Island Princess Promenade Balcony Cabins

[cricketts]

Since they are newer, I'm wondering if there are any differences in the Promenade balcony rooms and the other balcony cabins on the Island Princess.  I know the balconies are covered and have teak decking... but are there differences in the room itself?

[spookyfudge]

We booked this balcony for our upcoming world cruise, would love to know the answer to it.

[StrawberryHill]

if they are the new cabins added during the butchering( retrofit) of the Island Princess  performed a few years ago, they have paper thin walls.  The cabins added are not of the same construction as the original ship ( i.e. metal walls ).   Pls look for other reviews of the Island Princess added cabins

 

[spookyfudge]

Thanks, hopefully on a world cruise people will not be noisy, elder group of passengers.

[Dunk]

I have stayed in one of these cabins. 

 

The décor in the cabins is the same as on a Royal-Class ship (padded headboard, darker colored wood, etc.) The other nice thing is that the balcony is teak instead of rubber mats or bare metal. 

 

Given that-I'd never book the Island again, since they added so many more passengers, and got rid of tons of public space to do it, and didn't add an International Café in the process. Coral Princess is far superior. 

[cricketts]

45 minutes ago, Dunk said:

I have stayed in one of these cabins. 

 

The décor in the cabins is the same as on a Royal-Class ship (padded headboard, darker colored wood, etc.) The other nice thing is that the balcony is teak instead of rubber mats or bare metal. 

 

Given that-I'd never book the Island again, since they added so many more passengers, and got rid of tons of public space to do it, and didn't add an International Café in the process. Coral Princess is far superior. 

 

3 hours ago, StrawberryHill said:

if they are the new cabins added during the butchering( retrofit) of the Island Princess  performed a few years ago, they have paper thin walls.  The cabins added are not of the same construction as the original ship ( i.e. metal walls ).   Pls look for other reviews of the Island Princess added cabins

 

 

45 minutes ago, Dunk said:

 

 

Thank you very much for the input!

We don't have a choice of ship for the itinerary, and I think we would really like the covered teak balcony.  I guess I hope we're not too loud for our neighbors!!

Edited January 12, 2021 by cricketts

[Paula_MacFan]

You might find this thread interesting.  We too are booked on the Island for a very itinerary-specific cruise, so we'll have to make the best of the ship to get where we want to go 🙂  I found the pictures and review on that thread helpful.  

 

 

[SouthAltaCruisingFamily]

We did a full transit during March 2018.  We had either PR712 or PR716 as a BE Balcony cabin.  We also had PR726 which is a S5 suite. 

Some notes to take into consideration when choosing a cabin on this deck (at least on the port side)....

-The white spot between cabins 718 & 722 is a crew area which had an ice machine.

-The very aft (in the middle) had two separate areas.  One was a linen storage and the other was a crew access.  If my memory serves me well this was a stair case for crew members but I am not 100% sure.

-Right in front of Inside Cabin PR708 there was another crew area with linen storage.

-One additional note from other pax was the inability to fully enjoy the balcony for handicap stateroom PR702.  Their complaint was this was just a standard balcony "wall" that had an opening on the top and bottom.  As traffic from the promenade becomes a dead end, passengers were required to go inside the ship.   They stated that they heard a lot more noise than normal.

-During sea days on this particular sailing we did have considerable wind that created a whistling in the BE cabin which was annoying at night time.  We did check to ensure that the balcony door was shut tight.  I do not know if this is a regular occurrence or just a once in a while happening.

Please note that these were our observations from almost 3 years ago.

[cricketts]

3 hours ago, SouthAltaCruisingFamily said:

We did a full transit during March 2018.  We had either PR712 or PR716 as a BE Balcony cabin.  We also had PR726 which is a S5 suite. 

Some notes to take into consideration when choosing a cabin on this deck (at least on the port side)....

-The white spot between cabins 718 & 722 is a crew area which had an ice machine.

-The very aft (in the middle) had two separate areas.  One was a linen storage and the other was a crew access.  If my memory serves me well this was a stair case for crew members but I am not 100% sure.

-Right in front of Inside Cabin PR708 there was another crew area with linen storage.

