Discovery Princess Forward-Facing Cabin - Question Regarding the Balcony

[essmeier]

We've booked a minisuite on the Discovery Princess for April 2024 and we've been assigned Lido 105. That's a forward-facing cabin. 

The Princess Website says that the view is partially obstructed and that balcony access is limited.  I've read here and there on various travel sites that such rooms do not permit access to the balcony while the ship is at sea.  That would leave at least one of us somewhat-less-than-delighted.

But I read an older (2014) thread about the topic regarding the Royal Princess that suggests that this is more of a guideline and that we're not actually going to be physically prevented from going out on the balcony at sea if we choose to do so, but that the lights in the room have to be off or the curtains have to be drawn if we're doing so at night.  Fair enough.

We'd be fine with L105 if the choice to go on the balcony or not is ours, but less than thrilled if we're going to find the door locked while we're at sea.  The balcony appears to be larger than the typical not-very-large minisuite balconies on the Royal Class ships.  That's certainly a plus, and we'd be happy with the room if we can actually use the balcony, rather than look at it through a glass door.

 

Can anyone confirm how balcony access in forward-facing staterooms works on the Discovery Princess specifically?

[Lady Arwen]

We are those people who love these cabins!  No, you are not prohibited from using your balcony at anytime.  Nobody locks your doors EVER.  Your only restriction is that at night you must keep your cabin curtains drawn to prevent the light from impacting the bridge’s ability to see clearly.  
 

Yes, you will feel the wind when at sea.  You may want to sit closer to the door under the overhang to feel more comfortable.  Yes, there is more motion upfront and high up.  We don’t mind it at all.  The huge balcony and the view make up for it.  Now, as for the obstruction, the front facing wall of the balcony is metal not plexiglass.  While seated you cannot see down to the water only out to the water.  For some, this is a dealbreaker.  We don’t care, we just stand up to look down onto the water.  
 

We highly recommend these cabins to those who aren’t prone to motion sickness, who don’t mind the hike to the elevator, who like the proximity of the Lido deck pool, who aren’t worried about the wind and those who realize that there will be rare occasions that you just can’t go out there.  Only you know how you feel about it.  Good luck and enjoy your cruise!

[essmeier]

I had called my Cruise Planner earlier today to ask her to see if she could get us another room.   But this cruise has been sold out for a year, as this one includes a total solar eclipse.

 

She put us on a waitlist for an upgrade to an ME class minisuite or a downgrade to a Deluxe Balcony.  Neither is likely to happen, because of the whole it's-been-sold-out-for-a-year thing.

I'm going to call her right now and tell her that it won't be necessary.  We'll stick with L105.

 

Sounds like a great stateroom, especially for the larger balcony, as I really dislike the tiny balconies on the Royal Class ships.

 

Thanks for the quick reply.

[Lady Arwen]

26 minutes ago, essmeier said:

I had called my Cruise Planner earlier today to ask her to see if she could get us another room.   But this cruise has been sold out for a year, as this one includes a total solar eclipse.

 

She put us on a waitlist for an upgrade to an ME class minisuite or a downgrade to a Deluxe Balcony.  Neither is likely to happen, because of the whole it's-been-sold-out-for-a-year thing.

I'm going to call her right now and tell her that it won't be necessary.  We'll stick with L105.

 

Sounds like a great stateroom, especially for the larger balcony, as I really dislike the tiny balconies on the Royal Class ships.

 

Thanks for the quick reply.

You’re welcome!  I’m sure you will love it.  We have one of these booked for our next cruise on Enchanted and we’re so looking forward to it.

 

[2MellowCruisers]

We had this exact cabin booked for the Solar Eclipse cruise but ended up cancelling it.  Since we had never been in a forward facing cabin before, we decided to book this cabin on a cruise earlier this year so we would know if we would like it for the Solar Eclipse cruise. 

