First timers on Arcadia - no balcony !

[milky-bar-man]

Hi, just booked onto Arcadia for the Canaries Cocktail in October 09. Myself and my wife will be hitting the big 40 towards the end of 09, so decided to try something different to the beach. But, unfortunately we're not millionaires, so decided that we couldn't justify the extra £500ish for the cheapest balcony, so we've got inside room D6 - will we regret not shelling out on the balcony ? All the forum chats seem to be comparing who's got the biggest (balconies). Can anyone give us their opinion of inside cabins ?

thanks

[Elaine0138]

There is a lot of balcony snobbery.

£500 is a lot extra to pay, we have had inside cabins and survied :)

[mann overboard]

Have been inside, outside & in a balcony cabin.

 

Afterall, how much time do you spend awake in there. When we have booked, and it's seemed like a bargain, we have indulged ourselves. Once you walk out of the cabin, you eat the same, are entertained the same and are treated the same as the passengers who have paid double or more.

When I'm asleep, I don't really know where I am!!

 

Think of how much indulgence you can have on any trips, in the bar and at the restaurants for your £500.

 

Those who pay the most can't get upgraded; you might.

 

Have a great time!!

[Druke I]

Well, my wife and I (both Yanks) have yet to be convinced that one must have a balcony to enjoy a cruise.

 

We've had insides, outsides with both obstructed views and unobstructed views, balconies, what have you.

 

We spend so little time in our cabin it is not really that important to us - we just want a comfortable bed and adequate storage!

[Host Sharon]

Personally I prefer the spend the extra money on other things and would rather be on open decks with other people to chat with. There is a lot of snobbery about balconies. By the way, I think I am on your cruise. It will be my first time on Arcadia, although an old P&O hand.

[milky-bar-man]

Hi, thanks all for the advise - makes us a bit more relaxed, we were thinking of cashing the kids college fund in, for an upgrade - but we'll leave it there for now.

Although its a year away (to the day !!!), we're really looking forward to it, a bit worried about the formal side, but I'm sure it will be fun. After reading all the reviews, ranging from fantastic to horrendous, we're of the opinion that you can always have a bad time if you really want one (reading some of the reviews, some people definately seem to be looking for something to complain about !), but we're sure that we'll have a great time.

Just a quickie about the dress code, ok - so formal nights are dinner suits, but other nights, are the gents expected to wear suits ? Or is it just smart atire ?

[MattOsprey]

We have tried inside, outside and balcony.

The rooms are pretty much the same, except now the balcony cabins will have a lot of smokers. As this is one of the few places they can smoke. Smoke coning over the balcony isn't nice if you are a non-smoker.

Only inside for us from now on.

You will love criuising.

Hope you enjoy.

Matt

[Laticfanatic617]

we were on the Arcadia last november and had an inside room....

 

the 'upgrade fairy' visited us...(not bad for our first cruise!!) and put us in a 'large' inside room... it was massive... in relation to a 'normal' inside room i don't know how much bigger but believe me, this was immense!

 

from what i gather a lot of ships don't have more than one size insides, but we believe in the same way as you, the cost is your on board bill AND more!!

 

each to their own of course, but we also saw people in the pool area's and at dinner but never in the bars during the evening.... seems they liked to sit on their balconies and have a wee drink!! must be nice watching the sunset, but to ME (before this reverts into a slanging match!) i cannot see the plusses of sitting in the dark on a balcony having a drink by yourself!

 

the Arc is a great ship... enjoy!!

 

 

oh and i forgot to say....... if you worry about missing the view as you arrive in port, go to bed at night and leave the tv on, with the webcam showing.....hey presto in the morning a lovely view of the port!!!!

[Laticfanatic617]

Just a quickie about the dress code, ok - so formal nights are dinner suits, but other nights, are the gents expected to wear suits ? Or is it just smart atire ?

 

 

in the carribean it tends to b 4 x formal .... dj is good, but one or two just wear dark suits and a bow tie!

 

and the rest are semi casual .... i wear linen for those! bought from expensive shops like asda and tesco!!!

[LibraLass41]

Some people like some quiet relaxing time away from the crowds sat on their balcony with a glass of wine in the late afternoon after a busy port day, watching the sailing boats and port activity.... we do.

Have had a inside cabin, didn't like it, always have a balcony now, good job we are all different though, eh?:)

[Laticfanatic617]

Some people like some quiet relaxing time away from the crowds sat on their balcony with a glass of wine in the late afternoon after a busy port day, watching the sailing boats and port activity.... we do.

