Balcony Lovers question

[bbbearden]

We love our balcony and use it alot. I am an early riser and so I love to order coffee and sit out on the balcony and read and watch the sun rise while my family sleeps. It is also a great place to relax out of the way while the ladies are getting ready. As others have said, watching the port activities and sea life are also alot of fun. I higly recommend having a balcony, even if you do not spend a ton of time out there, the time you do spend is quality time.

[sailingawaysoon]

Love the balcony and can't cruise w/out one. We enjoy it in the mornings and late at night before turning in. Love our balcony!

[ALW2]

We also love to have a cabin with a balcony. It makes the room seem larger and is the most romantic spot on the ship to cuddle up or have a meal. But....most of all...if we are traveling with our children in the same room, it is a quiet respite away. We can sit out there and read or relax after we put them to bed with out disturbing them. Although not a necessity...it is definitely a luxury I prefer!

[foxgoodrich]

We also spend quite a bit of time on our balcony - and I find that the nicer/bigger the balcony is (aft balcony or suite), the more time we spend out there. My favorite time is in the mornings...we have room service deliver coffee as our wake up call every day and enjoy coffee on the balcony before breakfast. We also end each day on the balcony with a nightcap. And we usually spend quite a bit of time out there on sea days, plus we love being out on the balcony when coming into port or leaving port.

 

We usually cruise each year on my DH's birthday as that particular time of year is one of our easiest times to get away. Several years ago he started a little ritual, which he always does if we are at sea on his birthday...he greets the day (and the sea) on that morning in his 'birthday suit' :eek:! For this reason I never book an aft balcony (where there's the possibility of being seen by cabins above or below) during his birthday month. And if we happen to be in port on his birthday, I always insist that he should greet ME in the cabin on that morning...:o...and in case anyone wonders, I do NOT indulge in this ritual if we happen to be cruising on MY birthday. Maybe it's a 'guy thing'...;)

Judy

[mrsdoc3]

Love all those things... Although, my reading on the balcony often leads to a nap!

 

Another good reason for a balcony!

[CaribbeanCrush]

We also spend quite a bit of time on our balcony - and I find that the nicer/bigger the balcony is (aft balcony or suite), the more time we spend out there. My favorite time is in the mornings...we have room service deliver coffee as our wake up call every day and enjoy coffee on the balcony before breakfast. We also end each day on the balcony with a nightcap. And we usually spend quite a bit of time out there on sea days, plus we love being out on the balcony when coming into port or leaving port.

 

We usually cruise each year on my DH's birthday as that particular time of year is one of our easiest times to get away. Several years ago he started a little ritual, which he always does if we are at sea on his birthday...he greets the day (and the sea) on that morning in his 'birthday suit' :eek:! For this reason I never book an aft balcony (where there's the possibility of being seen by cabins above or below) during his birthday month. And if we happen to be in port on his birthday, I always insist that he should greet ME in the cabin on that morning...:o...and in case anyone wonders, I do NOT indulge in this ritual if we happen to be cruising on my birthday. Maybe it's a 'guy thing'...;)

Judy

 

That is FUNNY! ;) I love the ritual! I sure something crazy would happen if I tried that though... like the balcony door getting jammed shut while I'm out there! :D

[foxgoodrich]

I'm sure something crazy would happen if I tried that though... like the balcony door getting jammed shut while I'm out there! :D

 

Funny you should mention that... I always tell him that he'd better not pi$$ me off the day before his birthday as I could lock the door.:D AND...we'll be on Allure on his birthday this year - I've heard a couple of stories about people getting locked out on balconies on Oasis and Allure - so I've warned him about that.;)

Judy

[Ernie B]

We had cruised many times without a balcony and it was basically a financial reason. We decided for our Alaska cruise that a balcony was a must and from now on we will never go without one! I don't care for crowds so if I feel overwhelmed, you can find me reading or just relaxing on my balcony. Coffee in the morning, a nap in the afternoon, a glass of wine for sunset or leaving port, and you will find me on the balcony. I now even look for the best balcony on every cruise I take.

[Polarbear Pa]

We would never book a cabin without one. We enjoy the view and we get very tired of all the noise and music on the pool deck. Just a nice place to sit,read and nap.

[CaribbeanCrush]

We would never book a cabin without one. We enjoy the view and we get very tired of all the noise and music on the pool deck. Just a nice place to sit,read and nap.

 

It definitely gives you more options. Nice to be able to get away from it all when you want some quiet solitude.