-One additional note from other pax was the inability to fully enjoy the balcony for handicap stateroom PR702.  Their complaint was this was just a standard balcony "wall" that had an opening on the top and bottom.  As traffic from the promenade becomes a dead end, passengers were required to go inside the ship.   They stated that they heard a lot more noise than normal.

-During sea days on this particular sailing we did have considerable wind that created a whistling in the BE cabin which was annoying at night time.  We did check to ensure that the balcony door was shut tight.  I do not know if this is a regular occurrence or just a once in a while happening.

Please note that these were our observations from almost 3 years ago.

 

Thank you very much!  It is helpful to know what the details of the deck plan represent 🙂 

[cricketts]

4 hours ago, Paula_MacFan said:

You might find this thread interesting.  We too are booked on the Island for a very itinerary-specific cruise, so we'll have to make the best of the ship to get where we want to go 🙂  I found the pictures and review on that thread helpful.  

 

 

 

Great link!  Thank you!!

[Grego]

Interesting observations regarding those aft balcony cabins on Promenade Deck.  We looked at booking one of those for our November 28-day Med/Israel/TA/Port Everglades because it looked like the balcony and cabin was larger.  When we looked at some of the photos of those cabins we saw that they might be as great as we thought so we booked one on Emerald Deck instead.

I do recall now that when they added those cabins they took away a full Promenade Deck.  It was an attempt to add more passengers for the revenue.  Glad they didn't do this with the Coral Princess.

[Paula_MacFan]

12 hours ago, SouthAltaCruisingFamily said:

We did a full transit during March 2018.  We had either PR712 or PR716 as a BE Balcony cabin.  We also had PR726 which is a S5 suite. 

Some notes to take into consideration when choosing a cabin on this deck (at least on the port side)....

-The white spot between cabins 718 & 722 is a crew area which had an ice machine.

-The very aft (in the middle) had two separate areas.  One was a linen storage and the other was a crew access.  If my memory serves me well this was a stair case for crew members but I am not 100% sure.

-Right in front of Inside Cabin PR708 there was another crew area with linen storage.

-One additional note from other pax was the inability to fully enjoy the balcony for handicap stateroom PR702.  Their complaint was this was just a standard balcony "wall" that had an opening on the top and bottom.  As traffic from the promenade becomes a dead end, passengers were required to go inside the ship.   They stated that they heard a lot more noise than normal.

-During sea days on this particular sailing we did have considerable wind that created a whistling in the BE cabin which was annoying at night time.  We did check to ensure that the balcony door was shut tight.  I do not know if this is a regular occurrence or just a once in a while happening.

Please note that these were our observations from almost 3 years ago.

 

Thank you for this detailed info!  I had looked all over for info on the blank spot between 718 & 722, so it's good to know that is a crew area with ice machine.  

[Alaskanb]

15 hours ago, SouthAltaCruisingFamily said:

We did a full transit during March 2018.  We had either PR712 or PR716 as a BE Balcony cabin.  We also had PR726 which is a S5 suite. 

Some notes to take into consideration when choosing a cabin on this deck (at least on the port side)....

-The white spot between cabins 718 & 722 is a crew area which had an ice machine.

-The very aft (in the middle) had two separate areas.  One was a linen storage and the other was a crew access.  If my memory serves me well this was a stair case for crew members but I am not 100% sure.

-Right in front of Inside Cabin PR708 there was another crew area with linen storage.

-One additional note from other pax was the inability to fully enjoy the balcony for handicap stateroom PR702.  Their complaint was this was just a standard balcony "wall" that had an opening on the top and bottom.  As traffic from the promenade becomes a dead end, passengers were required to go inside the ship.   They stated that they heard a lot more noise than normal.

-During sea days on this particular sailing we did have considerable wind that created a whistling in the BE cabin which was annoying at night time.  We did check to ensure that the balcony door was shut tight.  I do not know if this is a regular occurrence or just a once in a while happening.

Please note that these were our observations from almost 3 years ago.

We hope to be in PR 726 in mid October. Do you have any comments or issues you experienced? Thanks

 

[SouthAltaCruisingFamily]

We experienced zero problems on this trip with PR726. 

