Anyone else find a balcony not worth the price difference?

[PA Beachlovers]

We were on the Breeze in October and had our first balcony, we chose the "large" balcony toward the back of the ship next to the aft wrap. We found that we used it very little and spending the extra money to have a balcony was not worth it. On sea days we had breakfast delivered to our room and ate on the balcony, besides that we spend little time in our cabin, we would rather be up on deck with people and see what is going on. If we do return to our cabin its usually to take a nap before dinner and find the bed more comfortable than sleeping in a chair, our balcony did have a lounge chair on it but again not as comfortable. Many people said, once you have a balcony you will never want anything else. Wonder how many others feel the same way?

[firemanbobswife]

For my first 8 cruises I always had a balcony because I thought I couldn't be without one. Until I was looking at the Glory last May out of Norfolk. It was going to be me and my mom and we didn't want to spend a lot for a 5 day. I found my favorite room- 2470. It's HUGE with 2 OV windows, one floor down from the dining room and a few more up to all the action at the aft end of the ship. Super convenient.

 

I booked it again on our October Glory cruise last year, and just got back from Conquest on Sunday. Yep - we had 2470. I will never spend extra for a balcony. I even turned down a free upgrade for one.

 

So as long as I sail on Carnival, I will be in my enormous OV room 2470! Bye bye balcony door slammers!

Edited January 15, 2014 by firemanbobswife

[cccer]

I would never cruise without one, but that's just me

[lady_cruiser]

Never. I used only once with an ocean view and while I enjoyed it I missed my balcony.

[Jimmy Geegitz]

We have to have our balcony. I spend hours on it sipping wine and looking thru my binoculars and listening to music.

[boowaaccaa]

If you don't use it then it is of course not worth it. Personally my DH likes to spend time in our room so I wouldn't go with out it for us. If I traveled with my sisters we would get an interior because we would spend very little time in our room.

[funinthesun1964]

For my first 8 cruises I always had a balcony because I thought I couldn't be without one. Until I was looking at the Glory last May out of Norfolk. It was going to be me and my mom and we didn't want to spend a lot for a 5 day. I found my favorite room- 2470. It's HUGE with 2 OV windows, one floor down from the dining room and a few more up to all the action at the aft end of the ship. Super convenient.

 

I booked it again on our October Glory cruise last year, and just got back from Conquest on Sunday. Yep - we had 2470. I will never spend extra for a balcony. I even turned down a free upgrade for one.

 

So as long as I sail on Carnival, I will be in my enormous OV room 2470! Bye bye balcony door slammers!

 

We had 2470 on the Freedom in October 2012. We loved it too! Very spacious. We had room service lunch on the table that was in the room! We are going on the Conquest in October 2014 and am going to watch prices closely. If they drop enough, I will switch from my inside to one of the corner rooms if they are still available!

[golfadj]

Its nice to have but not worth say an extra $ 300 especially on a cruise with mostly port days.

 

Last few times we didnt use it that much.

[roohound]

I'm a balcony gal. Part of the cruise experience for me is being able to go out and experience the ocean - love the feel, the smell, the everything. Great place to watch sunrises, sunsets, nap, have good conversations with hubby.....

[funinthesun1964]

We were on the Breeze in October and had our first balcony, we chose the "large" balcony toward the back of the ship next to the aft wrap. We found that we used it very little and spending the extra money to have a balcony was not worth it. On sea days we had breakfast delivered to our room and ate on the balcony, besides that we spend little time in our cabin, we would rather be up on deck with people and see what is going on. If we do return to our cabin its usually to take a nap before dinner and find the bed more comfortable than sleeping in a chair, our balcony did have a lounge chair on it but again not as comfortable. Many people said, once you have a balcony you will never want anything else. Wonder how many others feel the same way?

 

We feel the same way! We have ever had a balcony, but feel like it would be a waste of money for us too. We are only in the room to sleep, shower and change. We get up in the morning, usually go to gym, come back and shower, go to breakfast, go to Lido for, sun...etc. - always out doing something. Then there's the ports! So for me personally, would much rather spend the money elsewhere.

