Island Princess Aloha deck Vista Suite

[cactusrose]

Does anyone know if the cabin only (not with the balcony) in all of the Island Vista suites on the Aloha deck are the same size?  We're looking at either A726 or A728.

Edited February 25 by cactusrose
Added ship

[Crystabel]

We are booked in A726 for the Panama Canal in Jan. 2025. It appears to be a very narrow cabin compared to our previous suites on other ships. The bonus is the balcony with side and aft views. If the cruise you’re looking at is after that date, I can come back and report. Chances are someone else will chime in who’s sailed in one of those cabins. 

Edited February 26 by Crystabel

[cactusrose]

23 minutes ago, Crystabel said:

We are booked in A726 for the Panama Canal in Jan. 2025. It appears to be a very narrow cabin compared to our previous suites on other ships. The bonus is the balcony with side and aft views. If the cruise you’re looking at is after that date, I can come back and report. Chances are someone else will chime in who’s sailed in one of those cabins. 

Thank you, I am sailing after that but need to book now because the suites usually go fast the closer you get to sailing.  So, I might go ahead and book it and watch for your feedback. I've looked at a couple of videos that show most of the Vista suites on Island and it looks like the cabins themselves are all the same size with different-sized balconies but I just wanted to verify.  What I don't like about the balcony for A726 is that you only have access to the aft-facing section from the doors on the starboard side.  So there is no aft view when you are inside.  The Panama cruise is very hot so I would like to have that view from inside.  Also, people in the suites above are looking directly down on that balcony.  However, my husband likes the idea of having a 180-degree view.  Also, a friend is booking A724 which is the balcony next door and it looks like we could open the partition between those balconies.

Edited February 26 by cactusrose

[cactusrose]

1 hour ago, cactusrose said:

Thank you, I am sailing after that but need to book now because the suites usually go fast the closer you get to sailing.  So, I might go ahead and book it and watch for your feedback. I've looked at a couple of videos that show most of the Vista suites on Island and it looks like the cabins themselves are all the same size with different-sized balconies but I just wanted to verify.  What I don't like about the balcony for A726 is that you only have access to the aft-facing section from the doors on the port side.  So there is no aft view when you are inside.  The Panama cruise is very hot so I would like to have that view from inside.  Also, people in the suites above are looking directly down on that balcony.  However, my husband likes the idea of having a 180-degree view.  Also, a friend is booking A724 which is the balcony next door and it looks like we could open the partition between those balconies.

Oops, I meant port side, not starboard.

[HaveDogWillTravel]

We did an Alaskan cruise in the corner suite A727 with the wrap around deck in 2016. We sailed in the middle aft facing suite A729 for the Panama Canal cruise in 2017.  We sailed 14 days for the North and South bound Voyage of the Glaciers cruise in A729 again in 2018. 
 

We visited the Lido deck cabins as well. 
 

We did not like how narrow the Lido deck cabins were and the room layout on the Lido corner suites was awkward and chopped up. 
 

We loved the full wrap around balcony on the Aloha corner suite for the scenic cruising days in Alaska.  However having to  access the wind free aft deck by braving the very cold and very windy side deck while under sail was a deal breaker for us. 
 

That is why we only booked A729 (A728 would have been identical) for our next sailings. This is the best bang for the buck full suite. Being a vista suite puts it at a nice price point and the deck is the largest S6 in the fleet. 
 

@cactusroseyou are correct, the Panama sailing is extremely hot. While we did have views out the back door we still wanted to be on the balcony. It was just amazing to be directly above the locks looking down at them. I worried we didn’t have side views when I booked but it turned out that didn’t matter to us. Like Alaska when sailing Panama you just need to be out on all decks for awhile. The Island has a great promenade in the shade for side and forward viewing. Once the locks are closing behind the ship you can go back to the cabin and watch it. I wrapped a wet bath towel around my shoulders to stay cool. 
 

And yes you have to just not care that the Lido deck people can see you. Our Lido deck neighbors were very nice. That’s how we got to visit those cabins. 

