Fur coat and no knickers

[AndyMichelle]

11 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

ICF, I wonder if the reason you constantly bombard us with the  benefits of inside cabins might in fact be more to convince yourself that you don't really miss the benefits of daylight or your own personal balcony?😉

We love a balcony, but have had some great 'bargain' cruises in inside cabins. 

We still  mostly choose balcony, but would I rather have 2 cruises inside for the price of 1 balcony? I suppose it depends on destination, do I need a balcony in say Hamburg in December, probably not. 

Horses for courses and I definitely get both sides of the argument. 

Andy

[Interestedcruisefan]

23 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

ICF, I wonder if the reason you constantly bombard us with the  benefits of inside cabins might in fact be more to convince yourself that you don't really miss the benefits of daylight or your own personal balcony?😉

Honestly  I mention it mainly because although I believe value for money is a huge driver in holiday choices nowadays I have to recognise that the same value doesnt apply so much for guests who choose balconies

 

Cruising can still represent good value when people choose balconies but not to the same extent. To me  value is the number one HUGE benefit of cruise holidays currently

 

When we have had balconies as it happens the light coming in has probably been more beneficial to us than the balcony itself for sure. 

 

We just don't sit or lie on balconies anywhere we go on sea or land. Although we always appreciate them when we get  them of course

[Interestedcruisefan]

32 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

We love a balcony, but have had some great 'bargain' cruises in inside cabins. 

We still  mostly choose balcony, but would I rather have 2 cruises inside for the price of 1 balcony? 

I would (of course!) Lol

 

What we save by not having balconies and not having premium seats and even booking seats on planes MORE than covers us what we would then spend on excursions, Wi-Fi, drinks on board and speciality meals and extras

 

Balconies are nice to have but needs must for our situation

 

We are holidaying more than ever right now

 

We've just done a week in Jamaica - where we paid to take our grown up family with us (that wasn't cheap!)

 

I've got a month booked in Cape Town in January just for the 2 of us

 

2 weeks Arvia in February

 

Planning a week in Scottish Highlands at Easter

 

10 nights in France in June

 

Month in Canada in August 

 

All these holidays I need great value where we possibly can or else we couldn't afford to do them all so soon after each other and in between the businesses we still run

 

If we didn't still run the businesses we couldn't afford all this travel full stop

 

I'm 54. I'm hoping to travel at this rate (and more) for as long as possible from now on. And see as much as we can whilst we are healthy and active to get the most from it all.  Hopefully that's  a long time!!

 

So value for money vital for us. Will sacrifice legroom on flights and balconies on cruises to get the value and extra travel we can afford 

 

Ps also just seen a 777  per person 14 night cruise on arvia mid May I might sneak in!

 

Valencia, seville, barcelona etc

 

All places weve been - but at that price it's hard to resist

 

It  wouldn't be hard to resist if I looked at the balcony price I'm sure!

 

Edit just checked it would cost us 1355 per person each accepting cheapest balcony they would allocate us which I assume wouldn't be best locations either

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 27, 2023 by Interestedcruisefan

[Grandad John]

10 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

I would (of course!) Lol

 

What we save by not having balconies and not having premium seats and even booking seats on planes MORE than covers us what we would then spend on excursions, Wi-Fi, drinks on board and speciality meals and extras

 

Balconies are nice to have but needs must for our situation

 

We are holidaying more than ever right now

 

We've just done a week in Jamaica - where we paid to take our grown up family with us (that wasn't cheap!)

 

I've got a month booked in Cape Town in January just for the 2 of us

 

2 weeks Arvia in February

 

Planning a week in Scottish Highlands at Easter

 

10 nights in France in June

 

Month in Canada in August 

 

All these holidays I need great value where we possibly can or else we couldn't afford to do them all so soon after each other and in between the businesses we still run

 

If we didn't still run the businesses we couldn't afford all this travel full stop

 

I'm 54. I'm hoping to travel at this rate (and more) for as long as possible from now on. And see as much as we can whilst we are healthy and active to get the most from it all.  Hopefully that's  a long time!!

