Golden and Island vets

[wags]

We just took the Island cruise to Hawaii and had a mini-suite on Caribe deck. We are looking into the Golden cruise around the British Isles. The deck plan in the brochure shows all the minis on the Golden to be on the Dolphin deck (just a couple on Emerald) with a narrower room but larger deck. Has anyone been on both? Can you tell me what the differences are? Also, that burning question, are the balconies covered? I loved the Island and need some info on the Golden. Any answers??

[CruisinChris]

THe minis between the Coral and Golden are nearly identical. Key differences on the Golden the desk is actually on a slight angle with a short wall between sofa and desk. This makes the sitting area seem slightly more separated on the Golden. There is also a slight difference in bath, with the tub being slightly different. As you mentioned, minis on Dolphin deck are open above, while those on Emerald are covered from above. You mentioned you thought the rooms were narrower on the Golden - I think they're exactly the same.

[NAS-KARR]

Last month had D501, it's 110% in the sun and u'll hav ZERO privacy if that makes any dif. (in other words it's like the bottom floor of a pyramid). The balcony must be bigger because it had the customary plastic table & chairs and also two lounge chairs w/padded cushions. The cabin & bath/shower appeared to be same size as the CORAL PRIN., VERY ADEQUATE..............

 

 

HAVE A GOOD ONE ! :cool:

[wags]

Thanks to you both for your input. If the cabins are the same size as the Island they're plenty big enough for us. However, the uncovered balcony is a problem. Got to give this some more thought.

[critterchick]

Wags, if privacy is an issue for you, book one of the Emerald Deck minis. My experience on the Diamond (another Grand class with I think the same general layout of decks/balconies as the Grand) is that those balconies are completely covered, so you have great privacy. The only people who can see you are your next door neighbors, and they have to crane their necks around the partition or peek through the crack in the divider to do so.

 

The covered balconies didn't make the cabin dark, either, which was a concern of mine. We were going north & were on the starboard side. The balcony had sun on half of it until about noon when the sun went to the west. It was still nice & bright.

 

The only caveat is that the vibration of the engines is quite a bit more noticeable on Emerald Deck, at least DH & both thought so - as he (Navy vet) explained it, we were right about the main engines, being near the aft of the ship. It didn't keep us awake or interfere with anything else, but we did notice it. There was NO noise from Club Fusion below.

[wags]

Thanks,Critterchick. Our balcony on the Island was completely covered and we appreciated it on very sunny or rainy days. I don't think I could stand being in the sun all the time or having people looking down on us from above. I was surprised to hear about the engine noise because so many on these threads talk about how much they like the aft cabins. Are the balconies on Emerald the only ones that are covered?

[critterchick]

In the minisuite category, they are the only fully covered balconies. Caribe Deck has balcony cabins with partly covered/partly uncovered balconies. Baja, Aloha and Lido balconies are all fully covered, I think.

 

We didn't so much hear as feel the engines, by the way. It's a rumbling like a cat's purr (a really, really BIG cat:eek: ). The only time it was a distraction was coming into port in the early morning when the engines kind of rev up to slow us down or turn. But it woke us up in time to see us pass under the Lion's Gate Bridge in Vancouver, and that's always a fun thing to see, so it wasn't bad at all!