Trying to Save Money, Balcony or not? will we be disspaointed?

[keeponcruisin1]

Here's another vote for no balcony if it will compromise excursions etc.

Recently back from Alaska and I wanted to do some pretty pricey excursions-helicopter, whale watch, floatplane. I had to save somewhere, so it was the cabin. I have had a balcony cruising the Caribbean and really enjoyed it, but did not regret my decision to forgo the balcony for some really excellent excursions. I spent 3 hours on deck for glacier viewing and many shorter times just soaking up the scenery. I actually preferred being able to view everything rather than what I would have been able to see from a balcony. Have a great time.

[luvs2travl]

Well, here's one more vote FOR the balcony! We just returned from a gorgeous southbound cruise on the Sapphire Princess. We had an aft cabin on Emerald deck and we absolutely lived out on that balcony for our sea days and for the Glacier Bay trip, I wouldn't have traded it for anything. We were able to have the Balcony Breakfast with glaciers for

our background while we watched the whales diving in the water right outside our cabin.

On the aft of the ship, there is absolutley no wind, no jockeying for position, no missed pictures due to someone cutting in front of you or jostling your arm.....we ordered room service, listened to the park ranger narrate everything over the TV in our cabin, and thought we had found our own private oasis. We were watching the passengers out on deck (again shown on TV) all bundled up in hats, scarves, jackets, etc, running back & forth trying to get the best postition to see everything, and we were sitting back there seeing everything they were seeing, dressed in our long-sleeved shirts and jeans thinking how glad we were to have chosen to invest a bit more & go for the balcony.

I read alot about this on these threads when we decided to book this cruise a year ago. We talked about it alot and consulted our TA and friends who had also done the Alaskan cruise, and their vote, hands-down, was to bite the bullet and go for the balcony! We are SO glad we took their advice. As one of the other posters said, this cruise is so much

different than a Caribbean or Mexican Riviera cruise. I can't imagine going to Alaska without having the balcony.

 

Whichever decision you make, I hope you have a wonderful trip and may you be blessed with the same glorious weather that we had :D !!

 

Happy Cruising!

[NancyIL]

I've never had a balcony cabin - so I don't know what I'm missing! :) Being as frugal as I am, I booked the least expensive inside cabin on the Coral Princess, then watched for price drops. In December, the price on obstructed oceanview cabins went down, and was less than the cost of the inside cabin I originally booked - so I made the switch. We were in cabin E510 (Emerald deck) and loved the location. A window for light was nice to have, but it's true that it's easier to sleep in a dark inside cabin.