Thoughts on upgrading from balcony to mini-suite

[PoohUnderstands]

On 3/21/2019 at 1:49 PM, JasmineB said:

There's so much more room in a mini.  If it's in your budget, definitely go for it.   I booked a mini then read about Club Class Minis and decided  I had to have one.  It's on the Star in June, so I don't know if it's worth the $ or not.

We always did a deluxe balcony, but decided to try CC stateroom and now I am stuck!  Grin.  It's not just the bathtub, which is nice, but the dining makes our cruising experience much more enjoyable.  Now I have been successful in my reserving a CC mini over a deluxe balcony in that a CC mini can only be $20 or less a day more pp than a regular mini.  Most of my final costs at time of sailing is around $11-12pp per day and so worth it.  Having the minisuite is nice too!  

 

Pooh

[LoriPhil]

What a great opportunity!  We’d opt for the mini given the chance.  I’m an early riser and sit on the couch with coffee and a book enjoying a bit of quiet time (sitting on the bed reading is no longer comfy or enjoyable at this point). We also like the extra storage space, which is nice for stowing snorkel-gears on warm cruises or organizing binocs, cameras and caps/gloves for cooler ones.  Also appreciate the tub for showering, with ample space to hang wet gear etc.

 

we don’t mind the open balcony - never felt intrusive to us and you can’t beat it for looking up at the sky or directly down into the water, rather than looking down at the top of someone’s head 😁.

[OCruisers]

On 3/21/2019 at 3:49 PM, JasmineB said:

There's so much more room in a mini.  If it's in your budget, definitely go for it.   I booked a mini then read about Club Class Minis and decided  I had to have one.  It's on the Star in June, so I don't know if it's worth the $ or not.

 

We love Club Class Minis!

The Club Class Minis are worth it for the location -- Mid Ship on Dolphin Deck so you're never more than half way to/from your cabin. 

Also, having Club Class Dining is great!  

 

[Diver2014]

I'd pay extra just for the bathtub in a mini suite but DH says he'd rather spend the money on shore excursions so after 3 Princess cruises and 2 more coming up, I have as yet to enjoy a mini suite bathtub.  I'm banished to the hot tubs for my nightly soaks (which are only lukewarm) but that's better than nothing.  

[voljeep]

1 minute ago, Diver2014 said:

I'd pay extra just for the bathtub in a mini suite but DH says he'd rather spend the money on shore excursions so after 3 Princess cruises and 2 more coming up, I have as yet to enjoy a mini suite bathtub.  I'm banished to the hot tubs for my nightly soaks (which are only lukewarm) but that's better than nothing.  

and we don't book the mini's because of the shower/tub combo - rather fight the shower curtain for a few minutes

than step over the tub into and out of the tub/shower ... balance issues and all

 

however, you enjoy !!

[USCcruisecrazy]

We were upgraded a couple of cruises ago from balconies to mini-suites.  Smart move on Princess' part...it didn't cost us anything but now we love the mini's room so much more we won't go back to a normal balcony unless we have no other choice!

[Thrak]

2 hours ago, voljeep said:

and we don't book the mini's because of the shower/tub combo - rather fight the shower curtain for a few minutes

than step over the tub into and out of the tub/shower ... balance issues and all

 

however, you enjoy !!

 

I see comments like this all the time. I've never had to fight the shower curtain! Get the bottom of it wet and the corners will stick to the edge of the shower enclosure and the curtain leaves you alone. I'm not a small person and if I don't have an issue with the curtain I don't understand why others should have an issue.

[OCruisers]

4 hours ago, voljeep said:

and we don't book the mini's because of the shower/tub combo - rather fight the shower curtain for a few minutes

than step over the tub into and out of the tub/shower ... balance issues and all

 

however, you enjoy !!

 

There are many "Grab Bars" which make it extremely easy to get into/out of the tub-shower combo in mini-suites.  Also nice to hold on to while showering.  

[drjpreston]

One of the great things about going on a cruise is that it offers something for everyone's tastes. If you like to party and be with people there are lots of opportunities to do so.  If you want to spend all your time outside your room on the deck setting in a chair by your self reading a book there are always chairs (if you go outside early... lol). 

The nice thing about a mini suite for us is it is a place of refuge.  We are around people almost around the clock 24 /7 when on land.  The mini suite is great for us because we can enjoy being on the cruise and being by ourselves.  We use the sofa and room service a lot.  My wife loves the tub where she can set and relax.  We can't afford a full suite so the mini suites work great.  We have tried setting on the bed in a balcony room but for a 25 day B2B like we have next January it grows uncomfortable in a hurry.  

Decide what you want and then go for it.  There is no right and wrong choice.

