voice your opinion on balconies!!!!

[UpcountryTravelers]

I vote for LARGER balconies. One of my favorite parts of a cruise is watching the sun come up and the approach to a new port as I sip my coffee and munch a leisurely breakfast on my balcony.

 

One of the advantages of the Celebrity over Princess, in our experience, was the larger teak floored balcony on the Reflection.

[RichNY]

The Penthouse balconies are a big disappointment..Probably 1/2 the width of the balconies on the Ruby..no room for lounge chairs..

[boca7]

The rooms are small enough on the Grand Class ships, if you don't get a mini suite.

They are now taking away the Crown in Feb. from sailing out of FLL. Are we only going the option of Royal or her new sister on 7 day cruises from FLL?

[Cruisin' Chick]

They are now taking away the Crown in Feb. from sailing out of FLL. Are we only going the option of Royal or her new sister on 7 day cruises from FLL?

 

the Crown is being relocated to the West Coast. Currently the newest ship we have over here is the Sapphire (2004) so it's about time we get something built more recent. The downside is that the Crown, as far as I know, doesn't have a covered pool, which is pretty important for Alaskan cruises.

[Frank N. Earnest]

I travel in an inside cabin, always. So I vote for bigger cabins!

 

Frank

[cookieartist]

I just read an article on cruise critic from Norwegian that new ships they are building will have smaller balconies as cruisers prefer larger space inside. Who are they kidding? Princess reconfirmed the Regal will be the same as the Royal. I switched from Norwegian to Princess due to smaller cabins & balconies. What is your opinion???

 

DH, DS, and I usually travel together and find the Princess Grand Class mini suite perfect for our cruising. We 3 live in the Arizona desert and look forward to BEING AT SEA on that balcony, where we share quiet family time having coffee in the morning, watching docking or sail away, relaxing after touring,or star gazing at night. For us the balcony is important so I guess we will stick to Grand Class ships so we can all be out there at the same time. In the past I always thought that Princess was smart in designing the staggered size side balconies...so different than other lines...more choices. Now everyone is building the "jail cell" look with the flat side (but for "humps"), same depth, small balconies. Too bad!.

[Minoushka]

I spend a lot of time on my balcony Love the ones on Caribe deck of older ships ...big comfy with a table and chairs I vote for good size balconies and love the no smoking policy

[monakayk]

Personally, I would prefer larger balconies, however...if Princess would just have closets like they are built on HAL and CCL ships and use that extra sq. footage space to put a couch in the balcony cabins with standard size on the Grand Class ships with the large Caribe balconies,I would be even happier! I do not want dinky small balconies (like on Royal/Regal ships) on future ships built by PCL at all!

[Blue Line]

As long as I can comfortably have breakfast and/or dinner on the balcony I am happy...

 

Of course I would also like a larger room, a larger balcony, more onboard venues and lower fares; but we can't always have everything..

[pablo222]

I just read an article on cruise critic from Norwegian that new ships they are building will have smaller balconies as cruisers prefer larger space inside. Who are they kidding? Princess reconfirmed the Regal will be the same as the Royal. I switched from Norwegian to Princess due to smaller cabins & balconies. What is your opinion???

 

My opinion -- no post on cruise critic is going to have the slightest

effect on the balcony size on royal or regal.

[satxdiver]

On our first cruise we booked a cabin with a window and thought that was really nice. So the next cruise we did the same but then the sneaky cruise line upgraded us to a balcony. Horrors! We did not find out until we opened the door of the cabin and there it was. Well due to their upgrade against our wishes, we fell in love with the balcony and as they say the rest is history. We have always booked a balcony since that time.

[chamima]

Thank you.

 

Yes many travel as a family of three or four rather than as a pair.

 

Guess I am the exception. I spend a great deal of time out on the balcony and very little time out on the pool.

 

If I spend three hours out on the pool (on a 7 day voyage) is a lot. On the other hand, I spend 4-5 hrs. a day out on the balcony.

 

So yes, size does matter.

 

My husband and I prefer a larger balcony. I love going up on deck during the day and lounging by the pool or upper decks with all the other people, but also enjoy going back to the room, grabbing a glass of wine, and sit on the balcony, where it's nice and quiet, feet up, watching the beautiful view and in the morning having breakfast, and sometimes afternoon lunch out there. That's all part of the cruise that we enjoy, and a smaller balcony just isn't comfy for us. I always look for the largest balconies when we plan a cruise or wait till one is open before we book. Bottom line: I'd rather a smaller room with a larger balcony.

 

 

 

We also spend more time on the balcony than at the pool.

We wanted to try out the new Royal so booked an aft deluxe so that we could have that nice large balcony we're used to (I did my research and we're on Baja deck - NOT all of the decks have the larger balcony ) - but it comes at a HUGE premium! The side cabins next to us are currently $1000 less (per couple) :eek: than ours for a one week cruise. I'll hang onto this cabin until final payment but if the price doesn't come down we may just cancel the cruise rather than be cramped for that week. It is our vacation, after all, and sitting on our balcony comfortably enjoying a cup of coffee or a glass of wine and a good book while looking at the ocean is what matters to us.

