Balcony Lovers question

[raphune74]

First time we cruised was with a balcony. On Freedom, with binocs, I saw Cape Canaveral as we pulled out. I'll never forget seeing the Haitian mountains as we approached Labadee-looked like a scene out of South Pacific-majestic - and I clicked away. With Binocs I saw Cuba-never realized how long it was; also just before we approached St. Thomas via Allure, there was a huge rock in the sea, starboard. At night we stargazed-even saw the Big Dipper. Priceless!

[RCI Cruisers 004]

Wouldn't even consider a cruise, if it weren't in a balcony room. We do everything from morning coffee to just relaxing on it, watching the world go by.

[cruiseatick]

when we took our first cruise to alaska we had a balcony and the highlight of our entire cruise was seeing a humpback wale breach right in front of us ,,amazing and one of the highlights of all my cruises, so the price of a balcony is priceless!!!!!

[karena1]

We are planning our next cruise and feel like we just can't do without a balcony. Buit, I started thinking this morning about how much we actually use it.

Here is a question for all the balcony folks, 'How much time do you actually spend on your balcony?'

 

We don't get balconies on 3 night cruises, but would not live w/o it on anything longer. Love to go out first thing in the morning after I get back from the gym. DH usually goes and gets coffee and sits out there while I am at the gym. Then we go out there for a while after getting back from port before we shower and head to the DL or CL. Also sit out there at the end of the night for a while before bed. Just love the view and everything about it.

[golf43]

I love having a balcony. Its so nice when waking up in the morning to go on out on the balcony. Have a cup of coffee out there. Or just relax and read a book. We worked our way up to a balcony years ago and can not go back to an inside cabin.

[JamesEM]

I don't a cruise without a balcony cabin, on sea days I'm there. My favorite part of booking a balcony is going to the WJ and then having brunch, lunch, and snacks there.

[SHICHIDAN]

We use it as a social gathering area for our kids to bring friends they meet onboard. We get a room with a jacuzzi on the balcony which has enough space for a bunch of people to gather and sit back and watch the fun.

 

Only drawback is sometimes the jacuzzi is directly outside the bedroom door so late nights, but seeing the enjoyment and long term friendships that develop onboard ship makes it all worth it.

 

Can't imagine going without one, but have a daughter that loves the dark and quiet of an inside room for resting.

[CaribbeanCrush]

Reading these posts makes me realize that we haven't been getting the full benefit of our balcony! I'm going to make some changes on the next cruise. We will definitely be spending more time there.

[shorbr]

Reading these posts makes me realize that we haven't been getting the full benefit of our balcony! I'm going to make some changes on the next cruise. We will definitely be spending more time there.

 

Me too :D

[Host Faith]

If sailing with girlfriends (we only do short cruises anyway), we're hardly in the room so an inside is fine.

 

If I'm with my husband, we definitely book a balcony, on the hump if at all possible. We spend a lot of time out there. We eat breakfast on the balcony just about each morning, watch sailaway from each port from there, and sit out there at night to watch the night sky (cabin and balcony lights out). What an amazing view! We're pretty laid-back and like having some quiet outside space to ourselves. And most of the time on our sailings, the price difference between a balcony and an oceanview has normally been less than $200 total for the week. The cost is completely worth it to us. :)

[BillOh]

My upcoming Allure cruise will be my first balcony and I'm scared I'll get hooked for future cruises for the same reasons mentioned.

 

Not all addictions are bad. Since our first balcony ,we did a 3 day in an inside and we were fine. 4 balconies later we booked with friends and all they could afford was an OV, so we booked it, a huge concession on our part. As fate would have it, prices dropped and we were upgraded to D1 balcony.

[BillOh]

If sailing with girlfriends (we only do short cruises anyway), we're hardly in the room so an inside is fine.

 

If I'm with my husband, we definitely book a balcony,

 

Great answers covering both sides. You're allright Chrystal. I hope to sail with you some day.

[lrn2cruise]

My DH is a tightwad when it comes to speding money. I am thrifty, but let loose more then he does. All that to say, he wants the cheapest all the time. We could be millionaires and he would still go cheap.

 

But.....I learned my lesson one summer in Galveston Texas. We stayed at a motel on The Sea Wall. My DH woke up in the morning only to drink his coffee sitting on the wall of the motel facing the Gulf. He had exhaust in his face. I sat there and watched him. My thoughts were: We work so hard during the year for my DH to sit there and drink his coffe in the morning with car exhaust? I told myself:never again. We will get whatever is peaceful and beautiful even if it cost us a bit more. We wont go cheap just for the sake of going cheap.

