Premium Balcony Question

[California Dreamer]

My husband, 20 year old daughter, and I are considering booking a cruise on the Crown. I'm looking at the Premium Balcony cabins because they are $1600 cheaper than a mini. What would be better on the Premium Balcony - a rollaway or an upper bunk bed? I like the idea of a rollaway or will we be too tight...?

[moki'smommy]

You're going to be tight any way you look at it. You'll have a nice balcony, but the cabins are still small.

 

Book a balcony and cross fingers for an upsell!

[skynight]

My husband, 20 year old daughter, and I are considering booking a cruise on the Crown. I'm looking at the Premium Balcony cabins because they are $1600 cheaper than a mini. What would be better on the Premium Balcony - a rollaway or an upper bunk bed? I like the idea of a rollaway or will we be too tight...?

A roll-a-way will block the desk area of the cabin, and there will be little walking room and more difficult access to the balcony when the bed is made. The bunk bed drops down from the ceiling and the entire cabin is accessible when the bed is down. Lower beds have to be in the twin configuration. If your daughter can handle the upper bunk this is what I would suggest.

 

Also, don't be confused by the wording ''premium." This only has to do with the location on the ship. The interiors of balcony cat. cabins are all the same. Cabins on the Caribe deck have 9'x9' balconies with 2 chairs, balconies on other decks are 9'x5' with 2 chairs. Aft facing cabins have various size balconies.

 

The issue with 3 adults in the cabin can be bathroom/shower use. One of you could choose to shower in the changing rooms by the Lotus Pool, Deck 16 fwd. A cabin closer to this area may provide easier access.

[Colo Cruiser]

My husband, 20 year old daughter, and I are considering booking a cruise on the Crown. I'm looking at the Premium Balcony cabins because they are $1600 cheaper than a mini. What would be better on the Premium Balcony - a rollaway or an upper bunk bed? I like the idea of a rollaway or will we be too tight...?

 

 

You cannot just pick any balcony cabin and ask for a rollaway. Only certain cabins picked by Princess will allow a rollaway.

Also it takes up a good amount of space and imo is a safety hazard as it blocks exit to the balcony.

Even though the rollaway will be folded up and stored behind the sliding door curtain during the day I think the regular berth is much better.

You would be better off picking a cabin with a recessed in the ceiling/wall berth.

Edited August 1, 2016 by Colo Cruiser

[samchatmon]

A mini suite would work better.

 

 

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[Guest Nellsmom58]

We've had both balconies and minis on Princess, and we did not think the room was much bigger in the mini. For the price difference, you get a bigger closet, a tub with shower instead of just a shower, and a nicer, bigger balcony. But to us, these upgrades weren't worth the price difference since we didn't see much difference in the actual room size. Premium is according to the location as another poster stated, so I suppose you need to decide if those upgrades are worth the extra money to you. You will be crowded regardless, so opt for the bed arrangements that will maximize your space, not the category, unless you really want a tub and bigger closet. That kind of money can buy some really nice excursions, imho.

 

 

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Edited August 2, 2016 by Nellsmom58

[fishywood]

On Crown Princess the Premium Balcony cabins (those with a numeral rather than an alpha character for the second digit of the cabin class code) are no larger inside than the standard balcony cabins, just in a preferred location (mid-ship or overlooking the stern) and in the case of those on Caribe deck with a slightly larger balcony.

 

To find which cabins allow a rollaway bed you can go to the printed version of the deck plans (most easily accomplished by downloading the current Cruise Atlas) and look for the cabins marked with a solid black square. Which limits you to certain cabins with an upper berth that Princess has designated allowing a rollaway for a fourth passenger. If you book only three in those cabins you will have to put in a special request for the rollaway once you board, which could be denied depending on how many are already in use.

[SoCal Cruiser78]

Seeing as your daughter is over 16 (Princess' age minimum for children in a cabin alone), I would personally book a regular balcony cabin for you and your husband, an inside cabin for your daughter across the hall from your cabin, and have both bookings marked "no upgrade". You would then have two bathrooms at your disposal, more space, more privacy, and your daughter could use your balcony quite easily. As others have mentioned, a premium balcony has no more interior room than a regular one.

Edited August 2, 2016 by SoCal Cruiser78

[California Dreamer]

Thanks everybody!

We have always traveled as a party of 4 so we would get two rooms. Having 3 people for a longer cruise (14 days) is making this hard to decide! Since the balconies are having a sale and the minis are not on sale, we will book the premium balcony with an upper bunk. We do like to sit on the verandah so hopefully the "premium" price will help us with the small cabin!

Thanks for your help!

[IECalCruiser]

Thanks everybody!

 

We have always traveled as a party of 4 so we would get two rooms. Having 3 people for a longer cruise (14 days) is making this hard to decide! Since the balconies are having a sale and the minis are not on sale, we will book the premium balcony with an upper bunk. We do like to sit on the verandah so hopefully the "premium" price will help us with the small cabin!

 

Thanks for your help!

I assume you are referring to the Cat B1 and B2 cabins midship on Caribe deck. Those cabins are only rated "premium" because they are located midship. You can save money and get exactly the same cabin and larger balcony by booking the Cat BD cabins aft or Cat BE cabins forward. We have experienced less motion aft so we will often book a Cat BD balcony near the aft stairway.

[California Dreamer]

How do you know if the cat BD cabins have bigger rooms? They are only available aft on the Baja deck that I am looking at and they say 231 sq. ft...

[IECalCruiser]

How do you know if the cat BD cabins have bigger rooms? They are only available aft on the Baja deck that I am looking at and they say 231 sq. ft...

For Grand class ships, all balcony cabins, whether the least expensive Cat BE or the most expensive Cat B1 are exactly the same inside the cabin. All balcony cabins have 5'x9' balconies except for true aft cabins which have larger balconies but vary in size and Caribe deck balconies whether BE, BD, B2 or B1 that are 9'x9'. The "premium" is what Princess considers more desirable, midships or true aft, and they charge higher prices for those "premium" cabins [emoji848]

 

Unfortunately, you can't rely on the deck plan square footage because there are numerous errors [emoji33][emoji33]

Edited August 2, 2016 by IECalCruiser

[skynight]

How do you know if the cat BD cabins have bigger rooms? They are only available aft on the Baja deck that I am looking at and they say 231 sq. ft...

 

On the Crown Princess balcony category cabins are classified B1, B2, B4, BA, BB, BC, BD, BE and BF with B1 normally being the highest fares and BE the lowest fares. The classification is based upon what Princess feels is a better location on the ship. All of these cabins have the same interior layout and square footage which is approximately 190 sq ft.* Side facing cabins on the Caribe deck, deck 10, have 9'x9' balconies which accounts for the total of 271 sq. ft. Side facing cabins on other decks have balconies which are approximately 9'x5' which accounts for the total 231 sq. ft. All the bath and closet areas are the same. Rear facing cabins, cat. B4, have various sized balconies depending on their location. Some cabins have bunk berths that drop down from the ceiling, but this does not alter the sq footage or layout of the cabin. Cabin amenities in all balcony cat. cabins are identical.

*HCP cabins have a different layout and are larger.

Hope this explains the classification system.

[California Dreamer]

Thanks for all the helpful info! I am a sort of newbie on princess and there are many catagory choices. We have sailed 20+ times on DCL (mostly in Europe) and we want to go new places now!

Thanks so much!