Window mini suite without balcony on Island?

[pompeii]

I am thinking of switching from a regular balcony cabin to one of the mini suites with just a window. Can anyone who has stayed in one of these on the Island or the Coral chime in with what it was like? (I'm not really looking for the balcony vs no balcony debate.) My main question are: there is a little deck in the bow right forward of these cabins, right? Is there always access to the deck, ie is the door always unlocked? And for a LA to FLL through the Canal in March, would there be a lot of movement? We are currently booked in an Emerald aft balcony and I don't want a ton of rocking and rolling.

 

If we have convenient access to that forward deck, I'm thinking that we might prefer the extra space. I've read that the price is about the same.

[Pia1913]

I am thinking of switching from a regular balcony cabin to one of the mini suites with just a window. Can anyone who has stayed in one of these on the Island or the Coral chime in with what it was like? (I'm not really looking for the balcony vs no balcony debate.) My main question are: there is a little deck in the bow right forward of these cabins, right? Is there always access to the deck, ie is the door always unlocked? And for a LA to FLL through the Canal in March, would there be a lot of movement? We are currently booked in an Emerald aft balcony and I don't want a ton of rocking and rolling.

 

If we have convenient access to that forward deck, I'm thinking that we might prefer the extra space. I've read that the price is about the same.

 

We had one on the Coral in April; LA to FLL. Loved it. And yes, the door was always open and accessible. We usually take a forward cabin anyway and no, there was not any discernible extra movement.

[pompeii]

Thanks, Pia, that's very helpful. Were there a lot of people on the deck or was it only a few or mostly empty? I imagine it's probably windier out there than on a regular side-facing balcony. Was the stateroom quiet? Probably not a lot of people up there since it's at the end of the hallway.

[Love.II.Cruise]

I am thinking of switching from a regular balcony cabin to one of the mini suites with just a window. Can anyone who has stayed in one of these on the Island or the Coral chime in with what it was like? (I'm not really looking for the balcony vs no balcony debate.) My main question are: there is a little deck in the bow right forward of these cabins, right? Is there always access to the deck, ie is the door always unlocked? And for a LA to FLL through the Canal in March, would there be a lot of movement? We are currently booked in an Emerald aft balcony and I don't want a ton of rocking and rolling.

 

If we have convenient access to that forward deck, I'm thinking that we might prefer the extra space. I've read that the price is about the same.

 

We stayed in the balcony next to one of those cabins. We did experience a lot of movement. We even woke up around 4am when we hit a huge wave. That did make us get up and take pictures of an empty ship! ;)

 

The doors to the front were always unlocked. We even went out there late one night when no one was there. However, on Panama Canal day expect many people there! Get up early (before 5am) to be right at the railing to get your photos.

 

We would stay in this same location again.

Edited November 10, 2013 by Love.II.Cruise

[rdsqrl]

Thanks, Pia, that's very helpful. Were there a lot of people on the deck or was it only a few or mostly empty? I imagine it's probably windier out there than on a regular side-facing balcony. Was the stateroom quiet? Probably not a lot of people up there since it's at the end of the hallway.

I had C204 and loved it -- terrific location and easy walking up/down stairs to the public decks. The area is indeed very quiet. I quite like movement so I'm the wrong person to tell you about that -- I book away from midships just for that reason! I didn't think it was any worse than movement I've felt in an aft cabin. In general, I thought the Coral handled the seas quite smoothly (I base this solely on how much of my martini spills on my way to dinner in between the Wheelhouse and the dining room!).

 

There are going to be a lot of people out on the balcony at 5am as you enter and transit the first set of locks, but it'll thin out after that. It's not windy there during the transit; I never tried to go out there while we were at sea, only when in port and the night we were anchored at Panama City. The only time I saw other people out there was that night -- a bunch of teens hanging out, talking, being teenagers, you know the drill . . .

 

The cabin is insanely big. Tons and tons of room to spread out. You'll enjoy it, I'm sure.

[Pia1913]

Thanks, Pia, that's very helpful. Were there a lot of people on the deck or was it only a few or mostly empty? I imagine it's probably windier out there than on a regular side-facing balcony. Was the stateroom quiet? Probably not a lot of people up there since it's at the end of the hallway.

 

Hardly anyone out there at any time, even while going thru the canal. They just didn't know about it. As for quiet, we usually take a cabin near the elevators and if we hardly ever hear noise in that area. We loved it and would do it again if the price was right.

[pompeii]

Ok, we just booked C204. I think we'll love the extra room and that "semi-private" deck right outside the door. It was $100 addl pp, which I think will be well worth it over 15 days. I'll keep watching for a price drop. Who knows, maybe we'll get lucky!

[Bethcb]

We just had this room a couple weeks ago doing a partial transit. The doors were always locked except on the canal transit day and then it was fairly crowded, although you could get a spot. The room was very nice and more spacious than the ones with the balcony. We did feel more movement than on other areas of the ship and at times would hear loud bangs as the waves hit the bow. This did not bother us at all and would stay in one of these cabins again.

[pompeii]

Hmmm, the door was locked? It seems it was open for the others. I was hoping to have use of that space throughout the cruise.

[metairiegal]

I know this is an old thread, but I did a search and it came up.

 

My question is for the all the way forward cabins, do you hear the door to the outside constantly banging when people go in and out?

[pompeii]

I'm the OP and yes, this is an old thread!  I did stay in that cabin and there was no noise at all from the door going out to the forward deck.  There were never any people out there besides us so there really wasn't much opening and closing, except for canal transit day where there were some people but it wasn't as crowded as other areas on the ship.  

 

Anyway, we liked the cabin very much and used the front deck quite a bit during that cruise.  In fact, we are going on the Coral to S. America/Anarctica in January and I considered booking a no-balc mini again, but decided that the forward deck would be too cold and windy for most of that itinerary to be useful.

[metairiegal]

26 minutes ago, pompeii said:

I'm the OP and yes, this is an old thread!  I did stay in that cabin and there was no noise at all from the door going out to the forward deck.  There were never any people out there besides us so there really wasn't much opening and closing, except for canal transit day where there were some people but it wasn't as crowded as other areas on the ship.  

 

Anyway, we liked the cabin very much and used the front deck quite a bit during that cruise.  In fact, we are going on the Coral to S. America/Anarctica in January and I considered booking a no-balc mini again, but decided that the forward deck would be too cold and windy for most of that itinerary to be useful.

Thanks for the reply and info!  Just wondering, do these mini suites on the Island have Club Class dining?

[pompeii]

I haven’t checked but I’m pretty positive no club class on these.