Which Cabin would you choose?

[AF-1]

Hello,  I am looking to book island princess on 10 day med cruise next year.  Island is the only ship doing this itinerary and there is only one date available.  So my question is for those who have sailed on Island;  which cabin seems to be best choice.  We are looking at deck 12 aft vista suite cabins. A726/729 are corner suites; and A727/728 are direct aft suites. We have sailed in aft suites before but have not sailed in an aft corner suite.  Thanks for any tips you may have.  

[memoak]

Check the location of those aft vista suites - they look to be adjacent to the teen centers  -  not where I would want to be.  We have just booked a 2021 cruise in a vista suite close to midship

[AF-1]

thanks memoak;  I will check the loacation

[LSGDRG]

I was in an aft suite on the Island back in 2016.  It was one the suites that had been added in dry dock.  There was quite a bit of vibration.  

 

[AF-1]

Thank you for letting me know.  I thought they added the cabins during 2017 drydock?

[AF-1]

disregard above post.  The drydock was 2015 and next one in Nov 2020.  

[nini]

I would not want to be next to the Teen Center. And regarding if Princess "being in business",

that is why you will check the rates each day to see if there is a drop in rates and also purchase

travel insurance to CYA.

[Papa Yoda]

We did 19 days in L724 and loved it - the only issues with the teen center were noise in the hall when walking by (skee ball the worst).  We did have a soot deployment one night.

 

 

Edited February 28, 2020 by Ferd Berfle

[Alaskanb]

On 2/27/2020 at 9:35 AM, AF-1 said:

Hello,  I am looking to book island princess on 10 day med cruise next year.  Island is the only ship doing this itinerary and there is only one date available.  So my question is for those who have sailed on Island;  which cabin seems to be best choice.  We are looking at deck 12 aft vista suite cabins. A726/729 are corner suites; and A727/728 are direct aft suites. We have sailed in aft suites before but have not sailed in an aft corner suite.  Thanks for any tips you may have.  

Are you on the October 29 , 2021 sailing? We will be in PR (Promenade Deck) 726 as.we need an accessible bathroom. It will be our first suite so looking forward to the amenities.

 

[Triptkr]

AF-1,

We were just on the Island Princess December 2019 in A726.   IT WAS AWESOME!!!   Totally recommend.  Prior to the cruise I read the same things people posted about the Teen Center...as seems to happen often on CC, none of it was accurate.    We loved our stateroom, loved the location, loved the fact that the balcony wrapped around.  As far as we were concerned we had the best balcony on the whole ship (except for the other corner aft suite).  Never heard any noise from the Teen Center.  Maybe for the people who are in balcony staterooms adjacent to the teen center, they might hear some noise.  Maybe.  But you'd be in a SUITE!  It's large!   I don't remember any vibration.  I'd be happy to post some pictures if you'd like.   

[AF-1]

Triptkr,  thanks for that feedback.  We did book and wouldn't you know the two end suites were already reserved.  That happened so fast;  they were avail yesterday afternoon; and a few hours later they were gone.  Oh well, I told my travel agent to keep an eye out in case they become avail;  right now we are in L723.  We have been in aft suites before but always dead center; never an end unit.  I guess they go really fast; plus everyone is reserving to beat the rush before the new pricing comes into effect.  What did you like about the ship?  I have read good and not so good.  People who have sailed on her say she is cut up; you will be walking somewhere and next thing you know you are at a dead end.  True?  or fiction?  Thanks and have fun out there.  

[AF-1]

46 minutes ago, Alaskanb said:

Are you on the October 29 , 2021 sailing? We will be in PR (Promenade Deck) 726 as.we need an accessible bathroom. It will be our first suite so looking forward to the amenities.

 

Yes we are on 29 Oct.  We are in L723 direct aft Vista Suite. The corner suites were reserved by the time I booked.  I have only sailed in suites with Princess; so the perks are nice.  If you have any questions about what you get let me know.  They just keep on coming.  Have fun

Edited February 28, 2020 by AF-1
added txt

[Papa Yoda]

4 hours ago, AF-1 said:

Yes we are on 29 Oct.  We are in L723 direct aft Vista Suite. The corner suites were reserved by the time I booked.  I have only sailed in suites with Princess; so the perks are nice.  If you have any questions about what you get let me know.  They just keep on coming.  Have fun

 

I don't know if you care about the Thermal Suite, but it's an included perk with the suite and the TS is just a short ways up the passageway so it is easy to use it.  A little further along is the true Sauna and showers.  I often walked from our suite to Thermal Suite in my robe.

[AF-1]

Thank you for that info.  Good to know

[Colo Cruiser]

We were in L726 for a month. The sail into Venice was incredible back there.

I would take any one of those 3 Lido suites. They are awesome.

Compozer was in one of the corner aft on either Baja or Aloha. 

They didn't like it because it was really chopped up.

IMO I would stay with 723.

