Allure boardwalk/Central Park balcony

[motheroftwocats814]

Hi-Considering the Allure again for October cruise. This time we might want to try a Central Park or Boardwalk balcony. Anyone who has feedback pro or con would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Clarea]

Con: lack of privacy, no (or very little) ocean view, Boardwalk sometimes noisy, Central park sometimes warm.

 

Pro: Usually less expensive than an oceanview balcony.

[Ourusualbeach]

Both come with bonus perks 

 

Boardwalk comes with 2 soda packages and lunch for upbto 4 at Hohnny Rockets

CP comes with a bottle of red wine and lunch for 2 at Giovanni’s, Sabor or Johnny Rockets

[LMaxwell]

Sailed Allure in a Boardwalk Balcony and Oceanview Balcony.  Will be going back to Oceanview in future.  Almost no ocean view except leaning over balcony; none from in cabin.  View from cabin is a wall of cabins 50 feet away.  Didn't think it would bother me but hated it.  If you want to take a nap during day time even with door closed you'll hear the bell for the carousel every couple of minutes.  

 

If you are paying the same as an inside, go for it.  

[Cruisegirl6]

Hello Ourusualbeach-  Our next cruise on the Harmony we are trying the Central Park Balcony, just want to see what it is like.  We have a casino offer, comp cruise then, does that mean we still get the lunch for 2?  We weren't aware of this.

 

OP, I think your best with the Central Park balcony it will be quieter, my sister/brother in law last year had deck 12 boardwalk balcony on the Oasis, and he always liked to take a nap in the afternoon and wasn't able to because he either heard the Merry go round or the practice of the aqua theatre and the movie screen noise.

[LBumb]

I prefer boardwalk as far aft as possible.  See more of the ocean

[rusty nut]

We won't book a boardwalk balcony again. We did on Harmony and hated it. No view, noise and lack of privacy.

[RedSails1968]

The grandkids had an inside Boardwalk view on Symphony and it was very noisy.

[Artemus]

Sometimes Central Park can be oppressively hot but you’re sailing in October so you will probably be okay.

[katiel53]

Central Park, while beautiful, is very hot and humid.  Even in the fall/winter when the ship leaves FL and gets to the Caribbean it is so hot and there really is not much air movement.  I'd never be able to sit outside on the balcony and enjoy the park because of the heat and humidity.

 

We have stayed in a Boardwalk balcony and it is great for people watching.  It is quite noisy though and although we never heard the Carousel, we did hear the shows in the Aqua Theater including the movies shown there.  We stayed in the second cabin from the aft and could see the ocean while standing on our balcony.  We could also see the Aqua Show. It was a real pain though to walk the long hallway to the elevator/stairs all the time.  

 

I have found at night, if we closed and lock the balcony door and drapes, it is not bad for sleeping.  My choice though is booking an ocean view balcony as I do enjoy looking at the sea.  

 

Depending upon my sailing companion(s) we book a Boardwalk balcony as my sister enjoys the included soda and JR.  I don't drink soda and am not a fan of JR, so they're not draws for me.  My son and his family like the ocean view balcony so that's our choice when sailing together.

[Ourusualbeach]

3 hours ago, Cruisegirl6 said:

Hello Ourusualbeach-  Our next cruise on the Harmony we are trying the Central Park Balcony, just want to see what it is like.  We have a casino offer, comp cruise then, does that mean we still get the lunch for 2?  We weren't aware of this.

 

OP, I think your best with the Central Park balcony it will be quieter, my sister/brother in law last year had deck 12 boardwalk balcony on the Oasis, and he always liked to take a nap in the afternoon and wasn't able to because he either heard the Merry go round or the practice of the aqua theatre and the movie screen noise.

You will still get the lunch for 2.

[Mawelch]

On ‎5‎/‎13‎/‎2019 at 6:55 AM, motheroftwocats814 said:

Hi-Considering the Allure again for October cruise. This time we might want to try a Central Park or Boardwalk balcony. Anyone who has feedback pro or con would be greatly appreciated.

