Which Balcony cabin to choose on Crown Princess?

[puppymama1]

We are looking at booking a British Isles cruise for 2021 when the itineraries are released next week.. It looks like it will be the Crown Princess in early May... We are newbies, have only been on 2 Royal Caribbean cruises so far, but have an Alaska cruise booked on Coral Princess for June 2020.  So we have never booked anything this far in advance, but I know I can just keep checking the price and rebook it if the price goes down, so I thought we should go ahead and make the reservation now... My question is... what balcony cabins are the best?  In terms of cabin and balcony size, a covered balcony, good location, etc.... We have been on Serenade of the Seas and had a deck 9 covered balcony that was great... so we would like something similar to that... We would be okay with middle to aft location.. preferably not too high up so my Seabands will work as well as they have in the past!  Thanks for any advice!

[EllieinNJ]

Deck 10 (Caribe) has larger balconies that are half Sun and half shaded.

[jasbo49]

The Crown's balcony cabins will be virtually identical on the inside. Some say they are a bit smaller than other cruise lines' balcony cabins. It's been awhile since we've cruised another line, so it's hard for me to say.

 

The difference comes in the size of the balcony. As EllieinNJ said, the Caribe deck had bigger balconies than most. They are about 9 by 9, compared to 9 by 5 on most decks. Aft-facing balconies have differing sizes depending on the various decks. You can check these on the deck plans on the Princess website.

 

Be aware that the Princess balcony cabins have almost nowhere to sit, just one desk chair. So if you want a sofa and another chair, consider a mini-suite. Their balconies are about 9 by 7. The ones on the Emerald deck have covered balconies, while the ones on Dolphin are uncovered.

 

Jim

[puppymama1]

34 minutes ago, jasbo49 said:

The Crown's balcony cabins will be virtually identical on the inside. Some say they are a bit smaller than other cruise lines' balcony cabins. It's been awhile since we've cruised another line, so it's hard for me to say.

 

The difference comes in the size of the balcony. As EllieinNJ said, the Caribe deck had bigger balconies than most. They are about 9 by 9, compared to 9 by 5 on most decks. Aft-facing balconies have differing sizes depending on the various decks. You can check these on the deck plans on the Princess website.

 

Be aware that the Princess balcony cabins have almost nowhere to sit, just one desk chair. So if you want a sofa and another chair, consider a mini-suite. Their balconies are about 9 by 7. The ones on the Emerald deck have covered balconies, while the ones on Dolphin are uncovered.

 

Jim

Thanks Jim... we have a mini suite booked on our Alaska cruise on the Coral next year... Not sure if we can afford to do the mini suite on this British Isles cruise... unless the launch fares I saw were wrong, it looks like the price difference is $600 per person, and we still have to figure out how to afford this cruise in the first place, LOL!   Maybe we can book the balcony now and see if the price difference comes down later.... 

[puppymama1]

47 minutes ago, jasbo49 said:

The Crown's balcony cabins will be virtually identical on the inside. Some say they are a bit smaller than other cruise lines' balcony cabins. It's been awhile since we've cruised another line, so it's hard for me to say.

 

The difference comes in the size of the balcony. As EllieinNJ said, the Caribe deck had bigger balconies than most. They are about 9 by 9, compared to 9 by 5 on most decks. Aft-facing balconies have differing sizes depending on the various decks. You can check these on the deck plans on the Princess website.

 

Be aware that the Princess balcony cabins have almost nowhere to sit, just one desk chair. So if you want a sofa and another chair, consider a mini-suite. Their balconies are about 9 by 7. The ones on the Emerald deck have covered balconies, while the ones on Dolphin are uncovered.

 

Jim

Thanks Jim... we have a mini suite booked on our Alaska cruise on the Coral next year... Not sure if we can afford to do the mini suite on this British Isles cruise... unless the launch fares I saw were wrong, it looks like the price difference is $600 per person, and we still have to figure out how to afford this cruise in the first place, LOL!   Maybe we can book the balcony now and see if the price difference comes down later.... 

[puppymama1]

One more question... I know you said the balcony cabins will be identical on the inside, but is there a way to know which ones would NOT have the upper pullman bunks?  We are only 2 people, so don't need them and would prefer a cabin without them since it's easier to move around... thanks!

[jasbo49]

5 minutes ago, puppymama1 said:

One more question... I know you said the balcony cabins will be identical on the inside, but is there a way to know which ones would NOT have the upper pullman bunks?  We are only 2 people, so don't need them and would prefer a cabin without them since it's easier to move around... thanks!

 

If you check the Princess deck plans:

 

https://www.princess.com/deckPlans.do?shipCode=KP

 

You should be able to click on Caribe deck, then change the number of guests to 3 or 4 and it will highlight the cabins that have extra beds.

 

Jim

[ell52]

16 minutes ago, puppymama1 said:

One more question... I know you said the balcony cabins will be identical on the inside, but is there a way to know which ones would NOT have the upper pullman bunks?  We are only 2 people, so don't need them and would prefer a cabin without them since it's easier to move around... thanks!