[ksadonnab]

We spent a lot of time on our balcony. We had breakfast on the balcony 7 out of 10 mornings. We'd have a snack or drink out there while getting ready for dinner. We sat out there every night before going to bed....would stop by a bar and get a nightcap to enjoy on the balcony. Whomever would wake up first went and sat on the balcony. It was so peaceful out there all alone. I LOVE the balcony.

 

I forgot about watching sailing into and out of port. Loved it!

 

Yes this is exactly how we use our balcony.... One other thing I may add is that I usually chill out there while DH naps during the afternoon since he can't seem to keep up with me anymore. :cool:

[joe6666]

I've been booking balcony rooms lately. And I was going to book a balcony on Enchantment for an 8 day cruise in November.

The outside window cabin was $1299 each and the balcony was $2299 each....

Thats right, just about double the price. $1000 more each.

 

I don't think I've seen that much difference in the past.

I took the outside cabin.

 

We live on the water at home, so we are used to sundowns and sitting on our pier. Perhaps that makes looking at the water less of an experience.

[Louise34]

Yes to the reasons above. We always book a balcony. Use it each morning, bkfst, afternoon, last place I go to before sleep, reading, meditating, docking, etc. To me it is the relaxing part of a cruise. I learned my lesson on our Oasis cruise. Thought I would save a little $$ by booking a boardwalk balcony! And it sounded a bit adventurous. Well, I thought I was in the middle of New York City apartments, looking into windows and seeing all types of dress and undress. Plus, the balcony was extremely hot as very little breeze can get between. Absolutely no privacy. My husband loved it as he is a first class people watcher! Well, we are now going on the Allure and I booked an oceanview balcony...no questions asked.

[foxgoodrich]

It definitely gives you more options. Nice to be able to get away from it all when you want some quiet solitude.

 

Just FYI...if you happen to be looking at a Voyager class ship, check to see if 7388 or 7688 are available. These are deck 7 aft corner balconies with both side and aft views, and the balconies are HUGE...like about 240 sq ft...bigger than the cabin! Interestingly, they are E1 cabins, so among the least expensive balconies to book. Usually you have to book very early to get one of these.

 

We just got lucky and found 7388 open on the Navigator TA cruise from New Orleans to Rome in April 2013. Just happened to book a day after the original person with that cabin changed cruises and gave it up. (I must thank CC for that - I looked at the roll call before booking and saw the post from the person who was changing cruises, and she mentioned she was giving up 7388.) Cruises from NOLA begin with a 7-8 hours of cruising down the Mississippi to the Gulf, so you know where we'll be spending that first evening - watching the river traffic and the lights on the banks go by...probably a bottle of wine will be involved. And with 11 sea days on the TA, I know we'll be spending LOTS of time out there and loving every minute of it! (but don't worry - it's not DH's birthday!:)) So the lesson here is - always check to see if 7388/7688 are open, even if you think they probably aren't. And always take a look at the roll call for the cruise you're thinking about - sometimes you can get amazing info like I did!

 

And Joe6666, I know what you mean. That's a terrible price difference. We're paying $1199pp for the corner aft on a 15 night TA - now THAT is such a great bargain, I didn't even blink! I would probably choke on over $2k each for a balcony, unless it were a very long cruise or a very nice suite.

 

And we do like aft balconies. Some people don't like the long walk from an aft cabin to the elevators, but I always figure that extra bit of exercise is a good thing.:p

Judy

[tigger-ttfn]

Once you book a balcony , you'll never go back. I love it on sail away, morning breakfast, sailing into and out of ports and esp at night before bed. It is so peaceful hearing the waves. I love to sail when there is a full moon. Most of the time with the Diamond discount it is not much more the outside.

[UCF_Knight]

I've had a balcony 6 times. 4 times were great and we used it frequently. The other 2 times, unfortunately, we had chain smokers next to us who smoked constantly. We only used the balcony for 15 to 20 minutes per day on those cruises because the neighbors were almost always out there smoking.

[Mary1951]

I love to sit and read on it and have even fallen asleep there . I spent a lot of time there .

[santanna]

Always a balcony and for all the reasons stated. I had a new appreciation of my balcony on a S. Carib cruise recently. It was 2:00 am, I couldn't sleep and my tummy felt a little bit "off". I called room service and ordered some tea and cheese/crackers. It was lovely sitting on my balcony after 2:00 am with my tea and snacks and watching a ship following us in the distance.

