Question about mini-suites on Grand Princess

[cat-tav]

On the Princess website, some of the mini-suites on the Grand are noted "oceanview", some are noted "balcony", and some have no notation at all. I though all mini-suites had balconies. Does anybody know for sure about this?

[Pia1913]

On the Princess website, some of the mini-suites on the Grand are noted "oceanview", some are noted "balcony", and some have no notation at all. I though all mini-suites had balconies. Does anybody know for sure about this?

 

There are new oceanview only minis about to be added during drydock and those will not have a balcony. They are not there yet, so if you're looking at a cruise prior to May 5th, then yes, all minis have balconies.

[Toto2Kansas]

There are new oceanview only minis about to be added during drydock and those will not have a balcony. They are not there yet, so if you're looking at a cruise prior to May 5th, then yes, all minis have balconies.

Pia, my understanding is that the new cabins being added are not mini suites but instead are all full suites (category WS suites/window suites).

 

There are a few ships out there though that do not offer a balcony in a certain mini suite category, although I can not remember which ships they are. If I remember correctly, they are category AF (hopefully someone can jump in here that knows for sure and help me with the names of the ship and varify if the category I posted is correct).

[Pia1913]

Pia, my understanding is that the new cabins being added are not mini suites but instead are all full suites (category WS suites/window suites).

 

There are a few ships out there though that do not offer a balcony in a certain mini suite category, although I can not remember which ships they are. If I remember correctly, they are category AF (hopefully someone can jump in here that knows for sure and help me with the names of the ship and varify if the category I posted is correct).

 

I didn't realize they were considered full suites. In any event, the Grand doesn't have AF. They have two AE which are the minis that won't convert to a queen. But that's not what the OP wanted to know. I wonder where she saw a mini w/o balcony on the Grand, because as far as I can see all off them have balconies. :confused:

[Toto2Kansas]

I didn't realize they were considered full suites. In any event, the Grand doesn't have AF. They have two AE which are the minis that won't convert to a queen. But that's not what the OP wanted to know. I wonder where she saw a mini w/o balcony on the Grand, because as far as I can see all off them have balconies. :confused:

 

On the Grand Princess, I know of no mini suites that do not include a balcony, I agree with you on that one. ;)

[cat-tav]

Thanks for the reassurances! I have a BB guarantee on the upcoming Spitsbergen/North Cape cruise. The Princess agent told me it was likely to be upgraded to a mini-suite (although I'm not keeping my fingers crossed). I have gone into the website as if making a new reservation to see what cabins are left. On the list of available mini-suites (AC and up, lower categories are guarantee only), there are notations saying balcony or oceanview beside some of the cabins on Dolphin deck. I'll be perfectly fine with a balcony cabin, but a mini-suite would be lovely. Unless it didn't have a balcony! I'd rather bypass the mini-suite in that case. The whole problem started when I called Princess and upgraded from a BC on Aloha to a BA on Caribe. When I got the email confirmation half an hour later, it noted twin bed configuration. A quick call to Princess revealed that there were no queen cabins left (including my previous cabin on Aloha) and I was stuck with either the twin only cabin on Caribe or a BB guarantee. I took the guarantee and am hoping for the best.

[IECalCruiser]

I didn't realize they were considered full suites. In any event, the Grand doesn't have AF. They have two AE which are the minis that won't convert to a queen. But that's not what the OP wanted to know. I wonder where she saw a mini w/o balcony on the Grand, because as far as I can see all off them have balconies. :confused:

I believe that OP and others don't realize that they are looking at Cat AE-AA Mini-Suites and Suites such as WS, VS, PH, OS and GS on the same page. There was a similar question about the Cat WS full suites last week. The Grand will be getting the Fiesta deck "Window Suite" full suites during drydock.

 

The Coral and Island have window mini-suites at the front of Aloha and Baja decks - A201/A202/A203/A204 and B201/B202/B203/B204.

[Toto2Kansas]

Thanks for the reassurances! I have a BB guarantee on the upcoming Spitsbergen/North Cape cruise. The Princess agent told me it was likely to be upgraded to a mini-suite (although I'm not keeping my fingers crossed). I have gone into the website as if making a new reservation to see what cabins are left. On the list of available mini-suites (AC and up, lower categories are guarantee only), there are notations saying balcony or oceanview beside some of the cabins on Dolphin deck. I'll be perfectly fine with a balcony cabin, but a mini-suite would be lovely. Unless it didn't have a balcony! I'd rather bypass the mini-suite in that case. The whole problem started when I called Princess and upgraded from a BC on Aloha to a BA on Caribe. When I got the email confirmation half an hour later, it noted twin bed configuration. A quick call to Princess revealed that there were no queen cabins left (including my previous cabin on Aloha) and I was stuck with either the twin only cabin on Caribe or a BB guarantee. I took the guarantee and am hoping for the best.

 

May I ask which BA cabin they are telling you is twin bed only? I know there are a few cabins on some ships that do not covert, but I don't remember any of them being BA category cabins. If you can supply your cabin number, we might be able to put your mind at ease about the twin/queen thing (Princess CSR's at times have no idea what they are talking about lol).

[Pia1913]

May I ask which BA cabin they are telling you is twin bed only? I know there are a few cabins on some ships that do not covert, but I don't remember any of them being BA category cabins. If you can supply your cabin number, we might be able to put your mind at ease about the twin/queen thing (Princess CSR's at times have no idea what they are talking about lol).

 

Toto, my friend was told she has a non-converting BA on the Grand; Caribe 526. It doesn't show that way, but our TA says it is. We will find out shortly. Perhaps all those quads are set up that way. She sure doesn't need a quad, but that's what she got.

