Alaska on Coral or Island - which mini-suite/balcony/inside cabin combo?

[GracieO]

Hi all! I've been reading the cruise reviews and forum posts for a few days and think I have our Alaska cruise pretty much nailed down. Thank you for the wonderful advice (we changed plans from a RT on NCL to a one way on Princess just from the reviews and posts).

 

My sisters and I (in our 30s) are treating our Dad (59) to the Alaska cruise as his "everything in 2009" present. Joining us on the cruise are my husband and my sister's fiance.

 

At first I thought we would just book two balcony cabins and an inside cabin. Now I read that the Princess balcony cabins do not have a sitting area, only the mini-suites (and suites) have sitting areas. We like to be in fairly close proximity to each other (chatting while getting ready, glass of wine before dinner, etc) so I think at least one mini-suite is a must.

 

My question is - should we do two minis and an inside or a mini, a balcony and an inside? I think the ideal would be a mini with the balcony adjoining the balcony cabin so we could use both balconies together.

 

Any advice would be much appreciated.

[jlvlaw]

Congrats on your cruise and good call for getting a balcony. I can't imagine going to AK without having one.

 

If your budget permits, 2 adjacent minis would be nice. Pretty sure you can have the divider opened to allow passage from one balcony to the next. Just be warned, once you allow yourself the indulgence of more space, it's really hard to go back to sailing smaller cabins. :)

[gertz]

Try to help a little.

Don't completely understand how many people but three cabins as I understand it.

First get your deck plans out. If you want to be close this is what I would do.

Book two minis and one inside. Example Caribe deck aft you can get two minis together and an inside across the passageway ie C715 and C717 with inside of C711. These minis are covered which you might like. The cabin attendant, I believe can have the center section on balcony removed.

Congratulation on your pick of ships both the Coral and Island are wonderful ships. We will be doing the Island again August 17. Only we took the very last cabin C727 because of the balcony which gives a wonderful view of most everything aft but the balcony is not covered.

You might also want to check on this soon as these things can get booked up especially when your trying to be creative. Also mark your booking "no upgrades"

to keep from getting split up.

You will love it.

[mii]

In my opinion you picked the best ship of the fleet. I have been on her 5 times and will be again this coming april. Here is a site that might help you. It was made by a fellow Cruise Critic member and it is a good one.

 

http://mysite.verizon.net/res76zxu/princessbalconies/index.html

 

Marilyn

[GracieO]

There are six adults in total going on the cruise. Two couples and two singles (father and daughter who will probably room together).

 

Once again, the advice here was very helpful. I looked at prices again and for $200 (per person) difference between the regular balcony rooms and the mini-suites, it is totally worth booking two minis and an inside cabin.

 

I really appreciate the advice and the link to the site with the balcony details.

[mii]

Gracie to add to what I said above you will not go wrong with a mini. They have loads of room and also a combo tub/shower whereas the balcony rooms only have a shower. There is much more room in the mini bathroom. enjoy.

 

Also to assist in your alaska cruise go back to the home page and scroll down to Ports of Call forum and then go to Alaska. There is all sorts of info such as excursions, restaurants, rental cars etc. Have a great time in alaska. It is one of my very favorite places.

 

Marilyn

[can786]

If you are a past passenger of Princess they just announced today that they are offering 2-for-1 fares. Since I just booked an Alaskan cruisetour on Monday and my brother and SIL booked just the cruise portion I was familiar with the before pricing of both the cruise only and cruisetour and the new pricing is significantly lower than it was on Monday. This only works if I sign in (I am a past passenger). If I am not signed in the pricing is the same as it was, so I can only assume that the pricing may not be in effect for new cruisers

[the_dylaness]

I haven't sailed on Coral or Island so can't comment...

 

but please do know that the sitting area in the minisuites (at least the Grand class) is not really that ideal. We had a couch (kind of an uncomfortable one) on one wall, a coffee table, and a lone chair parked on the opposite side. Really not warm and inviting... it was nice to sit on the couch and read or look at maps or whatever, but having a cocktail party or something there.... not so sure.

[Colo Cruiser]

Sailed both ships many times.

Take the 2 mini's and an inside. ;)

[GracieO]

Thanks again to you all!

 

I went over the details and your suggestions with my sisters and we decided to book two minis and an inside room. One couple lives in Europe so they could pay their airfare alone by booking the inside cabin.

 

I know the sitting area isn't much room in the minis but we'd pack into an inside cabin to hang out together if we had to - whenever we sisters get together it's as if we are stuck together. ;)

 

Now I'm researching other topics - ports of call, adding on a few days before/after the cruise (reading the Alaska by Cruise Ship book that I saw recommended here).

[mii]

Now I happen to love the sitting area. We choose the mini's because of the couch/loveseat as I love to sit on it and gaze out to the ocean. sure better than sitting on the bed or those hard chairs they have. I let me DH sit on those.:rolleyes:

 

Marilyn

[gertz]

Nothing wrong with sitting area.