We enjoyed the covered aft balcony immensely although it was tight for more than two people. 

While we were transiting the canal, we were not allowed in our staterooms during the actual transit (as they were afraid if a cable snapped) but we could sit out there while going through the lake and the cut.  We elected to take the credit and not use the Sanctuary the day of the transit.

If memory serves me correct, the deck plan is not a true indication of the floor plan.

The bank of closets will be on the top right(sort of the straight line down on the L), the couch/living room area will be against the wall with stateroom PR728, the beds are on the very port wall (where the PR726 is written),  the bathroom is in the top left corner, and the desk area is squeezed in between the beds and the bathroom.  The entrance to the suite is between the living area and the closet bank.

The shower was fully enjoyable and double the size of our Coral Princess C633 (BD handicap stateroom).  We experienced zero issues that others have reported - meaning we did not have any soot on our balcony furniture, we had zero issues with vibrations, etc. 

I would book this suite in a heartbeat again.

[cricketts]

5 hours ago, Grego said:

Interesting observations regarding those aft balcony cabins on Promenade Deck.  We looked at booking one of those for our November 28-day Med/Israel/TA/Port Everglades because it looked like the balcony and cabin was larger.  When we looked at some of the photos of those cabins we saw that they might be as great as we thought so we booked one on Emerald Deck instead.

I do recall now that when they added those cabins they took away a full Promenade Deck.  It was an attempt to add more passengers for the revenue.  Glad they didn't do this with the Coral Princess.

 

What was it about the Promenade cabins that didn't look so great?  I've looked at pictures also and don't see much difference.  Why did you choose Emerald deck?  TYIA

[Grego]

16 hours ago, cricketts said:

 

What was it about the Promenade cabins that didn't look so great?  I've looked at pictures also and don't see much difference.  Why did you choose Emerald deck?  TYIA

We like being on Emerald deck because of its location to decks 5, 6 and 7 where we spend most of our time when not on Lido deck.  What I didn't see from the pictures was a very wide view from the balcony which I could be wrong about since there weren't many photos on the site I use that showed balcony scenes.

[Dunk]

On 1/12/2021 at 10:31 AM, cricketts said:

 

 

 

Thank you very much for the input!

We don't have a choice of ship for the itinerary, and I think we would really like the covered teak balcony.  I guess I hope we're not too loud for our neighbors!!

I really did not notice that the rooms had more or less insulation than on any other ship. You'll be fine. 🙂

[2Sojourners]

On 1/14/2021 at 11:15 AM, Dunk said:

I really did not notice that the rooms had more or less insulation than on any other ship. You'll be fine. 🙂

Where can I find pictures.....

I have locked and looked

[Dunk]

6 hours ago, 2Sojourners said:

Where can I find pictures.....

I have locked and looked

There's a picture in this thread: 

 

 

[uspearls]

On 1/3/2021 at 10:28 PM, cricketts said:

Since they are newer, I'm wondering if there are any differences in the Promenade balcony rooms and the other balcony cabins on the Island Princess.  I know the balconies are covered and have teak decking... but are there differences in the room itself?

We're booked in PR722 in 2022 and I very intentionally went for this deck. There are some great observations in this thread but a couple of other things I'll add from my research.  These newly added balconies have slightly bigger showers and include the contemporary Princess height adjustable shower, rather than the "old" fixed showerhead that is present in the rest of the Island's cabins.  The flat screen TV is wall mounted opposite the bed, as standard on Royal class, rather than the small flat screen perched at an angle on a shelf next to the sliding glass doors.  The cabin/balcony is larger as well - just under 250 sq.ft. as opposed to closer to 220 sq.ft. for most of the original balconies - although most of that additional space is on the balcony (the covered and sheltered setup is perfect for our Norway/Iceland cruise).  Personally, I think it's a great location as well, tucked away and hopefully quiet. 

 

Someone may have mentioned but it deserves mentioning often - cruisedeckplans.com is a fabulous resource for cabin pics - and videos!  Pay the small membership fee - you can make it back if you want by submitting pics.  I didn't find a better place for previewing these cabins on the Island.

