Balconys

Having only been on the Sun Princess once on a back to back

cruise Dec 07 to New Zealand and New Caledonia, I have to say the

midships cabin was smaller than we expected and the balcony was

hardly worth calling a balcony.

We are thinking of doing another cruise but wonder what the cabins

called Oceanview are like please?

It is either go up a grade to a mini suite or down one grade to the Oceanview.

Has anyone opinions on these acommodations please?

Having only been on the Sun Princess once on a back to back

cruise Dec 07 to New Zealand and New Caledonia, I have to say the

midships cabin was smaller than we expected and the balcony was

hardly worth calling a balcony.

 

We are thinking of doing another cruise but wonder what the cabins

called Oceanview are like please?

 

It is either go up a grade to a mini suite or down one grade to the Oceanview.

 

Has anyone opinions on these acommodations please?

No experience, but I have a Dawn Princess brochure! :rolleyes: She is identical to Sun Princess. Don't know about the newer ships, if you were thinking of Diamond Princess cruises over summer and so forth.

The DP brochure says 'oceanview with balcony' cabins are 'approximately 17 sq m, including balcony', 'deluxe oceanview' (no balcony) are 'approximately 16 sq metres', and 'oceanview' (also no balcony) are '12 to 14 sq metres'.

Mini-suites are listed as '34 to 50 sq metres'.

I know where I would be if funding was not an issue! :)

I highly suggest upgrading to a mini suite. You do feel like you have a lot more space in the cabin and the balconies are much larger, but don't get on the Dolphin deck or you will be fully exposed to everyone. Hate those! :eek:

Having only been on the Sun Princess once on a back to back

cruise Dec 07 to New Zealand and New Caledonia, I have to say the

midships cabin was smaller than we expected and the balcony was

hardly worth calling a balcony.

 

We are thinking of doing another cruise but wonder what the cabins

called Oceanview are like please?

 

It is either go up a grade to a mini suite or down one grade to the Oceanview.

 

Has anyone opinions on these acommodations please?

We just got off of the Crown and had a mini suite on Dolphin deck. I loved the fully exposed balcony and will book the same deck for our next cruise. The extra room the mini suite offered was great!

Having only been on the Sun Princess once on a back to back

cruise Dec 07 to New Zealand and New Caledonia, I have to say the

midships cabin was smaller than we expected and the balcony was

hardly worth calling a balcony.

 

We are thinking of doing another cruise but wonder what the cabins

called Oceanview are like please?

 

It is either go up a grade to a mini suite or down one grade to the Oceanview.

 

Has anyone opinions on these acommodations please?

I've sailed on the Dawn, which is a twin to the Sun, in a deluxe oceanview (Caribe 309). It was quite spacious -- the window wall is even with the railing of the balconies on that deck, so it actually had more inside space than the balcony cabins did. I thought it was quite spacious, more so than my balcony cabin on the Crown, and would definitely book that category again. I don't see the need to spend the money for a mini-suite, but then I travel solo so don't need that much 'extra' space, nor do I mind the small bathrooms -- I always consider them part of the fun of cruising, and would rather spend my money on martinis than cabin space. Hope this helps a little.

Many thanks for all the replies to my questions.;)

It is interesting what people think about covered and not

covered balconies. We have just had one on the Fred Olsen

line and it was covered so we could not get any sun at all.

Which proved to be a waste of money.

I guess there are good and bad points for this!

Having only been on the Sun Princess once on a back to back

cruise Dec 07 to New Zealand and New Caledonia, I have to say the

midships cabin was smaller than we expected and the balcony was

hardly worth calling a balcony.

 

We are thinking of doing another cruise but wonder what the cabins

called Oceanview are like please?

 

It is either go up a grade to a mini suite or down one grade to the Oceanview.

 

Has anyone opinions on these acommodations please?

Our very last balcony cabin was on the Dawn Princess years ago. We also agree with you, the size of the stateroom and the balcony just weren't adequate in any way.

From that moment on, we booked only mini suites on the Sun Class ships and have sailed several times each on the Sun, Sea and Dawn. Both in AC (side) minis and AB (aft) minis, and also full suites.

One thing about the mini suites on the Sun Class ships, they are designed more like the full suites on the larger ships and well worth the extra price in our opinion.

If you can possibly upgrade to a mini, either AB or AC, you will be more than glad you did because of the layout, extra space and balcony area. Just keep in mind that the AC side minis have the same narrow balcony, but it is twice the length with entrance from both the sitting area and the sleeping area. And the depth of the AB aft minis depends on the deck your stateroom is located on. Some are smaller than others, some are larger. But all are GREAT staterooms!

I highly suggest upgrading to a mini suite. You do feel like you have a lot more space in the cabin and the balconies are much larger, but don't get on the Dolphin deck or you will be fully exposed to everyone. Hate those! :eek:

I agree. I don't care for the fully exposed balconies either, but not all of the Dolphin deck balconies are that way. Ours on the Coral (D716) was fully covered.

