Is balcony worth it?

[riteonglor]

IMO a balcony for us is a must. We want to look out the balcony and know we are on a ship. My DH would not go if he was in a cabin with no light coming in, said it would be like being in a closet. Nothing sweeter then being able to sit on the balcony in your pj's early morning and watching the waves and eating breakfast is you so desire. Worth every dollar.

[drakes2]

The way I look at it is I give up a couple of nice restaurant dinners throughout the year and put the money saved into a balcony cabin, this year we're doing a B2B on the CB. When I booked with my TA, we got an extra OBC for booking a balcony so things worked out better than expected. I even saved a bunch of money on airfare; must have been my lucky day.

IMO a balcony for us is a must. We want to look out the balcony and know we are on a ship. My DH would not go if he was in a cabin with no light coming in, said it would be like being in a closet. Nothing sweeter then being able to sit on the balcony in your pj's early morning and watching the waves and eating breakfast is you so desire. Worth every dollar.

[Gbeman]

I am seemingly very alone on this. I grant that most of our cruising friends prefer the balcony cabins. I however am just way too ADD. On the 3 cruises we had a balcony (15 without ) I spent NO time on them. Why? The view just might be better on the other side. So I am topside going back and forth. Once again, MOST will greatly enjoy a balcony but remember that if you are a bounce off the walls type like me you wont be in your cabin, balcony or not.

 

Oh, another point. Some of us will get NO sleep on an Alaska Iten if we even have a window. Spent the entire night peeking outside! As long as there was light I was up. Curtains are too easy to move.:)

[helpmesailaway]

I really enjoy a balcony for the sun, moon and stars - ocean too. However here is another reason for having a balcony I hope I NEVER have to use. Someone here posted that they had an inside and were confined for 2 days because of icky Noro:eek: I would want that fresh air now!!!

[gargoyle999]

OP- as you can tell from the range of responses, you won't know the answer until you find out for yourself! :)

 

I am a balcony snob and would not cruise without one. If I lived closer to a port and didn't have to fly maybe I'd feel differently as I might then take multiple cruises in a year.

 

Spending time on the balcony was my favorite part of the cruise and I would rather not go if I didn't find a price I was comfortable with. It really is something you need to discover for yourself.

[rjnaz]

We have an inside cabin for Carribean in October. Just got the opportunity for a balcony, all the way forward, Baja deck. We've never had a balcony before. Any comments about whether it's worth the extra expense would be appreciated. Is it big enough to enjoy? Can you fit a lounge chair? etc.

we have had balconies in the past...depending on where we are going depends on if we want a balcony or not...we wanted a balcony for our alaska trip but didn't want to pay the price so we went for a oceanview and hoped for an upgrade to a balcony...they did up grade us to a balcony and we saved $2800.....lucky us....:D we now book inside/oceanview cabins with a hope of a upgrade

[JTor]

I agree it's a personal choice and depends also on itinerary. If you are going to be cruising alongside great scenery (Panama Canal, Alaska), and/or if the weather is warm (sitting out in PJs at bedtime), it may be worth it - especially when the additional cost is modest. Our last 2 cruises were Canada in November and Baltics in Aug, and on both it was too cold to get much use out of the balcony, so we could have saved the $$. I think it depends on you, too - if you have mobility issues or don't like crowds you'll use it more, whereas if you are the ADD type (we trend more in that direction), you'll prefer to be out and about rather than in the cabin.

 

Room service breakfast IS nicer with a balcony though!

[sexyaznboy]

I agree it's a personal choice and depends also on itinerary. If you are going to be cruising alongside great scenery (Panama Canal, Alaska), and/or if the weather is warm (sitting out in PJs at bedtime), it may be worth it - especially when the additional cost is modest. Our last 2 cruises were Canada in November and Baltics in Aug, and on both it was too cold to get much use out of the balcony, so we could have saved the $$. I think it depends on you, too - if you have mobility issues or don't like crowds you'll use it more, whereas if you are the ADD type (we trend more in that direction), you'll prefer to be out and about rather than in the cabin.

 

Room service breakfast IS nicer with a balcony though!

 

Great post, I'd say 80% say that balconies are a must have, and my last cruise from Hawaii to Vancouver, the 5 days on the balcony were very nice, however, it got really cold and rocky over the last few days and the balcony got NO use. In the end I decided that the balcony was nice but not worth the extra expense to me. I had just as fun of a time on a 14 day inside through the Panama Canal. I was never in my room. Bottom line, personal preference, I'm ok with an inside cabin, if it means I'm saving a thousand dollars between the two of us, to me that is a LOT of money, maybe not to some, and if it is worth it to those people, then by all means go for it! I personally would rather put it towards another cruise! :D

[woodofpine]

It's about wallets (thickness).

 

I've remembered a poster whose philosophy was, "Get the cheapest cabin on the best ships." Seemed like good advice.

 

If you cruise more or less depending on your cabin booking, then by all means stick with the less expensive crib. We're all in it for the cruising and the public rooms and decks are far and away more important than the cabin. Spend less, cruise more.

 

That said, if your plans are relatively fixed - but your wallet is flexible, having a veranda is VERY NICE! I hang on the rail a lot. The awareness of being at sea is great. If I'm booking an inside, my preference is as close to the promenade or exit to open deck as possible. Having your own private deck is 'worth it' if it doesn't negatively impact your cruising otherwise.

[NthernLgts]

I really enjoy a balcony for the sun, moon and stars - ocean too. However here is another reason for having a balcony I hope I NEVER have to use. Someone here posted that they had an inside and were confined for 2 days because of icky Noro:eek: I would want that fresh air now!!!

 

You know, I never even thought of that one but have not been on a quarrantined ship. I cant imagine being confined to quarters on an inside. On a balcony it definately would be tolerable.

[notentirelynormal]

Another reason for the balcony is the extra space in the room as well as the balcony space. Its been a long time since I’ve had an inside cabin. I love the mini-suites and a balcony room would be as much as I’d backtrack. To me, the inside cabin reminds me of just having a bedroom – a bed and nothing much else. You really can’t invite people to your cabin because they have to sit on the bed to visit with you, no extra chairs or space. For me, I’d rather have an extra chair to two (or couch) and feel less claustrophobic. The sound of the ocean is also something I really enjoy too.