Golden Princess: Owner's Suite VS Penthouse Suite

[sfvoyager]

Any opinions about the merits of one suite over the other on the GOLDEN PRINCESS.

 

PH is midship on Caribe Deck and appears to have a wider balcony.

 

OS is aft on Baja, and seems to have a longer but narrow balcony.

 

Any info on the balcony, location, and overall difference in the two suites would be greatly appreciated.

[Coral]

I have pics of the VS, PS, PH and Owner's Suite on the Grand/Golden on my website:

 

http://homepage.mac.com/tlassek/PhotoAlbum21.html

 

Some friends had the Owner's Suite while we were on the Golden. The main difference between the Owner's Suite and PH/PS/VS is that it has a eating area/table inside the cabin. I wasn't impressed with the Owner's Suite - the extra space isn't that great and the balcony is quite small. We had a VS at the same time and I preferred our cabin to theirs. Personally, I wouldn't pay extra for the Owner's Suite from the PH/PS/VS.

 

The VS and PS are aft and the PH are midship. That is the main difference in those cabins. Some of the PS and VS have a structural beam on the balcony that really isn't that big of a deal.

[sfvoyager]

Thank you Coral,

 

It actually was your pics from a previous thread that got me to wondering about the size of the balcony, and eventhough aft, it seems smaller than the PH suite balcony midship.

 

Truthfully, what I really am after is the GS. Do you know if taking an OS over the PH improves my chances for getting the GS? (Not for a free upgrade, but on the basis of the waitlist for a paid upgrade.)

[Coral]

Thank you Coral,

 

It actually was your pics from a previous thread that got me to wondering about the size of the balcony, and eventhough aft, it seems smaller than the PH suite balcony midship.

 

Truthfully, what I really am after is the GS. Do you know if taking an OS over the PH improves my chances for getting the GS? (Not for a free upgrade, but on the basis of the waitlist for a paid upgrade.)

 

The balcony on the OS is small, much smaller then the PH and even the PS and VS suites I have had. Though the size of the balconies aft seem to be determined by the deck you are on. Some decks have larger balconies.

 

As far as chances on the GS - it is my understanding that it doesn't matter. If you go waitlisted for the GS, they give you a waitlist number and if you are the next person waitlisted, you are offered the suite.

[spingal]

The balcony on the OS is small, much smaller then the PH and even the PS and VS suites I have had. Though the size of the balconies aft seem to be determined by the deck you are on. Some decks have larger balconies.

 

As far as chances on the GS - it is my understanding that it doesn't matter. If you go waitlisted for the GS, they give you a waitlist number and if you are the next person waitlisted, you are offered the suite.

Coral is correct. That just happen to my family and I on the Sapphire. We were waitlisted for the GS and were #1 -- the people who had it cancelled and we got it! :D

[sfvoyager]

How can I find out how far down the waitlist I am for this accommodation?

[Coral]

How can I find out how far down the waitlist I am for this accommodation?

 

Your TA or Princess can tell you. I am not sure if your TA can see this or if they have to call. I was waitlisted for a suite (any suite) once and Princess told me I was #6 on the list.

[sfvoyager]

Thank You Coral for your valuable info and great pictures. I agree that the PH looks like the better choice particlularly with the larger balcony. The only thing about the OS category that seems appealing is being aft and in a quieter hall location.

 

As for the GS, I will keep my fingers crossed and call Princess to check.

 

Thanks again!

[can786]

As far as waitlists go, my recent experience is that Princess doesn't seem to pay any attention to them. To make a long story short, I was #1 on the waitlist for a minisuite on our July 1st sailing on the Sea Princess (we were booked in a category DD) since August. I was checking several times a day for minisuite availability after being waitlisted. On November 30th (at 11:30pm) I saw there were two minis available but we had not been assigned to one, despite our status on the waitlist. I e-mailed my TA, but by morning both were gone. According to my TA (a popular and highly respected TA used by many on these boards) the waitlist seems to have been overlooked ever since Princess changed their booking system to allow booking directly thru Princess.com.

On January 31, I once again noticed two minis available. Again, we were not offered either of these, despite being on the waitlist. This time it was 5:30pm. My TA was not available right then, so I called Princess and really pushed to have them change me to a minisuite. They tried telling me my TA had to make the change, but since she was unavailable and I was #1 on the waitlist they took pity on me and did the change for me. Once again, my TA wasn't even notified about this, even with our being #1 on the waitlist. I'm thrilled to have the minisuite (especially since the Sun class minis are more like a full suite on the Grand class ships) but certainly wouldn't count on Princess to make the change for me.

[Hulagirl]

Spingal: We are in the GS on the Sapphire on the April 1 cruise. Really are looking forward to this cabin. Had the GS on the Grand in December, and while it was smaller, we still enjoyed it. The Sapphire Suite is going to be so very nice. We will certainly enjoy it also.

 

If I couldn't have gotten the GS suite, we would have booked the PH Suite. Had a VS suite on the Diamond Princess last June, and while it was nice, I like the baloncy on the Caribe deck much better. Having the deeper deck without the beam in the center was much nicer. But I couldn't complain, we were upgraded from a mini suite to the VS suite, so no complaints from us at all.

