Balcony Staterooms on the Emerald Deck (8) at the back of the Sapphire Princess

[dsmoser]

Got a question about the mini suite balcony staterooms on emerald deck (8) of the Sapphire Princess located at the back of the ship. The rooms that I am asking about are E710, E7111, E712, E715, E716, E718 thru E729, and E731. 
 

Either these staterooms are super, uber popular and nearly impossible to actually reserve or there is a glitch in Princess' website?
 

The reason I think there might be a glitch in the system is that these staterooms are identified as mini suites on Princess’ website (deck plans) but the only way to even to get or look at the to deck 8 balcony rooms is by selecting the standard balcony option (not premium balcony and not mini suites).

 

I have looked at a lot of Sapphire itineraries (even the last ones available in 2025) and these deck 8 balconies (only found under the regular balcony category) are always sold out even when the ship appears to be empty otherwise.

 

Either theses mini suites are actually all sold out on all itineraries or I’m doing something wrong (most probably) or  . . . could it be that the mini suites on deck 8 are ‘mis-categorized’ and are being pulled up under the wrong balcony category and that is why they are always listed as sold out on every Sapphire itinerary?
 
Thanks for considering my odd question.
 

[kiwimum]

Could be they accommodate more than 2 guests.   Try entering 3 or 4 in the number of guests.

[dsmoser]

Thank you for that suggestion. I did forget to mention that all my previous searches were for 2 people.

 

What is weird is that when I try 3 people I cannot even get to the "sold out" category for the 8th deck.  I can not get the 8th deck aft balconies to pull up at all.

 

Tried this with the last Northbound cruise on Sapphire in 2025,

when I select 3 or 4 people and . . .

1. Regular balcony category, the website only shows me decks 10, 11 and 12 in the aft location; the sold-out 8 deck is not even shown.

2. Premier balcony category, there are no aft balcony available and the only mid-aft deck shown is 10.

3. Mini-suite balcony just pulls up deck 9 (rooms available) and

4. Mini-suite reserve collection are not available in the aft section of ship.

 

The only way to even 'see' that all the 8 deck balcony rooms are sold-out on any itinerary is to specify 2 people, a regular balcony room and the aft section.  I called Princess to see if there was a glitch but the 'navigator' would only look at a specific date not really investigate the question I was asking.

 

`Curiouser and curiouser!'  

[Denverite]

The Sapphire has only a few mini suites, mainly on Deck 9 with uncovered balconies. The aft mini suites on Deck 8 are coveted because they have covered balconies. Also, they are the lowest category mini suites so are “saved” as guarantees many times. The October 30th Hawaii Tahiti cruise has a few aft minis, at least they did a short time ago if you wanted to see them.

Edited August 19, 2023 by Denverite

[dsmoser]

Thank you - I was able to find available deck 8 aft balcony cabins on this itinerary. 

 

On this cruise the deck 8 balconies cabins were properly categorized under the mini-suite category which is where I found them.  What I don't understand is why these mini suite cabins do not pull up as 'sold-out' (or otherwise) under the mini-suite category; on other itineraries they can only be found under the balcony category as sold-out.

 

I’m interested in the fully covered deck 8 balcony rooms because they have deeper balconies and are completely covered.  I started looking at these for Alaska bound cruises and it turned into a quest to find any itinerary that had one of these available.  Thank you for ended that quest.

 

What do you mean by “they are the lowest category mini suites so are “saved” as guarantees many times.”?

 

I was thinking these deck 8 balconies are sought after because they are deep and completely covered but not sure what ‘lowest category mini suites’ means.  Are these cabins a good option? Should these or aft cabins be avoided?  And why and who saves them for what purpose?

 

Thank you

 

[dsmoser]

Sorry - I think you meant that these are the deck 8 balconies are the most affordable mini suites. 

Also that Hawaiian cruise looks wonderful!

[geejay]

We had an aft mini on the cruise to Hawaii in January and loved the large covered balcony,  Have had this on other ships and it is our favorite. 

 

[LACruiser88]

When booking a cruise on the Sapphire, we always try to book E731, mini-suite with the large covered & angled balcony.

 

We have this cabin booked for the 32-day, April 2025, South Pacific voyage, roundtrip LA.  We booked it the same day the itinerary was released.

 

 

 

Edited August 19, 2023 by LACruiser88

[dsmoser]

Thank you guys!

 

Yeah - those corner suites, like E731, with the even bigger balconies look really good.  I am sure that you have to be the early bird to score those.

 

Thanks for the thumbs up on aft cabins. I'm aiming for a low deck, mid or aft ship as I am a wee bit concerned about my sea-legs or lack thereof.

