Balcony ?

We've done 16 ocean cruises, but never a river cruise. We enjoy balcony cabins on ocean cruises. But I'm wondering is a balcony worth the fairly significant price difference on a river cruise?

I'd love to know what river cruise veterans think.

Thanks,

You'll get a full range of opinions here, from those who find that "aquarium" class offers terrific bang for the buck to hose who always book a Suite. I'm in the middle: I like a French balcony cabin on the middle deck. If the weather is good I can open the slider; if it isn't, I can look at the rain through the large glass window. And I don't have to worry about hearing river noises below me or joggers on the running track above the top deck cabins. But the truth is: the range of cabins on a river ship is much smaller than on ocean ships, and pretty much every cabin is a good choice.

You'll get a full range of opinions here, from those who find that "aquarium" class offers terrific bang for the buck to hose who always book a Suite. I'm in the middle: I like a French balcony cabin on the middle deck. If the weather is good I can open the slider; if it isn't, I can look at the rain through the large glass window. And I don't have to worry about hearing river noises below me or joggers on the running track above the top deck cabins. But the truth is: the range of cabins on a river ship is much smaller than on ocean ships, and pretty much every cabin is a good choice.

I agree that is totally personal preference.

We often book a cabin with an outside balcony as we enjoy having our personal outdoor space. AMA's twin balcony staterooms are the best of both worlds for us as we get good interior space as well as outdoor balcony.

We also enjoyed the Scenic SunLounge, which opened up as a balcony with the push of a button.

Many spend their time up on deck or in the main lounge and would find a balcony superfluous. We do enjoy having one. Seasonality may also play a part in your decision.

Depending on your itinerary, you may spend very little sailing time in your cabin. Also, since it's a river, the view is on both sides (normally) which is why people spend more time in common areas on scenic cruising days. I'm happy with the bigger windows (not the aquarium class, but the more "full size" windows). I do like being able to look out or in the limited time we're on the ship, sit by the window.

It appears from my research, that some lines take the balcony out of The room, thus you room size decreases substantially. I understand that none of the balconies compare in size to an ocean cruise. They are just large enough for two chairs. Also consider what happens if your rafting, although some seem to enjoy making friends or having drinks with folks on another vessel.

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It appears from my research, that some lines take the balcony out of The room, thus you room size decreases substantially. I understand that none of the balconies compare in size to an ocean cruise. They are just large enough for two chairs. Also consider what happens if your rafting, although some seem to enjoy making friends or having drinks with folks on another vessel.

You are quite right that many cruise lines count the outside balcony space in the "cabin" measurement [true of ocean as well as river lines]. One particular issue to note is that when Viking announced the Longship design they made a big deal of moving the corridor off-center so the Balcony cabins could be larger. What they didn't say was that made the French Balcony cabins on the other side of the hall smaller than industry-standard (135 sf). These ships have nice Balcony cabins, and nice innovative "aquarium class" cabins -- but the French Balconies are a trap for the unwary.

It been over a year ago when I did my research, but I thought the staterooms/balconies on Viking were much smaller than the ones on AMA. If my memory serves me correctly, the Aquarium rooms were really a better size than a lot of the others on Viking. Please correct me if I am wrong.

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It been over a year ago when I did my research, but I thought the staterooms/balconies on Viking were much smaller than the ones on AMA. If my memory serves me correctly, the Aquarium rooms were really a better size than a lot of the others on Viking. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Viking Longships:

Veranda Stateroom 205sf

French Balcony 135sf

Standard ["aquarium class"] 150sf

When you take the balcony out what is left?

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It appears that most of balcony staterooms on AMA are larger.

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Thanks for the input. All good info.

We love the gurgle of the water past the hull in aquarium class. And, we get to watch the swans very closely.

However, it was a little disconcerting when the river covered the window!! But, we'll stick the the cheap seats.

We love the gurgle of the water past the hull in aquarium class. And, we get to watch the swans very closely.

I also like the gurgle of water. My favourite cruise was my first, on Uniworld's River Queen. I was in category 3 which had a big window right at the water level. You could lie in bed and watch the surface of the water. The next year I thought I had the same thing, but I was a little lower in the water, and I couldn't look out the window the same way.

When you take the balcony out what is left?

I couldn't find this information on Viking's website.

Unlike ocean cruises there are typically no sea/river days. During the day you are docked with no view or rafted next to another boat and at night you are cruising. The best location for viewing is always on the sundeck particularly if cruise through a scenic part of a river. Remember scenery on a river is on both sides of the boat!!

I have been in aquarium class and in French balcony rooms. I didn't mind Aquarium class as I was not in my cabin. Also, I traveled on all 3 of my previous river cruises in October and the weather was not conducive to using a balcony. If I sailed in the summer, I would consider it. However, the cost differential is really not worth it to me because if the weather is nice, I can go on the sundeck and get a panoramic view. As others have stated, there really is not a lot of daytime sailing so relaxing on your balcony and watching the scenery go by doesn't happen.

