Help with choosing balcony cabin

[first time cruising]

Have not sailed with Princess before and although I though I had plenty of time to book a cruise in August 2013 have now find my choices are very limited. We were hoping for a mini suite but now find the only suites available are on Dolphin deck and they are exposed. Really do not like the idea of exposed balcony. Thanks to CC for alerting me to that fact. Now looking at a balcony cabin and would like some advice as to which one to look at. Some say they have a "premium balcony" eg on Aloha A401. How is this different to say a normal balcony cabin. Is is just the position on the ship? Thanks:)

[highheel girl]

Have not sailed with Princess before and although I though I had plenty of time to book a cruise in August 2013 have now find my choices are very limited. We were hoping for a mini suite but now find the only suites available are on Dolphin deck and they are exposed. Really do not like the idea of exposed balcony. Thanks to CC for alerting me to that fact. Now looking at a balcony cabin and would like some advice as to which one to look at. Some say they have a "premium balcony" eg on Aloha A401. How is this different to say a normal balcony cabin. Is is just the position on the ship? Thanks:)

 

 

What ship?

[Pam in CA]

Have not sailed with Princess before and although I though I had plenty of time to book a cruise in August 2013 have now find my choices are very limited. We were hoping for a mini suite but now find the only suites available are on Dolphin deck and they are exposed. Really do not like the idea of exposed balcony. Thanks to CC for alerting me to that fact. Now looking at a balcony cabin and would like some advice as to which one to look at. Some say they have a "premium balcony" eg on Aloha A401. How is this different to say a normal balcony cabin. Is is just the position on the ship? Thanks:)

OK... the first question is, "What ship?"

 

If you are considering a Grand-class ship (any of the larger ships), there are very few full suites on Dolphin deck. I think there are just four on the whole deck. The rest of the cabins are mini-suites which are not really suites and don't come with any amenities. Their balcony is 9'x7' and are fully exposed, as you say. Emerald deck mini-suites are fully covered. Depending on the ship, Lido, Riviera, Aloha and Baja balcony cabins all have smaller balconies at 9'x5' that are fully covered. Caribe deck balconies are the largest at 9'x9' and are half-covered/half-uncovered. These are considered by many as the better cabins because of the larger balcony and the fact that it's half-covered/half-uncovered. There are no "premium" balcony cabins on these ships by definition.

 

The new Royal Princess is a different kettle of fish and a totally new design. It does have cabins designated as "premium deluxe" balcony which on Aloha deck are at aft of the ship.

 

Please let us know which ship you are considering so we can help you more.

[first time cruising]

sorry, Emerald Princess

[highheel girl]

If the covered minis on Emerald deck are all taken then I would go for a balcony on Caribe deck. They have the larger balconies that are half covered and a foot or so bigger then the mini balconies. Any balcony on Caribe deck would be the same larger size balcony. :)

 

The 2 aft corner balconies C752/753 are excellent with an even larger balcony.

Very private.

Edited January 2, 2013 by highheel girl

[tommycha]

We were in caribe deck for our recent cruise.

 

You might want to check out our review here

http://discoverbooktravel.blogspot.sg/2012/10/day-1-diamond-princess-alaska-cruise-caribe-deck-balcony.html

[DrivesLikeMario]

My favorite location is Caribe Deck, slightly aft of midship around the 618-628 range cabins. If you want truly, fully covered balconies, go for anything on the Baja Deck (first choice) or the Aloha Deck. Riviera is okay too, but the others are better choices IMO.

 

BTW, I'm not sure if this will give you another view of the balcony cabins, but we absolutely LOVE the exposed balconies of the mini-suites. For anyone that has the slightest bit of claustrophobia (DH), they are wonderful. I love sitting out on the balcony on warm nights and looking straight up at the stars. During the day, it's a sunny respite from the noisy pool area, provided you're going to a sunny destination of course!

[tommycha]

Caribe deck to us is the nicest.

 

With a larger balcony than normal balcony class staterooms, u enjoy the best of both worlds, without sacrificing too much privacy with a fully exposed balcony like the dolphin deck and bigger space than those above.

 

We find that the extra space in the balcony really make a difference for us

[first time cruising]

Thank you for all your help and advice. We have booked a cabin B1 on Caribe deck. It has been a big lesson for me to book as early as possible. Now to look forward to our 27 day Northen Europe Grand Adventure in August.:)

[jb008]

Love the Caribe deck balconies and I think you'll be really happy with them! Have kept considering moving up to a mini-suite, but hard to justify the step up in price after loving the Caribe balcony rooms so much.

 

Enjoy the sail!

[coloradocruisers101]

For my two cents, we prefer Baja and always book around B435. This is close to the stairs on the 11th deck and you can get to Lido deck real fast. It is truly mid ship with little movement. Good luck!

[butternut1]

My favorite location is Caribe Deck, slightly aft of midship around the 618-628 range cabins. If you want truly, fully covered balconies, go for anything on the Baja Deck (first choice) or the Aloha Deck. Riviera is okay too, but the others are better choices IMO.

 

BTW, I'm not sure if this will give you another view of the balcony cabins, but we absolutely LOVE the exposed balconies of the mini-suites. For anyone that has the slightest bit of claustrophobia (DH), they are wonderful. I love sitting out on the balcony on warm nights and looking straight up at the stars. During the day, it's a sunny respite from the noisy pool area, provided you're going to a sunny destination of course!

