Balcony ( get it or not??)

[mak5]

The first 4 cruises I was on, (in my twenties) I was always in an inside cabin. We didn't mind it, as we were partying all night and liked to sleep in a bit in the morning. (groups of friends)

On our honeymoon, we got an OV. I really enjoyed having a view, and knowing when it was daytime.

On our last cruise, we were in suites with front and side balconies. I LOVED having the balcony (although we hit a hurricane, so we did not spend that much time out there)

If I could afford a balcony, I would definitely get one if possible. I no longer want to sleep the day away, which I would always be tempted to do, even with an alarm. :p

[Ashland]

Thank you all for your opinions!! I greatly appreciate them, I've been on a couple of cruises and always felt confined to my inside cabin lol and always winded up sleeping late because the cabin is so dark. Its in my budget so I'm going for it just called and changed to E2 category:):)and its on the hump . Its my son first cruise so I'm just going to buy a stick alarm just in case, never let him on there alone and remove all chairs once we go to sleep ( can never be to careful) thanks again!!

The balcony sliders have a "child lock" a pin-type..Located at the top of the slider...many people don't even realize they are there but they are .

[shipgeeks]

We were upgraded to a balcony once. It did not spoil us for balconies at all; in fact, we chose oceanview for our last cruise even though balcony was cheaper. We feel that we get more sunlight through the window than through a balcony with an overhang, and we love being on a lower deck, closer to the ocean.

Whatever you choose, though, a cruise is special and wonderful!

[JVilleGal]

Okay. Just be aware that E2's on FR have 184 sq.ft. in the cabin, and I'm pretty sure (might be wrong) that square footage includes the bathroom and the closet. IMO it will be VERY crowded with two beds, two bedside tables, one coffee table, one side chair with the vanity table, one sofa or other seating PLUS two chairs and a small table from the balcony.

 

 

I am also having a hard time seeing how the balcony table and chairs will fit in that tiny space!

 

 

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[tdk]

Our next cruise is a 7 day on Vision in February. We are in an interior on deck 2 :eek:, we have never been that low before! But it's only for 7 days and it was really cheap!:D

 

Sherri:)

 

Hopefully your experience is better than ours....my first time in an inside cabin was our New Years trip...2nd cruise that year so we did inside guarantee ...never again... inside cabin deck 2. Too dark...too low..vibration shook the whole cabin when going into the ports early am. I won't do inside again or the bottom of the boat...lol

[mellibee]

I'm going on freedom of the seas already booked a ocean view, but I'm strongly considering changing to a balcony. What are the cons and pros. I'm going in the summer. Thank you for the opinions and the time you took to share them with me.

 

We are going on our 3rd cruise on FOS this summer. We booked a balcony for our first cruise because I am slightly claustrophobic and I agree that it spoils you to just having a few feet of personal space all your own. On our second cruise, we took our children and they had Promenade staterooms across from our balcony room. They are nice for an inside stateroom as they had a bay window that looked onto the Royal Promenade.

[tidygirl]

I hear the saying once you go balcony, you never go back so many times. Maybe it is just me but I did the balcony and it was nice but I didn't feel it was worth the money. It really depends on you and what type of person you are. Do you spend lots of time in your room? I only sleep and shower in my room so I'm satisfied with an inside. Enjoy your cruise. I'm sure you will like whatever cabin you choose.

You are not the only one I completely agree! We are fine with an inside room (even after having a balcony) and if it helps me cruise more often with the money we save even better!

[LoveyHowell]

Why do people fly from far and spend a ton of money to be inside a viewless box? If you are going to the Caribbean in the summer get the balcony!

[Proudmom1120]

Why do people fly from far and spend a ton of money to be inside a viewless box? If you are going to the Caribbean in the summer get the balcony!

 

 

First, I have to say I love your sign up name.

 

Now to comment on your post, the same could be said why do people fly from far and spend a ton of money to be inside a box at all? If you are going to the Caribbean, don't spend so much time in the room, get out and enjoy the sun and activities. The whole boat has a balcony. I don't have loads of money so I will be spending it on excursions and other stuff to make my vacation more enjoyable. It definitely won't be going towards a room.

[GUT2407]

Stick with the oceanview. Once you have a balcony, you will always want a balcony. You will spend time out on your balcony. Might even have a meal out there. Heck we will even sleep out there. All this time spent on the balcony takes away from gambling or other activities on the ship. Balconies are more more money, making all your future cruises more. Stick with the oceanview:rolleyes:

 

 

What a great answer.

[Anthony63]

Hopefully your experience is better than ours....my first time in an inside cabin was our New Years trip...2nd cruise that year so we did inside guarantee ...never again... inside cabin deck 2. Too dark...too low..vibration shook the whole cabin when going into the ports early am. I won't do inside again or the bottom of the boat...lol

Ok am I missing something? Your second cruise for the year but it was a New Year cruise so it would have been the first cruise of the year.

[Anthony63]

Why do people fly from far and spend a ton of money to be inside a viewless box? If you are going to the Caribbean in the summer get the balcony!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First, I have to say I love your sign up name.

 

Now to comment on your post, the same could be said why do people fly from far and spend a ton of money to be inside a box at all? If you are going to the Caribbean, don't spend so much time in the room, get out and enjoy the sun and activities. The whole boat has a balcony. I don't have loads of money so I will be spending it on excursions and other stuff to make my vacation more enjoyable. It definitely won't be going towards a room.

 

It is all on what a person can afford to do. And by afford I mean as the money they can spend AND the time they can use. You have to balance it ALL out. If you are able to spend 5000.00 a year on cruising and able to spend 2 or more weeks doing it a balcony might not be the BEST option. However if your only able to spend a week or 10 days than it might be something to look at.

