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Aft suite - dreaded vent or dreaded beam?!

TrinaLC

By TrinaLC,
in Princess Cruises

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vince_g

vince_g

Posted
Posted
I chose the suite with the vent over the beam and was sorry that I ever did that. We never sat outside and enjoyed the balcony with our friends due to the constant noise and disgusting smell. We did try sitting as far away from the vent as possible but it's not like the balcony is that big that you can really get far away from it. It's the first time in 10 cruises that I did not spend tons of time out on my balcony.

I know others have not had the same issue we did, but we did have it on the Crown and next time I book a suite it won't be next to the vents but rather with the dreaded beam.

 

Frankly, I think the biggest mistake Princess made with the Grand class ships was taking the suites off the Caribe deck midship because that was the perfect location and the best balcony that I ever had.

 

I just came off the Crown on Saturday and had C749 (with the dreaded vent). After a few minutes I just blocked out the vent noise. One day (I think when the Cafe Caribe had the Mexican lunch) there was a strong smell of garlic, but all it did was make me hungry. After looking at our neighbors (C751) balcony with the beam, I am glad I chose the dreaded vent. Their balcony was nowhere as deep as ours, and that beam really looks like it blocked the view from the slider in their bedroom area. Their cabin may have had a few square feet more, but they lost it on the balcony.

 

Would I prefer there was no vent right next door??? Probably, but there's no way I would not book the same suite again.

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Cherlynn

Cherlynn

Posted
Posted

I don't see Sapphire listed, but does it have this dreaded vent? We're booked in C752 for Aust/NZ and I would hate not to be able to use the balcony. I've seen pictures of the aft and I know that we don't have the beam. That's what we paid the big bucks for:p ! Thanks for any info.

 

Cheryl

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Starz723

Starz723

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Marge: my husband and I are in B755 in January. If you would like, I will let you know about the room upon our return.

 

Chris from Florida

 

 

Chris! Yes, please let me know. Im concerned about the noise. I live in NYC and I am surrounded by noise, so its not like I live in wonderfully serene quiet area. So, it may or may not bother me. But, because I want to get away from my everyday noise here, Id like to hear about B755

 

Please let me know. My email is: starz723@aol.com

 

I would greatly appreciate it.

 

Marge

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Host CJSKIDS "Live from...." Rare

Host CJSKIDS

Posted
Posted
I just came off the Crown on Saturday and had C749 (with the dreaded vent). After a few minutes I just blocked out the vent noise. One day (I think when the Cafe Caribe had the Mexican lunch) there was a strong smell of garlic, but all it did was make me hungry. After looking at our neighbors (C751) balcony with the beam, I am glad I chose the dreaded vent. Their balcony was nowhere as deep as ours, and that beam really looks like it blocked the view from the slider in their bedroom area. Their cabin may have had a few square feet more, but they lost it on the balcony.

 

Would I prefer there was no vent right next door??? Probably, but there's no way I would not book the same suite again.

 

 

You're very lucky, we were also in C749. We first noticed the horrible garbage smell in our stateroom the minute we walked in while docked in San Juan but just assumed it was something near the docks. We were incorrect and the stench of rotten garbage was persistant throughout our whole cruise and not only did we notice it but our friends also thought it very foul and couldn't sit outside. I feel I've been fairly even in my reviews of our cruises, even with our Star Princess sailng that caught on fire, but this was one time that I can honestly say I was repulsed by a stench throughout my whole cruise.

The reply that I received while on board was that they knew they had an issue and were working on fixing it. This was also stated to us in a reply from Princess upon my return home. Who knows, maybe they figured out what was going on and fixed something.

 

My experience in this stateroom (unlike our stellar experience in our suite on the Caribe deck on the Star) has kept me from booking a suite again on the Crown. That's just my personal experience and I'm happy to hear that you enjoyed your suite and would book it again. Hopefully we read more reports of the vent issues not being so bad on the Crown and the issue is resolved.

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vince_g

vince_g

Posted
Posted
We sailed the Diamond in A VS aft (D739), we had a vent on our deck that made the whole balcony smell like garbage and rendered the balcony useless for 14 days.

 

Now that would have bothered me. Like I said, we only picked up on a garlic smell one morning, but the Mexican lunch buffet was really good! The vent wasn't quiet that's for sure, but not a deal breaker in my mind. If it had created noise in the suite, that would have been another story.

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TrinaLC

TrinaLC

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Is the Crown a different "class" ship than the Caribbean Princess?

 

Seems on the CPrincess, the vent is described as possibly annoying due to noise/drafts, but no stench.

 

Similarly, it seems the beam is possibly worse on the Crown in the aft rooms.

 

Here is a link to a picture of the beam on the CPrincess:

http://messages.cruisecritic.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=37299&d=1171979250

 

Here is a link to a picture of the beam on the Crown

http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2925550990014545039iOUKSo

 

The difference might be only the perspective of the camera angle and also that the CPrincess balcony in the picture is a "double wide".

 

Anyone know furshure?

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TrinaLC

TrinaLC

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Did a further search and think I found the answer on the smelly v not smelly vent.

 

This is an excerpt from a post by "Trash Queen" who had a highly smelly vent, to the point where she could not even use the balcony.

 

[begin excerpt:]First, what I've learned.

 

Although it appears to many that the Star, Grand, Golden, Caribbean, Sapphire, Diamond, Crown and Emerald are all basically the same design, they are not. The back, stearn, aft portion of the Star, Grand, Tolden, and Caribbean are all the same, in that the SkyWalker Nightclub is at the stearn of the ship that they have that "spoiler" thing up there shading the pool near the Horizon Court bar and pool area.