 

We ended up really liking this cabin.  Everything Lady Arwen posted was also our experience.  I did ask the cabin attendant if we were allowed to go on the balcony while at sea and was told there was no problem with that and they would not lock the doors.  He said that we did need to keep the curtains closed after dark.  I thought the metal wall would be a problem for me but it really wasn't.  Yes, sitting down does limit your view and I was worried but if I remember correctly, that was very short lived for me.  The fantastic views on sail away and the balcony size more than made up for it.

 

We would definitely book one of these rooms again.  We had to think long and hard about cancelling the eclipse cruise.  Enjoy the cruise!

 

 

[nini]

We have also been in a similar cabin on the Regal. It was not a suite, however, the balcony was HUGE as well.

We NEVER were required or asked to lock our balcony door. The only requirement is that you close the drapes at night so your lights do not interfere with the bridge. Turn off your lights if you want to enjoy your balcony at night.

 

For short people, the only negative is that you can't enjoy the view when sitting down.

Another CC member, suggested that she stacks the chairs and sits on them to see the view.

[tobyt]

We loved our Lido balcony room (L104) on Enchanted this fall. I was concerned about the motion sickness (since I am prone) but was excited about the location and thankfully the Mediterranean was mainly calm and flat. The one day the ship was rolling in a storm I think regardless of location we would have felt it. I had my Dramamine with me and take it mainly as security daily while cruising for tenders, winding roads and the occasional rough waters.

Room was quiet, very few people walking near due to location and really no staff noise that far forward. Quick walk for a swim in Retreat pool, or to the action of lido deck, bar service CLOSE for drinkes in the room ( faster than trying to order on app!), I would certainly book the location again!

[RV Queen]

Did the balconies have furniture?

[karatemom2]

25 minutes ago, RV Queen said:

Did the balconies have furniture?

  
Yes the balconies have the standard furniture. They are large enough to accommodate more and we were actually able to get a couple of extra chairs on one of our Alaska cruises since we had family traveling with us. Our room steward arranged for that at our request - not sure it’s always an option. But worth asking if you need it. 

[RV Queen]

Thanks for the reply.  Considering one of these cabins on the Sapphire next year for 32 day cruise.  But yikes, 22 sea days.  Would want to enjoy the balcony and not worry about them being locked.  

[karatemom2]

11 minutes ago, RV Queen said:

Thanks for the reply.  Considering one of these cabins on the Sapphire next year for 32 day cruise.  But yikes, 22 sea days.  Would want to enjoy the balcony and not worry about them being locked.  

 
Not sure what your itinerary would be on the cruise you are considering but my only caution about the forward balconies would be for a cruise with a lot of open ocean days - like a transatlantic or Pacific crossing. They can be fairly windy on sailing days when you are at open sea completely unprotected or transiting. As much as I love them for most cruises, I might not choose them for cruises with lots of open sea days. Just something to think about. 

[RV Queen]

It is LA to Hawaii, then down through Pacific (April 2025).  Lots of open sea days. Thank you for your advice.  

[shellbeachjim]

We were in L108 in November/December on the Enchanted. This cabin has a wraparound balcony and the door was on the side, not in the front. It was a transatlantic crossing and the winds on the cruise were quite strong at times. I tried to keep the balcony table upside down when it was windy to prevent it from banging against the cabin. One evening during the crossing I could hear the table moving around and when I looked out the sliding glass door, I saw the table fly by, hitting the partition between our balcony and our neighbor's. The table was at eye level - thankfully I didn't step outside otherwise it could have been messy. Great cabin, but I'm not sure we'd do it again, mostly because it's so far away from everything, not because of the balcony.

[skurusis]

On 12/22/2023 at 4:21 PM, essmeier said:

We've booked a minisuite on the Discovery Princess for April 2024 and we've been assigned Lido 105. That's a forward-facing cabin. 

The Princess Website says that the view is partially obstructed and that balcony access is limited.  I've read here and there on various travel sites that such rooms do not permit access to the balcony while the ship is at sea.  That would leave at least one of us somewhat-less-than-delighted.