 

Personally I am a truck driver and I can only take at most 10 days off so I look for 7 day cruises. I save 100.00 a week and that gives us 5200.00 to spend so a balcony is what I look for. Hope that puts thing into a different perspective.

[Rala]

Why do people fly from far and spend a ton of money to be inside a viewless box? If you are going to the Caribbean in the summer get the balcony!

 

It's always summer in the Caribbean !!!:D

[JVilleGal]

Except during Hurricane Season June thru October;)

 

 

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[A2Mich]

Hurricane season is May to November BTW

 

 

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[JVilleGal]

Hurricane season is May to November BTW

 

 

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Worse yet!

[A2Mich]

Worse yet!

 

 

Yeah, but June to September are peak months.

 

 

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[tangogulf]

When the ship is in motion, depending on prevailing weather, wind can be a perennial issue with a balcony. Looks nice through the door but you go out and it's just not comfortable unless you put yourself up in a corner sheltered from the wind. Though in terms of entering and leaving ports where wind usually isn't an issue a balcony can't be beat.

 

 

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[L454S]

Had balcony's on all but one of our cruises. After the last 2, I am changing thoughts. In the hot weather Caribbean, leaving the curtains open for that grand view makes the room too warm for comfort, A/C can't keep up. You can't leave the door open either. We end up with an inside cabin basically.

 

In the cooler climates like Alaska, UK, Northern Europe, etc. we got a lot of use(and meals) out on the balcony. What a great view in Alaska with the curtains always wide open, and sometimes the door.

 

We have a PR Promenade view room on next weeks Navigator sailing.Hoping our upcoming T/A has cooler weather to take advantage of the balcony.

[TravelerThom]

Hurricane season is May to November BTW

According to the US National Weather Service National Hurricane Center http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/ "The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1st through November 30th". Hurricanes don't consider themselves governed by what mere mortals say; I recall a named storm as late as January a few years ago, but that was quite unusual.

[trev71]

Switch to a Balcony, I once cheaped out and switched to a Large interior and DW and I complained the whole cruise and said if we cant afford to get a Balcony we will stay home.

 

Its great I love having that outdoor space that is ours and ours only. Nice place to have breakfast delivered to in the morning to aviod the wind jammer

[American Bear]

First, I have to say I love your sign up name.

 

Now to comment on your post, the same could be said why do people fly from far and spend a ton of money to be inside a box at all? If you are going to the Caribbean, don't spend so much time in the room, get out and enjoy the sun and activities. The whole boat has a balcony. I don't have loads of money so I will be spending it on excursions and other stuff to make my vacation more enjoyable. It definitely won't be going towards a room.

 

 

 

I understand/respect many have the same opinion as you do about being out of the room, and money is an issue, but for me its a little different so I'll explain why many like us are balcony snobs.:)

I don't want to always be around 3-4-5,000 fellow cruisers, sometimes on sea days I like to sit with my DW for a few hours of peaceful, quiet time where there are no other passengers, where there is no loud music, relaxing with a cocktail or 2! we enjoy cruising with others, joining in with fellow cruise critic members from the roll call, but we also like our time together alone.:D And its great not having to fight with others over the limited chairs that always have towels on them for hours with no one around!:mad:

Then there's always that morning coffee or 2 on your private balcony to get the brain working,(there is a reason I'm called Bear, before morning coffee its 'grizzly bear', after AM coffee its more 'Yogi' bear!:D)

Whatever's right for you we hope your future cruises will always be fun!:)

[3kids1dog]

Chiming in a little in the balcony/other room discussion. I think it helps if you really know what you like to do. We have had balconies, insides and oceanviews. We are celebrating our 20 year anniversary on the Jewel this March. Because it is such a port intensive cruise, we have opted for an inside. I know my husband likes to be out and about on the ship and other than for coffee in the morning, doesn't really use a balcony. I do like a balcony, but I know on such a port intensive cruise we will hardly be there. On a cruise with more sea days, I would get a balcony. I am watching the prices, hoping OV or balconies go down in price and I might upgrade, but I got our inside for so dirt cheap, it is hard for me even to upgrade. All that being sad, I still feel like I "should" want a balcony, or our trip would be "better" if we had a balcony. I know that's really not true, but sometimes, those of us who cruise in insides, feel like everyone else thinks we are crazy. :D

[yolanda1]

We have always had a balcony. We probably wouldn't cruise in anything less, partly because we do like to have that one place on the ship, night or day, that feels like 'ours', and partly because of the extra light in the room and the pleasure of sitting alone watching the sun rise and set, or approaching our next destination.

 

The reason we booked a balcony on our very first cruise was because friends of ours were struck by norovirus while on a cruise. They were quarantined in an inside cabin for days and said that it was so awful to be so confined, they would never be without a balcony again. That kind of stuck with me.

 

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[American Bear]

It is all on what a person can afford to do. And by afford I mean as the money they can spend AND the time they can use. You have to balance it ALL out. If you are able to spend 5000.00 a year on cruising and able to spend 2 or more weeks doing it a balcony might not be the BEST option. However if your only able to spend a week or 10 days than it might be something to look at.

 

Personally I am a truck driver and I can only take at most 10 days off so I look for 7 day cruises. I save 100.00 a week and that gives us 5200.00 to spend so a balcony is what I look for. Hope that puts thing into a different perspective.

 

 

I might disagree slightly about the costs 'if' you shop around with other cruise lines!

We took a B2B 14 day balcony cruise last year on MSC Divina for less then what a ocean view would cost on a 14 day RCL!

Having the extra time to cruise also allows you to shop around, and you'll find that there are very comparable ships/experiences on other cruise lines!