Suite opinions

[JoRoy218]

Have been on the Emerald several times (in balcony) but now considering trying the “suite life.” 😉 Deciding between an aft PS on Caribe vs a midship Riviera. Am a bit reluctant on the Riviera deck as it is directly below the pool.  Any thoughts/suggestions? Thanks guys. 

[voljeep]

2 minutes ago, JoRoy218 said:

Have been on the Emerald several times (in balcony) but now considering trying the “suite life.” 😉 Deciding between an aft PS on Caribe vs a midship Riviera. Am a bit reluctant on the Riviera deck as it is directly below the pool.  Any thoughts/suggestions? Thanks guys. 

our one and only (so far) was an upsell ( yep, back in the day ) to a suite on the Riveria on the CB (sister ship), it was under the ice cream place so we heard some chair scraping in the morning and during the day, but not reall that much that it 'ruined the experience' .  That said, we would go for the aft next time.

[marden1970]

We just got off of the Emerald and were in aft facing suite D737.  Really liked it except that there were NO shelves at all in the bathroom.  I lke sitting on the balcony and listening to the wake noise.  You can feel the vibrations when the ship is docking but otherwise just the usual rocking of the ocean.

[JoRoy218]

46 minutes ago, marden1970 said:

We just got off of the Emerald and were in aft facing suite D737.  Really liked it except that there were NO shelves at all in the bathroom.  I lke sitting on the balcony and listening to the wake noise.  You can feel the vibrations when the ship is docking but otherwise just the usual rocking of the ocean.

Thanks! We’ve been in aft balcony and loved it, minimal vibrations as you said. No shelves in BR, strange with all that room! 

[riffatsea]

Hi

We are not,aft facing people

We don't like looking in that direction

We do mid ship penthouse suites and love,them!

We were also a bit leery of the Riviera deck but was pleasantly surprised to find there was minimal scraping noise 

[memoak]

We love aft suites. We generally sail in Vista or Penthouse aft suites. On those where the are no shelves in the bathroom we utilize the area near the safe. Works out great

[coco2/27]

We three sisters will be in aft suite cabins on two upcoming cruises, and weren’t aware that some aft suites didn’t have shelves in the bathroom, which would make a difference in our need of packing an over-door hanging organizer.

 

Does anyone know about presence or absence of the bathroom shelves in Island Princess Vista cabin L723, and Royal Princess corner Penthouse cabin R730???
 

Any information is greatly appreciated!

[nini]

3 hours ago, memoak said:

We love aft suites. We generally sail in Vista or Penthouse aft suites. On those where the are no shelves in the bathroom we utilize the area near the safe. Works out great

 

Thanks @memoak! As a surprise to DH, I booked an aft Vista Suite on the Caribbean Princess for 2024 (a Transatlantic). I also discovered that there are not bathroom shelves in these suites on the older ships. Truly, they could easily install some, but I appreciate your suggestion.

After all, it is a corner aft!

[jimd909]

The balcony will be larger (deeper) on aft suites compared to the those on the Riviera deck.

[jeromep]

We have had D737 on the Ruby and C751 on the Star Princesses. The Grand Class ships have the best aft balconies because they are fully covered and generally quite deep.  Some of the balconies are listed as having an obstruction, C751 has an obstruction, which is a major structural element running through the balcony, it just separates the two halves of the balcony a bit more than you might expect.  Since the Grand class ships have a galleon stern, those aft balconies are all fully covered, and the overhang of the deck above provides excellent shade and weather cover, not to mention privacy.

 

I'd opt for the aft suite any day.

[JoRoy218]

7 hours ago, coco2/27 said:

We three sisters will be in aft suite cabins on two upcoming cruises, and weren’t aware that some aft suites didn’t have shelves in the bathroom, which would make a difference in our need of packing an over-door hanging organizer.

