regal balcony- SMALL?

[Shake]

Interesting but I find it very deceiving that Princess continues to show on their website that the Royal and Regal balconies are twice the size and that they do not correct their blatant error.

 

Very disturbing that the truth on their diagrams are totally incorrect and Princess is actually going out of their way to deceive the public.

 

Edited March 23, 2015 by Shake

[dmwnc1959]

Interesting but I find it very deceiving that Princess continues to show on their website that the Royal and Regal balconies are twice the size and that they do not correct their blatant error.

 

Very disturbing that the truth on their diagrams are incorrect and are actually going out of their way to deceive the public.

 

 

Yes, we know, I'm sure they know, too. It is very unfortunate that this has continued for more than a year and a half. That's why it really pays to do your homework. Reminds me of my very first cruise ever, Carnival Ecstasy; they shot most all of the brochure and PR pictures with a fish-eye lens, and all of the public rooms, especially the soaring atrium looked HUGE, when in reality the atrium looked like a mine shaft. It was even worse for the Nordic Empress. Sometimes you have to double-check their work, and that's what Cruise Critic is great for.

 

:D

[Trainman-2]

To re-iterate, it's the sum of the parts, not just one feature."

 

 

Great Post!

[Lovetocruiseprincess]

I believe this might be a little more in perspective but they were actually truthful how could they possible sell the ship. :D

 

[Cindy]

I cannot comment on RCCL balcony size, but by looking at the photo above on the Royal, that balcony depth is definitely smaller than Carnival's standard balcony depth. On the Carnival ships, we've always been able to face the chairs looking straight out to the ocean and not have to angle them and still have a bit of leg room and room to walk/stand in front of the chair.

 

Either way, it's still great to have a balcony no matter what the size. :)

 

I've had standard depth balconies on both Carnival and Royal Caribbean many times. The Carnival balconies felt cramped to me...they're considerably narrower than Royal Caribbean's balconies. I haven't been on the Royal or the Regal, but in the picture at the beginning of this thread the balcony appears to be narrower than those on either Royal Caribbean or Carnival. Here are a few pictures:

 

Carnival Splendor Balcony

 

 

Jewel of the Seas (Brilliance Class) Balconies

 

 

Mariner of the Seas (Voyager Class) Balcony

 

 

Mariner of the Seas Balconies

 

 

Oasis Class Balconies

[mcdanieldavid5482]

Is it a cell or a balcony? I suggest you try Royal Caribbean. I've had good luck with them.

 

 

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[cruiseryyc]

That balcony looks just fine to me; big enough to sit and drink my morning coffee and then a glass (or two) of wine before dinner.

[Daisyloo]

That balcony looks just fine to me; big enough to sit and drink my morning coffee and then a glass (or two) of wine before dinner.

 

I agree completely. It's all we need.

[2wheelin]

None of the above pics accurately depict our actual cabin on the Royal last week. In addition to the bed space, there was a desk with drawers on either side of a sit down space with chair. Also another comfortable chair. Opposite this was the frig and shelf space. The balcony was easily four feet wide with plenty of space for access even while one person was sitting in chair in front of door. We did a 10 day for $125 per day all taxes and fees included. That was without any TA discounts.

[jagsfan]

My Royal balcony is going to be real eye opener! DH is going to be so surprised! We've been on RCCL the last few cruises and before that Emerald and Crown. I will enjoy it anyway.

[Cruise Junky]

A ship is indeed the sum of her parts. For some the balcony plays a very large part of that calculation and for others it just doesn't matter. For us it's a very large part. Not saying I wouldn't sail her but the itinerary would have to be amazing for us to pick her.

 

 

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[Thrak]

Very small balconies and ZERO ocean view cabins. A Promenade that doesn't go all the way around. For some these are total deal breakers. For others it's not the end of the world.

 

The solution is to not book on these ships if these things are super important to you. I do agree that the blatant misrepresentation on the cabin layout diagrams is disgraceful and should be fixed but Princess doesn't really consult me on these things.

[AKman2495]

I stay in insides and have never had a problem..They are comfortable, affordable and I have access to wide open spaces on the top decks if I was to sit outside...:)

[SwissDave]

The balcony on Royal Princess we had was perfectly suitable for our needs. Knew they were smaller because of research and Dave's very excellent thread. Larger balconies are available if you do your research.

NCL balconies on their new ships are even smaller.

I don't think there will be many, if any, new ships will have the large balconies of the past. Cruise lines dont want you out there all day, they want you round the ship spending money

[Cruise Junky]

The balcony on Royal Princess we had was perfectly suitable for our needs. Knew they were smaller because of research and Dave's very excellent thread. Larger balconies are available if you do your research.

