Worth it? - or not - for upgraded cabins?

[bazzaw]

18 night cruise with 13 ports - $Xpp for inside cabin. $x+$1000pp for outside cabin. $x+$2000PP for Balcony. Cruise in Northern Autumn coming into Winter.   So $2000 extra for a window , $4000 extra for a balcony .    Your thoughts please. 

[Aus Traveller]

We have cruised in all sorts of cabins. A cruise in an inside cabin is better than no cruise.

 

It is $55.50 pp pn for a window and $111 pp pn for a balcony. If it was me, I would pay the extra for an oceanview, but with so many port days, I wouldn't pay for a balcony.

[LittleFish1976]

1 hour ago, bazzaw said:

18 night cruise with 13 ports - $Xpp for inside cabin. $x+$1000pp for outside cabin. $x+$2000PP for Balcony. Cruise in Northern Autumn coming into Winter.   So $2000 extra for a window , $4000 extra for a balcony .    Your thoughts please. 

 

I think it depends what type of person you are and how much time you're likely to spend in the cabin.

I'd assume the upgrade would be substantially larger than the inside or oceanview, and given that's quite a long cruise, I'd opt for a balcony and a bigger cabin.

 

Does the balcony come with other perks? Better food? Free internet?

 

Depending on your itinerary, the balcony might be wonderful to have for viewing the scenery. Certainly nice for a pre-dinner drink (even in Northern Autumn). 

Also depends how often you cruise - if you're one of the many who take lots of cruises every year then maybe you'd prefer to save the $$ for another cruise. If the extra wouldn't cause you any financial pressure, I'd go for the balcony.

 

Now I'm curious as to where you're thinking of going!

 

[Russell21]

Balcony, once you have had a balcony there's no going back.

[Over from NZ]

22 minutes ago, Russell21 said:

Balcony, once you have had a balcony there's no going back.

Totally disagree with that statement! 

[OzKiwiJJ]

Just now, Russell21 said:

Balcony, once you have had a balcony there's no going back.

I disagree, we used to bounce between inside cabins and balcony cabins pre-Covid. These days though we prefer balcony cabins.

[Womble99]

Everyone will have a differing opinion as to what will suit them best, we have cruised in all class of cabins from interior through to suites.

 

For us the extra space and the peace and quiet of the balcony is a great part of a cruise and we are more than happy to pay for it. To others though it may just be an unnecessary space that they can do without.

 

Only you can decide if the difference in cost is good value to you, I would suggest go with the one that you are most comfortable with and enjoy your cruise 😀

[MMDown Under]

I have spent a lifetime in inside, without a thought.  Now, after covid, it is my time for balcony.  

[lyndarra]

I've found that balconies mostly suitable if cruising in the tropics. Nice to sit outside in the evening with favorite beverage in hand. Most of the time, for me, it's too cool out there. So climate is something to consider. My last last Alaska cruise we had an inside. To upgrade was USD100 each per day (7 days cruise) to go to ocean view and another hundred PPPD for balcony. We saved the extra for another cruise.

Edited October 21, 2022 by lyndarra
for clarifiction

[MMDown Under]

13 hours ago, lyndarra said:

I've found that balconies mostly suitable if cruising in the tropics. Nice to sit outside in the evening with favorite beverage in hand. Most of the time, for me, it's too cool out there. So climate is something to consider. My last last Alaska cruise we had an inside. To upgrade was USD100 each per day (7 days cruise) to go to ocean view and another hundred PPPD for balcony. We saved the extra for another cruise.

When I cruised in an inside cabin, I used to spend most of my time outside on deck. I found when I had my only big deck, I stayed more on my own deck and was less social. When I arrived at OPT, I stayed on my deck with its beautiful view of  the Opera House until the "all passengers still on board to leave" announcement.  Funny to see my port sitting on its own in the luggage collect area.

[sayaguru]

$4,000 is a whole new cruise to me. 

I will pay a bit more for a balcony but not double. I don't think it's double the enjoyment.

 

We just got a 13 night on Princess to NZ in Dec 2022 in an obstructed oceanview for $1,100 each. 

$2,200 TOTAL. 

[MMDown Under]

The only upgrade I like is a free one!

[joejoe 59]

2 hours ago, sayaguru said:

$4,000 is a whole new cruise to me. 

I will pay a bit more for a balcony but not double. I don't think it's double the enjoyment.

 

We just got a 13 night on Princess to NZ in Dec 2022 in an obstructed oceanview for $1,100 each. 

$2,200 TOTAL. 

What a great bargain 👌 

We don't have those kind of Princess prices out of Brisbane sadly. 

[CDaze71]

On 10/21/2022 at 2:35 PM, Russell21 said:

Balcony, once you have had a balcony there's no going back.

Disagree. I went from a Mini Suite with Princess Plus to a P&O Interior no probs whatsoever. 

[arxcards]

On 10/21/2022 at 2:59 PM, Over from NZ said:

Totally disagree with that statement! 

Same-o.

A balcony is a nice to have, and minis and suites even nicer, but we can still happily cruise insides. On cruises like Rock the Boat, an inside cabin offers better sleep-ins, and keeps the price in our budget.

 

For an inside, we spend more time on deck in/out of ports vs hanging on the balcony. Wr don't miss much, but like a bit of fresh air if the budget allows. $4000 is a lot of money for natural light and fresh air.

