really useful! Thanks :D

[ActiveTraveler]

Oh, and by the way, it would be totally and completely impossible for anyone to give you a side by side comparison of every balcony cabin on every single ship out there. Do you realize how many ships there are out there, and how many different types of balcony cabins are available? There are thousands.

 

Not thousands of cabins that I am interested in, obviously. I only care about the Crystal and Princess ships that sail in the Western Mediterranean. There are thousands of shp cabins if you count every ship in the world, including those that do not sail in Europe at all.

[ActiveTraveler]

I looked at the Ruby Princess on DeckPlans.com and discovered most features on that site require payment. :mad:

I was able to see what is above and below the balcony cabins by dragging the decks. It is still impossible, unfortunately, to figure out what the differences are between different balcony cabins because there are no pictures, just diagrams. So I still don't know if the Aloha or Baja deck has better balcony cabins. It also is impossible to compare ships if I don't pay because I can only see one ship at a time.

[grandmato4]

I looked at the Ruby Princess on DeckPlans.com and discovered most features on that site require payment. :mad:

 

I was able to see what is above and below the balcony cabins by dragging the decks. It is still impossible, unfortunately, to figure out what the differences are between different balcony cabins because there are no pictures, just diagrams. So I still don't know if the Aloha or Baja deck has better balcony cabins. It also is impossible to compare ships if I don't pay because I can only see one ship at a time.

 

Aloha and Baja balcony cabins both have covered balconies about 5' x 9' and are both situated between cabin decks below and above them. BD, BF BG, BE on Baja and BD and BC are all pretty much the same cabins just on different decks in different locations. The different designations simply indicate different locations of the cabins on the decks which have different prices. BB on Baja are aft cabins with larger balconies. Which cabins are better is all a matter of personal preference. Some of us don't do stern or aft cabins because we feel more motions than center cabins. That's doesn't bother others at all. Some like to be located near elevators others prefer not to be. Some love their aft cabins and others aren't interested in having one. Some like to be a bit closer to Lido deck and other prefer to be closer to Promenade and other could care less. All a matter of personal preference. The 360 degree view on the Princess website deckplans of the balcony cabins shows you what the inside of most of the balcony cabins looks like (depending on the cabin may be reversed with the bed on the right instead of the left) but do warn that the balcony shown is a larger balcony than all but the aft balcony cabins on Baja and Aloha.

 

When you've ready to look at a specific cabin than come back here and do a search to see if there is any specific information about that specific cabin and if nothing is found in the search than ask that question about that specific cabin.

[ActiveTraveler]

Grandma, I want a cabin with no noise or vibration. Looking at the deck plans, I figure it would be better to sleep midship on the starboard side. How much noise from the other passengers would I hear near the elevators? How far aft does the ship movement start? Also, which deck is less expensive, Aloha or Baja? I also was wondering if having a tub and couch is worth the amount of money to splurge on a minisuite and if it matters that Dolphin deck balconies are uncovered. That would help me decide if I should accept an upgrade because I can't afford a minisuite.

[cruisey4me]

Hi - new user. We booked cabin 7684 - Pride of America - on deck 7 - back of the ship. Anyone know how much rocking I'm going feel? Any input is appreciated.

[lcarney1125]

Another great place to check out pics of rooms for any and all cruise ship is cruiselinerooms dot com. This is a place for anyone to post their pics. Great research tool to use

[grandmato4]

Grandma, I want a cabin with no noise or vibration. Looking at the deck plans, I figure it would be better to sleep midship on the starboard side. How much noise from the other passengers would I hear near the elevators? How far aft does the ship movement start? Also, which deck is less expensive, Aloha or Baja? I also was wondering if having a tub and couch is worth the amount of money to splurge on a minisuite and if it matters that Dolphin deck balconies are uncovered. That would help me decide if I should accept an upgrade because I can't afford a minisuite.

 

Ok, you are narrowing down your search which is a good thing:) IMHO midship is a very good idea for your first cruise. If vibration is a concern for you (we feel the same way) avoid the back quarter of the ship. We've not heard any noise from being near the elevators but if you wish to avoid that possiblity than do not pick a cabin right near the doors to the elevator area, that wont eliminate a lot of cabins which is good but the ones to avoid can easily be seen on the Princess deck plans. Both Aloha and Baja are between other cabin decks on the Ruby so you will not have any noise to deal with from above or below. We've never found the port side to have more noise than the starboard side but if you wish to stick with the starboard side that's fine:)

 

Because you have not been on a ship before and have no idea how motion may effect you I do advice not choosing a far forward cabin for this first cruise. You may not be effected at all on a smooth sailing but there is always a bit more motion felt at the very front which some find soothing and enjoy and others aren't thrilled with and it can be a lot more motion if sailing is not smooth.