 

Being mid ship is nice and I do like the locations of those suites. We had the PH suite on the Grand in Coral's pictures and loved it. The balcony was wonderful for the CC sail a way party we had that day.

 

No matter what, I'm sure you will be happy with any suite type cabin. The extra space is wonderful to have. We also find we spend more time in our cabin and on the balcony when we have the suite.

[RichNY]

Thanks for the pictures...very nice....Just curious...do these suites come with butler and /or concierge service, similar to NCL ???..

[Coral]

Thanks for the pictures...very nice....Just curious...do these suites come with butler and /or concierge service, similar to NCL ???..

 

No, they don't. The room stewards handling the suites are usually some of the best.

 

As far as aft suites (PS and VS) verses PH - I personally like the aft suites better verses midship. I love watching the wake of the ship and seeing both sides behind me.

[RichNY]

Thanks Coral...We have a mini on the golden.....but we have had stern suites on NCL......they are the best,and no wind..

[spingal]

Spingal: We are in the GS on the Sapphire on the April 1 cruise. Really are looking forward to this cabin. Had the GS on the Grand in December, and while it was smaller, we still enjoyed it. The Sapphire Suite is going to be so very nice. We will certainly enjoy it also.

Hulagirl.

 

I was in the GS on the Caribbean and it is the same layout on the Sapphire. It is a fabulous suite!!! I hope the cabin steward is great. On the CB, we had a marginal one -- which really surprised me!

 

Happy sailing!!!!!!!!!!! :D

[Hulagirl]

Spingal: The GS on the Caribbean Princess looks wonderful! When I was first doing a search on pictures of GS's, the Caribbean was the first we found. Have a feeling we will be very, very spoiled with the size of the cabin. We also have the GS booked for the Star Princess this coming December. Would be fun to try it on all the ships that have one.

 

We had a wonderful cabin steward on the Grand also. She was so very good. Will let you know how our steward is on the Sapphire before you sail. I'm really looking forward to this cruise.

 

Have a great one also!

[spingal]

Spingal: The GS on the Caribbean Princess looks wonderful! When I was first doing a search on pictures of GS's, the Caribbean was the first we found. Have a feeling we will be very, very spoiled with the size of the cabin. We also have the GS booked for the Star Princess this coming December. Would be fun to try it on all the ships that have one.

 

We had a wonderful cabin steward on the Grand also. She was so very good. Will let you know how our steward is on the Sapphire before you sail. I'm really looking forward to this cruise.

 

Have a great one also!

I have pictures posted on Webshots of the GS on the CB........those may be the pictures you looked at!!

 

I too am really looking forward to this trip!! :D

[Hulagirl]

It very well could have been your pictures! If they were, that is what sold me on going with the GS! These cabins look absolutely beautiful. We liked the GS on the Grand Princess, but it is considerably smaller than these other ones, though I have no complaints on the size of it. The balcony looks like heaven. Having that much room is going to be very nice.

 

Thanks for posting pictures.

 

Agree, so looking forward to this cruise.

[CMVAC]

We have the GS on the Star booked in April so I'll make sure I keep it nice for you. Although I can't speak for the 30 or so people who have it after me before your Dec. cruise. We had the OS on the Grand and a VS on the Grand. I much preferred the OS due to the overall size. We used the dining table quite a bit with our kids. The balcony in the OS was 1/2 covered and 1/2 not so that was a negative. The people directly above from the adult aft pool could look down on our balcony. The balcony in the VS was smaller than the OS balcony. My mom had the PS, right next door to the OS and that was very nice. Huge, deep balcony and basically the same layout at the VS. My mom also had the GS on the Grand and I didn't care for it at all. Small balcony compared to the aft cabins. Rougher ride too. Don't know if it's cause it was higher up than our VS cabin or if it was because it's much closer to the bow. Personally I love the aft cabins. I love the view and they aren't windy at all as some of the other cabins balcony can be.

[Hulagirl]

CMVAC: Thanks for keeping the GS on the Star nice for us. Hopefully all that follow you, before us, keep it that way also.

 

The one thing I have to say I'm a bit concerned about, are the people that can look down on the balcony for the GS. When I was on the Diamond last June, I'd already booked this suite for the Sapphire, and wanted to see how much I could see. Went back and down as far as I could and was able to look down on the balcony. Now, I doubt too many people will go all the way to the bottom of those stairs and look down, but they certainly can. It will be interesting to see how it is on other ships also. I do know that on the Sapphire and Diamond you can be seen from the back pool area. Will be interested to see what you find on the Star.

 

We did like our GS on the Grand, but it was also the first time in this class of cabin. We have been in PH and VS suites and enjoyed both of them, so this was nice that it was even bigger. The first day out of Galveston we did have quite a bit of movement and I did feel ill, so I went down to deck 5 until I felt better. After that there was no problem. We did like the location though. Just being around the corner from the pool area was nice. So easy to get to places from that central location also. But being at the back will just give us more exercise.

 

Can't wait for these cruises. Thanks for the info!