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newbie question on balcony cabins..


eal7
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This is most likely a stupid question, but I will ask anyway! We will (hopefully) be cruising the Rhine river in Sept and I noted a few posts on here stating that cabin balconies can't always be used when moored as you may be right next to another ship & have no privacy or view. But is that true when you are sailing as well? People are posting about being 'rafted' to another ship? or not being able to sit on them at all. Just wondering what to expect. Cheers!

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This is most likely a stupid question, but I will ask anyway! We will (hopefully) be cruising the Rhine river in Sept and I noted a few posts on here stating that cabin balconies can't always be used when moored as you may be right next to another ship & have no privacy or view. But is that true when you are sailing as well? People are posting about being 'rafted' to another ship? or not being able to sit on them at all. Just wondering what to expect. Cheers!

 

No question is stupid! Rafting only happens (occasionally) when you are moored. When you are sailing you have a great view from your balcony. You will want to be on top of the ship though when you sail through the Rhine Gorge to get picturesque views of the castles. This is a great cruise!

Cole

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d126f7be8afa685b9fde5a7e17e8c710.jpgI was sitting on my balcony of our Ama ship and snapped this pic of a Viking ship with no balconies, only sliding doors. This was a rare occurrence. It was on the Danube near Melk which gets very crowded because everyone stops there.

 

 

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I assume the reason you saw no balconies is that Viking ships have these French balconies on one side of the ship, and real balconies on the other side.

 

 

 

Never knew this. On Ama they’re dispersed and Avalon has no balconies. Interesting. I wonder why Viking does it this way and are the balconies ever rafted? Hmmmm

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Look carefully at the deck plans and the layout of the cabin and balcony - Some balconies tend to be very small and they might also take space from the cabin. Does vary from ship to ship.

I do find cabin with 'French Balcony' with sliding windows better. Also as said by Cole - the view is much better from the top of the ship - the castles might also be at the other side.

Here is an example of cabin with French balcony.

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Never knew this. On Ama they’re dispersed and Avalon has no balconies. Interesting. I wonder why Viking does it this way and are the balconies ever rafted? Hmmmm

 

 

 

Because they only have so much width. If you have balconies on both sides the cabins must be narrower. If there is only one balcony there is a bit more width available for living space.

 

 

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Never knew this. On Ama they’re dispersed and Avalon has no balconies. Interesting. I wonder why Viking does it this way and are the balconies ever rafted? Hmmmm

 

When rafted, there is always the possibility that you have ships on both sides of you plus the ships don't get to choose where they moor, so yes, the balcony side of the ship has the same problem.

 

Viking Longships are designed with the center corridor off-center, so that the cabin's with balcony don't lose living space to the balcony.

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..But is that true when you are sailing as well? People are posting about being 'rafted' to another ship? or not being able to sit on them at all. Just wondering what to expect. Cheers!

 

The other thing to check is how often you will be cruising in daylight on your selected itinerary...

 

On a lot of cruises the pattern is usually to move the ship at night, so you return from the daily excursions, have dinner and by the time you've finished it is often dark.

 

There are exceptions of course where the itinerary has 'scenic cruising', but on those occasions to tend to want to be on the upper decks so you can see both sides of the river...

 

... Also consider the fact that you are rarely able to 'sit on the balcony' anyway as the majority of the time they are closer to a large opening window into your cabin rather than an ocean style veranda...

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No question is stupid! Rafting only happens (occasionally) when you are moored. When you are sailing you have a great view from your balcony. You will want to be on top of the ship though when you sail through the Rhine Gorge to get picturesque views of the castles. This is a great cruise!

Cole

thank you for that! I knew what mooring was but everytime I googled rafting it just showed white water rafting. Will will go topside certain times, but being introverts we need our own space as well. I am looking forward to the cruise, really hoping it goes to near enough to plan. 😀

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d126f7be8afa685b9fde5a7e17e8c710.jpgI was sitting on my balcony of our Ama ship and snapped this pic of a Viking ship with no balconies, only sliding doors. This was a rare occurrence. It was on the Danube near Melk which gets very crowded because everyone stops there.

 

 

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Holy Cow! That is close! i guess it would be a bit weird if someone was on the other side. lol.

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It IS close when rafted. Fortunately, Viking has prohibited their past custom of boarding, raiding and pillaging non_Viking ships.

:')IDK..i was under the impression it was just "frowned upon". 😁

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It IS close when rafted. Fortunately, Viking has prohibited their past custom of boarding, raiding and pillaging non_Viking ships.

 

Please do not worry, Viking may have stopped boarding, raiding and pillaging, but we local "Huns" still carry on the tradition.

 

If anyone would like to participate in our "excursions", we sometimes have places available, ranging from 1/2 day tour of Rain Dance or 3 rounds with dear MiL, to our premium overnight All Inclusive where you get keep all your pillaged items. For the pillaged items, shippingcan be arranged at extra cost (DHL, or if you want it broken via UPS).

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We've actually had a couple pleasant conversations from our balcony while rafted next to other ships with balconies. We'll watch out for the Vikings in future, however!

 

What's in your wallet? I'll just put it in my wallet then ;p

Edited by Host Jazzbeau
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