Question About Window Suites

[AF-1]

Hello everyone.  Princess sent me email saying my New England/Canada trip for Oct 2021 has changed from Sky Princess to Caribbean Princess.  We had a Window Suite booked for Sky and they have moved us to a Window Suite on Caribbean.  We sailed Caribbean Princess two years ago; but don't know anything about the Window Suites on that ship.  Can anyone who has stayed in WS on CB or other Princess ships please chime in?   Thank you.  Doing some quick math it looks like the WS on Sky is about 200SQ larger than the one on CB.  Also all the WS are on Deck 6.  Can you tell me advantage of staying on deck six instead of higher up?  We normally stay on Decks 9-12.  Thanks for any help.  Cheers; and look forward to cruising next year. 

[EDDY0827]

I stayed in F-307 on the Grand. You get all of the suite amenities at the price of a mini-suite, or pretty close. Mine was cheaper than a Club Class mini. As for the suite itself, it was location, location, location. You are a 2 minute walk to your dining room, you are around the corner from guest services, the casino, 1 flight of stairs to the Int. Cafe, 1 deck below Crown Grill and about 1 minute to the theater, No problem with noise from the Promenade deck above.As far as I'm concerned, a w/s is what we seek when on a Grand Class ship. I'd like to try the new window suites although their location doesn't compare with those on a Grand Class; IMO.

[EDDY0827]

 

[cr8tiv1]

The Royal Class ships rate Window Suites as a higher category.  I was switched from the Grand to the Regal Window Suite and was not thrilled about the ship change.  I am a frequent Grand Class Window Suite passenger.

 

Pros:  Location, Location, Location (as mentioned above).  You are mid ship.  Club Class dining in feet away.  Princess Theater is feet away.  One flight up/one flight down....to public areas.

 

"Second" bathroom down the hall near Princess Theater.  You are so centrally located that you can return to your cabin at anytime.

 

Very little ocean movement felt.  (The Royal Class suite is way too forward and high for me).

 

All suite amenities (but no concierge's lounge).

 

Separate hallway just for your cabins.  F311 is more mid-ship than F301 (avoid).

 

3 huge closets/21 draws

 

Cons:  No separate living room/bedroom

No separate bath/toilet

 

GRAND PRINCESS WINDOW SUITE 2-1 copy.pdf

Edited December 2, 2020 by cr8tiv1

[Tak8]

I've had a WS twice on the Caribbean Princess.  You won't have much foot traffic.  There is a  door on each end, so except for other WS passengers, most won't be going through this area.  Club Class dining is very close by WS area.  You are also close to Crown Grill if you like to eat there.  I have another WS on Caribbean booked for May.  Fingers crossed.

[cr8tiv1]

Suite breakfast on the Caribbean Princess is in Sabatini's.  Very few passengers and if you plan it right, you can enjoy a window table and watch all the walkers pass by.

[jondfk]

We've stayed in nearly every window suite (excluding the handicapped one and on all 3 Grand ships that have them (Grand, Golden & Caribbean).  These were our favorite cabins historically and we've made itinerary decisions based on where these ships were sailing - that's true love (or at least it was, read on).

 

F301 is the odd duck is least desirable for a couple of reasons:  It's a bit smaller which really just means that it looses the full width marble shelf and all of it's additional storage that runs along the windows - actually this has one advantage - without this large shelf you can get closer to the windows to look out.  The lost storage was never an issue for us the room has tons of other storage.  

 

The location of these cabins is fantastic, steps from the piazza (you may hear music occasionally), steps from the CC dining room also on deck 6, steps from the Princess theater.  Full suite amenities including suite breakfast.  All things to love . . . 

 

However, we were in one of these on Grand for her ill fated voyage to Travis in February.  Rough weather kept the outside decks closed from the time we sailed from Hilo.  Cabin quarantine started 3 days later which meant that for 9 days were were mostly (for the first 3 days) and completely (for the next 6 days) in our lovely suite.  Don't get me wrong, compared to the poor folks confined to inside cabins we had it good - but - not getting a single breath of fresh air for that long is discouraging and frankly has us passing on future opportunities to book these cabins we've loved so much in the past.  We have 3 sailing booked on Grand (x2) and CB on which we've elected to skip available WS cabins - something that would have been unthinkable in the past - food for thought.