Check out http://cruisedeckplans.com/DP/Princess/odell/res76zxu/princessbalconies/index.html

for info on the Coral and Island balconies. It's a great site when researching a cabin choice on these ships. I know it helped us.

The Sun and the Dawn do not have the tiered balconies that the newer/larger ships have. They were originally designed without balconies and then changed by cutting the balconies out of the side of the ship. The balconies are small and very private. They are all covered and have room for two chairs and a small table. The side minisuites have a wider balcony........the width of the cabin, which is like two rooms, but no deeper. I think the balconies must be about four feet from the cabin door to the railing, and in a regular balcony cabin, about seven-eight feet wide. We liked them for the privacy, but they are nowhere as large as the ones on the newer/larger ships built for Princess. I haven't been in an aft cabin on the Sun/Dawn, so cannot speak to that.

I agree. I don't care for the fully exposed balconies either, but not all of the Dolphin deck balconies are that way. Ours on the Coral (D716) was fully covered.

 

Check out http://cruisedeckplans.com/DP/Princess/odell/res76zxu/princessbalconies/index.html

for info on the Coral and Island balconies. It's a great site when researching a cabin choice on these ships. I know it helped us.

Is there a similar site for the Grand Princess??

Great answers. I don't think I would ever book a non-balcony cabin. It just seems that the time we spend in our cabin when we aren't sleeping is on the balcony - even in Alaska!

The mini-suites are certainly the best value for getting a more spacious cabin and a larger balcony - even if the larger size is due to the width.

We're booked on the Pacific Princess in Oct 2009. Does anyone know if the cabins have refrigerators? Also, Anyone know how far up the bulkheads go? I'm kind of short and hope I can see out while sitting on the balcony.

Lorraine

We were on the Pacific's sister, the Tahitian, last month. Yes, the cabins have small refrigerators. To my knowledge, all Princess ships have refrigerators in the cabins, no matter what category.

There is no problem seeing out from the balcony. We had the kind of railing that is the plexiglass panel from the floor up and is topped with a teak railing, and from pictures I have seen, the Pacific's are the same.

Cruiseroz,

Ships of the same class as the Sun (the Sea and the Dawn) have smaller balconies than other classes in the fleet.

On most of the ships, the best balconies are on the Caribe deck. They are usually wider from the exterior wall of the ship to the railing. We've had them on the Golden, the Island and the Diamond, and I think those were about 9 feet out from the wall of the ship. Also, they are half covered, so when you want sun, you can just pull your chairs out by the railing. If you want shade, or it's raining or windy, keep the chairs back next to the ship's wall, and you are more protected.

I agree. I don't care for the fully exposed balconies either, but not all of the Dolphin deck balconies are that way. Ours on the Coral (D716) was fully covered.

 

Check out http://cruisedeckplans.com/DP/Princess/odell/res76zxu/princessbalconies/index.html

for info on the Coral and Island balconies. It's a great site when researching a cabin choice on these ships. I know it helped us.

I just checked our cabin on this site on the Coral and found it is exposed. Exactly what does this mean? no one over you? thank you.

If your cabin balcony is fully exposed, it means that it has no "roof" over it. That in turn means that you will have no cover if it rains, and that people on cabin balconies above you can look down onto your balcony. This also means that you have a lot of sun for sunbathing for half the day if you are traveling north or south.

Thank you. Not sure I like that but guess we'll deal with it. :)

It's all about knowing what is important to YOU! some people don't like exposed balconies but others like full-sun. If I had my dream cabin, it would be a mini-suite on the Caribe level--huge room plus huge balcony (half-covered) but that's not an option on the Grand class ships. So choose balcony room on Caribe OR mini-suite on Dolphin. We like the larger rooms, full bathroom plus we don't care about the exposed balconies--no one is paying any attention to US with a million-dollar view outside!

enjoy your cruise

We were on the Pacific's sister, the Tahitian, last month. Yes, the cabins have small refrigerators. To my knowledge, all Princess ships have refrigerators in the cabins, no matter what category.

 

There is no problem seeing out from the balcony. We had the kind of railing that is the plexiglass panel from the floor up and is topped with a teak railing, and from pictures I have seen, the Pacific's are the same.

We were on the Tahitian Princess this August and our mini-suite didn't have that irritating blue plexiglass panel. Our railing was open allowing us a great view.

I don't know what I was thinking! It must have been about the other Princess ships I've been on. :confused: And it's only been a little over a month since we disembarked!

I just checked my pictures and found one that shows the open balcony railing. Here's the one I found.

Having only been on the Sun Princess once on a back to back

cruise Dec 07 to New Zealand and New Caledonia, I have to say the

midships cabin was smaller than we expected and the balcony was

hardly worth calling a balcony.

 

We are thinking of doing another cruise but wonder what the cabins

called Oceanview are like please?

 

It is either go up a grade to a mini suite or down one grade to the Oceanview.

 

Has anyone opinions on these acommodations please?

We have had a balcony suite and a mini-suite. We will alwyas get a mini-suite from now on and have one booked for our March 4th '09 Pananma cruise.