Grand Princess

[commonsue]

Has anyone stayed in an obstructed oceanview cabin on Emerald deck of the Grand Princess

[Essiesmom]

You might want to ask this on the Princess board for faster response. EM

[ondeckatsea]

We had one booked for a cruise this past March. About 3 weeks after we booked it I noticed that regular outside cabins (no balcony) were selling for the same price so I changed the reservation. We met people you had these obstructed cabins and to tell you the truth, some were pretty obstructed. There was light coming in but not much of a view other than a lifeboat. We would have settled for one but we were glad we changed and it didn't cost us anything more. My advice would be to keep checking, even after you've made your reservation, and there's a good chance you can get a better cabin for the same price. It's a big ship and there's a good chance you'll get lucky!

[Dani24]

Not on the Grand, but I have stayed in an obstructed oceanview room on the Emerald deck of the Sapphire. They're not exactly the same ships, but the pros/cons to the obstructed rooms will be the same.

 

We booked the obstructed room for cost savings. When we booked, it was the best deal. Sometimes, you can actually get better rooms for cheaper, so you should definitely look.

 

For most of the obstructed rooms on the Emerald deck, the obstructions are the life boats. Your best bet is to select a stateroom that falls roughly in between two lifeboats (particularly the smaller ones). In this case, you'll be able to see outside without much in the way, and the only obstruction will be off to the periphery. Second best bet is a cabin that is obstructed by a small life boat. These smaller life boats are shorter, so that you can actually easily see over them without any effort. You won't be able to look down, but you'll have little trouble seeing out past the ship. Last choice would be a room that's obstructed by the large boats (the tenders). These boats are tall, and thus will block your whole window. Having a room that falls between two of these large boats may help some. Keep in mind that with any of these rooms, there is a potential for crew members to be out working on the life boats (for instance lowering or raising the tenders before/after ports that require tendering), so you could be surprised to see crew member's outside your window. For this reason, you should keep your drapes closed if you're doing anything you wouldn't want others to accidentally see.

 

One of the big benefits of the obstructed view rooms is that they are generally cheap, but still allow a little natural light in the room. Some people are not comfortable with the darkness of an inside cabin, and need to have some natural light. If cost is a consideration, the obstructed view rooms are the perfect compromise.

 

In my opinion, if you have an oceanview room you don't really look outside much. You may take a look here and there to see where you are, or what the weather is like, or roughly what time of day it is. But you are not likely to spend more than a few minutes looking out your window. If there's something you want to see, you'll be better off going to one of the public decks where the view is much better than you could get from a window. From personal experience, I've found that if I have an oceanview, I rarely spend time in my cabin (outside of sleeping and getting ready). But if I have a balcony, I'm more likely to spend time there, because the balcony allows a comfortable place to actually look out at land and sea. So, I wouldn't personally worry too much about the view from your window, and concentrate more on where on the ship you'd really like to be.