Is a Balcony worth $1,000 more????

[DeRon]

I can get a ext window obstructed view for about $900 less or an interior cabin for $1,000 less than a balcony room (Caribbean Princess). What is everyone's advice?

 

I have the $$, but is it worth it?:confused:

[jckvpa0]

It's really up to you but personally I could not sail without a balcony !

[Clutterlady]

Depends on where you are sailing! I know for DH and myself, once you have a balcony you'll never want to go back!!

[Druke I]

I like outside cabins, and certain itineraries I do like balconies. Unlike the previous poster, I do think it is possible (and in some cases sensible) to go back!

 

Isn't it wonderful we have so many choices.

[Toto2Kansas]

This can't be for a 7 day cruise??????????? We booked a mini suite on the Caribbean Princess for $800 pp, you must be looking at the 14 day cruise maybe?

Paying the extra would depend on the length of the sailing for one thing.

[Northshorecruisers]

Really depends on how much you would use it. My husband & I use our balcony quite a bit for coffee in the morning, wine in the evening. My husband is content to sit out there enjoying the view while he waits for me to get ready to go somewhere....which can be awhile sometimes. For him $2000 extra would be worth it just to not have to go through the 5 outfit changes before dinner:p

[gatour]

That is a tough question as everyone is different. For example I love balcony cabins, I love being able to sit out there reading during the day, and then at night being able just watch the ocean go by with a glass of wine in my hand. On the other hand my wife barely ventures out there.

 

Having said that, last fall we took a Southern Caribbean Disney Cruise, and the price difference between a balcony cabin vs just an outside cabin was very large, so I just decided to book the outside cabin. My reasoning was that I could apply the difference to the excursion we would be taking. We were going to islands that we haven't been to before, so would be taking more excursion than we would have if we were just taking a Eastern or Western Caribbean cruise.

[LC_txcruiser]

I love having the balcony. I've even stopped looking at the inside room price so there's to feel guilty for spending the extra money.

[janetz]

The Carribean Princess sailings next year from NY are 9 days..Insides are around 1000pp..Pretty steep. We love a balcony but would not pay a balcony price from NY knowing we spent way less for one from Fort Lauderdale. How much time will you spend in your cabin? That is the question to ask yourself. :)

[Northender]

I have to agree with the majority. A balcony is a must for us.

We enjoy sitting out in the morning having a cup of coffee, doing some reading and mostly enjoying some crackers/cheese and wine before heading out to dinner:) Then, of course, there is the nightcap under the stars.....Balcony, worth every penny to us.:)

[CrusinAgain]

We always had a balcony cabin and had our morning coffee out there but the rule of thumb we use now to cruise twice a year is get a balcony only if it is $100 more than an outside, otherwise we generally get the best view of the obstructed view cabins. We found that we are rarely in the cabin and did not miss the balcony as much as we thought we would. We would definitely get one though on the more scenic routes like Alaska.

[Dena]

We have sailed inside, ocean view, and balcony. I had expected the balcony to increase my enjoyment of the cruise. If I'm going to pay say twice as much for a balcony, it would be great if this translated to enjoying the cruise twice as much. It didn't. We actually enjoyed the inside sailing the best, but this had nothing to do with the cabin. Below, I describe pros and cons of a balcony, as I see it.

 

Cons: One of the problems with a balcony is that, perhaps with the exception of suites, there is no room for a lounger, let alone 2 loungers. Also, I like to relax in the shade with a view of the ocean. The balconies don't really work for this because even those with overhangs are shallow so (unlike the promende deck) they are often in the sun. I prefer the pomenade deck on ships that have traditional teak loungers but I feel guilty/foolish spending time here when I've paid for a balcony. Now the Caribbean Princess does not have loungers on its pomenade deck, just chairs. Not everone shares my need for shade, but I mention this in case you do.

 

Another problem with balcony cabins is that many smokers book these cabins so they can smoke. If you don't like to smell this, the promenade deck wins again because one side is non-smoking.

 

Pros: Most of these are obvious and I won't repeat them. But let me add two more. In the rare event that you are quarantined because of Noro, a balcony cabin will be much more pleasant. In the even more unlikely event of another fatal fire such as the one on the Star, there are now 2 ways out of your cabin. Of course, the fire on the Star was caused by a cigarette landing on clothing on someones's balcony and the balcony cabins did suffer more damage than the interior cabins, so this may not really be a plus.

 

Bottom Line: You only live once and you can't take it with you. If money really is no object, why not get the balcony. It probably won't increase your cruising pleasure proportional to the added expense, but it may give you an incremental benefit - and if money is no object even an incremental benefit is worth it.

[OhioDogLover]

I think that the balcony is unnecessary. I need to have an outside cabin, but obstructed is fine with me. DH, however, disagrees. He likes the balcony. Sometimes we do it his way, sometimes, we go without the balcony. Either way, we always have a great time.

