Pr Cabins On Mariner? Worth It??

[londonlad35]

Hi All

 

Im going to book a Caribbean 7 day itinerary on Mariner for late September. Are the Promenade view cabins worth it or would you stick to inside?

 

Also, just wondering on your thoughts for weather in the eastern Carib in late September.....will it be getting better by then?!

 

Thanks for your help - all the way from London, UK :)

[whit53]

I am sure others opinions may vary, but I deinitly think they are worth it!!! I like to be able to look ou the window and see what is going on in the Promenade. I enjoyed it so much that is what I booked on the Freedom next Fall.

 

Weather I am not sure about. It is hurricane season. If by chance there is a hurricane headed to the Eastern Caribbean you may visit the Western Caribbean. I am going on the Mariner this October and am looking forward to it. If our itinerary needs to change that is fine wil me, as long as I am on a cruise that is all that matters.

[cmason]

Had a PR cabin on my cruise on NOS. For our next cruise, we chose an inside cabin. The reason why? A PR is smaller than an inside...and we didnt see the benefit. Sure it was nice getting some light into the room and cool to look down on the crowd. But, in the end, the curtains were pulled most of the time when we were in the room, since it is VERY easy to see into the room from the other PR cabins. So, we ended up having windows we didnt use, in a smaller room= no benefit.

 

It was nice, and the one time we were in the cabin for a parade, it was interesting, but only for a few mins, then it got boring....better to be down on the Promenade for the parade than up in our room..plus we could not hear the parade from the room.

[digital_curator]

CMason- while the PR rooms are smaller on NOS and MOS, let's not worry the OP too much as we are only talking about 5 square feet!

 

I find it interesting that the PR rooms are actually 7 square feet larger than and inside on EOS, VOS and AOS....

 

It is a matter of taste. Except when we were changing, we kept the curtains open and I really liked being able to look out onto something. It was fun to watch the parades and from our room, and with our view I could check the lines at the Promenade Cafe before heading down for a snack:D

 

We also liked having 2 sofas so we could each sit on one.

 

I really enjoyed the PR room and have booked another. I looked into an inside cabin and I couldn't have stayed in one (don't flame me please- just MHO) but then, I am a little claustrophobic.

 

If we had the $ we would get a balcony but since we don't it will be PR rooms for all our future cruises!

 

Cheers,

[Bonnie Voyager]

I also love the promenade cabins! I usually book a balcony but decided to try the PR room once last Summer when sailing on Voyager with just my Mother-in-law and myself. We had so much fun sitting in that window area and watching stuff! Yes, it was a small cabin! We usually have a much larger cabin than that, but we still made do and loved it enough that she and I decided to book another one next summer on Explorer. In fact, we booked the exact same cabin (#7283). It is right in the center of the Promenade on deck 7. The view was awesome! We only closed the curtains when we were sleeping or changing. We never felt a lack of privacy. We were hoping someone WOULD look up so we could wave to them, but no one ever did! We are just a couple of silly old ladies ;) having fun! I have not sailed in an inside cabin on Royal Caribbean so I can not compare the PR cabin to an inside, but I have had D1's and JS's and could have chosen either of those for Explorer next Summer, but we are so excited to be having our little PR adventure once again! :D

[TrinaLC]

Dumb question - but what view do the Promenade cabins have? Outside to the deck where you can walk around?

 

And what are the parades that you refer to?

[wrp96]

There is a 3 to 4 story tall promenade area in the middle of the ship on Voyager class ships. It has shops and bars in it. The PR staterooms look down on this interior part of the ship. Some people compare the Royal Promenade to a shopping mall feel. They usually have parades with music and streamers and performers and the like.

[momesu]

Dumb question - but what view do the Promenade cabins have? Outside to the deck where you can walk around?

 

And what are the parades that you refer to?

