Regal/Royal Balcony room for 4 - Don't do it!!!!

[myfuzzy]

After you check out that inside room, the balcony might not look so bad.

 

 

This is true, but, sometimes the price of a balcony is twice the price of an inside, unless you get a 3/4 sail free. On the Regal/Royal you have no choice but to go from inside to balcony, which on some cruises big $$$$ difference, but sometimes you can save by booking an oceanview obstructed for a good price, even with the window, the room can seem larger.

[Gaynors]

After you check out that inside room, the balcony might not look so bad.

 

 

love that picture... puts everything in perspective :) either inside or balcony room on the Regal is on a cruise ship where I'm being pampered :D

[trishh]

Thanks for the information. What about on the Ruby princess? I think we are going to cancel the cabin for 4 and take the family on another type of vacation or another cruise line that has better accommodations for family. They will be disappointed, but better than to spend $4000 for a miserable time (I know my family!)

 

I know this is a princess thread, but any other families have had goodcabins on other lines?

 

Have you looked into getting 2 separate cabins? Ever since my son was 11 and my daughter was 8, we've put them in an inside cabin and we've been in a balcony right across the hall.

Trish

[Wichenford Wolf]

Only in Mini-Suites do the sofas have pull out beds. The "sofas" in Deluxe Balcony Cabins--which are really just armless loveseats--do not.

 

 

We had a deluxe balcony on Royal in the summer. The sofa became a bed at night.

 

 

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[Rinderoo]

Thanks for posting those photos on Princess; always wondered what that looked like in 'real life'! When we did 4 people on Princess, we booked two inside cabins. Kids were seasoned cruisers and were two doors down from us. It worked out very well.

 

HAL has an odd setup, but not as bad as what you show here. This is a quad setup on the Eurodam, balcony room. Note the pulldown bunk over the queen but at least there was some walking space. We're doing it again as a family because HAL has cabana rentals on the ship and I was able to get the large one. Two rooms not an option on this family trip because of promotional pricing for pax 3 & 4. On HAL, I can also send out laundry every day and we pack very light.

 

Carnival and Disney probably have the best setup for quads. I always said I would never book HAL as a quad ever again but ended up doing it for a variety of reasons including air which was booked for 3, and the 4th person suddenly saying "Mom! Guess What! I can do the family trip now!" after she emphatically said she was not going and we were booked on another cruise line. Adding her to that reservation was going to cost an extra 1K so we ended up on the Eurodam again.

Edited December 6, 2016 by Rinderoo

[Potstech]

After you check out that inside room, the balcony might not look so bad.

 

 

Have slept in those kind of bunks before. They can be real comfortable depending on how the ropes are adjusted. No storage anywhere in those compartments though. This was in the mid 70's on a ship built in 1942. Was on it for 2 years.

[JimmyVWine]

Only in Mini-Suites do the sofas have pull out beds. The "sofas" in Deluxe Balcony Cabins--which are really just armless loveseats--do not.

Our upcoming cruise in a Dx Balcony (for 3 people) lists a "Single Sofa Bed" as one of the beds provided. This had better be correct because I am counting on it.

 

Edit to add:

 

This comes directly from Princess' own site describing the appointments of a Deluxe Balcony:

 

Larger than our Standard Balcony staterooms, Deluxe Balcony cabins provide approximately 233 square feet of comfort, and an approximately 41 square foot balcony and includes all the same features of the Balcony stateroom, plus an additional sofa bed for lounging or sleeping a third passenger. Some also have a pullman bed to accommodate a 4th passenger.

 

These features and fine amenities are standard in a Deluxe Balcony stateroom:

 

Seating area with a sofa bed

Balcony with patio furniture

Twin beds that convert to a queen size bed*

Shampoo, conditioner, body lotion

100% Egyptian cotton linens

Private bathroom with shower

Satellite TV, refrigerator, hair dryer, safe, closet, phone and desk

110V, 60-cycle alternating current (AC) with standard U.S. plug fittings

Daily housekeeping service

Evening bed turn-down, chocolates on your pillow

Edited December 6, 2016 by JimmyVWine

[floridalover5623]

It must have also been very crowded on the balcony.

Did you take turns using it. :rolleyes:

[JimmyVWine]

It must have also been very crowded on the balcony.

Did you take turns using it. :rolleyes:

That's going to be our plan! Seriously, we never would have booked the cabin we did except for the fact that ours will be a very port intensive cruise with all day tours planned for each day.

