help!!!

[Gistfamily]

Just received a e-mail from Princess that an mini-suite on dolphin is available. I have a premium balcony on Caribe now. which is better? cost is $974 more. Is it worth it?

[kylea_s]

You didnt say which ship, how many days, or is that 974 each or total?

[eandj]

Do you need the little extra room? Look too at location of room. Seems like a lot of money to me. We wouldn't make a switch from a room we personally chose and were happy with unless... there was little or no charge or was a BIG improvement. Unlikely.

 

Comes down to you and what you see as a value.;)

 

An "upgrade" isn't always an upgrade as you read here often.

[UnObstructedView]

Just received a e-mail from Princess that an mini-suite on dolphin is available. I have a premium balcony on Caribe now. which is better? cost is $974 more. Is it worth it?

 

Ooh! Please provide some details.

They will be interesting to see!!

[Pam in CA]

Just received a e-mail from Princess that an mini-suite on dolphin is available. I have a premium balcony on Caribe now. which is better? cost is $974 more. Is it worth it?

It all depends. With a mini, you'll get a larger cabin with a sitting area, couch, 2nd TV and more storage, and a larger bathroom with a tub/ shower. No perks other than a glass of (bad) sparkling wine at sailaway. Your balcony is completely uncovered.

 

With the Caribe balcony cabin, you get a standard cabin and bathroom but a larger (bigger than the mini's) balcony that's half- covered/half-uncovered.

 

It's up to you whether the extra space is worth the extra money.

[Mom33]

Which matters to you more, a bigger balcony or a sofa and tub? We started out in minis, but once we had our first Caribe balcony we stuck with it. If we were on a very long cruise, we would get a mini however.:D

[Gistfamily]

Ok I deserved that. We are on the sept 28th trans canal cruise. 15 days out of Los Angeles. I checked and this is supposed to have a fully covered balcony. but is it the 9x9 like the premium or smaller? the mini suite is D708 and the premium is C527. $974 total.

[JimmyVWine]

We always get a MS, but...we always travel as a family of three and the sofa is essential, and my wife strongly prefers taking baths to taking showers. That said, if we were only traveling as a couple, I would test the waters (so to speak) to see if my wife could survive for a week without a bath tub. If I could convince her to do so, I would gladly take a Caribe cabin and woudn't pay for an upgrade to a MS. Bottom line....how much is a bathtub and a sofa worth to you? Because that is what you are buying when moving from Caribe to Dolphin. These are pretty much personal choices that folks here can't really decide for you.

 

Edit to add: The Dolphin balcony will be fully covered, so that may be a plus (or a minus) for you depending on your point of view.

[Seabreeze8]

Just received a e-mail from Princess that an mini-suite on dolphin is available. I have a premium balcony on Caribe now. which is better? cost is $974 more. Is it worth it?

 

Not to me as we have been on both balcony and mini-suite cabins and the balcony works fine for us. At $500 per person (I'm basing it on double occupancy) it's still a lot of money. If you are happy with your current cabin, why pay more?

[mamaboss]

As someone who was upgraded for free from a mid caribe to a mid dolphin mini, I would not unless for free. The larger cabin however is wonderful! Big drawback for me was the balcony completely in the sun. If you like lots of sun and the mini they are offering is covered then that's a drawback for you. If I was getting a mini for free I would take it anywhere but would not pay for it.

[Northender]

Ok I deserved that. We are on the sept 28th trans canal cruise. 15 days out of Los Angeles. I checked and this is supposed to have a fully covered balcony. but is it the 9x9 like the premium or smaller? the mini suite is D708 and the premium is C527. $974 total.

 

Do you have a TA. He/She may be able to talk to Princess and get "better" pricing for you. Just a thought.:)

[cruiserdru]

Guessing you are on the Coral or the Island.

 

The mini-suite balcony will be about 9x5, so, no, it is not the 9x9 of the premium. (And I question if the premium is 9x9 on those ships as cabin and balcony sizes are smaller on them and details show 64 sqft for the premium balcony.) However, it is fully covered and the Caribe is partly covered.

 

It is a question of what you find the most important and where you spend your time. Your premium cabin is 248 sqft, including a 64 sqft balcony - 184 sqft inside. The mini is 302 sqft, including a 49 sqft balcony - 253 sqft inside. I am partial to having lots of inside space and the tub and will sacrifice the bigger balcony for that space.

 

You may view it differently but almost $1000 is a lot to find out which you like better.

 

Enjoy your cruise either way.

[lor74]

Seems like too much $$$ for extra room space. I paid less than that when I was upgraded from a mini to a full suite...it was only a 7 day.....but you got a lot more bang for your $$$

[Seabreeze8]

On our Panama Canal cruise, the price for the mini-suite dropped to the price for our balcony so basically we got upgraded for free. Either way, we would still have enjoyed the cruise just as much.

[PescadoAmarillo]

I dislike showering in a bathtub. I'd say NO, thank you.

[loliola]

Ok I deserved that. We are on the sept 28th trans canal cruise. 15 days out of Los Angeles. I checked and this is supposed to have a fully covered balcony. but is it the 9x9 like the premium or smaller? the mini suite is D708 and the premium is C527. $974 total.

 

Well, it must be on the Coral...the balcony is definitely smaller on the mini than the Caribe deck stateroom. According to Tom O's great site, the Caribe deck large balcony is partially covered

http://mysite.verizon.net/res76zxu/princessbalconies/id3.html

I'd keep the C527 and sock the $974 away towards my next cruise :rolleyes:

Have a great time; I loved our Panama cruise on Coral's sister ship Island!

[Samanthamelody3]

Personally I wouldn't upgrade for that amount of money, unless they are willing to budge on it.

A premium balcony would suit me just fine, but depending on what you're used to and if you need the space will be your decision makers.

[cruznliz]

We've done the Canal a couple of times and one time it rained (actually poured) ALL day. The covered balcony was wonderful. ;)

[Holomoku]

Just received a e-mail from Princess that an mini-suite on dolphin is available. I have a premium balcony on Caribe now. which is better? cost is $974 more. Is it worth it?

 

We have had minis on a couple of cruises, but only when upgraded for free of a fee of $40. Now that we have done a couple of those the extra room was nice but not worth the extra money. We specifically book Caribe Balconies now for the partial coverage to keep rain out. Just our thoughts on the isssue.;)

[skynight]

Ok I deserved that. We are on the sept 28th trans canal cruise. 15 days out of Los Angeles. I checked and this is supposed to have a fully covered balcony. but is it the 9x9 like the premium or smaller? the mini suite is D708 and the premium is C527. $974 total.

 

C527 is a great mid ship cabin in a great location with a 9'x9' balcony half covered, half uncovered. Plenty of space on the balcony to lounge, and to dine if you like room service. Very little space inside the cabin to sit and dine.

 

D708 is a larger aft cabin with a seating area, larger bath and a nice size balcony. If you like to dine inside your cabin the mini suite has much more room for that.

 

The extra cost is really the factor here. The mini will cost you approx. $33/day per person including the slight increase in the hotel charge. Is the extra space worth it to you? That's the question you have to answer. We personally would not change unless the upgrade was at no charge.

 

By the way the Coral Princess is a great ship, along with it's sister the Island they are my favorite Princess ships.