Balcony on Baltic cruise worth it?

[mxylpic]

Greetings,

 

Looking at booking a Scandinavia/Russia cruise on Seranade summer 2019 and was wondering if a balcony was worth it. I know in the summer days are long with sunset not until 10ish. Question is will there be something to see or will the ship be too far from shore for it to matter. We've seen plenty of ocean and are thinking of saving money by going interior this time.

 

TIA,

 

Ed

[Clarea]

Greetings,

 

Looking at booking a Scandinavia/Russia cruise on Seranade summer 2019 and was wondering if a balcony was worth it. I know in the summer days are long with sunset not until 10ish. Question is will there be something to see or will the ship be too far from shore for it to matter. We've seen plenty of ocean and are thinking of saving money by going interior this time.

 

TIA,

 

Ed

Tough to determine "worth" without knowing the cost.

[retird]

My wife and I started with an interior on our first cruise and since 5hen we always book a balcony. On any specific cruise we are will8ng to pay 150% of an interior for a balcony. On most occasions we spend about 120%. We enjoy the balcony entering port, leaving port, coffee in the morning, night cap at night. And just to hear the sound of 5he ocean when away from land. We have many friends who only book a balcony when 5he cruise is near the coastline. It is a matter of personal preference and how much extra you are willing to pay for that view from your cabin,.

[BillOh]

Greetings,

 

Looking at booking a Scandinavia/Russia cruise on Seranade summer 2019 and was wondering if a balcony was worth it. I know in the summer days are long with sunset not until 10ish. Question is will there be something to see or will the ship be too far from shore for it to matter. We've seen plenty of ocean and are thinking of saving money by going interior this time.

 

TIA,

 

Ed

 

In the most generic terms, I always get a balcony on cruises to places I've never been before as seeing things for the first time always seems worth it. I'll go interior on cruises I've already been to the ports.

[Tin can]

There is some interesting sights coming into port on a Baltic cruise and we had quite good weather during our trip so a balcony was handy.

 

You are off the ship though when in port so probably won't spend much time out on it other than the odd sea day.

 

If you are thinking about saving money then that would say to me the difference is enough to have to consider, in that case on a Baltic I would then skip a balcony and save the money.

 

If you have not been before there are enough wonderful things to see and experience in the countries you are going to. I'd then put this towards a private St Petersburg tour.

 

Other than when Royal went from Dubai this was our best cruise, have a great time :)

[Kmangel]

I had an ocean view on our Baltic cruise and did not miss the balcony at all. I like the balcony when it is warm and comfortable to sit out on. Not so the Baltic in July! Up on deck I was bundled head to toe and I quickly returned inside, so the balcony would have been wasted money in my opinion.

 

One other comment I want to make, though, is that I did like looking out the window while in our cabin. Having an interior cabin would have had us miss some beautiful scenery.

[CRUZN-IS-FUN]

We had an aft balcony for ours. One of the highlights! If you are cruising into the archipelago going into Stockholm--an absolute must. My husband enjoyed the balcony eve on sea days. You will travel under the bridge which crosses the Baltic Sea. Also, because it is a sea, there is a fair amount of ship and cargo traffic. If you can afford it, do it! Aft view would be the absolute best. Also, if you do Stockholm, do not miss the VASA museum and arrive early before the crowds.

[dpostman]

I just booked (Last week) a 12 day Baltic cruise for August 2019. It is the first time I book an Interior room. in CAD$ the difference was substantial. For Refundable fares it was $4600 Inc. Grats for the interior and $6750 for a basic Balcony. $2150 difference. (Roughly $2000 if I account for the difference in USD OBC) So I booked an interior and will keep my eyes open for maybe a chance to upgrade if a deal presents itself. If not, we'll spend a lot of time in the public areas.

 

An Ocean view is only about $600 more but we prefer being on a higher deck level as we rarely ever use the elevators and prefer to be somewhere in the middle decks. I still have lots of time to make changes.

 

dp

[Armac]

We did the Baltic back in June on Vision, we had an interior, on our cruise a balcony was about $2500 more than an inside. On 2 of the sea days it rained and was cold, common in the Baltic even in summer. This is a very port intensive cruise, you will be off the ship for long periods of time. I agree with other posters that a balcony is nice but from our research we found that on the Baltic cruises we looked at the difference was too great. We were very happy with our inside room. Whatever room you choose the Baltic is a great cruise one of our favorites.

[dpostman]

We did the Baltic back in June on Vision, we had an interior, on our cruise a balcony was about $2500 more than an inside. On 2 of the sea days it rained and was cold, common in the Baltic even in summer. This is a very port intensive cruise, you will be off the ship for long periods of time. I agree with other posters that a balcony is nice but from our research we found that on the Baltic cruises we looked at the difference was too great. We were very happy with our inside room. Whatever room you choose the Baltic is a great cruise one of our favorites.

 

There is an envelope under the Christmas tree with the Baltic Cruise details and a nice photo I printed up and giving to DW. If she puts up a fuss (I doubt it but...) about it not being a Balcony, I'll make sure she reads your post ;p

 

dp

[kalliekae]

Although we always book a balcony, one was not available since we booked late so we had an ocean view on our Baltic cruise. We did not miss the balcony at all since this was a very port intensive cruise and we would not have used our balcony. This was one of our favorite cruises and I would do it again. Enjoy!

[nutterbutter818]

We usually get a balcony because we love hearing/seeing the water. I personally love having breakfast on the balcony. It really depends on the value you place on it. For us, it is a must have.

[dogs4fun]

JMHO, but I feel that the money spent on a balcony could be saved and invested in a good private tour of Saint Petersburg. We saw very little from our balcony & for the sail through the Stockholm archipelago (gorgeous), our best views were from the observation lounge.

[Ashland]

We had an aft balcony for ours. One of the highlights! If you are cruising into the archipelago going into Stockholm--an absolute must. My husband enjoyed the balcony eve on sea days. You will travel under the bridge which crosses the Baltic Sea. Also, because it is a sea, there is a fair amount of ship and cargo traffic. If you can afford it, do it! Aft view would be the absolute best. Also, if you do Stockholm, do not miss the VASA museum and arrive early before the crowds.

Agree....We had an aft corner balcony (#1100) on the Jewel...it was just amazing...however I personally always opt for a balcony...it's our vacation and there are places we don't care to cut corner's...not worth it to us. Many of you may feel differently and that's ok...more balcony/JS's for me to choose from. ;)