Balcony cabins for Alaska

[wailea4me]

Which cruiseline has the best balcony cabins for viewing in Alaska?

[LindaKE]

Any balcony cabin is good. Others will argue that a balcony isn't needed, but we really enjoyed ours. We just returned from our HAL Zuiderdam cruise. We upgraded at the last minute to a SY Suite and had a much larger balcony than the verandah cabin we had originally booked. Looking at the other ships that were in port with us, other lines' balconies seemed to be the size of the verandah cabins on HAL. I know the aft balconies/suites are supposed to be even better - on HAL the SC cabins in the aft corners. The Zuiderdam sails the same itinerary as the Volendam - round trip out of Vancouver. We chose the Z because there are more balconies at a better price on the Vista ships.

[account4fun]

Our aft balcony on Princess was awesome!! We were able to view the side and back of the ship. It was a great "extra" opportunity for animal watching, glacier viewing and pictures. If it's within the budget I would say a balcony is a must in Alaska expecially if you have glacier viewing days. We didn't stay in our room the whole time but it was nice to go back there away from the crowds.

[bbwex]

We had a suite on a HAL ship, so had the balcony with a table for four. We planned to have breakfast with our friends out there everyday. Suffice it to say, that last June it was so cold while we were there that we were never able to have breakfast out there, even the day we arrived in Vancouver! Other than in Glacier Bay N.P., we were rarely out there.

 

That being said, I love having a balcony, and the balconies on most ships are fine.

[Hikini]

Personally I would base your ship choice more for other reasons than balcony choice. Yes, you will spend time on your balcony and for AK the balcony is a great place to be for seeing wildlife, etc. But I would look more at the room choices, the itinerary, the dining options, the entertainment and the ship overall.

 

Alaska is a wonderful place to cruise. We've done it 6 times with #'s 7 and 8 already planned.

 

Enjoy!

[MileHighAko]

We sailed on Carnival and had a wrap around balcony aft cabin. It was glorious. We were very comfortable sitting out on the balcony for long period of times and could go inside and warm up as needed. Highly recommended.

[Linsuesue]

I agree with MileHighAko! We spent tons of time on our aft balcony. If it was too windy on the side, we just moved around the corner and sat there. The balcony is about 220 sq. feet and the room is a bit more than that. Book one of the aft wraps on deck 4 on a Spirit Class ship. That deck has a bigger overhang which protects you more from sun and rain. Also, the deck 4 cabins are split into 2 separte rooms with doors. One person can be asleep or watching tv in the bedroom while the other person can watch tv in the sitting area without disturbing the other. The bad thing is that there are only 10 aft wraps on the ship. The best deal we got was booking ES, and it is a category that sells quickly. Chances of getting a price drop on that category are not good.

[blueweimer]

I have no reference, but will give you my opinion on the trip I just took. We cruised to Alaska on the Westerdam (HAL). We were in a deluxe suite. The balcony was HUGE! I actually spent a lot of time out there reading, watching the scenery go by. It was very cold when we were at sea, but with a blanket (provided) I was fine (granted I'm from Wisconsin) and it was really nice that most other people didn't want to spend time on their balcony (too cold for them). Therefore, it was very quiet.

 

We had booked an SC guarantee, and ended up with an SA, which I LOVED. Some people will say they love the SC, which is a wrap balcony around the aft part of the ship. I noticed when we were on the upper decks, you could look down into the aft balconies, which I wouldn't like. Others may disagree.

 

One more note, i noticed on the Princess, which was docked near us in several ports, that their balconies fan out, such that the top balcony can see the one below it can see the one below it etc.....I personally wouldn't like that, and it wasn't like that on HAL. It's not that I want to do anything "naughty" on my balcony, but I just don't want people looking at me.

[MJAS]

My husband and I loved our aft balcony on princess. I am so glad we had it. The aft was amazing. It blocked almost all the wind, so we used our balcony every day! We went up on deck one day and were freezing so we went back to our balcony and had lunch. The weather was perfect on it. When the captain told us where the whales were we just waited a couple extra minutes and looked off our balcony and could watch them longer than the rest of the ship as they were behind us. We also didn't have to run from one side to the other, and never missed anything. We are sold on aft balconies from now that's what we are booking. In Alaska I wouldn't book anything without a balcony.

