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Balcony cabin for Hawaii?? Or, not needed?


aprilivy

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We always cruise in a balcony, but money is a little tighter these days since hubby has been ill and is now unemployed.

We are thinking of switching to an ocean view cabin for this trip so we have more money for excursions.

My question - for those who have done the Hawaii 14 day - did you have a balcony cabin....do you wish you had booked the balcony?

On our trip to the Bahamas, we hardly went out on the balcony. BUT on the one to Alaska we were out there all the time.

 

This is our rebooking of the trip we had to miss on the Golden to Hawaii this past spring because of hubby's medical emergency the night before sailing that resulted in surgery and 3 weeks in a Dallas hospital.

 

What do you think?

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We sailed Golden to Hawaii Feb this year and had a mini our son had a balcony, honestly except when our son came calling -our son who is a smoker we hardly used the balcony take the ocean view or even an inside and spend more on your excursions. There is so much to do on sea days you'll be busy the cruise director has a very good itinary

IMHO

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We always cruise in a balcony, but money is a little tighter these days since hubby has been ill and is now unemployed.

We are thinking of switching to an ocean view cabin for this trip so we have more money for excursions.

My question - for those who have done the Hawaii 14 day - did you have a balcony cabin....do you wish you had booked the balcony?

On our trip to the Bahamas, we hardly went out on the balcony. BUT on the one to Alaska we were out there all the time.

 

This is our rebooking of the trip we had to miss on the Golden to Hawaii this past spring because of hubby's medical emergency the night before sailing that resulted in surgery and 3 weeks in a Dallas hospital.

 

What do you think?

 

We've done this cruise several times and always with a balcony. That being said, we are doing it again in October and this time in an outside cabin. There was just too much difference in price and we figured the difference in monies could be appropriated elsewhere. I am sure you will enjoy the cruise no matter what your accomodation. Hope your husband remains healthy and have a wonderful cruise.

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I was on the 11/23 Golden sailing and we had a OV and were very glad we decided to not spend the extra $ on a balcony. The weather was very cool/cold/windy with rough seas and our table mates said they simply weren't comfortable out on their balcony for most of the sea days,(which is 2/3 of the cruise.) Of course, you can never be sure what the weather conditions will be on your sailing, but this isn't a Caribbean cruise and there is always the chance of bad weather on this itinerary.

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In your situation there's certainly no need for a balcony...enjoy the cruise in an o/v cabin! :)

 

It's not that warm crossing the Pacific & with all of the sailing between islands at night, there's nothing to really see from a balcony in the Islands.

 

Hope you have a great cruise & a healthy new year for your husband.

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I haven't done this cruise but as much as I love balcony cabins I've also booked obstructed view cabins just because my budget or the budget of the one I was traveling with would only allow it. From what I've read from different live from threads of cruises to Hawaii you just can't go wrong whichever you choose. It seems that this is either a cruise you will really, really love or a cruise you won't do again because of all the sea days.

 

I say, book what is in your budget at this time. If you don't book a balcony the positive about cruising Princess is there are so many places on the ship that you can pull up a chair and enjoy the oceanview.

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Hi,

> We've cruised to Hawaii three times before, twice with a balcony and the last cruise with an ocean view. All three were *great* cruises. This is probably why we will be sailing to Hawaii again in April and we booked an guaranteed obstructed view for that cruise. We elected to go with the lower cost cabin so we can afford to take another long cruise this year and because we used the balcony so seldom on the previous Hawaiian cruises. We are just as happy to view and sun from the public decks as from a private balcony.

> Inside or out, balcony or not, you'll have a wonderful cruise.

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Hi,

 

On our first Hawaii Cruise we had a balcony. We hardly used it on sea days as it was cool and lots of breeze as you are cruising faster you have a lot of miles to cover. We enjoyed the balcony in Maui as there were lots of whales. Second Hawaii cruise we had an inside room which we really like when I want an afternoon snooze it is dark. We walked the decks a lot more in order to enjoy our large public balconies. So for us a balcony is not necessary. As long as I am on the ship I am happy. This cruise we bought the highest category of inside guarantee and hope for an upgrade. Presently we are 2 weeks from sail day and still waiting for an assignment. We are sailing Carribean Princess from San Juan.

 

Sweet regards

Carol

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I have been on a 14 night RT LA to Hawaii cruise. I used our balcony even in the cold weather of the first two days and last two days of the trip when it was cold and windy. Now my sisters used their balcony only while in the warmer weather. BUT we all said we would not do Hawaii again without a balcony. We do not like to spend hours on deck. We like the freedom to relax in our own space. We go to trivia, lectures, etc. then back to the cabin. We don't use the pool either. So for us we make good use of our cabin and balcony.

 

If I were the type that was up and gone by nine, never to return unitl time to dress for dinner and then gone until bedtime..an inside would suffice.(of course being claustrophobic, I would need xanax.)

 

You will have a great cruise no matter what you decide. Best wishes to you and your husband for health and happiness in the new year.

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Our first Hawaii cruise was on RC and was a one way from Ensenada that had five sea days. Our balcony was only around $400 total more than an inside with our Crown & Anchor Diamond balcony discount. The other two couples with us on that cruise booked insides and they shared our balcony in the evening when in the islands as we had gotten an extra large one. The balcony wasn't really used very much on the five sea days over to the HI.

Our second Hawaii cruise, last Feb. was a closed loop out of LA so there were 8 1/2 sea days. A balcony would have been almost double the cost over the obstructed OV we booked. What we saved paid for 3/4 the cost of our next cruise which was also a 14 nighter.

My impression, on the ships we've been on, is that a regular balcony cabin with RC and X give you more of a difference in the inside area compared with an inside or OV cabin. On the Grand and modified Grand class of ships we've been on there doesn't appear to be much difference between the inside area of these lower categories.

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We've done it both ways -OV & balcony & if we go again I think we'll switch back to an OV because the first 2 & last 2 days we had limited use of the balcony since it was very cool. Once we arrived in Hawaii we're off the ship during the day & rarely us the balcony at night so paying for something we used infrequently didn't seem economical. If money is no object then go with the balcony.

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That's all this guy replies with...one word responses which as useless to me so I ignore them. :rolleyes:

 

Aware. :D

 

 

 

Just trying to have fun with something that could annoy me if I let it.

 

After seeing several of his completely useless posts, I finally added him to my ignore list. Life it too short to get irritated by somebody that thinks a high post count on an Internet message board is important!:rolleyes:

 

Oh, I'd go for a balcony, but it would have to be on the aft so it wouldn't be affected by wind, etc.!

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