Balcony vs. Mini suite

[MNLIvin]

OK. We have cruised Princess lots of time. Sometime interior, sometime balcony, depends hoe many port days there are. More apt to balcony with more port days. Just me. Looking at a 14 day with 8 port days so definitely prefer a balcony but messing around and now entertaining a mini suite but a can't see what all the advatages would be. Can someone with more experience shed some light on this for me? Thanks in advance.

[memoak]

4 minutes ago, MNLIvin said:

OK. We have cruised Princess lots of time. Sometime interior, sometime balcony, depends hoe many port days there are. More apt to balcony with more port days. Just me. Looking at a 14 day with 8 port days so definitely prefer a balcony but messing around and now entertaining a mini suite but a can't see what all the advatages would be. Can someone with more experience shed some light on this for me? Thanks in advance.

Size of cabin plus a sofa. If you go reserve mini you would be in reserve dining area with little or no wait for meals 

[Ellipooh]

Sofa is a really nice addition if there’s 2 or more people in the cabin. Just a welcome bit of personal space that’s not a bed. 

[Senga]

Mini suites normally don't have a covered balcony.  I thought the bathtub instead of a shower only would be an issue but with the grab bars and the bath not being REALLY deep it wasn't an issue.  We would opt for a DB which gives you a sofa.

[roxievegas]

if you look at the mini suite photos, you have a bed area, a curtain that separates the couch/sofa and another tv across from the couch.  The bathroom is larger and you get a tub.

 

I would take a mini suite in a heart beat, but money also needs to be considered.

[dreaminofcruisin]

2 minutes ago, Senga said:

Mini suites normally don't have a covered balcony. 

 

Although this is true on Grand Class ships (excluding Emerald deck minis), I don't think it is generally true on Royal class ships.

[Ombud]

On Royal Class ships the Deluxe Balcony has a loveseat like the Mini-suites but it's all 1 room. 

 

On the Sphere class there's less distinction.

 

Other than a glass of mediocre sparkling wine, accommodations are basically the same .... unless you're booking a reserve class mini-suite. 

[reedprincess]

What ship? As that makes a fair bit of difference..

 

Balcony - bed, desk and chair, shower in bathroom.

 

Deluxe Balcony (Royal class and up): bed, loveseat/2 seater, desk and chair, shower in bathroom. 

 

Mini-suite:  

Grand class: semi separated bedroom and "living room" with sofa bed, two TVs, shower/tub combo

 

Royal class and newer: bedroom/living room separated by curtain, shower/tub combo (Sun class - stand-up shower only), sofa bed. Two Tvs 

 

Both with desk and chair.

 

Balcony sizes and coverage vary by ship class, and within ship.

 

As a solo myself   (you say "just me), a  balcony or deluxe balcony is more than enough..not a fan of the shower/tub combo - it's tight, and can be a bit much stepping over the high tub edge. Don't need two TVs. Can set food on desk when needed, in a Deluxe Balcony, there's a small coffee table in front of the sofa also...

Deluxe Balcony on Royal and Sun class is fab..

 

YMMV 

 

 

Edited Tuesday at 03:48 AM by reedprincess

[startedwithamouse]

2 hours ago, Senga said:

Mini suites normally don't have a covered balcony.  I thought the bathtub instead of a shower only would be an issue but with the grab bars and the bath not being REALLY deep it wasn't an issue.  We would opt for a DB which gives you a sofa.

Mini suites on Discovery, Sky, Regal, Royal, Enchanted and Majestic have covered balconies.

[startedwithamouse]

51 minutes ago, Ombud said:

On Royal Class ships the Deluxe Balcony has a loveseat like the Mini-suites but it's all 1 room. 

 

On the Sphere class there's less distinction.

 

Other than a glass of mediocre sparkling wine, accommodations are basically the same .... unless you're booking a reserve class mini-suite. 

Mediocre sparkling wine is so true!

 

[zogrand]

For years we stayed in balcony cabins but now prefer mini-suites.  We especially like the sofa.  Now one of us doesn’t have to use the bed as a chair.  The bigger bathroom with the tub/shower is nice too.

[cr8tiv1]

Which ship is important.  With a Balcony cabin, you will have many more choices of locations.

[Sprocket]

We like spending time in our cabin and balcony, we tend to book longer cruises so the sofa in the mini suite is a deal breaker for us.  

[leck57]

6 hours ago, zogrand said:

For years we stayed in balcony cabins but now prefer mini-suites.  We especially like the sofa.  Now one of us doesn’t have to use the bed as a chair.  The bigger bathroom with the tub/shower is nice too.