 

We chose the itinerary rather than the ship but I'm not worried about the negative comments on the Island.  I loved the Sky and will try the Enchanted in a few months but am also looking forward to the smaller ship experience.  I focus on the positives and how blessed we are to have good health and the opportunity to travel on wonderful adventures!

[cricketts]

44 minutes ago, uspearls said:

We're booked in PR722 in 2022 and I very intentionally went for this deck. There are some great observations in this thread but a couple of other things I'll add from my research.  These newly added balconies have slightly bigger showers and include the contemporary Princess height adjustable shower, rather than the "old" fixed showerhead that is present in the rest of the Island's cabins.  The flat screen TV is wall mounted opposite the bed, as standard on Royal class, rather than the small flat screen perched at an angle on a shelf next to the sliding glass doors.  The cabin/balcony is larger as well - just under 250 sq.ft. as opposed to closer to 220 sq.ft. for most of the original balconies - although most of that additional space is on the balcony (the covered and sheltered setup is perfect for our Norway/Iceland cruise).  Personally, I think it's a great location as well, tucked away and hopefully quiet. 

 

Someone may have mentioned but it deserves mentioning often - cruisedeckplans.com is a fabulous resource for cabin pics - and videos!  Pay the small membership fee - you can make it back if you want by submitting pics.  I didn't find a better place for previewing these cabins on the Island.

 

We chose the itinerary rather than the ship but I'm not worried about the negative comments on the Island.  I loved the Sky and will try the Enchanted in a few months but am also looking forward to the smaller ship experience.  I focus on the positives and how blessed we are to have good health and the opportunity to travel on wonderful adventures!

 

Great input!  Thank you 🙂 

[Steelers36]

On 1/12/2021 at 9:00 PM, SouthAltaCruisingFamily said:

We did a full transit during March 2018.  We had either PR712 or PR716 as a BE Balcony cabin.  We also had PR726 which is a S5 suite. 

Some notes to take into consideration when choosing a cabin on this deck (at least on the port side)....

-The white spot between cabins 718 & 722 is a crew area which had an ice machine.

-The very aft (in the middle) had two separate areas.  One was a linen storage and the other was a crew access.  If my memory serves me well this was a stair case for crew members but I am not 100% sure.

-Right in front of Inside Cabin PR708 there was another crew area with linen storage.

-One additional note from other pax was the inability to fully enjoy the balcony for handicap stateroom PR702.  Their complaint was this was just a standard balcony "wall" that had an opening on the top and bottom.  As traffic from the promenade becomes a dead end, passengers were required to go inside the ship.   They stated that they heard a lot more noise than normal.

-During sea days on this particular sailing we did have considerable wind that created a whistling in the BE cabin which was annoying at night time.  We did check to ensure that the balcony door was shut tight.  I do not know if this is a regular occurrence or just a once in a while happening.

Please note that these were our observations from almost 3 years ago.

Hi.  If you get this note, I am asking you to go back in time again.  You mentioned being in PR712 or PR716, so should be similar to PR711 & PR717.  Do you recall any issues at all with engine noise and vibrations - or vibration noise in general?  I have read a report that furthest aft cabin (PR723) was bad for that.  Thanks.  (I have been intrigued by these cabins since they are newer builds and also have extended balcony area, but not confident to be that far aft and low down nearer to engines).  

[SouthAltaCruisingFamily]

We had zero issues with vibration.  It was a perfect location and awesome balcony  cabin.

Our only complaint was when there was significant wind(gale force), there was a whistling in the cabin from the balcony door.  But I won’t hesitate in booking this cabin again.  In fact, we have  booked this cabin location for a few future cruises.

[hpeabody]

Can anyone tell me about PR719?  I see it is available and may want to   grab it.

[cricketts]

Glad to see this thread is a little bit active again! 

We've decided on PR718 for our cruise next October.  From what I've continued to read, the first rooms in this stretch (PR701 and PR702) are right next to the door from the Promenade back inside.  Apparently there's quite a bit of noise from the doors opening and closing as people realize they can't walk around.  I've also found out that "white space" on the deck plan (between 718 and 722 as well as 719 and 723) is a linen storage closet.