Ahhh persuade me to do the balcony!

[beachluvr!]

[quote name='jennmaybe']Couldn't have said it better myself!

Had OV room for my 1st cruise, did a balcony on our honeymoon. I will NEVER cruise again without a balcony cabin!

Go for it! You'll be glad you did!![/quote]Our first cruise we booked interior. We liked it fine. Next time we booked a balcony. We loved having it and used it alot. Could never go back to interior. Last year I sailed with girlfriends and we had a balcony. We used it more to dine on. Breakfast on the balcony is heavenly. A few dinners out there under the moonlight is fabulous. I had always dragged by DH to MDR before. We are sailing soon on a balcony and I can't wait:cool: for those romantic dinners;)and lingering over my coffee. It feels more like vacation to me, makes me slow down, which is hard for me.:p

[The Wizards of Waz]

I wouldn't even think of cruising without a balcony. I guess that's wht I often find myself on Princess as their ships tend to have a larger percentage of balconies and therefore are not that much more expensive. Either way, get the balcony.

My favoriye quote I hear from people who cruised before with an inside cabin is: "Why do I want a balcony when I'm never in my room"?

My response: "You are never in your room because you don't have a balcony"

[Peacefulness]

[quote name='The Wizards of Waz']I wouldn't even think of cruising without a balcony. I guess that's wht I often find myself on Princess as their ships tend to have a larger percentage of balconies and therefore are not that much more expensive. Either way, get the balcony.

My favoriye quote I hear from people who cruised before with an inside cabin is: "Why do I want a balcony when I'm never in my room"?

My response: "You are never in your room because you don't have a balcony"[/quote]

Beautifully said.

[constable145]

468 x2 = 936 / 8 dollars per drink= 117 drinks you can have for the price of a room with a view that is free elsewhere on the ship.

I personally don't spend enough time in my room to take advantage of a balcony.

[atb]

I enjoy cooling off on the balcony - in light weight robe / after a shower before dinner. Can't do that on the upper deck, I don't anyway. Same thing in the morning. Enjoy that cup of coffee on the balcony while DH finishes getting ready for the day.
And when my internal summer clicks into high gear - the balcony is closest.

[Sandinmycrack]

You do have great tastes in cruises. I will be on that same ship, same time. There is something special about seeing the Saturday and Sunday floor tiles in the elevators on a cruise.

Now to your point, this cruise must be very full, as the prices have really gone up from where we booked. If I was you, I would not chase it. I would take the inside, and not give it another thought. You have a wonderful 8 night itinerary, and 7 of them are at an island.

Spend the money on something that you will remember, like a nice pair diamond earings in St Thomas.

Enjoy, Sandy

[quote name='MissLianne']So I had a thread on here not too long ago about needing some advice for the 8nt Serenade of the Seas cruise in May. I was hesitant of doing an Interior cabin... got some great advice.

Pondered the Interior... my fiance was good with that (I need to mention this is his first cruise). We made the decsion to book this week. Last night when we were going to bed he suddenly said "Honey, lets do the balcony... wouldn't it be nice to sit on the balcony at night? Hmmmmm :confused:
My fiance is pretty level headed with money (I'm the high maitnenace one here). But one thing he doesn't cheap out on is vacations...

It's about $468 extra per person... now I'm normally the "best of the best" type gal but I'm having a hard time. I've sailed on a balcony stateroom before when I was a child with my parents (yet I was so teeny I couldnt even see over the railing!)

...and I did an OCV stateroom last Feb and really... didn't think it was worth the $... I'm thinking either go the economy route OR go big lol

HELPPP!!
We're meeting for lunch to decide![/QUOTE]

[cruiseguy1016]

[quote name='cruise4']Once you have a balcony, you never go back! :)[/quote]

[COLOR=red]Never go back to a balcony? :D I have had a balcony once and have booked only oceanviews since.[/COLOR]

[quote name='The Wizards of Waz']I wouldn't even think of cruising without a balcony. I guess that's wht I often find myself on Princess as their ships tend to have a larger percentage of balconies and therefore are not that much more expensive. Either way, get the balcony.

My favoriye quote I hear from people who cruised before with an inside cabin is: "Why do I want a balcony when I'm never in my room"?

