Balcony vs Ocean View in Alaska

[NewtoAlaska]

When booking a cruise, we always book a room with a balcony. My husband and I are wondering if it is really worth the extra cost on a trip to Alaska? In other words will you really use it that much? We are considering an Ocean View room to save some money. Our thought is that it will be to cool and rainy in June, when we plan to go, to actually sit out on the balcony for any period of time. I realize this is a personal decision, but I am looking for feedback from people who have cruised to Alaska and what type of cabin they had? Thanks.

[sblahars]

Went to alaska last year on Princess, had a balcony, loved every second of it. We spent hours and hours on the balcony with binoculars and the camera. When people say things like, "We get an inside room because we are never in it...", I don't necessarily agree because if you get a room with a balcony, then you WILL spend time in it.

 

I definetly thought it was well worth it to get a balcony for Alaska. If it is affordable, I definetly reccommend it.

 

I should say however, that we were lucky and had amazing weather the whole time. It was warm and sunny each day (near 80 degrees in the ports). If it wasn't so nice, I like to think we would have spent as much time on the balcony, but do not know for sure.

[Happy ks]

Alaska is actually the first time we ever intentionally booked a balcony cabin. It was wonderful, we would wake up and take our coffee out ther first thing in the morning. We stayed out there almost the whole time we were cruising the inside passage as well as the day at the glacier. We were there last August and the weather was warm enough that we left our balcony door open all night.

 

It's hard to predict the weather in advance, but most cruises have at least some dry days.

[cruzermon]

We booked a balcony cabin for our first cruise to Alaska, thinking we would spend quite a bit of time on it, but, in fact, didn't spend much time there.

 

Since we never knew what was on the other side, we spent quite a bit of time in the Crows Nest, just to make sure we took in all the view on both sides as well as what's ahead.

 

While we had intended to spend plenty of time on the balcony, we didn't, so it really wasn't utilized that fully. But, I don't think we paid that much more than an outside room, so it wasn't a big issue. If price were an issue, and we took the same cruise, I'd forego the balcony, but that only applies to us.

 

Based on some of the other responses, this one isn't that simple. In our case, the scenery was so good, we were afraid of missing half of it by staying in our cabin. Plus, we seemed to partake of many of the daily activities, especially eating/gorging that occurred outside the cabin. Since a round trip itinerary isn't perfectly symmetrical, there really is a difference between the port and starboard side for viewing, so you don't necessarily get the same view coming or going. But, I couldn't say which side is better. Actually, the bridge is best, but then that's not an option.

[cntrydncr1]

I think if you read the "Alaska" threads the concensus is that it is most important to have a balcony for alaska if you can afford to do so. I normally book an OV but I just booked my first alaska cruise for 2006 and got a balcony on the starboard side for my northbound cruise.

[FreesiaE]

Hi,

I am an oddball on this thread b/c we did Alaska last year with no balcony, just a picture window. It was nice weather the whole time, but I don't regret it at all. We could still see out, and if we were inclined, go stand outside. We saved $$$ this way that was put towards excursions and the like. I don't regret it at all!

[geoherb]

We enjoyed having an obstructed view cabin on our Alaskan cruise. We could see enough to know when to go outside on the Promenade Deck for a better view. The difference in price for us to upgrade to a balcony was more than $1,500. That was more than we were willing to pay. We saved enough by not getting a balcony that we were able to take a second cruise that year--and had a balcony in the Caribbean.

[DEL67]

As another respondent said, how often you'll use the balcony depends on the weather.

 

When we went on an Inside Passage cruise a few years aho, it drizzled or rained from the time we left Vancouver until we returned. We still had a great time, but were happy we had not spent the money on a balcony, especially since our cabin was at the front of the ship and had a great view. In fact, while we were in Juneau, there were eagles perched on the flag pole right outside our window..

[Krazy Kruizers]

Every time we have cruised Alaska, we have always had a verandah. Love it. Even when we cruised in June - used it a lot. It was great in Glacier Bay to have our own private place to watch the glciers calve.

And there were days when it was warm and we would sit out on the verandah and have cocktails.

[brendanspop]

Had a balcony on HAL and loved it - I think we took most of our pictures on the ship there. Great views while sailing, especially in Glacier Nat'l Park - also nice to relax at night and in the morning for breakfast.

[mnwildfan2]

I can't say that I've had the experience of cruising with a balcony ever, but we had an oceanview for our Alaska cruise during perfect weather and I can't say that we missed having a balcony. We cruised on Celebrity Mercury and the tables on Deck 11 aft provided not only a perfect place for viewing all of the beautiful scenery we also had an opportunity to enjoy the reactions of others. Going with the oceanview also gave us more funds to spend on the excursions which can be quite costly in Alaska. The glacier dogsled excursion (taking the helicopter to the dogsled camp on the glacier and running the dogsleds) is a once in a lifetime experience.

[Bruin Steve]

We did the Celebrity Summit Southbound las July with our daughters and had two Sky Suites...

To tell you the truth, we rarely used our balcony...and the weather was pretty nice...

 

When we had the day at Hubbard Glacier, my wife wanted the 360 degree experince of viewing it from the Heliport...and it was pretty cold right up near that wall of ice!!!

 

Other than that, we were in port four days...it was nice having the Suites for all that extra space and service, but for the balconies alone? Seriously, it's not as big a deal as some people make it...

 

If you are the type that orders room service and likes to have your pre-dinner cocktail in solitude, then a balcony is for you...

If you generally use the cabin only to sleep, use the bathroom and change clothes, then, save the money...You can use one of the public decks as your balcony and use the money for a nice helicopter glacier landing in Juneau instead...

[phabric]

We have had inside, outside(window) and balcony. We have taken 7 cruises. I would never have an inside again It was always felt like midnight, great if you like to sleep in. It felt like going into a bathroom and you had to turn the lights on all the time. With the window cabin, you had natural light coming in.

 

When we traveled to Alaska, the Inside Passage, we had a balcony and my in-laws had an window. My DH would call down and say look out and see the mountain, sunset, or whale. When we were at Glacier Bay, we went to the front of the ship and when it was too cold for my in-laws, we all went to our cabin and watched the scenery and when we saw something we would go out on the balcony. It was great first and last thing each day just to step out onto the balcony and enjoy the peacefulness all by yourself.

 

Our TA advises her clients that the Alaska and Panama Canal cruises are a must for a balcony and we have taken her advise for both cruises. Both cruises have beautiful scenery on each side of the ship not like the Caribbean where it is only water until you reach a port. You have your private viewing area.

[mr green]

This is the one cruise when a balcony is a 'must'. On deck you may get very cold, and you may also loose your place at the rail, if you move. In a balcony 'portside', you have some shelter, with T.V. turned up you can hear the ranger, and, if you get cold you can warm up quickly. I have made four cruises, two with, and two without. A balcony is worth the extra money. :) john

[cruisingbuckeye]

We booked an inside guarantee and ended up getting upgraded to an outside view cabin on HAL for our Alaska cruise. So even tho it wasn't a balcony, we were still thrilled to have a window! We spent most of our time outside up on the wide open top, or on the promenade deck that circles the whole ship. I'm sure a balcony would have been nice, but we had a great time without it.