Cabin selection for Alaska

[scmexico]

We cruised on Grand Princess last week and had a great trip. My whole family went on this cruise so we had 4 cabins. We usually get mini suite and the rest of the family gets balconies near by.

 

I booked 4 window cabins on Plaza deck and the convenience was terrific. You could hear the naturalist on the TV if some interesting sight was coming up and 2 flights up to Promenade. The IC was less than a hundred yards away and you could meet up with rest of your party in several venues on Plaza midship. We had AT dining and the Michelangelo dining room is on Plaza. I would never do traditional dining on an Alaska cruise with the weird port times this cruise had.

 

A balcony would have been useless unless you wanted to freeze you axx off. We had reasonably good weather but none of us would just sit out on the balcony to see wildlife. Maybe when entering or leaving ports.

 

I love plaza deck if the ship has IC located there.

[lasnev]

 

A balcony would have been useless unless you wanted to freeze you axx off. We had reasonably good weather but none of us would just sit out on the balcony to see wildlife. Maybe when entering or leaving ports.

 

I totally agree with you!!

We were on the Pearl a couple of weeks ago, had an ocean view, one away from promenade deck. Great for walking and watching wildlife! And even though we had great weather it would have been tough just sitting on a balcony, as the ship always had just one sunny side!

[Zuki]

we were on Holland Westerdam, July 12 - 19. sat on our balcony all the time. Morning, afternoon and night. Sometimes until 10PM. But we had really warm weather, high 60s. Maybe that's the difference

[JimAOk1945]

We love having a balcony and wouldn't sail without one! We use our balcony throughout the day, every day we are on a cruise.

 

We have been on two Alaska cruise so far. Both were in August so that may have made a difference in the weather we experienced.

Edited August 6, 2014 by JimAOk1945

[starfish216]

We always booked balconies when we cruise and was so excited about having our first aft facing balcony on our Alaska cruise last week. Our family had 3 aft balconies and 1 starboard side balcony.

 

This was the first time we found the balcony to be pretty useless…..it rained and poured for the first 4 days non-stop. The loungers, chairs, table and floor were constantly soaked. Water was even dripping down from the balcony above us. Didn't even get a chance to sit out there. I would go out take a quick look and come back in, it wasn't the cold it was the constant wetness and fog that made it useless.

 

We did have one nice day and that was for Hubbard Glacier viewing. We actually went on our balcony to watch as we sailed out of Hubbard Glacier.

 

If I had to do it over again I would still book a balcony but I wouldn't have may heart set on sitting out there watching the views.

[sueandkent]

 

A balcony would have been useless unless you wanted to freeze you axx off. We had reasonably good weather but none of us would just sit out on the balcony to see wildlife. Maybe when entering or leaving ports.

 

I love plaza deck if the ship has IC located there.

 

I think freezing is subjective and depends on where you come from. We're used to weather in the 14C to 18C range. Here we break out the flip flops and capris when we get to 12 or 14. I can't imagine ANY cruise without a balcony. That being said our last cruise in March we ended up trying an ocean view (hated it BTW) but it was on Plaza deck and it is a very great location for a cabin. We loved being close to the IC, dining room and the decks to get off the ship in port. It was BAD having to walk by the IC each time we re-boarded, mmmmm cookies!

[runner15km]

I would not get a balcony for a Alaska cruise because of the wind,rain and fog. We got a great deal on a Obstructed view cabin deck 8 on the Golden. We had a pretty good view when there was no fog, I would say our view was only 25% obstructed.

Good location, just one deck from the wrap around Promenade Deck were we spent the whole day viewing Glacier Bay.

The money we save with the OB cabin we were able to pay for all of our excursions and gratuities.:)