My response: "You are never in your room because you don't have a balcony"[/quote]

[COLOR=red]My response: "I have had a balcony and hardly used it." I tried it once because everyone recommended it so highly. I don't go on a cruise to sit in my room or out on the balcony. I like to participate in the on board activities. Unless I'm changing my clothes or sleeping, you won't find me in my room.[/COLOR]

[CaroleC]

[quote name='travlingram']A balcony is wonderful much of the time, but be prepared for the possibility that your shipmates in adjoining cabins may be smokers, and if you're not, you may find yourself having to choose between wonderful views and smoke. We hadn't considered that possibility. Unfortunately, our neighbors on both sides were smokers. When a smoker leans on the rail with cigarette in hand, and you're downwind, it's not pleasant. That being said, I would still choose a balcony. For our part, next time we'll try to find a smoke-free cruise.[/quote]

DH & I are both smokers which is primarily why we book a balcony. However, we do try to be considerate of our neighbours and always ask them the first time we are outside together if smoking bothers them. If they answer in the affirmative, we do not smoke on our balcony if they are using theirs. And if we are already out there and we hear them open their door, we will immediately extinguish our cigarettes.

It would be nice if cruiselines could do something that would please smokers and non-smokers alike. Say, balcony cabins on every other deck to be smoking, like floors in some hotels. Or perhaps make balconies on one side of the ship smoking and the other side non-smoking.

Then we would all be happy. Or maybe not!! :D;)

[cruiseguy1016]

[quote name='CaroleC']DH & I are both smokers which is primarily why we book a balcony. [COLOR=red]However, we do try to be considerate of our neighbours and always ask them the first time we are outside together if smoking bothers them. If they answer in the affirmative, we do not smoke on our balcony if they are using theirs. And if we are already out there and we hear them open their door, we will immediately extinguish our cigarettes. [/COLOR]

It would be nice if cruiselines could do something that would please smokers and non-smokers alike. Say, balcony cabins on every other deck to be smoking, like floors in some hotels. Or perhaps make balconies on one side of the ship smoking and the other side non-smoking.

Then we would all be happy. Or maybe not!! :D;)[/quote]

As a non smoker.....Thank You! :D I wish all smokers would be that considerate. There's no reason why smokers and non smokers can't both enjoy their balconies. If I'm there first, I appreciate you not lighting up. On the flip side if you were smoking when I got out there, I would wait for you to finish. I would never ask you to extinguish your cigarette. You have as much right to smoke out there as I have to no smoke.

To me the logical solution is to make one side of the ship smoking and one side of the ship non smoking.

[ezcruizer]

I have never been in cabin that does not have a balcony. Why, because my first cruise was with a group and we had one person making the reservations and they reserved balcony cabins for everyone. Needless to say I loved, loved, loved, loved it. Can't do anything other than a balcony cabin.

We have a quiet breakfast on the balcony and on sea days we will soak up the sun without having to find a chair on the pool deck (chair hogs). We have a quiet moment while drinking champagne. You know where I am going with this. Can't say enough about it.

I say go with the balcony if you can afford it. You won't regret it. Get it for the experience and you can then decide for yourself if it's worth it or not.

CaroleC, I applaud you for being so considerate when it comes to smoking as there are plenty of people who don't care at all. If we had more people like you the world would be a better place. We all would like to enjoy the balcony for whatever purpose.

[Evangaline]

I splurged for this special extra large balcony on our Oasis of The Seas cruise last November and, quite frankly, it was a waste of money. It all depends on what kind of cruise you are going on and what time of year.
For the Oasis, I found there was so much to do on the ship that I didn't use the balcony very much. Days were not spent in our room and in November it was dark so early and then the balcony was just weird because we were never in port after 6pm so there was nothing to see and it was just the rush of water below you and noisy neighbours to either side. We did leave Cozumel later so that one evening, I stood on the balcony and waved to the folks leaving port on a Carnival ship, but I could have done that on the deck if I wanted to. Another morning we can room service breakfast on the balcony because we were in a hurry to get to an early morning excursion in Labadee. It was fine but the breakfast places on the ship were better.
And with all of this said, this next time we are doing Pride of America in Hawaii and I was told that was so beautiful from the balcony, so I've gone and done it again- booked a nice deluxe balcony. Hope it is worth it this time.

[ehfl]

We mostly do inside. We've done balcony, but have always had smokers and/or noisy neighbors, so were not able to actually enjoy the balcony for the most part.

We're really happy with insides. I would never consider an OV/porthole cabin. I don't want to pay extra, only to have to stand on the bed for the exact same view I can get for free on deck.

Inside saves us money (meaning more cruises!)...plus, we get peace and quiet, and NO smokers!