[chipmaster]

step 1) pick the scenic cruising you want. Whats the point of a great balcony and not getting the best senic cruising.

 

Which cruiseline has the best balcony cabins for viewing in Alaska?

[mrstek]

We love the AJ Family Suite on NCL Star. No balcony, but huge room with a complete wall of floor to ceiling windows for viewing from the comfort of your room. We came straight home from our cruise last July & booked the same room for this July leaving in less than two weeks.

[Remon]

Hello everyone,

 

I was thrilled to find this thread about the views from the aft balcony rooms. This confirmed what I had assumed. We are planning to cruise AK with friends in May 2012 and it will be our second cruise. Two of our party of four have slight motion "issues" and I was wondering if they would be comfortable in the aft cabins. For our first cruise (which was sadly not AK), we were port side near the middle. We were fine, but had great weather and what I thought was very calm water.

 

Thanks in advance...

[MJAS]

On our cruise that left from Seattle, the frist full sea day I heard some people talking about Sea Sickness. My husband and I really don't get seasickness, so I can't answer for others. It didn't bother us any but the boat was rocking some nights, not sure if that was more the AFT cabin or being on Deck 11.

[genegri]

I just got back from my SB Alaska cruise. Had an aft cabin on the highest passenger deck.

 

While it was fully covered, relatively warm and had more than 180 degree view, I still didn't spend much time on it. I found myself constantly running up to the lido deck or the bow or the promenade. The public spaces were much more open.

 

We went to the bow during Glacier Bay sailing. The port side was facing the glacier longer, however, the better and most spectacular calving all happened when the starboard side was facing the glacier. It's never predictable and you simply can't take your eyes off the galcier! ;)

 

We did had some very wonderful view from our aft cabin leaving Glacier Bay.

[ruecatt]

I have to agree, we loved our aft cabin. I used it quite a bit. We loved sitting out there, drinking hot chocolate or coffee and taking a ton of pictures. Got some great shots.

[JamesEM]

We cruised on Princess two years ago in Sept., and did not spend much time on the balcony becuase of the cold.

[falltex]

We just got back last week (Radiance of the Seas). Even when I found it too cold to sit on the balcony, I spent a lot of time on the couch next to our balcony, watching the wildlife and other scenary. We loved our balcony.

[Westieluv]

Any balcony cabin is good. Others will argue that a balcony isn't needed, but we really enjoyed ours. We just returned from our HAL Zuiderdam cruise. We upgraded at the last minute to a SY Suite and had a much larger balcony than the verandah cabin we had originally booked. Looking at the other ships that were in port with us, other lines' balconies seemed to be the size of the verandah cabins on HAL. I know the aft balconies/suites are supposed to be even better - on HAL the SC cabins in the aft corners. The Zuiderdam sails the same itinerary as the Volendam - round trip out of Vancouver. We chose the Z because there are more balconies at a better price on the Vista ships.

We just cruised a few weeks ago on the Carnival Spirite and the balconies on the aft are the way to go, get views of both sides.

[Quigley10]

We had a C2 on the Century last month and loved it. We were outside constantly - reading, watching scenery, eating breakfast (room service!) and just enjoying it. Yes, it was a bit chilly, but nothing that a sweatshirt or jacket and a blanket didn't resolve - and we are Floridians who think that 65 degrees is cold. Just prepare for it and dress accordingly.

[Jsaxm]

I have to admit, this is going to our first cruise ever, but I put a lot of thought into which balcony to get for our trip. I know some people have said that they're able to go back and forth on the deck when looking at the glaciers or the wildlife, while other people swear by their balcony experience.

 

I read about all this before I booked my room. The deciding factor to get a great aft wrap balcony was this....all these people were talking about going back and forth to see stuff and I thought to myself, if they're doing this I can only imagine how many other people are doing this. I for one do not want to battle people going side to side and back and forth trying to get to the rail to see.

 

Granted the ships are quite big and getting some space might not be that much of a problem. But the fact that I could stay on my balcony and enjoy the great views of the wilderness and beauty of Alaska was enough of a sell for me. Sure, I may not get to see EVERYTHING that the other people are seeing, but for me the fact I can have my own private experience on my own large balcony is perfect!

 

That's why mostly everyone loves cruises I suppose, you can have whatever experience you choose to have :)