Seattle to Vancouver in Royal Princess. Few questions.

[dipan0000]

Hello,
I am looking at 2-DayPacific Coastal with Royal Princess, which starts at Seattle and ends at Vancouver. We are two adults with one 7 year old.
While booking it is giving me few options in Balcony and I am learning, what would suit us. I have few questions, if someone can help me :
1- I have two balcony options and one mini-suite with around $250 more.
Balcony options :
(a) Deluxe Balcony from $349 - [This looks like standard balcony, with no chairs?]
(b) Balcony - Upgrade from $48 per day - [This looks like little balcony than above one?]
Please suggest, if above observation is correct. It would be nice to have chairs, so option b should work best for us?
2- Cheapest is forward and then aft. As this is a short distance within closed water (Seattle to Vancouver), I am guessing it wouldn't matter if I get the room in forward or on high like Dec-15 and we won't feel much movement. Please correct, if I am assuming it correct.
3- I see two bed configuration. Queen/upper and BedTwins/upper Bed. But if I see pictures, all I see is just one queen bed. Do they have any hidden bed or sofa, which can be expanded for third person (our son)?
Please suggest.
Thanks

[sunviking90]

1 hour ago, dipan0000 said:

Hello,
I am looking at 2-DayPacific Coastal with Royal Princess, which starts at Seattle and ends at Vancouver. We are two adults with one 7 year old.
While booking it is giving me few options in Balcony and I am learning, what would suit us. I have few questions, if someone can help me :
1- I have two balcony options and one mini-suite with around $250 more.
Balcony options :
(a) Deluxe Balcony from $349 - [This looks like standard balcony, with no chairs?]
(b) Balcony - Upgrade from $48 per day - [This looks like little balcony than above one?]
Please suggest, if above observation is correct. It would be nice to have chairs, so option b should work best for us?
2- Cheapest is forward and then aft. As this is a short distance within closed water (Seattle to Vancouver), I am guessing it wouldn't matter if I get the room in forward or on high like Dec-15 and we won't feel much movement. Please correct, if I am assuming it correct.
3- I see two bed configuration. Queen/upper and BedTwins/upper Bed. But if I see pictures, all I see is just one queen bed. Do they have any hidden bed or sofa, which can be expanded for third person (our son)?
Please suggest.
Thanks

I’ll do my best to answer your questions:

All balcony cabins will have 2 chairs. Most balconies are very small. The deluxe premium balconies aft, and the balconies on the midship bump out (you’ll see on the deck plans) are larger.

As far as the cabins themselves, deluxe and premium deluxe will both have a sofa. I haven’t had a third in these, but I am pretty sure it is a sofa bed and will accommodate your son. The standard balcony cabins, if they can accommodate a third, will be an upper berth (comes out of the ceiling when in use). The lower bed can be arranged as a Queen or separated into 2 singles. I believe they have to be separated when the upper berth is in use, but it’s been a long time since we travelled with our son, so I’m not sure.

As far as motion far forward, you are right that it is such a short distance you shouldn’t need to worry. 
Hope this helps.

[dipan0000]

Deluxe Balcony from $349 and Balcony shows upgrade starting from $48. That's why I got confused, how deluxe balcony is cheaper and if I upgrade to Balcony, then I will need to pay $48+.
 

[SCX22]

12 minutes ago, dipan0000 said:

Deluxe Balcony from $349 and Balcony shows upgrade starting from $48. That's why I got confused, how deluxe balcony is cheaper and if I upgrade to Balcony, then I will need to pay $48+.
 

 

Most likely, there are too many unbooked Deluxe Balcony cabins on this sailing.  Princess will discount cabin categories in this instance.

 

Since you have a 3rd occupant, there are some questions you should ponder. 

 

1) Does your son have a preference over sleeping on a sofa bed or a pullman? 

2) Will you require easy access to the balcony at night?  When pulled out, the sofa bed in a Deluxe Balcony will block the balcony door.  You either have to hobble over the sofa bed or shimmy between a small gap between the sofa bed and desk.  The room steward will fold away the sofa bed during the day and pull it out in the evening.

