Mini Suite vs. Balcony

[IUFAN]

On all of our cruises we have had balcony rooms. I was wondering if people who get the mini do it totally based on the price compared to a balcony? Or is it once you've had a mini you will never go back to a balcony regardless of the price?

[serene56]

We only had regular balconies in the past. Mostly aft ones. But on the Crown I saw the mini suite E731 became available for only 80 bucks more so we jumped on it. I am sure if the price was higher we woulda left it go.

[JerseyGuys]

Our first cruise with in E731 on CB. THe room was great. However most recently we went regular balcony, because there was a big difference in price. I can tell you truthfully that I wouldn't pay that much extra for a mini suite...It was nice but we don't spend that much time in the room, and when we do, we are usually sitting on the balcony, so the extra sitting area in the mini suites isn't used that much. The larger bathroom is very nice however.

 

If I could get if for less that $200 over the cost of a regular balcony, i'd take it

[dcrow72]

the Princess minisuites are larger than the balcony rooms. The minis have a full bath, including tub, where the balconies only have shower stall. The minis also have a nice size living room area will full sofa and an extra TV. After seeing how small the balcony cabins are, we would never go back. On most cruises the minis are not that much more expensive. If you decide to go for the minis, try the AD ones on Emerald deck. They are the same size but the balconies are covered. If E730 or E731 is available take it! The balcony is twice as long as the others! We were lucky enough to snag it for our cruise this Oct on the CB.

[jlvlaw]

On all of our cruises we have had balcony rooms. I was wondering if people who get the mini do it totally based on the price compared to a balcony? Or is it once you've had a mini you will never go back to a balcony regardless of the price?

 

 

You never go back. Except, if it meant going or not going I might have a serious debate on my hands. :D

[ModelDoc]

I had a balcony on my first cruise, and although I was satisfied with the space, my DH was not. On our 2nd cruise, we went up to a mini, and have never turned back. The mini definitely has the extra space, including a separate room with a couch and tv. For our upcoming cruise, we're trying a full suite, so I'm sure my current sentiments on a mini suite will change here soon. I couldn't imagine going back to a balcony room, no matter what the price was. :)

 

Angela

[ilv2sail]

We get mostly minis, but have gone back to a balcony once. I have to say that for me personally, I LOVE the extra room that the tub gives for showering. The larger bathroom is very nice too, and lastly the sofa is really nice too for when you want to be comfortable but don't want to lay in bed.

 

We go for minis...price *almost* doesn't matter, lol. BUT, if there are no minis available and we really want to go on a cruise, we'll consider a balcony.

 

We haven't yet made that jump from mini to full suite yet...I'm REALLY afraid that after a full suite the mini won't be quite as tempting, lol. j/k

[mizLORInj]

We like balcony cabins; my dad had minisuite once (Dolphin deck?) and though the room was nice with sitting area, I didn't like the fully exposed balcony.

[1FatPER]

You never go back. Except, if it meant going or not going I might have a serious debate on my hands. :D

 

I agree with jlvlaw. We got a mini suite for the first time in 2005, and have not gone back to a balcony since. The extra space and bigger bathroom are worth it, imo.

 

John

[Nebr.cruiser]

We've used mini-suites only for quite a whle but recently sailed in a balcony room on the CB because of an outstandingly great price. We were kind of shocked at how small it seemed when we first stepped in the door, after being used to a mini-suite.

 

We did miss the size of the mini, especially the bathroom and sofa area; the balcony room seemed really cramped. But, for the price difference we were fine and wouldn't mind doing just a balcony again.

 

I actuallly like the minis on Carnival better for their square shape rather than the long narrow ones on some Princess ships.

 

Also, on Grand class ships I'm not too fond of the uncovered balcony found in most mnis; there are some with covered balconies on Emerald deck, but these are hard to find available..

 

So, if I can find a mini-suite at an acceptable price, I'll always go with that, but we won't turn down a balcony if the price is good enough.

[kooljamming]

We had a chance to get a mini but was encouraged to stick with our aft balcony. I thought the extra room on the mini would have been nice but don't mind the smaller bathroom. Traveling in February, I like the fact the aft balcony is covered verses the uncovered mini we would have gotten at the front of the ship. I kept the aft balcony because of location and view, but might have gone for the mini otherwise.

[luvlake]

We choose the mini for the extra seating room and larger bath. I do not like sitting on my bed and so couch was nice. We were also traveling with DD, SIL and 2 grand daughters. They spent quite a bit of time in our room and so couch was used quite a bit.

[cuterlmt]

I'm probably an odd one, but we had a mini last cruise. It only cost $200 more than our balcony cabin for the week, and thought we'd try it. It was ok. The extra space was nice, but the couch was not comfortable, having two TVs didn't really make sense. It was nice to have a tub, except that I kept getting hurt climbing in and out of it, and once fell and hurt myself. Still suffering the consequences of that. Most of the time, I was out on the balcony. Most of the time, my hubby wasn't in the room, or was out on the balcony with me. It was pretty rare that we spent time on the sofa.

So I'm back to loving my balcony cabins, and back to the shower curtain that is in love with me. lol

[the_dylaness]

the Princess minisuites are larger than the balcony rooms. The minis have a full bath, including tub, where the balconies only have shower stall. The minis also have a nice size living room area will full sofa and an extra TV. After seeing how small the balcony cabins are, we would never go back. On most cruises the minis are not that much more expensive. If you decide to go for the minis, try the AD ones on Emerald deck. They are the same size but the balconies are covered. If E730 or E731 is available take it! The balcony is twice as long as the others! We were lucky enough to snag it for our cruise this Oct on the CB.