 

The voyage class ships have a promenade area on deck 5 that goes straight down the center of the ship. This is all interior and it is where the stores all are. There also are a number of bars and an ice cream and coffee shop. It is like the Centrums on most ships in that it goes up for quite a few decks. There are cabins on Decks 6, 7 & 8 that open to the hallway on one side and have a window seat that overlooks the promenade.

 

I tried to attach a few photos from our Jan trip on Mariner that might give you an idea of where and what these cabins are like. We very much enjoyed it. We have also been in an inside cabin on Mariner. The rooms are really very similar in size. The Promenade ones seem smaller because of the lay out of the room. The beds must go on the side wall because of the window. Aslo they have more furniture sine you do have two couches. One in the window area and one against the side wall. By the way please ignore the mess in the cabiin shot. This was taken sever days into the cruise and well...what can I say:rolleyes:

[SeaBreezy]

but something to think about. I've always had balcony staterooms. This past February we were on the Mariner and decided to get a Promenade Room since when we were on the Explorer, we thought that they really seemed "neat".

Well, the PR room drove me nuts! I sooooo missed these things:

1. The sun! I never knew the weather, night/day, etc... unless I looked at a clock or TV or went all the way outside. I missed the sunsets from the balcony. You can just step out when you see it's getting close instead of watching the clock or waiting somewhere else than your room. There's also nothing like waking up with the sun!

2. The SEA! The whole part of cruising itself (for me) seemed missing. I want to see the ocean, smell the sea air, and hear the water. Boy, I really missed that!

3. See the port first thing in the am! While you are still in your jammies if you want, you can step out and take a look, feel the temperature, etc.. without having to get ready first (or even dressed).

4. Night sailing. I enjoy going out on the balcony in the middle of the night if I so happen to wake up from sleeping. It's so magnificent, vast, total darkness except for your ship and maybe one in the distance. Totally awesome.

 

I know you can do all of these things if you are on the Promenade or inside, but I'd rather have access to it 24/7. It just makes it "cruising" for me.

 

I don't think I'd spend extra money for a Promenade if you know you are doing an inside cabin. As a matter of fact, I think I'd book an oceanview with a window before a PR. Actually, the lighting from the PR is kind of dreary. I didn't like being in the room very much. It's the same old thing day after day on the Promenade anyway. People shopping.

 

Anyway, that's my opinion. I know many of you like the Promenade, but for people that haven't thought of what they may be missing by booking a PR, I just want to let them know. I didn't think of any of the above when I did.

 

Happy Sailing!

[Bonnie Voyager]

Agreed that if you are choosing between a balcony and a PR cabin you would have to consider those factors, but the original poster is not considering a balcony, they are considering an inside cabin versus a PR cabin. The PR cabin is typically not that much more money than a standard inside and definitely offers something unique. I am fortunate that I am able to cruise several times a year and do usually have a nice balcony cabin but I can honestly say that I did not miss my balcony at all when I had the promenade cabin. Now, I was also sailing with my Mother-in-law in the Promenade cabin and it was a fun, girls vacation. If I were sailing with my Husband I would definitely go for the balcony cabin for the romance of it all ;) . But, if Hubby and I had to choose between inside or promenade....I'd take the promenade cabin in a heartbeat! Here is a link to my photos of my Voyager trip with my Mother-in-law which include several photos of our PR cabin and the view out the window...

 

 

http://community.webshots.com/album/169193204Ncjtwj

[seabw]

I just checked out of my promenade cabin this morning. My daughter and I were over the end of the promenade, and didn't have a great view. We kept the curtains closed most of the time. My husband, who was in the next room with my daughter's boyfriend, liked it and kept his curtains open. What we did like the most was the adjoining doors. I would not pay extra for a promenade cabin, but if the price was equal or less to an inside I would chose the promenade. (We got a great deal on the cabins for a last minute cruise.)