But I read an older (2014) thread about the topic regarding the Royal Princess that suggests that this is more of a guideline and that we're not actually going to be physically prevented from going out on the balcony at sea if we choose to do so, but that the lights in the room have to be off or the curtains have to be drawn if we're doing so at night.  Fair enough.

We'd be fine with L105 if the choice to go on the balcony or not is ours, but less than thrilled if we're going to find the door locked while we're at sea.  The balcony appears to be larger than the typical not-very-large minisuite balconies on the Royal Class ships.  That's certainly a plus, and we'd be happy with the room if we can actually use the balcony, rather than look at it through a glass door.

 

Can anyone confirm how balcony access in forward-facing staterooms works on the Discovery Princess specifically?

 

On 12/22/2023 at 4:21 PM, essmeier said:

We've booked a minisuite on the Discovery Princess for April 2024 and we've been assigned Lido 105. That's a forward-facing cabin. 

The Princess Website says that the view is partially obstructed and that balcony access is limited.  I've read here and there on various travel sites that such rooms do not permit access to the balcony while the ship is at sea.  That would leave at least one of us somewhat-less-than-delighted.

But I read an older (2014) thread about the topic regarding the Royal Princess that suggests that this is more of a guideline and that we're not actually going to be physically prevented from going out on the balcony at sea if we choose to do so, but that the lights in the room have to be off or the curtains have to be drawn if we're doing so at night.  Fair enough.

We'd be fine with L105 if the choice to go on the balcony or not is ours, but less than thrilled if we're going to find the door locked while we're at sea.  The balcony appears to be larger than the typical not-very-large minisuite balconies on the Royal Class ships.  That's certainly a plus, and we'd be happy with the room if we can actually use the balcony, rather than look at it through a glass door.

 

Can anyone confirm how balcony access in forward-facing staterooms works on the Discovery Princess specifically?

We have the same cabin in June. You can pull up a couple videos other people did while in that cabin. I love the larger balcony as our family will come and hang out there at times. I do wish that we’d be able to see the water from bed but nope, not with the steel wall (we can look at the stars)

[Thrak]

On 12/22/2023 at 2:39 PM, essmeier said:

I had called my Cruise Planner earlier today to ask her to see if she could get us another room.   But this cruise has been sold out for a year, as this one includes a total solar eclipse.

 

Soooo... You have a very large balcony from which to view the eclipse without a crowd of people around you impacting your experience. How sad... NOT! I think you have scored.

[sidari]

We have one of the forward cabins booked on Discovery for Alaska in May 2025, our cabin is one of the two centre ones L102 on the lido deck which are slightly wider than those either side of !01 and 102. We had the same forward Suite L106 on two sailings in 2008 and 2009 on Ruby and the views were great being just behind the top of the bridge.

We booked L102 on Discovery for the views and the metal superstructure is not an issue to us, on the Ruby the access to the curved balcony is on the Port side and even on sea days if you sat mid centre of the balcony against the cabin wall there was little to no wind.

[karatemom2]

2 hours ago, sidari said:

We have one of the forward cabins booked on Discovery for Alaska in May 2025, our cabin is one of the two centre ones L102 on the lido deck which are slightly wider than those either side of !01 and 102. We had the same forward Suite L106 on two sailings in 2008 and 2009 on Ruby and the views were great being just behind the top of the bridge.

We booked L102 on Discovery for the views and the metal superstructure is not an issue to us, on the Ruby the access to the curved balcony is on the Port side and even on sea days if you sat mid centre of the balcony against the cabin wall there was little to no wind.

 
We had L102 on Royal on our Alaska trip out of Vancouver in 2022. It was glorious! We have been to Glacier Bay a number of times, but experiencing it on our forward facing balcony was the best, just beauty in every direction. 

[essmeier]

OK.  The total eclipse cruise is over.

Thoughts on forward-facing Lido 105:

Unlike most minisuites on Royal-class ships, this minisuite is square.  It had more counter space, more drawers, and a larger closet (with doors!) than what you usually find in a minisuite.

