Hi everyone. Well this is the situation. I went with a balcony room on the Sun Princess Carib deck C411 and most others in our group went with an inside. I was struggeling with the price to begin with but now the inside rooms have gone down twice and the price difference has become quite large. Insides are at 750.00pp for a 10 day southern caribbean and my balcony at 1300.00pp. I'm paying at this point ...1100.00 more for my hubby and me. I've never sailed the Sun and have seen the pix but still would like input from those who have sailed her and really have the "feel" of what the balcony rooms were like. We are a median income family who likes a good deal but won't skimp like nuts to get it. JUst seems that 1100.00 is ALOT more than what I see others pay for a balcony room over an inside. What are your feelings on this kind of price difference and those who have sailed the Sun class ships.........do you feel the balcony is a good value. They seem to be small, but it could be my perception from the pix. I have only sailed once on the Constellation with a balcony and even though we didn't use the balcony much.........I really loved it. Would love your insights and opinions. Thanks so much

Letsgoplaces,

My wife and I sailed on Sun Princess back in October of 2003. We also had a balcany stateroom on Carib deck. The balcany provides almost complete privacy, unlike newer Princess ships (Diamond or Island). The size of the stateroom is compariable to other princess ships, with minor re-arrangement of cabinets and storage spaces/configurations. Over all, I enjoyed my time on these ships. in my opinion, balcany is definitely worth the added cost. my wife and I really enjoy the view, privacy, relaxations, sound of ocean... at our own balcany.

Hope this helps.

Steve

We love balconies, and consider them worth the extra cost. We enjoy watching sailaway and arrival in port from our own space, rather than lining up on the top deck with hundreds of other folks; having a room-service breakfast on our balcony in the fresh air; being able to open our window for fresh air from time to time (not that it's necessarily stuffy onboard, but there's something to be said for sea air instead of constant a/c); and relaxing on the balcony with a good book. $1300 pp isn't really bad for a 10-day cruise. In some areas of the world, I consider a balcony essential: Alaska, the Panama Canal, and some parts of New England, for example.

Hi Steve, thanks for the insight. I have one question for you. We are booked on the carib deck in cabin 411 with the balcony. I am wondering if you noticed that the balconies on the baha and Aloha decks had bigger "cut outs" than the carib deck. From the pictures I've seen the cut outs are larger and I am wondering if you felt that the cut out on the carib deck would have been better if it had been larger? Again thanks for the time you took to write. It helps to get others ideas and opinions when considering whether to spend an extra 1100.00 or not.
Elana

Hi Karen thanks for your thoughts. I tend to agree with everything you said. I had a balcony on my first cruise and now the agony of considering something less is driving me nuts. I just wondered if you have ever sailed the Sun Princess or one of her sister ships and could comment on the size of the balconies on these ships, and whether you feel the cost is still worth it. I have heard some comments on how small they are. Any insight will be very much appreciated. I am leaning heavily in favor of the balcony for all the reasons you mentioned.
Elana

Hi Elana,
We're booked on the Sun in October. We booked a balcony for $1300/pp. The prices have gone down to $1197/pp. The catagory we booked went down to $1252/pp. We've had balconies on the Aloha deck and on the Caribe. I didn't notice any difference in the balcony, if there was a difference, it sure didn't seem like it. If it means not going on a cruise, I'd do the inside. I love the balcony, however. It is so nice to open the door at night and let the sound of the waves against the ship as she glides through the water put me to sleep. In the morning, watching the sunrise with a cup of coffee on the balcony is breathtaking. In the evening, watching the sail aways and sunsets from your balcony is amazing. Last year, we were on the Sea. I was on the balcony sipping on a drink. I looked down and saw a school of dolphins running along side of us. It was fantastic. It is definitely worth the extra, if you can afford it. Have a wonderful cruise, maybe you're booked on the same dates as we are!!

Thank you so much for writing. I was really interested to know if the cut outs on the balconies on those two decks were similiar or drastically different. When you look at pix of the exterior of the ship the cut outs look quite different. I have one other question if you would please answer. Did you notice one deck to be quieter than another? The Aloha deck has the pool area above it for the most part and I was considering a balcony on that deck as opposed to the Carib. but wondered about the noise. We are going on Dec.10th of this year for 10 days to the Southern Caribbean. Never been on Princess before and from what I've read I can't wait. I hope we will be able to sleep alright as I've heard the beds can be kind of hard. I would like a balcony on the Aloha just because everyone else in my group is on that deck but I do wonder about the noise from up above and also if the ship feels more motion up there. Any insights from you would be so appreciated. It's so nice to know that you have actually been on this ship, on these decks and have first hand knowledge of the balconies. It just helps me so much in the decision making process. Thanks again!
Elana