 

Read the post titled Bad Experience on Allure by Hannahsnana posted 23 hrs ago

[fdthird]

53 minutes ago, Mawelch said:

Read the post titled Bad Experience on Allure by Hannahsnana posted 23 hrs ago

 

My thoughts exactly. 

[Ourusualbeach]

56 minutes ago, Mawelch said:

Read the post titled Bad Experience on Allure by Hannahsnana posted 23 hrs ago

A one off crew party that ended at 11pm is hardly a reason to not consider a BW balcony.

Edited May 18, 2019 by Ourusualbeach

[LuCruise]

A Boardwalk room is not for everyone but I'm on the flip side as I really enjoyed it.  It was fun to people watch and see what was going on on the Boardwalk.  One evening we watched a bit if a movie (DD and I caught the our favorite song/scene in Greatest Showman), we saw parts of Hiro, and you can see the water/land in the background.  It was actually quite pretty.  We only noticed noise in the evening , more with the movie than Hiro, but ear plugs solved that issue.  We would totally book one again.

 

[renza]

     Never ever would we get a boardwalk balcony again. Zero privacy, like living in a fish bowl. We love going out in our pjs pulling into port. Even if we do not use our balcony much, we always have drapes open to view the ocean. A cruise to us is seeing the ocean and on oasis class there are not many ocean view areas, so it’s a must for us. 

[taylor1293]

We loved our boardwalk cabin. We had an end cabin and were able to watch the shows and see the ocean. 

 

However, privacy was definitely an issue. I really missed being able to have my curtains open at night. I’m glad we tried it once, but probably won’t do it again.  

[BermudaBound2014]

On 5/13/2019 at 7:39 AM, LMaxwell said:

Sailed Allure in a Boardwalk Balcony and Oceanview Balcony.  Will be going back to Oceanview in future.  Almost no ocean view except leaning over balcony; none from in cabin.  View from cabin is a wall of cabins 50 feet away.  Didn't think it would bother me but hated it.  If you want to take a nap during day time even with door closed you'll hear the bell for the carousel every couple of minutes.  

 

If you are paying the same as an inside, go for it.  

 

Do you mind sharing what cabin you had? We were just assigned balcony on deck 11 3 cabins from the aft. The reviews from deck 11 seem to indicate very little noice and a decent view of the ocean. I’m wondering if you were lower and closer to the carousal? Do you think being higher and aft will help to negate the issues?

[Starry Eyes]

The first time I sailed in a boardwalk balcony when Oasis class first debuted, I did it for the novelty.  It was fun to watch the aqua shows and other activities the first time.  

 

After that first novelty booking, I have come to think it depends upon your frame of reference.

 

With my balcony discount, I can often get a neighborhood balcony for about the price of an inside cabin on Oasis class.  Sometimes less.  When presented with that pricing, I always take any neighborhood balcony (including a neighborhood gty) over any inside or window cabin.  Granted we are not noise sensitive and can walk as far as necessary to elevators or stairs; other people have other issues.  If I want privacy, I close the drapes, it is no big deal to me.  I live near the ocean, so not seeing as much water is OK.  Having the neighborhood balcony is better than an inside for me.  And we get some little perks, too.

 

Those whose frame of reference is a balcony cabin, though, may well feel differently.  The lose of privacy and greatly diminished ocean view are apt to be missed.  The noise differential can be substantial, too. Totally understandable that may not find neighborhood balconies to be an acceptable substitute.

 

 

 

 

[Ourusualbeach]

5 minutes ago, Starry Eyes said:

The first time I sailed in a boardwalk balcony when Oasis class first debuted, I did it for the novelty.  It was fun to watch the aqua shows and other activities the first time.  

 

After that first novelty booking, I have come to think it depends upon your frame of reference.

