Mini-suite or Balcony Cabin on Grand Class

[wlfarm]

We are booking Goldenn Princess Alaska in June for our 10th anniverary.

Trying to choose a cabin. The Mini suites on Dolphin deck look nice, but I am unsure about how much privacy, and protection from Alaskan weather they provide. Has anyone stayed in one of these? Are my concerns valid?

Are balcony cabins on Caribe deck the same way. Looks like balcony on Baja might be best bet for privacy and weather protection. Anyone experienced any of these and have any advice.

 

Thanks in advance for any help.

[Murphey]

In my humble opinion, the cabins on Caribe are the best buy. 1/2 open and 1/2 covered. But you are right, if you want completely covered, go for mini's on Emerald, any aft or Baja or higher....

[LuvTheGoodLife]

following refers to 'side' balconies only, i.e. those on starboard or port sides of any ‘Grand’ class ship (Grand, Golden, Star, Diamond, Sapphire, Caribbean, Crown, Emerald etc)....

 

Baja deck balconies are sized 9 ft. wide x 5 ft. deep and have full ceiling overhang. Lido, Aloha, Riviera decks have the same balconies. You can stand at the railing of these balconies and look down on to part of the Caribe deck balconies and all of the Dolphin deck balconies.

 

Caribe deck balconies are sized 9 ft. wide x 9 ft. deep and have ceiling overhang over the first 5 ft. Standing at the railing, you will overlook Dolphin deck balconies below.

 

Dolphin deck balconies (all balcony cabins are actually mini-suites and thus bigger than regular balcony cabins on the interior with sitting area, 2nd TV and bathtub/shower combination instead of the small shower stall found in the regular balcony cabins). The balcony is sized 9 ft. wide x 7 ft. deep and has no ceiling overhang as protection from sun or rain.

 

Emerald deck has several mini-suites each side with fully covered balconies. The last mini-suite cabin towards aft end on each side has extra wide balcony. Emerald deck also has some regular balcony cabins near the front that have the balconies set back under the roof and back from the railing. You look straight out to the water but cannot look down on the water. The walking track goes past these balconies and walkers can see you on your balcony. I do not have any measurements for these Emerald deck balcony sizes.

Hope this helps. Enjoy your cruise!

[LuvTheGoodLife]

Sorry duplicate post - darn boards!

[FritzG]

We just got off the Diamond with a Baja balcony cabin. It was nicely protected from the weather, and no one from above could see down onto us. We could see onto the Dolphin and Caribe balconies. We had rough weather coming back from Hawaii to LA, and we were able to sit comfortably on our balcony on days that it was too cold and windy to sit on an open deck.

[Casshew]

Book an AD Mini on Emerald Deck, they are fully covered.

[landj4always]

Just wanting a little clarification here, don't always catch on quick the reference to the walking track going by the balconies, is that only on the forward balcony class, or the mini suites further back e723 in particular? And also all you balcony cabin and mini suite experts I have one more question maybe you could answer, is there a vcr or dvd player in either of these categories, or the capability to plug one into the tv in the cabin of your own? Thanks so much for any help.

[LuvTheGoodLife]

The walking track only goes in front of the forward balconies on Emerald - not the Category AD mini-suites running toward aft end.

 

Cannot answer your question on DVD or VCR hook-up on TV.

[wlfarm]

Do minis E728 and E729 have divider that faces bow that would block people on promedade from seeing up on balcony? It looks like these are on the end of a row of AD's.

[Bilyeu5]

We're booked in E727 for our May Alaskan cruise. We want the extra space of a mini-suite, and would rather have a completely covered balcony than a completely exposed one like those on Dolphin deck.

I'm expecting rain along the journey, and look forward to huddling up in a blanket on the balcony with a cup of hot chocolate. There are only 12 of these Emerald deck mini-suites, and they are all located aft. We marked our reservation "no upgrade", as we don't want to be moved to Dolphin deck in a higher...but less desirable for us...category.

[Toto2Kansas]

Do minis E728 and E729 have divider that faces bow that would block people on promedade from seeing up on balcony? It looks like these are on the end of a row of AD's.

 

We spent almost a month in E728 on the Star Princess. It has a totally covered balcony and the balcony is extended and is larger than the regular minis as it curves around. The only problem we had with this is when there was any major wind, it would whip around from the aft of the ship and make our balcony almost non-useable. They are great if the weather is nice, but we were sailing TransPacific and had a lot of wind. We wished we would have had a mini with protection on both sides unilke this balcony that has no barrier to the aft. The extra space on the balcony was nice, but not so nice when you couldn't use it because of the wind tunnel.

[wlfarm]

Thanks for the info on the wind. Was privacy and issue?

 

How about E718 or E719?

[sunneesmile]

oops

[sunneesmile]

Do minis E728 and E729 have divider that faces bow that would block people on promedade from seeing up on balcony? It looks like these are on the end of a row of AD's.

 

I have attached some pics of E729. The rear side of the balcony is curved and I doubt aznyone could see onto that from behind. If so, they have jumped from the ship and will be fish food! The picture with the door is the front part of the balcony that faces the life boats and you can see there is a partition. The side view shows the ros of AD's just below the Dolphin deck minis which provide cover for the Emerald minis. You should have a good view toward the back of the ship as well. I do not think you will be disappointed.

 

 

[wlfarm]

Very helpful!

 

Thank you Teresa!

[wlfarm]

Does anyone have pics or info of E718 or E719?

[wlfarm]

Any noise from the lounge below in these emerald minis?

[Happyladi]

We had a mini suite on Dolphin deck. Yes, the balcony was uncovered but it didn't turn out to be a problem. Sun is nice in Alaska. Once there was a little rain, but otherwise the uncovered balcony was fine. I liked that it was close to the water, too, for better whale viewing.

 

The mini suite was outstanding. Lots of room for when our children visited from their inside cabin down the hall. Having a sitting area was wonderful. The balcony was large enough for all of us to use comfortably, too.

 

However, if you can get the same cabin and balcony size that is half covered then that would be the best of both worlds. You can get sun or protection depending on the weather.