Balcony ?

I'm with HJ,

>I like a French balcony cabin on the middle deck.

Ira

We've done 16 ocean cruises, but never a river cruise. We enjoy balcony cabins on ocean cruises. But I'm wondering is a balcony worth the fairly significant price difference on a river cruise?

 

I'd love to know what river cruise veterans think.

 

Thanks,

Hello Tiger fan,

We've done a bunch of ocean cruises like you & last year tried our first 2 river cruises, both with Avalon. In July, we did the Danube & had a mid-deck french balcony, while in October, we did the Seine (Normandy) & had the "aquarium class" cabin. Both cabins were pretty well the same (except for the balcony) & more than suffice in size & comfort.

The french balcony was great, however as others have mentioned, you don't have a lot of river/sea days & as others also have mentioned, the best views, if you do have river/sea days are up top on the sun deck. On our 1st river cruise, we had one, 4-5 hours river days & we were up top. On our second river cruise, the weather was wet for the sun deck, as such we spent most of our time either at the front or back end of the ship under cover or just parked ourselves in the lounge by the huge windows. We found on both river cruises, we were mainly in our cabin to clean up, change our clothes or for bedtime.

We found the cabins to be quite quiet, even though our "aquarium class" cabin was next to the very small gym, which had a tread mill. Trust me, while we were on our river cruises, you're not getting anyone training for any football camps, if you know what I mean.

Needless to say, I believe the "aquarium class" is the better bang for your buck.

We've done 16 ocean cruises, but never a river cruise. We enjoy balcony cabins on ocean cruises. But I'm wondering is a balcony worth the fairly significant price difference on a river cruise?

 

I'd love to know what river cruise veterans think.

 

Thanks,

[ATTACH]405686[/ATTACH]

I took this picture out our balcony window on the Ama Legro in 2013 and many others like it.

For us, the balcony's extra cost is worth it.

Others may disagree.

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[ATTACH]405686[/ATTACH]

 

I took this picture out our balcony window on the Ama Legro in 2013 and many others like it.

 

For us, the balcony's extra cost is worth it.

 

Others may disagree.

 

 

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Let's try the photo attachment again.

Sorry.

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The disadvantage is if the view had been on the other side of the ship you wouldn't have got it. The deck gets you a view to all sides.

The disadvantage is if the view had been on the other side of the ship you wouldn't have got it. The deck gets you a view to all sides.

That is true but we don't spend all our time up on the deck, nor does anybody else.

If we had been in a balcony stateroom on the other side of the ship we would have taken this picture.

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I wouldn't consider a room without a deck, but others may disagree. When cruising along the river there is land on both sides so there's always something to see and enjoy. Although I loved the top deck, it wasn't accessible through all the lochs, and also at times it was good to spend quiet time in our room. One afternoon I was talking to canoeists on the Danube, whilst swans were sailing by and summer campers were waving from their riverside tents. It was also a good way to check the temperature and sort what to wear for the day. The deck completes the experience in my opinion.

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What is the difference between th D and E cabins that is worth $200-$300 for the D cabin? The square footage appears the same.

What is the difference between th D and E cabins that is worth $200-$300 for the D cabin? The square footage appears the same.

Which line? Which ship?

On the Avalon Luminary, we were in a Cat. A cabin which has a french balcony & on the 2nd level of the 4 deck ship, where the 4th deck is the sky deck. On the Avalon Creativity, we were in a Cat. E cabin which is an "aquarium" room with the windows near the ceiling, on the bottom level of the 4 deck ship. Both rooms were identical except for the obvious & we found both very quiet & comfortable.

Which line? Which ship?

I am looking at Viking, AMA, Emerald, and Avalon. I don't know the ships. They all have 2 cabin categories in window cabins.

I am looking at Viking, AMA, Emerald, and Avalon. I don't know the ships. They all have 2 cabin categories in window cabins.

In most cases, the difference is in location. Those more forward, or more aft, will be less expensive.

Robin

In most cases, the difference is in location. Those more forward, or more aft, will be less expensive.

 

Robin

Especially those more aft on the lowest deck, where you may get some engine noise.

I am looking at Viking, AMA, Emerald, and Avalon. I don't know the ships. They all have 2 cabin categories in window cabins.

I'm only referring to the aquarium class with no balcony.

The difference is generally just location. The aft cabins are considered less desirable, so are cheaper. If you look at the deck plan, you should be able to see the location.

For example, on coming Ama Mekong cruise, A, B and C cabins are identical (there is no aquarium class). The 2 aft cabins on the main deck are cat C, and the rest of the main deck are cat B. On the upper deck the aft 2 cabins are cat B, and the rest of the upper deck are cat A.

On my second Uniworld cruise, on the River Countess on the Danube, I was in cabin 202 and was disturbed on a number of occasions by the bow thrusters.

We would not consider taking an ocean cruise without a balcony but found on our 1st river cruise we never spent any time there other than to sleep and shower. So, reluctantly we booked the "aquarium" room on our last river cruise because there were no French balcony rooms available and we found it worked just fine. Next river cruise we will probably do the same without a balcony. The price difference was remarkable without a balcony.

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You are quite right that many cruise lines count the outside balcony space in the "cabin" measurement [true of ocean as well as river lines]. One particular issue to note is that when Viking announced the Longship design they made a big deal of moving the corridor off-center so the Balcony cabins could be larger. What they didn't say was that made the French Balcony cabins on the other side of the hall smaller than industry-standard (135 sf). These ships have nice Balcony cabins, and nice innovative "aquarium class" cabins -- but the French Balconies are a trap for the unwary.

My husband and I took our first viking cruise (8 April) on the Danube, Budapest to Passau. We originally had an "aquarium" class cabin but got up graded to a french balcony. I knew the cabin would be very small (I'm used to the 170sf cabins on the S-class Celebrity ships) and knew we wouldn't spend a lot of time in the cabin. We managed very well; and the cabin is layed out very well, including the bathroom. We loved having the ability to open the window for fresh air and for the views. Out of our 8 days, only 2 did we have blocked views due to another boat next to us. I'll take a french balcony over a regular balcony (saw only a couple of people on theirs) or an aquarium cabin.

Monica

So, bow cabins have thruster noise (when docking?) and aft cabins have engine noise. I probably can live with either and won't need to turn on my sleep noise app.

I think the thrusters are used for turning. When you go into a lock they have to line up carefully, so use the bow thrusters.

The most common river cruise ship design has the cabins stacked on three decks in the back half of the ship, and the restaurant and lounge stacked on two (taller) decks in the front half. So the bow thrusters shouldn't be bothering any cabins. They also generally put the crew cabins at the back of the lowest deck, where the engine noise would be worst. All cabins are outside, and the most common complaint about noise is the bump and grind when going through a lock at night.

I was in cabin 202 on the River Countess. This was aquarium class but with larger windows. The cabin was the most forward one under the lounge, but I think that it might have been further forward than the current cabin 202. (I know they refurbished the ship after I was on it in 2011.

In general, aquarium class frequently goes farther forward than cabins on other deck levels.

I was in cabin 202 on the River Countess. This was aquarium class but with larger windows. The cabin was the most forward one under the lounge, but I think that it might have been further forward than the current cabin 202. (I know they refurbished the ship after I was on it in 2011.

In general, aquarium class frequently goes farther forward than cabins on other deck levels.

There are a few ships that don't fit the pattern [Crystal is breaking it too], but most that I have seen are as I described.