Newbie to Oasis: Boardwalk/Central Park Balcony?

[Sunshine101]

Hi folks,

 

We're debating about sailing on Oasis next year. We've always really enjoyed our balcony cabins (love looking out over the ocean!), but this time I'm wondering if we should try the Boardwalk or Central Park balconies? Any thoughts on these? DH is already rolling his eyes as he would much prefer a balcony overlooking the water, but these balconies are a bit lower in price. Whats the noise like? Is it quite busy? We have 2 young children so perhaps sound might keep them up? Any thoughts would be great, many thanks!

[Familygoboston]

Boy, if dads not on board, I'd be worried.

Central Park is very quiet at night, but the pool band can be heard from up above during the day with Park Cafe and the band, it can be busy. also a late pool party on the pool deck would be heard. Of course with your balcony closed, you might not notice it.

The Boardwalk is busy and noisy during shows and movies, which are fairly frequent, again, most say you can't hear it with the door closed, but if that activity would annoy Dad, I'd be reluctant. That said I think your young uns would enjoy the activity on the Boardwalk, and having them watch that would give you time to shower etc. And would be more fun for them than CP, IMO.

 

Have you checked the price of the lowest D balcony? Our D8 on Allure ( and I know you can't get one of those for 4) was the same price as the Boardwalk balcony.

[bluegirlum]

There isn't a lot of "open water" space on Oasis, so if you enjoy looking at the water, I would take an ocean balcony. Central Park is literally just kind of a park, and kind of boring. A Boardwalk balcony would allow you to see the shows in the Aqua Theatre, which is cool, but to me, the best part of having a balcony is seeing the water. If you're going to pick an "interior" balcony, I would pick the Boardwalk. Have fun!

[K1200S]

I have not stayed in a Central Park or broadwalk cabin but did get to go through them during a cabin crawl. The one thing I noticed was how hot the central park balcony was even with the ship moving. Our ocean view was much cooler due to the air movement on the outside of the ship.

[teajak]

I have not stayed in a Central Park or broadwalk cabin but did get to go through them during a cabin crawl. The one thing I noticed was how hot the central park balcony was even with the ship moving. Our ocean view was much cooler due to the air movement on the outside of the ship.

We watched the boardwalk balconies from the CL on deck 11 and very seldom saw anyone using the balconies except to dry clothes.Very hot and very little air movement

[gcuecruise]

We watched the boardwalk balconies from the CL on deck 11 and very seldom saw anyone using the balconies except to dry clothes.Very hot and very little air movement

 

Same thing with the Central Park balconies, few used them. But it was not hot, so I was surprised few used them. It was a great place to people watch, and it was certainly beautiful at night. But if water is so important to you/yours, then I would suggest sticking with the oceanview. Central Park balcony view is beautiful, quiet, but indeed it is the same view all the time. At least with the OV you get some changes, ports, sunsets, etc.

 

The only thing I wanted more out of our Central Park balcony was to be able to rappel down to the Park Cafe. We were two decks directly above it and it seemed odd to have to go down the hall and then down the stairs and then through Central Park. It just seemed like it would be quicker to jump. :)

[berylde]

Have always booked ocean balconies but decided to try the boardwalk balcony on the Oasis for a change. Glad we did it but would not do it again.

There is not that much to watch or see. Don't think it would keep your children interested

I would let DH have his ocean balcony

[Sh1035]

Bite your tongue.....balcony is not an entertainment place for your kids! Just dealt with that for 5 days....ugh....hey kids go out on the balcony and scream, fight, cry, etc.....never a parent!

[KissaKay]

We had a boardwalk balcony on the Allure in March (actually 2 adjoining ones), and it was great for the kids. We could see the ocean out the back (over the theater), and we felt like we were a part of all of the afternoon activities. I think we found ourselves involved in the family activities there every afternoon because we could see them/knew they were going on/could pop down quickly. I would do it again, for sure.

