Cat BF guarantee on Star Princess - have I made a mistake?

[Sea Hag]

Hi all,

 

I booked a BF guarantee on the 10/31 sailing of the Star Princess. Got it for the same price as an EE, so I liked the deal. I looked at the deck plans and didn't see any reason why I wouldn't like a BF if that's what I ended up with. Then I read somewhere here about the fact that one can look out but not down from a BF. I looked at the deck plans again, and they're for sure right about that!

 

I don't much mind the balcony being visible from the upper promenade deck - I could see that this was true before I booked - but I'm getting cold feet about the "out but not down" part of it.

 

Anybody out there stayed in one of these? If so, I'd sure like to hear all about it!:confused:

[cherylandtk]

It is highly unlikely that you will be assigned an actual BF cabin--Princess is already selling only GTY--since there are only four actual BF cabins, they seem to already be spoken for. Most BF GTY bookings find themselves in a BD or better. Same goes for category BE, only four of those in the same area as the BF, although three of them (BE) are still available for booking. So I would not worry overmuch.

 

If by some odd reason you were assigned a BE/BF, there are several folks who have written about these cabins here on CC. Most of them seem to have liked the cabin well enough. The glass partition overlooks the upper promenade walkway; which does get some traffic, although not a lot. The area is usually closed off in the evening, so you have privacy at night. The floor of the balcony is usually about chest or head height on most adults walking past your balcony.

 

As for "out, but not down", that is true, but keep in mind that only the aft balconies and the Dolphin balconies have a straight down view to the water. Everyone else looks down on the Caribe and Dolphin decks, not to the water. They have to look out about 18 feet to see over those decks. You also do not have to look all that far out to see out--the walkway is only about 6 feet wide, the railing is thin bars, so if you are sitting on your balcony, you have a better water view than most of the standard balconies when you are sitting.

 

If you want to completely avoid the very low chance of a BE/BF assignment, book yourself a BD GTY--it will cost about $100 more per person, but that is the only way to make your chances go from somewhere around 0.4% down to 0.0%.

[Sea Hag]

Hi Cheryl,

 

Thanks for the input. I really appreciate it. I'd looked at the numbers on how many of the BFs there were and was fairly sure that we'd end up in a different category. But I'm thinking I'm okay with a BF if that's what we get, especially in view of what you put about what one sees from various types of balconies on the "down view."

 

DH and I have cruised some - not up to the 50+ level that some people I've met have - but we've never booked a balcony before. I was looking at the EEs, then I noticed the price on the BF guarantees and thought, "why not?" :)

[cherylandtk]

Given that same price opportunity, it would be a no-brainer for me. Take that BF GTY.

 

Not that its worth anything, my bet is that you will be assigned a BC cabin on Aloha deck. And since pictures are worth a thousand words, here is what I mean about the angle of water view from the standard decks:

 

And here is the angle for the BE/BF:

 

Either one would be great and far, far better than the EE for the price :D

[Sea Hag]

I agree! I'm back to being completely happy about it all. I do love a bargain, and I'm thinking that this was one. :D