Info on Different Balcony Classes

[lovestx]

I am a newbie to Princess and a relative cruise newbie so hope you won't mind me asking a question that's probably been asked many times....

 

Is there are good thread here or a link somewhere that would give me a 'tutorial' on the different types of balconies offered on the Regal Princess? We are thinking of a June 2014 Italy and Adriatic cruise on her and will probably book deluxe balcony to get the larger size. But I am used to Celebrity where there is a great "sticky" on CC for choosing cabins and I am having trouble figuring out what differentiates the different subclasses of balconies on Princess.

 

Thanks!

[SwissDave]

I am a newbie to Princess and a relative cruise newbie so hope you won't mind me asking a question that's probably been asked many times....

 

Is there are good thread here or a link somewhere that would give me a 'tutorial' on the different types of balconies offered on the Regal Princess? We are thinking of a June 2014 Italy and Adriatic cruise on her and will probably book deluxe balcony to get the larger size. But I am used to Celebrity where there is a great "sticky" on CC for choosing cabins and I am having trouble figuring out what differentiates the different subclasses of balconies on Princess.

 

Thanks!

 

Some quite good info at this thread: http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1867348

 

Note though that 'deluxe balcony cabin' does not refer to the balcony size, it refers to the cabin which is bigger than a standard balcony cabin.

[skynight]

I am a newbie to Princess and a relative cruise newbie so hope you won't mind me asking a question that's probably been asked many times....

 

Is there are good thread here or a link somewhere that would give me a 'tutorial' on the different types of balconies offered on the Regal Princess? We are thinking of a June 2014 Italy and Adriatic cruise on her and will probably book deluxe balcony to get the larger size. But I am used to Celebrity where there is a great "sticky" on CC for choosing cabins and I am having trouble figuring out what differentiates the different subclasses of balconies on Princess.

 

Thanks!

 

Read up on all the Royal Princess Information. The Regal is the sister to the Royal.

Basically there are 3 different types of balcony cabins (excluding full suites). They are: regular balcony cabins those starting with the letter "B" such as BB; Deluxe balcony cabins those starting with the letter "D" such as DB; and mini suites those starting with the letter "M" such as MA. Most of the balconies for all these cabins are the same size 9'x4'. Some however are larger. Almost all balcony cabins have the same interior layout. Almost all Deluxe balconies have the same interior layout. Almost all mini suites have the same interior layout. There can be some differences, for example some cabins have bunks that pull down for 3rd & 4th passengers. Suggest you study the deck plans. Don't be fooled by the title 'Premium'. This doesn't mean the cabin is better, it only means that Princess believes the location on the ship is better.

Hope this information is useful.

[lovestx]

Thanks for the very helpful information. I had gleaned quite a bit of that but the "D" and "B" coding had gotten confusing for me so this is helpful. And I'm assuming that the difference say between a DA and a DC is simply location on the ship and Princess' assessment of which location is better.

[JimmyVWine]

Read up on all the Royal Princess Information. The Regal is the sister to the Royal.

Basically there are 3 different types of balcony cabins (excluding full suites). They are: regular balcony cabins those starting with the letter "B" such as BB; Deluxe balcony cabins those starting with the letter "D" such as DB; and mini suites those starting with the letter "M" such as MA. Most of the balconies for all these cabins are the same size 9'x4'. Some however are larger. Almost all balcony cabins have the same interior layout. Almost all Deluxe balconies have the same interior layout. Almost all mini suites have the same interior layout. There can be some differences, for example some cabins have bunks that pull down for 3rd & 4th passengers. Suggest you study the deck plans. Don't be fooled by the title 'Premium'. This doesn't mean the cabin is better, it only means that Princess believes the location on the ship is better.

Hope this information is useful.

To add to this very informative post, when looking for the larger balconies, you basically have four places to look.

• The cabins at the bow (though the cabins that face directly forward are known to have limited balcony access while the ship is under way).
  
• The cabins at the aft.
  
• The cabins directly mid-ship that are beneath the Sea Walk and Sky View semi-circular features.
  
• All the way forward on Emerald Deck. (These balconies are listed as "obstructed" because they have a solid metal wall beneath the rail, whereas a typical Princess balcony has a translucent blue plexiglass panel beneath the rail.) There are also two (and only two) larger balconies with the blue panels toward the fore of Emerald Deck several cabins behind the ones with the metal walls. (I believe they are E125 and E130).
  

Other than these, the balconies are uniform.

[skynight]

Thanks for the very helpful information. I had gleaned quite a bit of that but the "D" and "B" coding had gotten confusing for me so this is helpful. And I'm assuming that the difference say between a DA and a DC is simply location on the ship and Princess' assessment of which location is better.

Yes, correct.

[capriccio]

Thanks for the very helpful information. I had gleaned quite a bit of that but the "D" and "B" coding had gotten confusing for me so this is helpful. And I'm assuming that the difference say between a DA and a DC is simply location on the ship and Princess' assessment of which location is better.

 

The D4 premium deluxe balcony cabins are true aft cabins (4 per deck) and, depending on the deck, have either a 45 or 81 sq foot balcony. If you're interested in one of them and balcony size is important, make sure you check the plans by deck to get the largest balcony.

[Avalon35]

I just went through this myself to book on the Regal. If you want a larger balcony (most are small -read through the Cruise critic boards about Royal) you have to go through each of the deck plans to find the cabin you are interested in. The larger balconies, as I found, are already booked. Even the Princess agent said, Oh my, look at this, they are all already booked. And this is for a cruise 1 yr out. And Princess is charging a serious premium for those balconies. So, to my fellow CCrs, Princess did listen to you about the desire for larger balconies and decided to make some more $s off us for this!

[Avalon35]

I just went through this myself to book on the Regal. If you want a larger balcony (most are small -read through the Cruise critic boards about Royal) you have to go through each of the deck plans to find the cabin you are interested in. The larger balconies, as I found, are already booked. Even the Princess agent said, Oh my, look at this, they are all already booked. And this is for a cruise 1 yr out. And Princess is charging a serious premium for those balconies. So, to my fellow CCrs, Princess did listen to you about the desire for larger balconies and decided to make some more $s off us for this!

 

I did not mean to imply ALL the larger balconies are booked. But, I was surprised how many were. I am looking at the minisuites on the port side. Booked one of the semi-larger yesterday. I then checked this AM and one of the largest bump out mini-suite balconies became available, so I called back this morning and grabbed it. BTW with the sale/special those balconies are at premium $, in their own category (MA) so no benefit there of a reduced price or upgrade in the sale benefits. Anyway, my original contention which is if you want the larger balcony, keep your eyes open, grab it and be prepared as you will pay much bigger bucks for it. But, of course, I am doing it because I want to :D ... and look forward to it!!!

[caber]

We were in a deluxe balcony cabin in June on Royal Princess.

The balcony was small, same as the ordinary balcony cabins.

If given the choice again I would not pay extra for the deluxe.

The inside cabin space was the same as the normal balcony cabin. There was a two seater settee but the spaces for the dressing table and television/fridge section had been condensed together to accommodate the settee.

The table which sits in the corner in the balcony cabin was in the middle of the floor in the deluxe, making it difficult to move around when one was sitting at the dressing table area (drying hair etc.)

This is just my opinion and it would depend on whether you planned to sit on the settee. I found it quite hard.