[SparklyPinkCruiser]

We did the Boardwalk Balcony and the kids enjoyed people watching but I sure did miss seeing the ocean!

[dogsambam]

Kissa- what cabins were you in?

[dz9yvr]

We just did the best case Boardwalk Balcony (11729) on the Allure on 12/18 and I wouldn't do it again. It's true that you can see the ocean, but it's just not the same. I really didn't get the feel of the water moving by the ship. There are also activities on the Boardwalk until midnight and the noise can be a little irritaing. The one surprise that I had was the shape of the balconies. If you look carefully, all of the Boardwalk balconies are bowed at the front instead of straight at the divider bewteen rooms. The effect is that if you look sideways you are looking into your neighbors balony and room and vice versa. That just didn't feel right. You also get a lot of noise from the top deck activities during the day. Another irritation was that the balcony was wet every morning from the crew washing the top deck. I think Central Park Balconies would be boring and suffer from all of the noise issues during the day. I took the Boardwalk balocny to save a few dollars , but I wouldn't do it again. If I was looking to save money, I would stay with the inside cabins. perhaps the only way it would make sense would be if the C&A balcony discount made the BW or CP balconies the same price as an inside cabin.

[iCruise717]

We booked a Central Park balcony cabin on Deck 11. After reading this thread I am apprehensive! We have only cruised once before and had an interior stateroom without windows and such, so I can image the Central ark balcony is better than that, yes?

 

I hadn't thought about the temperature on the balcony, can anyone give more information on the heat/times of day/time of year? Also, I was aware of potential noise from the pools above, but can anyone who has stayed on Deck 11 (or around there) attest to noise? We are not picky people whatsoever, especially since we are not experienced cruisers, so I am not overly nervous about our cabin, just curious!

[KissaKay]

Kissa- what cabins were you in?

 

I'll try to dig through and see if I can get exact cabins...but we were by the carousel, across from the ice cream parlor, and above the candy store. We did hear Boardwalk noise, but it added to the fun most of the time. Generally, the kids were so partied out from the activities that they could still sleep, and by the time I went to bed the noise level was down. My husband can sleep through ANYTHING.

 

I'm looking at deck plans, and we "think" we were on 8 (or 9?), in rooms 8699/8701.

[Trekker954]

OP, please ignore the advice of those who have NOT actually stayed in a BW balcony. I have had a Central Park Balcony (a bit boring) on the Allure and a BW balcony on the Oasis and if sailing either again will definetly go with the BW balcony (deck 11 or 12) as we absolutely loved it and like KissaKay said, you almost feel like you are part of the activities. There are some caveats though. You need to book a room as far back near the aqua theater (aft) as possible. We had a wonderful view of the ships wake and that should fulfill seeing the ocean all the time. We were able to enjoy encores of the aqua show, watch the zipliners pass our balconies (hilarious), we were able to watch the bonds between dads and sons while playing basketball on the sports court up and across from our balcony, we could watch the aqua theater fountain show, watch the morning news on the aqua theater screen, when we couldn't get seats for the belly flop contest, we retreated to our balcony and watched from there. (and before nay sayers say it here, you are across from other passengers balconies, but during my two cruisers I never saw anyone interested in what was going on while on my balcony, nor was I interested in looking at anyone else). Should you close your curtain at night while changing and such, yes of course, but thats about it.

And the Allure and Oasis doors for the most part shut out noise with the special latches they have in place on those ships.

I know people have different likes and maybe because I live in south florida and have access to the ocean year round it may be different for me, but ocean balconies kind of bore me. To each thier own, but I wanted to explain why my daughter and I love the boardwalk balconies best. Let me add, you should take into account time of year you are cruising. We cruised the Oasis in late February last year. I have heard the CP and BW can be stiffling hot in the summer months.

