After you have had a balcony have you ever gone back to an outside?

[travelgirl64]

Another vote for balcony--wouldn't have it any other way!!

[BureBabe]

I don't think I could ever go backwards. Hooked on balconies. But I'm a night shift nurse and don't sleep, so a balcony is my place to sit at night and read and look at the water......... :)

[Teetype]

My last cruise (and the only cruise) I was on I had a balcony and I loved it. My husband was not with me on the cruise in January....he did not think he would love cruising. Since I went and LOVED it he is now ready to go.

 

I have convinced hubby to go on a Carribean in April but could save alot of money by booking an outside vs. a balcony cabin.

 

Has anyone gone back to an outside after having a balcony????

 

I tell my hubby we can book a closet to sleep in as long as it has a balcony. :)

 

Tee

[ptcruzers]

There is nothing like leaving port on sail-away day and enjoying the moment. There is nothing like having a coffee and watching as we pull into another beautiful port on a dusky morning. We had a Caribe balcony on the Grand in April, 08, and have a Caribe balcony on the Crown for April, 09. We are spoiled!!:D

[Kay240]

I've read several replies and most say it depends on various circumstances.

 

I was eager to have a balcony; loved the idea of sipping my morning coffee while watching the waves roll by. However, I found some cruises were TOO COLD and WINDY to enjoy the balcony.

 

I analyze where I am going, when I am going, how much scenery will I actually see, the price differentials, how many times I have been at the same ports before, and whether this is a "planned" cruise or an "extra". I definitely would recommend a balcony for cruising around the Hawaiian Islands; we will have a balcony for the Mediterranean. I booked an Oceanview for the Panama Canal, but as the price has been going down, we may switch to a balcony. We have been to the Caribbean many times, so I really don't need to pay extra for a balcony then.

 

I agree with all of you who balance the extra balcony cost against the cost of additional cruises, excursions... or staying home!

 

Karen

[lambs2]

We have only had one balcony cabin in all our cruising experience and that was for Hawaii. I agree it was heavenly, but we usually prefer to save the money for flights, excursions and the pre and post cruise stays. If we had endless resources I would say we would ALWAYS book at least a balcony. But, that is not our personal reality. We retired from our original education careers quite young so we have to make choices - and since we like to cruise more than once a year we book insides most of the time. On our upcoming 21 day B2B in the Med for January 09 we originally booked an inside, but the prices kept dropping so we have moved to an OV and STILL saved money over what the original booking price was - plus picked up some OBC!! Being ON a ship in ANY cabin is definitely preferable to us than just staying home!

[arby70]

We had a balcony on our Alaska Inside Passage cruise. It was kind of cool but the scenery was amazing and I would strongly recommend one for this cruise. We did an oceanview on our Carnival W. Caribbean cruise and it worked very well for that. I like some coastal scenery to look at for a balcony cabin, so the oceanview gave us plenty of views of the ocean. We're going on a New England/Canada cruise next fall and we got a balcony cabin for that one because we'll have coastal views on this itinerary. Also it's for 2 weeks and we thought it would be nice to have a balcony for that length of time. It might be kind of cool temp wise, but when we go down the St. Lawrence and the Sanquenay River, I'd love to be able to see the fall colors whenever I wish.

[ThePatientOne]

To add to the balcony or not question that has been running since 2006...

Our first cruise was a balcony and we were spoiled..

I booked our second cruise in an aft balcony, (Over-sized balcony on Carnival) Then the DW and I got to talking.. (Our cruise is still over a year away) I checked with my PVP to see if a 9A wrap was available.. Low and behold, the hottest selling cabins were still available..

This was a no brainer, upgrade to a 9A..

The reasons we love our balconies is simple.. Coffee on it in the morning with something to nibble on.. Peace and quiet in the middle of the day should we choose and a nice nightcap out there before turning in for the night.. Personally, as some others have said, we would not cruise in anything less than a balcony...

[hallover]

:rolleyes: We started out with a balcony and over the past 6 years have had only suites and penthouses on holland, costa, royal carribean, carnival, and princess...however this past May we went to the holy land on the royal princess and we were taking some friends and needed 3 cabins ...so I had to give up the suite for and ocean view..WOW was I surprised...since we were off the ship at least 10 hours a day we didnt need the balcony, however we just came from alaska on westerdam and had a suite...I think it depends on the location of where you are traveling and of course being your hubbys first time i would only recommend a balcony...he will get the full flavor of cruising...especially in the caribbean...see you maybe on the high seas....

 

travels past.....way to many to share:)

travels to come....Oct 1 (16 day) fall panama...holland

Oct 26 (7 day) caribbean...holland

Nov 16 (7 day )caribbean....holland

March 14 (10) southern caribbean...holland

April 29 (10 day) Mediterrian......holland

june 14 (7day) alaska...holland

Oct 11 (12 day) holy land .....princess

 

and still planning for next year...we addicted....:rolleyes: have a GREAT TIME!!!

[zagmom03]

We had a OV on our first cruise, then had a great deal for a balcony on the second one. Have booked balconies after that. Too spoiled now. Can't go back:o

[cherokeesmom]

When my husband was alive he insisted on having suites. Now that he's gone, I book whatever I can afford - which this time is an inside on a transatlantic. I found the smaller the room, the more time I spend running around on the ship. There are plenty of comfortable loungers on the promenade deck to watch the ocean or read, or comfy lounges inside to curl up with a good book during the day. As someone else posted, the larger the cabin the more time you tend to stay in it. I've found I'm perfectly happy with an inside (other than sleeping too late since it's so dark).