3) Do you mind sleeping with someone above you?  If you choose a balcony with a pullman, it'll be like sleeping on a bunkbed for you as well.

 

[dipan0000]

31 minutes ago, SCX22 said:

 

Most likely, there are too many unbooked Deluxe Balcony cabins on this sailing.  Princess will discount cabin categories in this instance.

 

Since you have a 3rd occupant, there are some questions you should ponder. 

 

1) Does your son have a preference over sleeping on a sofa bed or a pullman? 

2) Will you require easy access to the balcony at night?  When pulled out, the sofa bed in a Deluxe Balcony will block the balcony door.  You either have to hobble over the sofa bed or shimmy between a small gap between the sofa bed and desk.  The room steward will fold away the sofa bed during the day and pull it out in the evening.

3) Do you mind sleeping with someone above you?  If you choose a balcony with a pullman, it'll be like sleeping on a bunkbed for you as well.

 

Son sleeping above me is okay, and he likes bunk bed type setup. But how I will select this balcony? It doesn't tell me if that balcony comes with bunk bed.
In Balcony, I see :
- Deluxe Balcony from $349
- Balcony - Upgrade from $48 per day

In another category, I see :
- Mini-Suite from $449

 

None of them shows obstructed view, if I check on princess website, while it shows on third party website.

Edited September 15, 2023 by dipan0000

[SCX22]

40 minutes ago, dipan0000 said:

Son sleeping above me is okay, and he likes bunk bed type setup. But how I will select this balcony? It doesn't tell me if that balcony comes with bunk bed.

 

If you select 3 passengers for the booking the only cabins that will populate for you to choose from are the cabins that can accommodate at least 3.  

 

 

 

[Steelers36]

14 minutes ago, SCX22 said:

 

If you select 3 passengers for the booking the only cabins that will populate for you to choose from are the cabins that can accommodate at least 3.  

 

 

 

Yes, but if @dipan0000 is looking at a Deluxe Balcony, there is the sofa that counts for 3rd sleeping berth.  A regular Balcony has no sofa, so the bunkies are stored in the ceiling and he can look for 3 or 4 since I believe where they exist, there are always two in the ceiling.  For a Deluxe Balcony, he should only look for capacity of 4 guests since that will ensure there is a bunk in the ceiling.

[dipan0000]

15 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Yes, but if @dipan0000 is looking at a Deluxe Balcony, there is the sofa that counts for 3rd sleeping berth.  A regular Balcony has no sofa, so the bunkies are stored in the ceiling and he can look for 3 or 4 since I believe where they exist, there are always two in the ceiling.  For a Deluxe Balcony, he should only look for capacity of 4 guests since that will ensure there is a bunk in the ceiling.

Maybe I can call them and ask, which one have bunk bad.

If I get that, will that block balcony in night, or that restriction comes only with sofa bed?

[Steelers36]

12 minutes ago, dipan0000 said:

Maybe I can call them and ask, which one have bunk bad.

If I get that, will that block balcony in night, or that restriction comes only with sofa bed?

When looking for a cruise and cabin on Princess.com, set number of guests to 4 and you will see available cabins.  Make a note and start over looking to book 3 guests and only select the cabins you saw. 

 

Another way is to open a second web page for Princess.com and pull up the deck plan for the ship you want to go on.  On the deck plans you can set max occupancy to 4 and it will filter down to only those cabins being highlighted.  On your other screen when booking 3 people and considering available cabins, then check against the deck plan and see if they hold 4 people.  Then you know you have at least one bunk bed.

[SCX22]

46 minutes ago, dipan0000 said:

Maybe I can call them and ask, which one have bunk bad.

If I get that, will that block balcony in night, or that restriction comes only with sofa bed?

 

Sort of.  The pullman in Deluxe Balconies in cabins that can accommodate 4 is over the loveseat.  You will have to duck under the pullman when it's down to get to the balcony.