Have had a inside cabin, didn't like it, always have a balcony now, good job we are all different though, eh?:)

 

 

of course!!! to be honest that's what i enjoyed about last year!

 

i think it's the whole package....

 

the build up to the holiday!

 

how many holidays do you go on where you can meet (ok in a cyber sense!) before even arriving there?

 

the experience on the plane... i feel it's a bit like a school trip! (weird i know!) as you're all going to the same place, for the same thing!

 

then having dinner with such a wide, diverse bunch of people ( yep! i'm not one for cosy table's for 2!!! )

 

then the whole day out thing, and swapping stories/experiences with all your new friends...

 

then the flight home, a plane full of people who all know each other! how many holidays have you been on that you saw people on the way out and only again on the plane on the way back?? whenever i went for a wander last year on the plane, i was forever saying hello to someone or another!

 

i was talking to one of our admin girls at work today who's getting married next year and they have talked about a carribean cruise as a 'later in the year-2nd honeymoon'...and decided that it would probably be mega expensive etc etc ...... anyone got any words of wisdom for them????

 

personally speaking i feel like i know a mega secret, that i just can't tell enough people about!!! for anyone who's thinking about booking their first cruise.... wow what a position to be in! it's like opening pandora's box!

[upwarduk]

We had a balcony cabin on Celebrity Mercury in Australia earlier this year. I loved watching the Sydney Opera House from the balcony.

I also loved eating breakfast on the balcony, when we entered Fjord land in New Zealand.

But apart from that, we really did not use it much ( we did not even realise we had booked one, we booked Premium Ocean View, which happened to be a balcony cabin)

 

There was no way I was paying £500pp to smell other peoples smoke, so we have opted for a restricted view, outside cabin on Arcadia. I have read that the cabins are larger, as balcony space is incorporated in the cabin. Great news. It is still costing us more than the Celebrity cruise, but we have decided that we are giving sailing from Southampton a try- the flight to Australia has been tried and tested and rejected.

[jeanlyon]

having done a couple of cruises now, I will never pay for a balcony. I use my cabin to sleep, shower and change. I can't imagine sitting in my cabin having a drink either. I like to be out on deck or in the bar!

[salsalady]

I suffer from dreadful claustrophobia, so theres no way I could stay in anything other than a balcony cabin....

 

I also enjoy having a balcony, so that you can sit and enjoy a leisurely breakfast with a wonderful views, and all the lovely sounds and smells that come from being outside....also, afternoon tea on the balcony is lovely...no crowds, just peace, quiet and enjoyment...

 

Karen

[Pontius Navigator]

Our personal view is that we want a balcony cabin when there is a view :)

 

Our last cruise was a weekender and we opted for a window cabin but because of the privacy covering and net curtains it might as well have been an inside cabin. As the cruise was in the North Sea and late September we did not miss the balcony.

 

In October, to the Canaries you would not use the balcony during the transit anyway. Unlike the Caribbean, we found the views on our canaries cruise were pleasant but not absolutely fabulous.

 

The one piece of advice that I would offer, and one we could not have on the last cruise, was go second sitting. You sail at about 5-6 most days and Mrs Milky Bar will no doubt want to be getting ready for dinner from 5pm. You would therefore miss a chunk of the day.

[milky-bar-man]

Thanks all for the advice - I can def see the advantage of a balcony, and I would love to have one, but as has been mentioned in several of the posts, I can think of a lot better ways of spending £500 (I'm sure Mrs MB could think of plenty too). Having no balcony option will force us to go "public", and as its our first cruise, it will be a good opportunity to find out how things are done. I really like the idea of the cruise away (is that right?) parties, when your leaving port. Champers and union jacks at the ready,,,,

Pontious - we're on the 2nd sitting, quite like the idea of a few drinks before dinner. Although we've played it safe, and gone for the table for 2 - sorry !!

[Laticfanatic617]

I really like the idea of the cruise away (is that right?) parties, when your leaving port. Champers and union jacks at the ready,,,,

Pontious - we're on the 2nd sitting, quite like the idea of a few drinks before dinner. Although we've played it safe, and gone for the table for 2 - sorry !!

 

 

on the Arcadia last year we had early sitting and learnt a very valuable lesson...