[trvlgirlmq]

Wow, was looking at Royal and we have always done a balcony but that is ridiculous. I would probably end up with a concussion or stitches as a frequent nighttime bathroom user :eek: As much as we want to switch it up I think I will stick with Carnival.

 

Carnival Breeze

[Gaynors]

Thanks for posting those photos on Princess; always wondered what that looked like in 'real life'! When we did 4 people on Princess, we booked two inside cabins. Kids were seasoned cruisers and were two doors down from us. It worked out very well.

 

HAL has an odd setup, but not as bad as what you show here. This is a quad setup on the Eurodam, balcony room. Note the pulldown bunk over the queen but at least there was some walking space. We're doing it again as a family because HAL has cabana rentals on the ship and I was able to get the large one. Two rooms not an option on this family trip because of promotional pricing for pax 3 & 4. On HAL, I can also send out laundry every day and we pack very light.

 

Carnival and Disney probably have the best setup for quads. I always said I would never book HAL as a quad ever again but ended up doing it for a variety of reasons including air which was booked for 3, and the 4th person suddenly saying "Mom! Guess What! I can do the family trip now!" after she emphatically said she was not going and we were booked on another cruise line. Adding her to that reservation was going to cost an extra 1K so we ended up on the Eurodam again.

 

Thank you for posting the HAL photo, we have not sailed on HAL yet but are always looking at all available options. that is the setup we were used to on the Celebrity "M" class ships and it works fine for us. It is a little tight to get out to the balcony at night but we can make it work.

[Gaynors]

Wow, was looking at Royal and we have always done a balcony but that is ridiculous. I would probably end up with a concussion or stitches as a frequent nighttime bathroom user :eek: As much as we want to switch it up I think I will stick with Carnival.

 

Carnival Breeze

 

Thanks for posting. It kind of gives a better perspective on what quad balconies could be (Princess ... hint.. hint..). This room is very similar to the balcony room we've had on the Freedom Class on RCI. It was VERY spacious compared to what we are used to..... and the balcony is huge :eek:!

 

I will have to say hands down.. no competition... on every line.. every ship (at least that we've been on ;)) ... Princess has the largest closets.

Edited December 7, 2016 by Gaynors

[JimmyVWine]

I will have to say hands down.. no competition... on every line.. every ship (at least that we've been on ;)) ... Princess has the largest closets.

And therein lies the problem. Although I have not been on a Carnival ship, I am guessing that the photo posted above represents Twin Beds that can be combined into a Queen; plus a sofa that converts to the lower bunk, coupled with a bed that comes down from the ceiling to form the upper bunk. The piece of that puzzle that is missing from a typical Princess cabin is the sofa. On some cruise lines, a loveseat or sofa is standard in a regular Balcony Cabin. On Princess this is decidedly not the case. Yet when you look at the square footage of a typical cabin on Princess as compared to another line, the total is not all that different. (Although on the new builds, Princess did squeeze things down a bit). So if the cabins themselves are about the same size, yet other cruise lines give you a sofa and Princess does not, where does all that extra space go? And you have largely nailed it. More closet space.

 

For anyone traveling with 3 or 4 people who wants to sail with Princess, you really should look at Mini-Suites. In almost all instances, a Mini-Suite can be had for not much more than a Balcony, and certainly less than a Balcony plus an Interior. Fitting 3 people is a breeze without messing up the configuration of the cabin, as the sofa provides the third bed. And while we have never been in a MS with 4 people, it has to be better than the photo you showed in the original post.

[Wichenford Wolf]

And therein lies the problem. Although I have not been on a Carnival ship, I am guessing that the photo posted above represents Twin Beds that can be combined into a Queen; plus a sofa that converts to the lower bunk, coupled with a bed that comes down from the ceiling to form the upper bunk. The piece of that puzzle that is missing from a typical Princess cabin is the sofa. On some cruise lines, a loveseat or sofa is standard in a regular Balcony Cabin. On Princess this is decidedly not the case. Yet when you look at the square footage of a typical cabin on Princess as compared to another line, the total is not all that different. (Although on the new builds, Princess did squeeze things down a bit). So if the cabins themselves are about the same size, yet other cruise lines give you a sofa and Princess does not, where does all that extra space go? And you have largely nailed it. More closet space.

