Panama SA vs SB

[JustinCornell]

Just booked the Star in a SB (Cabin 9056) for the Panama Canal. I thought it would be preferable to have a balcony for transiting the canal. However the SA isn't really much more and 'seems' to be a better room in terms of space. Would you stick with 9056 or go for say 12502/12002 instead ?

 

Would you miss the balcony in the DOS ?

 

I only booked yesterday so there's still time to change my mind...decisions, decisions..

[Demonyte]

The views from outer DOSs are amazing, you can see almost everywhere besides the other side and back of the ship from the bumpout (exactly the same views as from the bridge without the hole in the floor). If the price difference isn't too much, I would jump to the DOS.

 

We were in our friends' DOS 12502 when docking (or, for a long time trying to dock) in NYC at the end of the reposition cruise in spring 2012 and had first row seats to see all the failed attempts to get in to the dock, the views right down the port side of the ship were great. Only thing we missed was the collision to Intrepid's dock as it was on starboard side. :D

 

Also, no - I wouldn't miss the balcony. Even the cheaper SJ suites behind DOSs are great in terms of views, location etc. Also all suites on deck 12 are quite new, there is a big difference to the original suites with old decor.

Edited January 7, 2014 by Demonyte

[dexddd]

Just booked the Star in a SB (Cabin 9056) for the Panama Canal. I thought it would be preferable to have a balcony for transiting the canal. However the SA isn't really much more and 'seems' to be a better room in terms of space. Would you stick with 9056 or go for say 12502/12002 instead ?

 

Would you miss the balcony in the DOS ?

 

I only booked yesterday so there's still time to change my mind...decisions, decisions..

 

That is tough. We've been in 12002 on Star and 10006 on Dawn. The windows and side view from the side DOS is great but so are the views from the front and side balcony. I'd probably stick with what you have tough just for the balcony if the prices are close. The OS typically run a bit more than the DOS from the couple years I've looked at them.

 

The only real gripe I had with the OS is that they seemed to need some TLC. The plus with the side DOS is you can be sitting in the living room or laying on the bed and you are going to have an overall great view of the transit the whole time vs. in the OS you will have to go outside to get a great view. In other words, being in a side DOS is going to be very close to the view from the bridge but the OS is more for the balcony.

[drhry]

The view from 12502 was wonderful. We had a forward view from living room and bedroom and sideview from living room. From dining room area a rear view. Plus the stateroom is quite large. If it is raining you are inside and of course air conditioned. Panama can be very hot. Did not miss a balcony at all.

[crystalspin]

Everything I've read on here (since October) says that people in SA don't miss the actual balcony. As a lowly non-suite passenger I thought I'd add my experience in a Atlantic-to-Pacific transit in a mid-mid starboard balcony:

 

I am so glad we had a balcony for the transit! We did not roam the ship but chose to make full use of the balcony (which was like a suite to us! having only had insides and once a very small porthole room). We definitely saw more off the balcony than, say, a standard OV -- the pilots boarding, the tugs, the guy in the rowboat... -- all morning we sat out the balcony with the door 'cracked' open to hear the narrator on the TV. We had a quick lunch at the Blue Lagoon and returned to the cabin... to find that it was too hot and way too humid to STAY out on the balcony (starboard is pointing southwest, that half of the transit). I bounced in and out for photos until entering the Gulf of Panama when the sun was low enough to sit out a little more.

 

The rest of the trip: The areas PC cruises visit are HOT AND HUMID (and ours was in December!), and balconies are windy when ship underway. Still glad for the SIZE and CONFIGURATION of the stateroom, but have to say that, other than the transit itself, we treated the balcony as a really big window... which is what you have in spades with an SA.

 

My verdict: if the cost is acceptable, go with the SA.

 

Edited January 7, 2014 by crystalspin

[JustinCornell]

Thanks everyone for their replies - it's certainly given me food for thought.

 

The humidity doesn't really bother us (its pretty humid here all of the time). I may speak to the TA and see what my cost to change would be and take it from there - waking up in bed and having that view is a big lure ! :D