So does anyone NOT like a balcony?

[GreenZolie]

I have read a bazillion posts and heard from several real life people about how wonderful having a balcony is. I am soooo ready for one.

 

But, has anyone NOT liked having a balcony? Are there any drawbacks to having one? I can't imagine any, but I would like to confirm that. Zero answers to this thread would be a confirmation, lol. :D

[luckycruzer]

after my Trans At in Oct on the Magic :D

[GreenZolie]

after my Trans At in Oct on the Magic :D

 

Lucky you! I hope to do the Magic next year! Including a balcony, so I look forward to your review! I want every detail of Life on a Balcony, lol.

[GrannyReadyToCruise]

I would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to try the balcony, but it would have been $700.00 more for our 7 day cruise in May. :eek: Just not in our budget. Hope you have a wonderful cruise!

[mrpayroll]

For us, it is a matter of cost. We like to take two cruises a year and can go for the insides to save the extra money. Are they nice , YES, we are not smokers or drinkers so the balcony does little for us. On our Alaska cruise, it was worth the money for the scenery.

[maggieworkman]

We had a balcony on our last cruise on the Legend. We didn't really use it. I guess the balcony is not for us?? Although I will say that the Legend has a port intensive schedule, so maybe it was just that we didn't have time for it?

 

I don't know. But I didn't book a balcony for our next cruise on the Dream. We went with a Spa Interior. Thought we might see how we like the spa?

 

Maggie

[tak81288]

I didn't. I mean it is nice, but I'm a non smoker and got sandwiched between cabins that had people who sat out and smoked all day and night (nothing against smokers though)....I just didn't enjoy it as much as I would have liked so would rather save the money for other aspects of the cruise and get an inside or OV instead.

 

But I agree, from reading most of these threads one would think a balcony is a MUST...that's not the case for me though....

[happy cruzer]

There are negatives with anything in life.

 

Cost of the balcony

Extra light when sleeping

Noise and smoke from your neighbors

The wind vortex caused when balcony door and cabin door are open

AC may not work as well

 

Some details matter to people and some can be overlooked. To each their own.

[AWCHIEF]

Not worth the money in my opinion. I can cruise 2 or 3 times a year in an inside or porthole for what one cruise with a balcony would cost me. The balconies that I have seen have no more room than my shower at home. Most ships have several hundred feet of quite outside space for me to kick back and relax.

[elcuchio24]

If all costs were the same, I can't imagine anyone not wanting a balcony, unless they were afraid of heights or something. Balconies are the best, once you go to a balcony, it's tough to go back.

[bumbles]

We love the balcony and think it's well worth the cost. This past trip we were sitting outside on our balcony and actually saw a whale. For us it's a quiet place to go.

[John&John]

If all costs were the same, I can't imagine anyone not wanting a balcony, unless they were afraid of heights or something. Balconies are the best, once you go to a balcony, it's tough to go back.

 

I'm going to find out how tough it is.

 

It's not going to affect my cruise though. :D

 

Booked in an inside and was hoping that the balcony price would come down prior to sailing but it doesn't look that way.

[shelkate1]

I'm going to be honest. I have done all three, balcony, ocean view, and interior. I didn't really use the balcony that much. The first day or so because of the novelty, but after that I didn't really go out that much. I would rather use the money for something else. Realistically, I am just as happy in an interior(DH is unhappy there) because any day on a boat is better than a day at home AND I am always looking for a great deal!!

[Izzziee]

We had a balcony for our 16 night Mediterranean cruise (not carnival tho, P&O) and the first time i stepped out on it i thought it was a mistake, I remember saying to my husband that it was a shame we spent the money on it because I'd never use it. The reason? we were very high up and i am afraid of heights! we were still in port and it freaked me out to see just how high up we were! Luckily when at sea the height wasn't an issue as you can't really tell how high up you are and so i came to love it :D I even got braver in ports!

[richstowe]

Here is the drawback. Hate smoke and we got a large balcony.

Really looking forward to enjoying and then you go out just to be hit with clouds of smoke.

Without a balcony you would never even know your neighbors are smoking or yelling

or fighting or crying etc. So the problem is the expectations you build up in your head and these

can be destroyed quickly by whats going on in a nearby balcony.

The offending balcony doesn't even have to be that close. Noise travels further then smoke.

 

Don't mean to be Debbie Downer and before I am flamed I realize people have a right to their own fun.

The problem was my "fantasy" versus reality. Reality always wins.:rolleyes:

 

The balcony we had was nice but ... Perhaps don't build up your expectations too much.

[elcuchio24]

I'm going to find out how tough it is.

 

It's not going to affect my cruise though. :D

 

Booked in an inside and was hoping that the balcony price would come down prior to sailing but it doesn't look that way.

