Oasis - Ocean View Balcony or Central Park Balcony?

[Triciabrownbear]

I am very new to CC and I want to thank everyone for sharing this great information! We are sailing on April 10th and, in the past, have always booked an ocean view balcony or jr. suite balcony. We are now booked in a D-1, but there is now a significant price difference between the Ocean view and the Central Park balconies. I've been to the thread about the cabins, but I am hoping to get a feel from someone who has stayed in the Central Park and how they would compare it to being in an ocean view balcony cabin. (Big price difference which would give us more $$ to spend on specialty restaurants and wine.) Thanks again! :D:rolleyes:

[dougp26364]

We were just in a Central Park Balcony. I don't think there is any size difference between the two (both 182 sq. ft. if I recall) so it's more about the view than anything else.

 

Here's the issue we had with the Central Park view and why we booked an ocean view balcony for our Allure cruise. The view never changes. You can't tell that you're sailing and can't tell when you're in port. It's equivelent to having an atrium view at a hotel like Embassy Suite's or one of the Gaylord properties such as Gaylord Opryland Hotel. It had more of a resort feel to it rather than a cruise ship feel. Depsite the balcony, it felt more like an inside cabin to me than a real balcony cabin.

 

The cabin was fine and, if there was a big enough price difference I might consider a Central Park balcony again but, it's the third one down on my list of balcony views. #1 is ocean view. I like the feeling of being on a cruise when I look out. #2 would be a Boardwalk balcony. At least you can see the ocean by looking aft. #3 would be a Cental Park balcony and this would really only be choosen as a last resort. Basically if I wanted to cruise but couldn't afford any other balcony cabin on the ship.

 

It was a nice balcony stateroom but, it's not what we're looking for in a stateroom on a cruise.

 

If you want to see our view, click the link to our Webshots page in my signature below. It will take you to our photo albums including our Oasis of the Sea's album which has pictures of our stateroom and it's view.

[willysgrandma]

Doug, great perspective on this. And your pics were fabulous!

[Triciabrownbear]

Thank you so much for your response! I really appreciate you taking the time to do that. We are lucky enough to be able to travel several times a year, so for the cost difference, we may go ahead and book the Central Park balcony. (If it was a longer cruise, I am quite sure we would want to have the Ocean View.) Loved, loved, loved your pictures! Thanks again for sharing!

[dougp26364]

Thank you so much for your response! I really appreciate you taking the time to do that. We are lucky enough to be able to travel several times a year, so for the cost difference, we may go ahead and book the Central Park balcony. (If it was a longer cruise, I am quite sure we would want to have the Ocean View.) Loved, loved, loved your pictures! Thanks again for sharing!

 

You're welcome.

 

Cost is always a consideration. We're at a point were we can go on vacation every other month. Needless to say, sometime cost is an important deciding factor when planning our trips. For our Allure cruise the D7 balcony cabin on deck 11 close to the elevator, which is our prefered location, was less expensive than the CP2 or CP1 staterooms. For us it was a no brainer. Even if the price of the CP stateroom drops we're comfortable with the price as it will fit in with the rest of the vacations we have in mind for 2011.

[doglady2]

Lovely photo's,we are sailing on her in Aug for a family wedding,looking forward to this very much.;)

[allisons]

We were in a Central Park Balcony. We figured that it was unique to Oasis of the Seas, so we should try it. We hated it. We missed the view, the ocean, the sun, the breeze, etc. It was very loud. Our balcony door was not sound proof. The bagpipe player every evening was so annoying! We wound up hardly using the balcony at all. That is unusual for us because we usually use our balcony a lot. We really regretted our decision. We had a Boardwalk Balcony booked on the Allure OTS. We decided to cancel it.

[njmomof2]

Given all of your issues with booking a CP balcony, do you think the issues would be the same or different with a CP view (no balcony) cabin?

 

We are looking to book either Oasis or Allure for our school break next April and we are a family of 4. The cost to do a balcony, combined with the smaller size of the room, is steering us to a CP view (which is about 17 sf bigger). While I agree that the view is the same no matter the day, since we will not have the balcony, I'm not all that concerned with that, given no sitting out.