[cindypam]

I book a cabin by who I'm going with and where I'm going. First cruise was a short Canada cruise on an inside just to see how my DH did with cruising (seasick) with patches. It worked out and we then did a 10 day southern Caribbean in a JS. Since then we've done OV and balcony's and in 2 weeks we have a 5 night in a GS on RCI. We enjoyed all of them.

[Lois R]

My last cruise (and the only cruise) I was on I had a balcony and I loved it. My husband was not with me on the cruise in January....he did not think he would love cruising. Since I went and LOVED it he is now ready to go.

 

I have convinced hubby to go on a Carribean in April but could save alot of money by booking an outside vs. a balcony cabin.

 

Has anyone gone back to an outside after having a balcony????

 

Yes, and I have gone from a balcony back to an inside cabin as well

without any problems.

If you check my signature every cruise on there except 3 were

either window or inside. 3 were balconies due to special

circumstances.

99% of the time I sail solo and I only book what I can afford.

I prefer to sail 2 or 3 times a year and in order to do that, inside

cabins are my best choice to stay within the cruise budget.

I am just one of those folks who wants to be on the ship

and the inside stateroom is 100% fine with me:)

[ChrisM444]

I agree with Lois R.

I just prefer being on a ship. I have sailed Carnival, Celebrity, RCCL and NCL. I have also had a balcony, outside and inside. My next cruise is an inside. I sail whatever I can get as the best deal for my budget.

I am also a solo cruiser most of the time.

[colkeena]

We had a balcony on the Glory but the guy beside us was a cigar smoker and a loud talker.He was on his balcony with friends for all but meal times.We rarely sat outside so it was a complete waste of money.

[FritzG]

We had a balcony on our Hawaiian cruise, and then we had an obstructed OV for our Alaskan cruise. We missed the balcony a lot! It was so frustrating to see something from the window and not be able to go out on the balcony to get a better view. We also missed the fresh air and the sounds of the sea at night. We wouldn't be without a balcony for our upcoming TA.

[rebeljohn]

We've had a balcony once, in our 15 cruises so far. If the price is more than $200 for the balcony, we'll stick to what we have, and spend the savings elsewhere, or save it for more cruises.........

BUT.........our next two cruises are obstructed balconys..........they were just a few bucks more per person than the inside...........

 

While we enjoyed our one balcony cruise, we haven't missed it. We only use our room for S--, S----,S----- anyway...............

[riteonglor]

I don't believe I would go on a cruise without a balcony. To me it kinda of takes the whole concept away that we are even on a ship. If, I want to go to a mall and go out and eat, its pretty easy to do just staying home. I want to see the water, 24 hours a day so I know I'm on a ship, that to me is why I spend the money. Do not have to try and get to a deck to see the scenery going into ports or leaving them. Don't have to hassle for a place to see everything, just open our patio door and there it is. Sitting on the balcony eating breakfast and watching the waves, not being surrounded by people is heaven. It's fun to just sit out there and have your alone time, read a book or just watch the waves.

[gmc1]

I do not think I could go back to an inside room after having a balcony. I love to go out and breathe the fresh air and see the sights from my private room.

I would wait and save for the balcony. :cool:

[bklynangel]

My last cruise (and the only cruise) I was on I had a balcony and I loved it. My husband was not with me on the cruise in January....he did not think he would love cruising. Since I went and LOVED it he is now ready to go.

 

I have convinced hubby to go on a Carribean in April but could save alot of money by booking an outside vs. a balcony cabin.

 

Has anyone gone back to an outside after having a balcony????

I went from a balcony to a suite to an oceanview and believe it or not....oceanviews are pretty comfortable. I will be in one for my upcoming cruise.

[gmcrow]

We have gone back and forth with no difficulty. We take the overall deck layout of the ship into account. The larger the ship, the more likely we are to want a balcony. Small older ships, oddly enough, seem to have more intimate outdoor spaces that make the balcony less important. We had an OV on RCCL Majesty once on the promenade deck that was fabulous. We were three doors down from the exterior door, so the entire port promende deck was our balcony. We had a similar situation on Zenith. Our OV cabin on deck 9 was only six doors away from an aft exit door that led to a semi-private deck for that floor. Awesome! On Voyager we opted for an aft balcony because it was way too far to walk to get outside. Length of the cruise also factors in. I don't think we would ever spend the money for a balcony on a 4 nighter, but that doesn't mean we won't go.

[houstoncruisers2001]

We've switched back & forth too. It's no biggie. With a balcony we seem to stay in our cabin a little bit more then when we book an inside cabin. LOVE the darkness of an inside, LOVE the view with a balcony. We have also stayed in a Promenade cabin and have no complaints about those cabins either.

 

I guess we're not picky, we just love being on a ship.

[houstoncruisers2001]

Oops, double post. Sorry.

[Sea Hag]

We just got back from a cruise with our first balcony, and I can tell you that for sure we can go back to ocean views and insides! We really didn't use the balcony much. It was nice - a BA on Caribe on the Star Princess. But we had some chain smokers in the next cabin forward from us, and that sure limited the fresh air! We don't spend much time in our cabin anway, and it was too hot most nights to leave the door open, even if the constant smoke had made this possible. (Yeah, I know, I know. We could have asked them to not smoke on the balcony. I've never had much, if any success in getting smokers to not smoke, and it would have been an ongoing hassle if we'd complained every time they lit up.)

 

I'd probably get a balcony if the price was attractive, but I for sure wouldn't break the bank for it.

[vplsh]

Our first cruise we had an inside- didn't know any better so we started there. I loved it but DH thought it was too dark. Next 2 cruises were balconies, including a lovely BA on the Caribe deck of Golden Princess. While we loved it, we didn't use it as often as we thought. Last summer we had an OV on Enchantment, and saved a lot of money. Going to stick with OVs for a while, allowing us to cruise a little more or take a longer trip.