 

at the end of the cruise they started showing a DVD on the tv network showing all these parties on the pool decks.. it looked fantastic, and i said to my wife that in some ways i wished our cruise had been like that, but i dismissed it as a xmas/new year one etc due to the partying!!

 

after a few minutes i started to spot people who i knew were on the ship!!

 

the DVD was primarily the 'sailaway' parties...and we'd missed them (well apart from the first 10/15 mins as the ship left port!!) as we were always getting ready for dinner!

 

our next cruise.............LATE SITTING!!

[stopgo]

As regards balconies, I think it depends which ship your on. The ones on the Ventura are about the width of an ironing board. Anybody cuiseing the Caribbean, and flying to Bridgetown my advice would be to upgrade the aircraft seat and not bother with a balcony.

[annieuk]

We are lucky to be able to afford to book a balcony and I would rather do fewer cruises if it meant not having a balcony each time. We use our balcony a lot. If we were going on an early tour we order room service breakfast and have it on the balcony. We sit out there a lot during the day if it's a sea day.

 

As far as the Caribbean is concerned I would say that is one place a balcony comes into its own. Being on the balcony as the ship leaves a Caribbean island, the sun going down, drink in hand is magic.

 

This is just how I feel about it and I can quite understand that some people would prefer and inside cabin and cruise more often. Some people like the camaraderie of being on loungers round the pool on a sea day. We prefer being on our balcony. We have also enjoyed asking people we have met on our table (always a table for 8) to come and join us for a drink and that's lovely to have on the balcony.

 

It's all a matter of personal choice. I have never come across snobbery associated with having a balcony.

 

Annie:)

[LibraLass41]

We are lucky to be able to afford to book a balcony and I would rather do fewer cruises if it meant not having a balcony each time. We use our balcony a lot. If we were going on an early tour we order room service breakfast and have it on the balcony. We sit out there a lot during the day if it's a sea day.

 

As far as the Caribbean is concerned I would say that is one place a balcony comes into its own. Being on the balcony as the ship leaves a Caribbean island, the sun going down, drink in hand is magic.

 

This is just how I feel about it and I can quite understand that some people would prefer and inside cabin and cruise more often. Some people like the camaraderie of being on loungers round the pool on a sea day. We prefer being on our balcony. We have also enjoyed asking people we have met on our table (always a table for 8) to come and join us for a drink and that's lovely to have on the balcony.

 

It's all a matter of personal choice. I have never come across snobbery associated with having a balcony.

 

Annie:)

 

 

Annie

Totally agree with you. We would sometimes rather be on our own 'bit of the ship '- a personal balcony than sharing 'our space' with others on the main deck - that is, after all, what you are paying for. Sat along the prom deck is ok , but the constant stream of people walking past, and sometimes looking at you can be a pain, as also the poolside - which can be noisy - especially on a child friendly ship.

[LibraLass41]

having done a couple of cruises now, I will never pay for a balcony. I use my cabin to sleep, shower and change. I can't imagine sitting in my cabin having a drink either. I like to be out on deck or in the bar!

 

I don't 'sit IN my cabin drinking either, but sat OUT on the balcony watching the port activity or at sea is wonderful.

Have you had a balcony Jean?

[stopgo]

But on the basic balcony how much personal space do you actually get?

As I have said on the Ventura the basic balcony is about the width of an

ironing board. Your actually closer to fellow passengers there than you are on deck.

[seattlelover]

We've had an inside, promenade view, outside and a balcony cabin. They've all been enjoyed for different reasons. However, I'm not sure I'd do a 14 night cruise in an inside cabin again. I don't like the sensation of not having any natural daylight. I also enjoy being able to grab some fresh air in my cabin when I want it and stepping out onto my balcony. I don't really feel I've been able to make the most of my balcony cabins except when I've cruised to Alaska.

 

Each to their own. I'd probably stick with the inside cabin on your first cruise and see how you get on. You may find it perfectly acceptable.

 

Regards

 

Seattlelover

[bigbum]

I always book an inside cabin, usually not in there much, only to sleep, shower and change clothes, just remember to take a torch as very dark in the night so you can easily go to the bathroom without waking your partner putting on the cabin lights;.

[LibraLass41]

But on the basic balcony how much personal space do you actually get?

As I have said on the Ventura the basic balcony is about the width of an

ironing board. Your actually closer to fellow passengers there than you are on deck.

 

Enough room for two chairs, a table in the middle to put the wine box on and glasses:D and space either side and your own personal rail where no -one stands in front of you blocking the view...and peace and quiet;)