 

However, the noise issue is a concern. Did you find that it went on until late into the night? My kids will be 13 and 8.5 and both love the kids clubs and will stay up late, so no early bedtimes for us. Plus, with all that the ship has to offer, I don't expect us in the cabin all that much considering.

 

Just hoping for different perspectives from those who have been on the ship. Oh, and cost wise, it's cheaper for us to to a CP view quad than to do connecting insides. While for some, that extra bathroom would be worth it, with only boys, it's not a big deal for us (plus we share 1 bathroom at home anyway).

 

Thanks for any information you can offer.

[dougp26364]

Given all of your issues with booking a CP balcony, do you think the issues would be the same or different with a CP view (no balcony) cabin?

 

We are looking to book either Oasis or Allure for our school break next April and we are a family of 4. The cost to do a balcony, combined with the smaller size of the room, is steering us to a CP view (which is about 17 sf bigger). While I agree that the view is the same no matter the day, since we will not have the balcony, I'm not all that concerned with that, given no sitting out.

 

However, the noise issue is a concern. Did you find that it went on until late into the night? My kids will be 13 and 8.5 and both love the kids clubs and will stay up late, so no early bedtimes for us. Plus, with all that the ship has to offer, I don't expect us in the cabin all that much considering.

 

Just hoping for different perspectives from those who have been on the ship. Oh, and cost wise, it's cheaper for us to to a CP view quad than to do connecting insides. While for some, that extra bathroom would be worth it, with only boys, it's not a big deal for us (plus we share 1 bathroom at home anyway).

 

Thanks for any information you can offer.

 

The only noise issue we had was the beach party they had one night that went from 11:00 PM to 01:00 AM. In talking with other CP balcony guests it didn't appear to be a problem for everyone. If we'd have been asleep before the party started, it's possible we wouldn't have been bothered by it either.

 

The bag pipe player really doesn't go on all that long. Since we enjoy bag pipe music, I can't say we really noticed it or were bothered by it. However, as mentioned CP balcony staterooms are not soundproof and I did consider this to be one of the noiser staterooms we've been in. Not necessarily noisy enough to make us never resrve one again based on noise issues but enough that it was noticable.

[allisons]

Noise was a real issue for us. We heard everything. With the balcony door closed and locked. Every time there was an event or contest at the pool, we could hear Ken Rush's annoying voice. We heard general noise from the pool. We heard general noise from Central Park. We heard yelling and running. We even heard some loud conversations.

[MizDaisy]

Can anyone tell me if smoking is allowed on the CP or Boardwalk balconies?

No flames, please.....just asking. :)

[kpatrick0712]

I have never stayed in either a CP or BW balcony room but I have stayed in Oceanview & will continue to do so. I like to have my morning cup of coffee on the balcony in my pj's. That won't work too well with the BW/CP rooms. Plus, we sometimes tend to forget to close our drapes. With an oceanview room, you don't have to worry about anyone seeing you

[Triciabrownbear]

It is my understanding that smoking is allowed on all balconies on the Oasis.

[Triciabrownbear]

Thanks again for the great information. After much research, we decided on a Boardwalk balcony near the aft. The savings was $1,300... too much for us to let go. I talked to a rep on the Crown & Anchor line and she was very helpful. I was surprised that they will just credit back our credit card for the difference. Great customer service! We also switched to the MTD. Thanks again!!

[Marriedparamedic]

I just booked our cruise on the Oasis and asked that specific question. I was told that the only rooms with balconies you may smoke on are the ocean view

[MizDaisy]

I just booked our cruise on the Oasis and asked that specific question. I was told that the only rooms with balconies you may smoke on are the ocean view

 

 

That makes sense. The other balconies, like Central Park, are almost "indoors" with not much breeze to blow the smoke away.

[Born4Travlin]

We were just in a Central Park Balcony. I don't think there is any size difference between the two (both 182 sq. ft. if I recall) so it's more about the view than anything else.

