Balcony size with Mini-suites...Diagram misleading

[mik]

In recent posts I have noticed people commenting about the "larger balconies" on the Dolphin deck, where the mini-suites are located. The diagram of this deck makes it appear as though the balcony is twice the size of the normal 9x5. This is not the case. While the cabin is larger and has a sitting area, the balcony is exactly the same as a regular balcony cabin. I know, because the only time we booked a mini-suite, I was disappointed to walk in and find that the balcony was 9x5 feet. The balconies are at least twice the size on the Caribe deck. Just thought I would pass this on to avoid disappointment. My husband and I prefer to have a regular sized cabin with extra space on the balcony, especially if you plan to sunbathe or gather with friends or family on your balcony. By the way, the Caribe balcony is partially covered, but probably two thirds of it is exposed to above balconies.

[LARGIN]

What ship ??

[LuvTheGoodLife]

I have never been on a Dolphin Deck balcony but looked over them a lot when in our Caribe Deck cabin. Caribe deck balconies are about 9 ft. wide x 9 ft. deep.

 

Looking above from Caribe deck to Baja deck balconies, Baja deck balconies appeared to be half the Caribe deck size or around 9 ft. wide x 5 ft. deep and their floor formed the Caribe deck ceiling overhang covering approx. half of our balcony depth.

 

Looking down from Caribe to Dolphin, the extra interior space of the Dolphin Deck mini-suite cabin comes from the balcony of Caribe deck. However, the Dolphin deck balcony looks much larger than 9 ft. wide x 5 ft. deep you quoted - to me it looked about 9 x9.

 

There is a current thread on the board in the Cabin Selection Tips section entitled Caribbean Princess - Which Deck has Private Balconies in which Serene56 has attached some great balcony pictures. The first is taken from Caribe deck looking down on Dolphin balcony and the picture makes the balcony look much bigger than 9ft. x 5 ft.

 

I tried to attach link to the picture but do not have the skills...

 

Hope this helps, enjoy your cruise.

[Host CJSKIDS]

We've been in a mini-suite on the Dolphin deck and a penthouse suite on Caribe on the grand class ships, plus our friends had a balcony cabin on caribe. There is a difference in the balcony size with the Caribe deck balconies being deeper but I wouldn't say that they are twice the size, maybe a few extra feet.

[DonLou]

Here are two pictures (don't remember where I got them from except they are from somewhere in the internet). The first photo is of the Grand Caribe/Dolphin balconies and the other is from the Diamond. It appears balcony sizes differ from ship to ship.

 

[katier825]

In recent posts I have noticed people commenting about the "larger balconies" on the Dolphin deck, where the mini-suites are located. The diagram of this deck makes it appear as though the balcony is twice the size of the normal 9x5. This is not the case. While the cabin is larger and has a sitting area, the balcony is exactly the same as a regular balcony cabin. I know, because the only time we booked a mini-suite, I was disappointed to walk in and find that the balcony was 9x5 feet. The balconies are at least twice the size on the Caribe deck. Just thought I would pass this on to avoid disappointment. My husband and I prefer to have a regular sized cabin with extra space on the balcony, especially if you plan to sunbathe or gather with friends or family on your balcony. By the way, the Caribe balcony is partially covered, but probably two thirds of it is exposed to above balconies.

 

I'm glad I'm not the only one who prefers a larger balcony to a larger room! The only thing I liked more about the mini-suite was the tub. I'd still prefer my favorite BB cabin on the Caribe deck anyday! :)

[Pam in CA]

What ship ??

To repeat, what ship? The Caribe deck balconies are very different on different ships so to assume that someone posted that they had a great balcony on X deck doesn't mean that it'll be the same on the ship you're sailing. Without knowing which ship you're referring to, any responses are just guesswork and supposition.

[Redsgj]

The diagram of this deck makes it appear as though the balcony is twice the size of the normal 9x5. This is not the case. While the cabin is larger and has a sitting area, the balcony is exactly the same as a regular balcony cabin.

I am assuming you are talking about Grand class ships. I do agree that the diagram is misleading and the minisuite balconies are deifinitely smaller than the Caribe deck. But I would not agree that the balcony is the same size as a regular balcony cabin on Riviera, Baja, or Aloha decks. While I have not seen the regular balcony cabin in person, I have seen pictures. We did have a minisuite on the CB and my guess would be the balcony is around 7 feet deep.

 

If you compare these two pictures (minisuite then Baja deck regular) if you look at the divider, we know that the "door" portion would be the same size on all decks. You can see that the fixed rounded portion is larger on the minisuite balcony.

 

http://community.webshots.com/photo/130685284/1130695118047401376AYWEEA

http://community.webshots.com/photo/364540823/1364567085059670232MuoFvk

[smoothdancer]

Red,

I just loved your webshot pictures. We are sailing on the Golden in a AD. Do you think our cabin will be comparable to the AD you show on the CB?

[Redsgj]

Red,

I just loved your webshot pictures. We are sailing on the Golden in a AD. Do you think our cabin will be comparable to the AD you show on the CB?

Thanks but they aren't mine.... just found them on webshots.

 

The AD balcony shown in the picture is the coveted last one toward the aft. It has the regular balcony plus the rounded portion. I would think that unless you have one of those two cabins, your balcony would look like the picture but only up to the "line" in the blue flooring.

[Ay Caramba]

We werei n a mini-suite on the Crown and the balcony was about twice as large as the regular balcony cabin. (Our friends were on Baja, balcony cabin.)

 

On our balcony, we had 2 reclining chairs, 2 bistro type chairs, a round dining table and a small coffee table. The regular balconies only had the bistro type chairs and the dining table.

 

hope it helps!

[platterb]

Not sure if it makes a difference, but if you compare the mini-suite square footage on the Dolphin deck among the Grand Ships, all but the Diamond are listed as 323 sq ft. The Diamond's mini-suites are listed at 354 sq feet. Maybe the additional 30 feet is dedicated to the balcony. Might be the reason why some remember it differently.

[cwestbrook]

On the Island I was on the last bump out on the Caribe (C626). Our balcony was larger and only half covered. I could easily look down into the Dolphin balconies below me. They were the same size as mine on Caribe but fully covered. With all the rain we had in Alaska, I would really liked to have had one of those larger, fully covered balconies.