After reading the board - I have discovered that the balconies on the Grand Princess (and her sister ships) is not very private. We paid for a mini suite but was wondering if it is worth it. Hs anyone stayed in the mini-suites vs. the regular suite (if I downgrade, I can ask to me moved to the Caribe deck which seems to have bigger decks and more privacy).<BR><BR>How intrusive are the "private" balconies? <BR><BR>K

Which categories are you refering to? I believe caribe deck balconies have the same problem as the mini-suite balconies. Since the decks are bigger, half of it is not covered by the deck above so baja deck guests can look down on caribe deck balconies (but not the whole thing, just the exposed half), just like caribe deck guests can look down into the mini-suite balconies. If you want privacy, better to book a standard balcony on baja deck and give up the extra deck space. We were on the Star in March and had one of the larger balconies. Guests on the deck above us could look down into our balcony and we could do the same with the deck below us. I'm pretty sure we were on caribe but double check with your agent or check the deck plans

Hi Karen,<BR><BR>The only balcony staterooms that have almost a full privacy roof are on the Emerald Deck. Category AD mini-suites.<BR><BR>Paul

We were in an AC mini-suite on Dolphin deck on the Grand in August. We LOVED the balcony. It is worth noting that there are no totally private balconies. From our balcony if we turned around and looked up, we could see nearly to the door on the balcony directly above us. And almost as far on the one above that!<BR><BR>We really liked looking straight into the water. In Grand Cayman I looked down to see a sea turtle surface and then dive down. We saw dolphins and flying fish off the balcony as well. The sunrises and sunsets were stunning. (Sort of like National Geographic--up close and personal.) We had great weather and we could sit outside for breakfast and dinner with very little wind.<BR><BR>The extra room in the cabin was really nice to have too. It would be tough to go back to a regular cabin and not a mini-suite with a balcony.<BR><BR>

Sorry Lisa, the AD mini-suites have a full roof. Only negative is you will not get full sun. Just when it is low in the sky.<BR><BR>Paul