 

So for us, we got a balcony on FOS and I would go down it the cruise was port intensive, but otherwise, we will get a balcony. We need that extra peace and tranquility. I dont want to see my DH balancing his room service on his knee. I want to see him sitting on the balcony and resting and recouping from the realities of life

 

Now mind you, he has not been too happy with my choices of stepping up our accomadations these days. But he is getting better.

 

We are also entering our 50s. If we were younger, it might be different. We are getting older and just would rather pass time on the balcony

[shorbr]

My DH is a tightwad when it comes to speding money. I am thrifty, but let loose more then he does. All that to say, he wants the cheapest all the time. We could be millionaires and he would still go cheap.

 

But.....I learned my lesson one summer in Galveston Texas. We stayed at a motel on The Sea Wall. My DH woke up in the morning only to drink his coffee sitting on the wall of the motel facing the Gulf. He had exhaust in his face. I sat there and watched him. My thoughts were: We work so hard during the year for my DH to sit there and drink his coffe in the morning with car exhaust? I told myself:never again. We will get whatever is peaceful and beautiful even if it cost us a bit more. We wont go cheap just for the sake of going cheap.

 

So for us, we got a balcony on FOS and I would go down it the cruise was port intensive, but otherwise, we will get a balcony. We need that extra peace and tranquility. I dont want to see my DH balancing his room service on his knee. I want to see him sitting on the balcony and resting and recouping from the realities of life

 

Now mind you, he has not been too happy with my choices of stepping up our accomadations these days. But he is getting better.

 

We are also entering our 50s. If we were younger, it might be different. We are getting older and just would rather pass time on the balcony

 

Good for you. That peace and tranquility is priceless. Enjoy your upcoming cruise!!!

[Bookish Angel]

but when it comes to travel, I don't scrimp when it comes to surroundings. A balcony is that little bit of peace, quiet and privacy I won't be without. Plus, it makes the room look bigger.

[lacey jane]

Don't be afraid. ;) But, I have to tell you that we were like an earlier poster. Our first cruise was and 'oceanview' (porthole on the Majesty), our next cruise was a balcony and we've booked all balconies since then.

 

thats where we went wrong, we had our first cruise a last year on Adventure for our 25th wedding anniversary and we had a grand suite as it was a one off, how wrong could i be. we are sailing on September 15th ( 4 weeks to go) and had to book a grand suite again xx

[saltwaterhappy]

We must be unusual in that we do both. Sometimes when the price is right, we "spring" for the balcony and appreciate it like mad. Other times, like this weekend, three-nighters with windows were $169. OK! No balcony! We like the peace and quiet, the private sail-away, the option to be out there anytime we want. It turns out if you keep sailing with a balcony, you get rather used to it. We sail on seaview, then when we get to a balcony, we feel like it it a huge treat.

[AFsouth]

A balcony or better is a must for us!

[buffi001]

There's nothing like breakfast in the morning on your balcony!....

Also...Every night for a breath of fresh air before going to bed.......every

morning coming into port....every afternoon leaving port....... leaviing

NY harbor, returning to NY harbor.......and anytime you want a moment

alone............or time to read a book......and lastly just listening to the

peaceful rhythm of the waves from your cabin.

[kleo30]

thats where we went wrong, we had our first cruise a last year on Adventure for our 25th wedding anniversary and we had a grand suite as it was a one off, how wrong could i be. we are sailing on September 15th ( 4 weeks to go) and had to book a grand suite again xx

 

We did the same thing! We booked a GS for our next cruise, too, after booking one on the first. The same one, actually. It can't get here soon enough.

[Ladysilver]

There's nothing like breakfast in the morning on your balcony!....

Also...Every night for a breath of fresh air before going to bed.......every

morning coming into port....every afternoon leaving port....... leaviing

NY harbor, returning to NY harbor.......and anytime you want a moment

alone............or time to read a book......and lastly just listening to the

peaceful rhythm of the waves from your cabin.

 

 

Everything here and more! :D

[DrD]

Also a balcony gets you a floor to ceiling window. Basically an entire wall of cabin is glass. I love that, especially since they started making the balcony wall glass also.

[lacey jane]

We did the same thing! We booked a GS for our next cruise, too, after booking one on the first. The same one, actually. It can't get here soon enough.

 

we are in the suite suite also x

[lady_cruiser]

We are planning our next cruise and feel like we just can't do without a balcony. Buit, I started thinking this morning about how much we actually use it.

Here is a question for all the balcony folks, 'How much time do you actually spend on your balcony?'

We spend enough time to get our money's worth. We have even slept on it once or twice when it wasn't too hot outside.

[Room Service!]

We spend enough time to get our money's worth. We have even slept on it once or twice when it wasn't too hot outside.

 

 

We've 'slept' on ours too. ;)