dolphin deck mini-suite balcony not private?

I am booked for a Princess Alaska cruise this summer. A mini-suite on the Dolphin deck. I read recently where it said the balcony is not private. Does anyone know just what they mean. I'm hoping for some private time with husband....breakfast on balcony. Any insight would be appreciated. This is the only deck to offer mini-suite's.

If the Sapphire and Coral are the same class ships, yes your balcony will be fully exposed to everyone above you.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/suzycruisy/coral_princess_inspection

On the bottom left of this photo page, click on the 4th pic, which is another shot of the Dolphin deck.

There are also minis on the Emerald deck, which is fully covered.

Madelinerose

Thank you for the pictures!! They were great and gave me a good idea of what my balcony will look like. What a good idea to take pictures of the ship like that. I never would have thought of it. Looks like the dolphin deck bump out has a more private balcony. I'm going to see if I have a cabin or can get one in the bump out.

;)

Where is the bump out I will be in D503 Will I be exposed so to speak

Hello All!

We were on the Diamond twice. It is the sister ship to the Sapphire. In fact, the Sapphire was suppose to be the Diamond (and vice versa) but they switched due to a fire during construction.

The "D" (Dolphin) decks are exposed from above. The best mini-suites in my opinion are on the "E" (Emerald) deck as it is cut in under the Dolphin deck. The 2 best mini-suites on "E" in my opinion are the ones "AE" at the back side of each side - not end. Check out the size of the balcony - it is twice the size of a normal mini-suite balcony. When these ships first came out, these 2 cabins were the cheapest of the mini-suites until someone realized that the balconies were configured this way. They weren't on any previous Princess ships. Now they are the most expensive. We were fortunate to have one of these on the Diamond the Mexican Riviera in March 2004 and on the Diamond to Alaska in July 2005 and it was worth every minute of it. Talk about privacy on a ship!

Good luck and you will love Alaska. We can't wait to go back. If you have a chance, take the seaplane to Taku Lodge in Juneau - what a trip! It is one of the best shore trips we have taken. We didn't book it thru the ship - we booked it thru another company.

BobbyG:cool:

P.S. We're going on the Serenade of the Seas to the Southern Caribbean on March 25th out of San Juan. I am a cabin junky; we will be in Junior Suite 1100 on Deck 10 - check it out and try to get it if you do any of the RCCL "Radiance" class ships

bobby G

I am going on the Vision of the Seas in Feb to the mexican rivera. You seem to have a good idea of "where to be". I also booked a junior suite but have not gotten my stateroom yet. (It's booked with a large group and they haven't started room assignments yet) I told them TA I wanted to pick my room.....so....which should I ask for?

#1survivorfan-

I haven't been on the "Vision" class of RCCL but check out their deck plans. If I see correctly, there are only junior suites on deck 8. From what I understand, #8086 and #8586 have partial obstructions. If it were me, I would go for either #8088 or #8588 in the aft corners first or any of those in between them if those are not available.

We did the Mexican Riviera a few years ago and went on an awesome shore excursion in Cabo. The captain of the boat and his brother built the boat we went out and it was immaculate. We went out looking for whales but the boat trip itself is worth it! His daughter made homemade guacamole, lunch was great, etc. I'll dig his business card up at home and let you know how to contact him.

BobbyG:cool:

P.S. Only 5 weeks from Saturday and we'll be boarding the "Serenade" in San Juan!

The Sapphire and Coral are not sister ships, but all of the Dolphin deck minis are open to viewing from people above. Mind you, almost nobody ever spends time actually looking at you, but it's a possibility. There are some fully covered minisuits on Emerald Deck that you might like.

On Vision, none of the JS cabins across the stern have partially obstructed views. We've sailed in 8088 and 8086. 8088 has a wrap-around balcony that is awesome - you can see to the side and to the rear of the ship. 8588 is the mirror image. For sailing from LA, I would pick 8588 first for the sailaway views. Any of the cabins in between them would be terrific, too, IMHO. The JS cabins along the sides have balconies that are cut from the hull, so they are fully enclosed - a little small and a little dark for my liking. The cabins have the same interior layout.

BobbyG, if you and I are on the same cruise on a Radiance class ship, it'll be a race for 1100! That's our favorite!:D

Hello All!

 

We were on the Diamond twice. It is the sister ship to the Sapphire. In fact, the Sapphire was suppose to be the Diamond (and vice versa) but they switched due to a fire during construction.

 

The "D" (Dolphin) decks are exposed from above. The best mini-suites in my opinion are on the "E" (Emerald) deck as it is cut in under the Dolphin deck. The 2 best mini-suites on "E" in my opinion are the ones "AE" at the back side of each side - not end. Check out the size of the balcony - it is twice the size of a normal mini-suite balcony. When these ships first came out, these 2 cabins were the cheapest of the mini-suites until someone realized that the balconies were configured this way.

I am surrently booked in an AA guarantee on the Sapphire, but just checked and the AE on the Emerald deck is available. I just had a question before I changed my booking - it looks like there is a door to a public outside deck area right where the balcony is. Did you find there was much noise or was there a partition? It is cabin E728 on the Sapphire deck plan.

Thanks for any insight!

There's no public deck there - we checked it out hoping to have a view of the wake, and it's just an emergency/crew stairwell. This was on the Diamond, but she's a near twin of the Sapphire, so I imagine it's the same.

Do you feel more ocean wave action in the back? My husband gets seasick and can't stand on the front or back for long before feeling queasy. That's why I have a mid ship suite now

We were a little more forward in E-719, as I recall, and it was an incredibly smooth sailing from LA to Vancouver. I think that being that low on the ship helps a lot. We did notice the aft thrusters at work as we came into port, a bit of vibration, but nothing too dramatic.

One thing to be aware of on the port side is that there is a nightclub directly beneath you. Some passengers have complained that the bass from the sound system bleeds through to the cabin. We didn't have that problem on the starboard side, which on the Diamond anyway is the entrance to the club. The sound system & dance floor were portside.

Hello All!

Critterchick is right on with her comments; there is no door to the ouside by the 2 "AE" mini-suites on the Emerald Deck of the Diamond/Sapphire. Those areas shown there on the deck plans are just inside areas. That is why the balconies are so private. We were on both sides - once to the Mexican Riviera (E731) and once to Alaska (E728) on the Diamond. We didn't have a problem with lounge noise on either. The lounges are fully closed and you can't hear noise on the balconies from the lounge. I would highly recommend these. As I said before, there are only 2 of them and they went from being the cheapest to the most expensive mini-suites. It is amazing the view you have from them in Alaska since you are closer to the water/land.

BobbyG:cool:

(Bob and Linda - Naperville, IL)

I am booked for a Princess Alaska cruise this summer. A mini-suite on the Dolphin deck. I read recently where it said the balcony is not private. Does anyone know just what they mean. I'm hoping for some private time with husband....breakfast on balcony. Any insight would be appreciated. This is the only deck to offer mini-suite's.

 

 

We were on the Sapphire last summer in Dolphin 724 mini-suite. Going to Alaska we didn't really spend a lot of time on the balcony since it was a bit cold. All of the balcony cabins above you have nearly a full view of your balcony. If I had to choose again, I would have taken the deck immediately below us on Caribe, I think. Going to Alaska it was rainy going through the fjords and would have been a little nicer on the balcony had we had a covered and more private balcony. If you enjoy being social with your upstairs neighbor, you'd enjoy the Dolphin Deck. If not, I'd probably pick a lower deck to have the protected cover, with more privacy as well.