Help me decide, balcony or obstructed OV for Alaska

[mackfam]

New to Princess and have finally decided on Coral Princess for a 7 night Inside Passage Cruise to Alaska next May.

 

First time to Alaska and I am now agonizing over whether to splurge on a balcony or go with an obstructed ocean view and use the money we save on excursions. (Typically we cruise in oceanview cabins as I don’t value a balcony enough to warrant the extra cost.) I keep reading that it’s different for an Alaskan cruise and a balcony is a must.

 

Right now a balcony is $700 Cdn more than the obstructed oceanview (for two) but we would get an extra $100 OBC for the balcony. I don’t want to cheap out and regret it, but also don’t want to splurge unnecessarily. If we don’t typically spend much time in the cabin will we really miss out by not having a balcony?

 

 

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[Thrak]

You will probably get a bazillion"You MUST have a Balcony!!!" replies but I don't think it's necessary. Our first cruise was a 10 day round trip from SF to Alaska. We had an inside cabin. That's the cruise that hooked me. We have also cruise Alaska (7 day south bound after a land tour) in a window mini suite. No balcony. Yes, a balcony would be nice sometimes for viewing but the best viewing opportunities are up on the public decks. This is especially true in Glacier Bay. In the end, only you can decide.

[Coral]

I would rather spend the money on excursions. There is always deck space for glacier days.

[ColoradoMom!!]

We had our first balcony ever on our Alaska Coral SB June 27 - July 4th this year.

 

We enjoyed it, but weren't out there as much as I thought we would be. When you are in port - you are out doing excursions. On our glacier days, we really loved the viewing from the "secret door" decks at the front. Also, it was a bit chilly on those days, so lounging around the balcony was not really in the cards. And since you are going in May......Chilly may be in your experience too.

 

 

You will have an amazing time - take the $$ and tour a bit around Alaska apart from your cruise. We only had a day in Anchorage - but loved driving down Turnagain Arm on our own. Wish we had done Kenai. Denali was just too far and too much $$ for us to include unfortunately.

[LeeLee62]

We are doing an Off The Beaten Path cruise tour in May next year on the Coral.

Coming from Australia adds over AU$2200 each to our costs just to get there, so before we even start to think about shore excursions we are up for over AU$6000 each with flights, stop overs and an Inside cabin. A balcony would add another AU$1000 to that, so we are more than happy with our little inside, and will use that extra $1000 for some awesome shore excursions.

We spend very little time in our cabin when cruising, would much rather be out and about on deck, which I understand is the best for views in Alaska anyhow.

Have a great trip

[TM]

We've done 5 weeks of Alaska cruises. Never once had a balcony and have no regrets at all. Each time we did on oeanview stateroom but an obstructed one would have been fine also. Many will say that Alaska is the place you must have a balcony. But personally we were walking all around the Promenade and upper decks to take in the full view of the spectacular scenery all around the ship, not just the 180 degree view that a balcony would offer. I would much rather use the savings for excursions.

[moki'smommy]

We just got back from Alaska with a window. Reality--we did look out our window, but for serious viewing we went to the open decks to get the panoramic view. This doesn't happen from a balcony.

 

Alaska is one of those cruises where I don't want to skimp on excursions. OK, this is only our second trip, but....I didn't skimp either time. I'd rather put the money into some really good excursions than into a balcony.

[gdisney]

If you can afford the balcony, it’s worth it. But I wouldn’t say it’s necessary at all. We had an inside this past July. It was a great trip!

 

 

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[neverbeenhere]

Most balcony views on ships limit your viewing. Save big, book an inside and spend even more on other cruises. As others have said, the views are from the public spaces. Don't forget the Promenade. Move around the ships decks to get a great view of a hundred different things on your Alaska cruise.

[donswife]

The only type of balcony I found really great for Alaska was the time we had an aft facing balcony, so it was protected from the wind and offeres a broad view. This is not an option on the Coral. The other times to Alaska I have had oceanview, and spent lots of time out and about on the different decks with my binoculars. Spend the money on excursions!

[StknCPA]

New to Princess and have finally decided on Coral Princess for a 7 night Inside Passage Cruise to Alaska next May.

 

First time to Alaska and I am now agonizing over whether to splurge on a balcony or go with an obstructed ocean view and use the money we save on excursions. (Typically we cruise in oceanview cabins as I don’t value a balcony enough to warrant the extra cost.) I keep reading that it’s different for an Alaskan cruise and a balcony is a must.

 

Right now a balcony is $700 Cdn more than the obstructed oceanview (for two) but we would get an extra $100 OBC for the balcony. I don’t want to cheap out and regret it, but also don’t want to splurge unnecessarily. If we don’t typically spend much time in the cabin will we really miss out by not having a balcony?

 

 

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I really thought the responses would all be: get a balcony.

 

While I don't care about a balcony for most cruises, we did enjoy our balcony on our Alaska cruise. I'd probably go for the balcony for Alaska again, but I don't know. Maybe if I get around to cruising the Panama Canal, that might be another balcony cruise.

