Ultimate Balcony Dining- while at sea?

[holomuku]

I have looked through many UBD threads and can't find much information about what it is like to have the UBD while at sea. We are on an 11 night Caribbean cruise in late March and plan to not attend the formal dinner nights. Our thought was to have the UBP on one of the formal nights which (I'm guessing here) will probably be on two of the five sea days.

 

Anyone have experience with doing the Balcony dinner while underway? If it makes a difference we have a Caribe deck balcony- have covered, half not (so I am told). Thank you in advance for any assistance.

[Colo Cruiser]

I have looked through many UBD threads and can't find much information about what it is like to have the UBD while at sea. We are on an 11 night Caribbean cruise in late March and plan to not attend the formal dinner nights. Our thought was to have the UBP on one of the formal nights which (I'm guessing here) will probably be on two of the five sea days.

 

Anyone have experience with doing the Balcony dinner while underway? If it makes a difference we have a Caribe deck balcony- have covered, half not (so I am told). Thank you in advance for any assistance.

 

 

Most of ours have been leaving port for the first 20 minutes or so then we were at sea. No way to predict wind weather. All you can do is pick a night and if it gets bad move closer to the door or move inside. :)

[sminfiddle]

If on formal night, the photographer may be delayed (UBD comes with a photo op) - on ours, though, it was also "Escargot and Beef Wellington" night in the MDR so we asked for and got some snails in addition to the UBD menu!

One thought is to time UBD to be at sunset (for the aforementioned photo) but that has yet to work out for us.

It's been a lot of fun each time.

[Near PDX]

We've had the UBD on an at sea day and didn't find it too windy. They set our table that they bring for the dinner up right next to the opening of our balcony door. It was a very romantic and an excellent dinner and experience.

[holomuku]

Thanks for the input and possible delayed photo......we are both very un-photogenic so we often pass on all photos!

 

sminfiddle- did you do the dinner while at sea? Any issues with that? Thank you in advance.

[Debe7ing]

CARIBE deck is the way to go IMHO, but it depends on WHERE you are located on the ship itself to the wind/issues with UBD. AFT is always best in our opinion! We LOVE and always get an AFT Caribe deck balcony to enjoy!

[bhopal21]

We have had the UBD quite a few times while at sea and only once had a problem due to a storm and it was quickly moved inside.

 

I would not hesitate to pick a sea evening again.

 

Mike:)

[OzKiwiJJ]

It's awesome!

 

The night we did it was fairly windy but we were on Sun Princess which has fairly sheltered balconies. The only down side to the wind was not being able to have the flowers on the dining table. We were in the South Pacific, in summer, so it was warm enough. It was so delightful just sitting there listening to the sounds of the ship moving through the water, watching the sky darken and the stars come out, there was even an electrical storm on the horizon for variety. The whole night was pure magic!

[Working 2 Cruise]

We've done the UBD on the last sea day before reaching Hawaii. It was perfect and very romantic!

[Hoosier-Cruiser]

I was considering this as well, but I don't think it'll work out too well with a forward facing balcony unless we do it during our late night port call in St Thomas..

[sueandkent]

I have looked through many UBD threads and can't find much information about what it is like to have the UBD while at sea. We are on an 11 night Caribbean cruise in late March and plan to not attend the formal dinner nights. Our thought was to have the UBP on one of the formal nights which (I'm guessing here) will probably be on two of the five sea days.

 

Anyone have experience with doing the Balcony dinner while underway? If it makes a difference we have a Caribe deck balcony- have covered, half not (so I am told). Thank you in advance for any assistance.

We're in the same cruise and my guess would be formal nights will be one of the first 3 sea days, probably the 2nd of those and the sea day between Costa Rica and Costa Maya. I'd be inclined to pick the second formal night as it'll be warmer.

[neaucada]

I had booked the UBD for my wife's b'day during our cruise from Sydney to Auckland last year, this happened to fall on a sea day, it was pretty windy, not a problem as we had a mini suite, they just up the table inside, maybe not as romantic but still a great experience.

[Once Upon A Time]

We've done it several times.. Outside at sea and just inside the slider on a night with a bit more wind.. worked fine both ways... As someone on a prior post mentioned, Caribe Deck is the way to go unless you are fortunate enough to be on Dolphin Deck or have an aft facing balcony..

[hel0013]

We did UBD leaving Costa Rica on the Dolphin Deck. Worked out great for us but had the weather been bad they would have moved it into our Mini.

 

The waiter stayed in the hall where he knew exactly when to come in for our next course. Awesome! :)

Edited March 11, 2016 by hel0013

[sabookkeeper]

We had the UBD on the Regal while at sea. It was quite windy, however, we still had the dinner on the balcony. They made sure the table cloth was tied down so it wasn't blowing around. Dinner was great - picture not so great as my hair was blowing into my face. The dinner was still great and enjoyed every minute of it.

[BabsinTX]

If you have your UBD on a formal night, be sure to ask for the MDR's dessert, especially if it's a Norman Love chocolate dessert. Yum!

[sminfiddle]

sminfiddle- did you do the dinner while at sea? Any issues with that? Thank you in advance.

 

 

Aft balcony on Emerald deck. We did the first one at sailaway from Cozumel... There was less wind the faster we went.

But that's aft for you.

They know what they're doing and are prepared with tablecloth clips, wind proof candle centerpieces, etc... And prepared to set up inside if conditions dictate.

[jerseyaxn]

WE had ours on the Emerald princess febuary 8th at 630 about too hours after we left Grand Cayman .We were on the Caribe deck also .C3o4 At first it was windy but it died down and it was great

[Linerguy]

Another thumbs up for the UBD while at sea! We did it on REGAL PRINCESS, and had a wonderful experience. We were in a category BE, forward on Caribe Deck; no wind problem whatsoever. Only thing was, because we were in the Caribbean, and wearing dress clothes, we sweated like a convict on the way to the electric chair. Other than that, it was perfect.

[hel0013]

If you have your UBD on a formal night, be sure to ask for the MDR's dessert, especially if it's a Norman Love chocolate dessert. Yum!

 

This was our UBD dessert except we were too full to eat it right then... :cool:

[bhopal21]

This was our UBD dessert except we were too full to eat it right then... :cool:

 

I had much rather have the triple chocolate mousse than the MDR dessert.

 

That is the highlight of the meal.

 

Mike:)

[2 to cruise]

We have had the Balcony Dinner 4 times on different cruises. Each time the weather didn't cooperate to have it on our balcony. The table was brought into our room and it was just as nice. Turn on some nice music on the TV and turn the lights down low............and there you go!

 

Enjoy!

[Colo Cruiser]

I had much rather have the triple chocolate mousse than the MDR dessert.

 

That is the highlight of the meal.

 

Mike:)

 

 

I was thinking the same thing!! :)

[jerseyaxn]

Has anyonr done the ultimate balcony dinner on a Alaskan cruise ? IF Yes is it warm enoughto enjoy it

[bhopal21]

Has anyonr done the ultimate balcony dinner on a Alaskan cruise ? IF Yes is it warm enoughto enjoy it

 

We have done the UBD several times on an AK cruise and never had a problem with the weather; but should the weather become a problem they will set it up inside the cabin.

 

Mike:)