Balcony size

I've seen some recent posts dealing with balcony size. Had to dig around in my old reviews to find this about the Caribbean Princess, a Grand Class like Diamond and Sapphire.

....we booked on the Caribe deck for that extra space. Everyone talks about halves, thirds and percents when describing the cover of Caribe balconies. While packing I happened to eye the sewing kit while we were gathering our stuff. Anyway, I grabbed one of those cloth-measuring strips that you roll up and take up no space at all. Drum roll please, the standard balcony has a usable width of 8’11”. The extra deep Caribe balcony measures 9’5” (83.9 Sq Ft). Dolphin deck, below, has a depth of 6’1” (54 Sq Ft). Baja, above, has a balcony depth of 4’4” (38.6 Sq Ft). So, the overhang above Caribe balcony isn’t quite 50%, it’s close enough as a description.

OK, I think this info will work for the newer larger ships for THE STANDARD BALCONY. On the Sapphire, we had the last port side aft cabin on Caribe, the balcony wrapped around to the aft and was over 15 feet wide. On the Dawn Princess, we were shocked to find all the balconies were only three feet deep which was taken from original cabin floor plan. The resulting 26.75 Sq Ft was basically useless.

Bottom line you have to look at each cabin individually for balcony size.

I’ve never had a balcony, but if I did it needs to accommodate two loungers. One so I can lie down and sleep and another so my husband can also so I don’t feel guilty!

I’ve looked at balconies and most seem to only accommodate two upright chairs. I have a lie down and really relax on a cruise!

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I’ve never had a balcony, but if I did it needs to accommodate two loungers. One so I can lie down and sleep and another so my husband can also so I don’t feel guilty!

 

I’ve looked at balconies and most seem to only accommodate two upright chairs. I have a lie down and really relax on a cruise!

 

 

 

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Here is a photo of our actual balcony for our next cruise on the Ruby, Caribe deck

https://www.cruisecritic.com/photos/ships/ruby-princess-443/accessible-balcony-cabin-276108/accessible-balcony-cabin--v12729125/

Mini Suite on the Royal!

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Ahhhh....Caribe Deck balconies....best balcony for the price.

Our balcony was the size of mllewis48's on the Crown Princess.

Here is a photo of our actual balcony for our next cruise on the Ruby, Caribe deck

https://www.cruisecritic.com/photos/ships/ruby-princess-443/accessible-balcony-cabin-276108/accessible-balcony-cabin--v12729125/

Just to clarify - these photos are of an ACCESSIBLE Caribe cabin deck so are somewhat larger than a standard Caribe deck on the Grande Class ships.

Hey, JLP - is that the balcony size for all staterooms on Caribe deck on Ruby?

We like Princess and all it offers except the small balconies. We love HAL’s balconies!

Signature Suite!

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Depends on the ship. On the Grand-class and similar ships, the standard cabin balcony is 9’x5’; mini-suites on both Dolphin and Emerald (covered) decks are 9’x7’; balconies on Caribe are 9’x7’ of which 9’x5’ is covered.

I’ll let you do the math as to sqft.

Here is a photo of our actual balcony for our next cruise on the Ruby, Caribe deck

https://www.cruisecritic.com/photos/ships/ruby-princess-443/accessible-balcony-cabin-276108/accessible-balcony-cabin--v12729125/

That is SO big! I would LOVE that balcony.

Are we the only ones who book mini-suites but never actually use our balcony except to walk/stand outside for a few minutes? :confused:

Hey, JLP - is that the balcony size for all staterooms on Caribe deck on Ruby?

The photo is of our accessible cabin for a future cruise, which are about 30% wider to accommodate wheelchairs/scooters to move freely inside the cabin. The dimensions in the original post are the standard sizes of balconies for this class ship.

Caribbean Princess and Diamond & Sapphire sisters are NOT in the same ship class. It seems Caribbean Princess is a Grand class ship with an additional deck added and maybe other differences. In fact Diamond & Sapphire sisters we not even built by the same ship builder. These 2 are in the Gem class.

I found a website that explains the Princess ship classes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand-class_cruise_ship

We will be on the Grand going to Alaska in June. We are excited about getting the larger balcony on Caribe deck. We will be traveling with other family who will be staying in interior rooms. Our deck is most likely going to be ground zero for the group so we will need the extra space.

We have long been fond of the Grand Class ships (especially the original Grand and Golden with its all weather pools). But when talking about balcony sizes, if you want a shock you should look at what they have on the new Royal Class ships. The balconies are so small (in terms of depth) that its impossible for two normal sized folks to sit facing out to see and stretch out their legs.

Hank

Are we the only ones who book mini-suites but never actually use our balcony except to walk/stand outside for a few minutes? :confused:

Not at all. We've always cruised in Interior or Obstructed Oceanview and on our recent cruise were upgraded to a Mini-Suite which had a balcony. We were rarely if ever in the cabin other than to take a nap, so we don't really understand why 1. people spend all that extra money and 2. with all that there is to do and see on the ship, spending all that time in their cabin.