 

I've concluded that the deck 8 balconies are in actuality all sold-out to seasoned travelers and not a glitch in the system (which was probably more wishful thinking).

 

Being a novice, I will be perfectly happy with a half-covered balcony or any balcony really.  Planning is actually kinda fun.

 

Thanks again - D

[Texasopa]

1 hour ago, LACruiser88 said:

When booking a cruise on the Sapphire, we always try to book E731, mini-suite with the large covered & angled balcony.

 

We have this cabin booked for the 32-day, April 2025, South Pacific voyage, roundtrip LA.  We booked it the same day the itinerary was released.

 

 

 

I've got suite E730 booked on an Alaskan cruise next year, please tell me it's in a good location for Alaska. This will be our 1st time on Princess. My cousin has suite E733 booked, can you tell me if there is a hall, passageway between the 2.

Thanks

[LACruiser88]

51 minutes ago, Texasopa said:

I've got suite E730 booked on an Alaskan cruise next year, please tell me it's in a good location for Alaska. This will be our 1st time on Princess. My cousin has suite E733 booked, can you tell me if there is a hall, passageway between the 2.

Thanks

 

I couldn't remember, but looking at the diagram looks like you have to go back to the elevators to cross to the other side.

 

 

 

 

Edited August 20, 2023 by LACruiser88

[Steelers36]

2 hours ago, dsmoser said:

I've concluded that the deck 8 balconies are in actuality all sold-out to seasoned travelers and not a glitch in the system (which was probably more wishful thinking).

That is unlikely per your earlier posts.  Princess made a change some months ago where the "lead in" category for all cabins from Inside thru Mini is change to GTY-only.  Also, the deposit for booking these GTY's is most often Non-Refundable.

 

You cannot book and select a "lead in" (i.e. lowest level) cabin any longer.  These are IF, OF (if exists), BF, DF, and ME.  ME is the lowest level for a Mini and is the category for the ones you are asking about. 

 

I believe when this change came about, there was a lot of complaining here because many folks consider these cabins "gold" even though they are E category for Mini's.  

 

I am thinking this is the reason you are not finding them.  IDK how a guest can secure one of these specifically (without doing a GTY on the ME).  If you were to do that, there is no guarantee Princess will assign you a ME.  But most certainly, guests will end up in those cabins.

 

Perhaps someone else will post and indicate whether a TA or Princess CVP can make something happen.

[HaveDogWillTravel]

My CVP has told me exactly what @Steelers36has posted. Also remember there are ME minis at the front of deck 9 so if you book a guarantee you might get a forward one. 
 

That said I was able to book E731 and E729  for Dec 1 and Dec 19 respectively a couple of months ago. It was in the middle of the night for one of them and on a Sunday afternoon for the other. I was poking around even though they had previously been either sold out or just didn’t show up for week.

 

Thanks to the OP for suggesting looking at regular balcony cabins. I will also try that in the future.  I have no idea why weird windows open up for these cabins. They are not supposed to be anything but a guarantee.  A policy I am firmly against btw. 

[Yehootu]

4 hours ago, LACruiser88 said:

When booking a cruise on the Sapphire, we always try to book E731, mini-suite with the large covered & angled balcony.

 

We have this cabin booked for the 32-day, April 2025, South Pacific voyage, roundtrip LA.  We booked it the same day the itinerary was released.

 

 

 

We had it for our 28 day South Pacific voyage on the Crown. We've booked these rooms many times and sent many letters to Princess to protest their "new" policy. First time I was told my towels were triggering the bridge cameras. From then on I didn't bother with shorts on the balcony as I didn't want to trigger cameras.😀Always have our Hawaii State Flag displayed.

Edited August 20, 2023 by Yehootu

[dsmoser]

 

19 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

That is unlikely per your earlier posts.  Princess made a change some months ago where the "lead in" category for all cabins from Inside thru Mini is change to GTY-only.  Also, the deposit for booking these GTY's is most often Non-Refundable.

 

You cannot book and select a "lead in" (i.e. lowest level) cabin any longer.  These are IF, OF (if exists), BF, DF, and ME.  ME is the lowest level for a Mini and is the category for the ones you are asking about. 

 

I believe when this change came about, there was a lot of complaining here because many folks consider these cabins "gold" even though they are E category for Mini's.  

 

I am thinking this is the reason you are not finding them.  IDK how a guest can secure one of these specifically (without doing a GTY on the ME).  If you were to do that, there is no guarantee Princess will assign you a ME.  But most certainly, guests will end up in those cabins.

 

Perhaps someone else will post and indicate whether a TA or Princess CVP can make something happen.

 

AHA! I knew it !!!  It just didn't make sense that the entire block of those deck 8 balcony rooms were already sold-out for every itinerary except Hawaii? 