 

Does anyone know about presence or absence of the bathroom shelves in Island Princess Vista cabin L723, and Royal Princess corner Penthouse cabin R730???
 

Any information is greatly appreciated!

You might be able to find a Utube video to check out that suite

[Papa Yoda]

The bathroom shelves vary from ship to ship - I recall the older Grands having shelves,  Crown, Emerald, and Ruby - no shelves.  We always pack the over-the-door solution.

 

Island's L723 is a copy of  Royal class suites - some shelves..

[Papa Yoda]

7 hours ago, jeromep said:

We have had D737 on the Ruby and C751 on the Star Princesses. The Grand Class ships have the best aft balconies because they are fully covered and generally quite deep.  Some of the balconies are listed as having an obstruction, C751 has an obstruction, which is a major structural element running through the balcony, it just separates the two halves of the balcony a bit more than you might expect.  Since the Grand class ships have a galleon stern, those aft balconies are all fully covered, and the overhang of the deck above provides excellent shade and weather cover, not to mention privacy.

 

I'd opt for the aft suite any day.

 

 

Ditto!  Caribe deck Vistas have a pretty cramped balcony, Dolphin deck are the best, but don't tell anyone.

[memoak]

The beam obstruction in the Vista suites are no big deal to us. Still room for 2 loungers, table and chairs. The Royal class mid ship suites have the narrowest balconies I have ever dealt with and the still cram all the furniture out there 

[jagoffee]

On 1/23/2023 at 8:56 AM, marden1970 said:

We just got off of the Emerald and were in aft facing suite D737.  Really liked it except that there were NO shelves at all in the bathroom.  I lke sitting on the balcony and listening to the wake noise.  You can feel the vibrations when the ship is docking but otherwise just the usual rocking of the ocean.

I am in A751 in an Emerald Aft suite, they are shelves on each side of the sink/vanity.  Weird that some suites would be different.  It is true that there are no drawers in the bathroom.

[jagoffee]

12 hours ago, Papa Yoda said:

The bathroom shelves vary from ship to ship - I recall the older Grands having shelves,  Crown, Emerald, and Ruby - no shelves.  We always pack the over-the-door solution.

 

Island's L723 is a copy of  Royal class suites - some shelves..

Perhaps Princess updated the Emerald’s suites.

Edited January 24, 2023 by jagoffee

[marden1970]

If they are updating to add shelves that's great. I kept some toiletries on the area next to the sink by the fridge.  

[XBGuy]

Another vote for aft suites--at least for Grand class ships such as the Emerald Princess.

 

We love the fact that you can actually enjoy meals on the balcony of aft-facing cabins.  You are completely protected from the wind.  We've enjoyed Ultimate Balcony Dinners, Room Service Dinners, and Ultimate Balcony Breakfasts--not to mention numeroust late afternoon noshes with glasses of wine--on aft-facing suite balconies on the Star Princess and the Ruby Princess (sister ship to the Emerald Princess).

 

To us it does not take long before the wind becomes tedious (best possible scenario) on the port/starboard balconies,

[jwattle]

On Royal Class suites, we liked the side-facing better, even with the smaller balcony, as they had the more open bedroom/living room plan. 🙂

[bjkTX]

We almost always pick aft facing cabins - normally C-753 pn the corner.  The only time we were in a suite we had booked C-753.  They offered us a free upgrade to a mini suite - which is what we used to book all the time until I found C-753.  I said no, the Mrs said yes, and we were assigned a very nice midship AB (if I recall correctly) mini.  Then a week or two before the cruise we got a call asking if we would accept a full suite for $11pp more - we said yes.  It turned out we got the aft facing suite right next to C-753 - so a win win!  We much prefer the balcony at the aft - it can be used pretty much 24/7 since the ship blocks all the wind and weather you would get on the side of the ship.  We enjoy the white noise of the wake - and sail away parties with friends on the balcony as the last port fades away is fantastic!  Good luck and enjoy whatever you decide!!