[OzKiwiJJ]

Just now, arxcards said:

 $4000 is a lot of money for natural light and fresh air.

Unless you catch Covid and are confined to your cabin. Then that natural light, fresh air and view of the ocean becomes very, very valuable. 

 

We did a 21 night European cruise in 2017, with 17 port stops. At the time we regularly cruised in inside cabins but chose a balcony for that cruise. It was worth every cent just being able to pop out on the balcony whenever we wanted to rather than going to one of the public decks. 

 

[MMDown Under]

27 minutes ago, arxcards said:

Same-o.

A balcony is a nice to have, and minis and suites even nicer, but we can still happily cruise insides. On cruises like Rock the Boat, an inside cabin offers better sleep-ins, and keeps the price in our budget.

 

For an inside, we spend more time on deck in/out of ports vs hanging on the balcony. Wr don't miss much, but like a bit of fresh air if the budget allows. $4000 is a lot of money for natural light and fresh air.

I used to cruise inside and agree you spend more time outside your cabin and are more social, but I wouldn't want to be confined to an inside cabin if I caught covid on a ship.

[Over from NZ]

1 hour ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Unless you catch Covid and are confined to your cabin. Then that natural light, fresh air and view of the ocean becomes very, very valuable. 

 

We did a 21 night European cruise in 2017, with 17 port stops. At the time we regularly cruised in inside cabins but chose a balcony for that cruise. It was worth every cent just being able to pop out on the balcony whenever we wanted to rather than going to one of the public decks. 

 

Yeah nah. We're doing that 21-night Med cruise next. Balcony would be nice.. but for about $5k or more extra.. given that you're off the ship from breakfast to dinner 16 of the days.. we'd hardly ever get to use it. And the balconies are usually rather small with uncomfortable seating. I got bored real quick sitting on the balcony. But each to their own. I'd take a balcony.. but not for $5k. That would probably cost me $1k for every time I sat out there hahaha. 

[Hogbay]

On 10/21/2022 at 1:50 PM, bazzaw said:

18 night cruise with 13 ports - 

You will be out like a light or on a deck chair , depending on what 13 ports you have .🤣 

[arxcards]

3 hours ago, MMDown Under said:

I used to cruise inside and agree you spend more time outside your cabin and are more social, but I wouldn't want to be confined to an inside cabin if I caught covid on a ship.

Sad part is, if that happened on Quantum of the Seas today, you would be taken from your balcony cabin and moved to an inside/outside cabin in their iso block. There is no guarantee you will keep your cabin in those circumstances. After all, they are crediting your iso days, and prefer you not to use your balcony.

[sayaguru]

23 hours ago, joejoe 59 said:

What a great bargain 👌 

We don't have those kind of Princess prices out of Brisbane sadly. 

Yes you do. I'm on the Gold Coast but flying to Melbourne for this one. We are doing 2 more before that, out of Sydney and Brisbane. Coral Princess had some cheap deals last month for Nov, Dec and Jan. 

 

[OzKiwiJJ]

2 hours ago, Over from NZ said:

Yeah nah. We're doing that 21-night Med cruise next. Balcony would be nice.. but for about $5k or more extra.. given that you're off the ship from breakfast to dinner 16 of the days.. we'd hardly ever get to use it. And the balconies are usually rather small with uncomfortable seating. I got bored real quick sitting on the balcony. But each to their own. I'd take a balcony.. but not for $5k. That would probably cost me $1k for every time I sat out there hahaha. 

We tend to dine late so the balcony was great in the early evenings, especially if it coincided with a port departure. It was also lovely to go out there first thing in the morning to discover the latest port. But, yes, on some cruise lines the balcony furniture can be really uncomfortable.

Edited October 26, 2022 by OzKiwiJJ

[OzKiwiJJ]

36 minutes ago, arxcards said:

Sad part is, if that happened on Quantum of the Seas today, you would be taken from your balcony cabin and moved to an inside/outside cabin in their iso block. There is no guarantee you will keep your cabin in those circumstances. After all, they are crediting your iso days, and prefer you not to use your balcony.

I'm really glad Princess stopped doing that!

[subaru94]

On 10/25/2022 at 5:37 PM, sayaguru said:

$4,000 is a whole new cruise to me. 

I will pay a bit more for a balcony but not double. I don't think it's double the enjoyment.

 

We just got a 13 night on Princess to NZ in Dec 2022 in an obstructed oceanview for $1,100 each. 

$2,200 TOTAL. 

I'm with you we try and get obstructed oceanview, I like some natural light does not have to be a lot.  We did a lot of travelling on inside cabins, however, covid I prefer to have at least obstructed oceanview now.

[cruiselvr04]

US traveler here but planning on 57 nights on a ship in NZ and Australia in early 2024.  We agonized over a balcony vs an oceanview.  The difference was almost double.  With airfare being so high, we chose an oceanview with Royal. We are balcony and fresh air people but the cost was a big  factor.  An oceanview was affordable and a balcony just wasn’t for a cruise of this length.  Plus we don’t want to say no to any excursions that we really want to do.  We will miss our own outside space but we will figure it out.  I do have to have light and we tried a short cruise in an oceanview before committing.  ( It was smaller then what we’ll have and we did fine.) When you look at cabin size there is very little difference in space or storage.

 

 We are so excited to see your part of the world!