Does Anyone Enjoy Booking Ocean-View Cabins Over Balconies ?

I've booked both but have come to really love the OV cabins. I just adore the big window and even though I somewhat miss the sound and feel of the ocean I do not miss the slamming balcony doors, occasional annoying cabin neighbors etc. Plus..... I save a little $$ by doing so.

I'm just curious if any other cruisers feel the same ?

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I feel the same as I do not spend much time in my room really. Only to change, shower and sleep. Saves me a few bucks as well.

We've only ever sailed balcony or suite. My DH is claustrophobic, so no access to the outdoors from the cabin, would probably be a downer for him.

Personally, my favorite part is sitting on the balcony any time of day ... propping the door open and hearing the ocean (especially at night when the ship's rolling). :hearteyes: Getting room service or early breakfast on the lido deck and sitting on the balcony watching the sunrise... or w/ coffee. :hearteyes: Glass of wine watching the sun go down on the balcony. :hearteyes:

We've had some neighbors regardless of cabin location be annoying w/ the door slamming, loud talking in the hallway, noisy TV late into the night, etc. I think that can happen regardless of cabin.

I had a friend w/ a house on the beach in HS. We used to spend a lot of time there. They had large sliding doors along the back of the house and you could always hear the ocean. I loved that! :hearteyes:

I am definitely a balcony rat. LOL

Our favorite cabins are the French Door interiors on the Spirit class.

We prefer OV because we like to be in the middle of the crowd. Balcony is just a bit too lonely. Discovered this about ourselves when we had a Neptune Suite on HAL.

Some of Princess' Grand Class ships have Window Suites. Regular suite with all the perks but no balcony.

Unless I'm on Fantasy class, I typically like get a balcony. Love standing out on the balcony late a night right before I go to sleep and listen to the ocean.

When we took kids on Conquest last year and got 2 cabins...did go with picture window rooms that faced forward over looking the Secret decks...so at least it was a quick walk to get some sea air. I could do that again for sure.

Yes. I do it all the time. Even insides. I would rather save my money and cruise more often. I hate the balconies on Carnival because of door slammers. I wish they went to sliding glass doors like other cruise lines.

:D We always get an Ocean View. We have had balconies and have been upgraded to balconies but we never used them so why book them? We don't spend that much time in the room and we like to be close to the water. Level 1 is fine with us. Also there is less motion of the ship at lower levels, not that that bothers us any.

I've only sailed Oceanview so far

but my next two cruises in April and June will be in Balcony rooms. The April cruise because we are in a family suite. In June there were only balcony rooms left.

Like some of the others who responded above we only go to the room to change or sleep so we didn't really feel the need to pay extra for a balcony.

We like to attend all of the shows and the activities so we spend most of our time outside the cabin.

I'll let you know how I feel after my next two cruises though!

We've only ever sailed balcony or suite. My DH is claustrophobic, so no access to the outdoors from the cabin, would probably be a downer for him.

 

Personally, my favorite part is sitting on the balcony any time of day ... propping the door open and hearing the ocean (especially at night when the ship's rolling). :hearteyes: Getting room service or early breakfast on the lido deck and sitting on the balcony watching the sunrise... or w/ coffee. :hearteyes: Glass of wine watching the sun go down on the balcony. :hearteyes:

 

We've had some neighbors regardless of cabin location be annoying w/ the door slamming, loud talking in the hallway, noisy TV late into the night, etc. I think that can happen regardless of cabin.

 

I had a friend w/ a house on the beach in HS. We used to spend a lot of time there. They had large sliding doors along the back of the house and you could always hear the ocean. I loved that! :hearteyes:

 

I am definitely a balcony rat. LOL

ALL OF THIS... I've done an OV Twice... NEED A BALCONY!!!

Yes! I love the 6M cabins on the dream class ships, with the 2 bathrooms. It seems like the balcony room cabins + balcony combined are the same size as the outside cabins, so the interior area in an outside cabin just seems so much roomier.

I feel like the balcony cabins on the dream class have more liabilities, like the cove balconies are too close to the water and your balcony will end up wet/salty. I've heard some are over the galley so will be noisy. Then the cheapest next class balcony overlooks deck 5, so everybody can look right into your balcony. No thanks!

The only time we've had a cabin with a balcony is when we were given a free upgrade from an oceanview to a suite on our second cruise many years ago. I have NEVER booked a balcony. Much prefer an oceanview. Not only because of the price, but they are also roomier. Grand scenic can only been topped by the captain's suite IMO. We book that when we can. Not easy. We also really like 4J interior cabins.

Yes. I do it all the time. Even insides. I would rather save my money and cruise more often. I hate the balconies on Carnival because of door slammers. I wish they went to sliding glass doors like other cruise lines.