 

We had E731 for the repo cruise with you this past October... it was really great. Sailaway was especially wonderful out there, as we could use the extension to see farther behind us.

 

Having sailed in two Grand-class balconies and one Grand-clas mini, it would have to be a pretty small difference in price for me to book the mini again. I liked our large (deep) caribe deck balconies pretty well. The sitting area in the mini is OK but it's a little awkward and not all that comfortable. I did like the bigger bathroom and used the tub several times.

[dcguy9]

I think if you have 2 people in the room, a balcony cabin is just fine unless the price difference is very little. But, if you have a 3rd person, a minisuite is definitely preferred, especially if you have a small child who takes baths. The extra living space is a huge factor in that case.

[monalloh]

We had a mini for the first time this past year for a northbound voyage of the glaciers cruise. We really chose the mini to get the larger balcony and did not mind that it was uncovered at all; if this bothers you, go for a mini with a covered balcony on dolphin deck. I enjoyed sitting on the couch and being able to look out at the passing scenery. I LOVED the tub even though I only used it to shower; there was so much room! Obviously money is always an issue; in a few weeks I'll be in an inside cabin on the Emerald--it still beats staying home and shoveling snow in Pennsylvania!

[hubofhockey]

I think if you have 2 people in the room, a balcony cabin is just fine unless the price difference is very little. But, if you have a 3rd person, a minisuite is definitely preferred, especially if you have a small child who takes baths. The extra living space is a huge factor in that case.

 

On Carnival, we were okay with the four of us (kids will be 11 & 9 on next cruise) in a regular balcony room. When I saw the size and configuration of the quad balcony on Princess, I freaked out and moved to a mini. I was lucky to get e731 but would have moved to any mini.

[Nancyquilts]

I love any balcony - the larger, the better. It's hard to beat the Caribe Deck balconies on some ships. I almost resent it when, for financial reasons, I can't have a balcony.:( But any cruise is better than no cruise.

[shawilson]

On Princess, we will only take a mini suite on Emerald (?) deck, the covered ones. DH gets up very early and I don't. The extra TV and couch gives him a place to relax, while I get to sleep.

 

We enjoy Carnival because you don't have to book a suite to get a couch area.

 

If I couldn't have a mini on Princess, then I wouldn't go any lower than a Caribe balcony room.

 

Sorry if this sounds bratty, I need to be comfortable when I travel.

[JennAngel9]

My first two cruises (travelling with as a teen) were in inside cabins. My subsequent several cruises were in balcony cabins and I felt the difference was huge and I would never go back to not having a balcony. Around cruise 7 we tried a minisuite on Princess and were not very impressed (although I think we were paying about $100/night/person more!) I did enjoy the extra room in the bathtub-- but DH is a bit above 6' and he actually prefers the tiny showers because he can barely stand up in the shower/tub and his head is above the faucet. FWIW, we feel the same way about RCCL's JS and Celebrity's Sky Suites (although we love the larger balconies-- but most Princess ships have some balcony staterooms with equivalent balconies to the JS).

 

We have decided that unless there is less than 5-10% price difference, we would prefer to spend the money on a longer cruise, sanctuary passes, etc. Also (and Princess is much better about not doing this than RCCL and Celebrity), I will never again trade a slightly larger bathroom/balcony in a junior suite for being below a sports deck, pool deck, or other noisy area.

 

I completely understand why other people love the JS, I just wanted to add my a contrary opinion for balance.

[pekachryn]

We have kind of alternated between minis and balconies, usually depending on the price and availability. I especially prefer minis for longer cruises with many sea days, as we are in the cabin more than on shorter ones or those with many ports. I do admit that I don't like the uncovered balconies on the Dolphin mini-suites on some ships, and prefer the covered ones on the Emerald deck.

 

We are booking a MR cruise in March, and are probably going to go for a balcony. A mini on the Dolphin deck is only $200 more pp, but the balcony cabin has an extra large balcony and is covered.

[Cruise Raider]

On all of our cruises we have had balcony rooms. I was wondering if people who get the mini do it totally based on the price compared to a balcony? Or is it once you've had a mini you will never go back to a balcony regardless of the price?

 

We tried a mini suite last year as there was a mistake by the internet agency that charged the same price for both rooms (balcony and mini). I called asked if they didn't want to honor it, they wouldn't have to but she politely agreed that it would be no problem. I could book it for that listed price.

 

Anyhow, kind of glad for the experience as what I realized is that for us, there was no identifiable benefit to the mini suite. Having a balcony over an oceanview or an oceanview over an inside is definitely a plus. I did not however feel that way about a mini over a balcony.

 

Don't get me wrong, if the same pricing ever showed up again, I would pick the mini suite but wouldn't pay more for that over a balcony room.

I would, however, pay for a larger balcony but the room size just didn't make any difference to us.

 

Just my opinion...probably not shared by many.

[kf657]

We recently changed from a 2 balconies to 2 mini suites. The cost was minimal. So we decided to go for it. Mainly for the larger bathroom. I love my baths and one son has a few mobility issues and the larger bathroom will be great. We are excited to sail the Ruby in April!

[unboringuy]

We haven't gone back, as we really like minis. If you can afford the extra $$ I think it is defnitely worth it.

[ILOVEMEXICO]

Our first cruise was for 7 days and we were in a mini on the dolphin deck - was great but then for the second, we wanted to go for two weeks, so we opted for a balcony on the Baja deck based on price; we loved the covered balcony and didn't mind not having the extra space inside as when we are in our room, we are usually on the balcony. This time we are again going for two weeks and have booked a caribe balcony room which I think is going to be the best - bigger balcony and half covered and half not. Next cruise we hope to be able to book an aft cabin on the caribe deck:rolleyes: