What's Your Financial Breakpoint In a Balcony?

[RocketMan275]

3 hours ago, The Traveling Man said:

Or you are giving up $600.00 OBC to get a Balcony stateroom which otherwise might have cost you several thousands of dollars more than an Inside.

Either way, that 'free' balcony is costing $600.

[The Traveling Man]

33 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

Either way, that 'free' balcony is costing $600.

That's true, but at least it doesn't cost several thousand more. If your preference is for a Balcony stateroom, it's a better use of World Points than simply taking the OBC.  We used to travel in Inside rooms early during our cruise career, but now it's almost always a Balcony, sometimes a Suite or Haven.  We have saved at least $10,000.00 over the years compared to what we would have spent if we paid full price for a Balcony and took the OBC.

[RocketMan275]

37 minutes ago, The Traveling Man said:

That's true, but at least it doesn't cost several thousand more. If your preference is for a Balcony stateroom, it's a better use of World Points than simply taking the OBC.  We used to travel in Inside rooms early during our cruise career, but now it's almost always a Balcony, sometimes a Suite or Haven.  We have saved at least $10,000.00 over the years compared to what we would have spent if we paid full price for a Balcony and took the OBC.

Of course,  you will have to deduct the cash value of World Points from those savings.

[The Traveling Man]

1 hour ago, RocketMan275 said:

Of course,  you will have to deduct the cash value of World Points from those savings.

Already taken into account.  Even counting the OBC we gave up, we still have received some $10.000.00 value by using World Points for upgrades instead of OBC.

[vswan]

1 hour ago, RocketMan275 said:

Of course,  you will have to deduct the cash value of World Points from those savings.

I guess I look at this differently. I have the credit card. There is no yearly fee and I pay my bill monthly and carry no balance. I chose this card because of the points/dollar value and to me the points/dollar value is a perk. I understand I could take the $600 value as OBC, but the savings for a cabin jump for 2 people from inside to balcony is much greater.

[tonit964]

On 5/13/2024 at 8:44 AM, Daruma said:

Hello, folks. 

 

Me again. 

 

So, let me explain the topic and my question. 

 

At what daily price break down do you say, "NOPE!!" to a balcony? 

 

I'm currently booked in an interior room for my 7 day cruise, but since day 7 is disembark day, I only consider it to be 6 days of cabin use. 

 

To change to a balcony for those actual 6 days of cabin use is $660... so $110/day.

 

I'd like a balcony, can afford a balcony, but the logical part of my brain is saying, "Are ye DAFT man?" lol. 

 

So, just curious, at what daily price differential do you decide that the balcony isn't worth it? 

 

I know that I can "split the difference" and go with an Ocean View room, but that doesn't interest me in the slightest. 

I get where you’re coming from. While I love balconies, there is a point in which I say nope, that’s too much.

 

I was on the Encore to Alaska last summer and stayed in a solo studio. I could afford a balcony but at about $1000 more, I would rather take another cruise.

 

I sailed on Carnival 3 months after that in a porthole cabin, got upsell offers for a balcony but decided no, I could put that towards my Hawaii trip 3 months after that. 

Sailing in August in a porthole again. I can afford a balcony but I can’t justify the huge extra cost. 
It forces me to get out and about the ship and sit out on deck watching the ocean just like on my own balcony but for far less. I have a blast on my cruises and I never regret not getting the balcony but that’s just me. 

I’d much rather cruise more often in an inside/porthole. 
Best of luck on your decision and have a great cruise. 

Edited May 20 by tonit964

[RocketMan275]

33 minutes ago, vswan said:

I guess I look at this differently. I have the credit card. There is no yearly fee and I pay my bill monthly and carry no balance. I chose this card because of the points/dollar value and to me the points/dollar value is a perk. I understand I could take the $600 value as OBC, but the savings for a cabin jump for 2 people from inside to balcony is much greater.

Regardless of how you look at it, the upgrade costs the cash value of the points redeemed.  That is independent of the value of the upgrade. 
I use points to pay for hotels, etc, but I don’t pretend the rooms are free. 

[ChiefMateJRK]

30 minutes ago, tonit964 said:

It forces me to get out and about the ship and sit out on deck watching the ocean just like on my own balcony but for far less.

Some don't need to be forced.  The last thing they want to do is to sit on their cabin's balcony and miss the fun of being on the ship.

