Is a balcony worth it?

[littledaisychain]

Ahhh alj1208 that sounds perfect! I'm a SAHM too and hadn't even thought of the "me time" aspect. We paid a lot for our balcony so I really do hope it's worth it!

[Julienatul]

It depends, we have done both. For us its not always worth it. My kids wouldnt fall asleep without me in the room so I lay with them until they fall asleep but each time I open the balcony door one would wake up. We do like it when we are traveling with family because you can open the dividers and make one big connecting balcony. Its also nice to sit out there with the kids at times and watch them play while enjoying the water views. DH and I usually trade off in the evenings, I'll take DD to a show while he goes back to the cabin to put the younger one to bed. BY the time we get back to the show both of us are exhausted so we really don't get much balcony alone time.

[Ehpride]

I'm one of those people who loves to be out and about on the ship. I'm pretty much in my stateroom to get ready for the day (very quickly), change for dinner and sleep.

 

However, having a balcony makes being in the stateroom so much more enjoyable when I am there. I don't hang out in the cabin anymore than I did with an inside cabin, but being able to go out on the balcony when I first get up in the morning or as I'm getting ready for dinner is amazing. Plus, I get motion sickness so being able to see that we're moving and being able to get fresh air makes it completely worth it :)

[LKBott]

Once you go balcony you never go back ;)

[newbiecruiser09]

Once you go balcony you never go back ;)

 

I'm actually the exception to this rule. DH and I had a JS for our first cruise (anniv and we knew we'd spend a good bit of time in the room) but when we took the kids on the next one we opted for OV rooms. We figured that since we did not have any sea days we would not be in the room too much. (which was right) Upcoming cruise we booked balcony since we have 2 sea days. My plan is to book what works best for our budget and the itinerary of the ship (of course if funds were unlimited I'd go suite every time!;))

[mikesteg]

It depends, we have done both. For us its not always worth it. My kids wouldnt fall asleep without me in the room so I lay with them until they fall asleep but each time I open the balcony door one would wake up.

 

I have to agree with that. The other thing missing from the discussion is that if your child does require complete dark to fall asleep, it is very difficult to achieve that with the ceiling-to-floor windows in a balcony cabin. If you're trying to go in and out, it's even worse trying to keep the curtain (mostly) closed.

 

We booked a balcony on the last one, and really didn't use it all that much. When the kids are up, it's really not relaxing to have to watch them on the balcony. When they are not, it felt like we were trapped on the balcony with only the supplies we brought out (and no bathroom.)

 

In the end, DW would typically stay in the cabin with the kids and take a nap herself while I'd go wander. She was able to call me when the kids woke up using the phone provided by Camp, but I'm not sure if that would work on all ships. In any case, I was usually sitting in the hall outside the cabin reading a book.

 

So basically we're back to booking a balcony on it's merits and price. For $100/day, we wouldn't have booked it either. $50 a day, most likely. $75... depends on the season and itinerary.