NCL balconies on their new ships are even smaller.

I don't think there will be many, if any, new ships will have the large balconies of the past. Cruise lines dont want you out there all day, they want you round the ship spending money

 

 

Not all have downgraded the balcony experience like Princess. Royal Caribbean's latest two have a minimum 55sq ft balcony. I see princess has once again removed the size from their site but I think it used to say 36sqft? 4x9

 

Will be interesting to see Celebrity's new build.

 

 

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[bluesea321]

Not all have downgraded the balcony experience like Princess. Royal Caribbean's latest two have a minimum 55sq ft balcony. I see princess has once again removed the size from their site but I think it used to say 36sqft? 4x9

 

The 4x9 is a "nominal" figure. In reality the usable depth for the vast majority of balconies is 3 feet 3 inches. Please see my previous post on this thread: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2183759&page=2

 

Whether 3' 3" is sufficient or not is subjective so I leave that to the readers.

[UpcountryTravelers]

Celebrity Reflection (their newest) has balconies easily triple the size of Royal/Regal. Very comfortable! So much for the idea that newer ships will have smaller balconies.

[Cruise Junky]

Celebrity Reflection (their newest) has balconies easily triple the size of Royal/Regal. Very comfortable! So much for the idea that newer ships will have smaller balconies.

 

 

She isn't a new design though. Just the last of the Solstice class. Will be interesting to see their Edge class design. I have hope as RCL has stayed with 55 sq ft as the smallest.

 

 

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[freetocruise]

I have to chuckle everytime I read about people "bemoaning" the small size of the balconies on the Royal and Regal. I've been in an Owners' Suite, a Deluxe Balcony and a Mini-suite on the Royal as well as several categories with balconies on the Grand Class ships. My husband and I use our balconies frequently and we rarely see anyone out on other balconies except at sailaway. Considering how important the size of the balcony is to these many posters and how important it is for their cruising enjoyment, I don't see any evidence of use to back up these assertions. Or maybe I keep missing these people on my cruises and all the other cruises that I'm not on have well used balconies!

[slwmjd]

As someone who is always on their balcony ,me and my wife are always amazed at the lack of people using theirs except at sail away. We love sitting on ours and cant understand people who get balconies and never use them. We were just on the Regal aft and those balconies are great.

[elliair]

My question is though why would anybody want to pay a new ship Premium Price for actually less delivered ??

 

I didn't see the other link discussing this, and thanks for posting a pic of the balcony. All I have to say is WOW! If you're overweight, good luck in fitting into one of those balconies. There's no room to have guests come to your balcony. I agree, I wouldn't pay big bucks for a balcony cabin (as that's all I would ever book), and get a dinky winky balcony that you can stub your toe on the glass. Is there a Caribe deck with larger decks?

[elliair]

I have to chuckle everytime I read about people "bemoaning" the small size of the balconies on the Royal and Regal. I've been in an Owners' Suite, a Deluxe Balcony and a Mini-suite on the Royal as well as several categories with balconies on the Grand Class ships. My husband and I use our balconies frequently and we rarely see anyone out on other balconies except at sailaway. Considering how important the size of the balcony is to these many posters and how important it is for their cruising enjoyment, I don't see any evidence of use to back up these assertions. Or maybe I keep missing these people on my cruises and all the other cruises that I'm not on have well used balconies!

 

We use ours for a couple of hours in the morning, and about 4 hours in the evening every day - even if it's cold outside as we dress for the occasion. When we first booked a Caribe balcony we were very pleased with the size, and we even entertained people on our balcony which was large enough for 2 couples to sit and have a glass of wine. We see people out using their balconies on our cruises.

[bluesea321]

Is there a Caribe deck with larger decks?

 

There is a Caribe deck but the balconies are the same size.

[elliair]

There is a Caribe deck but the balconies are the same size.

 

Well, I guess I'll scratch that ship off my list. I'd be highly upset to board the ship and only discover that the balcony wasn't worth sitting on.

[Dodger Blue]

I'm leaving on the Royal in less than a month. Fortunately for me we booked an angled balcony cabin. Had I not and received the new mini balcony I would have been upset. Yes, I agree with those that say that people should do their research first. However, as some have pointed out, the diagram on the website is terribly misleading. So even if you "researched" it you would be disappointed. Yes, there are alternatives and yes one needs to consider the whole of the experience. But I cannot agree more that Princess is deceiving the public. Had I found one of these balconies after I boarded, I would be demanding at least a partial refund or some other compensation. All Princess needs to do is change the diagram on the website. Then you can say let the buyer beware.