Please Help Me Sway My Husband

[tellmelies]

Please list all the positives (and I guess negatives...to be fair) to having a balcony room. We are taking this cruise to kind of celebrate a few things: his return from a deployment, my daughter's sweet 16, and our anniversary. My husband feels the money can be better spent elsewhere, but I love the thought of being able to relax in our own little space. We'll be on the Fascination in August. Thank y'all in advance!

 

 

 

 

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[Jimmy Geegitz]

There are no negatives to a balcony room.

[KenMo]

There are no negatives to a balcony room.

 

Ditto.

 

We love a balcony.

 

It's so nice to have coffee out there in the morning and a drink in the evening.

 

Just watching the ocean go by...so relaxing.

[bluehenfan01]

There are sooooo many negatives about a balcony cabin.....let's see, hmmmm, awww who am i kidding.....balcony cabins are great!!! :D I enjoy them in the morning when you want to get up, order room service and have a cup of coffee with the sound of the sea in front of you instead of fighting the lines on the Lido deck. I had interior cabins on my first 2 cruises and then on my 3rd cruise on the Legend, i had my first balcony and have always had one since.

On a side note, and i think everyone here on CC would agree, please give your husband a bigh THANK YOU for his service! He truly is a hero!

[loadpipes]

we've had both a OV and a Balcony we love the balcony for having coffee in the am or just sitting there during the day for some piece and quit and a drink in the evening we always do late seating at dinner so its nice when you get bak from a busy day in a port just to sit and relax while waiting for DW to get ready for dinner cant really think of any bad points

[kona_wahine]

I don't like the whole laying around the pool thing on ships. Just too many people packed in. I'd much rather have my own space. Granted, unless you have a large balcony or aft there is no lounge chair, but that's fine. I don't know if I could ever go back to Jo balcony.

[woodey]

I enjoy taking room service in the morning eating breakfast drinking my coffee on the balcony...it is the best part of the day....then there is the cocktail hour before dinner or just the grab a book and read,,,I would say a good 20% of my cruise are doing those things.

Bad things are when you sail and its cold it doesn't apply to your summer sailing.

Thank your Husband for his service from me....

[TheCalicoCat]

I'd rather spend the extra (substantial amount in my opinion - but others do not share it) money on drinks, excursions, souvenirs, another cruise than on a balcony.

 

Caveat: I do not layout/ hang out on the pool decks. Also I cruise in the off season. We had snow on the decks on out last cruise. (I would be miserable in the heat of a summer cruise.)

[ShakyBeef]

Positives:

 

• even if you never step onto the balcony, it's nice to have that giant window with the view of the ocean
  
• as you said, being able to relax in your own little space
  
• being able to check the outdoor temperature / weather from your room.
  
• getting the sound of the sea and fresh air in your cabin
  
• just plain more square footage to your overall cabin space - room to get out of each others' way
  

Negatives:

 

• you may not use it as much as you thought you would, and thus feel like you wasted money
  
• you may have a chain smoking neighbour or two that make it unpleasant to be on your balcony, or to have the door open
  
• you may have obnoxious or just plain thoughtless neighbours that play loud music, argue or party loud and late, shout obscenities, slam the balcony doors, leave the balcony lights on all night, or frequently scrape the balcony furniture across the deck surface (it's louder than you might think when it's happening on the balcony above yours). I have personally witnessed at least a little of all of these:mad:, thankfully, not all on the same cruise or all at the same time.:p
  

But it hasn't stopped me from booking balconies. For me, if the price of the balcony is right, the positives outweigh the negatives. I'm not one of the self-proclaimed "balcony snobs" that says "once you have a balcony, you'll never go back". Sometimes, we will still book an Ocean View. It depends on the itinerary and the price difference between Balcony and OV.

[larkz]

Three negatives:

 

1) The price is higher

2) Smoke from smokers

3) Slamming of balcony doors by neighbors

 

One neutral:

 

1) There are balconies all over the place if you would like to gaze off into the sunset, or watch the ship docking or pier runners.

 

Others can extol the virtues. I had one once, enjoyed it, and moved on.

[ShakyBeef]

I'd rather spend the extra (substantial amount in my opinion - but others do not share it) money on drinks, excursions, souvenirs, another cruise than on a balcony.

 

Caveat: I do not layout/ hang out on the pool decks. Also I cruise in the off season. We had snow on the decks on out last cruise. (I would be miserable in the heat of a summer cruise.)

 

Did we ever! They finally got it all shoveled off on the second sea day!:p Hey there, Calico! We posted at the same time.:)

[KPfromCT]

All of the above, PLUS, tell him you'll become a member of the Balcony Club:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

Guys LOVE that kind of stuff......

Of course, while DD is either sleeping, or off with all of her new friends:D

 

No, but in all seriousness, balconies are the BEST. Just nice to have your own "space"

 

Are you talking a HUGE price difference?

 

Just do it DH!!!!!

[TheCalicoCat]

Did we ever! They finally got it all shoveled off on the second sea day!:p Hey there, Calico! We posted at the same time.:)

 

Glad to see you back on CC. We booked the Pride Repo in March 2015 in a french door cabin.

