Coral / Island Princess Balconies - Covered & Uncovered

[Tom O.]

I have been doing a lot of research lately on the tricky question of whether certain balconies on the Coral and Island Princess twin ships are covered or uncovered. I discovered that a list floating around here on this board was mostly correct, but had errors on it.

So after extensive research, I created some deck plan illustrations with each balcony color coded to show if it was covered or not. I created a web site with these deck plans along with several supporting photos. This should make it much easier for people to understand what they are booking.

This is the first time I have gone public with it and I would appreciate it if anybody has comments, suggestions, or corrections to let me know here or via the email that is included on the web site.

 

To see it go to:

http://mysite.verizon.net/res76zxu/princessbalconies/

[Colo Cruiser]

Very nice site. Good info. :)

[naplesam]

Nice work! Thanks!

[LARGIN]

Thanks.. Great job...

[mii]

Thanks alot. That took alot of work. Really appreciate.

 

Marilyn

[Sillyjilly]

Thanks so much. We'll be on the Island in May and your site showed me exactly what I wanted to know!

 

Jill

[Bucky3]

Thank you! Very helpful information. How nice of you to take the time to do this. I was wondering if ALL the balconies on Caribe deck were larger than standard, and I see from this that with the bump outs on these ships they are not ALL larger. We like the half covered-half open balconies.

[land lover]

Tom, thanks for putting in the time....

 

So my question is do people want protection from Rain or Sun or peeping passsengers?

 

In January we were on the Coral, C333

there was an over hang of a few feet...but it never provided any shade on our balcony it was always sunny. I took special interest in this because we read on this board it would be partly covered, I was thinking we would have some shade.

 

So my thoughts are, princess doesn't comment because, people have different reasons for wanting a certain balcony and the cruise line can't make a blanket statement because it depends on the direction the ship is sailing,the weather, the positon of the sun and if that peeping passenger has a long neck:)

[edste]

Thanks for all the work you put into this. I just found out my balcony will be partially covered and that's great news. Edna

[brassyjan]

What a fabulous job you have done!

I now have a very good idea where our Caribe bump out C503 cabin will be on the Panama Canal cruise.

Thanks so much for all the hard work on this project !

[maddea66]

Tom,

You did a great job!!! Thanks for all of the effort you put in, Deanna :D

 

P.S. I added your website to my favorites so that I can show other family members that are sailing w/me!!

[flynrph]

Thanks, may this thread never be poofed!:D

[Tom O.]

Just letting you all know that I made a couple of corrections. (That's what I get for working late into the night!). I had some balconies on the "bump out" of the Aloha and Baja deck as uncovered. They are actually covered and the site has been corrected.

[Tom O.]

Tom, thanks for putting in the time....

 

So my question is do people want protection from Rain or Sun or peeping passsengers?

 

In January we were on the Coral, C333

there was an over hang of a few feet...but it never provided any shade on our balcony it was always sunny. I took special interest in this because we read on this board it would be partly covered, I was thinking we would have some shade.

 

So my thoughts are, princess doesn't comment because, people have different reasons for wanting a certain balcony and the cruise line can't make a blanket statement because it depends on the direction the ship is sailing,the weather, the positon of the sun and if that peeping passenger has a long neck:)

 

Not everyone wants a covered balcony, those that do have their own reasons, but I think privacy is the main issue.

 

Unfortunatly, at this time I cannot determine how much of a balcony is covered for "partially covered" cabins. I think it can very from a 1/3rd to 2/3rds covering. Maybe in the future I can provide these details too. Especially if people like you let me know your cabin number and the details of your balcony roof.

 

I think Princess just doesn't want to deal with more details. There are so many factors already that they have to deal with - a myriad of room classifications, location, height to name a few. And if most people want covered balconies, they may have to lower prices on uncovered ones. And many of these uncovered balconies are found on mini suites.

[Tom O.]