 

We've done insides, portholes on shorter cruises. It's ok. It's still a fun time to be on a cruise, but we still always look forward to getting on the longer leg and being back into a balcony.

[bethaniesmom]

if having an interior rather than a balcony was the only way i could go on a cruise, i would take the interior. have had both. DH uses balcony for reading in the sun. i use balcony to order room service and watch us pull in to ports. we watched for whales in Alaska on our balcony, and dolphins in Miami but i wouldn't miss it if i had to make the choice between balcony and not going!

 

Beverly

[LizaMM]

I have done all three as well - OV first time, inside 2nd cruise and balcony for the 3rd and every other since then :)

 

I LOVE having a balcony! I am out there many times a day......sipping coffee in the morning.....a quiet break in the afternoon.....relaxing in my robe after a shower before getting ready for sinner just watching the sea....and often and again late at night before I go to sleep.......i LOVE it!!!

 

That said.....if it was the difference between cruising and not cruising I would jump in an inside. I would never pay for an OV because to me being able to "see" outside means nothing. If no balcony than an inside for its total darkness and seclusion worked better for me than an OV.

[Celebrating40]

I have only sailed twice, both balconies and I have no intention of sailing inside unless I desperately need a cruise and can only afford an inside. HOWEVER, I sailed midship on the Dream in a balcony and loved it. This past cruise we were in an Aft extended balcony and I really, really disliked it. The balcony was always wet from water spray being kicked back and I did not like the partitions where you can see your neighbor at all. I am friendly and all, but I like the privacy of a regular balcony. Also, there was dirt on my chairs daily, I guess from the funnel?

 

All in all, I would take the Aft balcony over an inside cabin anyhow. But, I am feeling like I need another cruise and if I have to do an inside cabin to fit another cruise in, then I will have to let you know how it is to go back ;)

[LizaMM]

I have done all three as well - OV first time, inside 2nd cruise and balcony for the 3rd and every other since then :)

 

I LOVE having a balcony! I am out there many times a day......sipping coffee in the morning.....a quiet break in the afternoon.....relaxing in my robe after a shower before getting ready for dinner just watching the sea....and often again late at night before I go to sleep.......i LOVE it!!!

 

That said.....if it was the difference between cruising and not cruising I would jump in an inside. I would never pay for an OV because to me being able to "see" outside means nothing. If no balcony than an inside for its total darkness and seclusion worked better for me than an OV.

[Shelli]

In 15 cruises, I've had balcony cabins twice. The first cruise was a 5-day to Canada, and we hardly used the balcony because of cool weather and one rainy day. The 2nd one was a 7-day Caribbean, but we found that the only time we used it was to have our morning coffee. Just didn't justify the higher price! We now mostly get insides, and they're just fine... we prefer to be out on deck or in other public areas of the ship.

[MagnoliaFly]

We spent the extra money for one on our first cruise and really enjoyed it. I was out for sunrise every morning and we caught just about every sunset. We'd wind down our day with drinks out there too. I loved being able to see the ports as we approached in the morning.

 

We were lucky to have quiet balcony neighbors. I'm crossing my fingers our aft balcony that we'll be on will be just as awesome!

 

That being said, if it came between a choice of cruise or no cruise based on the price, I'll do an interior room instead of a balcony. They're the same size inside so that is nice.

[Perfect Stranger]

I'd rather cruise more often than pay an extra $500+ per cruise to "possibly" see a whale.

[Ashleybmodeling]

There are negatives with anything in life.

 

Cost of the balcony

Extra light when sleeping - from your neighbors

Noise and smoke from your neighbors

The wind vortex caused when balcony door and cabin door are open

AC may not work as well

 

Some details matter to people and some can be overlooked. To each their own.

 

This sums it up well!

[Lady_Jag]

Balcony cabins are nice enough, I guess, but my first and only experience in one made it not worth the extra $$ (we were even upgraded to an extended balcony for free that trip).

 

I thought it would be great to wake up to hot tea and croissants from room service, and enjoy them in the morning hours on the balcony. Unfortunately, our upwind neighbors were chain smokers and always out on their balcony smoking, so our balcony would be flooded with smoke. And, since they were very LOUD talkers (yellers) who punctuated all of their sentences with the F-word...well, let's just say it wasn't the peaceful and relaxing experience I was expecting. :rolleyes:

 

From that moment, I decide to save the extra money and book an OV or IS cabin. On the Dream, we had a smoke-free Spa Ov cabin at the very front of the ship, and the deck in front of our room was like a HUGE semi-private non-smoking balcony! LOVED it! I don't think I saw anyone else out on that deck the entire cruise, and the total cost for the 3 of us was only $200 more for the week than a standard 6A OV. :D