 

So value for money vital for us. Will sacrifice legroom on flights and balconies on cruises to get the value and extra travel we can afford 

 

Ps also seen a 799 ish per person 14 night cruise on arvia mid May I might sneak in!

 

Valencia, seville, barcelona etc

 

All places weve been - but at that price it's hard to resist

 

It  wouldn't be hard to resist if I looked at the balcony price I'm sure!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Given the number and duration of holidays you’ve got booked work is obviously something you do between holidays to pass the time😜.

[AndyMichelle]

9 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

I would (of course!) Lol

 

What we save by not having balconies and not having premium seats and even booking seats on planes MORE than covers us what we would then spend on excursions, Wi-Fi, drinks on board and speciality meals and extras

 

Balconies are nice to have but needs must for our situation

 

We are holidaying more than ever right now

 

We've just done a week in Jamaica - where we paid to take our grown up family with us (that wasn't cheap!)

 

I've got a month booked in Cape Town in January just for the 2 of us

 

2 weeks Arvia in February

 

Planning a week in Scottish Highlands at Easter

 

10 nights in France in June

 

Month in Canada in August 

 

All these holidays I need great value where we possibly can or else we couldn't afford to do them all so soon after each other and in between the businesses we still run

 

If we didn't still run the businesses we couldn't afford all this travel full stop

 

I'm 54. I'm hoping to travel at this rate (and more) for as long as possible from now on. And see as much as we can whilst we are healthy and active to get the most from it all.  Hopefully that's  a long time!!

 

So value for money vital for us. Will sacrifice legroom on flights and balconies on cruises to get the value and extra travel we can afford 

 

Ps also seen a 799 ish per person 14 night cruise on arvia mid May I might sneak in!

 

Valencia, seville, barcelona etc

 

All places weve been - but at that price it's hard to resist

 

It  wouldn't be hard to resist if I looked at the balcony price I'm sure!

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are similar age to you, slightly older, and although I see the value, our recent bookings we are 'paying a bit more to get a bit more'. 

There is no getting away from how things have changed, for better or worse, but seeking a bit of solace on our balcony, or switching lines to get a bit better service etc, seem to have crept up on us. 

We have 2 balcony Britannia cruises and one QM2 booked for next year, so I suppose we have, unwittingly, moved away from the bargains. 

Andy 

 

[Interestedcruisefan]

Just now, Grandad John said:

Given the number and duration of holidays you’ve got booked work is obviously something you do between holidays to pass the time😜.

Lol

 

I've actually spent the last 12 months changing how we run the business so more and more we don't personally have to be there

 

Luckily my son can help by doing a lot of the things we do and we've taken 2 or 3 freelance staff on to help as we need them

 

Still a work in progress as there's some places we have to be we can't manage remotely yet 

 

Remote working really is the new thing lots of people far far younger than us our looking for now. 

 

And I don't blame them tbh

 

We are encouraging our kids to look at remote working themselves where it makes sense for them. Perhaps not all the time. But find jobs/careers/businesses that provide more flexibility than in the old days of 9 to 5 jobs.

 

We know which we prefer for sure!

 

Control you own time and travel rather than spend your life being told where and when to be all the time

[Interestedcruisefan]

4 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

We are similar age to you, slightly older, and although I see the value, our recent bookings we are 'paying a bit more to get a bit more'. 

There is no getting away from how things have changed, for better or worse, but seeking a bit of solace on our balcony, or switching lines to get a bit better service etc, seem to have crept up on us. 

We have 2 balcony Britannia cruises and one QM2 booked for next year, so I suppose we have, unwittingly, moved away from the bargains. 

