Does a standard balcony room fit 3 people on Crown Princess?

[JimmyVWine]

I know there is no other place to put the pulldown but that is why compared to Royal Caribbean, Carnival and NCL, which have a pullout sofa for the 3rd pax, Princess balcony cabins are poorly designed. If the others can do it, so could Princess.

I guess it all comes down to: "something's gotta give." On Freedom of the Seas, a Deluxe Oceanview is 184 sq/ft with a 66 sq/ft balcony, and it comes with a sofa bed. On Caribbean Princess, a Balcony cabin is 186 sq/ft with a balcony that ranges from 85 sq/ft to 45 sq/ft, but no sofa bed. So the interior spaces are almost identical. So you are correct that with 186 sq/ft, Princess could have found a way to do a layout that included a sofa. But something would have to get jettisoned. Bathroom space? Closet space? Cabinet storage space? Fridge? Can't have everything. People rave about the closet and storage space on basic Princess cabins, so my guess is that is where the difference is. Poor design? Maybe. More likely it was an ordering of priorities. Take a poll here and ask habitual balcony bookers if they would trade closet and storage space for a love seat. The results might be surprising.

 

Then along comes the new builds and the introduction of the Deluxe Balcony category. 192 sq/ft on the interior with a love seat that will sleep a third person. Exactly what you desire and very similar to other cruise lines. So I suppose that at some level your voice has been heard. So you can get three people in a cabin without a Pullman and without the cost of a Mini-Suite. It's just that your choice of ships is limited.

[easyboy]

I guess it all comes down to: "something's gotta give." On Freedom of the Seas, a Deluxe Oceanview is 184 sq/ft with a 66 sq/ft balcony, and it comes with a sofa bed. On Caribbean Princess, a Balcony cabin is 186 sq/ft with a balcony that ranges from 85 sq/ft to 45 sq/ft, but no sofa bed. So the interior spaces are almost identical. So you are correct that with 186 sq/ft, Princess could have found a way to do a layout that included a sofa. But something would have to get jettisoned. Bathroom space? Closet space? Cabinet storage space? Fridge? Can't have everything. People rave about the closet and storage space on basic Princess cabins, so my guess is that is where the difference is. Poor design? Maybe. More likely it was an ordering of priorities. Take a poll here and ask habitual balcony bookers if they would trade closet and storage space for a love seat. The results might be surprising.

 

Then along comes the new builds and the introduction of the Deluxe Balcony category. 192 sq/ft on the interior with a love seat that will sleep a third person. Exactly what you desire and very similar to other cruise lines. So I suppose that at some level your voice has been heard. So you can get three people in a cabin without a Pullman and without the cost of a Mini-Suite. It's just that your choice of ships is limited.

I agree. Each one has a different impression of an architect's house floor plan/layout in relation to one's need.

[jennybenny]

Yes, 3 people will fit in a balcony cabin, but only a mini suite will allow you and your husband to sleep in the same bed. Your son will have to be in a bunk in balcony. A mini suite will allow him to be in the sofa bed, but that will make opening the balcony difficult while the bed is out.

 

My family of 4 had a hard time all 4 of us in twin beds the first time we cruised together. We are over it now after 4 or 5 cruises together in a cabin. :) Since we have to cruise with 4 in a cabin, we just deal with it (or we have just dealt with it in the past). It's so much more expensive to get a mini suite, and we don't spend enough time in our cabin that it matters. Don't get me wrong, our next cruise IS in a mini suite, but we are going with another family and we wanted our rooms to be next to each other. I'm sure we will all want to go back to the mini suite after this. :) but not if it means less cruising.

[emanddee]

Does anyone have a picture of a mini with the sofa opened up? We never have had an issue in a standard balcony for 3 on Princess. We cruised on Celebrity this summer with a pullout and hated it. DD (16) much prefers a pull down - says they are more comfortable. Plus it was a pain climbing over the sofa early in the morning or late at night to get out on our balcony. I am curious to see if there is enough room in a mini to get past the open sofa.

 

Sorry, I did not get a still photo of the Dolphin mini-suite that we just travelled in, on the Ruby. We could easily get around the end of the pull-out couch if the coffee table and chair were carefully stowed to the side before the bed came out. Hopefully your steward knows to do that. There is a great 360-degree video available on the web site.

The sofa is three cushions wide. The sofa bed is only two cushions wide, so that there is still a seat available to be used when the bed is made up.

(Note -- uncovered balcony on this deck. Decks above can look into your balcony space. If you want more privacy, try Caribe...?)

 

We were travelling with DH's mom and the suite was perfect for the three of us. We were able to get a sale price where the percentage discount off the mini-suite was greater than the percentage off the smaller balcony cabin, making the mini-suite cheaper! It was a sweet find! Loved the full-size tub! Loved having breakfast on the balcony. (Disappointed in the room service menu. Breakfast sandwich was the only "hot" food for breakfast. We ended up having juice and coffee to get going and then eating at the back of Cafe Caribe, overlooking the Terrace pool.)

Edited October 9, 2016 by emanddee