Diamond Princess - Cabin Allocated - Info appreciated

[Aussie TJE]

We've been allocated our cabin for our cruise next year and are very excited. We booked a guarantee BF Balcony and were alllocated a BC Balcony on the Aloha deck (deck 12).

 

It's cabin A209, 3 from the front on the starboard side, but because there's something at the front it's actually a further 7+ cabins further back than if it was on another deck - I hope that makes some sense.

 

Does anyone know what the beige area at the front is on this deck - there is a suite on the port side and then the other 3/4's of the front is beige - just curious!

 

From what I can see, it seems like a good location as there's only cabins above and below us and we don't mind being at the front as we don't get sea sick, plus we are up nice and high! The only slight concern is that we will have further to walk and I have rheumatoid arthritis, but at least I will get my exercise.

 

Would appreciate ANY feedback on this cabin/location.

 

We are very happy to finally have a cabin allocated, but will miss the suspense of checking CP every day! Perhaps I might still check just in case we get a little visit!!! I have been checking for 2 months, and when I logged in yesterday, I thought I would key in my partner's name, just to try something different - and guess what - it worked - as there was a little number staring back at me! I don't really believe you can go too wrong with the location with a balcony cabin - but some feedback would be great!

 

Only 2 months to go - happy days! Now we will have to start planning our next Princess cruise to somewhere!!!

 

 

(Mods, I did a similar post a couple of days ago, but didn't receive one response (feeling very unloved). So I've changed the title, please feel free to delete my other post)!

[kruisey]

We've been allocated our cabin for our cruise next year and are very excited. We booked a guarantee BF Balcony and were alllocated a BC Balcony on the Aloha deck (deck 12).

 

It's cabin A209, 3 from the front on the starboard side, but because there's something at the front it's actually a further 7+ cabins further back than if it was on another deck - I hope that makes some sense.

 

Does anyone know what the beige area at the front is on this deck - there is a suite on the port side and then the other 3/4's of the front is beige - just curious!

 

From what I can see, it seems like a good location as there's only cabins above and below us and we don't mind being at the front as we don't get sea sick, plus we are up nice and high! The only slight concern is that we will have further to walk and I have rheumatoid arthritis, but at least I will get my exercise.

 

Would appreciate ANY feedback on this cabin/location.

 

We are very happy to finally have a cabin allocated, but will miss the suspense of checking CP every day! Perhaps I might still check just in case we get a little visit!!! I have been checking for 2 months, and when I logged in yesterday, I thought I would key in my partner's name, just to try something different - and guess what - it worked - as there was a little number staring back at me! I don't really believe you can go too wrong with the location with a balcony cabin - but some feedback would be great!

 

Only 2 months to go - happy days! Now we will have to start planning our next Princess cruise to somewhere!!!

 

 

(Mods, I did a similar post a couple of days ago, but didn't receive one response (feeling very unloved). So I've changed the title, please feel free to delete my other post)!

YOu do get a bit more movement At the front of the ship.If you have Traditional dining you will have to walk to the back of the ship to the elevator.This elevator takes you down to the 6th floor and the Traditional dining room. Horizon Court buffet is on one floor up on Lido again at the far end of the ship.If you have anytime dining two of those restuarants can be reached from the middle elevator not quite so far to walk.The sun/pools are just one deck up with not so far for you to walk.

Hope I have helped with this information. Enjoy your cruise.:)

[cab519]

The "beige" area at the front of the Aloha deck on the Diamond/Sapphire is directly under the bridge. I suspect it is a crew area that could include various bridge related offices, cabins for Sr. Officers, maybe even the captains cabin. In each of the self-serve laundromats on several ships I've found detailed ship maps that often include these crew areas.

[Aussie TJE]

The "beige" area at the front of the Aloha deck on the Diamond/Sapphire is directly under the bridge. I suspect it is a crew area that could include various bridge related offices, cabins for Sr. Officers, maybe even the captains cabin. In each of the self-serve laundromats on several ships I've found detailed ship maps that often include these crew areas.

 

Thanks for the info on the mystery beige area cab519. One mystery solved!

[Aussie TJE]

YOu do get a bit more movement At the front of the ship.If you have Traditional dining you will have to walk to the back of the ship to the elevator.This elevator takes you down to the 6th floor and the Traditional dining room. Horizon Court buffet is on one floor up on Lido again at the far end of the ship.If you have anytime dining two of those restuarants can be reached from the middle elevator not quite so far to walk.The sun/pools are just one deck up with not so far for you to walk.

