How do four people fit in a balcony stateroom?

[Fritzie]

We're a family of 4 sailing on the Island next month. We have a balcony stateroom--not a mini--and for the life of me, I cannot figure where the two extra beds go! My TA says there's a fold-out couch, but I've been looking at the floorplans and don't see any.:confused: I do see there is a note that says my room may accommodate 3 or 4 people. Just wondering how exactly that's done, short of one of us sleeping on the balcony!

Anyone with pictures/explanations?

Thanks!

[Toto2Kansas]

I would get a new TA to start with! ;)

There are NO fold out couchs in a balcony cabin on the Island.

There will be two lower single beds and two upper type bunks that fold out of the wall or drop from the ceiling. No sitting area at all to speak of during the day but one upholstered small chair and a desk chair.

 

I sure wish these TA's would look into some of this stuff before they pass along the wrong information to their clients. ARGH!

[Corkum22]

The two extra beds are located in the ceilings. They are actually the most comfortable beds I've ever slept in. They fold down, which creates a somewhat cramped quarters when all 4 beds are in use, but it's a convenient way to keep everyone in the same room.

 

Hope this helps, and hope you have a great cruise!!!

[Beryl]

You should also know that they will generally not configure the 2 lower berths to a queen if you are using the upper berths.....for safety reasons.

 

Toto...sounds like they need more "Commodore" TAs! :D Perhaps they'd hire you and me!.....Nah...they couldn't pay me enough!

[MaryPoppinz]

Invite your TA to come with you -- there's room for her on the fold out couch. ;)

[Lynda90]

Just amazes me that a TA would not know the configuration of a balcony cabin on Princess. This person must be brand new; can't think of any other reason to not know this. He/she should at least have researched this before giving out incorrect information.

[Toto2Kansas]

Toto...sounds like they need more "Commodore" TAs! :D Perhaps they'd hire you and me!.....Nah...they couldn't pay me enough!

 

Beryl, sometimes I read stuff like this that travel agents put out and it explains why some passengers return from their cruise and it has not at all met their expectations. Well heck, if you are told the wrong info, that could really make you unhappy once you get to your stateroom, I know it would me.

 

I still remember a guy on our cruise on the old Crown Princess to Tahiti, you could hear him yelling all the way down the hall. The poor room steward took the blunt of his anger when the man opened the door to his balcony cabin and yelled "wait a minute, this can't be my room, I didn't pay for a closet, I was told there would be a sofa in there". The guy was so angry knowing he had 12 days ahead of him with the Princess type balcony cabin. I was pretty sure the man had also been misinformed and trusted whoever he booked with and had not researched his cabin on his own. I mean, if you can't trust your TA, especially new cruisers, who can you trust? Back then, there wasn't internet for research like there is today.

 

I also agree, no thanks, they couldn't pay me enough!

[kendon]

We do it all the time as a family of four. It's not fun, but we manage. We spend little time in the room and lots of time on our balcony (we call the Promenade deck our balcony!). Saves us money for excursions.

[Coral]

Some people may use brick and morter TAs who sell all types of vacation packages and may not sell many cruises. While I agree with the above that they should have checked it out before answering the question - I think those of us who use Cruise Only agents are lucky to book with specialists as my guess is the majority of people out there book with agents whose cruise sales make up only a small fraction of their sales. While we know Princess inside and out - those who sell a lot of Disneyworld/Las Vegas vacations probably do not. I do have to commend the agent - they did recommend Princess :)

[DrivesLikeMario]

The beds that come down from the ceiling are very comfortable. I just wouldn't want to squish that many people in a regular balcony cabin.

You're more adventurous than I! :eek:

[Fuzzzy]

I would get a new TA to start with! ;)

There are NO fold out couchs in a balcony cabin on the Island.

There will be two lower single beds and two upper type bunks that fold out of the wall or drop from the ceiling. No sitting area at all to speak of during the day but one upholstered small chair and a desk chair.

 

I sure wish these TA's would look into some of this stuff before they pass along the wrong information to their clients. ARGH!

I agree 1,000%. I am not a TA but I know this stuff too.

 

I always tell folks to check your facts before you open your mouth.

[Fritzie]

The two extra beds are located in the ceilings. They are actually the most comfortable beds I've ever slept in. They fold down, which creates a somewhat cramped quarters when all 4 beds are in use, but it's a convenient way to keep everyone in the same room.

 

Hope this helps, and hope you have a great cruise!!!

 

Thanks--your response was most encouraging, given that this is our first cruise as a family. :o

And our TA is with an agency that specializes in Alaskan cruises... Hmm....