Andy 

 

To complicate things further I've joined the homeexchange network

 

We will be swapping 10 nights in our home in Derbyshire next June for 10 nights in a holiday home in France for example

 

Will be doing lots more of that as well in amongst the cruises 

 

Another reason why being able to work remotely can increase our travel and holiday options

 

We had a great month in Lytham this August just gone where I worked in the mornings for 3 hours on the laptop each day but the rest of the time we were effectively  on holiday

 

The internet and remote working has really opened up the opportunities for travel for us 

Edited November 27, 2023 by Interestedcruisefan

[lincslady]

I am just pleased that I did so much travelling, with my husband, when I could - up to about 5 years ago.  I can - now that I am on my own and not very mobile - look back on some amazing trips to far flung places (mainly due to DH' s business travel), and lovely spots from cruise ships and driving to lovely spots in France and Spain over the years.  If that  is what you love, and you are fit enough to do it and can afford, then carry on for as long as possible!  You might end up cruising with Saga, which is now a pleasure on their newish ships, but hopefully would not need  to for many years (although I strongly recommend it if you can afford, to anyone over say 60).  And our cruising started with an inside room with bunk beds on Fred Olsen in the 1970s.

[Interestedcruisefan]

7 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

We are similar age to you, slightly older, and although I see the value, our recent bookings we are 'paying a bit more to get a bit more'. 

There is no getting away from how things have changed, for better or worse, but seeking a bit of solace on our balcony, or switching lines to get a bit better service etc, seem to have crept up on us. 

We have 2 balcony Britannia cruises and one QM2 booked for next year, so I suppose we have, unwittingly, moved away from the bargains. 

Andy 

 

We've not got to the stage of wanting/needing solace on a balcony so far when we cruise

 

Maybe that time will come

[laslomas]

 

I don't think I would want to sail without having the use of a balcony. I am guessing that if you have an inside cabin you will not want to spend hours during the day sat in it, in the artificial light and air-con. On a cruise with several sea days if you want to get outside you need somewhere to sit, or lie down and relax.

 

I have read quite a bit about people who think they can 'reserve' a sunbed for the day, and I don't want to get up at silly o'clock on my holiday to be sure of being able to relax outside. I fully expect I would make several circuits of the open decks to find 2 sunbeds together. So I make the choice to have my own outside space. 

 

I wish it wasn't like this. Open deck space that used to be available when wanted is a thing of the past. Extra passenger accommodation decks on ships and hundreds, or thousands more vying for their access to the sun is something that we have to accept, but the positive for some is the cheaper prices.

 

But I would still choose one cruise with a balcony cabin to two in inside cabins. Horses for courses.

[Interestedcruisefan]

12 minutes ago, lincslady said:

I am just pleased that I did so much travelling, with my husband, when I could - up to about 5 years ago.  I can - now that I am on my own and not very mobile - look back on some amazing trips to far flung places (mainly due to DH' s business travel), and lovely spots from cruise ships and driving to lovely spots in France and Spain over the years.  If that  is what you love, and you are fit enough to do it and can afford, then carry on for as long as possible!  You might end up cruising with Saga, which is now a pleasure on their newish ships, but hopefully would not need  to for many years (although I strongly recommend it if you can afford, to anyone over say 60).  And our cruising started with an inside room with bunk beds on Fred Olsen in the 1970s.

Yes my mum and dad and their widowed friend are on Saga as we speak having a great time and very impressed with the food

 

They've travelled Celebrity, silver seas (once or twice)  but mainly Princess til now. But saga must be good to impress them so much. Photos of the food they have sent me look excellent. But they've paid 11k for 2 in a standard balcony for 21 nights Canaries and Cape Verde from Portsmouth.

 

So theres a huge difference in cost compared to what I'm paying. Their price does include premium drinks and excursions and pick up transfers from home but even  if I added all those in its still a HUGE difference in cost and would restrict the amount of times we could travel enormously of course

Edited November 27, 2023 by Interestedcruisefan

[Interestedcruisefan]

10 minutes ago, laslomas said:

 

I don't think I would want to sail without having the use of a balcony. I am guessing that if you have an inside cabin you will not want to spend hours during the day sat in it, in the artificial light and air-con. On a cruise with several sea days if you want to get outside you need somewhere to sit, or lie down and relax.

