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

[Clutterlady]

Never spent $1000 more for a balcony!! Love the caribe balcony's, half sun and half shade, table, 2 chairs and 2 recliners......what more could you ask for:)

[VaBeachCruisers897]

If could save $1,000 i would probably book another room. However, I would never decline a balcony for $200 per person extra.

 

I guess everyone has their limit :)

[DeRon]

Wow! Thanks everyone for the opinions. And they are very different!

 

We are going Oct 7, and the price is really what I said. An interior guarantee is $500 less pp than the balcony that I booked!

 

But I am having second thoughts.

[Packman1000]

I find this thread facinating. I've had inside, outside and balcony cabins. The cabins are nearly the same size, yet some folks would pay whatever extra for a balcony because they view it as the 'best' as it costs more. It's not really the American "bigger is better" issue here (anybody for an SUV love 'em/hate 'em discussion?). It probably is more of a "it's my vacation, and I'll spend anything I want" issue. And the cruise lines count on it.

 

Sure, there are reasons the balcony cabins are worth something more, but I find the balconies overpriced on most itineraries. I am grateful that I have enough money to book whatever I want without worrying about the dollars, but I usually book an inside cabin because they are a much better value. I'd rather take 5 cruises in inside cabins than 3 in balconies. Other than sleeping and dressing and showering, I don't spend any time in my cabin because I love the ship and enjoy being out on it whenever I can.

 

One new thought on the topic is that it's harder to get up in an inside cabin because when you wake, you don't know if it's midnight or noon. In reverse, if you like to nap druing daylight, an inside cabin would be great.

[NAS-KARR]

we'll take a balcony no matter what the cost or what the itinerary is PERIOD

CIAO,

[Fuzzzy]

I prefer a balcony to experience the voyage to the max.

 

I have been in a closet, opps I mean an inside cabin and I felt like I was in cruise hell. What had I done to deserve this.

 

Now, that is just my opinion.

[vickie_bernie]

Are you saying you booked a outside minisuite?

 

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

 

yes I booked a cat AF outside mini suite on the Island Princess on Caribe deck. Where the secret door is!

 

I don't know if other ships have it, but it is huge because the area that would normally be the balcony is part of your cabin. I will post pics after we sail.

[Pam in CA]

It depends on the itinerary and how port-intensive it is. If there are a bunch of sea days, which I love, it's worth the extra $$ for the balcony. If it's a new port every day, there isn't time to really enjoy the balcony so I just book the least-expensive outside cabin.

[DeRon]

Packman has some good points. I know some people that prefer the inside cabin because they sleep better since no light shines in through the curtains in the morning.

[chasetf]

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 have the money too.... but do not consider it worth it. I would prefer putting the extra money towards another cruise.

 

At 7 days, that works out to about $140 a day. If you spend two hours a day on the balcony, then that is $70 an hour. Same folks willing to pay that would probably complain about paying for a reserved lounge chair.

[kellygarrett]

I cant even imagine spending 1000.$ more for a balcony even if money was no object. I am only in the room to bathe and sleep . What a waste it would be for someone like me .

[Copper Lanterns]

Hi!

 

I just reserved a cabin for the EMERALD Christmas cruise. Like you , I can't justifiy the expense but would really love a balcony. As this will be my third cruise this year I am really hesitant to go $l,000. more, BUT

I am really torn. I guess there isn't anyone qualified to give us the answer. Will respond if I weaken to the pressure.

Will enjoy my cruise whatever I do.:D

Connie

[the_dylaness]

$1000! Yikes!

 

While I am also a big balcony person (and since DH's first cruise, with me, was in one, he's never going back!) there are times when it's just not worth the extra money. IMHO, this is one of those times. When I think about what else I could do with all that money, I would probably decide to spend it on excursions/activities as others have suggested, and keep myself busy so I don't have time to be in the room worrying that I don't have a balcony.

 

That's really expensive!

[drakes2]

On our first two cruises we had an inside and then decided to splurge for a balcony and now only book balcony cabins. It forces you to relax a bit more and enjoy all the gorgeous views when coming into the ports.

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

[fathercop]

I have only sailed in cabins with balconies. DW always had an inside cabin on her cruises, that is until we met and started cruising together. She says she would never want to go back to an inside stateroom.

 

As for me, I love the balcony. I am on it in the morning when I wait for DW to shower, after breakfast, sun bathing - if our side is in the sun, each time I come back to the room from somewhere else on the ship, while pulling in and out of port, waiting for DW to get ready for dinner, sitting with DW on our balcony after dinner or a show and standing in the open air and recapping the day before bedtime. When we were in Alaska, I would just stand for 15 - 30 minutes at a time enjoying the scenery.

 

Yes, it is wonderful that we have so many choices! I am glad I have had the ability to make a choice for a balcony with each cruise. In the end, I am just so thankful to be cruising in the first place.

 

Good luck with whatever you pick!

[Princess Chatterer]

[quote name='vickie_bernie']yes I booked a cat AF outside mini suite on the Island Princess on Caribe deck. Where the secret door is!

