Coral Princess Mini Suites

Looking to book an August 2008 Alaska cruise, northbound from Vancouver.

Can anyone suggest which deck and cabins are best for the mini suite category AC or AD. We have a choice of a cabin on the Dolphin, Aloha or Baja deck????

Also, on the northbound alaska trip is there any difference between right and left side of the ship specific to sightseeing from the balcony??

Thanks

We had a minisuite on theDolphin deck for our southbound cruise on the Coral in July. Our friends and travel mates were up on the Baja in smaller balcony rooms. We liked where we were.

Seasoned Alaska cruisers will tell you that for northbound trips you should try to get the starboard (right) side and port side for southbound trips. Those are the sides that typically have views of the mainland.

Our cabin was on the starboard side southbound, and we still saw plenty of scenery since so much of the trip is in Glacier Bay or College Fjord or of course, the Inside Passage, so there's land on both sides of the ship. And we saw whales on both sides of the ship. It's just a matter of where they happen to be.

We also had a mini-suite on the Dolphin deck on the Island Princess(twin sister to the Coral) southbound in May. We were on the right side of the ship, toward the rear, and had one of the few fully covered balconies on that deck. We thought the location was perfect. We were on an upper deck for most of Glacier bay, and moved from one side of the ship to the other. I never thought we were missing out on anything being on the starboard side.

Hope this helps.

We were in cabin D416 on the coral and had a partially covered balcony. We were on the port side going to Alaska and didn't feel like we missed seeing anything. You'll love the cruise and yes a balcony is definitely the way to go. Have a great trip. I also like the dolphin deck because we never take the elevator and find that the midway deck walking up.

Just be aware that unlike most Princess ships, the Coral and the Island have minisuites that do not have balconies. You'll be fine with the AC or AA cabins. Here is a link to a site that shows the balconies on each deck and the privacy they offer.

http://mysite.verizon.net/res76zxu/princessbalconies/index.html

I was unaware the Coral and Island had mini-suites without balconies. We will be sailing the Island this month and booked a Dolphin deck mini. We better have a balcony. Which mini's do not have balconies?

I was unaware the Coral and Island had mini-suites without balconies. We will be sailing the Island this month and booked a Dolphin deck mini. We better have a balcony. Which mini's do not have balconies?

Cat AF on Baja/Caribe decks all the way forward. :)

Thanks ColoCruiser. Can't wait to sit on our balcony and view the Panama Canal... when we're not standing at the front of the ship.

Cat AF on Baja/Caribe decks all the way forward. :)

You should also know that there are huge balconies (outdoor decks) on the B&C decks at the forward area of those ships that are marked 'crew only', but you can access them for viewing. Not really a private balcony, but convenient to those cabins anyway.;)

Dear Red Rox:

Pardon me for eavesdropping on your thread, but your notation about the doors marked "crew only" leading to the front deck peeked my interest. I realize cat AF have no balconies, and was hoping there was access to a front deck. How often did you use the front deck, and did any crew members question your being out there? Will this require some extra tipping? You may respond to my e-mail at fauncey@aol.com. Thank you very much. Janet

Dear Red Rox:

Pardon me for eavesdropping on your thread, but your notation about the doors marked "crew only" leading to the front decks on Baja and Caribe decks peeked my interest. I realize cat AF have no balconies, and was hoping there was access to a front deck. How often did you use the front deck, and did any crew members question your being out there? Will this require some extra tipping? Would you please respond to my e-mail at fauncey@aol.com. Thank you very much. Janet

Dear Red Rox:

Pardon me for eavesdropping on your thread, but your notation about the doors marked "crew only" leading to the front deck peeked my interest. I realize cat AF have no balconies, and was hoping there was access to a front deck. How often did you use the front deck, and did any crew members question your being out there? Will this require some extra tipping? You may respond to my e-mail at fauncey@aol.com. Thank you very much. Janet

Janet,

I learned about access to the forward balconies here at the CC forum. We used the balconies primarily on the glacier viewing days at College Fjord and Glacier Bay. The Captain was well aware of our presence there, as he was standing on the bridge just above us, smiling and waving. We were also in eye contact with the naturalist who was both spotting and narrating from the bridge, and from time to time she would acknowlege our presence and thank us for pointing things out. The other day that this spot was a good place to be was when we were cruising in the Inside Passage and there were pods of whales swimming upstream at us. We could see them off the bow and then watch them, whether they went to the port or starboard side of the ship. Of course the folks who were further back on the vessel could continue to watch them, but they had to be on the proper side. People up on the top outdoor deck were stampeding back and forth from one side to another as more whales were observed.

We were never approached by crew members or discouraged from using this space. No additional tips were needed. I imagine that as long as the deck doesn't get too crowded, and folks there behave themselves, they'd have no reason to close off access. It''s one of those nice little secrets that we can pick up here at cruisecritic, and as long as we keep it to ourselves, it will always be there for us.;)

I used these areas forward decks on Baja and Caribe decks on both my Panama Canal Cruise in 2004 and Alaska Cruise in 2005. We were in minisuites B210 on the Coral in Panama and C221 in Alaska. I do not recall the doors leading to those areas saying "Crew Only" at that time. When we were out there in Panama Canal transit, the ships videographer came up there and filmed us and others, in fact.

To the OP, we felt that C221 was excellent for our Northbound out of Vancouver, with a large partially covered balcony. We loved the location near the front of the ship.

You should also know that there are huge balconies (outdoor decks) on the B&C decks at the forward area of those ships that are marked 'crew only', but you can access them for viewing. Not really a private balcony, but convenient to those cabins anyway.;)

are there areas like this on the Diamond?