[suzyed]

On 3/21/2019 at 8:09 PM, laktex said:

For that price I would personally opt for the larger space.

I  would too!

[hpeabody]

I am booked on a 7 day Royal Alaska cruise in a deluxe balcony with a normal size (large for the Royal class) that I am very happy with.  Yesterday I received an upsell offer to a mini-suite (first time ever for a mini-suite) for $229 pp. I travel solo, so that means $458 for me and I am already paying double anyway.  I am passing on this one.  IMO, not a good value for 7 days.

 

if it were my fall Crown 28 day British Isles & TA, I might have jumped on it.

[FritzG]

The way we decide between a balcony cabin or a mini-suite is by how the length of the cruise and how many sea days we have.  In September we're taking a 14 day British Isles on the Pacific, and we've got a balcony because there are 11 ports.  In March, 2020, we're booked on the March 13 Star Hawaiian cruise, and we have a mini-suite because of all of the sea days plus we never go ashore in Ensenda which gives us another day to enjoy the extra space.

[kennicott]

We rarely book for less than three weeks. Safe to say, the way it has been for years now, no mini, no cruise. Unfortunately or fortunately, circumstances led us to book a full suite on the Pacific end of last year. So we got spoiled. But decided that we wouldn't do that again. However, got to looking at Oceania, the exact same suite on their R-2, Pacific Princess is the R-3, would have cost us 28,000 dollars more than Princess did for an equivalent itinerary. So maybe we stick with Princess and look at an Owners Suite again.    

Edited April 14, 2019 by kennicott

[NSWP]

We often take Minis, if you can afford it, do it, extra space is great on he longer cruises.  We had minis on Sapphire and Royal last year and have minis on Majestic/Sapphire next year as they are fairly long cruises, 19 nights and 21 nights.  I mean, you get 2 TV's, one for each eye.  Beware the balcony size on the Royal Class ships minis, very small.

 

Like being at the pointy part of the aeroplane, once you have sampled it, you never want to go back to cattle class.

Edited April 14, 2019 by NSWP

[suekel]

18 minutes ago, kennicott said:

We rarely book for less than three weeks. Safe to say, the way it has been for years now, no mini, no cruise. Unfortunately or fortunately, circumstances led us to book a full suite on the Pacific end of last year. So we got spoiled. But decided that we wouldn't do that again. However, got to looking at Oceania, the exact same suite on their R-2, Pacific Princess is the R-3, would have cost us 28,000 dollars more than Princess did for an equivalent itinerary. So maybe we stick with Princess and look at an Owners Suite again.    

I made the mistake of getting a full suite on my last cruise.  Now my next 2.  At least I get the casino discount so it takes some of the pain away.  

[elliair]

I wouldn't pay the difference for a mini suite.  We don't need a sofa, we don't need another TV, and we don't need a bath tub.  We have thought about it but we keep going back to our standard Caribe balcony cabin, and spend the money on other things that we like.  It's all about what your preferences are.

[wifeofbedo]

If you've never had a mini, and the price is right, and the location of where you'd have your cabin is right, then go for it!  Don't forget when deciding on the price to add in the extra cost of the stateroom gratuities as I believe they are a bit higher, depending on the length of your cruise it may/may not be a consideration.

That said, my 2 cents of thought is, try it out if it fits your criteria.

FWIW, I talked my DH into trying a balcony once, and now we always have one

Enjoy.

[Tophat4321]

We have had suites and mini-suites with Princess. Our last in December 2018 was a 10 night in balcony. We are sold on balcony. We didn't find it too small and was covered. Our next cruise is May 5th with a balcony.  

[happy cruzer]

Do you get to pick the cabin/location.  If you can be sure you are getting a larger cabin in good location the it looks like a deal...

[Valiamo]

On 3/21/2019 at 11:59 AM, MomC said:

We are on the Star in January. We booked a balcony cabin but just saw where a mini suite is only $206 per person higher. This seems like a great deal. Has anyone been in both cabin categories and could comment?

 

I have a differing opinion of the Grand Class Mini-suites.

 

We had a Mini suite on the Star last year in Alaska (and several regular balcony cabins on other Grand class ships).   

 

While it was nice having the extra room, couch and the two TV's.  We really did not enjoy the open air balcony (meaning no sun coverage).  My darling wife loves to sit out, have her coffee and watch the sea go by.  This cruise she almost never ever stepped foot out on the balcony (maybe 5 minutes total).   She says she felt way too exposed to all the other cruisers, and I agree that everyone could and did look down and onto our balcony. 

 

It is a trade off, but when on a Grand class ship, we will stick with a regular balcony on Baja or Aloha deck.