[Karter]

[quote name='SamFritz']I've never done an inside cabin, but have been in Oceanview, Balcony, Junior Suite and Owner's Suite (courtesy of the upgrade fairy). For my purposes I have placed the value of a balcony at $25 per day. Right now I'm watching my Radiance cruise for last minute drops. It's a five day cruise, so I need it to be no more than $125 more than what I paid for the OV. It's running $280 more, but I would get a $100 diamond discount, so I need it to drop another $55 to go for the balcony. If it doesn't I'll be happy in my OV and maybe upgrade my wine package, or take a night at Portofinos or Chops.[/QUOTE]

Amazing I use the same criteria $25 per day per person except my baseline is from an inside cabin price. We have been in all types of rooms and while a balcony is nice when I only use it about 10 hours per 7 day cruise makes it hard to justify any more $ per day.

Once we ended up next to a smoker and ended up with an unusabe balcony so I think the $25 per day is a good criteria you're not risking that much.

[Kmeleon]

We've been on our first, and quite possibly our last, cruise in October 2010. As we're from South Africa it is a loooong way to travel and very expensive to fly out to go on a Caribbean cruise. Therefore we decided to treat ourselves and get a balcony. Once on the ship I could not have been happier that we decided to take on the extra expense. To be able to see what is going on outside, get the fresh air inside, and just have that extra bit of space to take up made our trip just so much more incredible.

If we ever manage to go on a cruise again, it will have to be with a balcony or nothing at all!:p

[vizgal]

[quote name='the wizards of waz']i wouldn't even think of cruising without a balcony. I guess that's wht i often find myself on princess as their ships tend to have a larger percentage of balconies and therefore are not that much more expensive. Either way, get the balcony.

My favoriye quote i hear from people who cruised before with an inside cabin is: "why do i want a balcony when i'm never in my room"?

My response: "you are never in your room because you don't have a balcony"[/quote]

perfect! :)

[Paul65]

[quote name='The Wizards of Waz']I wouldn't even think of cruising without a balcony. I guess that's wht I often find myself on Princess as their ships tend to have a larger percentage of balconies and therefore are not that much more expensive. Either way, get the balcony.

My favoriye quote I hear from people who cruised before with an inside cabin is: "Why do I want a balcony when I'm never in my room"?

My response: "You are never in your room because you don't have a balcony"[/quote]

Your response simply wouldn't be true for everyone, though. I've done both inside and balcony cabins, and I don't spend much time in my cabin either way. I like having a balcony, and I'll book one over an inside cabin, if the difference in price is not too high, but I'm not the type to just hang out for hours at a time on the balcony.

[tantakatie]

[quote name='aloha43']A balcony is DEFINITELY the way to go. Just being able to go outside in your robe in the morning and drink your coffee, or ordering room service and eating outside. Especially tropical evenings......ahhhhh!

Those days at sea are wonderful if you can stand outside leaning on the balcony.

We had a blast seeing flying fish, turtles, whales, other ships....and even oil rigs, which look pretty cool at night!

You can't see any of that with an interior room.....:D[/QUOTE]
I have to agree, I am ruined for anything less than a balcony! I just got of the Navigator and working off the internal ship sway! The extra room in the cabin and BATHROOM was fantastic, I loved having the couch and not always having to sit on my bed when in the cabin! The sunsets and sunrises where great, but even better was being able to nap with the balcony door open listening to the waves from the ship! Yeah I know you can do this on the deck, but don't like napping with others!! People are too loud and not respectful to be quite when they see somone sleeping!! Its was really nice to have the alternative of having breakfast on the balcony instead of the jammed windjammer or the
dinning room! Every meal does not have to be w/100 of your closest friends!!! Hope you enjoy what ever you choose!

[lilacbirman]

[I]We love having a balcony because as another poster mentioned, it extends your space. It's such a personal choice though. We enjoy being able to sit on our own private balcony to sip on a drink and read or enjoy each others company. For us it's worth the extra when we are on vacation to enjoy and relax. [/I]

[Oscar_the_Grouch's_Sis]

:D LOL!

I am sorry, but these "persuade me to do this" "Sell me on that" threads are FUNNY!

It is YOUR VACATION and YOUR CABIN! Why should I or anyone else have to talk you in to something;)

There are plenty of reviews on here that talk about the pros and cons ... you have to decide for yourself what is a pro and what is a con no one else can do that for you.

[pandi77]

Lots of great opinions here. Definitely a personal choice that can be influenced by how many days in port, smoker/non smoker, fresh air, access to the sun, etc. I have been fortunate to have a balcony for some unconventional conveniences...

1) Hubby got sick and even though it was bad port food was quarantined to the cabin for a couple of days- I cannot imagine being in an inside room if god forbid I was quarantined as remote as the possibility is.

2) Dryer for clothes..lol.