 

We just go for a Deluxe Balcony which also has a sofa. Like you we really like the sofa. We have booked mini suites but unless the price is close we don't think the extra cost is generally worth it. The larger bathroom is nice in a mini suite but we are not fans of the bathtub.

[skynight]

11 hours ago, MNLIvin said:

OK. We have cruised Princess lots of time. Sometime interior, sometime balcony, depends hoe many port days there are. More apt to balcony with more port days. Just me. Looking at a 14 day with 8 port days so definitely prefer a balcony but messing around and now entertaining a mini suite but a can't see what all the advatages would be. Can someone with more experience shed some light on this for me? Thanks in advance.

You really have to mention the ship(s). There are differences.

[Bobbi01]

Just stayed in a mini-suite on the Ruby recently. Loved the extra living room space with the sofa and having the tub instead of the teeny shower stall. Will definitely do it again.

[tulok]

I concur that it would depend on the $. Our deck 10 balcony was 1000. cheaper than a reserved mini. Didn’t see the benefit as it was port heavy and we had the large part covered balcony which is where we spent most of our time. We had every dinner reservation at either causal, specialty or MDR so we never had to wait more than 5

mins waiting for our table of 4 or 6 people. My DH said he did miss a sofa as we usually have at least a love seat, but I didn’t miss it. I made the desk my makeup table and we were both ready to leave at the same time. We don’t watch TV on vacation so 2 TVs didn’t matter. Its differently a personal choice.

[cruisinsince75]

We prefer MS for the extra room and sofa, but we have to sail in accessible staterooms.  And since there are fewer MS accessible suites available, we often have to settle for balconies. We're spoiled.  Our first cruise was an inside with a lower and upper berth that was the size of a tin can and we were happy.  We didn't know any better.  We still laugh at asking, "do you want to be on top tonight or do you want me?" 😊

[PMGS247]

Historically DW and I have always gone mini-suite for the Sofa and Shower/Tub combo.  DW likes the shower/tub combo and could take or leave the sofa, and me vice versa.  I just can't do the bed as a seat.

 

While I prefer the fairly sizeable sofa in the mini suites compared to some love seats I've experienced on other cruise lines, I'd probably take the love seat in the deluxe balcony if the price difference were significant enough.  In recent booking experiences however, there hasn't been a huge price difference between deluxe balconies and mini suites so I've continued to stick with mini suites.  I know this can evolve over time and probably varies from one cruise to the next so I'll continue to keep an eye on it.

[BazingAu]

14 hours ago, Sprocket said:

We like spending time in our cabin and balcony, we tend to book longer cruises so the sofa in the mini suite is a deal breaker for us.  

Why is having a sofa in the mini suite is a deal breaker? Or did you mean NOT having a sofa is a deal breaker?

[BazingAu]

Mini-suite doesn't really come with extra perks other than what is inside your stateroom physically (like extra space, divider (or not - depends on ship), shower/tub combo (or not - depends on ship), 2 TVs, etc. You do get added perks with the Reserve Collection (former Club Suites). If you don't need that much extra space, maybe go for a Deluxe Balcony with the smaller sofa?

[Auntiejo]

For us, the best part of the mini suite is having a human sized shower vs. the time capsule shower. The extra cabin space is nice too - but it's about the bathroom for us. For 14 days I'd absolutely go with the mini suite. We will sometimes settle for a balcony for a 7 day if mini's are really expensive. Anything more than 7 days - you won't be sorry about getting the mini suite IMO.

[rocker57]

We like the size of the mini suite and the bath/shower combo, as my husband likes a bath. Although, if we were ever to go on the Sun/Star ships, I would probably go with the deluxe balcony just because the minis don’t have the bath.

[beltsbear]

We have been booking the mini suites for a while, but I hate the name.  It is not a suite.  It is just a bigger room with a sofa.  No suite benefits either unless you pay further for club class which most of the times we have seen is a very large increase in price.  

What we love most is the bigger closet and the tub/shower.  For longer trips, all of your clothing fits with room to spare.  It just does not feel cramped.

[leck57]

32 minutes ago, beltsbear said:

What we love most is the bigger closet and the tub/shower.  For longer trips, all of your clothing fits with room to spare.  It just does not feel cramped.

 

I would have thought that the mini suites we've booked had the same sized closet as the balcony cabins we have had. I don't recall any difference but perhaps I'm mistaken.