[AF-1]

Colo Cruiser;  thank you very much for the feedback.  So as I look over the deck plans; I did not see an int'l cafe.  Where do you go for specialty coffee/teas?  Thanks.  Being on a ship for that long,  did you enjoy it.  I know it's not like the Grand or Royal class ships; but there is something to be said for a smaller ship.  I have sailed two small ships but they were with Royal Caribbean.  Majesty and Splendor of the Seas

Edited February 29, 2020 by AF-1

[Colo Cruiser]

46 minutes ago, AF-1 said:

Colo Cruiser;  thank you very much for the feedback.  So as I look over the deck plans; I did not see an int'l cafe.  Where do you go for specialty coffee/teas?  Thanks.  Being on a ship for that long,  did you enjoy it.  I know it's not like the Grand or Royal class ships; but there is something to be said for a smaller ship.  I have sailed two small ships but they were with Royal Caribbean.  Majesty and Splendor of the Seas

You're welcome. 

For IC type drinks........

You can go to La Patisserie on deck 5 in the atrium. 

Cafe Amuleto at the front of the HC buffet on deck 14

That was a big screwup that they did not put in an IC during all those changes

 

The Island and Coral are actually longer than some GC ships.

Only narrower for the canal transits in the old locks.

 

We enjoyed it. There was still plenty to do.

If you see the production show On the Bayou (exclusive to the Coral/Island only) make sure you gate there 30-45 minutes early.

On our cruise it was standing room only and it filled up fast. 

[Colo Cruiser]

9 hours ago, Colo Cruiser said:

We were in L726 for a month. The sail into Venice was incredible back there.

I would take any one of those 3 Lido suites. They are awesome.

Compozer was in one of the corner aft on either Baja or Aloha. 

They didn't like it because it was really chopped up.

IMO I would stay with 723.

I forgot to add that the only drawback with the Lido suite balconies is its only a foot or so cover/overhang back there.

[Alaskanb]

Did not know about Cafe Amuleto. Thanks. 

 

[AF-1]

so you get plenty of sun back there?  or at least during the day.  I like that I can walk from our cabin straight to horizon court to cafe amuleto;  sweet

Edited February 29, 2020 by AF-1

[Triptkr]

17 hours ago, AF-1 said:

Triptkr,  thanks for that feedback.  We did book and wouldn't you know the two end suites were already reserved.  That happened so fast;  they were avail yesterday afternoon; and a few hours later they were gone.  Oh well, I told my travel agent to keep an eye out in case they become avail;  right now we are in L723.  We have been in aft suites before but always dead center; never an end unit.  I guess they go really fast; plus everyone is reserving to beat the rush before the new pricing comes into effect.  What did you like about the ship?  I have read good and not so good.  People who have sailed on her say she is cut up; you will be walking somewhere and next thing you know you are at a dead end.  True?  or fiction?  Thanks and have fun out there.  

We enjoyed that the ship holds a smaller amount of people than what the newer class of ships hold.  Liked the library, board game area even though we didn't use it.  (Not thrilled about the Sky Princess not having a library so appreciate ships that do!)   Honestly, we spent a lot of time in our stateroom and on the balcony.  Really, really enjoyed the suite life.  Loved the fact that we could enjoy both direct aft and direct port views.  The above feedback on where to get your specialty coffees are accurate, but I would just enjoy my specialty coffee in Sabatini's.  One thing I would do different next time is to bring my own coffee thermos.  Sabatini's wouldn't give me a to-go coffee cup, so I had to procure one from one of the stations that sold coffee/tea and then bring it the next morning so I could get a coffee to-go.  Doesn't seem like this is everyone's experience but it was mine.  The new disposable coffee cups on the Island were horrible...very thin so they 'burnt' your hands and then wouldn't keep the liquid hot for very long at all.  I'm assuming this was part of the 'go-green' initiative.

I don't know about the 'cut up' comments from other people...this may be true.   We've been on over 14 cruises with Princess so have been on a lot of the ships and felt like this was a really good one to get a suite on.   So, like I mentioned before we just spent a lot of time in the stateroom and loved it and the amenities.  :)

[AF-1]

Triptkr,  thanks for the feedback.  We spend time in our cabin; so a suite allows us to move around easily without tripping over each other.  The large balcony is always a plus.  Based on your feedback my wife and I will bring our portable 16oz starbucks plastic tumblers.

[AF-1]

I forgot to ask;  how was the medallion net wifi speed?

[Katwoman007]

We have been in 2 corner aft balcony rooms (not suites) once on Grand and other on Emerald and loved them. I would so book a corner aft if I could afford to, on all ships 😉 As for your ship and location, I cannot help you there, but I would keep looking at those rooms, if they were to pop up. I know when we got ours, it was very early in the booking release. 

 

[AF-1]

katwoman007,  your wish came true.  We did get an aft corner suite. A727.  Let the fun begin