 

To avoid vibration and motion we choose to avoid the front quarter of the ship and back quarter of the ship and consider the center 2 quarters to be the center of the ship. Remember that "center" of the ship doesn't have to be exactly center just in the area of the center 2 quarters. For Aloha deck on the Ruby that means BC balcony category and on Baja BD category. Baja BD is a bit less expensive than Aloha BC category.

 

Its all a matter of personal preference and the amount of your budget for your cruise vacation if you pay for a mini suite or not along with having the uncovered balcony. I can't imagine anyone not liking to have more space in their cabin but the cost of the additional space dictates if its worth it to them or not. Personally having the bathtub is of no value to us as when we cruise we would only use the shower anyways but not all feel that way. Many find they love the open balcony and have no problem with it being fully open. This is only our personal opinion and your opinion may greatly differ, which is fine;) I enjoy going out on our balcony first thing in the morning with my bathrobe on and hair uncombed or in the afternoon between showering and actually getting ready for dinner and also last thing at night with my bathrobe on just before going to bed at night and I dont wish to know that everyone from above can look down upon me. Its not that they are going to see something they shouldn't:eek: its just that I am much more comfortable on my covered balcony than I would be sitting or standing there for all above me to see. People don't spend time purposefully looking down to see what people are doing on the open balconies but its impossible to be above and not look down and knowing what I have seen from above I don't wish to be one of those people being seen. We also enjoy sitting out on our balcony when its sprinkling out or sometimes if the wind isn't blowing the rain terribly hard but it is fully raining and we're not going to do that without the cover of a balcony. There are many times when it is hot and sunny and the cover of the balcony gives some relief from that bright hot sun so for all those reasons we much prefer a covered balcony. Even though we wouldnt use it often we would love a sitting area in our cabin but for us the price difference between BC or BD category balconies and a mini suite has often been between $400-$500 per person and that increase in cost falls outside of our budget for that particular cruise. We all make different decisions but we prefer to cruise more often in less expensive balcony cabins then cruise less often in more expensive cabins.

 

As far as accepting an upgrade goes Princess's policy is that IF you don't mark the cabin that you choose as "No Upgrade" they can choose to upgrade you without asking you first if you're ok with the change in cabin. Yes, I've read here on cc where do they "sometimes" call and ask but DO NOT expect that to happen. SO, if you choose your own cabin and don't mark that cabin as "no upgrade" you can be moved without your approval. By the time you notice it your original cabin is usually given to someone else and you can not be moved back to it. If there are cabins that you REALLY do not want to be moved to I advise you to mark the cabin you choose as "no upgrade". Most people never see an upgrade and most upgrades happen within the same category (example BD to BB) and not to a higher category (example: balcony to Minisuite or suite) although the upgrades to higher categories do happen sometimes. Upgrades after choosing your cabin are one of those things that can be absolutely wonderful and on the other hand can be really bad depending upon how you feel about the location of the cabin and until it happens you are not going to know which way you will feel about it so IF you'd not be happy with ALL cabins you could possibly be upgraded to mark the cabin you have choosen as "No Upgrade".

[serene56]

I am only curious.

 

Comparing Princess and Crystal????

 

I dont think Princess is a premium cruise lines.

 

Are the other ones-- Celebrity/HAL premium lines too?

[Granny DI]

I usually book the balcony cabin with the largest balcony. Princess balcony cabins are too small for me so I book mini-suites on Princess. Balcony cabins are fine on RCCL, HAL, NCL, Oceania.... Celebrity has the largest balcony cabins. The only cruiseline with a balcony cabin smaller than Princess is QM2....but the in-hull balconies are great. Most cruise companies quote size including the balcony.

[ActiveTraveler]

I am only curious.

 

Comparing Princess and Crystal?

 

I dont think Princess is a premium cruise line.

 

Are the other ones-- Celebrity/HAL premium lines too?

 

Crystal is not a premium cruise line either. It is a luxury line.

I used to think Princess was a premium cruise line.

Now I am trying to figure out if which ship I sail on will make a significant difference.