Door slammers are the worst!!! :mad: We booked an aft wrap for our up coming cruise (first time!) so I'm hoping maybe it won't be quite as loud since the neighbouring doors won't be quite so close.

I have yet to book a room that isn't a balcony, but if it meant not being able to afford it, I would definitely book a window or an inside. I would miss the balcony though, for sure.

Door slammers are the worst!!! :mad: We booked an aft wrap for our up coming cruise (first time!) so I'm hoping maybe it won't be quite as loud since the neighbouring doors won't be quite so close.

 

I have yet to book a room that isn't a balcony, but if it meant not being able to afford it, I would definitely book a window or an inside. I would miss the balcony though, for sure.

Yeah it really bothers me when they let the balcony doors slam. Hopefully you will have better luck with the aft wrap.

My first 6 cruises were in balconies and I thought I could never downgrade, but boy was I wrong. All the rest have been in OVs or insides. Sure they're nice, but I can't justify spending that much more especially when I travel by myself. I enjoy the lower decks more actually and am perfectly happy with no balcony.

No, no and no! Balcony or OS hands down, just part of the whole experience for us...

On our Alaska cruise people were running from one side of the ship to the other in the buffet area trying to get pictures of the Whales it was a nightmare so we just went back to our Balcony cabin took all the pictures we wanted without the confusion. Balcony cabins are a must for us morning Mimosas in the privacy of your room on your Balcony watching the Sun Rise and coming into a new destination Balconies are a must for us

Yeah it really bothers me when they let the balcony doors slam. Hopefully you will have better luck with the aft wrap.

 

My first 6 cruises were in balconies and I thought I could never downgrade, but boy was I wrong. All the rest have been in OVs or insides. Sure they're nice, but I can't justify spending that much more especially when I travel by myself. I enjoy the lower decks more actually and am perfectly happy with no balcony.

My sister is a balcony-only person. We have been in her room several times. It's not that people purposely slam the doors in every instance. They slam sometimes on their own. Last year on the Magic she would consciously stand there and the door would slam anyway. Or close fast. It's not like it she pulled it or anything. They just close hard. My daughter almost got her finger caught up in one before.

We'll just stick with insides or oceanviews. Seems like there's a million pet peeves people have with balconies. Can't talk out on them. People complain. Don't turn on the light at night. People don't like that. Don't slam the door, which is legit but it only makes sense that some of that is the doors themselves. Everyone on every ship complains about the door slamming. I go in my oceanview. No worry of any doors slamming or my husband annoying anyone with his hearty laugh. ;)

I've never heard one balcony door slam.

We are OV cruisers. 10 of our 11 cruises have been in an OV. Tried a balcony once and we both looked at each other and said, we are in the cabin so little, its not worth it. Three weeks ago we tried a Scenic OV for the first time and loved it.

I've never heard one balcony door slam.

Lucky you. Try having the whole wall where your head is next to shake every single time your neighbors go in and out . But I don't hear it anymore now that I only book insides and Oceanviews [emoji846].

We've had 2 balconies and our next one is also a balcony but I suspect that the pull of the sea will one day make us select the OV just so we can go more often. I've loved my balconies so far though and I do spend a lot of time out there just listening the waves and watching the night sky.

Pretty sure I won't ever want in interior bc I just need some natural light but I think the OV might help us get onto more boats. Or those 4K french door thingies I've been reading about...

I think it all depends on your personality. We just got back from a Cape Horn cruise Buenos Aires to Santiago 15 days. We had an aft port side balcony that offered the most spectacular views. After seeing glaciers and fjords on the upper decks it was great to sit on our balcony and continue seeing the sights. We use the balcony a lot. But, we only go on one Big vacation a year so we can splurge on certain things. If you enjoy spending most of your time in the ship common areas then a balcony may not be worth the extra money.

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We have done an interior once (hated not having natural light) and a balcony once (but found we didn't use enough to off set the extra cost over OV). So OV is our choice - we even like portholes (great value).

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For us, the other costs of taking a cruise (airfares, pre/post accomodation, Cheers, excursions) absolutely swamp the price difference between balcony, OV and even inside. The uplift to suite I do avoid, but $600 -> $800 to go from inside to balcony? Hardly noticeable.

We booked an Ocean View for our first Cruise. It was nice, but in my opinion it's even nicer to be able to sit/stand on your balcony as the ship pulls into and pulls away from the ports. There's also nothing like a drink in your hand, fresh air, and watching the beautiful sunsets. In my opinion, once you book a balcony cabin you won't want anything else :D

I love balconies but I usually book OV because it forces me put of my cabin to be with people and do things. With a balcony, I sit out there all day and night and read. Lol

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