[Isa65]

You need to book a room as far back near the aqua theater (aft) as possible. We had a wonderful view of the ships wake and that should fulfill seeing the ocean all the time. We were able to enjoy encores of the aqua show, watch the zipliners pass our balconies (hilarious), we were able to watch the bonds between dads and sons while playing basketball on the sports court up and across from our balcony, we could watch the aqua theater fountain show, watch the morning news on the aqua theater screen, when we couldn't get seats for the belly flop contest, we retreated to our balcony and watched from there.

 

Trekker954, do you recall your cabin number? Seems like the ideal cabin for us!

[party-of-5-ny]

We booked a Central Park balcony cabin on Deck 11. After reading this thread I am apprehensive! We have only cruised once before and had an interior stateroom without windows and such, so I can image the Central ark balcony is better than that, yes?

 

I hadn't thought about the temperature on the balcony, can anyone give more information on the heat/times of day/time of year? Also, I was aware of potential noise from the pools above, but can anyone who has stayed on Deck 11 (or around there) attest to noise? We are not picky people whatsoever, especially since we are not experienced cruisers, so I am not overly nervous about our cabin, just curious!

 

I am also booked in a CP Balcony on deck 11 for the 4/29 cruise. We can't book too far ahead, so basically for our budget, we could only book a CP or BW Balcony, or an INSIDE cabin. For us to jump up to an ocean view balcony, it would have been $1000 more. For us, that $1000 covers our airfare from Buffalo, our pre-cruise hotel, and some extra! So, we're doing the CP Balcony. I am a little apprehensive as well, but realistically, we enjoy our balcony in the morning for our room service coffee, and rarely use the balcony after that! So I think we'll be fine, and as far as noise goes, people talk about a special latch on the doors that pretty much sound proofs the rooms during the day.

 

I'd love to hear from someone who had a CP Balcony and loved it!! It would make me feel better! I know we'll have a great cruise anyway!

[Oshawapilot]

We had an inside cabin on Allure a few weeks ago, but did end up meeting and hanging out with two different families who had inside balconies - both of them said they wouldn't book them again, and that spoke volumes to me.

 

The other thing I observed, as others mentioned here, was that the balconies were rarely occupied. It was pretty rare to see anyone on the balconies in either CP or BW at all, much less actually sitting there in their chairs doing any sort of relaxing.

 

Personally, if I had a choice I'd pick a CP balcony over boardwalk - the hubub in BW wouldn't be appreciated by anyone in my family, but at least CP was more mellow (especially during morning/evening) and had some scenery. CP was one of my favourite "happy places" on Allure, I spent a lot of time there - but really didn't miss the fact that I didn't have a balcony - there are plenty of places to go and find a quiet spot alone - the money saved was spent elsewhere instead and we had a lot more return on investment than a balcony would have gave us, IMO.

[gcuecruise]

We booked a Central Park balcony cabin on Deck 11. After reading this thread I am apprehensive! We have only cruised once before and had an interior stateroom without windows and such, so I can image the Central ark balcony is better than that, yes?

 

I hadn't thought about the temperature on the balcony, can anyone give more information on the heat/times of day/time of year? Also, I was aware of potential noise from the pools above, but can anyone who has stayed on Deck 11 (or around there) attest to noise? We are not picky people whatsoever, especially since we are not experienced cruisers, so I am not overly nervous about our cabin, just curious!

 

 

We were in a CP deck 10 on Oasis. Yes it is better than an inside. Temp wasn't a problem in December.....at all. I don't think you will hear much noise from the pool from deck 11. We heard nothing from deck 10. This is with the door closed. Out on the balcony yes you may hear some Caribbean music from the pool deck, but this was typical cruise backgroud noise so it was not an issue, and enjoyable actually. And such noise would not go very late at night in general.

 

I would not be worried at all about your cabin. Unless you really want to see the ocean or you really want to save a little more money, which may be difficult if you cruise is getting closer, then you will enjoy your CP balcony.

 

But again, as I stated earlier, I saw few people use their balcony, but it does give natural light, and it is nice to check the weather outside, etc. And CP is beautiful at night. And if your view is such, you can even check to see how crowded Park Cafe is.

