First Time on Balcony - Anything I need to know?

[fmrlkr]

At least one evening, when your balcony faces west, watch the sunset.

 

Yes on binoculars. Yes on ordering pre breakfast from room service. Double yes on closing balcony door before opening cabin door.

 

Watch for flying fish, and other creatures.

 

Enjoy it, really, go out there, breathe, relax and enjoy.

[saraandnick]

We love our balcony cabins. Once we booked a balcony we haven't been able to go back. Aft balconies are our favorite. When we were sailing out of Galveston we loved watching the dolphins jump behind the ship from our aft balcony. I love to sit on the balcony reading. It is also nice to have fresh air. Enjoy!

 

 

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[StolidCruiser]

Respectfully, your statement was very rude. Many folks opt between many different type of cabins for a variety of reasons. And YES, it is about the money. Each person will have a different utility value assigned to the balcony and personally assign a $$ figure to that. You can choose to do what you want just like everyone can choose what they want.

 

For a couple hundred dollars more, I'd take a balc every time. For $700 more ($100 per day) I personally wouldn't. YMMV.

 

Respectfully, the post to which you are responding wasn't rude in the slightest.

 

The poster said "it's not about the money to some ".

 

You seem to be cheesed off by someone who places more value on something that costs what you might not be able to (whether that's the guesstimated $100 or $700 or some other mysterious amount out of reach).

 

You are making sweeping one-sided generalizations on the one hand but on the other recognizing everyone makes their own value judgement. Pick a side of the argument and stick with it.

[beerman2]

Wake up in the middle of the night, sit on the balcony for a few minutes. Enjoy the peacefulness, smell the fresh air, enjoy the breeze.

 

You don't even have to throw a robe or cloths on. LOL

[dmdiver]

I thoroughly enjoy a balcony, but will cruise in an interior or window cabin as well. Before the rule changes, the guys would enjoy a smoke & a drink on the balcony. Now, we still go out there for a drink & to shoot the bull.

 

I will echo what others have said about not letting the door slam. That goes for your cabin door to the hallway as well. It's so annoying to just drift off to sleep & one of your neighbors lets their door slam.

[Jamericannn]

:') Funny but true!

 

Also do not throw anything/one off the balcony (kids, wife ect...), and lastly do not think you can get away with smoking on the balcony (that is if you smoke) this is a BIG no no. You will be severely punished, if not killed:confused:....LOL seriously tho I do not know what they would do but at the worst they could kick you off the ship:(. As everyone knows a fire on the high seas is the worst thing for a cruise ship, so they do not mess around with smoking outside the designated areas.

 

Great great advice.

[jsglow]

I have read my post over and over, what's rude? An balcony is never $700 more than a interior. On an average for a 7 day cruise $500 for an interior, $800 for a balcony, again on an average. All I was saying is, to some, it's not always about a few hundred dollars. You do know what the acronym YOLO is?

 

What was rude was you calling me out by name and saying in effect that 'life's not all about the money and you only live once' like somehow my position on financial expenditures on anything was somehow your business. This followed my perfectly reasonable statement that lots of folks make lots of different decisions regarding cabin choice.

 

I'm done with this conversation. Have a nice day.

[Crusin Hogs]

Respect your neighbors on either side of you , Make sure you don't leave the outside light on at night ! It creates a glare ,Lot nicer at night in the dark

[Yvonne]

I hope you enjoy your balcony as much as I enjoy mine. Love, love, love cruising with a balcony. I don't mind an inside room for a short 3-4 night cruise, but a week or longer and I want a balcony. I'm the type of person who likes getting away from the crowds for a couple of hours in the afternoon and on a ship with 3,000 other people it's pretty difficult to find a truly quiet place to just enjoy the peace and quiet and read my Kindle for awhile, but I can usually find that on our balcony. Love just sitting there and watching and listening to the water too. So peaceful.

 

We had an aft balcony once and hopefully will have that on our next cruise (whenever that may be). Absolutely loved being able to see from side-to-side, and the wake from the ship was mesmerizing. The aft balconies are big enough for loungers, so I spent a lot of time out there!!

 

One of my favorite things to do on a cruise is to order room service breakfast (usually coffee and juice, a croissant, fresh fruit) and have it out on the balcony. A great way to start the day!

 

And we enjoy sitting out there at night, after our day is done, chatting about the day and enjoying the dark and the stars.

[djcass4199]

We have had a balcony twice and I'm not in a rush to book another one. We spent much less time out there than we thought because we were so busy enjoying the rest of the ship. As a result, we haven't purchased another balcony cabin since. Ocean views have been just fine for us.

[BIGREDIOWAN]

This is our first balcony as well, everyone is telling us we will never go back to interior. We shall see, I would've booked interior had there been any left, but the price was still right for the balcony on this particular cruise. Enjoy it!

[cruizekrazy]

Bring binoculars to see things in the distance. Hubby and I like to look for oil rigs, land or other ships. We also will bring a small Bluetooth speaker and our phones with a playlist . Not loud enough to disturb others. Just a little something to listen to will enjoying our time out there.

[bnorris10]

Once you go balc, you'll never go back.

