Is Obstructed Balcony on Sky Princess awful?

[llarsen]

Hi,

We are sailing on Sky Princess next month for the first time.

I already have a bid in on a Standard Balcony, but also see that Obstructed Balcony is available to bid on.

I submitted my bid on the Standard Balcony the a few days ago and haven't heard anything...it just says "pending" if I view my bid.

Just wondering if I should also bid on an Obstructed Balcony to increase my odds of getting a better room than interior, but have never had an obstructed balcony before.

Is it really an ugly site looking out your balcony door at a life boat? Or are the boats aligned with your balcony view where you would only see the top or bottom of a life boat?

Thanks so much!

 

[Shelly97060]

Visit this website and click on Sky Princess obstructed views and you can see the various cabin views. You can change the various obstructed view locations once you select your ship.

 

https://www.cruisedeckplans.com/DP/deckplans/ov.php?ship=Sky-Princess&cabins=E101-E230
 

 

[llarsen]

2 hours ago, Shelly97060 said:

Visit this website and click on Sky Princess obstructed views and you can see the various cabin views. You can change the various obstructed view locations once you select your ship.

 

https://www.cruisedeckplans.com/DP/deckplans/ov.php?ship=Sky-Princess&cabins=E101-E230
 

 

Wow thank you! That is very helpful! 🙂

 

[dog]

I had E424 on Sky extended angle balcony. Great view looking straight out. Saw boats, pizza place awning looking down. I did not mind,  if bidding I’d try for balcony, though because you do need t get to choose the less obstructed ones when you bid.

[Wishing on a star]

To me, ANY balcony, even obstructed, is miles better than an interior. 

If you are very very lucky, you could happen to get one of the mid-ship angled balconies, like mentioned just above.

If they accept your bid for the obstructed balcony, when you first find out,  (check your booking, your room number could change there before you get a notice)  I believe that you could then simply request a move to another obstructed balcony of the exact same category that is still available.

 

You might see the upgrades being assigned pretty soon.

Keep watching, and looking for posts on your roll call.

From what we are seeing posted here on CC,  if you see one showing denied and not pending, the other pending bid might likely be accepted.

 

Good luck on the upgrade!

[sunviking90]

2 minutes ago, Wishing on a star said:

To me, ANY balcony, even obstructed, is miles better than an interior. 

If you are very very lucky, you could happen to get one of the mid-ship angled balconies, like mentioned just above.

If they accept your bid for the obstructed balcony, when you first find out,  (check your booking, your room number could change there before you get a notice)  I believe that you could then simply request a move to another obstructed balcony of the exact same category that is still available.

 

You might see the upgrades being assigned pretty soon.

Keep watching, and looking for posts on your roll call.

From what we are seeing posted here on CC,  if you see one showing denied and not pending, the other pending bid might likely be accepted.

 

Good luck on the upgrade!

This. We bid on an instructed balcony, won it and got E602 ( I think). I kept watching and when it became available  had our CVP change it to E 417 on the middle curve with a clear view out. It also has a slightly larger balcony. 

[llarsen]

Thanks! I just bid on an obstructed balcony too! 

It looks like our ship is getting pretty full.

Interior and Oceanview are sold out and most balconies on each deck are on a Guarantee. I only saw 2 standard balconies offered where you could choose your stateroom.

Hopefully we win one of our bids! I bumped up the offer on one of them.

[llarsen]

I see many on the Bidding post saying that their offer was accepted with the minimum bid.

I realize that depends on how full the ship is and how many open cabins they need to fill.

 

All my offers say Pending, but I'm wondering if modifying our bid by increasing it improves our chances of winning, or puts me back at the bottom of a list because it's a new bid?

Not sure if they consider the highest $$ offers first, or if it goes by the date you requested the upgrade?  

Also, my bids are pretty close to the opening bid amount, do you think I should bump them up to the "fair" amount or higher?

 

 

 

 

[Wishing on a star]

That, I think, is hard to tell.