Edited December 3, 2020 by jondfk

[AF-1]

16 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

The Royal Class ships rate Window Suites as a higher category.  I was switched from the Grand to the Regal Window Suite and was not thrilled about the ship change.  I am a frequent Grand Class Window Suite passenger.

 

Pros:  Location, Location, Location (as mentioned above).  You are mid ship.  Club Class dining in feet away.  Princess Theater is feet away.  One flight up/one flight down....to public areas.

 

"Second" bathroom down the hall near Princess Theater.  You are so centrally located that you can return to your cabin at anytime.

 

Very little ocean movement felt.  (The Royal Class suite is way too forward and high for me).

 

All suite amenities (but no concierge's lounge).

 

Separate hallway just for your cabins.  F311 is more mid-ship than F301 (avoid).

 

3 huge closets/21 draws

 

Cons:  No separate living room/bedroom

No separate bath/toilet

 

GRAND PRINCESS WINDOW SUITE 2-1 copy.pdf 355.05 kB · 12 downloads

wow this is excellent info;  thank you for this tip about location.  Looks like we will take the swap from Sky to Caribbean and the window suite;  have a great day

[AF-1]

17 hours ago, EDDY0827 said:

 

Thank you so much for all the info you provided above;  these video's are awesome and I want to thank you for getting me excited about taking the window suite on Caribbean Princess.  Our only choice to take window suite on larger ship would be 2022;  so we will be happy to stay with 2021 Oct cruise.  Have a wonderful day

[AF-1]

16 minutes ago, jondfk said:

We've stayed in nearly every window suite (excluding the handicapped one and on all 3 Grand ships that have them (Grand, Golden & Caribbean).  These were our favorite cabins historically and we've made itinerary decisions based on where these ships were sailing - that's true love (or at least it was, read on).

 

F301 is the odd duck is least desirable for a couple of reasons:  It's a bit smaller which really just means that it looses the full width marble shelf and all of it's additional storage that runs along the windows - actually this has one advantage - without this large shelf you can get closer to the windows to look out.  The lost storage was never an issue for us the room has tons of other storage.  

 

The location of these cabins is fantastic, steps from the piazza (you may hear music occasionally), steps from the CC dining room also on deck 6, steps from the Princess theater.  Full suite amenities including suite breakfast.  All things to love . . . 

 

However, we were in one of these on Grand for her ill fated voyage to Travis in February.  Rough weather kept the outside decks closed from the time we sailed from Hilo.  Cabin quarantine started 3 days later which meant that for 9 days were were mostly (for the first 3 days) and completely (for the next 6 days) in our lovely suite.  Don't get me wrong, compared to the poor folks confined to inside cabins we had it good - but - not getting a single breath of fresh air for that long is discouraging and frankly has us passing on future opportunities to book these cabins we've loved so much in the past.  We have 3 sailing booked on Grand (x2) and CB on which we've elected to skip available WS cabins - something that would have been unthinkable in the past - food for thought.

Thanks for this valuable info.  We originally chose the window suite on Sky because we will be doing Canada/New England in mid October.  We figured we would not be sitting on balcony that much since it will be colder up north.  During the day we will be sightseeing.  I totally get about being stuck in your cabin for long periods;  however, I am not too concerned.  We sail next October; everyone in the United States who wants a vaccine will already have it;  and we have port calls every day.  If an outbreak did occur the most time we would stay in cabin would be one night.  Even if we are in Halifax,  the captain could speed up and make New York, (which is both embarkation and debarkation) in one full day.  Have a great day

[AF-1]

7 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

Suite breakfast on the Caribbean Princess is in Sabatini's.  Very few passengers and if you plan it right, you can enjoy a window table and watch all the walkers pass by.

This is excellent and good info;  thanks for sharing

[AF-1]

12 hours ago, Tak8 said:

I've had a WS twice on the Caribbean Princess.  You won't have much foot traffic.  There is a  door on each end, so except for other WS passengers, most won't be going through this area.  Club Class dining is very close by WS area.  You are also close to Crown Grill if you like to eat there.  I have another WS on Caribbean booked for May.  Fingers crossed.