 

https://www.cruisedeckplans.com/

The website above has deck plans with a legend.  Narrow down the ship by cruise line.  For example, on the Royal Princess, D224 and D225 are Deluxe Balconies which can accommodate a 4th.

Edited September 15, 2023 by SCX22

[dipan0000]

Got it.

Thanks a lot for all your help.

[reedprincess]

A 4 person Deluxe Balcony will look just like this.  

 

 

The color scheme will be different on Royal - otherwise, it's all just the same.  

 

The sofa folds out and blocks the balcony access when open. Or, your minor could use the bunk, but it drops down in front of the balcony door - you'd have to duck down to get in/out. It's only our at night, the steward puts it out when you're at dinner and ours it up when you're gone in the morning (same for sofa).

It is more spacious than a balcony cabin.

 

A balcony cabin only has a desk with one chair and the bed. The 2rd/4th berth is a Pullman from the ceiling over the main bed. Usually they ask you to have the bottom beds set as twins so the ladder can go between them, but you can have as a single bed, just note that the ladder for the bunk will be in the walkway to the bathroom. Awkward at night!

 

With 3, one being a younger kid, a Deluxe Balcony is great. Smaller sofa for seating and space during the day, sofa bed at night (or Pullman if you get a cabin for 4).

 

A mini-suite is significantly larger than either balcony configurations. And more expensive. It has a much larger full size sofa, two TV's, bathtub/shower combo and a curtain to separate the sofa area from the bed area, giving a little privacy at night. 

 

For whatever reason, Princess considers a Balcony (B) as a better/higher category than a Deluxe Balcony (D) cabin.   Go figure.  The Deluxe is larger, has a small sofa, etc, but considered a lower category when it comes to pricing and such. Bonus for us passengers! 

Edited September 15, 2023 by reedprincess

[Steelers36]

27 minutes ago, reedprincess said:

For whatever reason, Princess considers a Balcony (B) as a better/higher category than a Deluxe Balcony (D) cabin.   Go figure.  The Deluxe is larger, has a small sofa, etc, but considered a lower category when it comes to pricing and such. Bonus for us passengers! 

This is not true.  A Dx is a higher category than Bx.  Now, I won't claim that you can never purchase a Deluxe for less than a regular Balcony, but the general pricing (say, DB to BB) is set such that the Deluxe does normally cost something more.  The Deluxe has a few more square feet and a small sofa or love seat.

Edited September 15, 2023 by Steelers36

[reedprincess]

9 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

This is not true.  A Dx is a higher category than Bx.  Now, I won't claim that you can never purchase a Deluxe for less than a regular Balcony, but the general pricing (say, DB to BB) is set such that the Deluxe does normally cost something more.  The Deluxe has a few more square feet and a small sofa or love seat.

Interesting, as in 10 years of purchasing cabins on Royal class ships, D category has always been lower prices than a B category balcony.  And yes, well aware they're larger and have a small sofa - as evidenced by the comments in my post.. 

I defer to your apparent expertise however it has not been my experience - nor is it for the OP in the booking their looking at... as Princess is listing a B as an upgrade from D... 

 

 

Edited September 15, 2023 by reedprincess

[Steelers36]

3 minutes ago, reedprincess said:

Interesting, as in 10 years of purchasing cabins on Royal class ships, D category has always been lower prices than a B category balcony.  And yes, well aware they're larger and have a small sofa - as evidenced by the comments in my post.. 

I defer to your apparent expertise however it has not been my experience - nor is it for the OP in the booking their looking at... as Princess is listing a B as an upgrade from D... 

 

 

I have seen this sort of thing when pricing cabins - a BA or BB can cost more than a DE or DD.  But I do not see regular occurrence of a BA costing more than a DA, a BB costing more than a DB, etc.

 

My observations are from shopping cruises and checking Balcony pricing, although we normally book Inside.  Will go Balcony on a price drop or something that I see as good value.  We have booked one Dx in the past when it was a good deal and similar or less than some Bx.  That was when they were a newer thing.