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Royal Princess Cabin Choice


harlequin52
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We have chosen Royal Princess for our first cruise. We had intially booked an inside cabin, but are now considering upgrading to a balcony cabin. The catagory that we can afford is BY which is obstructed, by what we think will be the life boats. Does that mean we will look over the life boats out to the ocean or directly at them. Silly question Im sure, but its our first time and we dont want to make sure we understant what we are buying.:)

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We have chosen Royal Princess for our first cruise. We had initially booked an inside cabin, but are now considering upgrading to a balcony cabin. The category that we can afford is BY which is obstructed, by what we think will be the life boats. Does that mean we will look over the life boats out to the ocean or directly at them. Silly question I'm sure, but its our first time and we do want to make sure we understand what we are buying.:)

 

No one has yet been on the Royal, so it's hard to tell exactly. By looking at the deck plans and ship's profile it appears that your views of the ocean will be obstructed by lifeboats and their hoist brackets. The view to the sky and distance looks pretty good and you should get good light. Since Cat BY is the lowest graded balcony cabin I would suggest you book it as a Guarantee. You will not get downgraded and there is a good chance you could be upgraded to another partially obstructed view balcony cabin in a better location or even an unobstructed balcony.

 

Study the deck plans at Princess.com

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I agree. Since the tenders/lifeboats are set on the Promenade deck, you'll most likely be looking over the lifeboats in an obstructed view cabin on Emerald deck... Some of the davits might be in the way though...

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The catagory that we can afford is BY which is obstructed, by what we think will be the life boats. Does that mean we will look over the life boats out to the ocean or directly at them.

 

Since Cat BY is the lowest graded balcony cabin I would suggest you book it as a Guarantee.

 

a) There is a chance you might not be able to see the ocean at all, just a great view of lifeboat.

 

b) GTY does not appear to be an option (for cruises after the new categories are in place) with the latest revision to the Princess web site booking process.

Edited by caribill
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No one has yet been on the Royal, so it's hard to tell exactly. By looking at the deck plans and ship's profile it appears that your views of the ocean will be obstructed by lifeboats and their hoist brackets. The view to the sky and distance looks pretty good and you should get good light. Since Cat BY is the lowest graded balcony cabin I would suggest you book it as a Guarantee. You will not get downgraded and there is a good chance you could be upgraded to another partially obstructed view balcony cabin in a better location or even an unobstructed balcony.

 

Study the deck plans at Princess.com

Hi, we have a BZ guarantee (the lowest) and are hoping for the best.....

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I would suggest keep checking to see how pricing goes for the balconies. There is a possibility that pricing can go down for various reasons. You may find that an unobstructed balcony could be in your budget. Be diligent to keep checking the Princess website and your travel agent, if you use one, to check on possible changes in pricing.

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Last time I checked before they changed the online format for booking and selecting a room there was a description that described an obstructed view balcony as a balcony with non glass rail. The rail is solid steel so when you sit you probably will be looking directly into the rail unless you are very tall.

Edited by Iamcruzin
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I was worried about those BZ's too! If you check on cruise deck plans dot com they show all the cabins with obstructions. BV BW BY and BZ, that's alot of cabins!An obstructed balcony sounds terrible, I like balconies so I can see the ocean, not metal!

 

With that said, I ended up paying MORE for a non obstructed MF guarantee (diff was $80 pp) so to me, it was worth it. I still get the element of 'surprise' when I finally get an assigned cabin, but at least I know it won't be obstructed!

 

The worst that could happen is we end up all the way up front....there are 16 MF cabins so hopefully we'll end up aft where we prefer. :)

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I was worried about those BZ's too! If you check on cruise deck plans dot com they show all the cabins with obstructions. BV BW BY and BZ, that's alot of cabins!An obstructed balcony sounds terrible, I like balconies so I can see the ocean, not metal!

 

With that said, I ended up paying MORE for a non obstructed MF guarantee (diff was $80 pp) so to me, it was worth it. I still get the element of 'surprise' when I finally get an assigned cabin, but at least I know it won't be obstructed!

 

The worst that could happen is we end up all the way up front....there are 16 MF cabins so hopefully we'll end up aft where we prefer. :)

 

 

So what is your point?

You do not like the obstructed cabins categories BV, BW, BY, or BZ. So you choose an MF guarantee, unobstructed min-suite. You said you pay $80 more per person for a much better cabin. Sounds straight forward.

Edited by CRUZER2012
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I guess my point was that in a BZ (with 32 cabins) and the BV, BW, and BY's being 'higher' categories, hoping for the best might not be good enough. I would hate for anyone to start their vacation disappointed in their assigned cabin.

 

If you search around, you may get a better deal for a few dollars more and not have to worry about possible obstructions. I was actually trying to book one of the new deluxe balcony cabins (just to see what it was like) but then the mini popped up cheaper.

 

Just trying to be helpful... cruise compete dot com :D

Edited by WendyG
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  • 1 year later...
So has anyone actually stayed in one of the Royal Princess BZ cabins? My husband and I are looking at booking the March 16-23, 2014 cruise and looking at this cabin..

 

Thanks

Janice

 

On another thread someone posted they were not obstructed at all.

 

The ones on the Lido deck will put your view above the bridge level.

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So has anyone actually stayed in one of the Royal Princess BZ cabins? My husband and I are looking at booking the March 16-23, 2014 cruise and looking at this cabin..

 

Thanks

Janice

 

I stayed in M119 and the only obstruction is when looking forward, as you see the bridge wing. Other than that its clear sailing, and the balcony is glass.

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We were on the Royal Dec. 8 sailing and had booked a guarantee BZ partial obstructed view balcony. About 3 weeks before sailing we received an email and an upgrade to a deluxe balcony partial obstructed cabin E319. It was right in the middle of the second forward lifeboat and we had a great view. The top of the lifeboat was just even with the bottom of the balcony rail, so we were able to look out over the lifeboat while sitting on the balcony. We were afraid we wouldn't be able to see while sitting but we did. Actually used the balcony quite often especially for coffee in a.m. and wine before dinner.

 

Hopefully if you book a guarantee BZ you will get upgraded as we did. Good luck and enjoy the Royal, we did. She's beautiful!

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