 

Just curious, why do you prefer the location of the rooms 618-628? We have never been on Caribe deck but am considering it for a future cruise. Thanksk

[FritzG]

We prefer Baja deck from the upper 500's and back.

[tommycha]

We love the caribe deck too! :)

 

Love the Caribe deck balconies and I think you'll be really happy with them! Have kept considering moving up to a mini-suite, but hard to justify the step up in price after loving the Caribe balcony rooms so much.

 

Enjoy the sail!

[nukesubsailor]

Have not sailed with Princess before and although I though I had plenty of time to book a cruise in August 2013 have now find my choices are very limited. We were hoping for a mini suite but now find the only suites available are on Dolphin deck and they are exposed. Really do not like the idea of exposed balcony. Thanks to CC for alerting me to that fact. Now looking at a balcony cabin and would like some advice as to which one to look at. Some say they have a "premium balcony" eg on Aloha A401. How is this different to say a normal balcony cabin. Is is just the position on the ship? Thanks:)

 

My wife and I have sailed in both balcony cabins and mini-suites. We feel that the exposed balcony of a mini-suite is a small price to pay for the other benefits of a mini-suite over a balcony cabin. The tub/shower combo is much better than the tiny shower stall in a balcony cabin. The couch and extra tv are also much appreciated. Also, the soaps and lotions are better in the mini-suite and you get a free glass of sparkling wine from your steward on embarkation day.

You will find that you soon forget about being exposed to view from above on your mini-suite balcony. Remember that all balcony railings are transparent so someone on a Dolphin deck mini-suite can look up and see into the front part of the balconies above.

[mamaboss]

Also love the caribe deck, mid right by elevators:D

[tommycha]

Some photos of our caribe balcony room from our blog

 

 

 

 

 

[tommycha]

More photos..

 

 

 

 

[Dudleydog73]

I am sorry to revive this thread, but on the Emerald Princess on Caribe deck they now have "Premium Balcony" and plain old "Balcony" designations for the staterooms.

 

I have been on other Grand class ships and in looking at the website it would seem C603 is a Premium Balcony, while C727 is a plain jane balcony.

 

I know there should not be any difference between the two except location, but what exactly is Princess using to place the Premium tag on some of these rooms? Location only?

 

I knew that on the Royal they had some Premium balcony rooms that had a couch or something like that which would make sense, but this seems a bit random from my viewpoint.

[johnmik1]

More photos..

 

 

 

 

I think you have mislabeled your last pic as you have the top deck labeled as Lido when it is actually Aloha.Lido only has cabins which are forward of the pool deck.

[Thrak]

I am sorry to revive this thread, but on the Emerald Princess on Caribe deck they now have "Premium Balcony" and plain old "Balcony" designations for the staterooms.

 

I have been on other Grand class ships and in looking at the website it would seem C603 is a Premium Balcony, while C727 is a plain jane balcony.

 

I know there should not be any difference between the two except location, but what exactly is Princess using to place the Premium tag on some of these rooms? Location only?

 

I knew that on the Royal they had some Premium balcony rooms that had a couch or something like that which would make sense, but this seems a bit random from my viewpoint.

 

Emerald Princess now has 2 premium balcony rooms on Dolphin, Caribe, and Emerald decks. They are all on the stern. There are a whopping 10 premium balcony rooms on Baja. They are all across the stern.

 

As far as I know there are no extras in the rooms - it is pretty much just the location that is making them "premium".

[Dudleydog73]

Emerald Princess now has 2 premium balcony rooms on Dolphin, Caribe, and Emerald decks. They are all on the stern. There are a whopping 10 premium balcony rooms on Baja. They are all across the stern.

 

As far as I know there are no extras in the rooms - it is pretty much just the location that is making them "premium".

 

Hmm, I am logged into princess.com now and they definitely have only Premium Balcony rooms in the mid-Aft section on Caribe. I can understand having aft cabins that "may" have a slightly larger balconies labeled Premium, but not so much the standard run of the mill balconies.

 

Thanks for the info. Its sad an ever slight forward shift of location is the new premium....

[Thrak]

Hmm, I am logged into princess.com now and they definitely have only Premium Balcony rooms in the mid-Aft section on Caribe. I can understand having aft cabins that "may" have a slightly larger balconies labeled Premium, but not so much the standard run of the mill balconies.

 

Thanks for the info. Its sad an ever slight forward shift of location is the new premium....

 

My bad. There are actually "premium" balconies listed on Caribe at the Mid-Aft, Mid, and Mid-Forward positions. They are different colors and classifications but all are listed as "premium" if you hover over them.

 

There are ALSO premium balconies on the stern which was what I was looking at.They are the dark orange color. They're listed as B4 category but, if you hover or click on them, they are listed as premium balconies and, for those, I believe it's only location that makes them listed as premium.

[PunkiC]

It is all so subjective. We really like being on Aloha just aft of the aft stairwell on most Princess ships.

 

That makes it easy to run up the Horizon Court or to catch an elevator down to the Vista which is where we seem to spend a lot of time.

 

Last October we received a premium true aft balcony on a guarantee and we really weren't all that crazy about it. We like to see where we are going, as well as where we have been. Different strokes.