Annoying options for 4 people on Princess

NCL quads have a pull out couch that sleeps two. Having my kids sleep together is not an option for all of our collective sanity.

 

I looked closely at HAL, but the ship I was investigating had very few balcony cabins, requiring me to book a larger suite for a quad. This was for 2014. Are Alaska 2015 itineraries out for HAL yet?

 

I do have a Disney cruise already booked (with over a $3000 deposit!), but we are considering a one way cruise based on everything we read here, but yes, Disney has awesome cabins and a number of things for the kids on the boat.

 

 

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The OV cabins on most of the HAL ships are sizeably larger than comparable cabins on Princess. The Princess balcony cabins are pretty much just Oceanview cabins with a balcony and smaller than a HAL cabin, especially on one of the R or S class ships.

Take a look at the Ocean Princess......it goes to Glacier Bay and has many connecting cabins.

 

fyi... Pacific Princess this year (and next)... not Ocean Princess. :)

When our kids were that age, we booked two cabins. A balcony for us and an inside across the hall for them. I used a baby monitor in their room to stay in touch with what was going on in their room. We also went to the pursers desk and had extra keys for their room, so my husband and I each had one. I was in their room in a flash, when they needed me or had a question. They had a great trip and so did we! This usually works out cheaper than a mini or full suite.

The OV cabins on most of the HAL ships are sizeably larger than comparable cabins on Princess.

On the other hand, Princess cabins have much more storage plus there's a large, open closet/dressing area which gives someone more privacy when dressing and another option other than the bathroom or living area. On every HAL ship I've been on other than the Prinsendam, the closets are wardrobes in the hallway outside the bathroom door and you can't open the bathroom door and use the wardrobe at the same time. Edited April 15, 2014 by Pam in CA

On the other hand, Princess cabins have much more storage plus there's a large, open closet/dressing area which gives someone more privacy when dressing and another option other than the bathroom or living area. On every HAL ship I've been on other than the Prinsendam, the closets are wardrobes in the hallway outside the bathroom door and you can't open the bathroom door and use the wardrobe at the same time.

 

Tradeoffs, I suppose. I'm not totally convinced its significantly more storage, but certainly more useful and laid out better. It's nice to have an actual sitting area with a couch. Princess OV and Balcony cabins really lag behind X, RCCL, HAL, and even Carnival in this regard.

We've had aft minis twice on the Alaska itinerary--once on the Coral and the other time on the Diamond--two very different ships, but both were great. Maybe things have changed since then, but when we encountered families with young children off of the HAL ships, they didn't think that they were very kid friendly, and were very impressed with what Princess does for kids in comparison.

 

Les

Since the children are too young to have their own cabin, seems a mini-suite on Princess could work. ;)

