Room sizes...

[pazandak63]

Hubby and I have sailed the Valor twice and took balcony on both trips...we enjoy cruising and want to save some money to sail more often....

Any thoughts on downsizing? Inside or oceanview?

We will have our 12 year old with us...

 

Do you think the balcony is worth the extra money? Or would you pocket the saving and get out and about on the ship instead?

[lizardhowson]

Hubby and I have sailed the Valor twice and took balcony on both trips...we enjoy cruising and want to save some money to sail more often....

Any thoughts on downsizing? Inside or oceanview?

We will have our 12 year old with us...

 

Do you think the balcony is worth the extra money? Or would you pocket the saving and get out and about on the ship instead?

 

Isn't this a decision you will have to make based on your needs & expectations ? Since you've cruised with a balcony before, only you know what your finances are compared to how your son will impact your cabin needs.

[wannacruisemore]

Balcony Only..............For me!!!!!:)

[Maryutah]

Our first crusie we had an ocean view, and thought it was great. I was just excited to be ON the ship!

 

There are options to be out on deck during arrivals and departures, and great places to hang out - so for me, balcony is not essential. Our cruise coming up, we thought about a balcony, but went with the spa deck for a larger sized room (there are three of us), huge windows and actually was a tiny bit cheaper than the balcony rooms.

 

Do what works best for you and your family - wherever you are, remember, your on a cruise, how bad can that be! :D

[wework2play]

Hubby and I have sailed the Valor twice and took balcony on both trips...we enjoy cruising and want to save some money to sail more often....

Any thoughts on downsizing? Inside or oceanview?

We will have our 12 year old with us...

 

Do you think the balcony is worth the extra money? Or would you pocket the saving and get out and about on the ship instead?

 

I am interested to see responses to this thread. We have only cruised in an interior room. This time I booked a balcony room, and we are taking our kids for the first time. I'm wondering if it is worth it to pay the extra money. Everyone I know says once you have a balcony you will always want a balcony. :)

[cuyahoga11]

Personally, I wont do an inside room, so if the difference between oceanview and balcony is minimal, I go for balcony.

[PINEVIEW01]

I am interested to see responses to this thread. We have only cruised in an interior room. This time I booked a balcony room, and we are taking our kids for the first time. I'm wondering if it is worth it to pay the extra money. Everyone I know says once you have a balcony you will always want a balcony. :)

That is right. I loved the balcony! I spent a lot of time on it.

 

But, that said I retiered this year and want to cruise more for less. I was able to do an 7 day OV with a girlfriend and a 5 and 4 day 1A solo last month for the price of a 7 day balcony. I never thought I'd be able to do a IS but as a solo it was OK. I spent most my time up on deck.

 

So, If you want to sail more go OV. I love the size of standard size rooms on Carnival. You have to pay more for the same size on other lines.

[Ashleezmom]

I believe the OV rooms are a tad bigger but Balcony is the only way to go for me...it is a personal issue..I love to sit on my balcony in the morning sipping coffee and reading or just relaxing. If you are even thinking about it maybe you will be fine without it. Either way, you will still have a wonderful cruise!!

[PACURN]

There is nothing better than sitting out on the balcony. Love them.

[skyscanr]

cat 11 or 12 here. Love the extra space

[mkk]

We are 50 somethings..so no kids..but after having the OV rooms on the Spa deck..if I had young children cruising with me I'd choose one of those over a balcony...the rooms are the size of a balcony stateroom WITH the balcony but all under glass. The window is floor to ceiling and the views from up there are wonderful! Lots of space to spread out and no worries with kids going in and out ..in and out the balcony door as kids are known to do!

These are the 6E's and are sometimes priced higher than a balcony but so worth it!

(Only two more days til we sail Valor..SPA deck!!!)

[firefly333]

I cruise with the best deal. If balconys were only a tad more than OVs I would book them. If I can get a great deal on something else I go with that. Of course everyone would rather have a balcony, that's why they cost more lol. But Im not working and living off savings, I have more time than money, so Id rather cruise more often than cruise less with a balcony. We will be on our 4th cruise since early Nov. in a few weeks. The only reason Im waiting for fall for the next booked cruise, I promised relatives I would take a trip from Texas to Ohio. I still maybe book another cruise in between.

