CB mini suites on Emerald deck??

[P.A.]

Has anyone ever stayed in a aft mini suite, category AD, on Emerald deck on the CB that was located above club fusion? Just wondering if you will hear all the music?

 

My sister and her husband just booked and they are on a guarantee in the AD category for a mini suite, so they may wind up with this area since the cruise is coming up in less than 6 weeks. This will be their first time on Princess, so I am hoping they won't be located there.

 

Your thoughts??

 

Thanks! :)

[CPCruiser4Life]

Hope this helps...

 

My family and I just got back from our first ever cruise. We went on 7 day Western Caribbean on the Caribbean Princess sailing out of Ft. Lauderdale 5/20/06 to 5/27/06. DW and I were celebrating our 25th anniversary and we brought our two adult children: DS = 23; DD = 21. I used these Cruise Critic boards extensively for planning and ideas of all types. You all were extremely helpful. Thank You.

 

Booking: Began researching cruises and comparing back in March 2005. Family had already decided where- Caribbean- and when- between kids’ Spring and Fall semesters 2006. Now which cruise line, ship and stateroom? I looked for large ships because we all like different things and wanted lots of choices onboard. I narrowed it down to the newest (2004), best rated large (3000+ passengers) ship I could find. Settled on Caribbean Princess sailing right after DS’s Spring Semester ended. Booked cruise online in June of 2005. Online TA was very helpful and knowledgeable- much better than the local travel agent I tried. Saved enough $ booking online to pay for Cruise insurance with some to spare. Used Consumer Reports to research travel insurance and they recommended very helpful website to compare companies, prices, etc. For stateroom I decided to afford a minisuite with balcony and to afford a separate minisuite for the kids. CB has tons of rooms with balconies, fewer minisuites with balconies and fewer still minisuites with covered balconies. However by using these boards I found what I needed. In fact, I found that there were two staterooms on the CB which not only had all of the above but which also had an oversized deck for no extra $. A huge find and one which paid great dividends on the trip. I requested stateroom E730 for DW and myself (this one had the big balcony) and E728 next door for the kids. They were the aft-most port facing rooms on Emerald Deck or Deck 8. I could look portside and turn to my left and look aft to watch the wake from our huge (almost twice the size) balcony. The other oversized, covered balcony with a minisuite on the CB was E731 on the starboard side. I had the TA lock the rooms down so that Princess could not “upgrade” me.

 

Ft Lauderdale: Decided to stay overnight in Ft. Lauderdale Friday night before the cruise so needed a hotel room. After researching, I booked 2 rooms at Amerisuites on 10th Street for $69 each through Value Trips and, because of mixed reviews of Amerisuites I also booked 2 rooms at Extended Stay America just in case- best I could get was $130 each. Read reviews of Amerisuites, called to confirm my reservation and asked about the renovation (haven’t started yet) 5 days before flying and decided it would do nicely so cancelled ESA. 4 flights with insurance were purchased online at a savings of $94 per ticket vs the quote from the cruise line for airfare. Plane landed early into Ft. Lauderdale. When luggage was in hand I called Amerisuites and their shuttle (included in the room rate) arrived in less than 15 min. Weather was breezy and 82- perfect! Amerisuites offered a clean, well-designed room in a great location and an even greater price for Ft. Lauderdale market. Everything worked as it should and our reservations were exactly as requested even though we arrived at 7:15 pm. After storing valuables in the hotel safe we walked across the street (literally) to Del Rio Tex Mex for great Mexican food at a great value. Del Rio was not crowded at all when we arrived at 8:00. Service was a bit slow but drinks and food were great. DW & I were tired so we hit the hay at 10:30 or so. Kids had their own room and stayed up half the night. Bed and pillows were OK and A/C worked great so the room was a cool, comfortable 12 degrees- just where I like it! Next morning at 7:45 we had an uncrowded breakfast in Amerisuites dining room (again, included in the room rate) of eggs, sausage, fruit, pastries, coffee, cereal & juice then DW and I walked the 2.5 blocks from hotel to Publix grocery and purchased, soda pop (DW & DD are very picky about having Diet Dr. Pepper and Diet Mt Dew), disposable cameras, and various odds and ends. Rather than lug the stuff back to room, I asked customer service to store our purchased items behind the counter for pickup later. In the same shopping center as Publix is a great liquor store- Total Wine & Spirits- tremendous selection at best prices I have seen. 4 days prior, I had placed an online order for a selection of great wines to be boxed and picked up at this store. When we left the hotel at 11:15am, I had the taxi go by Publix & Total Wine- walked in and picked up orders before heading to the pier. No muss, no fuss and I had a case of 11 great Italian and French wines and one bottle of liqueur for which I had paid an average of $19 per bottle- one of the best ideas and values of the trip. Amerisuites was a great spot close to everything needed- location, location, location.

 

Embarkation:

Arrived at pier in taxi (total cost = $20 including extra tip for making the extra stops) at 11:40, labeled suitcases, 12 packs of sodas and box of wines with Princess luggage tags (tipped porter $5) and walked to end of line with our carryons. Waited 25 minutes for line to start moving. We were in our stateroom before 1:00pm. Impressive.