 

Being square, the sofa is near the foot of the bed, so there's no divider curtain in the room.

 

You still get that convenient little semicircular shelf inside the door, though it's now around a corner.  The bathroom and closet are in different places than usual.

The balcony is huge; I calculated the size at about 139 square feet, versus 25 square feet or so for most minisuites, so if you like big balconies, you'll love these rooms.

The wind was not a factor at all when the ship is moving.  The sloping steel wall in front of the balcony guided the airflow over us. 

 

There was no warning sticker on the glass door. There was a sign on the wall next to it warning us to keep the door closed and to keep the curtains closed at night.

We had a small table and two reclining chairs on the balcony, each with an ottoman.  The table is tall enough that you can eat a meal out there if you like.

We were relatively close to the Horizon Court, though a really long way from pretty much everything else.

The only downside of note is that if you're sitting on the balcony, you can't see anything, as the front wall of the balcony is steel, rather than glass.  To see, you must stand.  Not a big deal, but it's worth noting.

Bonus for us - we were able to see the eclipse from our balcony so we didn't have to view it from the main Lido deck with 3000 of our closest friends.

We did share our space during the eclipse with some friends who had balconies that faced away from the event.

All good; we'd book a forward facing balcony again in a minute unless we were planning a cruise in places with heavy seas.  (Drake Passage?  Probably not.)

Recommended.

[2MellowCruisers]

Thank you for updating us with your experience.  Since this is the cruise and cabin we cancelled, I was wondering how it went.  So glad you enjoyed the cruise!

[TAW1963]

1 hour ago, essmeier said:

OK.  The total eclipse cruise is over.

Thoughts on forward-facing Lido 105:

Unlike most minisuites on Royal-class ships, this minisuite is square.  It had more counter space, more drawers, and a larger closet (with doors!) than what you usually find in a minisuite.

 

Being square, the sofa is near the foot of the bed, so there's no divider curtain in the room.

 

You still get that convenient little semicircular shelf inside the door, though it's now around a corner.  The bathroom and closet are in different places than usual.

The balcony is huge; I calculated the size at about 139 square feet, versus 25 square feet or so for most minisuites, so if you like big balconies, you'll love these rooms.

The wind was not a factor at all when the ship is moving.  The sloping steel wall in front of the balcony guided the airflow over us. 

 

There was no warning sticker on the glass door. There was a sign on the wall next to it warning us to keep the door closed and to keep the curtains closed at night.

We had a small table and two reclining chairs on the balcony, each with an ottoman.  The table is tall enough that you can eat a meal out there if you like.

We were relatively close to the Horizon Court, though a really long way from pretty much everything else.

The only downside of note is that if you're sitting on the balcony, you can't see anything, as the front wall of the balcony is steel, rather than glass.  To see, you must stand.  Not a big deal, but it's worth noting.

Bonus for us - we were able to see the eclipse from our balcony so we didn't have to view it from the main Lido deck with 3000 of our closest friends.

We did share our space during the eclipse with some friends who had balconies that faced away from the event.

All good; we'd book a forward facing balcony again in a minute unless we were planning a cruise in places with heavy seas.  (Drake Passage?  Probably not.)

Recommended.

We were in L105 on the Discovery for the roundtrip Hawaii cruise that disembarked a few days before you embarked on your cruise.  Our thoughts parallel those of yours that you mentioned here.  We really enjoyed the cabin too.  Your estimate for the balcony size is about the same as mine. 

 

I suspect that Jay was your cabin steward?  We really enjoyed Jay and thought he was a terrific cabin steward.  

 

We are in L107 on an upcoming Alaska cruise on the Majestic.  We are looking forward (pun not intended) to trying out one of those corner reserve collection mini-suites.  

[essmeier]

On 4/16/2024 at 1:10 PM, TAW1963 said:

I suspect that Jay was your cabin steward?  We really enjoyed Jay and thought he was a terrific cabin steward.  

Jay was our steward, and yes, he was terrific.  He was as good a steward as we've ever had.

 

Edited April 20 by essmeier