Whether or not there are pullmans for 3rd or 4th passengers should make no difference to your ability in the use of cabin space. When not in use, they are completely recessed out of the way. 

[puppymama1]

9 minutes ago, ell52 said:

Whether or not there are pullmans for 3rd or 4th passengers should make no difference to your ability in the use of cabin space. When not in use, they are completely recessed out of the way. 

Thanks Jim and Ell... I didn't know they were recessed... Our first cruise ever was on Empress of the Seas and it was a last minute booking and we were in an oceanview with 2 pullmans that were hanging down even when they were not in use... That was a pain to get around, so we were trying to avoid ever doing that again!

[Colo Cruiser]

I agree about Caribe deck! 

They are great!

[ell52]

6 minutes ago, puppymama1 said:

Thanks Jim and Ell... I didn't know they were recessed... Our first cruise ever was on Empress of the Seas and it was a last minute booking and we were in an oceanview with 2 pullmans that were hanging down even when they were not in use... That was a pain to get around, so we were trying to avoid ever doing that again!

You're welcome.  If still available, you should look at the aft balcony cabins on Caribe deck - C752 or C753. They are on the corner and completely covered.  Great aft/side views.  They are very popular and usually go very quickly! Otherwise, any other Caribe deck balcony is good. 

[JimmyVWine]

Here is a video tour of a Caribe Deck Balcony cabin on Crown Princess. It is a bit out of date, but most of what you will see is accurate in terms of size and layout.  Note that the chair that the woman moves away from in front of the refrigerator will no longer be in the cabin.  That is the "barrel chair" that people have noted is no longer provided in Balcony level cabins.

 

 

Edited August 7, 2019 by JimmyVWine

[puppymama1]

Since the cruise we are looking at is 12 days, we may just go ahead and reserve a mini-suite instead... we have a year and a half to figure out how to pay for it.... LOL.... Any recommendations on which deck or room class for those?  I know on the Coral Princess it was recommended to go for certain cabins on deck 9 (Dolphin) since they were covered and other mini suite balconies were not covered.... Is that the same on the Crown Princess?  Also, which side is better for British Isles cruises, or does it not matter?  Thanks so much for your help!

Edited August 7, 2019 by puppymama1

[JimmyVWine]

1 hour ago, puppymama1 said:

Any recommendations on which deck or room class for those?

Unlike Coral Princess, Mini-Suites are not spread around the ship on Crown Princess.  They are concentrated on Dolphin Deck with a few on Emerald Deck, aft.  The Dolphin Deck Mini-Suites are all uncovered, meaning that the extended length of the interior space pushes the cabin outward to the point where the balcony extends completely beyond the furthest reach of the balcony above it, resulting in the entire balcony being open air to the sky above.  See photo below.  This shows the view of a Dolphin Balcony taken from someone standing on a Caribe Deck balcony.

 

 

The Mini-Suites on Emerald deck by contrast, are completely covered/shaded because they sit beneath Dolphin Deck cabins and since the cabins on Dolphin Deck are the same size, the two overlap one another, whereas the Caribe Deck cabins are shorter in length so they don't cover the Dolphin Deck cabins.  If shade/privacy are a serious concern, you MUST book an Emerald Deck Mini.  If you don't mind the open air and unobstructed view of the night sky, then go with Dolphin.

 

As for "class", the only difference between the various classes is location until you get mid-ship on Dolphin where the cabins transition to "Club Class Minis".  With regular Minis, the closer to mid-ship, the "higher" the class and higher the price. Once you get to mid-ship on Dolphin Deck, all the cabins are Club Class which entitles you to a special area of the Anytime Dining room with a few additional dining options.  If you book an Emerald Mini, you cannot get Club Class.  And if you prefer Traditional Dining, then there is no good reason to pay extra for Club Class.  

 

Hope this helps.

Edited August 7, 2019 by JimmyVWine

[puppymama1]

That helps tremendously, Jimmy!  We will definitely book the Emerald deck.... I would prefer to be closer to the middle of the ship, but we definitely want a covered balcony... especially in the British Isles where I am sure we will have rain at least some of the days... thanks so much for your help!

[SSAtlantic]

Interested in the Emerald mini suites also. Which side is better to avoid noise from beneath?

Thanks

[Colo Cruiser]

3 minutes ago, SSAtlantic said:

Interested in the Emerald mini suites also. Which side is better to avoid noise from beneath?

Thanks

We have had both side facing aft ones and the aft facing corner suites.

Never had a problem with noise from Club Confusion/Vista Lounge etc etc. 

[JoRoy218]

We lucked into a Caribe corner aft (C752) on a Med Cruise last year, on Crown. Best cabin ever! 

Edited August 8, 2019 by JoRoy218

[terrysko2000]

We loved the aft Riviera deck 14 on the Crown. We were just down the hall from the door going out to the aft pool and bar. Great place to spend the day. Did I mention adult only pool!