Just booked my very first Balcony cabin.... what is your favorite thing?

[SuzanneH]

I booked my first ever Balcony cabin on the Star- I am so darned excited!! :p Am cruising with my DD who is 13 and did it as a surprise for her. This will be my fifth cruise (her second) but have always had an OV or inside and figured it was about time. So, to all those balcony cabin aficionados, what is your favorite part of balcony cruising? Thanks in advance for all of the amazing, awesome, wonderful responses I know will come from those in the know :D.

[LOWTYD]

I booked my first ever Balcony cabin on the Star- I am so darned excited!! :p Am cruising with my DD who is 13 and did it as a surprise for her. This will be my fifth cruise (her second) but have always had an OV or inside and figured it was about time. So, to all those balcony cabin aficionados, what is your favorite part of balcony cruising? Thanks in advance for all of the amazing, awesome, wonderful responses I know will come from those in the know :D.

 

Well, the balcony of course!!!!! You will never want to go back. It so nice to leave the door open and listen to the waves or take a stroll outside at night to check out the stars in your pajamas. Since you should have a coffee pot (or you can order room service) it's nice to have your first cup of coffee outside watching the sunrise or as you are pulling into a port. It's like your own private island! (but don't try to swim off of it!:eek:)

 

Have a great time and enjoy your balcony!

[lambs2]

You will love your balcony on the Star! We had a balcony cabin on deck 10 for our Panama Canal sailing and I loved being able to sit out there in the early morning with my cup of coffee (made in our cabin!) and enjoy the early morning. Loved watching from our balcony as we sailed into the ports. You will be so SPOILED!!!! :)

[SuzanneH]

THANKS Lowtyd and Lambs2....... I am usually an early riser and have always ended up on the top deck enjoying the sunrise- now I get to do it from my wonderful balcony and enjoying my room service. WHEW!! LOVE IT!! Up until this point I have always been of the mindset that for the price I could go twice, but this time it was just too cheap to pass up!

[OceanDreams]

We just got off the SKY (again) and this time we had an AFT balcony and we LOVED it. The sound of the waves, seeing the wake from our ship, the smell of the ocean, the seagulls are more playful at the AFT.

 

Any balcony - side, front or back is great. I will have to disagree about leaving the balcony door open...... the cool air from your cabin gets sucked outside.

 

Have a wonderful time.

 

OceanDreams

[scchasgal]

THANKS Lowtyd and Lambs2....... I am usually an early riser and have always ended up on the top deck enjoying the sunrise- now I get to do it from my wonderful balcony and enjoying my room service. WHEW!! LOVE IT!! Up until this point I have always been of the mindset that for the price I could go twice, but this time it was just too cheap to pass up!

 

Room service knocking at my door at 6:30, answer door in my bathrobe, collect coffee, tip room service, then head to my balcony with coffee and said bathrobe. Sipping my coffee in my bathrobe on the balcony hearing the waves and watching the sunrise.

[Arwenmark]

I spend most of my time on my balcony. I sit out there and stare out to see and listen to books on CD. I also eat early breakfast out there and I sometimes sleep out there if I am not feeling well.

[flashdog_1]

I like a balcony because it is like a second room, a place you can escape to. You get lots more light & view than a port hole affords.

 

I like it because I can smoke there (I do not smoke in cabins) without having to climb a few decks to a designated space. I like to drink a cup of coffee I've either brewed in the room, or more likely picked up in the buffet since no one I ever travel with wakes up as early as I do, and I'd probably wake him/her up if I started the coffee pot. I do not like my day to begin with complaints from my lazy family, so I slip out and get a croissant and coffee and bring a coffee back, sit on the balcony and enjoy.

[coka]

Everything already mentioned above... plus the feeling of warm salty slightly humid breezes on my body and through my hair... plus the revelations about life that sometimes occur while sitting out there staring at an ocean all day... plus on windy days at sea I dry my hair naturally out there and end up with some great hairstyles...

 

Have a great cruise and enjoy that balcony!

 

coka

[DMAB]

In addition to the things mentioned...