Edited February 26 by HaveDogWillTravel

[Crystabel]

@cactusroseWe’ve been through the canal a couple of times, so this is a repeat with friends. As your friends are doing, they are staying in the cabin next door, so we can open up the balcony divider. Slow going through the locks will enable us to use the side balcony, which is covered. Our cruise is in January, so hopefully it won’t be too hot. I don’t mind people being able to look down on us if we’re sitting aft. As @HaveDogWillTravelmentioned, if it gets too hot, the wet towel on the shoulders sounds like a good idea. Unfortunately when we booked, full suites were limited, so this was our best option. It’s part of a world cruise. 

[cactusrose]

7 hours ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

We did an Alaskan cruise in the corner suite A727 with the wrap around deck in 2016. We sailed in the middle aft facing suite A729 for the Panama Canal cruise in 2017.  We sailed 14 days for the North and South bound Voyage of the Glaciers cruise in A729 again in 2018. 
 

We visited the Lido deck cabins as well. 
 

We did not like how narrow the Lido deck cabins were and the room layout on the Lido corner suites was awkward and chopped up. 
 

We loved the full wrap around balcony on the Aloha corner suite for the scenic cruising days in Alaska.  However having to  access the wind free aft deck by braving the very cold and very windy side deck while under sail was a deal breaker for us. 
 

That is why we only booked A729 (A728 would have been identical) for our next sailings. This is the best bang for the buck full suite. Being a vista suite puts it at a nice price point and the deck is the largest S6 in the fleet. 
 

@cactusroseyou are correct, the Panama sailing is extremely hot. While we did have views out the back door we still wanted to be on the balcony. It was just amazing to be directly above the locks looking down at them. I worried we didn’t have side views when I booked but it turned out that didn’t matter to us. Like Alaska when sailing Panama you just need to be out on all decks for awhile. The Island has a great promenade in the shade for side and forward viewing. Once the locks are closing behind the ship you can go back to the cabin and watch it. I wrapped a wet bath towel around my shoulders to stay cool. 
 

And yes you have to just not care that the Lido deck people can see you. Our Lido deck neighbors were very nice. That’s how we got to visit those cabins. 

Thank you for the great information.  We are still trying to figure out which suite we want to book.  Since this will be a warm cruise I'm not too concerned about the cold wind but does the wind make that narrow side deck unusable?  My husband likes the idea of having a 180-degree view from that corner.  I'm not concerned about people looking down on us.  I know the deck plan is a little deceiving for these cabins so do you think the cabins themselves are about the same size?  I noticed that A726 has a mirrored pillar between the living room and the bedroom so it's hard to tell in the videos I've seen if the cabins are the same size.  We will be spending 32 days in whichever one we pick and my husband has some mobility issues so want it to be as comfortable as possible.

[HaveDogWillTravel]

2 hours ago, cactusrose said:

Thank you for the great information.  We are still trying to figure out which suite we want to book.  Since this will be a warm cruise I'm not too concerned about the cold wind but does the wind make that narrow side deck unusable?  My husband likes the idea of having a 180-degree view from that corner.  I'm not concerned about people looking down on us.  I know the deck plan is a little deceiving for these cabins so do you think the cabins themselves are about the same size?  I noticed that A726 has a mirrored pillar between the living room and the bedroom so it's hard to tell in the videos I've seen if the cabins are the same size.  We will be spending 32 days in whichever one we pick and my husband has some mobility issues so want it to be as comfortable as possible.

Given the mobility issues be aware that the  corner aloha suite balcony is bi level. There’s a step down just after the corner. The side deck usability is complete up to which way the wind is blowing. It is very, very rare that the aft facing balcony is windy. On slow scenic cruising days or port days you can easily use the side balcony but you’ll probably get far more use out of the aft facing. I’ll try and post pictures. 
 

@Crystabelwe went over my Birthday Jan 8, 2017.  Its was very hot. 
 

 

[HaveDogWillTravel]

The corner suite. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 27 by HaveDogWillTravel

[HaveDogWillTravel]

A729 & Panama Canal in January. 

 

 

Edited February 27 by HaveDogWillTravel

[cactusrose]

HaveDogWillTravel, thank you for posting these pictures.  That first one in the first set is great and really shows how wonderful that 180-degree view can be.

 

Wait, is that a step-down?  That might keep me from that second glass of wine.

 

I love the view of the wake in A729 from inside also.

 

Wait, is that a step-down?  That might keep me from that second glass of wine.

Edited February 27 by cactusrose

[Crystabel]

@HaveDogWillTravelI’ll keep those wet towels in mind!