 

I have read quite a bit about people who think they can 'reserve' a sunbed for the day, and I don't want to get up at silly o'clock on my holiday to be sure of being able to relax outside. I fully expect I would make several circuits of the open decks to find 2 sunbeds together. So I make the choice to have my own outside space. 

 

I wish it wasn't like this. Open deck space that used to be available when wanted is a thing of the past. Extra passenger accommodation decks on ships and hundreds, or thousands more vying for their access to the sun is something that we have to accept, but the positive for some is the cheaper prices.

 

But I would still choose one cruise with a balcony cabin to two in inside cabins. Horses for courses.

We are very early risers at home and on holiday. So that helps ensure we always find outside space where we want it. And given the choice would always want  to be out of the cabin than inside it regardless. My wife likes to sunbathe so the balconies don't work for her anyway. 

 

We really are the ultimate couple who just use cabins to sleep in and get changed in. 

 

Some people may just say that. But we are that  couple. Lol. Half the time when we want to walk on prom decks we are too early for them even to be open!!!

 

So we go for early breakfast or the gym whilst we wait. 

 

In the evenings we love the entertainment but again earlier rather than later so we tend to eat or drink early as well. I suppose early rising leads to that.

 

I have to accept we are far from the norm in our habits on a cruise. But it clearly makes P and O a viable option for us and the prices make it so attractive to travel more and more for us. And we feel we get the very  best from the bigger ships that they offer outside the cabins at least!! 

 

Cabins themselves  have never been a reason or factor in us wanting to be on a cruise.

Edited November 27, 2023 by Interestedcruisefan

[Ilovemygarden]

18 minutes ago, lincslady said:

I am just pleased that I did so much travelling, with my husband, when I could - up to about 5 years ago.  I can - now that I am on my own and not very mobile - look back on some amazing trips to far flung places (mainly due to DH' s business travel), and lovely spots from cruise ships and driving to lovely spots in France and Spain over the years.  If that  is what you love, and you are fit enough to do it and can afford, then carry on for as long as possible!  You might end up cruising with Saga, which is now a pleasure on their newish ships, but hopefully would not need  to for many years (although I strongly recommend it if you can afford, to anyone over say 60).  And our cruising started with an inside room with bunk beds on Fred Olsen in the 1970s.

I so agree - like you we had some amazing trips (mostly cruises) which hold lifelong memories.  We too started cruising in an inside cabin on Holland America to the Caribbean in the early nineties and progressed to better cabins and some amazing itineraries on some lovely ships.  Back now as a solo in insides mostly with P and O (a line we never really did together) on easy routes in the Med and Canaries.  Still enjoyable and much better than being at home!  

[lincslady]

The main thing about Saga is all the inclusions, especially for older and less fit people.  Insurance, door to door travel, no flying, and nowadays pretty luxurious.  But it is expensive, I grant you.  However, if you need these inclusions, as I would, ideal.  When you can no longer carry your own case, or climb up steps to a plane (which happens a lot at terminal 5 Heathrow!) it is perfect  - provided of course that you have saved up enough over the years to indulge.

[Interestedcruisefan]

My wife's cousin (In her late 60s) now travels with 2 solo friends and they share inside cabins for the 3 of them 

 

I accept you need to be good friends to do that and it must feel cramped at times

 

For them together like you say though it has to be better than staying at home and if they pick the right cruises the cost can't be that much more than staying at home either?

 

 

[zap99]

1 hour ago, AndyMichelle said:

We love a balcony, but have had some great 'bargain' cruises in inside cabins. 

We still  mostly choose balcony, but would I rather have 2 cruises inside for the price of 1 balcony? I suppose it depends on destination, do I need a balcony in say Hamburg in December, probably not. 

