Balcony vs Ocean View

[nferr]

I enjoy my alone time on a balcony. It's nice and quiet. But up to a price, I'm not spending double the cost to have a balcony, I don't spend that much time on it. I've been lucky to bid up for a couple of hundred and get a balcony but I'm sure it's getting harder with ships running near capacity.  I'm pretty happy sitting up on deck somewhere with a nice drink to kill the afternoon. 

[skittl1321]

On 8/7/2023 at 7:26 PM, 1threadshort said:

Going on Alaska cruise:  I understand its a matter of preference, but do you think a balcony is worth the xtra money vs ocean view considering you are not in your room that long?

 

You say "considering you are not in your room that long"- but personally, I AM in my room. On my balcony.  

 

For me the people who say "you don't spend much time in your room" on a cruise ship are the people who aren't booking comfortable rooms.  If I had an inside, I probably wouldn't spend much time in it; but I prefer to be away from crowded spaces, so I love a balcony, no matter the itinterary. An itinerary like Alaska where everything is about seeing outside, I absolutely want the balcony.

 

For encore, I paid over double the cost of a studio to be able to have a balcony instead. I'm going in October so it will be COLD; that just means I need to bring the right clothes for it.

Edited August 15, 2023 by skittl1321

[destar]

A lot of people say that they don't spend that much time in the cabin to get a balcony, but that balcony is nice to have, especially enjoying your drink of choice. Once you sailed on a balcony, its hard to go back to an inside/ ocean view cabin. 

[julig22]

On 8/8/2023 at 8:21 AM, laudergayle said:

It is indeed a personal and pocketbook preference.  Alaska excursions are very expensive compared to other destinations, so saving on cabin to experience Alaska may make more sense for some.  If you are prone to claustrophobia or seasickness, having a balcony can be a saving grace.  
 

Another option you may consider.  Checkout the NCL Mastercard thread on page 1 of this group. (Just read the last 15ish pages not all 232…lol).  We just got the card, earned the 20k bonus.  We are going to book an OV cabin, pay for it with our NCL card (3x points for cruise price). The 20k plus 3x cruise price will get us close to the 30k needed to do a one level upgrade from OV to Balcony.  Pre booking a NCL excursion or two should get you to that 30k mark.  
 

Alaska is beautiful however you decide to experience her.

Exactly how I pay for a balcony when I feel it's a must have.  Basically paying $300 in credits for the upgrade from OV.  I'm not picky about location (although sometimes they'll let you choose)

[chiefy_mom]

On 8/7/2023 at 8:26 PM, 1threadshort said:

Going on Alaska cruise:  I understand its a matter of preference, but do you think a balcony is worth the xtra money vs ocean view considering you are not in your room that long?

It annoys me when this is always stated as a fact.  How do YOU cruise and how long will YOU reasonably use the balcony.

for me, on land vacations, I don’t just book oceanfront resorts, I book oceanfront rooms.  I usually wake up before the rest of the family and love sitting on the balcony watching the waves and reading/relaxing.  When coming back from port I also want to relax on the balcony without other people.  I don’t want to have to fight for a space.

 

I did do Alaska with just an ocean view a long time ago, but I wouldn’t do it that way again. How people-y are you? And how important is private outdoor space to you?

[omahabob]

It's a lot more difficult to moon other ships with an inside cabin.

[GrammyLove]

14 hours ago, omahabob said:

It's a lot more difficult to moon other ships with an inside cabin.

Omahabob, are you an old Wiindjammer Barefoot Cruiser? It was a tradition on the Windjammers to shoot the little blunderbust cannon and the passengers would moon the large cruise ships as we left port! 

[Sand and Seas]

19 minutes ago, GrammyLove said:

Omahabob, are you an old Wiindjammer Barefoot Cruiser? It was a tradition on the Windjammers to shoot the little blunderbust cannon and the passengers would moon the large cruise ships as we left port! 

We loved our WindJammer cruises!   We had an extremely tiny inside cabin on our first WJ cruise.  It did have an attached teeny tiny bathroom.  Shower was interesting.  No choice of temperatures, you just had to hold down the button and take what ever amount of water flowed out.   

 

No closet, just 3 or 4 hooks on the wall, but you were living in swimsuits & t-shirts.  No locks on door, just a hook & latch for when you wanted some type of privacy.  Breakfast was announced by a sweet girl named Neesa who went past your door with a small tinkly bell.   Dinner was likely to be whatever the cook caught while fishing off the side.

..... And yes, after rum swizzles & snacks, we did see a couple of fellow cruisers moon the 'foo-foo' ships as they went by🤭

[GrammyLove]

5 minutes ago, Sand and Seas said:

We loved our WindJammer cruises!   We had an extremely tiny inside cabin on our first WJ cruise.  It did have an attached teeny tiny bathroom.  Shower was interesting.  No choice of temperatures, you just had to hold down the button and take what ever amount of water flowed out.   

 

No closet, just 3 or 4 hooks on the wall, but you were living in swimsuits & t-shirts.  No locks on door, just a hook & latch for when you wanted some type of privacy.  Breakfast was announced by a sweet girl named Neesa who went past your door with a small tinkly bell.   Dinner was likely to be whatever the cook caught while fishing off the side.

..... And yes, after rum swizzles & snacks, we did see a couple of fellow cruisers moon the 'foo-foo' ships as they went by🤭

And now we're on those "foo-foo" ships 🙂 

 

Understand the room and shower situation completely! Went on the Poly (3 trips), Mandalay (b2b), and Amazing Grace (b2b). Popeye was our favorite Chief Steward!