[MagnoliaBlossom]

I realize RocketMan has chosen to take the moral hgh ground on this, but as I see it - the WP I acrue are “free”, meaning, I exerted no perspiration or indigestion  to earn them, I have not paid tax on them so they are silent  income.  Yes, I could get $600 for them, but I choose to avoid a much greater amount to upgrade,  I have “spent $600 of potential income but I diverted that to an upgrade.   The money is lagniappe not real earned income.  Big sigh.  Let it go, man.

[wncretired]

On 5/18/2024 at 8:08 PM, ChiefMateJRK said:

Welcome fellow boglehead.😎

Boglehead here! Has served me well. 
And if I’m on a ship, it’s in a balcony! Tried an inside room and a porthole room once each.  The next 40+ cruises have all been balconies. To each his own! Bon Voyage 😎😎

[ChiefMateJRK]

1 hour ago, wncretired said:

Boglehead here! Has served me well. 
And if I’m on a ship, it’s in a balcony! Tried an inside room and a porthole room once each.  The next 40+ cruises have all been balconies. To each his own! Bon Voyage 😎😎

Good for you.  Bogleheads is on the supply side.  The rest is up to you. 😎

[DCGuy64]

I suppose that since no two cruisers' experiences are identical (given financial means, military discounts, loyalty points, frequent flier miles and airline status, retirement vs currently employed), it probably isn't a good idea to say "it's always worth it" when what is really meant is "this works for me and my particular circumstances, but probably wouldn't for you."

I do believe the vast majority of people to be well-meaning and helpful. But occasionally someone will talk about how "affordable" a cruise is, but on further investigation, it turns out the person is retired (and thus can cruise with more flexibility than someone who's still working and has to manage time off from work), lives in Florida within driving distance to a major port, is retired military, has a million frequent flier miles and also gets discounts from Casinos at Sea. When such factors are taken into consideration, it shows that that person's circumstances are very different from, say, a new cruiser with none of those perks. But yeah, at the end of the day, whether a balcony upgrade is "worth it" is very much up to the person in question.

[jrt.mom]

 

47 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

I suppose that since no two cruisers' experiences are identical (given financial means, military discounts, loyalty points, frequent flier miles and airline status, retirement vs currently employed), it probably isn't a good idea to say "it's always worth it" when what is really meant is "this works for me and my particular circumstances, but probably wouldn't for you."

I do believe the vast majority of people to be well-meaning and helpful. But occasionally someone will talk about how "affordable" a cruise is, but on further investigation, it turns out the person is retired (and thus can cruise with more flexibility than someone who's still working and has to manage time off from work), lives in Florida within driving distance to a major port, is retired military, has a million frequent flier miles and also gets discounts from Casinos at Sea. When such factors are taken into consideration, it shows that that person's circumstances are very different from, say, a new cruiser with none of those perks. But yeah, at the end of the day, whether a balcony upgrade is "worth it" is very much up to the person in question.

Best answer in this whole thread. 

Edited May 20 by jrt.mom

[slidemaster5]

1 hour ago, DCGuy64 said:

I suppose that since no two cruisers' experiences are identical (given financial means, military discounts, loyalty points, frequent flier miles and airline status, retirement vs currently employed), it probably isn't a good idea to say "it's always worth it" when what is really meant is "this works for me and my particular circumstances, but probably wouldn't for you."

I do believe the vast majority of people to be well-meaning and helpful. But occasionally someone will talk about how "affordable" a cruise is, but on further investigation, it turns out the person is retired (and thus can cruise with more flexibility than someone who's still working and has to manage time off from work), lives in Florida within driving distance to a major port, is retired military, has a million frequent flier miles and also gets discounts from Casinos at Sea. When such factors are taken into consideration, it shows that that person's circumstances are very different from, say, a new cruiser with none of those perks. But yeah, at the end of the day, whether a balcony upgrade is "worth it" is very much up to the person in question.

 

Agreed. I will add that the "desire effect" needs to be considered. We have done a whopping 1 cruise in our life and now that we are retired, we plan on doing 2 a year. Initially we are planning on nicer rooms but as we take cruises our perspective may change. One may yearn for the Haven or Princess sky suite but once then they are able to get this room it may lose its appeal. 

 

"Having is not so pleasing a thing, after all, as wanting".

Edited May 20 by slidemaster5

[carohs]

21 hours ago, vswan said:

I guess I look at this differently. I have the credit card. There is no yearly fee and I pay my bill monthly and carry no balance. I chose this card because of the points/dollar value and to me the points/dollar value is a perk. I understand I could take the $600 value as OBC, but the savings for a cabin jump for 2 people from inside to balcony is much greater.