 

1 When you are in your cabin with the balcony door closed, you still have a floor to ceiling view of the outside.

 

2 When you are on your balcony you have a 180 degree view of the world. As long as what you want to see is on your side of the ship, it's better than standing on deck with people stacked 4 deep to see a glacier or other spectacular attraction.

 

3 You will see a lot more birds and marine life that you will through a window or porthole.

 

4 You deserve it.

 

Only drawback is that it will be hard to do without a balcony in the future.

[ute_fan]

My favorite thing about my balcony has been being able to step out on it -- in my jammies - and photographing the beautiful sunrises! I'm never up and dressed early enough to be out on deck to see the sunrise, but love it from the balcony.

 

I do, however, disagree that you can't go back. We book our cabin based on what we can afford, and if I can't afford a balcony, I'd rather be sailing than sitting home.

[pcreek]

Room service knocking at my door at 6:30, answer door in my bathrobe, collect coffee, tip room service, then head to my balcony with coffee and said bathrobe. Sipping my coffee in my bathrobe on the balcony hearing the waves and watching the sunrise.

 

 

 

exactly what she said! ('cept I usually make the coffee in the room - that way room service does not wake up DH)

 

Hint - do not leave balcony sliding door open when you open door to hallway.

 

Well.. yeah, go ahead and do that...everybody needs to do that at least once! LOL :D :D

[SuzanneH]

This is why I love CC!! Wonderful people with such great insight. Thank you all for the info and tips- I love the books on CD idea!! I love to read on cruises but miss the view! I never would have thought to do that- but I will now!! And thank you DMAB- I did it partly because I felt like I deserved it. I am picking up extra hrs at work to pay for this cruise so it will not come out of any family budget. I had originally booked an OV, but when I had that covered I decided to go for it and upgrade to the balcony. I am sure I will love every minute- and my daughter will be thrilled!! Thanks again! You are all awesome!!

[amistad]

I am going to tell on myself, our first balcony cabin was on HAL and we were very excited to sleep with the door open so we could hear the ocean, well in the middle of the night I guess the humidity from outside and the AC had a reaction and the vent above our bed started dripping on us. Enjoy your balcony and congratulations it is very nice to have that extra space especially when you are getting ready, I send my husband out there while I dry my hair ect.

[jdarch]

My dh and I love our balcony, too. Sometimes I just stand or sit out there when you are out in the middle of the ocean. I watch the water and wake and the skyline and just let my ..on vacation...mind wander. I think about all the months I waited for my cruise. The sunsets are amazing, too.:D My dh goes out and sits out there and reads while I wander around the ship. Sometimes we'll get drinks from one of the bars and bring it back and sit out there with the warm breeze blowing. We'll just sit and talk....finally... because our real life is very busy, or just sit there. The sound of the ocean and waves are amazing and soothing at the same time.:D Enjoy yourself.

[goingsailing]

As with just about everyone else who posted, it's the qiuet time in the morning, sitting on your balcony in your pjs or whatever, sipping your coffee and enjoying the danishes room service brought you, watching the water go by that I like the best. Hearing the sound of the waves and smelling the salt in the air is awesome. I have seen so many flying fish jumping away from the ship, some of them traveling quite far before hitting water again. I saw a huge fish of some kind sunning itself right below the water level. In St. Thomas, I was excited to see a sea turtle cruise by our ship as we went in to the port. Not to mention the other cruise ships out there in the ocean that we pass, at night these are beautiful to see all lite up, all while sitting on your on balcony enjoying whatever it is you like to drink and whoever you like to be with.

[sodell]

On sea days... going to the buffet (I like to see & pick out my food), bringing back a plate of cheese, fruit, & breads sipping a glass or two of wine & putting up my feet as the ocean goes by, tho really good days, I do that and re-positioning the TV to watch I Love Lucy reruns.

[sodell]

.... sipping your coffee and enjoying the danishes room service brought you.

 

O My Gosh... the chocolate crossiants.... if I could have one now. (drool, drool...)

[catnanny]

:)What a wonderful surprise for a daughter! Are you looking to adopt a 58 year old?