 

(I can appreciate the size difference of the cabins & ability to get some fresh air - just not the price.)

[ShakyBeef]

Glad to see you back on CC. We booked the Pride Repo in March 2015 in a french door cabin.

 

(I can appreciate the size difference of the cabins & ability to get some fresh air - just not the price.)

 

 

Oooh, French Door cabin, there's a good compromise!:)

[2bthereagain]

I agree with the poster who said 'just plain more square footage'. This really helps with 3 people in the cabin, especially when its time for everyone to get ready for dinner. It just gives you extra space to keep out of each others' way.

[elainmir]

I say try it once...

 

we did...it was beautiful in the mornings and at sunset

 

the negatives though are:

 

folks slamming the doors

kids screaming on balconies

smoking!!!!

furniture scraping the deck

[SadieN]

Unfortunately the Fascination doesn't have French Door cabins.

 

The OVs and the balcony cabins are the same. The balconies are a retrofit. So your DD will either be sleepng on the upper (preferred or rollaway (no way.)

[Almost Packed]

Please list all the positives (and I guess negatives...to be fair) to having a balcony room. We are taking this cruise to kind of celebrate a few things: his return from a deployment, my daughter's sweet 16, and our anniversary. My husband feels the money can be better spent elsewhere, but I love the thought of being able to relax in our own little space. We'll be on the Fascination in August. Thank y'all in advance!

 

 

 

 

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You can persuade him by telling him you are going to join the elite balcony club :eek: and tell him you plan to blow his mind away with it. ;)

 

Thank you to your dh for his service, and as well as your family. I know how the family "serves" just as much. thank you!

Edited February 12, 2014 by Almost Packed

[ZoeyVictoria]

Would you be comfortable on a balcony in the heat and humidity of August? I enjoy balconies under certain circumstances (winter being one of them), but a waste at other times.

[sprint180]

OK I'll jump in. I personally go for insides and use the money for other things. But, DH on the other hand....

On our Alaska cruise (the only one he has been on)Dh sat out on the balcony and watched everything and nothing go by. He loved it. I didn't spend much time there. I prefer to be roaming the ship. Word of caution. If there is glass on the front of the balcony, be careful, your neighbor may be able to see what you are doing out there (reflection). I suppose it depends on the dividers ;)

 

Thank you to your husband for his Military service.

Edited February 12, 2014 by sprint180

[Mysticks1]

A balcony is a must have for me. I really love knowing I have my own personal outdoor space to escape the crowds. I enjoy coffee on the balcony in the mornings, relaxing on the balcony after returning from port and watching any pier runners as we get ready to sail, reading on the balcony at night and just listening to the water. We normally order room service for lunch at least one day and sometimes dinner as well and enjoy it on the balcony.

 

I would say go for it and form your own opinions. I probably use it more than average as I don't do the pool deck, bingo, gambling and don't really drink. My favorite thing on a cruise is just relaxing on my balcony so I spend a lot of time doing just that.

[JustCruiseMe]

I'd rather spend the extra (substantial amount in my opinion - but others do not share it) money on drinks, excursions, souvenirs, another cruise than on a balcony.

 

Caveat: I do not layout/ hang out on the pool decks. Also I cruise in the off season. We had snow on the decks on out last cruise. (I would be miserable in the heat of a summer cruise.)

This is us. No use for a balcony or a pool hang out.

[tellmelies]

I guess I should've mentioned that we have had the balcony before AND are already part of the balcony club! Ha! However, it was December and we froze our butts off! Hahahah. The heat doesn't bother me at all, and I'd mainly use it first thing in the morning and the evenings. I think the last time I checked, upgrading to a balcony will run us about an extra $400 total. We have already had a price adjustment, an OBC, and a $50 electronic gift card from a Mastercard promotion. We've already planned out our excursions (Atlantis vis CS, a cabana at HMC, and First to Fun...please don't hate me Platinum and Diamond members :) ) We don't drink alcohol, so we don't spend money there. We have the money for it, but my husband can be slightly on the cheap side sometimes. ; )

 

Thank you all for the laughs and the insight!

 

Jaems

[NS-Cruiser]

Up until last year we only booked ocean view rooms, in fact we were booked into an ocean view for our cruise on Freedom last year... That is until the Triumph fiasco, I called Carnival and made my own upgrade. If freedom had lost power like Triumph did, I at least wanted the option of staying in our own room at night, with an open balcony door for fresh air.

 

We'll, we loved it. The Freedom did not lose power, so we didn't need that option, and we didn't spend a LOT of time out there, but when we did go out, it was heaven. Fresh air, sounds of the sea, and our own sun shiny area away from all the pool crowds. We liked it so much that we have booked a Lido Deck Balcony for our upcoming cruise on the Valor out of San Juan. I don't think we will ever go back to and ocean view, unless of course it was free.

 

 

 

 

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[christyran1228]

All of the above, PLUS, tell him you'll become a member of the Balcony Club :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

 

 

Don't roll your eyes! ... I went there and it worked like a charm on my husband. lololol

 

Lido balcony. :cool:

 

 

 

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Edited February 12, 2014 by christyran1228