Allure Boardwalk Balcony question

[willowvacay]

Hello Royal Caribbean cruisers! We are looking to book our first RC cruise. We are going to book Allure feb 14 week and it looks like all the ocean balconies are booked :(. I called RC and they said we can be placed on a wait list for an ocean balcony if we go ahead and book our second choice.

 

The question is: are the boardwalk balconies loud at night? We tend to go to sleep fairly early (lol kinda lame I know). Thanks in advance for input! We are looking forward to (hopefully) trying out RC!

[mark22mac]

We didn't like it at all and will never book one again. It was loud and there is no balcony privacy.

[Clarea]

I'd look for a Central Park balcony, around deck 8 if that's available. I'd stay away from deck 14 to minimize potential for pool deck noise.

[Trekker954]

Boardwalk Balconies are our favorite, so long as you can book a cabin way back AFT, Deck 10 or 11. No more than 6 cabins from aft. You'll have a great view of the water too. You can sit and even watch the aqua shows. If there is a late aqua show, that is about the only noise. Other than that, there really isn't much activity on the boardwalk after dark. There is a big screen TV that will play the news and or ongoing trivia questions (no sound with that). For caribbean sailings we find the water balconies boring compared to the balcony. You may lose some privacy, but we never look across at others and would think no one is interested in us. Don't go out on the balconies in your briefs. lol

 

We've already booked the Boardway aft balcony for the new Harmony.

 

PS Depending on the month and location, we did a central park balcony on Oasis and found it horribly hot, there was no breeze, the air was stagnant. You will have a breeze balcony aft.

[cruisin4kicks]

I agree with Trekker. We did a Boardwalk balcony on the Oasis crossing last Sept and enjoyed it. We were on deck 11 pretty far back and had a good view of the ocean and the aqua shows.

 

Another thing we had a good view of was how many of the cabins across from us had various things (mostly swimwear) mostly hanging from the back of one of the balcony chairs. It was like two high rise apartments facing each other. That may be what a previous poster was talking about concerning privacy but it sure wouldn't stop us from booking another one.

 

We're doing an Oasis cruise the end of this month and have booked a Central Park balcony on that one. Will be interesting to check out the differences between that and the Boardwalk balcony.

 

Tim

[willowvacay]

Thanks everyone for the input! We prefer an aft balcony in general but since this ship doesn't seem to really have any. I was initially very disappointed there were no ocean view balconies left but we have been really interested in going on this ship so we are gonna go for it and hope to have a good experience.

[Andrew89]

Boardwalk Balconies are our favorite, so long as you can book a cabin way back AFT, Deck 10 or 11. No more than 6 cabins from aft. You'll have a great view of the water too. You can sit and even watch the aqua shows. If there is a late aqua show, that is about the only noise. Other than that, there really isn't much activity on the boardwalk after dark. There is a big screen TV that will play the news and or ongoing trivia questions (no sound with that). For caribbean sailings we find the water balconies boring compared to the balcony. You may lose some privacy, but we never look across at others and would think no one is interested in us. Don't go out on the balconies in your briefs. lol

 

We've already booked the Boardway aft balcony for the new Harmony.

 

PS Depending on the month and location, we did a central park balcony on Oasis and found it horribly hot, there was no breeze, the air was stagnant. You will have a breeze balcony aft.

 

Question for you, if you're in one of the first three balconies on the boardwalk, can you see the aqua show if you're sitting or does the partition block your view? My mother is in her 70s and can't stand for very long and this would make or break whether we go boardwalk or Central Park balcony.

[70054609]

Hi we have booked boardwalk cabin 14231, anyone got any opinions j have heard be careful of noise from above but I believe the putting green is above so should nit be a problem. Should I be able to have a view of the sea from this cabin and any other views on the cabins in general:)

[70054609]

Hi we have booked boardwalk cabin 14231, anyone got any opinions j have heard be careful of noise from above but I believe the putting green is above so should nit be a problem. Should I be able to have a view of the sea from this cabin and any other views on the cabins in general:)

 

Sorry meant 14321

[Cruise a holic]

I'd look for a Central Park balcony, around deck 8 if that's available. I'd stay away from deck 14 to minimize potential for pool deck noise.

Agree with you!

[emory2001]

We didn't like it at all and will never book one again. It was loud and there is no balcony privacy.

 

This isn't the first time I've seen "no balcony privacy" in reference to boardwalk balconies. What does this mean? No room curtains?

[Towanda]

Question for you, if you're in one of the first three balconies on the boardwalk, can you see the aqua show if you're sitting or does the partition block your view? My mother is in her 70s and can't stand for very long and this would make or break whether we go boardwalk or Central Park balcony.

 

Andrew, we were in a Boardwalk balcony four from aft and could see the aqua show sitting down, but not well. We'll be two from the end on the Allure in a few of weeks, and I can take a photo for you if you like.

 

With regard to the comment on lack of privacy, you can't sit on your boardwalk balcony and eat breakfast in the morning in your pajamas without being seen by others (including people on the sports deck). If you prefer to leave your room curtains all day and night without being seen by others, the guests across the way can see into your room. This was never a problem for us. I'll eat breakfast in my pajamas in public view- I'm on vacation!

[harry0]

We stayed in BW balconies before and will be in one in a couple of weeks.