 

Looking at it from the POV of OPs question, you have decided that upgrading to a balcony is worth it for you and that the upgrade "cost" or "value" of $600 is your breakpoint. You are in fact giving up OBC to upgrade to a balcony because you get more value out of it that way. Some may argue they'd rather have the inside room and keep the OBC. Because either choice is a viable option, you can't claim the upgrade to be "free" even if it didn't cost you out of pocket. Personally, I look at financial decisions as a net effect. If I choose to keep the inside and OBC, I could pay gratuities, excursions, or drink packages out of that and not spend out of pocket for those items. Or, I could pay out of pocket for the extras, but also have a balcony room upgrade. In this case, the upgrade to a balcony has cost me the dollar value of my extra purchases or $600, which ever is less.

 

 

20 hours ago, MagnoliaBlossom said:

I realize RocketMan has chosen to take the moral hgh ground on this, but as I see it - the WP I acrue are “free”, meaning, I exerted no perspiration or indigestion  to earn them, I have not paid tax on them so they are silent  income.  Yes, I could get $600 for them, but I choose to avoid a much greater amount to upgrade,  I have “spent $600 of potential income but I diverted that to an upgrade.   The money is lagniappe not real earned income.  Big sigh.  Let it go, man.

 

Silent income, but why not strive to maximize the value out of it? In either case, it's not free. Companies pay a % of transactions to the credit card processors in fees, which can add up to thousand of dollars easily. You bet some of those costs are passed on in some way to the consumer. But I can choose to charge my everyday purchases to a cruise line rewards card, an airline miles card, or a simple cash back card. Depending on any individual's lifestyle, one card may make more sense over another. Again, I look at the net financial affect. I'm not familiar with the card that will reward you with a balcony upgrade, how much does one need to spend to earn said upgrade? What would that equivalent spend earn on a different rewards card? Based on what you prioritize, then yeah upgrading to a balcony could be your maximum value. But what's true for one person, is not true for everyone. 

 

[The Traveling Man]

23 hours ago, vswan said:

I guess I look at this differently. I have the credit card. There is no yearly fee and I pay my bill monthly and carry no balance. I chose this card because of the points/dollar value and to me the points/dollar value is a perk. I understand I could take the $600 value as OBC, but the savings for a cabin jump for 2 people from inside to balcony is much greater.

Much, much greater in most cases.  Assuming that all your purchases are with NCL and that you use another card for other expenses, all your purchases will be rewarded with three points per dollar.  That means that you will need to spend $20,000.00 to earn 60,000 points, which can be redeemed for $600 in OBC, or a 3% return on your purchases.  Not bad.  Better than the typical 1% or 2% cash back on some cards.  Or you can forego the OBC and use the points to upgrade from Inside to Balcony for all paying customers in your stateroom.  That's typically at least $1000.00 per person or $2000.00 per room, or $1400.00 when accounting for the OBC that you don't receive.  That works out to 7%. 

 

On most of the cruises on which we used the points to upgrade, the differential from Inside to Ocean View was very little, but the delta from OV to Balcony was substantial.  In those cases we paid for an OV and used just 30,000 points to upgrade to Balcony.  Some of the longer, more expensive cruises, resulted in a return of up to 30%.

[Russiamomm]

22 minutes ago, The Traveling Man said:

Much, much greater in most cases.  Assuming that all your purchases are with NCL and that you use another card for other expenses, all your purchases will be rewarded with three points per dollar.  That means that you will need to spend $20,000.00 to earn 60,000 points, which can be redeemed for $600 in OBC, or a 3% return on your purchases.  Not bad.  Better than the typical 1% or 2% cash back on some cards.  Or you can forego the OBC and use the points to upgrade from Inside to Balcony for all paying customers in your stateroom.  That's typically at least $1000.00 per person or $2000.00 per room, or $1400.00 when accounting for the OBC that you don't receive.  That works out to 7%. 

 

On most of the cruises on which we used the points to upgrade, the differential from Inside to Ocean View was very little, but the delta from OV to Balcony was substantial.  In those cases we paid for an OV and used just 30,000 points to upgrade to Balcony.  Some of the longer, more expensive cruises, resulted in a return of up to 30%.

Just a technical note.  I agree with all you’ve said, but want to note that you don’t need to cash in the points for OBC.  They can also be cashed in for a direct statement credit.  Much easier and more flexible than taking OBC. The way I look at it is that I get an automatic additional 3% off any cruise by using the card for NCL charges.  I have used it for upgrades before, but we’ve kind of gotten hooked on the Haven and the points don’t really help if you want to be in the Haven.  But you do get 3 points for every dollar spent, which can be used to take a statement credit.  Works for us.

