Balcony for Eastern Med??

[donnaleed]

My search feature isn't working today, so I'm sorry if this question is asked often...

 

We are taking the NCL Jade Athens to Istanbul tour next Oct and are trying to decide whether or not to cough up the extra dough for a balcony.... thoughts???

 

For those of you with balcony experience which side of the boat should we be choosing??

 

Thanks in advance...

Donna-Lee

[cruisemom42]

I've gotten used to having a balcony and wouldn't want to cruise without one. Having said that, I think the Med is one of those cruises where a balcony really is extra nice to have. There are times when you are cruising the coastline and can see land, which is always interesting to me. Also, some of the ports themselves are picturesque (for example Istanbul, Mykonos, Kusadasi). It's always fun to sit on your balcony after a day of sightseeing with a glass of wine and some goodies from the buffet and watch the sailaway.

 

As far as the side to choose, it's sort of a crapshoot. Ships can dock with either side facing the port and in my experience it's about 50/50 as to whether you'll get the view. (However, some ports have nice views from both sides...)

[Keith1010]

This is really a personal decision. It comes down to two factors. Will you sit out enough using your balcony and do you like to open the door from time to time to get fresh air. But, you need to determine if it is worth the cost.

 

In terms of side I used to be concerned about that but no longer am. Instead our focus is to get as mid ship as possible. I have docked in the same port multiple times and sometimes have different views depending on where and how the ship is docked.

 

Keith

[SDPadreFan]

While I do not have any direct knowledge of sailing the Med (other than on an aircraft carrier). We have booked RCCL Brilliance for next November and decided it will be to cold to get much use of a balcony. Temps around Greece in November average in the mid 50's to 60's. Maybe a little warmer in October.

[derricj]

We were on Regatta, Venice to Barcelona Oct 28 / Nov 13 07, with a balcony cabin on the port side. We sat outside only one time, but would open the door for fresh air on occasion or walk out to observe ports as we were arriving. These were very brief openings.

Several factors determined our daily usage of the balcony.

1) Weather - mostly too cold or wet

2) Daylight - gets dark very early this time of year (5:30 to 6 pm)

3) Daily activities - returning from tours, tea time, the time you eat dinner, meeting friends for happy hour.

 

My opinion is a balcony in early spring and summer would be a great amenity. Marginal in late fall.

 

We have had port hole cabins, large picture window cabins and balcony cabins. Our decision is to always have a balcony as we highly value the open feeling created by the wall to wall, floor to ceiling windows and door.

As to which side, in the Med if you are travelling west to east I think port is best, if moving east to west then starboard is best.

 

Hope this helps

jd:)

[NAS-KARR]

JUST DO IT !

Get a couple for your next cruise while you're at it.

 

CIAO,

[Onessa]

We just got back from a Italian/Greece cruise over Thanksgiving. Loved te balconey -- and we used it alot. Even in late November, we had high 60s and low 70s. Granted it got dark early, but I like sitting on the balconey at night. I really enjoy it!

[Nonna and Papa]

We just returned last week from our eastern Med cruise and had a balcony cabin. We used the balcony alot, especially on sea days, because the weather was very comfortable. We had expected the temperatures t only be in the 50's and 60's, but we were lucky and even the sea days (except for one windy day) were warm enough to get more use from the balcony than we thought to have. So one never knows.

 

Mary

[jjm34957]

We had a balcony on Brilliance of the Seas. We woke up in Villefranche(Nice) to a gorgeous view of the hillside estates illuminated by the morning sun. We had a perfect view of the Grand Canal in Venice. The view pulling in to Dubrovnik and the many islands was outstanding. I am taking a balcony on my next cruises, because we enjoyed it so much.

 

Joe