 

With my balcony discount, I can often get a neighborhood balcony for about the price of an inside cabin on Oasis class.  Sometimes less.  When presented with that pricing, I always take any neighborhood balcony (including a neighborhood gty) over any inside or window cabin.  Granted we are not noise sensitive and can walk as far as necessary to elevators or stairs; other people have other issues.  If I want privacy, I close the drapes, it is no big deal to me.  I live near the ocean, so not seeing as much water is OK.  Having the neighborhood balcony is better than an inside for me.  And we get some little perks, too.

 

Those whose frame of reference is a balcony cabin, though, may well feel differently.  The lose of privacy and greatly diminished ocean view are apt to be missed.  The noise differential can be substantial, too. Totally understandable that may not find neighborhood balconies to be an acceptable substitute.

 

 

 

 

I agree 100%.  We do the exact same thing.

[Starry Eyes]

18 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

Do you mind sharing what cabin you had? We were just assigned balcony on deck 11 3 cabins from the aft. The reviews from deck 11 seem to indicate very little noice and a decent view of the ocean. I’m wondering if you were lower and closer to the carousal? Do you think being higher and aft will help to negate the issues?

Different poster, but I have sailed in multiple BW locations.  I sailed in the second to last cabin and really liked the view of the aqua show and wake.  It was my fav, so yours should be nice. 

 

The noise depends a bit on the quality of the door seal which can, of course, change over time.  And some people are just more noise sensitive than others.  I always pack earplugs; you never know when there will be a colicky baby or other loud person in the next cabin. That would be more likely to keep me awake than BW noise.

[Sherri914]

We have sailed Ocean balcony and Boardwalk balcony on Oasis, sister to Allure.  We enjoyed the Boardwalk very much - so much that for our Allure cruise next year we were going to book the same cabin (farthest aft on deck 10 or 11).  We had a great wake view and could see the entire Aquatheater.  What stopped us?  When we were on Oasis, the new slides hadn't yet been added.  By the time we sail on Allure, those slides will be in place.  A view of a big purple slide does nothing for me.  So we switched it up and decided to try Central Park.  We always love central park on the ships - especially at night.  We're rarely in the cabin during the day, but we loved sitting in CP listening to the music at night.  Now we can do that from our balcony.  Oh, and bonus, there are two cabins on 3 decks in CP that have double-sized balconies for the same cost as the regular balcony.  We snagged one of those.  

 

So for the pros / cons of Boardwalk Balcony (for us):

• PRO and CON:  It's a LONG walk to/from the cabin.  Good for exercise, but makes for a long walk if you forgot something and have to run to the cabin.
• PRO:  Great aft view now -- but if the slides are there, that will be impacated
• PRO:  Watching AT shows from your deck if you're towards the far aft
• CON:  Noise level during activities can be loud.  If you want a peaceful balcony experience, this is not the place to be
• PRO:  Cheaper than ocean view balcony

 

[precious89904600]

We were on the Oasis in boardwalk balcony I think it was 8729 and loved it and will be staying in boardwalk balcony again in October. I don't remember any issue with noise at night with door close and like to watch people on boardwalk. I get tired of just seeing ocean ! Which ever cabin you chose I hope you have a great time. Everyone has their favorite .

[taylor1293]

56 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

Do you mind sharing what cabin you had? We were just assigned balcony on deck 11 3 cabins from the aft. The reviews from deck 11 seem to indicate very little noice and a decent view of the ocean. I’m wondering if you were lower and closer to the carousal? Do you think being higher and aft will help to negate the issues?

We were in cabin 11729. You could definitely hear noise when the shows were going on (even with the door closed), but it didn’t bother us. 

[potatotomato]

We just had a BW balcony on Allure. Deck 8- 2nd from aft. I'm glad we tried it. We had. a nice view of the ocean and the shows. I wouldn't do it again. Really didn't like lack of privacy and it was noisy until very late at night with movies playing