balcony?

[jessbaby]

Its about a thousand dollar difference. Is it worth it to get a balcony?

[TheWog]

It was to us. Watch the sunrise with room service delivered right there. Son took a nap we could hang out on the verandah. He fell asleep at night you can hang out and read. Just a nice place to be while everyone gets ready. You can also watch all the action down below when docking. Like suitcases being delivered to people the morning you reach St. Maarten. People running for the ship as you get ready to depart.... or people running for the ship across from you and just barely making it. Plus the fresh air is real nice when you want it.

[macbest]

For us, the balcony has always been a nice retreat. My wife likes ot sleep in and I'll go out on the balcony to read in the morning until she wakes up. Being in the Carribean, it almost seems like the "law" to have a balcony since it is so beautiful. You often get to see larger fish and the at sea days are the best.

There is only one downfall: while I believe it is prohibited, people do smoke on their balconies and it seems to drift right where you are.

[inkkognito]

Smoking is not prohibited on the balconies, just in the staterooms.
If you do not get one, check out the "secret" deck 7 aft verandah. I have photos and details on my website. You can get a nearby inside stateroom and use it.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

[Druke I]

We had a balcony when we did Disney, and enjoyed it very much.

Several cruises since, different lines - sometimes with balcony, sometimes standard outside.

For us, a balcony is great with sea days, but not worth it on a port-intensive cruise.

[Florida Sun]

Hi, This is my first post on these boards.

We had a balcony on our trip in August and loved it. We have booked again for next August and again have booked a Varandah room. Before we went I did not know how much we would use it and if is was worth the money,but we used it a lot especally first thing in the morning and in the afternoons when we wanted some quiet time. Yes smoking is only allowed on the balconies and not in the statrooms.

Hope this helps:)

[JanetMarie]

DH and I cruise 2 - 3 times a year and we absolutely get nothing but! Love it!

[Host Mick]

My take on Verandahs is that if you have it, you love it because of the obvious reasons and you'll tend to spend a little more time in the stateroom. If you don't have one, you won't miss it because you don't spend much time in the stateroom anyway.
Besides the stateroom and the concierge benefits, the entire cruise is identical for cat 1 and cat 12 passengers. Keep that in mind when you spend more on an upgraded stateroom.

[SeaSprayTB]

As soon as we entered our stateroom we could see the ocean. We went straight to the verandah and were SO glad we had decided to pay the extra for it. For us, it was more than worth every penny. We used the verandah a lot more than I thought we would. Every time we entered the cabin, we'd go out there to enjoy the view. Especially on the days at sea, it is so peaceful and relaxing to have your little private spot on the ship. We're booked on the Voyager of the Seas for June '05 and we're glad we decided to book a balcony cabin on that cruise, too. Last year was our first cruise and we were in an inside cabin. It was fine, we loved the cruise, but didn't know what we were missing by not having a balcony. I would still cruise without a balcony if it was a choice between an inside cabin or no cruise, but for us, we will definitely continue to pay the extra for the verandah/balcony. :)

P.S. I have a lot of pictures from our cruise on the Magic that we just returned from a couple of weeks ago. The link to my site is below, in my signature. :)

[gizfish]

We have no kids but love Disney. A verandah is required on a Disney cruise if you want to be sure you can have child free time since as much as there are adult only areas and family areas, most areas on a Disney ship are family areas. If you do have young kids, you may want the balcony so that while your child is napping or has gone to bed early, you can have some place to sit and talk without disturbing them. Keep in mind that once you choose a balcony cabin, you will be spoiled and need at least that level of accomodation for furture cruises.