Balcony Question or as it may also be known how long is a piece of string

[Windsurfboy]

logically we'd all choose the smallest room a just sleep and shower there, spend  on wine  retreat .........

 

However a cruise isn't solely logic it's emotional wellbeing.

 

So it's head versus heart. Only you can know how much you would appreciate a balcony, and only you understand your own finances. 

 

However you can never make this decision  properly unless you have tried a balcony cabin at least once. Try it once if you don't think it's worth it after trying it then that's an informed decision 

[wowzz]

9 minutes ago, Windsurfboy said:

However you can never make this decision  properly unless you have tried a balcony cabin at least once

I think that is good advice, and the same general advice about trying everything holds true for life itself.

We should all follow the advice that you should try everything once, except incest and Morris Dancing!

[brian1]

30 minutes ago, wowzz said:

I think that is good advice, and the same general advice about trying everything holds true for life itself.

We should all follow the advice that you should try everything once, except incest and Morris Dancing!

What!Even going out for a beer with Roger.

[brian1]

The only time I'd consider an inside is a TA on QM2.Just to save money for the New York bit.5-7 days of nothing but open sea,no brainer.

[crazy cat lady 83]

We have stayed in cabins ranging from outsides to the family suite on Azura. Unless we go to the Caribbean in which we are now happy with a standard balcony we always choose the outside cabins or whatever they are called these days. Partly because we spend very little time in the cabin (we realized this after going all out on the family suite and not using it) plus it gives us the option of 2 cruises a year. We personally love the outside cabins and have our favourites which we try and always go back to.

[Windsurfboy]

What we'd like is irrelevant, Everyone must make own decisions. The only thing wrong with my advice is once you've tried it hard to go back.

 

I'm stuck with suites and business class 

[Britboys]

15 hours ago, Snaxmuppet said:

...Once you have had a balcony , if you can afford it, you will never want not to have one....

I understand and agree with several of the points you made in your full post but not with this particular sentence. Particularly when sailing solo, the last thing I want to do is spend a lot of time alone in my cabin. I'm very happy to be up on deck for sail-in/out of ports and would usually watch that up on Promenade Deck with other folks who I then often get into conversation with. Same for scenic cruising. I think when sailing solo, the only time I would really use a balcony would be for a bedtime coffee and brandy/liqueur.

Of course, the other issue for me is that I choose to cruise only on Aurora and Arcadia where balconies - especially if travelling solo - come with a considerable extra cost.

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

11 hours ago, Britboys said:

I understand and agree with several of the points you made in your full post but not with this particular sentence. Particularly when sailing solo, the last thing I want to do is spend a lot of time alone in my cabin. I'm very happy to be up on deck for sail-in/out of ports and would usually watch that up on Promenade Deck with other folks who I then often get into conversation with. Same for scenic cruising. I think when sailing solo, the only time I would really use a balcony would be for a bedtime coffee and brandy/liqueur.

Of course, the other issue for me is that I choose to cruise only on Aurora and Arcadia where balconies - especially if travelling solo - come with a considerable extra cost.

I take your point. Of course, solo travel has its own priorities that are often different to couples or families 🙂

We don't spend a lot of time in our cabin either though... usually before breakfast and getting ready for dinner and occasionally in the afternoon if we return for a snooze. But I still think it worth it for that and the other reasons quoted which would still apply if travelling solo.

[Pine Man]

My wife and I sailed to Iceland a few years ago on Azura in one of the balcony cabins on E deck.

 

The actual balcony was roughly twice the size of the standard ones but did appear to be a hole cut out of the ships side, which meant that it was a bit dark but certainly usable. What was a real issue was being so close to the front of the ship, which meant that during anything other than calm seas the motion was awful.

 

What was an even bigger issue was noise from the bow thrusters. It felt as though they were just below our cabin and guaranteed an early warning of berthing in ports during the early hours of the morning!

 

We have never had an inside cabin, always balconies and the bigger the cabin the better!

Edited July 19, 2021 by Pine Man

[zap99]

10 minutes ago, Pine Man said:

My wife and I sailed to Iceland a few years ago on Azura in one of the balcony cabins on E deck.

 

The actual balcony was roughly twice the size of the standard ones but did appear to be a hole cut out of the ships side, which meant that it was a bit dark but certainly usable. What was a real issue was being so close to the front of the ship, which meant that during anything other than calm seas the motion was awful.

 

What was an even bigger issue was noise from the bow thrusters. It felt as though they were just below our cabin and guaranteed an early warning of berthing in ports during the early hours of the morning!

 

We have never had an inside cabin, always balconies and the bigger the cabin the better!

We have never had an inside either and even book outside cabins on the car ferry. Each to their own. We are reluctant to book a balcony on Iona until we can choose, in case they give us one on deck 5.