I would look at the detailed itinerary for your cruise. Many have 1 small stretch of scenic daylight cruising and the rest is done at night. If you are cruising in fall or Christmas season (or early spring) the chance of using the balcony is quite slim. If you are traveling the Rhine between Basel and Amsterdam or the Danube between Budapest and Nuremberg you should plan on being rafted to one or more other ships in several of your stops. In which case you might be the side facing the shore or river or you might have a neighbor on their balcony 12 inches from yours. In any of those cases the balcony cost is not likely to be worth the investment

On the other hand if you are doing a lot of daytime cruising in the warmer months or you feel claustrophobic if you can't get outside then maybe for you it is a good investment

When you take the balcony out what is left?

 

 

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Balcony appears to be in addition to stated sq. footage.

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Reading some of these replies makes me wonder just how much "gurgling" you hear from an aquarium class cabin? Or other noises being on the bottom deck? I've seen mention of the river water actually covering the window sometimes, and I don't mean just splashing onto it. A bit unsettling to me, so I'm having issues with deciding on which type of cabin to book. (I might add we've done lots of inside cabin cruising on ocean going ships without those being an issue.)

We did our first river cruise last year and decided to go with bottom deck due to the large cost difference. The window is definitely above water, I only remember some splashing on one day and no noise. We are doing another river cruise this year and the only cabin available was bottom level so we grabbed it. You are out and about during the day so much and we spend a lot of time up in the lounge or on the top deck.

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Reading some of these replies makes me wonder just how much "gurgling" you hear from an aquarium class cabin? Or other noises being on the bottom deck? I've seen mention of the river water actually covering the window sometimes, and I don't mean just splashing onto it. A bit unsettling to me, so I'm having issues with deciding on which type of cabin to book. (I might add we've done lots of inside cabin cruising on ocean going ships without those being an issue.)

I said gurgling, but it is more a swoosh of the water by your bed. I love it. (But we did have a houseboat when I was a kid that was a cabin on a barge six inches above the water.) I find the sound of water to be very relaxing. The window will always be above water; if the cabin is a bit lower the window will be smaller and higher on the wall. It is helpful to look at the side view of the ship carefully; the height of the window will give you some idea of where the cabin is. (Uniworld uses a split level on their older ships, I'm not sure whether it is also on the newer ships. Most other companies seem to have full decks.)

Balcony appears to be in addition to stated sq. footage.

 

 

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I think the sq quoted includes the balcony. They can not add balcony to width due to the locks.

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We have sailed on Uniworld in "aquarium class". Chose that cabin because it was lower in price and actually had more usable space than more expensive cabins with a French balcony, which was carved out of the existing space. This was our first river cruise.

Have sailed on AMA in a French balcony cabin. On that ship the French balcony cabins were of course on the mid and upper deck (we did not care for the lower deck) and did not carve the balcony out of the cabin.

Then sailed twice on AMA in newer ships in their double balcony cabins ( one French, and one "sit outside" balcony), once on the middle deck and once on top deck. These cabins are larger than the French balcony cabins. We prefer the middle deck to the upper deck due to being able to hear people walking (or running) on the sundeck above...sometimes late at night.

Have sailed on Viking, only on the longships, and in a "real" balcony cabin. The balcony cabins on these ships are bigger over all than the aquarium or French balcony cabins on these ship.

We are sailing this year on Tauck and Scenic. Will sail in a mid level balcony cabin on Tauck. We are breaking our mid level rule for the Scenic trip to enjoy the extra benefits of the upper Diamond deck.

We enjoy having a bit more space in a cabin, at least 200 sq. ft. My husband it quite tall and likes to have a little room to stretch out. We began to book balcony cabins mainly because on newer ships they tend to be larger cabins than "aquarium" or French balcony.

Just an FYI - The Tauck ship we will be sailing on this year has just enlarged many of the cabins on this ship, and reduced the number of passengers.

I have done 4 Viking river cruises and 3 were on the lower deck which has a larger room than the French balcony does, also was on a regular balcony room but in December it did little for us. Also keep in mind that on a river cruise most of the social aspect of the cruise is in the lounge and the top deck if weather is nice, not many stay in their rooms. Also rafting is common so when in port you will probably have the curtains closed as you may not want to see people on the other boat. I have never had my window below the water line on the lower deck, but did see birds swim by. I go for the value as Viking treats everyone the same and there is no class of room distinction.

Hello typsygirl

You shouldn't have a problem on Scenic as guests are requested only to use the walking/running track between 8am and 8pm, if you do have a problem just casually mention it at reception it works wonders, we had a neighbour on our first cruise who insisted on having all his doors to the balcony open with his TV turned up really loud, it didn't happen again. I must admit we have never heard anything from above. You can also use the Scenic balconies whatever the weather although I believe other lines are now using the same system. Enjoy your two crises this year, so green eyed about it where are you going? CA