Balcony value?

Attached is a photo of the balconies on a cruise ship.

Sunny day, calm seas. Look at all the people enjoying their balconies.

Your picture? Since it is the QM2, she could be in the North Atlantic on a beautiful December day...EM

I saw you taking photos of me and hid behind the balcony divider. :)

 

Seriously, on our last cruise, my spouse spent an average of an hour a day on the balcony. Value firmly established.

 

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I love a balcony. Even when we aren't on it, I open the drapes and enjoy the view. I cannot image a cruise without a balcony!

Well clearly they should just eliminate balconies altogether on cruise ships. :rolleyes:

 

Based on this evidence just as clearly we are the oddballs because we only book balcony staterooms and use them daily on every cruise we take.

Attached is a photo of the balconies on a cruise ship.

Sunny day, calm seas. Look at all the people enjoying their balconies.

 

The picture you linked looks like a Cunard publicity shot. I very much doubt that there were any passengers on the ship at the time it was taken.

I saw you taking photos of me and hid behind the balcony divider. :)

 

Seriously, on our last cruise, my spouse spent an average of an hour a day on the balcony. Value firmly established.

 

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On our Panama canal cruise my husband forced himself to go out on the balcony 15 minutes a day because we had spent the extra money. It was so hot and humid. When we went through the canal we could not use the balcony because all you saw was the wall. In our 20 cruises since we have never taken a balcony, even when a balcony guarantee was only $100 more than the inside we had chosen. Lack of value FOR US firmly established.

 

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It's worth it to me if the cost difference isn't too great. We enjoy breakfast on the balcony some mornings and a glass of wine before dinner. DH will read a book and snooze while doing so when we have a balcony.

 

Our upcoming cruise will be in an inside. It was $400 more per person to get a balcony at the time I booked. It's currently just $130 more per person--a price difference I'd consider paying to upgrade ourselves for a 15-day cruise.

The value of a balcony depends on lots of issues. If you are on a TA, you might be dealing with a rapidly moving ship and lots of sea spray. We used our balcony only once on 16 day fall TA.

 

Our forward penthouse on the NCL Jewel had very high winds and sitting on our lovely large balcony was not pleasant when at sea.

 

Alaska is a wonderful place to have a balcony as is a Panama Canal although the heat and humidity is a big issue.

 

To be honest, we rarely book balconies anymore since we are the type who are out and about the ship.

 

And to anyone who thinks "once you have a balcony or penthouse you can never go back to an OV or inside", you are wrong. I feel quite privileged to be able to cruise at all and have easily gone back.

...we only book balcony staterooms and use them daily on every cruise we take.

 

And to anyone who thinks "once you have a balcony or penthouse you can never go back to an OV or inside", you are wrong. I feel quite privileged to be able to cruise at all and have easily gone back.

 

I'm not responding because I think you were referring to me specifically, but to add that I agree with you. A choice of staterooms is personal and based on a number of considerations. My comment above is only to indicate that in our case we see value in a balcony, and as such, that is our choice of preference.

We wouldn't consider a cruise without a balcony. We have breakfast there every port day. DH will spend a couple of hours there every sea day. We'll usually have a snack and glass of wine there before dinner, and we're frequently there as the ship leaves port. And almost every night we spend a bit of time relaxing there before going to bed. Providing the weather is cooperative, of course. For us, a balcony has great value.

Unfortunately, the photo posted by the OP means nothing, as it isn't dated, nor does it provide specifics of what the ship was doing. I believe the vessel is QM2 and looking at the condition of the vessel believe the photo has been heavily photo-shopped or was taken during builders trials or a post drydocking.

 

Check out the lifeboat davits, having worked at sea for 40 yrs, in my experience, the only time they look like that is when they are new.

 

In summary, based on the photo, I doubt the ship had any pax aboard.