 

However, the SkyWalker NightClub is midships on the Diamond, Sapphire, Crown and Emerald. And I believe the new Ruby, but am not sure about that. At any rate, the design also affected the entire shape of the stearn. Look at the deck plans, at the ship outline of the aft portion of the ships and you'll see what I mean. Somehow in the re-design, they managed to screw up where the vents went in that filter room that is in the center of the aft balcony cabins. [End excerpt]

 

Here is a link to the thread. An interesting read!! So, it seems the Diamond, Sapphire, Crown and Emerald, and perhaps the Ruby, may have the dreaded smelly vent, which is worse than just the merely dreaded vent.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=360686

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lcyccruiser

lcyccruiser

Posted
Posted
Chris! Yes, please let me know. Im concerned about the noise. I live in NYC and I am surrounded by noise, so its not like I live in wonderfully serene quiet area. So, it may or may not bother me. But, because I want to get away from my everyday noise here, Id like to hear about B755

 

Please let me know. My email is: starz723@aol.com

 

I would greatly appreciate it.

 

Marge

 

Hi Marge: Will do. If I can download a few pictures, I will.

 

Chris in Florida

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ikey78

ikey78

Posted
Posted
Is the Crown a different "class" ship than the Caribbean Princess?

 

Seems on the CPrincess, the vent is described as possibly annoying due to noise/drafts, but no stench.

 

Similarly, it seems the beam is possibly worse on the Crown in the aft rooms.

 

Here is a link to a picture of the beam on the CPrincess:

http://messages.cruisecritic.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=37299&d=1171979250

 

Here is a link to a picture of the beam on the Crown

http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2925550990014545039iOUKSo

 

The difference might be only the perspective of the camera angle and also that the CPrincess balcony in the picture is a "double wide".

 

Anyone know furshure?

 

The Crown picture is an aft balcony cabin on Baja, not a suite.

 

The Caribbean picture is a PS suite on the Caribe deck. You can see two sets of balcony doors.

 

My understanding is that the CP and CB room layouts are almost identical.

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SueM.

SueM.

Posted
Posted
Is the Crown a different "class" ship than the Caribbean Princess?

 

Seems on the CPrincess, the vent is described as possibly annoying due to noise/drafts, but no stench.

 

Similarly, it seems the beam is possibly worse on the Crown in the aft rooms.

 

Here is a link to a picture of the beam on the CPrincess:

http://messages.cruisecritic.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=37299&d=1171979250

 

Here is a link to a picture of the beam on the Crown

http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2925550990014545039iOUKSo

 

The difference might be only the perspective of the camera angle and also that the CPrincess balcony in the picture is a "double wide".

 

Anyone know furshure?

 

The Crown and Emerald are the newest versions of the Caribbean Princess, which is a Grand Class Ship and carrys more passengers and have some changes from the Caribbean Princess. Some of the new things on the Crown/Emerald are now being added to the Caribbean Princess.

 

The beam picture from the Crown is my picture and if you look at some of the other pictures in that album, you can see the true size of the beam that I am standing against.

 

Hard to say if the Caribbean Princess beam is as big, but it does look like the balcony is larger. This would make a huge difference in being able to use the balcony.

 

sue

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avalon1025

avalon1025

Posted
Posted

Princess knows about this issue with the garbage smell, and actually resolved the issue with us by offering 25% of our cruise fare back to us. As this was a pricey Australia/New Zealand cruise it was a fair offer. The stench did render our suite balcony useless for all 14 days, pitty as it would have been great to host freidns outside, etc. Its a desgn flaw and one that has not been fixed in years, and I doubt they will ever will fix it or can fix it.

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TrinaLC

TrinaLC

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The Crown and Emerald are the newest versions of the Caribbean Princess, which is a Grand Class Ship and carrys more passengers and have some changes from the Caribbean Princess. Some of the new things on the Crown/Emerald are now being added to the Caribbean Princess.

 

The beam picture from the Crown is my picture and if you look at some of the other pictures in that album, you can see the true size of the beam that I am standing against.

 

Hard to say if the Caribbean Princess beam is as big, but it does look like the balcony is larger. This would make a huge difference in being able to use the balcony.

 

sue

 

Sue, hope you didn't mind my linking to your pictures. I thought they were really helpful!

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SueM.

SueM.

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Sue, hope you didn't mind my linking to your pictures. I thought they were really helpful!

 

No problem at all!! We didn't know the extent of the "beam" untill about two weeks before our cruise, aug. 06. I keep posting the pictures so others won't wind up with a beam that they don't know about. I have no problem with others posting my beam pictures.

 

I still think it is wrong of Princess to charge the same price for a BB Aft balcony with the Beam as they charge for the same cat. without the beam.

 

sue

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whale-watcher

whale-watcher

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No problem at all!! We didn't know the extent of the "beam" untill about two weeks before our cruise, aug. 06. I keep posting the pictures so others won't wind up with a beam that they don't know about. I have no problem with others posting my beam pictures.

 

I still think it is wrong of Princess to charge the same price for a BB Aft balcony with the Beam as they charge for the same cat. without the beam.

 

sue

It really is amazing how much impact the beam has when it is in the middle of the balcony like that...I had previously seen pictures of the Dolphin Vista suite, and there the beam is off to one side and the balcony is longer, so it has much less of an impact. thanks for posting the picture.

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