Tak8,  thanks for this info.  After reading all the positive feedback from everyone;  looks like these WS are worth their weight.  I hope you can make your May cruise

[cr8tiv1]

Please check the category ratings for the Sky and Caribbean Window Suites to see what you are really entitled to in the swap.  It is a "downgrade" in Princess' view (not mine).  I have been on other sun suites on the Grand Class ships.  Too high up for me.  Regardless of the change (value), I would still stay with "my" Window Suites.  You might even be able to receive some OBC for the downsize.

[AF-1]

2 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

Please check the category ratings for the Sky and Caribbean Window Suites to see what you are really entitled to in the swap.  It is a "downgrade" in Princess' view (not mine).  I have been on other sun suites on the Grand Class ships.  Too high up for me.  Regardless of the change (value), I would still stay with "my" Window Suites.  You might even be able to receive some OBC for the downsize.

Well they are offering OBC because of the ship swap.  There is a $2,000  price difference between ships;  so we will be saving money that way too

[cr8tiv1]

I did an opposite "swap".  I had tracked the Grand before making my decision on an Iceland Cruise next summer.  Princess swapped ships on us (to the Regal), but gave us a unilateral suite assignment (Window Suite on Grand to Window Suite on Regal) without the added cost.  I guess I should be happy with small favors, although I love my Grand class WS.  We did not receive any OBC for the disturbance.  Glad it worked in your favor.  I think you will be happy to with your decision.  All the suite perks for less $$$$.  As you can tell, I am not a fan of the the Royal Class ships.  Even the  Caribbean Princess is too big, but one of the two remaining Window Suite midship "boats" left in the fleet.

 

The location is everything! if you can live without a balcony.  So convenient to everywhere.  Once I had pre-ordered my lunch from Club Class.  Decided at the last minute that I didn't want to eat in the dining room.  They were very nice about walking my lunch down the hall.  Hostess even met me half way when I was taking my dishes back..haha.  Sabatini's is a nice place for breakfast.  But Crown Grill is just outside your door.  BTW...which cabin did they assign you?

[Coffeeluvr05]

My first cruise was on the CB in a window suite and it was pretty great!  Sure did set the bar high!  I will say there is a great convenience to being on deck 6 since you walk just a short way to the club class dining room and it's also right near all the action in the piazza.  I loved that the espresso bar was very close for my husband to get me coffee in the morning.  Also, the entrance to the theater was at the other end of the hall and so we could easily stop by our room on the way back and forth.  Do not worry about noise though, since it is in a protected hallway.  The only noise we had was during rough seas when we were in the north sea and the ship's stabilizers were making a bit of noise.  The big windows in the suite are really nice...especially on an itinerary with cooler weather like we had in northern Europe.  Double sinks were such an amazing amenity!  The only thing that could have made it better is if the bathtub had a shower head.  Only the ladies understand the convenience of a ledge to put your foot when shaving your legs!

 

That being said, I just sailed on the Sky Princess last year on its maiden transatlantic and it's all shiny and new, but don't let that fool you.  The Sky is beautiful and we did love it, but sailing on the CB is what made me love cruising again so she is sort of special to me.  The Sky is a bit larger and I felt I got turned around in some places where I really grew to get a feel for the CB and she really felt like home.  Plus, the CB has Skywalkers.  Sorry, I guess I got a little carried away.

[AF-1]

cr8tiv1.  We have not received our actual cabin number.  My travel agent said Princess gave us until 14 Dec to either accept offer or decline.  Once we accept they will then re-do our reservation with a cabin number.  Hope that breaks it down for you.  We have only sailed twice with Princess;  most of our cruises have been with Royal Caribbean;  but we do enjoy Princess;  have not been on Royal class only Grand Class ships.

[AF-1]

Coffeeluvr05;  thank you very much for your feedback.  We have only sailed on two Princess cruises and both were on Grand Class ships.  We picked Sky because it was doing the New England/Canada trips.  We chose window suite verses balcony due to time of year.  Mid Oct in New England/Canada would be cold on balcony; especially while at sea.  The window suites on Caribbean Princess look like a great location.  It looks like everyone who has been in a Grand Class WS;  love the location.  

