Review of Window Suite

[Roses2]

We have just finished a cruise in one of the new WS Suites on the Golden Princess, our first of 13 Princess cruises without a balcony.

From our perspective, the perks of a full suite far outweighed the loss of the balcony. We certainly will consider a WS again if the price differential is not too significant (on this cruise the WS was only a few dollars more than a mini).

Although not as large as we had envisioned, we found the new WS to be very comfortable and very well appointed. The 32” flat screen TV is mounted so it is easily viewed from the sitting area as well as from the bed. The suite is well decorated in nice muted tan colors.

There is much more storage and closet area than in the mini-suites. Our suite had a sofa bed, arm chair and table, in addition to the usual desk, mini-fridge, etc. and did not seem crowded at all. The only design flaw in the cabin was that both large windows were obscured by built-in construction across the bottom that cut off one-half of the view out the window from the room. Only by going directly to the window could you enjoy the full window view.

The full suite perks are what made the huge difference, of course the perks are somewhat less if you already enjoy them as an Elite – we are still 2 cruises short, but finish those in November.

The suite perks include: The special breakfast menu each morning in Sabatini’s with mimosa or champagne, a sensational way to begin each day; sending out your laundry and dry cleaning gratis so you are packing clean rather than soiled clothes at journey’s end; champagne on arrival; those extra heavy robes; special tender tickets that ensure an early trip ashore, those tasty chocolate covered strawberries or other canapés of your choice delivered every afternoon, the complimentary initial mini-bar set up to your desires, totally unlimited internet from your room on your laptop for each of you, and the other extra services just make the cruise a bit special and, for us, after the first day or two we just forgot about not having a balcony and enjoyed the special services.

We were not especially impressed with the special cocktail hour for elite and suite passengers held each evening. However some of the cruisers seemed to really enjoy it. While we have never been disappointed with Princess’ cabin service, our steward, Alan Pena, was superb and was especially attentive to our every want or need.

P&J

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for your review, I will add a few pictures.

[Colo Cruiser]

[mycruz]

Thanks for the review and the pictures!

[Dame Delilah]

Thanks, looks like something we would VERY definitely consider in the future based upon your review. Quite frankly we were afraid to book -- since it was a total unknown!

Thanks again

[dforeigner]

Awesome, thanks.

[vikqueen]

Thanks for the great info and pics!

[2pbears]

Good to know. Is the Golden the only ship that has the WS?

[donna5]

We were in WS F301 on this cruise, we had just taken a guarentee. F301 is the smallest of the Window suites and is configured diff. There is no built in along the windows so seeing out them from the bed or couch is a plus. Space for the sitting area is smaller. The cabin beside not being as wide as the other WS is also not as deep. When I gave the Steward our DVD request, he said "But maaam you don't have a DVD player. The engineer and his underling came in and of course said "Why didn't they put one in" (Like I would know and I can't believe no one complained before our Cruise) The did hook up a DVD player to it, then the coffee table had to be pushed up against the wall to hold the player. The sound was apparently not hooked up right and couldn't use it so they fixed it the next night. It was hit or miss whether we got invitations to the Cocktail Hour. The steward said noone in his WS got it the first night. When I talked to the Captains Circle Hostess she said it is housekeeping/stewards fault. (They said talk to the Hostess). Fortunatley for this board we already knew about. On other nights we would get either one, two(one for elite and one for suite) or none. But we would just go up and check. The only night they did not have it, was the Captains Circle Pary night. They acutally had 3 C.C.'s that night.

Did receive the corsage and boutinere the first formal night. Only received the "enhanced turndown chocolates on the last formal night.

Did enjoy Sabatininis.
Did enjoy the special price $5 cocktail each evening in Skywalkers for elite/suites. Appetizers were nothing special.

[unboringuy]

The CB has them as well.

[TorontoTL]

Beautiful cabin, thanks so much for the review of the WS. I certainly would probably choose a WS over a mini if they were about the same price.

[bellebaby]

Roses - Thanks for the review.

Did you notice noise from the casino above? Smoky smell from the casino above or cigar bar down the hall? Noise from other passengers on the way to the dining room?

For future cruises, if available, will you consider a WS again?

Thanks for your input.

B

[Roses2]

Absolutely no noise from the casino or anything else above or below. As stated, the only noise we heard was in the afternoon from a brass band in the atrium. Other than that, there was no noise problem and we were in the end suite open to the atrium.
No one except suite passengers use the passageway by the WS suites.

Certainly if we ever see the same bargain we got on the WS on this cruise we would grab it in a second.

J&P

[bellebaby]

Thanks for the additional information. We have booked a WS for Alaska next year. Really looking forward to it...

B

[Druke I]

For those of those who don't have to always have a balcony, the WS look quite nice.

Thanks for the comments and photos.

[Quilter n Cruiser]

Really appreciated the comments and reveiw. The pictures wonderful and so delighted to get an idea of the WS category as Princess doesn't have a floor plan or picts of the new category. Based on the above info we have booked a ws for Feb and looking forward to a new experience.
Thanks everyone

[Kyana]

so have we. Really looking forward to our first Princess Cruise