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To Balcony or Not to Balcony


Cja921
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My husband and I are taking our first cruise in November for our 20th Anniversary! We are on Carnival Paradise for a 5 day cruise and are going to the Grand Cayman Islands and to Cozumel.  To upgrade from an ocean-view room to a balcony room it is almost $900 additional.  For those who have do e this before is the balcony worth that much or should I spend my money elsewhere?

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4 minutes ago, Cja921 said:

My husband and I are taking our first cruise in November for our 20th Anniversary! We are on Carnival Paradise for a 5 day cruise and are going to the Grand Cayman Islands and to Cozumel.  To upgrade from an ocean-view room to a balcony room it is almost $900 additional.  For those who have do e this before is the balcony worth that much or should I spend my money elsewhere?

So that's $90 per person per day to have a balcony.  For me - not worth it.  I'd use the extra money for an excursion.

 

But, if you're people who plan to spend most of your time in your room, on a balcony (if you have one), it could be worth it to you.

 

 

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After booking a balcony/veranda for our upcoming S. America cruise in December, I read here about how if it's going to be really hot (YES!) or really cold, then it might be a waste.

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Balcony cabins are quite addictive - once you've experienced one you'll want to repeat.

There basically weren't balcony cabins on the sort of cruise ships we sailed for some years, we didn't know what we were missing - so we didn't miss it.

And if you stick with ocean-view for your first cruise, you won't miss having a balcony either.

 

But if during the cruise you hanker for a balcony cabin, console yourselves with a cocktail or two. Or three or four - and you're still in profit for the day :classic_smile:

 

BTW, balcony cabins are anti-social.

You'll tend to hide away on your balcony instead of mixing.

 

Yes, we've had balcony cabins. But we're picky about the cost and the value.

Cost & value don't mean the same thing - at a given price a cruise in good weather, with lots of sea-days, and a few wonderful sail-ins a balcony is worth so much more than on an itinerary or at a time of year when the weather is cool or unreliable, and the ports come thick & fast.

(Clo - I don't know about the west coast, but if your cruise is east coast then it fits the former :classic_smile:. And the Rio sail-in especially is great )

 

Just MHO as always

 

JB :classic_smile:

Edited by John Bull
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Balcony / port - partial view versus inside, and also suite are all very personal.  

 

There is the can you afford it ( IE by splurging ) does anything else get cut or do you get a bill that you can't pay when you return? If none of that comes down to your principle of luxury, value and decadence, LOL.

 

We've been mostly insider cruisers as we spend little time in our cabin, we have splurged for suite/balcony and on our Alaska, found it neat, but from a value/space, while nice clearly not money well spent.   

 

I'd take a cruise inside, worse cabin on ideal ports/schedule for same money on a less ideal cruise with suite anyday.  All other things like food/service the same, says whether I'd pay one cent more.   

 

But having said that we always look at the differential and most often than not opt for the cheapest.

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I don’t think it is worth it.

 

First, I would rather spend my money elsewhere.

 

Second, I would rather spend my time elsewhere.  If I had a balcony, I would be tempted to sit on it, rather than go up to the pool deck. But hiding in my room defeats much of the point of traveling.

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2 hours ago, John Bull said:

(Clo - I don't know about the west coast, but if your cruise is east coast then it fits the former :classic_smile:. And the Rio sail-in especially is great )

 

We're sailing Rio to Buenos Aires.  I bet that sail-in is stunning.  It's a beautiful city.

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Over the years we have sailed in everything from a suite to an inside on deck two in no particular order. I agree with most posters that each cruise should be assessed individually. Sometimes the price and itinerary (warm weather) make sense for a balcony and sometimes not. We currently have three future cruises booked one inside one balcony and one window.   Whichever you choose have a great cruise.   

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When it's just my husband and I, our habit is to stick with an oceanview and scope out the best places to sit/read/drink foo-foo drinks with a view.

 

But economy can (and should) be a factor. We have two balconies booked where our group will be five, and two cabins with balconies were just about the same cost as three OVs, so we went with that! 

 

I'm one of those people that have had balconies where it's either too hot or too cold to get much use from them.

