1st time on Carnival - Balc Guarantee OK?

[4merlurker]

Hi - its dd's 4th cruise, first time on Carnival. She's always had an inside room but the price is right and she's considering a balc guarantee on the splendor. Is there a bad balcony on the Splendor? any obstructed? Would a guarantee be too much of a risk? Location isn't really an issue.

 

Thanks for the input...:)

[WetToes]

I've done this several times, although never on the Splendor. No complaints, and would do it again.

[4merlurker]

Great thanks!

[OT2Be2004]

We booked an obstructed guarantee balcony and ended up in a regular balcony at a much higher category. It was an awesome surprise!!!

[SadieN]

I'm sure there are less desirable balcony cabins. Check out the deck plan and if she is OK with the worst cabin in the category then book it.

(Of course, everybody's criteria of 'worst' is different.)

[christie629]

My first Carnival cruise two years ago I booked a guarantee. We ended up with an extended balcony. Sweet! :D

[Naomi John]

Was not my ideal room and would not have picked it, but had a balcony.

 

This room was all the way aft and on a lower level. I like to be forward and higher up, but we enjoyed ourselves anyway.

[ruezim2]

Some balconies are better than others, we had am obstructed balcony on a different ship. The only issue was we couldn't look straight down into the water, we could look straight out just fine. Last time I was on the Dream our balcony was above the lanai, you couldn't look straight down to the water from any of those balconies. Next time I'm going to get a cove balcony

[4merlurker]

Does anyone know if the Splendor has any obstructed balcs? The rep told my daughter that if she books the "cheapest" balc it will most likely be fully obstructed by a lifeboat. i've never heard of such a thing. :confused:

[KenMo]

Looks like the lifeboats are on Atlantic Deck (4). There are no cabins on that deck.

[virginiab]

The rep is making stuff up. The lifeboats on the Splendor are on decks filled with public spaces, so unless someone has just welded a balcony onto the outside of the cigar bar, her balcony will NOT be obstructed by a lifeboat.

 

I'm not sure about the Splendor, but on some ships a few balconies have a partial obstruction by a staircase or something like that, but it will still be way better than an inside cabin.

 

I say: go for it!

[WetToes]

I just fake booked on the Splendor. They were not offering obstructed views, so I'm thinking there aren't any.

I say go for it too.

Good luck and have a great cruise! ;)

[VancouverKory]

I booked a balcony guarantee on the Splendor last September and I got a great room 9221 FWD it was a connecting cabin and we could hear our neighbours but hey no big deal.

 

it took quite a while to get my room assignment and I was constantly wondering what my room would be

 

with that being said my cruise this year I paid extra to pick my room.. I don't like not knowing personally what my room would be.

 

do I have a reason? nope not really..

 

 

I would say the guarantee will be just fine as we had an amazing vacation but I do like to research and pick my cabin in advance for my future bookings.

 

 

the Splendor is a great ship and you will have lots of fun!

 

 

Kory

[4merlurker]

Thanks everyone! I always chose my cabin when we cruise but these are college students so price is a factor! In the past, when I was paying for her room, she was in an inside with her sisters LOL but she's paying this time and wants to try the balcony. I warned her it will ruin her forever but she doesn't care LOL :D

[fair-winds39]

Hi - its dd's 4th cruise, first time on Carnival. She's always had an inside room but the price is right and she's considering a balc guarantee on the splendor. Is there a bad balcony on the Splendor? any obstructed? Would a guarantee be too much of a risk? Location isn't really an issue.

 

Thanks for the input...:)

Back in 2008 or 2009 we booked a guaranteed balcony on the Legend. There were four couples each booking a guarantee. It was our first CCL trip, and a couple of us were not really sure we wanted to try CCL. Well before the cruise, my DH received a call from CCL, and in the course of conversation with, I guess a Customer Service rep, he said he was "twisting" the arms of some of us to try CCL. The Customer Service rep asked if he would hold on for a moment, and when he returned to the call he offered us "free of any extra charge" 2 wraparound suites, and 2 of the suites on either side of the wraparounds. He called me at work because the decision needed to be made in a hurry. I didn't even hesitate. I said go for it. All eight of us got the suites for the price of our guaranteed balconies. I don't know if it was a bad year for CCL or what, but it was one of our favorite cruises. We went on CCL every year after. We had to cancel a Pride cruise earlier this year, but are booked for the Pride again in 2014. Haven't been offered any upgrades since then, but I'll never forget that cruise. Have fun on your cruise!!!

[mking8288]

We're on the Splendor last month, and there are no "obstructed" balcony - we had 3 regular balconies on deck 6 (Upper Deck) and they're all good ones, noise below us from the Promenade Deck were not a problem.

 

Deck 7 probably got the best ones - some of those balconies on deck 8 below the Lido & kitchen/gallery might be a bit noisy - others still prize them for its higher up locations. I'm sure you know that those FWD and AFT ones toward the ends are more prone to motion in rough sea conditions.

 

If the prices are good, book it - natural light over inside. Otherwise, go for OV where you can pick & choose its location (Midship - Deck 2) as they are the same size at 185 SF according to the floor plans for the Splendor - something that we would definitely book if we do the Splendor again, they are far higher above the waterline than the deck number 2 suggested - it's comparable to other line's deck 4 or 5.

 

Lately, CCL's sailing prices are looking pretty to very, very good & finding many last minute bargains - too bad that we're out of vacation days for the rest of 2013.