 

Nothing extra you'll need,but you may find yourself spending more time in your stateroom than before.

 

I have to disagree with this

 

While I enjoy my balcony I actually booked an interior when I went with a friend and to be quite honest if I can book interior I will always book interior - I love the darkness that comes from having an inside room more than I enjoy the balcony

[dverzic]

I love having a balcony room. I just got off the Miracle and brought binoculars with me this time. It was cool to use them to see other ships, sights, etc. I wouldn't be too worried about others leaving their balcony lights on, as the rooms have black-out curtains so it's pretty dark.

 

 

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[dcwalker]

We had a balcony once. I was surprised that we couldn't use it on the last day. In the early afternoon on the last sea day the steward had to clean it because cleaning it wasn't allowed in port in Port Canaveral. After he cleaned it, it was locked. So no balcony for the last afternoon and evening and coming into port the next day.

 

I'll chime in on the "can never go back to interior" survey. We enjoyed our balcony very much, but I definitely enjoy an interior very much as well. It's a cruise; what's not to enjoy?

[spleenstomper]

We only do cabins with a balcony because we spend a lot of time out there on it. Like others have mentioned, we enjoy the break from the crowds.

 

I'm very thankful for those who don't book them all the time... leaves one for me!

[fair-winds39]

We have just booked a balcony. Is there anything I need to know? Anything I should bring?

 

Uh Oh...once you book a balcony, it's almost impossible to go back:)

We just came off the Pride and we weren't able to get our usual cabin, so we figured we would try an extended balcony AFT. Well now, it looks like I'm hooked on the extended balcony. I loved it. The best though was the time we booked a guaranteed suite. We loved that too. It was AFT, plenty of room, etc. That was a treat, and I would love to book the same suite every cruise, but it's not really worth it when we cruise in February/March from Baltimore.

 

I think you'll love the balcony...enjoy.

[racer69]

We will be staying in a Balcony on our upcoming cruise in May. We have always enjoyed interior room for the darkness while sleeping, but we love the outdoors so much we decided to try a balcony this time. We will soon see if it was a good choice or not.

[christinasreadytocruise]

We had a balcony once. I was surprised that we couldn't use it on the last day. In the early afternoon on the last sea day the steward had to clean it because cleaning it wasn't allowed in port in Port Canaveral. After he cleaned it, it was locked. So no balcony for the last afternoon and evening and coming into port the next day.

 

I'll chime in on the "can never go back to interior" survey. We enjoyed our balcony very much, but I definitely enjoy an interior very much as well. It's a cruise; what's not to enjoy?

Really?! I've sailed twice with balconies once out of port canaveral and don't remember having this issue. Granted this was 10 years or so ago. We set sail again in 2 weeks and I've got another balcony cabin booked. I'd be pretty dissappointed if this happened.

 

Anyone else have experience with this?

[wemjam]

Hanky Panky on the balcony is NOT a good idea, as there are eyes (and cameras) everywhere. People often do not realize this.

 

If you get motion sickness sitting on balcony while moving likely will make it worse.

 

Binoculars are awesome for a balcony.

 

Do NOT leave your curtains open and walk around naked and expect no one will see you. Workers do hang from the ship while in port and such to clean balcony and windows...you may get a surprise.

 

Don't leave towels or clothes out to dry no matter how good you think you have them secured. They may still disappear overboard. Winds are strong.

 

Watching the ship leave port from your balcony is fun. Especially if your room is port side.

[Kanyon71]

I was on Valor out of Port Canaveral last April and we used our balcony the entire time including the last afternoon and the morning in port.

 

Things to remember with the balcony do NOT open the balcony door and the cabin entrance door at the same time, winds pick up and those doors create a wind tunnel and can slam shut.

 

We love the balcony rooms, we either get that or a suite, we spend a lot of time out on the balcony just watching the world sail by. It's a very nice place to hang out and read or just chill out.

[Drazil65]

A nice pair of binoculars are great to have.

 

THIS...

 

and...

Order your coffee (order carafe or 2) and bagel/pastries for early morning, use that knock on the door as your wake up call, set up on balcony, wrap up in your toasty robe (if you need it) and enjoy the peace of a sunrise in the middle of ocean! Amazing and inspiring, agree you will never go back once you have that little piece of real estate all to yourself!

 

 

Enjoy!!!

[Mfnb812]

We only do suites so they have balconies. We have never had issues using it on the last day. We pay for the whole week and expect to use it the whole time.

[cheri]

We have tried the inside, OV and then the Balcony and its worth the extra money. We get room service at 6 am and sit on the Balcony and enjoy coffee and watch the ship come into ports or just enjoy the beautiful ocean. Just remember to turn off your porch light at night lol its nice to sit in the dark and not have others light in your space or coming in your cabin at night if you like curtains open.. Enjoy, you wont be sorry :D

[Gamecock_Cruiser]

We have had Ocean Views and balconies. It depends on where we are going to if we get an OV or balcony. The upcoming cruise is a 7 day cruise to the western Caribbean, so we have a balcony. If we take a quick 5 day to the Bahamas, which we have been to multiple times, an OV will suit us.