Well, we'll make lemonade out of it all if we need to! And we plan to spend a lot of time on our balcony and in the rest of the ship! (I guess we don't really have a choice now, do we?!)

Thanks for all the responses.

[suziehmkr]

We had 3 in a balcony cabin, and was originally booked for 4. If you go into it with the right attitude, then you will do fine. The one thing that our cabin steward pointed out is that when both beds are down, it is more difficult to view the TV by the person in the farthest pullman and the person under it. If we did have the 4 people, we still would have been ok with it. We aren't there to watch TV. We did book a Caribe Deck balcony so we had more room out there and it didn't seem cramped at all. I think we would have done well if our other daughter had decided to come after all. And this was a 15-day cruise.

 

And even with the one pullman used, we were still able to use the queen below. We just put the ladder at the end and she moved it out of the way after she crawled up there. No issues at all.

[Cruise Gypsy]

Does anyway have a picture of the bunk beds? I am having trouble picturing it in my head?

[Coral]

Thanks--your response was most encouraging, given that this is our first cruise as a family. :o

And our TA is with an agency that specializes in Alaskan cruises... Hmm....

 

Well - I called that totally wrong. I thought it would be a local agency.

[Fritzie]

Thank you, Suziehmkr!

I'm obsessed with having all the details before we sail. Ultimately, I'm not going to be able to change anything, so it is all about the attitude! And a week on a cruise beats just about anything else, anyway! :D

[suziehmkr]

Sure - and now that I think about it, the other person in the pullman closest to the TV wouldn't be able to see either because I think they pull down facing each other... I am not making any sense. But needless to say - any tv watching will need to be done when the beds are up.

 

But it is Alaska! Who needs tv? You have be BEST scenery out on your balcony. Have a GREAT time. While we weren't thrilled with certain aspects of Princess, we did LOVE the Island Princess herself. She is easy to navigate and very pretty! Enjoy Alaska, spend alot of time on your balcony and drink in that view! I am jealous... we were supposed to be in Alaska next week on the Radiance and cancelled several months ago due to some conflicts. I wish you beautiful weather when you get there. :)

[JPO]

A number of folks here say "how could a TA give wrong info" but I think there is room for confusion. We are booked on the Dawn C629 which is a balcony cabin. Most of the info we have seen says that these cabins do not have a sofa but if you go to the Princess online booking for our cruise and say you want to book a balcony cabin the descriptive text says "Twin beds that make up into a queen-size bed. Separate sitting area with sofa bed and desk. Spacious closet and bathroom with shower. Approximately 179 square feet including balcony.". Although we would really like to have this sofa bed in our cabin, I'm not holding my breath. [And I'm hoping that our waitlist request for a mini comes through.]

[Toto2Kansas]

A number of folks here say "how could a TA give wrong info" but I think there is room for confusion. We are booked on the Dawn C629 which is a balcony cabin. Most of the info we have seen says that these cabins do not have a sofa but if you go to the Princess online booking for our cruise and say you want to book a balcony cabin the descriptive text says "Twin beds that make up into a queen-size bed. Separate sitting area with sofa bed and desk. Spacious closet and bathroom with shower. Approximately 179 square feet including balcony.". Although we would really like to have this sofa bed in our cabin, I'm not holding my breath. [And I'm hoping that our waitlist request for a mini comes through.]

 

Again, totally confused on Princess describing this cabin like this. Here is the description copy and pasted from the Dawn Princess section on the Princess website as to that room:

 

On Dawn Princess, Room C629 represents the Oceanview Double With Balcony stateroom and is located on the Caribe Deck.

Two lower beds, which make up into a queen-size bed. Sitting area with desk. Balcony. Television. Refrigerator. Spacious closet. Approximately 179 square feet including balcony.

 

I can't find any description for that cabin on the Dawn on Princess which describes it with a sofa bed. Just a sitting area with a desk, which is all that is offered in all of the balcony cabins. Only thing they are leaving out is that there is one small upholstered chair next to the desk also.

[cruzegirl]

How do four people fit in a balcony stateroom?

 

We're a family of 4 sailing on the Island next month. We have a balcony stateroom--not a mini--and for the life of me, I cannot figure where the two extra beds go! My TA says there's a fold-out couch, but I've been looking at the floorplans and don't see any.:confused: I do see there is a note that says my room may accommodate 3 or 4 people. Just wondering how exactly that's done, short of one of us sleeping on the balcony!

Anyone with pictures/explanations?

Thanks!

 

V E R Y C A R E F U L L Y!.....lol...... Sorry, couldn't pass that up.......