I have been on only two cruises. We had a third one scheduled for November 29th, but it was canceled when the ship lost power. We have rescheduled for March 7th. We have had a balcony each time. My friend I cruise with has a disability, and we spend perhaps a little more time in the cabin than some, as she needs to rest. Here are some things we have done to enhance our trips with the balcony:

I take bubbles and we blow the bubbles... lots of bubbles... from the balcony when we leave ports. Remember the days when the passengers all threw confetti and streamers off the ships as they pulled away from the ports? We let our bubbles do that for us and drift where they may. Your daughter might like that one. I'm not sure if we ever put it out there, but I did buy an inflatable palm tree and the plan was to tie it to a chair on the balcony so we could always see it from the pier, even far away. That way, we'd always be able to see our own balcony easily. My favorite time of day/night was to sit when it was pitch black at night, with only the stars. We'd be out there when other cruisers may have been in the lounges, restaurants, and shows. I just loved the silence. With all the balconies all around, it was amazingly quiet at night. The splish splash of the water down below was an amazing sound. Sometimes that would be almost all we heard. I also have taken several pictures of the sunset, a few minutes apart in the midst of the beautiful sky and clouds. When you awake in the morning, at a completely different port, the hustle and bustle of all the port and pier activities are fun to watch. It's like when you were a little kid and just learning about elevators. It was almost a mystery as to how you got on in one place, and when the door opened, you were in a completely different place. As the cruise week goes on, and you meet other cruisers, whether on the ship, or in the ports, it's fun to see them, far below, coming and going, getting on or off the ship. Sometimes there are so many people on the ships and coming and going, a place to sit outside like that, in quiet and privacy, is a wonderful thing.

Have a great time! When are you going? Does your daughter know yet? What a lucky girl! The closest thing I ever got to going on a boat ride at 13 was a boat ride in an amusement park. What did that last, three or four minutes? Let us know how you liked the cruise and the balcony and about how the big surprise played out! :)

[Rstamper]

I love balconies! On our two upcoming cruise, we have balconies booked. I love to eat breakfast on the balcony, and love to just go out at night or even during the day, and see if I see any other cruise ships or islands. On our Alaskan cruise last year, it was so fun to go out on the balcony and see whales and look for other sealife.

 

Brenda

[newmexicoNita]

I booked my first ever Balcony cabin on the Star- I am so darned excited!! :p Am cruising with my DD who is 13 and did it as a surprise for her. This will be my fifth cruise (her second) but have always had an OV or inside and figured it was about time. So, to all those balcony cabin aficionados, what is your favorite part of balcony cruising? Thanks in advance for all of the amazing, awesome, wonderful responses I know will come from those in the know :D.

 

I think for many of us it is a couple of things: having coffee on the balcony early in the morning and watching the world float by or having that last drink at night and watching the stars..There are other things as well, but these are the really wonderful part for us.

 

Nita

[MadBrewer]

Sadly this time around we can't afford to do the balcony. I am so jealous ;-)

 

As we have dd with us and she uses the spare (sofa) bed, and she loves to sleep I never did do the coffee on the balcony thing 1st thing as doing so would have woken her up. As such we used it for watching the ship leave the dock/start the cruise. For reading and playing cards on a couple of evenings. I dont think we used it enough to warrant the £1,000 plus extra it 'seemed' to cost when I booked my next cruise particularly as we had ot find airfares and precruise 1 night stay in a hotel.

 

I love the Balcony - but I can go without it if I feel the deal isn't attractive enough.

[cruisersflife]

My most favorable thing about having a balcony is going out on the balcony in the middle of the night with a nice drink sitting there in my boxers cooling out.

[itsjb1]

On days at sea when it is too hard to get a chair by the pool, with all of the people saving chairs for people who never show up, heading back to the room and sitting on the balcony to read.

[tgptmp]

There are two biggies that I love about a balcony. They have been named here but I will do so again.

 

1. Leaving my door open at night--listening to the ship cut through the water.

 

2. In the AM before going to breakfast, I schedule Room Service to bring fruit and coffee and sit out there to start my day.

 

Here is a bonus one.

 

3. On our last cruise there was a lightening storm off in the distance and I watched some of it from my balcony. God provided a beatuiful show.