 

Ohiodoglover

[vickie_bernie]

like many have said, it depends. If it is a special trip then go for it. Usually I take an indside or outside because the trip is usually a bonus, so it is inside or no go, so I go.

 

I've had balcony and even though I enjoyed sitting out there on occassion. I was rarely there. Noise from other people outside, espeically late night party were bothersome. The smoke thing really bugged me too.

 

So bottom line for me is, I'd rather spend the savings elsewhere.

 

Just booked a cruise where the lowest balcony was the same price as an outside mini suite!!! So I went with the mini suite. Don't need a balcony on repositioning.

 

Vickie

[CrusinAgain]

Just booked a cruise where the lowest balcony was the same price as an outside mini suite!!! So I went with the mini suite. Don't need a balcony on repositioning.

 

Vickie

 

Are you saying you booked a outside minisuite?

 

I thought all mini suites had balconies on all the ships.:confused:

[KAWS]

I can get a ext window obstructed view for about $900 less or an interior cabin for $1,000 less than a balcony room (Caribbean Princess). What is everyone's advice?

 

I have the $$, but is it worth it?:confused:

 

I think for me it would depend on how port intensive the sailing was. If there are a lot of sea days then the balcony would be worth it for me. If not, then I'd go for the obstructed view over the inside.

 

P.S. TO TOTO:

When are you cruising on the Caribbean Princess? You said you got a balcony for $800 pp. I'm booking into 2009 and the price for my sailing is almost $1400. Just wondered what time of year you are going to get this good price.

[sonomaphil]

Are you saying you booked a outside minisuite?

 

I thought all mini suites had balconies on all the ships.:confused:

 

Coral and Island have mini suites with no balcony. Not many, maybe 8 or so total.

[alolewis]

Are you saying you booked a outside minisuite?

 

I thought all mini suites had balconies on all the ships.:confused:

 

Without checking all the deckplans I believe there are a couple of mini-suites on a couple of ships without balconies, they are the cabins far forward, only 2 or 4 per the ship that they all don;t have balconies. The extran space is built into the stateroom so you actually get a larger mini-suite. Coral Princess Caribe deck for example has 4 minis without balconies. Haven't stayed in 1 though.

 

We prefer Balconies as we like to sleep with the door open and hear the waves and the ocean, just don't tell the Captain we are wasting Air Conditioning. It also depends on the itineary for me, in Alaska and Panama Canal for example nice to sit on your balcony and watch the scenary, for me on sea days that are in open ocean a balconey would not be as important as days of when you can see some scenary but then each person needs to decide. Would I spend $1000 ($500 per person) for a balcony, yes but I also have taken the cheapest inside cabins on cruises and had a great time.

[teripp]

Totally up to you but I dont know what I would have done with out a balcony... Even on land based trips a baclony is a must. Gives the room a bigger feel.

[Druke I]

Coral & Island both have a few minis without balconies, category AF.

[MeMe4A&J]

We love the balcony for all the reasons everyone listed but add one more reason. Sometimes we open our door and sleep at night just to feel the fresh air and hear the water.

Also, we love to be on the dock side and watch as we come into the Ports.

It's worth the extra $$$ to us!

[vacation fool]

We have sailed inside, outside and mini. Of course we prefer to have the balcony but the sq footage inside the room to us is most important. So if balcony is same sq footage as outside then i would say no esp for $1,000. We enjoy people watching and usually find deck chairs to hang out on with our books and wine.... We are rarely in the room so it would not be worth that much money to us anyway. If the price difference was $100 or so maybe. For that much more money you should be getting a full suite! Just my opinion;)

[silvercruiser]

It depends on where you're cruising and for how long. Getting up at 5am to sit on the balconey while we sailed into Rio was a must. For a Caribbean cruise, where we've already seen it all before, not so important. In fact, in May on CB we were asked to trade our balconey for an inside cabin in exchange for their refunding ALL our money. We took it and loved our cozy little inside cabin. We were recovering from bronchitis picked up the last day of a Mexican cruise three weeks before and just wanted to relax and sleep alot anyway. Would I make the same deal on future cruises to exotic places? Probably not.

Paid too much for a balconey on Veendam, an older ship that doesn't really have affordable balconies. But it was a 7-day cruise. Next year we're on the same ship for 14 days and settled for an outside cabin on Promenade deck where we can just run outside and find a chair.

[RuthlessBoss]

Have had OV's and balconies. Those balconies relieve my feeling of being closed in and having no place to go. I'm always awake hours before DH, so I come and go in and out often. Last cruise, we booked OV for financial reasons (so much extra for the balcony) but just as time was nearing to travel, our agent contacted us, and for $150 pp more, we got a balcony. Not bad as it was an 11 nighter.

[jacksan1]

For me, I can think of all sorts of ways to use $1,000 instead by not getting a balcony (e.g., another cruise!). I have never been in a situation in which a price differential between a balcony and OV is that big, but it that were to happen, I'd keep the thousand and go OV. I am a pretty easy person to please anyway. :p