Hope I have helped with this information. Enjoy your cruise.:)

 

Hi kruisey, thanks for the feedback. We like a bit of movement, so that won't worry us. We have anytime dining and on previous cruises, we did eat a fair bit at the buffet,as we prefer more casual dining. At least I'll get plenty of exercise!

 

If I was selecting our own cabin, I would have chosen one more mid ship to save my leg, (or would love an aft one), but paying an extra $1,000 each to select a cabin was not worth it. We got a special deal and the gty balcony was cheaper than an inside! We figured, we couldn't really go wrong with a balcony - and we were right. When booking a guarantee, you have to be sure that you are going to be happy with whatever you area allocated. This is the first time we have had a gty, and if the price was right, we would certainly do it again. It's kind of fun, checking all the time and waiting to see what you have been given!

 

We are very happy and are really looking forward to hopping on the Diamond Princess!!!

[RickEk]

The "beige" area at the front of the Aloha deck on the Diamond/Sapphire is directly under the bridge. I suspect it is a crew area that could include various bridge related offices, cabins for Sr. Officers, maybe even the captains cabin. In each of the self-serve laundromats on several ships I've found detailed ship maps that often include these crew areas.

 

Yes, this space IS the officer's cabins and offices. On our bridge tour, we walked through this area.

[Aussie TJE]

Yes, this space IS the officer's cabins and offices. On our bridge tour, we walked through this area.

 

Thanks RickEk. I bet your tour was interesting, great to see places you don't normally get to see. What that part of the ships's tour that costs around $195 dollars?

[highheel girl]

Thanks RickEk. I bet your tour was interesting, great to see places you don't normally get to see. What that part of the ships's tour that costs around $195 dollars?

 

The tour you speak of is the Ultimate Ships Tour and is $150pp. :)

[knittinggirl]

How long ahead of your cruise date did you have to book to get the Balcony Guarantee? We just tried, and there are none available "this early."

 

Can you book a Balcony Guarantee in a certain part of the ship?

[Aussie TJE]

How long ahead of your cruise date did you have to book to get the Balcony Guarantee? We just tried, and there are none available "this early."

 

Can you book a Balcony Guarantee in a certain part of the ship?

 

Hi knittinggirl, we found a special for our cruise (Sydney-Bangkok, departing on the 21 Feb 2010), in early October this year. The special deal was that balcony guarantees were the same prices insides, so to us it was a deal too good to refuse!!! We have only had a balcony once before, and we absolutely loved it!

 

This was our first time booking a guarantee, so we were a little apprehensive, but figured we couldn't go very wrong as long as we had a balcony. With a guarantee you don't get to select where your cabin is. We could have chosen our own cabin location, but mean we would have had to have picked from a higher category cabin and it was going to cost over $1,000 per person.

 

We got our cabin allocated 2 months after booking and are really happy - as long as we are on the ship, we're going to have great time! I enjoyed the suspense of waiting for our cabin number to appear and rush to my brochure and deck plan, to see where we were.

 

If there was a big price difference between picking your own cabin and guarantee, I'd certainly pick guarantee again. You just have to make sure that if you are allocated the lowest guarantee in your group, that you would be happy with that (someone has to have the lowest). In our case, we booked a BF (balcony) guarantee, and were allocated a BC Balcony. Very happy.

[Mollybobs]

Hi,

 

Just wondered, if you are still around Aussie tje, what was the room like? We have just been assigned it for our cruise Singapore - Beijing in March:)

[robtulipe]

How long ahead of your cruise date did you have to book to get the Balcony Guarantee? We just tried, and there are none available "this early."?

 

In my experience guarantees tend to be offered fairly close to or after the final payment date for a cruise and typically are offered if certain categories on a cruise are not selling well. If you need to cruise in a popular or in a high demand time period it's not likely you will see guarantees being offered.

IMO cruise lines basically use guarantees to sell out a cruise by offering a lower category of cabin that they don't have or have very limited availability of so they can sell higher, more available category of cabins without having to lower the price of the actual higher category being assigned to the guarantee booking. The client gets a lower price in exchange for allowing the cruise line the flexibility of what cabin they assign you as long as the assigned cabin is at or higher than the guarantee category. Our experience is that we usually get assigned a higher category than the minimum that could be assigned.

That's why they typically show up close to the final payment date after which it cost $ to cancel a booking because you are in the penalty phase so booking tend to be firmer after that date.