Legend - Aft Wrap vs Extended Aft Balcony - Alaska

[Miss_Kharisma]

Hi Guys,

 

Hoping some of you can help me with a very 1st world problem I’m having!!!

 

I am sailing to Alaska in July next year on the Legend. I am taking my mum, we are flying over from Australia and my plan is to not even tell her where we’re going or what we’re doing until we’re on the way to the airport on the day we fly out! Even then, I’m hoping to get away with keeping Alaska a surprise until the very last second.

 

As I want it to be super special (I worked on ships for 3 years and spent over a year of that in Alaska, so I have pretty much seen and done everything!) for her, I went and booked an aft wrap cabin – 6260. However, after having a bit of time to think, I have just put a regular aft extended balcony (5268 – Upper Deck seems to be the only regular extended aft balcony cabin left available) on hold for 24 hours.

 

There is a $1300 price difference between the aft wrap and the regular aft (and with the Australia $$ being the way it is it is probably more like $1700). Is an aft wrap cabin worth the difference in price? Looking at pics on line, the regular aft balconies seem quite large as it is. I am also worried that the weather might mean we don’t use the balcony as much as I would like. That price difference equates to a couple of Dog Sledding on a Glacier / Helicopter / Flight-Seeing type excursions. And given that we’re sailing from Seattle, I know it’s not the most scenic route available.

 

I’m also figuring that any passenger cabin is much better than a crew cabin!!! ;)

 

Such a hard decision!!

 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Mithril379@aol.com]

I've had the aft wrap and it was beautiful. It was a Caribbean cruise, so whether was warm and beautiful and we definitely enjoyed it. However, it was a casino upgrade. As nice as it was I doubt I'd pay for one if it were going to impact my spending money for other activities. If I did Alaska I think I'd look for a regular balcony on the land view side of the ship.

Edited April 20, 2015 by Mithril379@aol.com

[bakersdozen12]

Holy cow, $1,300 (or $1,700 if you are looking at it that way because of the conversion), is a lot extra to pay for a bigger balcony with only a slightly different view. I haven't been in either type of room yet, nor have I been on an Alaska cruise, but for me personally, it wouldn't be worth it. With that savings I could pay for another cruise!

 

My husband and I do have an aft wrap booked for our Nov 2016 cruise, but in our case, it was only $420 more than a aft extended balcony. And only $550 more than a regular balcony. Since it's my 40th birthday cruise, I figured we could splurge at least this once. But I wouldn't have done it for $1,300 more.

 

In then end though, you have to go with what is best for you and your financial situation. Good luck, and enjoy your cruise!

Edited April 20, 2015 by bakersdozen12

[SummerXU]

$1300 is A LOT of money, so I don't know if I'd be willing to spend that much extra. That being said, I had an aft-wrap in Alaska last year and it was amazing! When cruising in Glacier Bay, we could see everything behind us and everything off the port side of the ship. Had we just had an aft balcony, we would have missed spotting the mama whale and her calf surfacing to breath and display their flukes in unison. Simply amazing!

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[tea4ular]

We did an Alaskan cruise and many fellow passengers said they really did not use their balcony as much as they expected. Although we heard that some folks grabbed extra blankets and bundled up, many said they just stared out the large windows...inside their cabins. We had an ocean view cabin and every time we stepped outside it was windy an quite frigid! Now bear in mind this was May, not July, but on shore it was lovely and sunny (except in Ketchikan where it rained) but on the ship it was chilly any time we were moving. Gorgeous but chilly! We are glad we didn't splurge on a balcony and instead used the $ for a Temsco helicopter flight that landed on 2 glaciers and it was surreal! Layers layers layers! And ear coverings!

[plimouth pilgrims]

Hi Guys,

 

Hoping some of you can help me with a very 1st world problem I’m having!!!

 

I am sailing to Alaska in July next year on the Legend. I am taking my mum, we are flying over from Australia and my plan is to not even tell her where we’re going or what we’re doing until we’re on the way to the airport on the day we fly out! Even then, I’m hoping to get away with keeping Alaska a surprise until the very last second.

 

As I want it to be super special (I worked on ships for 3 years and spent over a year of that in Alaska, so I have pretty much seen and done everything!) for her, I went and booked an aft wrap cabin – 6260. However, after having a bit of time to think, I have just put a regular aft extended balcony (5268 – Upper Deck seems to be the only regular extended aft balcony cabin left available) on hold for 24 hours.

 

There is a $1300 price difference between the aft wrap and the regular aft (and with the Australia $$ being the way it is it is probably more like $1700). Is an aft wrap cabin worth the difference in price? Looking at pics on line, the regular aft balconies seem quite large as it is. I am also worried that the weather might mean we don’t use the balcony as much as I would like. That price difference equates to a couple of Dog Sledding on a Glacier / Helicopter / Flight-Seeing type excursions. And given that we’re sailing from Seattle, I know it’s not the most scenic route available.

 

I’m also figuring that any passenger cabin is much better than a crew cabin!!! ;)

 

Such a hard decision!!

 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

Part of the allure of an Alaska trip in the views and from an aft wrap balcony that would qualify as making it "super special". You'll be able to see the land side and the panoramic back view.

We have three cruise's booked in premium vista aft balconies and for us the price is worthwhile. The cost is high but you may only get this chance once.

We have an Alaska cruise from Seattle this May and are doing the white pass train and Taku lodge glacier seaplane. Here is a link to last July's weather, which doesn't seem too bad

http://www.arh.noaa.gov/climate.php?stnid=PAJN&mon=7&yr=2014&obs=true&normals=true&precip=true

[dolphin2012]

We did the alaska cruise in june a few years ago and had a regular balcony. I think its the first time we didnt use it much as i had hoped. We are from south Texas and really found it to be very very cold on that balcony and anytime the ship was moving. We stayed up on the top deck so we could see the beautiful scenry. I still remmeber the first look at the blue ice floating from the glaciers. If you can afford it and used to the cold it may be something that you will use. I know she will have fun either way!

[cweather]

We had an aft balcony for our June Alaskan cruise a couple of years ago. We got to see so much more because we had the aft balcony. There was no wind back there and with a coat we spent a lot of time out there. I book a aft balcony when ever one it available I just plan it in the budget.

[Miss_Kharisma]

Thank you everyone for all your help!

 

You answers really helped me work out what to do. I went with the cheaper cabin which means we can really do some amazing excursions while we are there.

 

Can't WAIT!!!!