Horses for courses and I definitely get both sides of the argument. 

Andy

That's what Juliet said. "Who needs a balcony in Verona in October ,?. Nobody ever comes to see me".

[yorkshirephil]

We are now back to cruising for approx four months of the year, this we do on a budget. We recently splashed out on a balcony on Aurora after sixty cruises on insides with the odd window/porthole cruise. We enjoyed the balcony on Aurora and used it quite a bit as it was a new experience, however we did not think it was value for money for us but recognise as we get older and our opinions and health changes it may be the way to go.

 

We have booked a balcony on our Princess cruise next year and have spent considerably less on it for 31 nights than we did on 19 night Aurora, so we will see. All our other cruises booked are inside so again we will compare and consider our options going forward and decide whether we cut the number of days at sea for the luxury of a balcony.

 

Albeit there have been cutbacks on all the lines we have cruised with over the last few years they are cheaper now than they have ever been. We have paid less for 75 nights on Aurora in 2026 than it was for 65 nights when we were dreaming of doing it in 2017. As cruising gets back on an even keel (pun intended) prices will rise so we plan to make the best of it while we can and are fortunate enough to be able to do so.

[Interestedcruisefan]

18 minutes ago, yorkshirephil said:

We are now back to cruising for approx four months of the year, this we do on a budget. We recently splashed out on a balcony on Aurora after sixty cruises on insides with the odd window/porthole cruise. We enjoyed the balcony on Aurora and used it quite a bit as it was a new experience, however we did not think it was value for money for us but recognise as we get older and our opinions and health changes it may be the way to go.

 

We have booked a balcony on our Princess cruise next year and have spent considerably less on it for 31 nights than we did on 19 night Aurora, so we will see. All our other cruises booked are inside so again we will compare and consider our options going forward and decide whether we cut the number of days at sea for the luxury of a balcony.

 

Albeit there have been cutbacks on all the lines we have cruised with over the last few years they are cheaper now than they have ever been. We have paid less for 75 nights on Aurora in 2026 than it was for 65 nights when we were dreaming of doing it in 2017. As cruising gets back on an even keel (pun intended) prices will rise so we plan to make the best of it while we can and are fortunate enough to be able to do so.

You've got me looking for 75 night cruises now! Lol

[pennib]

To reply to post no 352, we can definitely recommend Marella and we have just returned from our last cruise on Explorer. We think they are brilliant. Food brilliant, staff exceptional and of course it is all inclusive and you can upgrade for £90 a week each and have the choice of all the drinks on the ship. Go for it.

[JeanieC,Aston]

1 hour ago, pennib said:

To reply to post no 352, we can definitely recommend Marella and we have just returned from our last cruise on Explorer. We think they are brilliant. Food brilliant, staff exceptional and of course it is all inclusive and you can upgrade for £90 a week each and have the choice of all the drinks on the ship. Go for it.

Hi

As the poster who the author of post #352 was replying to I agree with your comment re a Marella.

My cruise on Explorer last month was great and have booked Explorer2 for next year.

One reason,,,,I really dislike sea days.

Both Arvia and Ventura of 13/14 cruises have at least 6 sea days each were Marella 7 nt cruises only have one,plus I do like DP’s.

[Selbourne]

3 hours ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Cruising can still represent good value when people choose balconies but not to the same extent. To me  value is the number one HUGE benefit of cruise holidays currently

Price and value are completely different things though. One is factual and the other subjective. If we can get a balcony cabin for say £150 per night for the 2 of us, then I’d consider that to be good value. Conversely, because we’d rather not cruise at all than have an inside cabin, if someone tried to sell us an inside cabin for half that price then yes, it’s cheaper, but to us would still be poor value.
 

Also, there is often an assumption that those of us who book balcony cabins cruise less often as a result of that choice. For many of us that is not the case. 