3) We had a plumibing issue and even though they vaccuumed and whatnot the ability to swing the balcony door open to air the smell out was priceless..again- remote chance of that happening but I didn't forget it when it did!

3)White noise machine.

4)If you don't feel totally well (headache, cramps, headcold, or just grumpy!) you can get some sun and/or fresh air in your own private nook without chance of being around anyone you don't want to.

5) Back up alarm in the morning as if the sun is out you have a general idea of the time. We had an inside cabin on the Soveriegn and (after some partying :-O) didn't set our alarm. We woke up at what we thought was nine on our own but it was 12 :-( Inside rooms are super dark..great for sleeping but not so much for waking up!

[fleckle]

Pandi77 has raised some very good points to consider. If the price difference is not great, I think that most people would opt for a balcony without hesitation.

However, when there is a big price difference, then other factors come into consideration. Of prime importance, besides the price, is the itinerary.

Consider how much of your awake time will be spent on the ship compared to how much time you will be off the ship in port. Someone previously brought up the Pride of America cruise in Hawaii. That is a cruise with no sea days. While a balcony is very nice for Hawaii, that particular ship spends its days in port and travels mainly at night.

We were talking with a couple who booked an expensive suite on Pride of America and they said they felt they had wasted their money. They had very little chance to enjoy their lovely suite because they spent their time off the ship in port every day.

Pandi77 also mentioned the need to consider what will happen if you should get sick and have to be quarantined. Again, the cruise itinerary can make a difference in deciding whether or not a balcony is important to you.

On a transatlantic cruise, for example, you could be stuck in your cabin for days, feeling miserable and unable to leave the ship, while on Pride of American you could disembark on any day of the cruise at any port, should the need arise.

[jack278]

[quote=Oscar_the_Grouch's_Sis;27793987]:D LOL!

I am sorry, but these "persuade me to do this" "Sell me on that" threads are FUNNY!

It is YOUR VACATION and YOUR CABIN! Why should I or anyone else have to talk you in to something;)

There are plenty of reviews on here that talk about the pros and cons ... you have to decide for yourself what is a pro and what is a con no one else can do that for you.[/quote]

Can't agree more

[Happy ks]

Perception of value is different for everyone.

We took cruise #20 in an inside this past December and since it was only a 4 night cruise, we decided it was not worth the extra expense of a balcony or even an OV.

It rained almost the entire cruise and we were mostly unable to go up on deck with the wind. Yet we missed having a balcony terribly and decided we would not cruise again if it meant staying in an inside or OV cabin. We've cruised in cooler weather with rain in the past and our balcony was a great place to hang out.

I kind of felt with the inside cabin (hadn't done one in years) that we were merely staying in a hotel that rocked a bit. You can't get the same sense of being on the ocean without the balcony.

For us, the extra expense of having a balcony is worth it because it enhances our cruise experience. We also don't care much what activities are going on around the ship. After so many cruises, they get to be a bit boring, but seeing, hearing, feeling the ocean is always wonderful.

We don't just measure the value in dollars.

[griffy116]

[quote name='Evangaline']I splurged for this special extra large balcony on our Oasis of The Seas cruise last November and, quite frankly, it was a waste of money. It all depends on what kind of cruise you are going on and what time of year.
For the Oasis, I found there was so much to do on the ship that I didn't use the balcony very much. Days were not spent in our room and in November it was dark so early and then the balcony was just weird because we were never in port after 6pm so there was nothing to see and it was just the rush of water below you and noisy neighbours to either side. We did leave Cozumel later so that one evening, I stood on the balcony and waved to the folks leaving port on a Carnival ship, but I could have done that on the deck if I wanted to. Another morning we can room service breakfast on the balcony because we were in a hurry to get to an early morning excursion in Labadee. It was fine but the breakfast places on the ship were better.
And with all of this said, this next time we are doing Pride of America in Hawaii and I was told that was so beautiful from the balcony, so I've gone and done it again- booked a nice deluxe balcony. Hope it is worth it this time.[/quote]

We did a balcony cabin on a cruise in Hawaii with RCCL. The balcony was well worth the money. Some of us went on a whale watch and got incredible photos. We got back to the ship and my Dad had sat on the balcony and had practically the same photos...for free. The islands are all beautiful and I would ALWAYS book a balcony for Hawaii. We spent more time on the balcony than we thought we would. Every single island! We couldn't stop looking outside morning and night. We could have gone up on deck, but it just wouldn't have been the same. Enjoy:D

[Cat54]

We had a balcony on our Med cruise in June. It was wonderful to be able to stand on the balcony as the Brilliance sailed into Venice. Being able to have a glass of wine on the balcony is also a plus.