Edited July 19, 2021 by zap99

[picsa]

On 7/16/2021 at 6:17 PM, Dinglebert said:

The piece of string question is as to be expected.  Is having a balcony worth roughly £90 a day?  Our cabin time in the past has been minimal.  Shower time really.  

In the many cruises I have done I have had lots of inside, some outside, and some balcony.

 

To be honest the most pointless were the outside, and I was glad we got them ‘free’ as I really couldn’t see the point.

 

Balconies vs inside - well it depends on you.

 

For me cabins are used for three things, none of which requires a window, and most of my time is spent off the ship or enjoying the facilities elsewhere on the ship.
 

If there are lots of sea days then a balcony can be useful if only to avoid the hoards on deck, but that for £90 a day - nah.

[brian1]

True balcony story.Sitting on our balcony cruising the Chilean fjords on Star Princess.The Captain announced a whale on the port bow.I go bombing up there on my own,nothing.When I got back the Mrs said it popped up in front of her,did the full Sea World repertoire and buggered off just before I got back.Story of my life,too late again,Brian.

[ann141]

2 hours ago, picsa said:

In the many cruises I have done I have had lots of inside, some outside, and some balcony.

 

To be honest the most pointless were the outside, and I was glad we got them ‘free’ as I really couldn’t see the point.

 

Balconies vs inside - well it depends on you.

 

For me cabins are used for three things, none of which requires a window, and most of my time is spent off the ship or enjoying the facilities elsewhere on the ship.
 

If there are lots of sea days then a balcony can be useful if only to avoid the hoards on deck, but that for £90 a day - nah.

I am like you in that for me its an inside, if a short cruise and lots of Ports of call but I like a balcony on a longer cruise with a lot of sea days to provide somewhere to escape to!

[picsa]

1 hour ago, ann141 said:

I am like you in that for me its an inside, if a short cruise and lots of Ports of call but I like a balcony on a longer cruise with a lot of sea days to provide somewhere to escape to!

Sure, however with the ships the size they are these days I have always managed to find a quiet corner somewhere.

 

However nice as a balcony might be, there has to be a limit on the additional cost and £90 per day seems to be rather over the top.

 

But charging a larger and far more substantial amount for a balcony over an inside than had previously been the case seems to be standard for the post-CV19 cruise industry, presumably playing on the Diamond Princess fear that you could be locked in an inside cabin for a few weeks.

[Windsurfboy]

Take your annual holiday  budget  (minus allowance for drink and excursions etc) , divide it by the number of days you want to be away each year .  That will tell You what you can afford.  Go for the best you can afford.

[Dinglebert]

11 minutes ago, Windsurfboy said:

Take your annual holiday  budget  (minus allowance for drink and excursions etc) , divide it by the number of days you want to be away each year .  That will tell You what you can afford.  Go for the best you can afford.

Its not the affording it, its more is it value for money.  For the cost for two of us to have the balcony is the same price as a 7 day cruise.  I tend to be usually 3 or 4 holidays ahead!  In this case the vaccination work money is going to go on a Japan/Far East cruise in 2023 which I feel is a better use of it than a balcony for next year.

[Windsurfboy]

Value for money  is inside every time, but that's not the question or no-one would buy balcony  cabins or suites 

 

 

 

 

[wowzz]

10 hours ago, picsa said:

If there are lots of sea days then a balcony can be useful if only to avoid the hoards on deck, but that for £90 a day - nah.

£90 per person, for a balcony cabin,  unlimited food and free entertainment.  Sounds  like  a bargain to me!

[Dinglebert]

1 hour ago, Windsurfboy said:

Value for money  is inside every time, but that's not the question or no-one would buy balcony  cabins or suites 

 

 

 

 

As its my question I get to define it!   Value for money is not just what is cheapest.  Its about the various benefits you have by choosing the options.   There are ferries where one of the options is to sleep on a chair or pay more for a cabin.  If it was the cheapest then it would be a chair but that would not be the full story.

[Dinglebert]

44 minutes ago, wowzz said:

£90 per person, for a balcony cabin,  unlimited food and free entertainment.  Sounds  like  a bargain to me!

Its £90 a day upgrade price not the total price.  Also the £90 is for two people, the cabin, not per person.

[wowzz]

3 minutes ago, Dinglebert said:

Its £90 a day upgrade price not the total price.  Also the £90 is for two people, the cabin, not per person.

OK - my mistake.

We have balcony cabins booked at just over £120 pppd, so i assume you pay around £80 pppd for an inside cabin.

[Bobblehat71]

We usually have inside cabins. We have had a couple of balconies and enjoyed them but we would rather spend the additional premium usually charged for Balconies on additional cruises or other holidays. 

That said we have just booked two cruises with Balconies on both. Got them for £75/night and £65/night so it was a bit of no brainer.😀