My money was wasted on a balcony!

[Cigar Dude]

We love the balcony! We won't ever (well, hopefully) go back to a cruise without one! :D

 

We're out there every morning and every evening, usually right after the excursion and before bed. ;)

[TanIslandGirl]

Cigar Dude, I love your avatar picture:D

[cruisnpat]

We get the inside room so we can save $$ and cruise more often. Besides we aren't in the room enough to justify the cost of the balcony. Just us.

[MISSSNOOPYGIRL]

Am I the only one to feel this way? We spent very little time out there. There really wasn't much to see, only miles and miles of water. It was dark when we pulled into port and all signs of land were gone within minutes of leaving each port. Even when looking out, the top of the railing (wooden part) is at eye level so it blocks the view. Under the 5 inch wooden top was about an inch of smeared brown glue. The rest of the plexiglass railing was all water-marked, so not real easy to see through. Every night I would hear clicking noised coming from the balcony. I finally figured out it was one of the dividers blowing in the wind. I was able to push some of the patio furniture up against the partition to stop the noise. I guess what people are really buying when they get a balcony is a place in the sun that is usually quiet. We usually prefer to hang out where the action is, up on the public decks.

 

I hear ya OP!! Totally agree. I'd rather cruise twice as much(saving $) without a balconey, thank you very much!

[Cruiser from MS]

I like to save money too. I look at my balcony as my own peace of heaven. I love to just sit out there and day dream or just talk to my husband. We are going on a 14 day cruise to Hawaii and would not consider an inside or oceanview cabin we booked a balcony. We are not rich by any means we just feel it is worth the extra money we have to save especially if it is for a balcony.

[Kurbanfan]

I like to save money too. I look at my balcony as my own peace of heaven. I love to just sit out there and day dream or just talk to my husband. We are going on a 14 day cruise to Hawaii and would not consider an inside or oceanview cabin we booked a balcony. We are not rich by any means we just feel it is worth the extra money we have to save especially if it is for a balcony.

 

I'm with you!!! I could not even think of cruising Hawaii without a balcony!

Hope you have a great cruise!!!

[scopewest]

OP, I personally prefer a balcony but if you don't use it, why bother, esp. since you can save the $$ for something else. Get whatever cabin makes you happy since you're the one staying in it.

[bcs819]

Sorry, OP, I don't agree either. We spend a great deal of time on our balcony, pulling in and out of every port, sitting with a drink watching the sea go by, using our binoculars to ID other ships in the distance. We sleep with the balcony door open so we hear the ocean all night long, and sometimes, even sleep out there. We won't cruise without a balcony - but everyone is entitled to spend their vacation dollar however they choose. My money would be "wasted" on the spa or in the casino or shopping and I am sure there are others who will disagree with me...

[Lostinthe50s]

We are hooked on a balcony room. The balcony to me is an extension of the cabin and we get a lot of use from it. We have had wine out there with friends before dinner and I get up before wife and love to have coffee outside in the fresh air. Its great for some quiet time and I have been known to take a snooze or 2 out there. I am not a great sleeper so many nights would go out there and fall asleep without bothering wife. Its awesome to sit out there at night in a robe and watch the stars.

[Drew B]

How much extra money are we talking about between an inside and a balcony, per person?

 

It will always depend on the pricing for the cruise. On the 7-day Thanksgiving cruise I have booked, my balcony is $869 pp and my sister's inside cabin is $649 pp. That's about a 34% difference. About the most "extra" I would pay would be in the 40% to 50% extra range. Spending double (or more) for a balcony makes absolutely no sense to me. On the other hand, it does have some benefit, so I expect to pay a bit more for it...

[Kurbanfan]

How much extra money are we talking about between an inside and a balcony, per person?

 

Priceless;)

[Carnival Game]

We still have to cough up the dough. :D

[xtandt]

We love the balcony. We eat breakfast there. We also play cards and have a cocktail or two, in the evening before dinner.

[Kevin Hort]

Our first nine cruises were all in interior cabins. It really wasn't a big deal to us because, like many of you that have already posted, we were not in our cabin most of the time. After a while we started booking specific interior cabins, such as the cabins furthest forward on Deck 10, which are close to that "secret" front balcony on the front of the Destiny class ships. :D

 

However, on our 10th cruise, we were upgraded to a balcony cabin, even though we booked interior. Needless to say we enjoyed it so much we have only booked balcony cabins since then! I love the sound of the ocean. I like going out on my balcony in the middle of the night when everyone around us is asleep. I like sitting out there in the morning after working out and just relaxing. I like standing outside naked in the middle of the night!!! :eek:

 

Could I still enjoy myself in an interior cabin? Yep, I sure could. But as long as I can afford the balcony, that is where I will be! Different strokes.....