[blwms]

We love balconies, but since retirement we want to cruise more often , so we go with the bargains. So far, we have not been disappointed. We just love cruising and the only cabin we rule out is the upper/lower...At our age, climbing ladders is not an option!

[Tootsiesmom]

I guess if it's not a long cruise I would suggest trying an inside cabin and see how it goes - then you will know for future trips. We have done inside, oceanview and balcony. If I could save enough to go more often I think I would do a little of each and go more, but then we don't have kids and that makes a difference.

[emelvee]

Our first cruise was in an Oceanview cabin. I would have been fine with Interior, but wife is claustrophobic so I didn't want to risk stressing her out. I did like seeing outside from our cabin; not sure if I would go to an Interior room in the future.

 

Our next cruise is in a Balcony room (did this only because it was only $100 pp extra) - I'll probably get spoiled after this one :). Though the cabins are larger in regular Oceanview (at least on Destiny), so I might still be open to Oceanview in the future.

 

I found I spent MORE time than I thought I would in the cabin, so I like the extra room (and the larger cabins were definitely a factor in our choosing Carnival over other lines).

[KelliKevin]

Well, a 12 yr old should be old enough to enjoy the balcony. I think a balcony is always better but then again I agree with all the others it depends what your plans are.

We actually just sailed a "cheapy" with portholes!! It was okay...still worth what we paid. My DH of course says that it was only okay cause it was a 4 nighter. We did stay out of the cabin as much as we could. Basically just slept there....alot of people do that.

However, not my DH...he also likes to sit out on the balcony, have his coffee...later watch the sunset, etc. But if I could save enough from one cruise to do another, then that would be fine with me.

If you are only going once or twice no matter what the cost or how much you can save...then get the balcony.

 

a cruise is always a great cruise.

[whimdriven]

My theory on inside rooms is that you'll likely spend VERY little time in your room anyway, so why pay the big price. Like a previous poster wrote, there are plenty of beautiful public places to arrive in and leave port and watch whatever is in the environment outside.

 

I got an OV for the same price as an inside this time because my partner has motion sickness issues and I wanted him to be able to see the horizon if need be. Had an inside been the least expensive option, we would have gone with that and been just fine (although the partner may have ended up sleeping on a pool chair outside) :D

[Fun~N~Sun]

If I can't have a balcony I don't want to cruise. To me a balcony is a HUGE part of the cruise experience. Like another poster said though if you are worried about finances go for an in between cabin and get an OV with the huge windows. However, for me, it's a balcony on a ship or my patio at home!

[Wennfred]

We always go for the lowest cheapest cat. cabin and then book it guarantee. If we get something good, thats fine. We pocket the rest of the money and use it elsewhere. We don't care whether its an Inside or Penthouse, as long as we are away from home and having a great time. :)

 

 

Fred

[dlbutler5]

We have cruise with all catagories of rooms (except suites). We have also cruise with 3 and 4 adults to a room. When we had balconies we spent very little time using them so we don't book them any more. Now, we get OV or IS depending on the price. Room size is the same except for the balcony.

[msamanda2006]

I was just wondering how big the OV cabins at the front of the ship are? I have sailed on the Conquest Empress OV Forward and the room only has a bed and desk no sofa ect. Does any one know if this is the case on the Valor? What about the other decks Upper, Lido ect..Pictures would be great??? Thanks!

[pazandak63]

Thanks for all the input...I have always had a balcony but the last cruise I did not even go out on it...HD and son went to the pool when up...

So, I am thinking a OV since it is large than an IS and I ahve 3 of us...might try the OV guarantee and hope for one up on the spa deck...

[firefly333]

Thanks for all the input...I have always had a balcony but the last cruise I did not even go out on it...HD and son went to the pool when up...

So, I am thinking a OV since it is large than an IS and I ahve 3 of us...might try the OV guarantee and hope for one up on the spa deck...

 

I checked the Conquest on the biggest ever sale and if you paid for the lowest price OV the web site was upgrading to the highest OV. I called a PVP who said this was a mistake you were not supposed to get higher than 6B, but it was giving me a choice if I booked myself of the spa deck on the free upgrade.