[cat-tav]

May I ask which BA cabin they are telling you is twin bed only? I know there are a few cabins on some ships that do not covert, but I don't remember any of them being BA category cabins. If you can supply your cabin number, we might be able to put your mind at ease about the twin/queen thing (Princess CSR's at times have no idea what they are talking about lol).

 

The cabin in question is C523, but it doesn't really matter any more because I gave it up for a guarantee. It would really be rotten if I found out it was in fact a queen when I gave it up for the unknown! Oh well, no matter what happens, I will be on the ship! :D

[Pia1913]

The cabin in question is C523, but it doesn't really matter any more because I gave it up for a guarantee. It would really be rotten if I found out it was in fact a queen when I gave it up for the unknown! Oh well, no matter what happens, I will be on the ship! :D

 

See my post above. Same location; other side. Evidentally those quads are all non convertible twins.

[Toto2Kansas]

The cabin in question is C523, but it doesn't really matter any more because I gave it up for a guarantee. It would really be rotten if I found out it was in fact a queen when I gave it up for the unknown! Oh well, no matter what happens, I will be on the ship! :D

 

Question? Did you originally book C523 for two passengers or four? Reason I ask is if it were for 4, that is why they told you the two lowers could not be combined to make a queen (safety reasons) while using the two upper berths (two upper berths store in the ceiling when not in use and pull down at night). IF you booked it for only two passengers, then it indeed could have had the beds in a the queen configuration. So, the answer to this should have depended on how many passengers you have booked in that quad stateroom.

[cherylandtk]

Someone (a regular poster and frequent traveler, I just cannot recall who :o) posted a warning last year about a series of quad occupancy cabins near midship that are non-converting...it was, I thought, four cabins in a row, she checked every one of them on that side and they were all non-converting. I do not remember if it was Caribe deck or not, but I do remember that we were all shocked that the deck plans did not show this correctly.

 

I have searched for half an hour and cannot find the thread now, but I do remember it was a big surprise to many. Does anyone else recall this?

[Toto2Kansas]

I have searched for half an hour and cannot find the thread now, but I do remember it was a big surprise to many. Does anyone else recall this?

 

Cheryl, I remember that thread also and had been looking for it. I also can't remember which cabin numbers that were listed, but I don't think it was the BA category. If I do locate it, I will post the link.

[Toto2Kansas]

Cheryl, Found it. You can locate it here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=998633&highlight=balcony+with+twins+only

The balcony cabins that are configured differently it seems are on Baja Deck. ;) It looks like the cabin numbers for these strangely set up staterooms are: B426-B428-B430 and B429-B431-B433

[cherylandtk]

Yes, that's the thread I was thinking of. I sure hope that we do not find out that all those quad/red dot rooms on all decks have this problem! The part that makes me wonder is both descriptions talk about no nighttables......

[cat-tav]

We booked the room for 2 people. My original cabin on Aloha deck was marked queen configuration. The CSR apparently did not check that and definitely did not ask me my preference when I switched the room. When I called back to change the beds, the CSR told me she could not see the bed configuration on her screen and had to look somewhere else to find it. That sounded a little strange to me. When she tried to mark it queen, something popped up on her screen that said the beds could not be moved. She did spend a fair amount of time looking around whatever screens she had for an available balcony cabin that would convert, but was unable to find one. I agree that the deck plan needs to be marked more clearly so passengers can tell what they're getting! The CSR said that she marked my account "prefers queen on starboard side". Hopefully it will all work out so we have a fabulous cabin with the queen bed we want! From what I've read on CC, the longer it takes to get a cabin assignment, the better the chance for a good upgrade. Hoping for the best!

[Toto2Kansas]

I think the CSR you must have spoken with didn't really know what she was doing, which does happen. One thing I can tell you though is that if you get a stateroom as she has told you she requested (on the guarantee requests) it will be just plain old luck. There is no way to stipulate on the bookings with a guarantee if you would like a queen or twin, or which side of the ship you would like your cabin assigned on. It sounds like the CSR's are again untrained and have no idea what they are doing or telling passengers. Very sad!

I wish you luck on this one, and hopefully the luck is with you and you get an assignment you will be happy with.

[Pia1913]

The final answer to the Caribe deck cabins will be discovered when we board in May. Unless of course someone else comes on here that has actually been in those cabins and tells us about it sooner.

[cat-tav]

The final answer to the Caribe deck cabins will be discovered when we board in May. Unless of course someone else comes on here that has actually been in those cabins and tells us about it sooner.

 

I have talked to at least 4 people at Princess and they've each told me a slightly different story. The cabins are twin-only, they are convertible, the only twin-only cabins on the ship are two AE mini-suites, and on and on. Who knows what the truth is!?! Anyway, I am no longer worried about it. I spoke to a Princess customer service rep who was sympathetic with all the run-around I had gotten and moved me into an AA mini-suite. :p Now I am REALLY looking forward to my cruise!

[robtulipe]

The Coral and Island have window mini-suites at the front of Aloha and Baja decks - A201/A202/A203/A204 and B201/B202/B203/B204.

Actually those AF ocean view suites are on the Caribe deck, not the Aloha, in addition to those on the Baja deck.

The Golden Pincess currently has the WS suites as that was one of the cabin options for our Hawaii thet leave next week. Actually there are six out of the seven WS suites still available for our sailing so that is an indication how popular they are.

Getting away from Princess, the Celebrity Millie class of ships, Constellation, Infinity, Milllennium and Summit, have CS ocean view sutes.