LuLu

~~~

Princess OV and Balcony cabins really lag behind X, RCCL, HAL, and even Carnival in this regard.

You're assuming that all Princess ships don't have a couch in cabins lower than a mini-suite and that all HAL cabins do. Not true. :)

 

Oceanview on Princess or HAL?

 

(Princess)

 

HAL desk (top) vs. Princess desk (bottom):

 

Yup... Celebrity balcony cabins are so spacious... and have a couch (unusable since you couldn't use the desk and either table or couch at the same time, with a ginormous 11" between the end of the bed and the wall.)

Princess small ships IMO not a good fit for a 9 and 10 year old.

Princess small ships IMO not a good fit for a 9 and 10 year old.

No, they aren't. But they do have couches in most oceanview cabins. :)

Pam, I'm not here to argue with you. I'm just saying that as great as PCL is, one thing they fall short in compared to other lines is the size of their OV and Balcony cabins. True, they have pretty good storage, but a few extra square feet of "living" space would be nice.

Princess small ships IMO not a good fit for a 9 and 10 year old.

 

 

Thanks for all the information. What would you consider a "small ship" for Princess? Pacific I'm sure but how about Coral?

 

People on this board have been pretty adamant about the Coral being the best for Alaska, and I can't say I figured out what the Crown or Star would offer more for kids, but would love to have opinions.

 

Agree that a mini will work for us, just bemoaning the fact that there is nothing mid-ship and that connecting balconies would work better...

 

 

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Edited April 16, 2014 by ckelly14

Thanks for all the information. What would you consider a "small ship" for Princess? Pacific I'm sure but how about Coral?

 

People on this board have been pretty adamant about the Coral being the best for Alaska, and I can't say I figured out what the Crown or Star would offer more for kids, but would love to have opinions.

 

Agree that a mini will work for us, just bemoaning the fact that there is nothing mid-ship and that connecting balconies would work better...

 

 

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The Coral is fine (actually great) for Alaska IMO. The Pacific and Ocean Princess have only 600 plus passengers. They are quite small. The Coral has 1970 passengers - great size.

 

The mini suites that are towards the aft are better IMO. The aft area of the Coral is a (narrow) viewing deck (as opposed to cabins). It is great to easily get to that area to have a view from the aft.

 

I saw some other comments about Disney. I would personally avoid because they have the weakest itinerary out there for Alaska. The Coral and Island have some of the best itineraries for Alaska. I think they will be fine for your kids and I wouldn't worry about not getting a mid-ship cabin. Once you are on the ship, you will realize the aft area is actually a great choice.

Edited April 16, 2014 by Coral

The Coral is fine (actually great) for Alaska IMO. The Pacific and Ocean Princess have only 600 plus passengers. They are quite small. The Coral has 1970 passengers - great size.

 

The mini suites that are towards the aft are better IMO. The aft area of the Coral is a (narrow) viewing deck (as opposed to cabins). It is great to easily get to that area to have a view from the aft.

 

I saw some other comments about Disney. I would personally avoid because they have the weakest itinerary out there for Alaska. The Coral and Island have some of the best itineraries for Alaska. I think they will be fine for your kids and I wouldn't worry about not getting a mid-ship cabin. Once you are on the ship, you will realize the aft area is actually a great choice.

 

 

 

I see your screen name is Coral so perhaps you are biased... ; )

 

Where is the viewing area and what deck would you recommend?

 

 

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I see your screen name is Coral so perhaps you are biased... ; )

 

Where is the viewing area and what deck would you recommend?

 

 

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It was one of those moments when I was trying to come up with a screen name many years ago and everything I tried was taken and the Coral Princess had just been announced. I have only sailed the ship once but I really do like the ship.

 

This is a great website done by someone on this board which talks about cabins: http://mysite.verizon.net/res76zxu/princessbalconies/index.html

 

If you click on "photos" - you can see the aft of the ship and see they are open areas, some with chairs. It is a great place to get a good view.

 

There are 2 decks that are at the front of the ship that have "private signs" on the doors but they let people go in there for glacier days and when the ship is going through the Panama Canal. I don't remember which decks these are on but someone will probably chime in. These are also great areas for viewing glaciers.

 

If you can get a mini suite that is covered, that would be a win IMO, in case the weather is rainy. Unfortunately, the deck plans I am looking at, I can't tell which cabins will accommodate 4 people.

If you can get a mini suite that is covered, that would be a win IMO, in case the weather is rainy.

 

The aft minis on Dolphin deck (D7XX series of cabins) are fully covered - we've had cabins there on our two Alaska cruises on the Coral. The aft minis on Caribe deck (C7XX series) are partially covered (we had one on the Island on our Panama Canal transit). The aft viewing area on Dolphin has no furniture (it isn't very wide) while the aft viewing area on Caribe is wide and has lounge chairs.

Thanks for all the information. What would you consider a "small ship" for Princess? Pacific I'm sure but how about Coral?

 

People on this board have been pretty adamant about the Coral being the best for Alaska, and I can't say I figured out what the Crown or Star would offer more for kids, but would love to have opinions.

 

Agree that a mini will work for us, just bemoaning the fact that there is nothing mid-ship and that connecting balconies would work better...

 

 

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Coral/Island are excellent and not considered small ships. ;)

Smaller passenger capacity but actually a little longer then the Grand Class ships.

The aft minis on Dolphin deck (D7XX series of cabins) are fully covered - we've had cabins there on our two Alaska cruises on the Coral. The aft minis on Caribe deck (C7XX series) are partially covered (we had one on the Island on our Panama Canal transit). The aft viewing area on Dolphin has no furniture (it isn't very wide) while the aft viewing area on Caribe is wide and has lounge chairs.

 

Thank you!