[digital_curator]

For those of us who cannot afford a balcony like SeaBreezy, I must dissagree with this poster on one point. You certainly can tell whether it is day or night in a PR because they light it to mimic outside:p

 

This might not be enough for some, but if I was chosing an inside cabin, I would pick one with a window and some additional light source!

 

My problem with oceanviews (not counting the price) is that I don't like their location on the ship- PR rooms are central both horizontally and vertically on the ship and handy to everything.

 

Now if I win the lottery, I'm switching to a balcony (and perhaps even a suite):D

 

Cheers,

[CARIBBEAN01]

From all the pictures I have seen they do look smaller then the other inside rooms, it might be just the way they are set up I don't know. They look rather cramped....

[momesu]

From all the pictures I have seen they do look smaller then the other inside rooms, it might be just the way they are set up I don't know. They look rather cramped....

 

Yes they are more cramped, but as I said before it's not because of the size it is because of the extra piece of furniture and the fact that the bed has to be placed so it goes acrossed the room. This privides a block to the flow of trafic in the room because you must always walk around the bed. In most if not all inside cabins the bed it placed at the end of the room and so it doesn't really stick out into the traffic path. I can live with that though in order to have the window and yes promenade rooms are usally less than $100 different per person which is not a whole lot.

 

I don't think you can really compare them with balcony rooms. I don't think there are too many people that if they could easily afford a balcony room wouldn't take one. For me I can afford to cruise once or maybe twice a year in an interior room. If I had a balconey room it would definately be less a than once a year. :( I have chosen to stay in an inside or promenade cabin just so I can cruise more often. I don't mind sharing my outside space with others. :)

[Joe_Scarfone]

The PR rooms are very nice for the price IMO. To me, its more cozy because of its hotel room type set up (bed not facing me when I walk in) and the window overlooking the Promenade. I had a PR when I sailed on the Mariner last year, and I have another booked for November. Great ship, and great room!

[cherylhaha]

We had a PR on Mariner (Eastern) late last September. I would take a PR over an inside room anyday. I agree with momesu, it's the arrangement of the furniture that makes the room seem smaller. Come on, it's 5 sqft, that's 2 ft x 2.5 ft. or 1 ft x 5 ft, I don't believe anyone could actually look at the room and see this difference. In our case, the PR room was only $10 more pp, give me a window, even if it does look out on the promenade. Great to see what's going on. And there is light, it may not be true outside light, but it's heaps more than an inside cabin.

 

For the second part of the OP's post, we stayed out 9 days (instead of 7) due to a hurricane :) . The only draw back for us is that we had to come back into Miami instead of PC. We have another cruise booked for late September and another in October. We just go with the flow.

[momesu]

For the second part of the OP's post, we stayed out 9 days (instead of 7) due to a hurricane :) . The only draw back for us is that we had to come back into Miami instead of PC. We have another cruise booked for late September and another in October. We just go with the flow.

 

Oh, you lucky ducky! So many cruises so close together! :) I dream of things like that. The closest I'll probably ever get is my end of Dec and then my end of Feb cruises. But given that I have those I guess I shouldn't whine should I. By the way I have another promenade room reserved for my Feb cruise, but had to go back to an inside one for the December cruise. For some reason when the stretched the Encahantment they didn't put in a promenade :( We are in one of the new cabins though.

[mspink98]

We just booked our first balcony, but before we decided on that, we were looking at the promenade rooms. I liked the idea of having a window, even if it did look out on an inside area. In fact, I liked the idea of having an inside window better than an oceanview (no balcony). Being able to see outside but not go outside would bother me, I think. I’ve always said to DH that I either want to be inside or have a balcony, but the promenade seemed like a good compromise, for not much more $$ than an inside.

 

 

Even without ever having been in a balcony (yet), I’m quite sure that a balcony will be my favorite way to go, but that’s not always feasible money-wise. If we are ever in a position to go on a cruise but cannot afford the upgrade to a balcony (which I’m quite sure will happen sometime in our lives), I would love to try a promenade room.