Ok, on a serious note..... Get your travel agent involved.... Not all rooms sleep 3 or 4 people. I almost made a mistake on one of my cruises of booking for 2 (the 3rd was iffy) with the assumption that I could just "add on" a 3rd person later. Not so.... Thank god I checked on it early...... We were fine but it could have been a problem. With that said, we were 3 women in the cabin and did fine. It will be easier with if you have small kids space wise.... But 4 adults, that would be tough..... There are often 2 bunks that come out of the wall..... I personally don't care for that..... It doesn't seem stable for me...... lol...... good luck

[Coral]

Again, totally confused on Princess describing this cabin like this. Here is the description copy and pasted from the Dawn Princess section on the Princess website as to that room:

 

On Dawn Princess, Room C629 represents the Oceanview Double With Balcony stateroom and is located on the Caribe Deck.

Two lower beds, which make up into a queen-size bed. Sitting area with desk. Balcony. Television. Refrigerator. Spacious closet. Approximately 179 square feet including balcony.

 

I can't find any description for that cabin on the Dawn on Princess which describes it with a sofa bed. Just a sitting area with a desk, which is all that is offered in all of the balcony cabins. Only thing they are leaving out is that there is one small upholstered chair next to the desk also.

 

Toto - the quad balcony cabins on the Sun class are a totally different beast. They have a bench (couch) that makes into a bed and a bed on the other side of the wall. They have 2 beds that come out of the wall. The 1 lower bed and one bench are anchored to the wall. Imagine walking into a closet with 2 beds on either side. They are the most undesireable cabins on the Sun class ships. If 2 people have this room - the beds can not be made into one.

 

So, technically there is a couch but I would call it a sitting bench that is soft. It is not a couch in the traditional sense.

[JPO]

Again, totally confused on Princess describing this cabin like this. Here is the description copy and pasted from the Dawn Princess section on the Princess website as to that room:

 

On Dawn Princess, Room C629 represents the Oceanview Double With Balcony stateroom and is located on the Caribe Deck.

Two lower beds, which make up into a queen-size bed. Sitting area with desk. Balcony. Television. Refrigerator. Spacious closet. Approximately 179 square feet including balcony.

 

I can't find any description for that cabin on the Dawn on Princess which describes it with a sofa bed. Just a sitting area with a desk, which is all that is offered in all of the balcony cabins. Only thing they are leaving out is that there is one small upholstered chair next to the desk also.

 

If you go to the Princess site and pretend you want to book the Dawn 24Sep08 cruise and follow the steps to book a balcony you will get to the description I posted. I know that does not describe the actual room (in fact, except for the sq. ft. it sounds like the room we were just in on the Royal).

[nchank]

On the Dawn Princess our outside balcony had 1 chair and 1 stool in the cabin plus the beds and 2 chairs on the balcony. I can't imagine 4 people in that stateroom.

 

We have booked a mini suite on the Coral P for our next trip.

[Toto2Kansas]

Toto - the quad balcony cabins on the Sun class are a totally different beast. They have a bench (couch) that makes into a bed and a bed on the other side of the wall. They have 2 beds that come out of the wall. The 1 lower bed and one bench are anchored to the wall. Imagine walking into a closet with 2 beds on either side. They are the most undesireable cabins on the Sun class ships. If 2 people have this room - the beds can not be made into one.

 

So, technically there is a couch but I would call it a sitting bench that is soft. It is not a couch in the traditional sense.

 

Coral, I remember those pics someone (might have been you) posted for the quads, very tiny space from what I saw. I just couldn't understand where Princess was listing this balcony cabin on this ship with a sofa bed, as I could not find it no matter how hard I looked. Thanks for the reminder on the quads though. ;)

[cruzinchris]

On Dawn Princess, Room C629 represents the Oceanview Double With Balcony stateroom and is located on the Caribe Deck.

Two lower beds, which make up into a queen-size bed. Sitting area with desk. Balcony. Television. Refrigerator. Spacious closet. Approximately 179 square feet including balcony.

 

Only thing they are leaving out is that there is one small upholstered chair next to the desk also.

 

DH and I were in C601 that is along the same part of the alleyway and same category as C629. We definitely didn't have a bench/sofabed - there's barely room for the "comfy" chair - and the space between the corner closet and foot of the bed is a little tight ;) .

 

I know that C629 was exactly the same as our stateroom because there was a small fire in that cabin during our cruise. The doors were kept open while the room was being aired/cleaned following the mishap. Anyone who was in their stateroom in that section of the alleyway was asked to leave until the situation was under control. We went walking on Promenade deck and had barely made it halfway around when the "all clear" was announced by Captain Tony.

 

We loved the Dawn and would sail her again in a heartbeat.

Chris