Cruise lines offer a variety of things if you note on your cruise personalizer (check in online information) that you plan to celebrate a birthday, anniversary, or any sort of event onboard. You don't even have to actually be sailing on that particular date. Just pick a date you want to designate as the celebratory day in your personalizer. Some options offer celebratory items at an extra cost to you like stateroom decorations or a full sized cake. Most all lines will provide a small dessert and sing to you at dinner for free. Since my actual birthday fell during our travel between McKinley and Kenai, we noted day 1 of the cruise as my celebratory day. Princess will happily sell you themed packages featuring items like champagne, treats, gifts from the shops, and/or spa treatments. For free however, you get a nice sign on your door and helium balloons taped to the wall outside your cabin. I've heard though that recently, they've discontinued using the balloons. I also received a pre-printed Happy Birthday card from Princess Cruises and a small card to bring to the dining room at dinner to let the waiter know I wanted my small singular birthday cake dessert tonight.
One of the other touches that you'll find on a Princess ship (at least pre-Medallion use) is these little strips of paper they put into the front of your cabin's mailbox each sailing. The paper slips list the cabin occupants' names which is why some people don't like that you could read the name of anyone as you walk down the hall and end up turning it over in the slot. The slips also feature the Princess Captain's Circle (loyalty levels) logo in the color that corresponds to your loyalty level. I don't think it's really meant for anything but a nice touch of recognition as you should be seeing the same service level from your steward no matter what your loyalty level.
On the back of every cabin door is a sign that shows you a diagram of the ship and where your Muster Station is on that diagram. It also maps out the most direct route to get to your muster station as well as pictorial directions on how to put on your lifejacket.
When you first enter the cabin, to your right is the door to the first part of the bathroom. In full suites, it is split into two parts, one with sink and toilet, the other side having the shower stall and bathtub. No having to trip over one another trying to get ready at the same time. If you're traveling with someone you'd rather not hang it all out in front of, the inner door helps provide privacy while you shower and your cabinmate can be using the sink for everything else. What is directly in front of you when you walk into the cabin is the main living space, sometimes separated from the bedroom area by a half wall or curtain. There is a small wet bar with sink and countertop for your ice bucket and glasses to the right. On the left is a desk with drawer storage. Further into the living space is a full size couch, coffee table, one or two nicer chairs and a TV. On the other side of the couch is a small end table with a cabinet on the bottom. So many little cubby hole style storage in this cabin that it's important to triple check before you leave on the last day to be sure nothing is forgotten. A mini fridge is in the cabinet under the TV. There is also the first set of doors leading out to the balcony off of this living space.
While a regular balcony cabin will have two regular chairs and a small table, a suite balcony is physically bigger so it will have two loungers, a small table, a larger table easily used for dining or whatever you wish, and regular chairs to sit at the table. The balcony stretches across the outermost wall of your cabin so there is a second set of doors leading out to it from the bedroom area.
In comparison, here is what the balcony looked like for the regular balcony cabin on the deck below us. Always research deck plans and past passenger comments on specific cabins and decks. Due to the way a ship is designed, some cabins have totally covered balconies, some are half covered and half not, and others are totally open to the elements. If you need to stay out of the sun, get a cabin on a deck with covered balconies. Do the opposite if you're a sun worshipper. Just know that if you can look straight up and see the sun overhead, that means everyone else can look down and see you too so save the exhibitionism for inside your cabin.
Back inside the cabin, let's peek behind the curtain and check out the bedroom area. The curtain works great if you have a cabinmate who goes to bed earlier or wakes earlier than you. I admit I've hidden behind that curtain a time or two when room service or the steward shows up and I haven't finished getting dressed yet. There's a second but smaller TV facing the beds so you can be watching two different things at once or decide to finish watching something while laying in bed. Every once in a while due to the way the wall between the two TVs curves around, we've found that using the remote on one TV can end up changing the channel on the other TV. Great party trick if you want to freak out your cabin mate.
Between the wall with the second TV and the door from the bedroom leading into the shower/tub section of the bathroom, there is a small walk in closet with shelves and hanging space. Also on the side of the wall where the TV is, there is a cabinet and more drawer storage. Inside the cabinet is the cabin safe which requires you to set a four digit code to operate. The safe is too small for things like electronics but big enough for passports, wallets, cell phones, cash, and important items like our excursion tickets. Some suggest bringing magnets since the cabin walls are metal and using them to stow things like paperwork and tour tickets so they don't get mixed up in the sales ads and brochures that get left in your cabin routinely. We also tend to stow the little things we need to bring along when going ashore in the cabinet so that by having to go in there to get that stuff, it reminds us to also grab what we need back out of the safe too. Putting the items back in the safe once back on board is the first thing we do upon returning to the cabin at the end of a tour.
This is also where you'd find the provided bathrobes, slippers, and pool towels that suite guests can enjoy while onboard. The door to the closet features a full length mirror.
The bedroom space itself features a vanity area with more storage, a hairdryer, and a lighted vanity mirror. The two twin beds can either be separated with a nightstand in between and one on the far end or put together with the nightstands on either side. There are also small drawers in the nightstands. If you walk in and find it set up the opposite way that you desire, simply ask your room steward and they'll have it changed around by evening turndown. There are light switch panels by the door and by the beds to control the entire cabin's lighting but you can also switch on and off the individual lamps. No need to get all the way out of your comfy bed to turn out the lights once you're ready to sleep.
Be careful with that step up on each side to get into the bathroom. Also usually a sliding door track to step over when going to and from the balcony.
And perhaps one of the most important features of the cabin, the split bathroom. The portion you enter first from the bedroom side features a standalone shower stall cattycorner to a full size bathtub. No shower curtain giving you an uninvited gynecological exam or having to make sure you can step high enough into a bathtub/shower combo. Also, even with the door enclosure, I can honestly say that the shower stall is fluffy person approved. Plenty of room to move around. To the right of the shower stall is a full closeable door that splits the space allowing someone to brush their teeth or use the facilities without having to be in the same space while you're showering. Suites also come with nicer toiletries so we had little tubes of product rather than the mounted wall dispensers. Plenty of grab rails inside the shower and to get in and out of the tub.
Standing in the doorway with my back to the tub looking into the toilet/sink half of the bathroom. This setup had one sink but we've stayed in other Princess suites that have two sinks because the layout and placement on the ship allowed for more counter space. Nice shelving along the side for storing your toiletries with a couple glasses and a bag of extra comfort items like nail files and a sleep mask. Some cruisers are reporting the changeover from bar soap to wash your hands at the bathroom sink to dispensers of liquid soap. I haven't seen it yet in one of my cabins but I'd appreciate the change as I personally always feel cleaner when using liquid soap.
A better picture of the desk taken from inside the bathroom door that completes the circle bringing you back to the entryway/living space. I don't recall for sure whether you can lock the inner door but you can lock both outer doors for privacy.
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