Alaska Balcony or Oceanview 5/28/05 any advise

[lilkrz]

I am going to Alaska 5/28/05 I usually book a balcony cabin but was wondering in Alaska at that time of the year should I spend the extra money or go with just an Oceanview cabin? Anyone been in Alaska around this time have any tips on what clothing one should bring

[NanciRDH]

If you can swing the balcony, go for it. We just did Alaska 5/30, and had our first ever balcony cabin. Cruising Alaska is not like a Caribbean cruise in that the view from cruise itself is part of the whole experience, and not just transportation to another island in the night, or just the vast openess of the ocean. Many of our best photos were taken just sitting on our balcony, and we also found it to be a bit warmer there than the other decks because of the partitions between cabins...they blocked the cold breeze. This is not to say a balcony on any other cruise is not worth it, but I think you really get the most out of one on an Alaska cruise.

 

As for clothes, you'll definately want layers. On the ship it is comfortable unless you go outside, then you need a jacket. The closer you get to the glacier, you may want a hat and mittens. Skagway was our coldest port...it was so windy. I had windsuits for the girls and myself, we pulled them on over jeans and fleece jackets and were plenty warm. DH did just had jeans and a windbreaker over a heavy jacket. Being from Florida I was so afraid I'd be cold and miserable, but we had the best week weather-wise.

 

Nanci

[amaddog10]

alaska.....if at all possible you've got to do balcony... almost every day, when we were gettign dressed, i would dress, and then while waiting for the wife to wash/change/makeup...i'd just sit on the balcony and enjoy the view of the coast....it was magnificent...especially in the mornings, sitting and sipping coffee and enjoying the view...there were days we didn't want to leave the balcony to go up on the deck...

[pelletib]

Yes...a balcony is a must. One great reason comes to mind...Glacier Bay. It was a crisp 33 degrees and up on deck factor in the wind...Balcony..chairs, hot chocolate or coffee with Baileys. A cozy cabin to step into when you got chilly. We will never book anything but a balcony. Our first cruise to Mexico was an Oceanview. Absolutely hated not having fresh air during the day and warm evenings while still in port. We got some amazing photos off the balcony. I used my digital camera to take pictures of the glaciers, coastline and ports in black and white or in sepia. Those photos give a real "last frontier" look to our vacation album. At Glacier Bay, the black and white shots kind of give you an eiree "Titanic" feel to the ice in the water.

[TWELVEOHONE]

B A L C O N Y

[dougp26364]

We've had both an ocean view and a balcony. If it helps, we have some pictures of both our Alaska cruises at http://community.webshots.com/user/dougp26364

 

The views of Hubbard Glacier on our Vision cruise are all taken from our balcony. I believe there are also a few from when we did Legend in 2002 taken through the window of our oceanview cabin.

 

The best thing about the balcony is being able to step out and see forward and back. On either the first or second night out on Vision, I was standing on our balcony when a humpback whale breached, then slapped his tail on the water. It was a magnificent sight that I would have missed if we'd just had an ocean view cabin. On our last night sailing the inside passage, black and white dolphins were playing in the wake of the boat. From our balcony we could look unobstructed down on them while everyone else was jockying for position on the decks.

 

We plan on sailing Alaska again and it will definately be a balcony when we go back.