Unassigned Obstructed Balcony or Oceanview

[saltcreekmom1]

Hello,

My 18 year old daughter and I are looking at a sailing on the QV out of Rome (to Greece etc) in May 2024.  We have always enjoyed a balcony on previous cruises, but all that is left of balcony rooms on our sailing are of obstructed views.  I've looked at the photos available of each cabin, but this is just a guaranteed obstructed view, so I cannot choose the room.

 

Would you take the risk of the likely totally blocked view, but have some fresh air, or go with the oceanview room?  Price is nearly the same.

 

Also, any other suggestions?  We have never cruised with Cunard previously.  I know this tends to be an older crowd, but she is thrilled about dressing up for formal nights, afternoon tea and less screaming children than our last cruise had.

[alibabacruisers]

I would go ahead and book the obstructed view and who knows, you may get upgraded to a regular balcony.  Just my thoughts.

[Pushpit]

As you have probably seen from the photos, obstructed view can mean a full life boat completely dominating your balcony - through to a tiny amount of obstruction down one side. I think what matters is how you would use the balcony. If you want to see things from the balcony - well if they are on land typically you will see something over the top, but you're not going to see much looking directly forward. But if it's more for general relaxation, perhaps a bit of sunbathing, access to fresh air, getting more room space - then these are factors where obstructed view won't matter so much.

[techteach]

@saltcreekmom1 The other possibility is people won’t make final payments and rooms will open. If you’re working with a TA let it be known you want to move to a different level of cabin and keep your eye out yourself. You can do fake bookings to check. As an example we are booked on an almost all sold out cruise and the day we called to pay the deposit our TA did a quick search and a cabin that had not been available the day before opened up and we were able to book it. Good luck on getting the room you want and have fun with your daughter. I took our daughter to Italy/Rome/Med. on a cruise when she was 18 and I’ll always remember it.

[BeachTunes]

I was in a similar situation last month when booking our October 2023 QE cruise in and out of Barcelona.  The only Balcony rooms available were Guarantee Obstructive View or Britianna Club Balcony rooms for more than double the price. Our Canadian dollar is performing poorly against the USD right now so...

 

We chose the Guarantee Obstructed View Balcony option and are hoping for the best. We feel that, no matter which balcony we are assigned, that it is worth it to be able to easily duck outside and check out the temperature to assess what to wear for the day in port. With temperatures potentially varying for our cruise in October, having any type of balcony seems worth it. I would imagine the same might be true for a May sailing.

 

That said, I definitely won't be thrilled if we're assigned one of those cabins fully blocked by lifeboats! Fingers crossed!

 

 

Edited June 18, 2023 by BeachTunes

[Mr and Mrs A]

I believe balcony cabins are larger than oceanview.

[LadyL1]

Do look at the link at the top of all the threads on this page. There is one that says “What do obstructive views look like”?

Make sure you look at the correct ship, and this should be extremely helpful, with photos for all cabins. Definitely go for the balcony on QE.

 

[Host Hattie]

The obstructed view balcony cabins on Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria aren't very obstructed compared to the ones on QM2. I'd go for it.

[saltcreekmom1]

12 hours ago, BeachTunes said:

I was in a similar situation last month when booking our October 2023 QE cruise in and out of Barcelona.  The only Balcony rooms available were Guarantee Obstructive View or Britianna Club Balcony rooms for more than double the price. Our Canadian dollar is performing poorly against the USD right now so...

 

We chose the Guarantee Obstructed View Balcony option and are hoping for the best. We feel that, no matter which balcony we are assigned, that it is worth it to be able to easily duck outside and check out the temperature to assess what to wear for the day in port. With temperatures potentially varying for our cruise in October, having any type of balcony seems worth it. I would imagine the same might be true for a May sailing.

 

That said, I definitely won't be thrilled if we're assigned one of those cabins fully blocked by lifeboats! Fingers crossed!

 

 

Yes, I left out the detail that to book a regular balcony is double the price.  I’m exactly in the same situation.  Does anyone ever get upgraded without the extra cost to a non- obstructed view? 

[Winifred 22]

I think free upgrades will be less frequent with the new bidding system. They won’t offer anything for free if they can get payment for the upgrade. I have only had the location upgraded not up to the next category. Cunard fares let you chose and you used to get first priority for an upgrade. 

[Amoxie]

I’m booked on the QE for a 3 night with my daughter this summer. We have picked a guaranteed obstructed balcony. All the examples on the QE looked fine to me. I’m excited to see what we’ll get.