 

Also, that was a lot of acronyms.   The only one I am not sure about is GTY.  A google search came back with "guaranteed category type"?  - aren't all rooms guaranteed to be the room specifically selected like E730 for Texasopa?  And non-refundable means what, the required deposit is not refunded immediately after it is paid? 

 

Today, I could not get the princess website to 'pull-up' another room that I was pretty confident was not sold-out so I chatted with a CVP about the specific room # and sure enough it was not sold-out.

 

Bananas.

[Steelers36]

2 hours ago, dsmoser said:

 

 

AHA! I knew it !!!  It just didn't make sense that the entire block of those deck 8 balcony rooms were already sold-out for every itinerary except Hawaii? 

 

Also, that was a lot of acronyms.   The only one I am not sure about is GTY.  A google search came back with "guaranteed category type"?  - aren't all rooms guaranteed to be the room specifically selected like E730 for Texasopa?  And non-refundable means what, the required deposit is not refunded immediately after it is paid? 

 

Today, I could not get the princess website to 'pull-up' another room that I was pretty confident was not sold-out so I chatted with a CVP about the specific room # and sure enough it was not sold-out.

 

Bananas.

A GTY cabin means you have booked into a category and are guaranteed to have a cabin to sail in that is at least in that category (or anything higher).  Princess will eventually assign you a cabin.  Could be anything from several days later to a couple of days or so prior to the voyage.

 

If the guest selects a cabin when booking (as opposed to a GTY booking), then the guest is close to assurance of being in that cabin.  But Princess can move a guest (to nothing worse) without notice or grant an upgrade.  Guests can best protect themselves by having their selected cabin marked as "No Upgrade".

Edited August 20, 2023 by Steelers36

[Aussie lost in space]

dsmoser

We had the same difficulty when we were booking our cabin for a cruise on Diamond next March.  At first I thought we were late to the pickings as the 2 cabins we coveted (Deck 8 E731 or E728) were listed as 'unavailable', then after lots of research (going back and reading some posts from both pre and post covid here in the forums about the very same issue and a few tricks people were suggesting) discovered that all the mini suites in this aft area, the ME mini suite cabins (as mentioned by Steelers36) are now listed as "GTY" bookings.  I wasn't willing to accept a GTY cabin for the amount of money we were putting down, as it would be likely that it would not be one of these, especially given they are listed as mini suites that can hold up to 3 pax.  We were willing to try and escalate the issue as far as we could (and have an amazing TA who was willing to push it for us) to try to have either of these cabins assigned.  Struck gold (though it was suggested I keep it quiet - but hey if I can help out a fellow traveller in need 😉)  as our TA, after a number of failed attempts with various Princess personnel, escalated it up to state manager level of Princess and he was able to have one of these actually assigned to us, along with a few other very nice perks.  So my suggestion - if you have a good TA, ask them to take on the battle for you.  Of course there are no certainties, however, nothing ventured, nothing gained.  Good luck.

[dsmoser]

Thank you Steelers36 and Aussie lost in space (should have given more thought to my user ID)

 

Right on Aussie! Tenaciousness - love it!  Good advice, thanks for revealing state secrets - I'll give it a go. 

 

It shouldn't be so difficult that the only way to get the room you are paying thousands for is to escalate it to upper management in some back alley negotiation - ugh!

 

New to cruising, in the research phase, and finding a good TA seems as elusive as finding a good doctor, automechanic, etc.  

 

Since I do not have a dependable TA as of yet (read that I might find one from others on the cruise?),  I was planning on using the big-box store (that we shall not name - as suggested here for the straightforward cash back/OBCs).  I was going to work with the big-box after I've nailed-down the cruise line, the itinerary/ship, and try to find the most optimal port side rooms for our family of 4 on a late May/early June-ish  2025 southbound Alaska cruise. 

 

Full disclosure, I've got it down to . . .

 

Sapphire - hoping to find a Balcony/Interior combo across the hall from each other on deck 8 aft - hence the purpose of this thread.  Trying to save a little money with the Balcony/Interior cabin combo.

 

or

 

Coral - Rooms E622 Ocean view which shares a wall with E624 fully covered balcony. Coral doesn't have many interior rooms and none that would work with a port side balcony room.  Hence, the Balcony/OV combo.

 

The HAL Nieuw Amsterdam was a contender but I keep coming back to Princess as I think my teens might like it better, Princess seems a tad more updated and I like the medallion tech.  

 

BYW, is there a limit to the number of questions I can ask on CC 🙂 - I keep coming up with questions but don't want to wear out the generous folks on CC.  Thinking I'll throw my current plans out there to get comments?

 

Anywho, thank you for your responses.