I love balconies. Even if I'm not outside on the balcony, my curtain is open so I can enjoy the view. I read out there. I sip a glass of wine out there. I don't live on the balcony, but I do thoroughly enjoy it.

We prefer balcony cabins and this is what we always book.

 

We could care less what others book or indeed what their individual perception of value happens to be. Neither have any impact on what we book or what we prefer.

 

Value is a personal issue and depends on one's preferences.

We see tons of people on their balconies ALL of the time. As the ship is approaching a port they are usually quite full. And when the ship is about to leave port everyone’s out watching for pier runners. Just look up at the balconies as you’re walking back to the ship, they will be full. It’s also popular during sail away. No fighting crowds as you watch the ship leave port. We use our balcony during all of these times and many more. We bring wine on board specifically to enjoy out on our balcony in the evening. Lots of cruisers are out on their balconies enjoying them all of the time, I can see plenty of them from my balcony. To post a random picture with no explanation of when or where it was taken in an attempt to imply balconies are not being used is ludicrous.

Unfortunately, the photo posted by the OP means nothing, as it isn't dated, nor does it provide specifics of what the ship was doing. I believe the vessel is QM2 and looking at the condition of the vessel believe the photo has been heavily photo-shopped or was taken during builders trials or a post drydocking.

 

Check out the lifeboat davits, having worked at sea for 40 yrs, in my experience, the only time they look like that is when they are new.

 

In summary, based on the photo, I doubt the ship had any pax aboard.

 

Good analysis. As others have mentioned we always see people on their balconies when we're on ours - very unusual to have a picture that would be from a typical itinerary showing no one on any balcony at all - or anywhere on any visible deck as well!

 

Maybe the OP will come back to clarify the source of the picture and respond to the comments.

Can you tell us why you posted this? :confused:

 

My guess is that it was dinner time (in the photo). :D

Edited June 15, 2018 by Langley Cruisers

A balcony on a sea day is nice for buffing.

Edited June 15, 2018 by JMorris271
typo

Attached is a photo of the balconies on a cruise ship.

Sunny day, calm seas. Look at all the people enjoying their balconies.

 

I can post anonymous photos with no description as well. ;)

 

..... When we went through the canal we could not use the balcony because all you saw was the wall. ....

 

Sorry, but I have difficulty believe this. Here is what we saw from our balcony during our transit of the canal. We spent the first locks on the upper decks and the helipad. The last locks we watched from our balcony. Having a balcony was so worth it since we were able to avoid the crowds and get closer to the lock walls than the upper decks. Even in our balcony our view was never blocked by the walls.

 

I would say that we saw people on at least 1/3 of the balconies during these last locks.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 15, 2018 by sloopsailor

Personal Choice !

 

We love having a balcony. Others may hate it, or prefer to spend some of their budget on other facilities.

 

Just last January, we cruised around part of South America. . We went up on deck to see Amalia Glacier and decided we preferred to look out from our personal space rather than being shoved about as others hustled for position at the rail !

 

When we reached Cape Horn we stayed on our balcony..fortunately for us, it was on 'our' side of the ship. Due to weather conditions the captain was unable to turn the ship for the other side's balcony cabins to view it. In those circumstances would have to go up on deck.

 

More social passengers might enjoy meeting new friends.

 

It is all a matter of choice...as most things in life are !

I can post anonymous photos with no description as well. ;)

 

 

Mmmmm. I wonder what that person on the top left balcony is wearing? ;p

You never have to worry about chair hogs on your balcony. That's more than enough value for me. ;)

You never have to worry about chair hogs on your balcony. That's more than enough value for me. ;)

 

Very good! :D

Definitely a publicity photo or the person who took the picture is hanging out 10 feet over the railing!

 

We book cabins because the DW loves the ocean and wants to see it. On our last cruise it came in very handy. She got ill and was confined to the room. She spent many hours on the balcony for that 24 hour period. I'm out there when it is opposite the sun and I'm out there before going to bed.