 

All that being said, the best views are on the deck. This is particularly true any time a panarama is best--like at the glaciers. Also heard stories at dinner about wildlife views our table mates saw from the deck that we missed from our balcony. (We spent time in both places.)

 

If it's an either/or decision, I'm also in the use your money for excursions camp.

 

 

 

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[donaldsc]

Forget the balcony. On a balcony, you get at most a 180 degree view which means that if it happens on the other side of the ship, you miss it. If you are on deck, you get a 360 degree view.

 

DON

[DougH]

25+ cruises to Alaska and not once have I had a balcony (would I love one...yes)

Lots of open deck space to watch the scenery and get different viewpoints, the extra money will buy lots of shore excursions

[fishin' musician]

I've done inside, balcony and suite in Alaska. All are excellent! Personally, if $$$ is tight and I did not have a decent pair of binoculars, that is where I'd put that $700. Consider it a lifelong investment, because you will be returning to Alaska.

[gdisney]

Forget the balcony. On a balcony, you get at most a 180 degree view which means that if it happens on the other side of the ship, you miss it. If you are on deck, you get a 360 degree view.

 

DON

 

This is a good point. On our Alaska cruise this past July, we saw whales on the starboard side from the Promenade which my parents missed from their port side mini-suite. Also, when we went to Tracy Arm we got pretty close to Sawyer Glacier, but there wasn't room with all the ice to spin the ship all the way around, so you could see it well from the port and aft but not from starboard. Of course, just because you have a balcony doesn't mean you have to STAY on your balcony lol.

[mackfam]

Thanks everyone for replying. I’m so happy that the consensus seems to be that a balcony is not a must. We’ll stick to our ocean view and use the money we save towards excursions.

 

 

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[Adventures ahead]

An open, upper deck is best for viewing.Balconies are great for warm (and hopefully dry) destinations. Alaska is often neither. A ‘must do’ is not to skimp on the excursions!

Enjoy!

[Wishing on a star]

If you really want that balcony, then I might go for it...

 

I will say that when we sailed Alaska on the CORAL, also in late May, we were in one of the newer OV cabins, near the International Cafe, that were added during the refit a few years ago. Since this area had been public area, these cabins have huge windows, slightly higher ceilings. And the location is just superb. So, an option to think about.

 

While it is warmer while inland, offshore at ports... it was very chilly most of the time when on the water!

While May is generally a dryer month, while in that Maritime climate along the coast, we still had a LOT of rain.

Hopefully you will see more sunshine!!!

[Bemidji Ty]

Just did an outside obstructed 10 day Alaska out of SF last month. It was magic. Unless you are an invalid and can't make it to the open decks where the views are amazing, you will be fine.

 

Cheers

[jsglow]

We did a deck 8 obstructed OV. Spent all our time on top deck. I'd play it exactly the same way next time. And there will be a next time.

[Renmar]

As you probably know, the Obstructed Ocean View cabins on the Coral and the Island are the most obstructed in the Princess fleet. If the price difference is a lot I would suggest you take an inside instead of an Obstructed view. The only advantage of an Obstructed is that you will have some daylight coming in.

 

Here are pictures of one of the least Obstructed E 507

 

 

And one the really bad ones E 523 (looking at the inside of a tender)

 

 

Theo

[StknCPA]

As you probably know, the Obstructed Ocean View cabins on the Coral and the Island are the most obstructed in the Princess fleet. If the price difference is a lot I would suggest you take an inside instead of an Obstructed view. The only advantage of an Obstructed is that you will have some daylight coming in.

 

Here are pictures of one of the least Obstructed E 507

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And one the really bad ones E 523 (looking at the inside of a tender)

[ATTACH]428290[/ATTACH]

 

 

Theo

Wow! It's hard to see where the one looking into the tender has any view at all! The occupants of that room would be the people in the ship actually hoping that the tenders are used, just so they have a view for a few hours.

 

 

 

 

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[fishin' musician]

Personally I only see two small advantages of OV over inside:

 

1.) A view of the current weather conditions.

 

2.) Is it daylight yet? ...and if you are on the last 2 days of a northbound or first two days of a southbound it is always daylight, at least in June, July and most of August.

[nini]

We always go for a balcony. I understand if you are on a very tight budget, though.

A balcony is my Happy & Peaceful Place. We love what we see when we step out and breathe the

ocean air; flying fish, turtles, and dolphins on PC cruise and of course whales on Alaska cruise. And I am still in my jammies drinking coffee! ;p

[LeeW]

When we picked our Obstructed OV on Island for last B2B we looked at Renmar's pictures. In our cabin you could barely see the mountains. That said, the bigger problem was the stage in the lounge directly under us. Band ok but singer very off key.

 

First two cruises we booked balconies but other than a few minutes in the morning seldom used them. It is a LOT cheaper to book an OV or inside (and we got an offer to upgrade to a balcony we didn't take). We spend most of our time in the Lotus pool area on nicely padded loungers and a lot of time walking around the ship. Did not need or miss the balcony.