[firemanbobswife]

We had 2470 on the Freedom in October 2012. We loved it too! Very spacious. We had room service lunch on the table that was in the room! We are going on the Conquest in October 2014 and am going to watch prices closely. If they drop enough, I will switch from my inside to one of the corner rooms if they are still available!

 

I wish you luck and great cruising! I would much rather have the extra room inside vs a small balcony. Especially with the normally big difference in savings. It's a win win for me.

[funinthesun1964]

I wish you luck and great cruising! I would much rather have the extra room inside vs a small balcony. Especially with the normally big difference in savings. It's a win win for me.

 

Thank you, same to you! I definitely agree with you :)

[sad549s]

We have been on 3 cruises and have went from an inside to ocean view and a balcony on our most recent cruise. For, our next cruise (in 3 weeks) we have booked an inside as we do not feel that the balcony or OV are worth the extra $.

[Tapi]

If the difference in price between an OV and a BL is minimal, we'll get the balcony. Otherwise we are perfectly happy with an OV.

[Midwestgal]

For me no balcony = no cruise! I couldn't imagine not having one.

[SadieN]

We had 2470 on the Freedom in October 2012. We loved it too! Very spacious. We had room service lunch on the table that was in the room! We are going on the Conquest in October 2014 and am going to watch prices closely. If they drop enough, I will switch from my inside to one of the corner rooms if they are still available!

 

 

Had the same room on the Conquest.

Knew we had something special when the Room Service guy said, "Wow! Big room!"

It seemed bigger than our suite on the Golden Princess.

 

We've had insides, balconies, suites (HAL & Princess) and OV. We prefer the OVs. Trying out a 4K in October.

 

We figured out what we do not like about a balcony. We love either being in the middle of things or just people watching. Hard to do that on a balcony.

[carrieluvsgreg]

We've never spent the extra $$ to get the balcony, I've looked several times, just can't imagine we'd use it much... That said, we recently found out about the cloud 9 staterooms... Ahh, we booked one last April and will pay for that upgrade every chance we get when were able to cruise on a ship with cloud 9...

[Butterbean1000]

We love the balcony. The one time we sailed without one, it was greatly missed. The saying that you don't spend that much time in your room doesn't apply to us. We spend time in our room because of the balcony, actually using the balcony. When we had an OV on the Fantasy, we only went to our room to change, shower or sleep.

[Sh1035]

For me no balcony = no cruise! I couldn't imagine not having one.

 

Agree I want fresh air and some private space outdoors to relax!

[Troy McClure]

I am a super cheapskate. I always book inside.

I can take 2 cruises a year rather than one this way on my limited income.

I assume if I was a smoker I would want a balcony as you can smoke

Don't get me wrong, when I walk past a balcony room being made up as I go to my room, I get Balcony envy.

Someday...

[5000]

the cost of the balcony is worth not having to go down to the muster drill. Shhhhh;)

[momof4boys]

That is just the most amazing thing!! Those who don't like balconies can choose an OV or inside. Those who love balconies can book them. I love how we can all get along!! :) Can you tell I am a teacher?

[Rena921]

I love my balconies....especially aft wraps. I will sail without one, but only if it's a rock bottom price that just can't miss.

[bethaniesmom]

we used to have a balcony every cruise, but used them very little. then we started shopping for better deals and sometimes found that inside was a really much better deal. so now we lean toward balconies for warm weather Caribbean cruises (where we use them more often) and insides for other cruises. we really don't care now, as long as we are on a cruise!

 

Beverly

[Cruisin 4 Ever]

My husband and I are about to take our 7th cruise. The first 5 we did 4 insides and one oceanview. On the last cruise we had a balcony. For us it totally changed the cruirse. It is FANTASTIC. We used to think it would be a waste since we didn't spend much time in our room. Turns out we weren't spending time in the room because it wasn't a balcony:)