 

Here's the issue we had with the Central Park view and why we booked an ocean view balcony for our Allure cruise. The view never changes. You can't tell that you're sailing and can't tell when you're in port. It's equivelent to having an atrium view at a hotel like Embassy Suite's or one of the Gaylord properties such as Gaylord Opryland Hotel. It had more of a resort feel to it rather than a cruise ship feel. Depsite the balcony, it felt more like an inside cabin to me than a real balcony cabin.

 

The cabin was fine and, if there was a big enough price difference I might consider a Central Park balcony again but, it's the third one down on my list of balcony views. #1 is ocean view. I like the feeling of being on a cruise when I look out. #2 would be a Boardwalk balcony. At least you can see the ocean by looking aft. #3 would be a Cental Park balcony and this would really only be choosen as a last resort. Basically if I wanted to cruise but couldn't afford any other balcony cabin on the ship.

 

It was a nice balcony stateroom but, it's not what we're looking for in a stateroom on a cruise.

 

If you want to see our view, click the link to our Webshots page in my signature below. It will take you to our photo albums including our Oasis of the Sea's album which has pictures of our stateroom and it's view.

 

Amazing Photos. Thank you for posting the URL. They tell the story and thank you for shooting all of the Ship's Venues. A wait until November, but anxious to get on board to experience all of this up close and personal. Again, thank you soooooo much.

[molly361]

I just booked our cruise on the Oasis and asked that specific question. I was told that the only rooms with balconies you may smoke on are the ocean view

 

That is true. You can NOT smoke on the Central Park or Boardwalk balconies

[Trainman-2]

It is my understanding that smoking is allowed on all balconies on the Oasis.

 

Smoking is only allowed on the ocean view balconies. It is not allowed on the balconies overlooking Central Park or the Boardwalk.

 

Here are some photos I took in January. We had an ocean view balcony because we were concerned that there were so many places that people could look down onto the inside balconies.

 

 

 

 

Here are some of the balconies overlooking the Boardwalk.

 

 

It seemed to us that there was a lack of privacy on the inside balconies.

[Head Shot]

This is not even an issue for us. It's ocean view all the way. The nights with the door left open to hear the sea . . . the sound and breeze to greet us in the morning is just so worth it.

 

 

[Head Shot]

. . . on the other hand, the nightime view of Central Park can be downright hypnotic :D

 

 

[Barbiegator]

I am very new to CC and I want to thank everyone for sharing this great information! We are sailing on April 10th and, in the past, have always booked an ocean view balcony or jr. suite balcony. We are now booked in a D-1, but there is now a significant price difference between the Ocean view and the Central Park balconies. I've been to the thread about the cabins, but I am hoping to get a feel from someone who has stayed in the Central Park and how they would compare it to being in an ocean view balcony cabin. (Big price difference which would give us more $$ to spend on specialty restaurants and wine.) Thanks again! :D:rolleyes:

 

We liked our ocean view balcony. No privacy on central park when you go out on your balcony.

[CanuckMO4]

I am very new to CC and I want to thank everyone for sharing this great information! We are sailing on April 10th and, in the past, have always booked an ocean view balcony or jr. suite balcony. We are now booked in a D-1, but there is now a significant price difference between the Ocean view and the Central Park balconies. I've been to the thread about the cabins, but I am hoping to get a feel from someone who has stayed in the Central Park and how they would compare it to being in an ocean view balcony cabin. (Big price difference which would give us more $$ to spend on specialty restaurants and wine.) Thanks again! :D:rolleyes:

We had an ocean view balcony in Jan while some of our friends had a central park balcony and hated it.Im not sure its going to turn out to be the big hit they hoped for we met other people that wernt to impressed as well. There main complaints were that they had no privacy,noise frm below to deal with and always someone looking back at them from the other side.Hope this helps.

[jwilson445]

I haven't been on the oasis yet, so I've never had a central park view room. But I have had a ocean view balcony and it was great! I love waking up and seeing the ocean, plus it has more privacy. I have also read some reviews and heard that the central park is alot noisier. But it really depends on how much time you spend in the room. if you're barely ever there, then it doesn't matter and I'd rather save the money.

[funfamilyfun]

Are there any Central Park balcony cabins that you can see the ocean? Or am I looking in the wrong part of the ship? The pictures posted were amazing...thanks!