 

For anyone traveling with 3 or 4 people who wants to sail with Princess, you really should look at Mini-Suites. In almost all instances, a Mini-Suite can be had for not much more than a Balcony, and certainly less than a Balcony plus an Interior. Fitting 3 people is a breeze without messing up the configuration of the cabin, as the sofa provides the third bed. And while we have never been in a MS with 4 people, it has to be better than the photo you showed in the original post.

 

I agree that a mini-suite is easily the best option for four. We have done it several times. Usually the sofa becomes one bed and there is a drop down bunk from the ceiling over the sofa bed.

 

Having said that on our trip on Royal in the summer there were originally going to be only two of us in our deluxe balcony when at a late stage our 19 year old daughter decided to join us! I considered upgrading to a mini-suite but, mainly due to cost, we left things as they were. The sofa in the deluxe balcony forms a bed at night and we all had plenty of room for the fortnight. If our other daughter had decided to come then I would have definitely tried to upgrade!

[JimmyVWine]

Having said that on our trip on Royal in the summer there were originally going to be only two of us in our deluxe balcony when at a late stage our 19 year old daughter decided to join us! I considered upgrading to a mini-suite but, mainly due to cost, we left things as they were. The sofa in the deluxe balcony forms a bed at night and we all had plenty of room for the fortnight. If our other daughter had decided to come then I would have definitely tried to upgrade!

 

Thanks for this. We are also booked into a Dx Balcony on Royal in June as we will be traveling with my 19 year old as well. We have always booked Mini-Suites on Princess, but this time the only way that I could justify the cost of the trip to the Med was to cut costs where I could and I rationalized that we would be fine in a DxB. And every day I check the prices to see if I should pick up the phone and move my cabin over to a Mini-Suite. I can't say that I will stop doing this, but at least I have some positive reinforcement that I made a good decision.

[cheeseclan]

Jimmy,

 

We did the deluxe balcony on the Royal with our now 18 yr DS. He slept on the sofa bed the first night and said it was comfortable but his feet kept hitting the dresser. So i slept over there instead and it was fine for me since i am only 5'4.

 

We did this for cost and would do it again unless a great deal came up on a mini.

[JimmyVWine]

Jimmy,

 

We did the deluxe balcony on the Royal with our now 18 yr DS. He slept on the sofa bed the first night and said it was comfortable but his feet kept hitting the dresser. So i slept over there instead and it was fine for me since i am only 5'4.

 

We did this for cost and would do it again unless a great deal came up on a mini.

 

Thanks. My daughter is 5'7 and has never complained about the pull-outs in the Mini-Suites of older ships, so I am hoping that she will be fine with the newer furniture on Royal. I already cleared it with her and her mom that they would not be getting a bathtub. That was the hardest sell of all.

[Gaynors]

And therein lies the problem. Although I have not been on a Carnival ship, I am guessing that the photo posted above represents Twin Beds that can be combined into a Queen; plus a sofa that converts to the lower bunk, coupled with a bed that comes down from the ceiling to form the upper bunk. The piece of that puzzle that is missing from a typical Princess cabin is the sofa. On some cruise lines, a loveseat or sofa is standard in a regular Balcony Cabin. On Princess this is decidedly not the case. Yet when you look at the square footage of a typical cabin on Princess as compared to another line, the total is not all that different. (Although on the new builds, Princess did squeeze things down a bit). So if the cabins themselves are about the same size, yet other cruise lines give you a sofa and Princess does not, where does all that extra space go? And you have largely nailed it. More closet space.

 

For anyone traveling with 3 or 4 people who wants to sail with Princess, you really should look at Mini-Suites. In almost all instances, a Mini-Suite can be had for not much more than a Balcony, and certainly less than a Balcony plus an Interior. Fitting 3 people is a breeze without messing up the configuration of the cabin, as the sofa provides the third bed. And while we have never been in a MS with 4 people, it has to be better than the photo you showed in the original post.

 

That was the main reason for the original post and pictures. At the time we booked a deluxe balcony was only about $400 more and having known the layout of the regular balcony we would have booked the deluxe, however I did post on here about the layout of the quad balcony and didn't get much response. The pullout sofa with the pull down bunk above (the bed or the pull out sofa) works just fine for us. Not the hazardous situation provided in the regular balcony room for 4.

 

I just want people to be aware of the bedding arrangements for 4 in a regular balcony.