 

 

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That is pretty high, but it all depends on your preferences.    For our first few cruises, we couldn't afford balconies, in fact very few ships even had many back when we first started cruising (+/- 1980), so we didn't know what we were missing.    Now we couldn't stand being without one.    One of our favorite things about a cruise is the ability to step out onto the balcony early in the morning or late at night, just to snap a sunrise photo, get a breath of fresh sea air, and admire the skies and the sound of the waves - in our PJ's, without all the preparations that would be necessary to go to a public deck for a similar experience.    We don't often sit out on the balcony for extended periods, but we've experienced so many ocean/shoreline/port details from our balcony that would have been missed if we hadn't had a balcony.    I'd say, if you can afford it, go for it - you won't regret it.   

Edited by Kartgv
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No matter the price. You must consider how much you would use a balcony. Some use it a lot to sit out and enjoy the weather and get some sun. All we ever did was watch when the ship is arriving or departing a port. Can do the same on deck. Also. many balcony cabins take away from the room size for the balcony. In that case. An OV cabin can actually be much larger. On some ships, if the OV cabin is directly below a balcony cabin and the same size of the balcony cabin including the balcony itself. It will have two bath rooms. One with a tub / shower and a sink. The other with the commode etc. So it depends a lot on what you might like and the ship itself. As everyone is saying. In this case. To expensive.

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$90 per person per day?  For a 5 day cruise?  This may not be the answer you're looking for but if I was to be totally honest, I wouldn't upgrade to a balcony.  I would use that money to upgrade to a better ship.  

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For 5 days on the Paradise, I wouldn't pay that much. Paradise has a really good Serenity area, so if you want some relaxation and a great view, I highly recommend spending time there and saving that $900 for something else.

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On 7/13/2019 at 4:49 PM, Cja921 said:

My husband and I are taking our first cruise in November for our 20th Anniversary! We are on Carnival Paradise for a 5 day cruise and are going to the Grand Cayman Islands and to Cozumel.  To upgrade from an ocean-view room to a balcony room it is almost $900 additional.  For those who have do e this before is the balcony worth that much or should I spend my money elsewhere?

We did an upgrade in 2008 to a balcony for a 7 day cruise.I was on the balcony twice and my wife 3 times.We will never do this again.

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I can usually find an entire 7 day cruise on a balcony for less than $900 (each) so to pay that much to upgrade to for two people seems quite high to me.  For your first cruise, I think an oceanview would be just fine. Asses how much you're outdoors to get a feel for whether you'd want one next time. Use the money on excursions for some dinners at some of the pay restaurants...or don't and use it for your next cruise!

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Way too much for a balcony .... you can use that $900 and go on another cruise!!!  I just did an Alaska cruise at the end of May for $350 per person.  Granted it was an inside cabin, but it was fine and we had great views from other areas of the ship. 
No way would I pay that much for a balcony!

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On 7/13/2019 at 4:49 PM, Cja921 said:

My husband and I are taking our first cruise in November for our 20th Anniversary! We are on Carnival Paradise for a 5 day cruise and are going to the Grand Cayman Islands and to Cozumel.  To upgrade from an ocean-view room to a balcony room it is almost $900 additional.  For those who have do e this before is the balcony worth that much or should I spend my money elsewhere?

An additional $450 per person increase for a balcony, or $90 more per day, seems absurd for a Carnival ship.  Don’t they run just about $100 per person/day for the ocean view?

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That is a big price spread.  And I say that as someone who always cruises in a suite.  😄
 

I really like having a balcony. Getting up early and sitting watching the waves march by.  Or late at night, to enjoy the sound of the water and seeing the stars.

 

And in a "practical" matter, you cannot join the balcony club, without a balcony. 😄 😄😄

 

Only you can decide.  If this will be your only cruise, or only for a long time, I would splurge.  But if this is the start of many cruises, wait, book your next one further ahead and get a balcony at a better price.

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This is one of the problems with Fantasy class ships. They were the last big mass market ships built without tons of balconies. Some have been welded onto the ship but they are still scarce and command this ridiculous premium price. On any of the newer Carnival ships there are a lot more balconies and so typically the price difference is less drastic.

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