[Winifred 22]

1 hour ago, pennib said:

To reply to post no 352, we can definitely recommend Marella and we have just returned from our last cruise on Explorer. We think they are brilliant. Food brilliant, staff exceptional and of course it is all inclusive and you can upgrade for £90 a week each and have the choice of all the drinks on the ship. Go for it.

They don’t sail from Southampton so as someone should doesn’t fly that’s a big no from me. I don’t think £90 a week to get a few better drinks is in anyway a deal breaker for me either  Besides I love sea days so will stick with Carnival. 
 

[Interestedcruisefan]

1 hour ago, Selbourne said:

Price and value are completely different things though. One is factual and the other subjective. If we can get a balcony cabin for say £150 per night for the 2 of us, then I’d consider that to be good value. Conversely, because we’d rather not cruise at all than have an inside cabin, if someone tried to sell us an inside cabin for half that price then yes, it’s cheaper, but to us would still be poor value.
 

Also, there is often an assumption that those of us who book balcony cabins cruise less often as a result of that choice. For many of us that is not the case. 

Yes that all makes sense

 

Also depends on budget you have to spend on holidays and how often you want to travel when considering what represents good value at the time of course

 

For us something we choose to do or spend closes the door on something else of course. We have limits we can budget to spend as most do I guess. 

 

Another big factor for us  Is we have no idea how many years travel and  holidays we have ahead of us

 

If we are really lucky we could  be travelling abroad for another 30 years!!

 

So I've got to be careful what we spend accordingly and budget for that to hopefully happen

 

And lots of  places weve not visited yet that are on are bucket list won't be cheap no matter how we visit them (cruise or no cruise)

 

As of now we just want to travel as much as we can as often as we can afford. Mixing in new places with old favourites 

 

We like to eat and drink good quality when we travel as well so I have to budget quite high for that element.

 

Accommodation wise we just want clean and decent at the best price we can get. Travel costs - the cheapest we can get somewhere quickly by and large again as long as its safe and ok comfort wise. 

 

 

Edited November 27, 2023 by Interestedcruisefan

[Megabear2]

The outside space is very much the winner.  We too are out and about extremely early, more because we like the cooler air in the morning and as you know swim first thing before the rush.  However we do not stay sitting on our "claimed" seats for more than a couple of hours on seadays preferring to go for a proper lunch.  Following the proper etiquette (that sounds good!) we have to surrender our seats at that point which means if we want outside space later we are most likely going to struggle to find two new ones.  The balcony offers that choice to sit and watch the sea, read a book or just generally have a chat and enjoy each others company.

 

Even when I travel solo it can be difficult to find a seat after lunch outside on thr bigger ships.  Funnily enough the very biggest I sailed was Allure of the Seas and the number of beds, seats and amount of room seemed far superior but it could have been an illusion!

[Interestedcruisefan]

2 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

The outside space is very much the winner.  We too are out and about extremely early, more because we like the cooler air in the morning and as you know swim first thing before the rush.  However we do not stay sitting on our "claimed" seats for more than a couple of hours on seadays preferring to go for a proper lunch.  Following the proper etiquette (that sounds good!) we have to surrender our seats at that point which means if we want outside space later we are most likely going to struggle to find two new ones.  The balcony offers that choice to sit and watch the sea, read a book or just generally have a chat and enjoy each others company.

 

Even when I travel solo it can be difficult to find a seat after lunch outside on thr bigger ships.  Funnily enough the very biggest I sailed was Allure of the Seas and the number of beds, seats and amount of room seemed far superior but it could have been an illusion!

On sea days we rarely both leave our sunbeds at the same time. Maybe 30 mins for lunch somewhere together. Normally the nearest buffet. 20 minutes ish in the swim up pool bar 

 

Our etiquette for that is we leave our stuff on the sunbeds all day but rarely one of us at least isn't there apart from above. I assume that's ok though?

 

What's the  rules? Is it an hour or more unattended you might get things moved if you are unlucky?