When I was done, I got back into bed and went right to sleep.

If I ever have another restless night at sea (rare), I'll do that again.

[Sunshine-lady]

We done a short cruise in May without a balcony. Never agagin. It's not just the time we spend out there, it's the views any time you want.

[CaribbeanCrush]

We done a short cruise in May without a balcony. Never agagin. It's not just the time we spend out there, it's the views any time you want.

 

That is one point that I forgot, and I totally agree. It is nice to have that view any time you want even if you aren't out on the balcony.

[Riff Sniff]

My wife and I booked an inside cabin on our first cruise but ended up upgrading to a balcony when the price dropped. Friends of ours that are regular cruisers warned us that once you cruise in a balcony cabin you'll always want one, and boy were they right! We've only taken one cruise since where we didn't have a balcony (OV on Majesty), and we missed it. Most recently, we tried a hump JS on Voyager - loved it! We will have our first aft balcony cabin next March on Brilliance and I'm really looking forward to it.

 

We love the balcony for all of the reasons stated previously in this thread, especially sunrise/sunset and arrival/departure from each port. I probably spend at least an hour or two each day out there. I am including a picture I took of my wife after a nice sunset dinner with friends on our balcony.

 

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[CRUISE4JANE]

Yes to the reasons above. We always book a balcony. Use it each morning, bkfst, afternoon, last place I go to before sleep, reading, meditating, docking, etc. To me it is the relaxing part of a cruise. I learned my lesson on our Oasis cruise. Thought I would save a little $$ by booking a boardwalk balcony! And it sounded a bit adventurous. Well, I thought I was in the middle of New York City apartments, looking into windows and seeing all types of dress and undress. Plus, the balcony was extremely hot as very little breeze can get between. Absolutely no privacy. My husband loved it as he is a first class people watcher! Well, we are now going on the Allure and I booked an oceanview balcony...no questions asked.

 

I booked a PR cabin on NOS as I didn't want an inside and I wanted to take another cruise soon. I was leary, but really thought I would like the PR cabin. After finding out more info about it, I started thinking. No more thinking for me. The balcony cabins went down in price and for $60 more, I booked the balcony. Guess I knew all along that since my last cruise I had a balcony, I'm stuck now..................and guess this, we don't even use the balcony that much. We are on-the-go. But it is there for the little time that we may want it. :)

[atlrefs]

I could never go back to cruising with out a balcony we love it. I love hearing the ocean at night before I go to sleep and awaking up in the morning and seeing the blue sky and the peace and quiet on the balcony while I enjoy my Bloody Mary's :D

DITTO:D

step out on your balcony first thing when you wake up, breath in that sea air.....:)

[debshomespun]

We love our time in our balcony cabins. We have gone insides and oceanviews too. It depends on the itinerary, who we are cruising with, and the price difference as to which type of cabin we book. Yes, we love the balcony cabins, but we also like to cruise 3-4 times a year, and will settle for an inside or oceanview. If the price difference isn't much, we will get the balcony. Of our 3 cruises currently booked, we have 3 balconies, the 2 RC cruises are aft corner balconies too, and we got great rates on them! Also doesn't hurt that we are diamond members and get the diamond balcony discount! :D :D

[Familygoboston]

Worth it? I like to put a value on things- for instance when I look at the difference between an interior cabin and the bottom on the line balcony, I usually see prices like 599 or 699 vs 899 to 999, in other words a differential of about 200-300 pp. Then I think about the shore excursions I take( ship sponsored or not)- a really long day with lots of amenities can easily cost that per person, or pretty close.

 

So I think of my balcony as " paying for an excursion", I pay about 200 pp to enjoy everyday; breakfast by myself and my beloved on the balcony, watching us sail into port in my robe while the other is in the bath, a quiet spot for reading on a sea day afternoon, when the crowds at the pool get cacophonous, a place to watch sail away, again, in my robe while DH is showering for dinner, and after dinner, we have a quiet romantic, ( although be warned- not entirely private:eek:) spot to relax before bed. All of that is worth the price of an excursion to me!:D And now I don't even pay the difference because for being Loyal to Royal, I now get a big ole discount that almost always makes the price of a balcony the same or lower than an ocean view;)

 

Before my discounts I used to always get interiors, but also found the constant dark disorienting and sometimes caused motion sickness. Ive decided even on ships with out a balcony discount, an interior room without at least a port hole is not for me anymore, no matter the savings. If you can't enjoy your vacation...what's the point right?;)