[AF-1]

cr8tiv1;  I just checked my online reservation on Princess website;  it shows Caribbean Princess and under stateroom it says stateroom to be assigned S7.   I will have my travel agent nail down a cabin #

[cr8tiv1]

2 hours ago, AF-1 said:

cr8tiv1;  I just checked my online reservation on Princess website;  it shows Caribbean Princess and under stateroom it says stateroom to be assigned S7.   I will have my travel agent nail down a cabin #

 

S7 is a Grand Class Window Suite.  My Regal Princess "window type suite" is an S5.  

 

I would push for F311 or as high a number as you can go.  The cabin next to that is a handicap accessible cabin.  Stay away from F301.  IF....IF...IF you care to chance it, you can be put on the list for an upgrade.  That has happened to me and I did not like being higher up on the ship.  So now I do no upgrades.  

[AF-1]

53 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:

 

S7 is a Grand Class Window Suite.  My Regal Princess "window type suite" is an S5.  

 

I would push for F311 or as high a number as you can go.  The cabin next to that is a handicap accessible cabin.  Stay away from F301.  IF....IF...IF you care to chance it, you can be put on the list for an upgrade.  That has happened to me and I did not like being higher up on the ship.  So now I do no upgrades.  

I have a note to my travel agent not to book 301;  don't want an upgrade because we don't want a suite with balcony;  too cold for Canada.  I will tell him to see if he can get 311.  Since sky only has two window suites;  and Caribbean has six;  I think we will get our choice

[Dunk]

On 12/2/2020 at 1:47 PM, cr8tiv1 said:

The Royal Class ships rate Window Suites as a higher category.  I was switched from the Grand to the Regal Window Suite and was not thrilled about the ship change.  I am a frequent Grand Class Window Suite passenger.

 

Pros:  Location, Location, Location (as mentioned above).  You are mid ship.  Club Class dining in feet away.  Princess Theater is feet away.  One flight up/one flight down....to public areas.

 

"Second" bathroom down the hall near Princess Theater.  You are so centrally located that you can return to your cabin at anytime.

 

Very little ocean movement felt.  (The Royal Class suite is way too forward and high for me).

 

All suite amenities (but no concierge's lounge).

 

Separate hallway just for your cabins.  F311 is more mid-ship than F301 (avoid).

 

3 huge closets/21 draws

 

Cons:  No separate living room/bedroom

No separate bath/toilet

 

GRAND PRINCESS WINDOW SUITE 2-1 copy.pdf 355.05 kB · 20 downloads

Regal Princess does not have window suites. Only Sky, Enchanted and Discovery have them as far as Royal Class ships go. An S5 is a Premium Suite, which has a balcony. 

Edited December 6, 2020 by Dunk

[AF-1]

Lokks like most of you here say to avoid 301.  I have a note for my travel agent to avoid this cabin

[AnyMajorCruiseDude]

Have been in F301 twice.  Nothing wrong with it unless you want a long counter.  If no other S7 is available, I always take it since others shun it for very little reason.

[cr8tiv1]

7 hours ago, Dunk said:

Regal Princess does not have window suites. Only Sky, Enchanted and Discovery have them as far as Royal Class ships go. An S5 is a Premium Suite, which has a balcony. 

 

Duly corrected.  I was switched from a window suite on the Grand to a Premium Suite on the Regal.  Yes, it does have a small (1/2 balcony) and a "Window" only in the bedroom.    Yes, it is several categories higher than a Window Suite.  Questionable if balcony is useable while cruising.  I have not been on the Regal nor have I been in this Suite.  

 

BUT....I would trade it in a heartbeat for a Window Suite on Deck 6/midship instead of Caribe Deck forward.  The same for the "true" window suites on the Sky, Enchanted, and Discovery.  Forward location is not for the faint of heart and I generally have my sea legs.  LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, Grand/Caribbean Window Suites.  So sad to see the Golden gone.  Best of the three ships.

 

I sure hope Princess doesn't increase the price of Grand Class Window  Suites like they have for the Sky, Enchanted, and Discovery.  

 

Hopefully, my cruise on the Regal will happen so that I can be influenced into liking this ship.  Thank you for pointing out my misinformation.

 

And yes, I would take F301 if nothing else is available.  I generally book early enough to reserve F311.  I have several cruiser friends who "fight" over "our" cabin.  LOL

Edited December 6, 2020 by cr8tiv1