Ruby Princess - Balcony cabin or Mini Suite

[WiscCruiser]

My wife and I are booked on the Ruby Princess in January 2012 in a Cat BA balcony cabin. Nice location on the Caribe deck. Should we indicate to our TA that we would accept an upgrade if one becomes available and give up our nice location for a mini suite in possibly a less desirable location. Are the mini suite amenities worth it?

[Liz54]

No suite perks except a glass of cheap champaigne at embarcation. BUT its bigger, with a bathtub. Balcony is bigger than most, but not as big as Caribe.

 

Depends how much you like those items....

[Tiffany's mom]

We love the caribe deck. The mini is a larger cabin with 2 chairs and a love seat. The is also a bath tub, the bathroom is a little bigger. The balcony is smaller and all open for everyone above you to see you out on your balcony. The mini balcony has a table and 2 chairs. The caribe deck has a table with 2 regular chairs and two lounge chairs. There is no additional amenities with a mini suite just with a full suite.

[lovevacadays]

I really like having more room in the mini-suite and the larger bathroom. I'd travel in one all the time if I could. However, when I do book mini's or for that matter any cabin I always pick a cabin and mark my booking no upgrade because I really don't want to risk getting a bad location. I've only booked guarantees twice because the price was so, so low and they weren't planned cruises. So, if I were in a great location on Caribe I would put no upgrade. Doesn't mean you won't receive a call about one though. In 2008 I had an Aloha deck balcony - no upgrade and received a call three days prior to my cruise asking if I wanted a free mini-suite upgrade. Of course, I said yes.

[Reader0108598]

My wife and I are booked on the Ruby Princess in January 2012 in a Cat BA balcony cabin. Nice location on the Caribe deck. Should we indicate to our TA that we would accept an upgrade if one becomes available and give up our nice location for a mini suite in possibly a less desirable location. Are the mini suite amenities worth it?

 

Would mark that no upgrade pronto:) caribe deck is the place I always want to be! We have one in Feb on the crown .We were upgraded from

BG to BA caribe deck, had the TA mark it no further upgrade.:D

 

Reader

[Woobstr112G]

No suite perks except a glass of cheap champaigne at embarcation. BUT its bigger, with a bathtub. Balcony is bigger than most, but not as big as Caribe.

 

Depends how much you like those items....

 

Unless you get either the Emerald or Dolphin end mini with the partial wrap larger balcony:) BTW, you call that welcome glass of liquid champaigne.....:D:eek::D

 

Bob

[Whimsy]

I really like the extra room and the full bathroom of the mini suite but if you worry about location then I would leave the no upgrade in place.

[flamomo]

Unless you can get an Emerald deck mini, which is covered, if it was me, I would keep the midship Caribe balcony.

I prefer the large balcony of a Caribe cabin over the bathtub and 2 TV sets of a mini. We rarely sat on the sofa in our mini, as we tend to use our balconies A LOT! And the large balcony of a Caribe cabin is half covered, so you can have protection from sun and weather if needed. Plus the table on the caribe balconies are larger and dining height, so if you opt to do the UBD or UBB, it's ideal.

[LoriPhil]

The mini's have two conventional chairs and two of the taller back-reclining version (same as the carib) and will give you shade about half the time, depending on the direction of the ship and time of day. However, you've selected a BA which puts you nicely mid-ship, so if it would be a problem to be in the far forward or aft part of the ship you might want to keep the carib cabin.

[JerryinBWB]

Good news is that either cabin will probably be very nice. We have had Caribe balcony cabins and Dolphin minis. Both are great. We are in a mini on our upcoming TransAtlantic because we love the extra room in the bathroom and sitting area for the 18 day cruise. Your cruise is 7 days so perhaps less important to have more room. If you plan to cruise a lot, an upgrade would allow you to experience the mini. If you plan to need lots of balcony space, then maybe the Caribe. For us either balcony is great; we don't care about the covered/uncovered issue; and we do like the extra space in the mini. Whatever you choose, I'm sure you will have a great time.

[Boatsafloat2]

Many of you have said that the balcony on the caribe is bigger than the balcony on the dolphin minis. I'm surprized because the princess booklet and the princess website show the mini balconies are much larger than the ones on caribe. Are the diagrams that far off?