If you are looking for a romantic quiet gettaway I would not reccomend. I am going with my 2 grandkids and they love it.

As stated it is similar to high rise buildings. It can be noisey during the day but not bad at all after 9 or 10

[Andrew89]

Andrew, we were in a Boardwalk balcony four from aft and could see the aqua show sitting down, but not well. We'll be two from the end on the Allure in a few of weeks, and I can take a photo for you if you like.

 

With regard to the comment on lack of privacy, you can't sit on your boardwalk balcony and eat breakfast in the morning in your pajamas without being seen by others (including people on the sports deck). If you prefer to leave your room curtains all day and night without being seen by others, the guests across the way can see into your room. This was never a problem for us. I'll eat breakfast in my pajamas in public view- I'm on vacation!

 

Yes thank you! I appreciate it!

[Andrew89]

Andrew, we were in a Boardwalk balcony four from aft and could see the aqua show sitting down, but not well. We'll be two from the end on the Allure in a few of weeks, and I can take a photo for you if you like.

 

With regard to the comment on lack of privacy, you can't sit on your boardwalk balcony and eat breakfast in the morning in your pajamas without being seen by others (including people on the sports deck). If you prefer to leave your room curtains all day and night without being seen by others, the guests across the way can see into your room. This was never a problem for us. I'll eat breakfast in my pajamas in public view- I'm on vacation!

 

Don't worry about the pictures, all the Boardwalk rooms that were within five of the end were taken (except Deck 14 but no thanks) so I booked us on Central Park view instead. :)

[AWOL]

Don't worry about the pictures, all the Boardwalk rooms that were within five of the end were taken (except Deck 14 but no thanks) so I booked us on Central Park view instead. :)

You will be disappointed.

The BW rooms are much better that the CP ones. Much more to see and you can see some of the water from all of them. We have been in a BW Cabin twice and have another booked on the HOTS. They have all been around the middle deck and the middle of the Boardwalk.

[whitshel]

I'm seeing 2 oceanview balconies available. A d6 and a d8. Do you have to sail allure? What about Oasis? Lots of balconies there

[Andrew89]

You will be disappointed.

The BW rooms are much better that the CP ones. Much more to see and you can see some of the water from all of them. We have been in a BW Cabin twice and have another booked on the HOTS. They have all been around the middle deck and the middle of the Boardwalk.

 

I did Central Park balcony on Oasis last year and loved it so it's not a risk doing it again. We faced Giovanni's and either a pianist or violinist was playing every night.

 

I have a feeling the boardwalk balconies closest to the aqua theatre fill up very fast.

[rakes5]

Here is a picture from inside room 10325. You can see the people across the Boardwalk, on their Balcony.

 

 

Here is a picture looking towards the Aquatheatre.

 

 

these two posts have some additional pictures.

 

31

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=36782856&postcount=32

[Cruise a holic]

You will be disappointed.

The BW rooms are much better that the CP ones. Much more to see and you can see some of the water from all of them. We have been in a BW Cabin twice and have another booked on the HOTS. They have all been around the middle deck and the middle of the Boardwalk.

I found the noise, especially the merry go round and the rock climbing wall bells very disturbing When movies are shown at the aqua theatre late at night, they are also very loud. Location isn't ideal for light sleepers.

 

Guess to each his/her own regarding location on the ship.

Edited November 10, 2015 by Cruise a holic

[Firefighterhoop]

I liked it and would book it again sometime. I have been on decks 11 and 12 more toward the forward section of the boardwalk, and really the noise I heard with my cabin door shut was that of the marching band in the afternoon.

 

Obviously, if you like a quiet private balcony this isn't the place for you as there are people sitting on their balcony directly across from you.

 

Also, make sure your curtains are shut in your room if you don't want others to see in (Much like promenade rooms on other ships)

[mil76]

My analogy for Boardwalk balconies is if you ever had an oceanview balcony and were in port with another ship docked directly across the pier, that's the whole cruise on a Boardwalk balcony.

 

That said, we just finished our 5th cruise in a Boardwalk balcony, on Deck 14 no less. This time we were under the basketball court further aft than our other cruises and was the first time I ever heard noise from above, and that was only in the early morning. However, it couldn't have been that bad as we booked the same rooms on Allure next year.

 

Boardwalk balconies are just a different experience, but we like it. If you want privacy, peace and quiet all day and night, it definitely isn't the place for you. If you cruise the big ships for all the activities and want to always feel connected to the action (or if you spend so little time in the room because of all the activities), then it may be worth a try.

 

I also wouldn't say it's a great place to watch the water show either. You definitely would need to stand to get a half decent view, and even then there will probably be part of the show that will be obstructed. It's nice to pop out on the balcony for a few minutes to watch it, but if you want to get the whole experience you need to go down and watch it with the masses.

[BillOh]

Hello Royal Caribbean cruisers! We are looking to book our first RC cruise. We are going to book Allure feb 14 week and it looks like all the ocean balconies are booked :(. I called RC and they said we can be placed on a wait list for an ocean balcony if we go ahead and book our second choice.

 

The question is: are the boardwalk balconies loud at night? We tend to go to sleep fairly early (lol kinda lame I know). Thanks in advance for input! We are looking forward to (hopefully) trying out RC!

 

There is no 100% answer as crowds vary week to week, but the area seems to quiet down around 10pm. That was based on 14 nights I've been on her.