Mini Suite Vs. Balcony

[snoopy124]

What is the real difference between a high level balcony room and a mini suite on the Golden ship?

What are the benefits of a mini suite?

[chrysalis]

look here.....for a good start at an answer

 

http://www.princess.com/ships/cb/staterooms/cb_staterooms.html

[virgenia]

We usually book a minisuite but on our last cruise decided to try a cabin on Caribe due to extra large balcony. I did not realize how much I missed the mini until we visited a friend's minisuite cabin. As the cruise went along, it became clear that the tradeoff between the extra space on the balcony and the extra space in the cabin is not worth it to me. I will be back to the minisuite for future cruises. The hassle of moving the one chair every time you want to get something out of the desk drawer or you want to actually sit at the desk gets VERY old. Plus, there is nowhere for the second person to sit except on the bed to watch TV unless they want to sit on the hard desk chair, but there is really not enough space for both chairs to be used for watching TV. The minisuite has the loveseat and a second TV and all the space associated with those things. That extra 8' or so makes a huge difference inside the cabin but it did not make that big a difference (to me) on the Caribe balcony. Lesson learned.

[taxatty]

In addition to the various mini-suite amenities (http://www.princess.com/news/article.jsp?newsArticleId=na828&submit=pk):

 

1. Larger bathroom with tub.

2. More space--if you want more than 2 in a room, this is the way to go.

3. Two TVs (of questionable benefit).

4. Except for BAs, a bigger balcony.

 

Les

[Coolmama_1]

We love the sitting area and larger bathroom. For us, the minisuite is the only way to cruise!

[Toto2Kansas]

We usually book a minisuite but on our last cruise decided to try a cabin on Caribe due to extra large balcony. I did not realize how much I missed the mini until we visited a friend's minisuite cabin. As the cruise went along, it became clear that the tradeoff between the extra space on the balcony and the extra space in the cabin is not worth it to me. I will be back to the minisuite for future cruises. The hassle of moving the one chair every time you want to get something out of the desk drawer or you want to actually sit at the desk gets VERY old. Plus, there is nowhere for the second person to sit except on the bed to watch TV unless they want to sit on the hard desk chair, but there is really not enough space for both chairs to be used for watching TV. The minisuite has the loveseat and a second TV and all the space associated with those things. That extra 8' or so makes a huge difference inside the cabin but it did not make that big a difference (to me) on the Caribe balcony. Lesson learned.

 

Very well described in the difference between them. Although we love a balcony, I have never understood why some covet that extra few feet of space out there and give up all the extras a mini suite affords you. I can somewhat understand if the balcony is maybe half covered and half open, but for just a few extra square feet, no way, give me the space inside, a place to comfortably sit down (the both of us), a tub and room to roam inside the cabin itself. I also wonder what others do if they have weather problems on their cruise? Do they stand at the door and look at that large balcony and realize it is unusable? lol I like the best of both worlds. A nice sized balcony and a nice sized cabin, which a mini suite give you every time. ;)