The more booked up the ship, the slimmer the chances.

I don't think we can second guess the Princess algorithm.

I think that it does say that the highest bidder is not necessarily the one who gets the upgrade.

Maybe it looks at how much was alreaqdy paid for the booking.  As, that can vary.  Some people end up with cheaper fares than others.

Who knows!

But, at the same time, bidding a bit more couldn't hurt.

Look at how much your total fare would be, in comparison to what it would cost you to book an obstructed or standard balcony right now.    If it is a lot cheaper and you would be happy with that price.  That is how much I might consider bidding.

Edited January 28, 2023 by Wishing on a star

[llarsen]

10 minutes ago, Wishing on a star said:

That, I think, is hard to tell.

The more booked up the ship, the slimmer the chances.

I don't think we can second guess the Princess algorithm.

I think that it does say that the highest bidder is not necessarily the one who gets the upgrade.

Maybe it looks at how much was alreaqdy paid for the booking.  As, that can vary.  Some people end up with cheaper fares than others.

Who knows!

But, at the same time, bidding a bit more couldn't hurt.

Look at how much your total fare would be, in comparison to what it would cost you to book an obstructed or standard balcony right now.    If it is a lot cheaper and you would be happy with that price.  That is how much I might consider bidding.

Thank you! Good advice. I'll let you know if we win! 🙂

 

[candy4040]

I just received upgrade to E420 from an interior room (Lido deck). The deck plan shows the balcony is partially angled and on Emerald deck.  Category is BW balcony obstructed view.  I bid minimum bid on two categories - one w/o balcony obstructed view and one with balcony obstructed view.  I'm very happy with this as it looks like it may not be as obstructed as others on that deck.  Does anyone have any first hand knowledge of any obstructed balcony views on Emerald deck?  Thanks for your help.

Edited February 2, 2023 by candy4040

[wendellman]

5 minutes ago, candy4040 said:

I just received upgrade to E420 from an interior room (Lido deck). The deck plan shows the balcony is partially angled and on Emerald deck.  Category is BW balcony obstructed view.  I bid minimum bid on two categories - one w/o balcony obstructed view and one with balcony obstructed view.  I'm very happy with this as it looks like it may not be as obstructed as others on that deck.  Does anyone have any first hand knowledge of any obstructed balcony views on Emerald deck?  Thanks for your help.

https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2619538-regal-room-e420-obstruction/

Discussion of E420 "obstruction" on Regal, sister ship to Sky, so cabin would be same.

No "obstruction".

[Itchy&Scratchy]

On 1/28/2023 at 10:29 AM, Wishing on a star said:

To me, ANY balcony, even obstructed, is miles better than an interior. 

this.

 

I bid on an upgrade from interior to obstructed deluxe and won last november. We ended up in E324 on Enchanted. Loved it. None of the standard balconies or standard obstructed were available, so my bids for those went unanswered. Our sailing was full, and there aren't many cabins for 3 people to begin with.

 

We really like the obstructed balconies, because you still get a balcony (better than interior), but the price is usually much lower than a regular balcony.

Edited February 2, 2023 by Itchy&Scratchy

[Ombud]

@llarsen my preferred room on royal class ships are anything between E403-E433. Maybe E439 but then I do not have sn unobstructed view both ways.  I try to get E425 & book no upgrade / watch & make sure I'm not moved ..... umm let me restated. Those rooms suck if I'm also booking 😀😃😄

[christraveller]

In a non deluxe balcony, there is the one desk chair. Does bringing a deck chair from outside make for better comfort?

[jinpasco]

To save some $ we had an obstructed balcony on the Royal Princess in Alaska and had no issues with our choice. Would do it again in a heartbeat. Matter of fact we booked same category on our Norway cruise on the Sky. No need to look down anyway and our forward view was not obstructed. Good way to get the best of both worlds. Surely check the websites for whichever ship you are on as the " view" may change. Our room was mid lifeboat so no mechanical devices in our way.

Edited February 3, 2023 by jinpasco
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