 

[Sand and Seas]

3 minutes ago, GrammyLove said:

And now we're on those "foo-foo" ships 🙂 

 

Understand the room and shower situation completely! Went on the Poly (3 trips), Mandalay (b2b), and Amazing Grace (b2b). Popeye was our favorite Chief Steward!

 

Oh yes, a lot easier to sail the 'foo-foo' ships nowadays😊   We were on a Dolphin cruise ship and docked in Antigua next to the Amazing Grace and another of their ships.  As we were admiring them, Captain Burke invited us onboard and gave us a nice tour of both.  Of course, we started to plan and save for a WJ cruise after that.

 

Our first cruise was a B2B out of Tortola. Loved our 'stow-away' night between cruises eating with the crew.   Our cruise was cut short by one night the second week due to a hurricane heading our way.  Instead of the traditional pre-dinner 'rum swizzles & snacks',  we commandeered the rum punch barrel and enjoyed that last night on board.   So sad they are no longer sailing.

[omahabob]

4 hours ago, GrammyLove said:

Omahabob, are you an old Wiindjammer Barefoot Cruiser? 

 

No, but I'm usually barefoot when I moon somebody. Does that count?

[nferr]

On 8/15/2023 at 11:03 PM, chiefy_mom said:

It annoys me when this is always stated as a fact.  How do YOU cruise and how long will YOU reasonably use the balcony.

for me, on land vacations, I don’t just book oceanfront resorts, I book oceanfront rooms.  I usually wake up before the rest of the family and love sitting on the balcony watching the waves and reading/relaxing.  When coming back from port I also want to relax on the balcony without other people.  I don’t want to have to fight for a space.

 

I did do Alaska with just an ocean view a long time ago, but I wouldn’t do it that way again. How people-y are you? And how important is private outdoor space to you?

 All up to the individual as you say.  I usually spend about 30 minutes a day on the balcony, which I do enjoy. How much is that worth to me is the question. I've settled on around $200 or so for a seven night cruise, adjusted for a longer cruise. I bid up from an interior to a balcony for under $300 on a 15 night transatlantic on NCL last year and for $220 on an 11 night cruise on the Anthem also last year. Well worth it, but I suspect that it's not going to be as easy on my upcoming Oasis cruise in October or my MSC cruise in January. On Oasis a balcony was over $1,000 higher when booking (over double the fare), on MSC it wasn't as bad, about $600 higher for a nine night cruise in a solo cabin. 

[kelib]

On 8/16/2023 at 2:51 PM, GrammyLove said:

And now we're on those "foo-foo" ships 🙂 

 

Understand the room and shower situation completely! Went on the Poly (3 trips), Mandalay (b2b), and Amazing Grace (b2b). Popeye was our favorite Chief Steward!

 

15 weeks on WJ. Was scheduled on the Legacy in Costa Rica and they shut down 3 days before the cruise.

[RedRover96]

Pure greed and can't believe the queen of the fleet, Legacy, was scraped on the beach in Costa Rica for salvage value!

 

RedRover

(GrammyLove's other half)

[kelib]

2 hours ago, RedRover96 said:

Pure greed and can't believe the queen of the fleet, Legacy, was scraped on the beach in Costa Rica for salvage value!

 

RedRover

(GrammyLove's other half)

5 of us still went to Costa Rica, hired a guide and drove around Costa Rica for 10 days. Passed her anchored off the coast.

Was supposed to go back to Costa Rica on the Bliss this past winter but NCL changed our itinerary 10 days after final payment and took away CR, Nicaragua( as expected) and our 2 days in Panama City. Still a bit bitter about it.

[Asawi]

On 8/15/2023 at 10:45 PM, skittl1321 said:

 

For me the people who say "you don't spend much time in your room" on a cruise ship are the people who aren't booking comfortable rooms. If I had an inside, I probably wouldn't spend much time in it

To each their own, but for me it's kind of the other way round: I know I'll spend a lot of time outside. Chilling in Spice H2O, walking around, going between different places offering different views and so on. Therefore I book an inside. It's really comfortable for the time I do spend there and I don't need more. (I'm a solo traveller, so space is not an issue.)

But that's me! I'm useless at sitting still for more than 15-30 minutes. If I wasn't I can absolutely see the attraction of a balcony!

(And having sung the praise for the inside cabin, on my recent Iceland/Norway cruise I had a cheap picture window room that I LOVED! The midnight sun may bother some, but not me! A balcony wouldn't have added anything FOR ME on this particular cruise but the oceanview... WOW!) 

[julig22]

7 hours ago, Asawi said:

To each their own, but for me it's kind of the other way round: I know I'll spend a lot of time outside. Chilling in Spice H2O, walking around, going between different places offering different views and so on. Therefore I book an inside. It's really comfortable for the time I do spend there and I don't need more. (I'm a solo traveller, so space is not an issue.)

But that's me! I'm useless at sitting still for more than 15-30 minutes. If I wasn't I can absolutely see the attraction of a balcony!

(And having sung the praise for the inside cabin, on my recent Iceland/Norway cruise I had a cheap picture window room that I LOVED! The midnight sun may bother some, but not me! A balcony wouldn't have added anything FOR ME on this particular cruise but the oceanview... WOW!) 

I love my balcony because I love to watch and photograph the sunrise/sunset and see the nighttime sky. I'm now the proud owner of a camera that has a specific setting for moon shots, LOL. Not a fan of going on deck a 4am in the cold to see what's happening.  Speaking of cruises to Alaska and Antarctica in particular. Or the midnight sun in Norway.