[TwinMom7]

To each his own. I love having a balcony and will be drinking a glass of wine on mine in 96 hours.

 

I love early mornings - seeing the expanse of ocean and the COLORS!!!

 

I love seeing the first glimpse of land as we approach a port of call.

 

I love evenings - a relaxing drink before dinner.

 

...and then late at night - the blackness and hearing the water rush by.

 

Just our opinion.

[cruisinbuddy]

Everybody will have a different opinion why they like bls or not. Personaly I love them. We spent more time out there on our last cruise than we did on the previous ones.

[Wennfred]

We wont pay for a balcony because Wendy is afraid of hieghts and we only spend a total of 5 minutes out there, she does parasail but can not stand by the rail, besides for that balcony price I rather go up on deck and view from the biggest balcony ever, Lido Deck :D

 

We did book a Cat.9a wrap around onboard Splendor, probably our last time doing that.

 

 

Fred

[Mrs. H.]

I paid for bottom of the ship/run of the ship/guarantee on the Triumph.

(ship was 3 weeks old) We were put all the way on top (10th deck?) just under the outdoor pools, inside cabin. We use to get port holes or big windows. DH LOVED the iside. Didn't know if it was day or night. When we opened the door one day they were cleaning a balcony cabin and I was like, NEXT TIME WE ARE GETTING A BALCONY! Haven't looked back. Love my balcony everytime! Keep wanting to get a suite but haven't done so yet. Way too much $$$.

[Shayneele]

We have only cruised 3 times. First time last minute cruise inside. 2nd time Oceanview. 3rd time we booked a balcony and we LOVED it. Usually we cruise with friends who have a balcony so we kinda "share" theirs. Now we want a balcony again. My DH says he won't go back inside. Me I would book inside if it meant cruising more often. I won't be cruising again until 8/09. What a long wait.

 

Just my opinion.....:D

[4gvn]

It's funny...last cruise I said to myself "I could have lived without this balcony" and then I thought to myself how you never really miss a good thing till it's gone. With that being said, I'll stick to balcony cabins.

[travelbumsboston]

I am going on my 4th cruise in Oct, and I booked my first baloney, I am very excited about that. So I hope I dont feel like I wasted my money, I still think its going to be really nice to be able to go out there in the morning with my coffee, and smell the ocean air.

 

I sure hope it is worth the extra money.

Simple typo yes but a recent reviewer of the Carnival Legend was actually dismembered. :eek: (wrote dismemberment instead of disembarkment). Needless to say I wrote a strongly worded letter to Carnival about this new procedure.

However, back to balconies. I booked my first baloney;) and cat 11 suite on the Legend for 11/08. We got an aft suite with wrap around balcony. My husband likes to stay up later than I do at night and if he wants to go outside and sit on the baloney I want him to have that opportunity. :D For me I will like the balcony in the mornings and just before dinner to sit and relax. We decided to treat ourselves this year. We have done inside rooms and oceanview cabins. If we go with a another couple or group of people we book the rooms close together and therefore we will all stay within the budget of other folks. If my husband and I are traveling alone we would at least get an oceanview room. My husband and I like to at least see the ocean and the light in our room in the mornings. I'm sure after reading the reviews of balconies and aft rooms we will find it hard to go back but alas I'm sure since we like to cruise we will make the sacrifice now and then :( based on economics and go back to oceanview rooms and inside cabins. As I said we've done them both and never had a bad cruise. Though I'm abit concerned about which body part I will have to do without when leaving the ship:rolleyes: Gee I hope I don't have any typos here.

[Cigar Dude]

Cigar Dude, I love your avatar picture:D

 

Thanks!

 

There's a story behind it, of course! :D

 

BTW, I don't have nearly that much hair in person! :D

[cruisemamma99]

I suppose its one of those things you have to weigh, when we went to Alaska we probably should have gotten a interior because it was cold. And the fact we spent a lot on that trip, drove from the SW to Seattle, stopped and stayed night in Reno. Then before the cruise stayed for 3 nights in Seattle at the Warwick, which was very good btw. So probably should have been a little more thrifty, but what the heck. Our next cruise to the Mexican Riveria will be a interior since it is around Xmas and it will save us money, or to put that toward excursions.

 

There's people that are able to take more cruises because they get the cheaper rooms, and I would probably go for that also. However, when we do the Hawaiin cruise it will for sure be a balcony.

[Cigar Dude]

My Fraternity brothers and i always need a balcony incase we need to throw up. Also its fun to get wasted on whiskey out there

 

Thank goodness I'm booked on the top level of balconies! :eek:

 

I don't want to be in the room under you guys! :D

 

SPLASH ZONE!!!

[H82seaUgo]

Thank goodness I'm booked on the top level of balconies! :eek:

 

I don't want to be in the room under you guys! :D

 

 

I don't even want to be on the same BOAT as them!