[/quote]

Question: What secret door?

Comment: There's nothing quite like going out on your balcony and inhaling the fresh tobacco smoke drifting into your balcony from the next door balcony. This seems to happen a lot to us.

[agabbymama]

My first two cruises were with ocean view cabins and I was thrilled to just be on a cruise. My third cruise I got a really good deal on a mini-suite with a balcony close to cruise date. Now I don't even look at the prices of other cabins. I know I want at least a balcony cabin, sometimes not the mini-suite because of cost.

I would never sail in an inside cabin. I have a tendency to feel claustrophobic on the ship anyway (walking down those long corridors) and even in the showroom a couple of times. I want a window in my hotel room, and I just could not imagine being in a cabin on the inside of the ship with no window.

If the price of the balcony cabin was too expensive, I would wait and save the extra money until I could afford it, rather than take a cheaper cabin I didn't want just to be able to cruise. I usually only cruise approximately once in a year anyway. Did do two shorter cruises in 2004 (5 day Northwest Pacific, and 3 day out of Puerto Rico) but had mini-suites on each cruise.

We are on that balcony the minute we get to the cabin. Watch sailaway, having a glass of champagne or wine. Breakfast on the balcony. Sit and read on the balcony. Take photos from the balcony (on our last cruise to New England/Canada, we were able to get some wonderful shots of some whales right under our balcony, like they were performing just for us). We don't participate in all the trivia games, art auctions, cooking demonstrations, etc. found on-board, nor are we into sitting around the pool. We did play bingo ONCE, but the cost is prohibitive for us, we'd rather pay that money for the balcony. And the balcony adds quite a bit of space to the cabin. On that New England/Canada cruise, I paid approx $2100 for that balcony cabin, then upgraded to Concierge Class on Celebrity for another $400 pp. We felt pampered and the extra two square feet in the cabin stored the luggage out of the walkway. The balcony was triple the size of a normal balcony with plenty of room for two loungers, two chairs, and the table (also had a teak wood deck because we were tucked in amongst the Suite cabins). It was great and worth every penny.

Granted, everyone doesn't feel this way or there would be no Inside Cabins. There must be many people willing to cruise in an Inside Cabin or they wouldn't still have them. On the older ships, there were very few cabins with a balcony, and they were very very costly. Today on the newer ships, there are a lot more balcony cabins and they are more affordable. As an example, I prefer the smaller HAL ships like Zaandam, but the Alaska cruise I have booked in August, Zaandam balcony would have cost me about $350 more pp, so I went with the larger Vista Class Zuiderdam and will use that $350 for shore excursions or food. But there was never a question of not having a balcony. I priced a larger Suite, and it would have been almost $1000 more pp, so didn't go there.

It's really your personal preference. If you want a balcony, you have to be willing to pay for it. If you don't care, then don't pay the extra money for it. But you have to do it at least once, to make the comparison. If you sign up for all the cruiselines specials, they send you emails when they have special deals. That's how I got the mini-suite on NCL for the Pacific Northwest for $539 pp for a 5 night cruise. Los Angeles to Vancouver. Only had airfare one way from Vancouver back to LA. That's only about $107 per night. Couldn't get much cheaper than that with all meals included.

Be forewarned though, each cruise since has gotten more and more costly because of the destinations we have chosen. The Grand Princess to the Eastern Med is going to put me in the poor house, but we will see Italy and Greece and have a balcony cabin to do it.

Check your priorities, your pocketbook and go from there. Have a great cruise, no matter what you choose.

[Coolmama_1]

I would never get DH to cruise in anything less than a minisuite! In fact, he would rather cruise less and have the minisuite than to cruise more often in smaller quarters. He loves to sit on the balcony and read and relax in the cabin on the sofa.

[Berliner]

a Picture says more than thousands words?
See the Picture in my Signature

[vickie_bernie]

[quote name='w0kie']Question: What secret door?

Comment: There's nothing quite like going out on your balcony and inhaling the fresh tobacco smoke drifting into your balcony from the next door balcony. This seems to happen a lot to us.[/quote]

this secret door is the one I've read about on these sites. The room is right at the front of the ship and there is a door that goes to an outside deck that is right below the bridge. The only way to access it is by this door, and is often very secluded. I will call it our balcony while sailing, hope they don't ming me in my bathrobe??

[meselibibob]

Our vote is for the inside cabin. We have been on 22 cruises, with only one balcony which was on the Disney Wonder. It was nice, but honestly, we prefer the inside. Our reasoning is that we truly are not in the cabin for long periods of time. We like the night life on the ships, dancing until the wee hours of the morning and then sleeping late. With an inside, there is no sunlight to bother us. We would rather enjoy our cocktails in a lounge with music and dancing than on a balcony. Breakfast and lunch, afternoon naps, are so much more enjoyable to us out on the open decks where we have an almost 360 view. To each his own. What is so great about curising is that there are so many choices.