 

Stateroom:

Wow! Minisuite was plenty roomy for two, impressively appointed and usefully laid out. Bathroom and shower were fine even for a big guy- I am 6’0” and 330. Plenty of 3 prong grounded outlets (2 at desk in center of room and 2 at storage/entertainment unit in center of room.- no extension cords or outlet strips needed. Hairdryer (same as in most hotels and plenty of power for short-haired DW) was mounted on wall at desk which, with the mirrors, doubled as a vanity. 1 two prong outlet in bathroom specified for an electric razor. Plenty of storage in the room- no hanging pocket devices needed. Desk storage = 3 9x14x6 drawers. Bed storage = 2 nightstands each with 2 14x14x6 drawers and 1 14x14x5 cubby. 6’ of clothes rod 20” deep with 6’ of 20x14 storage above the clothes rod. 20 wooden hangers- some with clips. Closet was 2’ wide x 1’ deep by 5.5’high and 6 shelves. The storage/entertainment unit in center of room offered equivalent of 8 linear feet of counter space as well as two shelves for storage. Bed was very comfortable with nice comforter. I requested the egg crate mattress pad and 2 feather pillows in addition to the 4 regular pillows which were promptly delivered. Kids room needed to have the beds separated which was also promptly taken care of. DW and I are used to a King size bed and the Queen size in the stateroom was such that we couldn’t tell the difference. A/C worked great in the room all week long keeping it nice and cool. We also purchased a small flat AC/DC fan in Ft. Lauderdale since we are used to a ceiling fan. It was great, easy to pack and very useful.

DS and my tuxedos and 2 shirts were hanging on the clothes rods in the staterooms when we arrived. There were also reminder cards in our staterooms for DW & DD pedicure appointments which were made online 1 week before (should have booked even earlier for better selection of times). The first Princess Patter was in our “mailbox” when we arrived- as well as a one page Cruise Planner of the major events for the entire week indicating the formal nights, the precise times planned in each port, etc. Both are useful for making reservations and initial planning of what to do when.

The balcony – holy mackerel it was great and much bigger than balconies on normal rooms, completely covered. Steward unlocked the doorway between our balcony and kids balcony so we could come and go. We had plenty of room when the kids came over to lounge around on loungers, chairs whatever. These portside extreme aft rooms are subject to some noise which may be a bother to some: 1) Constant low hum and vibration of the engines (actually rather soothing) and 2) audible bass sounds from music at Club Fusion one deck directly below- (not so soothing). All 4 of us reported hearing/feeling this every night when in the staterooms at bedtime but none of us had any trouble whatsoever going to sleep –and staying asleep- because of it. Those requiring perfect silence for good sleep may want to select a different location.

 

Getting Settled: We put valuables in the room safe, convened a brief family meeting, gave kids some spending cash and then headed to the buffet for a late lunch. Variety of buffet menu was impressive, food was good and of course, plentiful. Just a few examples I can remember: Short Ribs, Shrimp salad, cheeses, corn salad, hot wings, fried sea scallops, fresh pineapple was outstanding. Vanilla horn pastries and apple turnovers with vanilla sauce were wonderful. After buffet lunch (2:45) I made reservations for the two extra-charge restaurants; Sabatini’s Trattoria and Sterling Steakhouse. By reserving first thing you have better odds of getting the times you want for these popular venues but the drawback is you must go in person. After 4:00 pm of embarkation day, you can simply call the concierge for reservations at the two premium restaurants. Exploring the ship was next to see where everything was. Then we had a 30 minute muster drill at 4:15 which required us to get our life vest and walk to an air conditioned lounge, sit down and listen to instructions- no problem. For Sailaway at 5:00, we found a great place- apparently a very well kept secret. The Skywalker Lounge is the highest inhabitable place on the ship. It is a large oval shaped room in the very aft of the vessel and spans the entire width of the ship with ceiling to floor windows 360 degrees around. The bar was not serving but the room was open and when we arrived, there were 6 people in it. What an incredible vantage point to watch this huge cruise ship pull away from port and begin its journey. (DW went to get me a Mojito at nearby pool bar) With the room virtually to ourselves, we simply walked around and watched from any and every angle that interested us while sipping our drinks. This “secret” was available during the day all week long and every time we pulled away from a port.- Incredible!! Upon returning to our stateroom, our luggage, wine and soda were waiting for us. We unpacked, got organized, spent time on the deck with some pleasant breezes and complimentary champagne- (I think its included with a minisuite). Then off to a Sailaway Seafood Buffet: Shrimp, King Crab Legs, Lobster Claws, Smoked Salmon all chilled and for any who don’t like seafood, Prime Rib, blackened chicken breast, Porcini mushroom soup (excellent) baked or mashed potatoes and incredible desserts which I don’t remember . More time on the deck watching the sunset, relaxing and visiting before going to bed. Kids stayed up till the wee hours and DS won $170 in the casino playing Wheel of Fortune Slots . We were all off to a great start.

 

My review is turning into a novel. I must stop for now with apologies for being so wordy . I will write more (and more succinctly) later.