Interior or Balcony

I should definitely get a balcony instead of an interior room on my Alaska Cruise right?

Balcony is definitely better than an inside. But in our Alaska cruise, we went up the topmost open deck to get a 360 degree view of the bay with our binoculars.

That's what everyone said, but we spent very little time on our balcony during our Alaska cruise, most of our viewing was done from the common areas.

Some people seem to order room service and spend most of their cruise in their cabin or on their balcony, we're just the opposite and just sleep in our room. We prefer to read or sit by the pool or the piano bar, etc.

So it really depends on how you cruise. Taking an interior or obstructed view instead of a balcony or mini suite can save you a bunch and pay for other activities if you're hardly in your room.

Could get an Ocean View cabin.

Will you use a balcony? The few times we've had them (even in Alaska, we rarely used them. We enjoy being up on deck, being able to see things on either side of the ship.

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I think it depends on you and you preferences with your cruising style. We enjoy our balcony on every cruise and always get balcony staterooms as a result. But that is just our preference. With the proximity to land and the scenery afforded with an Alaska cruise I would think it would be a good choice, but it depends on your preferences and budget. As others have said there are enough public areas to go to see what's around you, but IMO a balcony allows that with more privacy and convenience.

I would get an oceanview stateroom (not necessarily a balcony) at the very least. Natural light and the ability to see the weather conditions and some of the sights.

We have been to Alaska quite a few times and always enjoyed our verandah. JM2cents

Someone told us to save the extra money a balcony would have cost to spend it on the excursions. That was the best cruise advice I ever got. With that being said, if money is not an issue then no reason not to get a balcony.

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If those were the only choices, definitely balcony. But Oceanview would be the best compromise, imho......

An Alaska cruise is one where being on an upper deck is preferable to a balcony when near land- it is also one with less use for a balcony when at sea than you might have on a T/A or Caribbean itinerary.

If you can afford it, a balcony is always preferable. It's great to go out there in the morning with coffee, at night to see the stars. Or just relaxing and looking at the ocean.

Jonathan

On our Princess cruise to Alaska we had a oceanview. We spent hours just walking on the Promenade Deck checking out all the sights. Sometimes whales on the starboard side, sometimes eagles on the port side. Sitting on your balcony limits what can be seen.

As others have said, it all depends on you and how much time you'd spend on the balcony. I doubt I'd ever book a balcony for Alaska, since the viewing ops are so much better if you're moving around. And even the best of luck with warm weather might not be warm enough for much balcony sitting - at least without lots of blankies.

Ocean View worked great for me

I should definitely get a balcony instead of soan interior room on my Alaska Cruise right?

Again a very subjective question? My DW would not sail without a balcony as she loves to sit out and read, etc. Did a river cruise last month, took a balcony, did not need it and sometimes could not use it. So sometimes the correct answer changes but on the ocean te balcony room just seems bigger.

Another vote for a balcony. We love the huge window a balcony cabin provides, even if we don't use the actual balcony that much. Whenever we are in our room for whatever reason we enjoy the abundance of natural light, the ever changing view, and with the door occasionally open, the sound of the splashing as the ship plows through the water. Yes, we are out on the decks or inside the public areas much of the time. But even when only in the room to change clothes, to pick up a forgotten item, to relax for a few minutes in a quiet place, or when getting ready for bed or when waking up, there is always that mesmerizing view at the end of the room.

And, if we happen to see something while in the room, we can rush out and get a better look. If we had an inside, we would never see those unexpected sights, such as the three whales, one a baby, that we saw last month less than a hundred yards from the ship. They were so close that we could see the scars on their backs. We were getting ready for dinner and suddenly my wife saw a spout out of the corner of her eye. We were almost late for dinner watching them fall behind us as the ship sped away towards our next destination. PRICELESS!

We value seeing the ocean as much as possible, so for us a balcony is the only way we will cruise. If we need to save money, we can save it on other things at home, rather than saving money by booking an inside cabin and missing all the many benefits of having a balcony.

Planting yourself on your balcony will cause you to miss 3/4 of the sights. However, if you like an outdoor space that's all your own, a balcony will fit the bill!

While we seldom use our balcony, we do like having one so we can walk directly outside from our cabin whenever we please. :D

We had balconies on our Alaskan cruises. I loved it not only for watching for wildlife but it was convenient to jump inside, get warmed up, grab a jacket, etc. The public areas can get very chilly at times. You will not regret getting one.

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We cruise for the balcony. Always an aft-facing balcony, most of our cruises are T/As. With the ship traveling almost 24/7 the windstill balcony adds so much enjoyment. Yes,there usually ispublic space to sit - but always with piped-in music. And that, in the words of Winston Churchill, something up with which I will not put :)

So, I'm with SantaFeFan.

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.....PRICELESS.

 

We value seeing the ocean as much as possible, so for us a balcony is the only way we will cruise. If we need to save money, we can save it on other things at home, rather than saving money by booking an inside cabin and missing all the many benefits of having a balcony.

We couldn't agree with you more. A vacation for us is a very special time. We want to experience it to the max. No way will we spend time in a windowless box to save a few dollars. It's a vacation, after all, not a week cleaning out the basement! If money is the concern, we'll cut back at home during our day to day activities where we are in familiar territory and don't need to see and experience everything we possible can.

Got to have that view of the ocean. It is one of the main reasons we take a vacation on a ship and not in hotels. Being on a cruise ship and choosing a room with no view of the ocean baffles me. It's like deliberately choosing the worst seat in a theater when going to see a show.

We always take a balcony since we enjoy some "down-time" in between excursions, before dinner and in the early morning. Last year we wanted to try a smaller ship so we chose the Windsurf which didn't have a balcony. Wonderful cruise, but we really missed relaxing on the balcony and can't imagine cruising without one again.

My sister always cruises in the cheapest inside and had been upgraded to a balcony once. Said she never used it because they were always "out" and about the ship.

I think the choice depends alot on whether one prefers always being around others, participating in many different activities during the day and evening or enjoys some private time, relaxing on your own balcony.

I just returned from a two-week Alaska cruise and it was the first cruise when I did not have a balcony. I was pretty apprehensive about this ahead of time but the cost difference between a window room vs. the balcony was just more than I could stomach.

As it turned out, most of the time it was simply too cold (or rainy) to have enjoyed a balcony. When we were at the glaciers a balcony would have been too limited of a view so I wanted to be out on the bow, or the uppermost outside areas, or in the crow's nest. I doubt I would have spent more than a few moments on a balcony if I'd had one.

I've been upgraded to balcony twice but rarely used it as spouse likes to sleep in and when they're up we're either in port or about the ship.

If the price difference is a few hundred dollars difference l would book balcony but $500 pays for quite a bit in port and onboard.

Another vote the balcony. For a balcony provides an opportunity not to fight the crowds on the upper decks for viewing purposes. While in Alaska we used the balcony everyday. Did not matter to us about the weather, because we could just duck back into room to get warm. We were always on the balcony entering or leaving port. When our ship visited the Hubbard Glacier, the captain made to large circles so everyone could enjoy the view. We were close & able take some very nice photos from our balcony. Further as we left Ketchikan the captain announced the possibility of seeing some Northern Lights between 1:30-3:30am. I set the alarm, about 2:15 am the clouds cleared & we enjoyed the show for about 20 minutes without having to leave our room. I took some photos to remind me of this memory. Finally we can always enjoy an adult beverage during our sail-a-way from the balcony before heading out for dinner. I guess during our voyages I must see, hear, & feel the ocean to totally appreciate the cruise.

Try getting this picture from way up high on the observation decks...