[Trekker954]

We had 14323, but I would try for Dec 12 or 11 next time. I made a note of that, but don't exactly remember why. Although if you do chose dec 14 on the side we were on, I think you can make your husband happy, if you were to continue walking past the cabin to the end (not too far down), there is a door that leads outside with loungers, its almost like having your own huge private aft balcony. I guess its there for smokers but we probably went out there four or time times when my son and his girlfriend wanted to hang out and only once did we have a couple of there smoking. You are not permitted to smoke on the inside balconies.

Again, this is how we feel. I know some others hate the inside balconies and miss their ocean view. But for $1K, that is a lot of money.

I almost forgot to mention, the inside balconies are eligible for the C&A balcony discounts.

[iCruise717]

I am also booked in a CP Balcony on deck 11 for the 4/29 cruise. We can't book too far ahead, so basically for our budget, we could only book a CP or BW Balcony, or an INSIDE cabin. For us to jump up to an ocean view balcony, it would have been $1000 more. For us, that $1000 covers our airfare from Buffalo, our pre-cruise hotel, and some extra! So, we're doing the CP Balcony. I am a little apprehensive as well, but realistically, we enjoy our balcony in the morning for our room service coffee, and rarely use the balcony after that! So I think we'll be fine, and as far as noise goes, people talk about a special latch on the doors that pretty much sound proofs the rooms during the day.

 

I'd love to hear from someone who had a CP Balcony and loved it!! It would make me feel better! I know we'll have a great cruise anyway!

 

Your take on the situation is very similar to mine! My excitement for our vacation dwarfs any apprehension I might have about our cabin and like you said, realistically, the extra money saved can and will be used elsewhere!.We aren't picky and seeing the ocean is not extremely important to us. Plus, I don't see us spending much time in our stateroom anyway. Even as far as noise goes, everyone in our party will be older (no young children I mean) so I doubt noise will be much of an issue for us.

 

Thank you for the added reassurance though! :)

[iCruise717]

And CP is beautiful at night. And if your view is such, you can even check to see how crowded Park Cafe is.

 

This is what I am most excited for! :p Roast beef sandwiches, here I come!

[JJ2sail]

I would not have a boardwalk balcony again, way to noisy. Very hard to sleep at night. And I also did not like having to look at everyone's laundry and stuff on the balconies and the lack of privacy. If you go to bed late and sleep late you will be fine. But years of going to bed early and getting up early for work, makes it hard for me to change on vacation.

[Langley Cruisers]

OP, please ignore the advice of those who have NOT actually stayed in a BW balcony....

 

Well you know, normally I would agree with you; there are those who poo-poo Oasis/Allure because she is "too big, too crowded", etc. but unless you have sailed on the class of ship being asked about, you really don't know.

 

However, having said that, I do think I am somewhat qualified to give my opinion that I would not like a BW balcony and would never book one. Having seen the ship, experienced her, I know what I like and don't like. I feel your statement, although well-meaning, is not altogether fair.

[gcuecruise]

I am also booked in a CP Balcony on deck 11 for the 4/29 cruise. We can't book too far ahead, so basically for our budget, we could only book a CP or BW Balcony, or an INSIDE cabin. For us to jump up to an ocean view balcony, it would have been $1000 more. For us, that $1000 covers our airfare from Buffalo, our pre-cruise hotel, and some extra! So, we're doing the CP Balcony. I am a little apprehensive as well, but realistically, we enjoy our balcony in the morning for our room service coffee, and rarely use the balcony after that! So I think we'll be fine, and as far as noise goes, people talk about a special latch on the doors that pretty much sound proofs the rooms during the day.

 

I'd love to hear from someone who had a CP Balcony and loved it!! It would make me feel better! I know we'll have a great cruise anyway!

 

We had a CP balcony. From your perspective/needs of a balcony, you will love it. Being able to look out your balcony/window to see the ocean when it can be seen elsewhere fairly easily is not worth $1000 to me. I think your approach/attitude is perfect for a CP balcony for you.