We were midship on the Aloha deck. I didn't notice any noise and it was a short walk up for coffee in the morning. You can have room service, but I like getting up and moving early so I'd walk up to the Lido and get coffee. I think the room was A531 or something near there. We were on the Caribe deck last year, in the 400 range. Other than a few with too much to drink (only once in a while), I never noticed too much noise. I really enjoyed both decks, the Caribe was closer to the casino and the Aloha closer to the pools and hot tubs. I hope y'all enjoy Princess as much as we do. I've never been on a bad cruise, but Princess just seems to do it better (to me). The service has always been fantastic. I personally thought the food on the Sea and the Dawn were a little better than the Sun, but it might have just been the chef on that cruise. It didn't stop me from booking the Sun again this year. She may not be a big as some of the new ships coming out, but she is quite spacious and comfortable. The beds are firm, but not uncomfortable in the least. There is a really nice bar just outside of the photo gallery, it used to be called the Rondezvous, (I can't remember what the name changed to) that had really super bar tenders. But, the entire staff on all of the Princess ships we've been on has been wonderful. I booked our Christmas cruise with Costa because the price was right, however, I'm sure I'll be missing the Princess touch. Hope this helps!

Thank you SO MUCH. Your insights have helped me tremendously. I just booked the Aloha deck midship and even though a bit more than the room I had on the carib deck, they gave it to me at no extra charge. I don't mind a bit of noise and we are really laid back with most things but having the pool a deck above made me wonder. Knowing the pool and hot tubs as well as the coffee for breakfast are so close is great. Better location for us. Thank you very much for taking the time to answer my questions. I am really looking forward to this cruise as I've heard so many good things about Princess and this ship. I sailed once before on the Celebrity Millenium and it was fabulous. Again thank you so much for taking the time to answer all my questions. It really helped alot!
Elana

One of the features on Princess is the pool and hot tubs are open 24/7.

I know what you are referring to about the cost difference. We booked a mini suite because the difference was only $400 over a balcony for a 9 day cruise. Now the difference is $700 because the balcony price has been lowered. We are debating the same. Is a mini suite worth the $700? In reality the debate really is the $300 extra that we were willing to pay.

Why compromise. You are spending enough for the base and may be satisfied, but spending the extra will make a OK vacation into a great one. As the ads say for that credit card there are somethings that are priceless and a balcony is one. If balconies are overated why are all the new ships being built with more balconies? It is great to sit out there at night looking at the stars or just feeling the breeze and listening to the waves. Watching the ship pull into and out of the ports. Yes you can do this on a open deck but it is much nicer from your cabin.

Hi, I think you are right. My first cruise we had a beautiful room with a balcony. Even though we went to gorgeous places that I'd never seen before and had great food and did new things for the first time, STILL one of the highlights of that trip was getting to jump out of bed, run to the balcony and see the ports while still in my p.j's. Someone asked me to calculate the cost of the actual time spent on the balcony and frankly there were probably days where it came to only 30 minutes, however that was years ago and the memory of sitting on that balcony is as fresh in my mind today as it was yesterday. So those few minutes were SO GREAT that it was worth every penny spent. Like you said....it really did make a great vacation a SPECIAL vacation. From what I've heard if you are talking about the mini suites on the Sun Princess for your vacation then you really should go for it. I don't think in the hundreds of reveiws I've poured over that I have read One bad thing about those mini's. All good.
Thanks so much for taking the time to write. I really do appreciate it.

I have sailed on Sun Princess in a mini-suite (B332) and we loved it. I love leaving the balcony door open at night so you can hear the ocean. Noice was no problem. I have also sailed on Ocean Princess (now with P&O) in a mini suite on the stern (C744) It was a GREAT suite. We have been on several Princess ships and prefer the Sun class over the "new" larger ships. We are sailing on Caribbean Princess in August. Balconies are a must if you can stand the $$$

We sailed on the Sun last year on a 10 day Southern Caribbean. Had an inside cabin on the Riviera deck. We really liked this deck because it is the same deck as the pool. Also, only one deck below the Horizon court. We are thinking about taking the same cruise again this year, but are torn between this 10 day or a 7 day on the Caribbean Princess. We really like Princess because of the personal choice dining as well as the fresh water pools. You don't get that on other cruise lines. I would like some feedback on anyone who has sailed with the Sun and advise if a balcony room is worth the extra $. We felt that we weren't in the room that much to spend the extra $ for a balcony. From what I am reading, it seems that a balcony is well worth it. We have sailed on the Sun, Dawn and Grand and always had an inside. Anyone's thoughts?