4 day cruise--balcony or oceanview

[MSgirl&Luv2cruz]

We are supposed to book our June cruise today. I have been reading mixed reviews of the balcony situation. This would be a category 11 suite on the Sensation. Some have said that others can see into the balcony from certain points. Is it worth it to have a balcony regardless? Is it worth it to have a balcony (extra expense) when it is only a 4 day cruise? I sure would appreciate any opinions & advice!

Thanks!!

Lisa

[Brneyznfl]

Personally unless you have the money to spend, I'd just book an oceanview and take the money you save and book another 4 day cruise. LOL I personally toured the Cat 11 on the Sensation and honestly I wasn't all that impressed. Yes it was huge and it had a balcony but I didn't think it looked as nice as I would expect a Cat 11 to look like. I had a Cat 11 on the Miracle and it was much nicer. Now as far the balcony issue is concerned. The cabin I toured, the balcony overlooked the lido deck area and yes people would be able to see you sitting on your balcony.

[KShea]

If you have the money get the balcony....if not don't. That sounds simple but true. I would always choose the balcony if money was not an issue. But money is almost always an issue for us so I've only had a balcony once. I loved it....really loved it.

Most people don't spend a lot of time in the room anyway, so the balcony is really just a luxury.

You'll have a great time no matter what you pick....enjoy your cruise....

[GoinCruisin]

The balconies on the Fantasy class are so much more, and IMHO, not worth it for a short cruise. Some friends of ours had one on our last Sensation cruise and wished they would have just had oceanview. As little as they were in there, it was not worth it, considering they paid 3x what we paid. On one of the newer ships, they have more balconies, so they are not too bad... I would get an OV for the short one and save your money for one of the newer ships and get a balcony for a 7 dayer. Just MHO.

[bigmacfan]

I have never had a category 11 and don't think I would pay for one on a Fantasy class ship...just too much money for me. If it were me, I would book the oceanview and spend that extra money on great shore excursions or book another short cruise...it is often double the rate for a category 11 than an oceanview on that class of ship.

[TXRoo]

If you are worried about blocked views on the Sensation, then do NOT book V23, V25, V27, V34, V38 or V42. If you had to book a vlocked view, get the V23 or V34, they are less blocked. You can see V23 and the view from it on my webshots here:

 

http://community.webshots.com/album/276470821hmmobs

 

The first two pics show what it looks like. :)

 

HTH,

TXRoo

 

 

We are supposed to book our June cruise today. I have been reading mixed reviews of the balcony situation. This would be a category 11 suite on the Sensation. Some have said that others can see into the balcony from certain points. Is it worth it to have a balcony regardless? Is it worth it to have a balcony (extra expense) when it is only a 4 day cruise? I sure would appreciate any opinions & advice!

Thanks!!

Lisa

[TXRoo]

Oh, and we only booked a balcony on this ship because it was our first cruise and our 10th anniversary. It was worth it to us for our 5 day...but if money is really an issue, then I would say to book the OV room. We preferred it because of the location, the attentiveness of the room steward, priority embarkation and debarkation and the location with quick access to the elevators, decks and atrium. It was also incredible to be able to wake up and go out on your balcony and watch the ship pull into port.

 

Very convenient, IMHO. If I was on a budget though and taking a whole family, I would go with an OV room and save the money for other things.

[crzmom]

We just got off the Sensation last Thursday. We love having a balcony, but we are glad we didn't pay for one on this cruise. Only two of the five days were warm. The other 3 were chilly and quite windy. We wouldn't have used our balcony. BTW, we were surprised by how clean our window was. Last time it was like trying to see out a mildewed shower door. This time we could see everything perfectly.

[MSgirl&Luv2cruz]

Does the balcony size differ based on location? Does the room size change? We are category 11. What does that mean? I thought balcony suites were significantly bigger.

Thanks for continuing to answer questions!

Lisa

[JrMafia90]

I would always go with a balcony over an oceanview.

[TXRoo]

Does the balcony size differ based on location? Does the room size change? We are category 11. What does that mean? I thought balcony suites were significantly bigger.

Thanks for continuing to answer questions!

Lisa

 

According to CruiseStateroom, on the ship Sensation, the OV rooms are 186 sq ft, the Cat. 11 suites are 220 sq ft with 30 sq ft of balcony. The Cat 12 suites are 330 sq ft with a 70 sq ft balcony.

 

We really enjoyed V23 and did not let the Zodiac lifeboat bother us at all, you STILL have a great view and it is wonderful to hang out on the balcony and have a small bit of privacy from everyone else on the ship. The location is wonderful being that you have easy access to everything AND you get priority debarkation.

[amlindmark]

I love the Balcony on 7 day cruise, but my last cruise was a four on the Fantasy, for 4 days I did not miss it. When you figure the cost of a balcony by 7 and than by 4 it is so much more. It comes down to what you want to spend.