Each to his own but Princess had better look at their demographic for future builds. Maybe we're in the minority - if that's the case I guess we'll see more of the Royal style ships and we personally will sail either on older ships or find another line. (We tried Celebrity last year and were VERY pleasantly surprised! :D )

[Mapu]

Balconies should be of sufficient width and depth so that two passengers can comfortably lounge with their feet up. This is especially important when ships are used for warm weather cruises. I believe most passengers in balcony cabins use their balconies at some point during the day, some for lounging and reading, some for sunning, some for an evening cocktail, some for an afternoon nap, some for a late night glass of wine. The balconies have to be large enough and comfortable enough to allow for this, and not cramped where the passengers have to fit onto the balcony like a jigsaw puzzle.

 

Cruise lines should strive for the comments like "Wow, we had such a beautiful balcony, I'm returning to this ship."

 

I agree entirely, the tiny parcel shelves on Royal and the upcoming Regal are deal breakers as far as I am concerned.

 

As someone that has enjoyed Caribe deck balconies on the Grand Class ships I totally agree with both comments.

[Shogun]

Hi All

 

Having been on Royal, Crown and Emerald in the past few weeks,

 

I would be happy to take an inside on any of them,

 

I would consider a balcony on the Grand class ships if the price was right,

 

however on the Royal class ships, only if it was the same as an inside,

 

no way would I pay extra just for an ocean view.

 

yours Shogun

[likestorelax]

I will only get a balcony cabin when I know it is larger then a standard size balcony. The Caribe deck on the Caribbean and Emerald class of ship is huge, half in the shade, half in the sun, has 4 chairs and a table. My hsb and I always have a place to go to relax, if ever the public areas are too crowded. We have room service coffee there in the mornings, relax on it during the day and listen to music or watch a movie on our DVD player at night. We never go to be without listening to the ocean for a while.-- But it is all about what you want. We have had fabulous times in an inside cabin too.

[Gunner22aa]

We spend way more time on the balcony of our suite than in the cabin. We change there and sleep there and that's it. Afternoon naps are on the balcony. The tiny balconies on the Royal just don't cut it so we will never sail on her or the Regal. Too many other options exist.

[Anniesails]

Thanks for posting a photo of a balcony almost no one can afford to ever book.

 

LOL, I was thinking the same thing. :cool: Who does that??

[ar1950]

voice your opinion on balconies!!!!

 

Ok,I will. We like our balconies, big or small. We would rather have big, but will take small rather than none at all.

 

"Balconies, don't leave home (or go on a cruise) without one."

 

Your mileage may vary. :cool:

 

 

.

[cherrybear]

I love the balcony, but a huge balcony isn't necessary for us, as long as I can get some fresh air I'm good. On our cruises, despite how many people say they spend hours on their balcony, we've not seen many people hanging out on the balcony. Even going through the Panama Canal the balconies seemed almost deserted.

[Hlitner]

From the very first time we cruised on a Grand Class ship (the Grand Princess its maiden year) we have always booked Caribe Deck balconies (on that class ship). We just booked a 26 day Ruby Princess cruise, and almost did not complete the booking because we were initially told there were no Caribe deck balcony cabins available. It was only after our TA took the issue to a Princess supervisor did they somehow find us a Caribe deck cabin. So now we get the new Royal with its postage stamp balconies that are even smaller then the regular balconies on the Grand Class. DWs reaction when she saw the info on the Royal's balconies was "guess we will never cruise on that ship." Not sure what Princess was thinking with the design but it makes no sense.

 

Hank

[mm1251]

I agree with most that say cabin space is more important,

BUT-

THIS BALCONY IS TOO SMALL:

[chisels1]

Cruising is about relaxing, isn't it? I for one will not even think of cruising without a balcony, especially for a tropical or seasonally warm weather cruise.

 

I go for amenities that give me that relaxation, like nothing else would, that's a cruise and a balcony allows my Wife and me to smell the ocean air, have a cocktail or order in a breakfast and soak up all that beauty. I don't have to go looking beyond my room for that if I don't want to, that's relaxing, that's what I'm willing to pay for.

 

It shouldn't be an either, or, design issue. I will say though that some deck designs create bad views or privacy issues for travelers and that is one reason why some staterooms cost more and some less, I don't think the cruise line is loosing anything but if they change the balcony to much they will loose cruisers to other lines that understand what I'm talking about.:)

[Steviewonder1]

chisels1 has it right.

 

My wife and I are spoiled Brats just over 60YO and have always booked PH Suites with Large Balconies. Our last Princess balcony had a table with 4 chairs and two loungers with a second table. Space in the Suite was wonderful. We hosted a M&G Party in our Suite for 35 CC Friends. No one was crowded. There is just no substitute for Space. Next cruise is PH Suite, the one after is Owners Suite. Book early, book often, but get the space you want! We also love Stern Balcony's. No wind, no smell and no one looking over and into our balcony. Don't forget to check into your Cruise Critic Roll Call Board for your specific ship and cruise date. Join it as you may never know what you will be missing. Meet and Greet Parties are all over Princess Ships.