Thank you! Very helpful information. How nice of you to take the time to do this. I was wondering if ALL the balconies on Caribe deck were larger than standard, and I see from this that with the bump outs on these ships they are not ALL larger. We like the half covered-half open balconies.

 

I haven't done any research on balcony size, just whether they are covered or not. But, the deck drawings I used on the site were copied from Princess's site, and some balconies are drawn bigger than others. I assume it is to scale, but cannot say for sure. It looks to me like all of the baconies on the Caribe deck are large except for the ones in the two "bump outs" (C232-C310 & C416-C504).

[Ethel5]

Not everyone wants a covered balcony, those that do have their own reasons, but I think privacy is the main issue.

 

Some of us are on BP medicine and can't stay in the sun. Some people are very fair skinned and can't stay in the sun at all.

 

I do want to add my thanks for all the work you put into this. It really is a great help.

[Bucky3]

This is quite a hobby you have!! Thanks again!

[whale-watcher]

Fantastic job! This is great source of useful information. We actually stayed in the center bumpout of aloha deck on the coral (cabin A416), and these balconies do have some coverage from the overhand of the Lido deck above, although not as much the cabins in the foreward bumpout (see photo below, which gives some indication of coverage)

[bjboothman]

It looks to me like all of the baconies on the Caribe deck are large except for the ones in the two "bump outs" (C232-C310 & C416-C504).

 

Yes, we stayed in C309 in December on the Coral and the balcony was tiny, but I chose it specifically because it was a corner with the wrap around glass railing and we had a great view. Yeah, people may have had a great view of us too - but I didn't care. Except for the morning of the Canal transit, we rarely saw anyone out on their balconies. Seems like a shame to pay for a balcony and not use it ------

[bjboothman]

Tom - I'm curious --

 

On the rear bumpout section it appears that cabin A625 is immediately above B637. B637 is marked as being uncovered. It would seem to me that it would be at least partially covered by A's balcony. I'm only interested as my next cruise is in B637. It's not a big issue for me if it's covered or not, but I did choose it thinking it looked like it was covered (from my view from C309 - admittedly a long distance glance). What do you think? Could I be right?

[Tom O.]

Tom - I'm curious --

 

On the rear bumpout section it appears that cabin A625 is immediately above B637. B637 is marked as being uncovered. It would seem to me that it would be at least partially covered by A's balcony. I'm only interested as my next cruise is in B637. It's not a big issue for me if it's covered or not, but I did choose it thinking it looked like it was covered (from my view from C309 - admittedly a long distance glance). What do you think? Could I be right?

 

You are correct. That cabin and most others on that deck are covered. I corrected the diagram for the site. Thanks for letting me know. I hope that is the last correction. Below is a picture of your cabin. I have also added another photo to the site showing this section of cabins.

[Tom O.]

Just thanking those of you who brought my attention to a couple of errors on the site. They have been corrected. And everything should be ok now. I would love to hear from anyone who has stayed in D311, D312, D414, D415, D503 or D504. I named these particular cabins as particulary open to view. Would just like have some confrimation to see if I got the right room numbers. Thanks again

To view the site go to:

http://mysite.verizon.net/res76zxu/princessbalconies/index.html

[flamomo]

Thank you , Tom, for a job well done. I know I speak for many OPs when I say that we all appreciate your efforts and attention to detail. This kind of info will prove very useful in booking future cruises on these two ships.

[Thamsey]

Geez I want to know too how much those balconies are exposed as I am also booked on one for an Alaskian cruise.

[Greselda]

Tom:

 

A HUGE Thank You from a Long Beach, CA native!!! :D I can only imagine how many long hours you devoted to helping all of us out with all of our questions, and we do thank you!!!

 

We are booked on the Island on 4-6-06 R/T to Hawaii, and are in cabin D315. We knew going in that it would be uncovered, and that is fine with us to Hawaii, but if we were to be booking to a cool climate, we would probably look at something partially or fully covered.

 

Thanks again, Tom for all of your efforts!!!

 

Richard and Janine:)