[ngrund]

When you do the point upgrade to balcony, are there any limitations for cabin choice? I would want to have my choice of floor and location.

[ngrund]

1 minute ago, Russiamomm said:

Just a technical note.  I agree with all you’ve said, but want to note that you don’t need to cash in the points for OBC.  They can also be cashed in for a direct statement credit.  Much easier and more flexible than taking OBC. The way I look at it is that I get an automatic additional 3% off any cruise by using the card for NCL charges.  I have used it for upgrades before, but we’ve kind of gotten hooked on the Haven and the points don’t really help if you want to be in the Haven.  But you do get 3 points for every dollar spent, which can be used to take a statement credit.  Works for us.

Look into transferring some funds/investments to Merrill Lynch and your 3 points can go up to 5.25.

 

https://www.merrilledge.com/preferred-rewards

 

[Russiamomm]

55 minutes ago, ngrund said:

Look into transferring some funds/investments to Merrill Lynch and your 3 points can go up to 5.25.

 

https://www.merrilledge.com/preferred-rewards

 

Hmm.  Will look into it,it not inclined to move our money around.

[Russiamomm]

1 hour ago, ngrund said:

When you do the point upgrade to balcony, are there any limitations for cabin choice? I would want to have my choice of floor and location.

I think so, but I’m not sure of the details.  The answer is probably in the long stickied thread on the MC.  I think how it works is that you have to book the highest category of Inside or OV to get the highest category of balcony.  The one time I did it I could only go to a BB because of the cabin I was booked in.  But I was able to chose my cabin in that category.

[slidemaster5]

1 hour ago, ngrund said:

Look into transferring some funds/investments to Merrill Lynch and your 3 points can go up to 5.25.

 

https://www.merrilledge.com/preferred-rewards

 

 

Interesting, now we are going down the interchange fee rabbit hole. 

 

Anyway, if you want the NCL 5.25% discount you need to get the card and have qualifying balances with Bank of America - the balances can be in the Bank and/or in Merrill. Although you don't need a Merrill account you would not want to put cash in the Bank and earn virtually nothing. 

 

FYI - merchants do not pay interchange fee but instead the fee reduces the amount they receive in the credit card process. May be semantics but I have learned that folks on this site strive for accuracy.

 

Businesses (as least knowledgeable ones) include the interchange fee as part of their business costs. That is why I always advise people to pay with a credit card since you pay the inflated price whether you pay cash or credit. The exception being establishments that offer reduced pricing for cash such as some gas stations. 

[The Traveling Man]

2 hours ago, Russiamomm said:

Just a technical note.  I agree with all you’ve said, but want to note that you don’t need to cash in the points for OBC.  They can also be cashed in for a direct statement credit.  Much easier and more flexible than taking OBC. The way I look at it is that I get an automatic additional 3% off any cruise by using the card for NCL charges.  I have used it for upgrades before, but we’ve kind of gotten hooked on the Haven and the points don’t really help if you want to be in the Haven.  But you do get 3 points for every dollar spent, which can be used to take a statement credit.  Works for us.

That's true.  As I said, cashing in for a room upgrade really only works well if you're happy with a Balcony.  We are, so it works well for us.  For those who prefer a Suite or Haven room and are not happy with a Balcony, the best return you can get is 3%.  We get to enjoy returns up to 30%.

[The Traveling Man]

2 hours ago, ngrund said:

When you do the point upgrade to balcony, are there any limitations for cabin choice? I would want to have my choice of floor and location.

If you have a great PCC like we do and you do your research before putting in your upgrade request, you generally get to select the room of your choice.

[Russiamomm]

4 minutes ago, The Traveling Man said:

That's true.  As I said, cashing in for a room upgrade really only works well if you're happy with a Balcony.  We are, so it works well for us.  For those who prefer a Suite or Haven room and are not happy with a Balcony, the best return you can get is 3%.  We get to enjoy returns up to 30%.

Completely agree.  We don’t always do the Haven, but sometimes even using points to upgrade isn’t worth burning the points.  We’re doing a short five nighter to Bermuda in October.  The difference in cost between a OV and a Club Balcony was less than $300.  In fact the Club Balcony was $9 cheaper than a regular balcony.  I couldn’t believe it. We paid outright for the Club Balcony and will get the 3 points per dollar.