Balcony or Inside for Med Cruises?

[ibfern]

We are sailing the Ruby Princess Grand Med in July 2012 with our four teens. There is a $2,000 difference in price between the balcony and inside room for my husband and I (the kids will be in two inside rooms). We have always sailed with a balcony but that is a huge price difference. Is a balcony a must have in Europe? We don't want to spend all the money to travel to Europe and then NOT get a balcony if it something we should have done but also don't want to waste the money if we will never be out there. Any opinions?

 

I think the balcony is nice if its affordable, this cruise in particular is so intensive that we rarely used it. We always get balconies but if I took this cruise again I would definitely book the best priced inside room.

 

If you look at the Riviera and Lido deck inside rooms, particularly those most forward or most aft, they are steps away from great views!

 

Whatever you end up booking, you will love this cruise! Have a great time.

[Crusin6]

We did the Ruby Grand Med last year and loved it. We had the balcony. Now, with our two kids, we never could have booked a balcony and an inside. The price would have been exhorbitant. Princess makes it really tough since the rooms are so small. We loved our vacation so much that we tried to make it work with our kids for a Med cruise this summer.

 

There are alternatives and you just have to weigh what is important to you. As some have suggested, an alternative is to book two insides on the Ruby Princess. Another alternative is the NCL Spirit which has an incredibly similar 12-day itinerary to the Ruby Princess (replaces kusadasi with izmir and monaco with toulon). You could do the balcony and inside on NCL for same or less than two insides on Ruby Princess. I don't know much about NCL. But as much as we say, the "Med is about the ports", we love the Ruby Princess and there are still three sea days and nights on the ship. We actually booked a 9-day Med cruise on the Carnival Magic. First, Carnival cabins are larger and we have no problem with four in a Carnival cabin as it only has one murphy bed and the couch pulls out into a bed. Second, we got a spa balcony cabin, meaning no smoking in that whole area and we got spa benefits. The entire price was less than $5K as Carnival has deep discounting for 3rd and 4th passengers while Princess does not (not sure about NCL). It was hard to pass up. There is only one sea day in nine days. But we thought the 12-day would be too much for the kids. In any case, as a family trying to do a Med cruise, we kind of felt priced out on Princess, even with two insides.

 

We love Princess. But we're not married to any cruise line. Without the kids, we'll be back on Princess doing British Isles next summer. We'll do a balcony. But it will be a small BE Baja balcony.

so true about PCL being high priced..but the ports are wonderful on the Ruby and as far NCL Spirit is concerned..too small for me and a bit too old as well...I know others will disagree...but bells and whistles are nice on a newer ship....as far as CCL Magic..it is only 9 days and those ports are not enough for us this time around and with airfare so expensive:eek: we want to really stretch it out this time...we did the CCL Freedom and loved its 12 day itin

[hubofhockey]

so true about PCL being high priced..but the ports are wonderful on the Ruby and as far NCL Spirit is concerned..too small for me and a bit too old as well...I know others will disagree...but bells and whistles are nice on a newer ship....as far as CCL Magic..it is only 9 days and those ports are not enough for us this time around and with airfare so expensive:eek: we want to really stretch it out this time...we did the CCL Freedom and loved its 12 day itin

 

I don't disagree with you on either point. Hey, that's why we did the Ruby Grand Med last summer and it was an incredible vacation. But it was just my wife and I. It is a great ship and a great vacation. It was my 15th anniversary present to my wife and my own 50th birthday present. So we wanted a great ship and the balcony. It was a memorable vacation. We did take the cheapest BE Baja balcony. It was enough for our purposes.

 

My kids are 13 & 11 and twelve days would be long for them and they would appreciate Venice and Istanbul more when they're older. Between that and a price of less than $5K for the four of us was our clincher. Every cruise and every vacation is always a little different because nothing really stays the same. It's always a balancing act. If you think that you're going to get back to the Med without your kids, there's always the balcony next time. If you think this may be a special trip and that you won't be doing something like this again, maybe that changes the equation. Good luck.

[Crusin6]

:eek:

I don't disagree with you on either point. Hey, that's why we did the Ruby Grand Med last summer and it was an incredible vacation. But it was just my wife and I. It is a great ship and a great vacation. It was my 15th anniversary present to my wife and my own 50th birthday present. So we wanted a great ship and the balcony. It was a memorable vacation. We did take the cheapest BE Baja balcony. It was enough for our purposes.

 

My kids are 13 & 11 and twelve days would be long for them and they would appreciate Venice and Istanbul more when they're older. Between that and a price of less than $5K for the four of us was our clincher. Every cruise and every vacation is always a little different because nothing really stays the same. It's always a balancing act. If you think that you're going to get back to the Med without your kids, there's always the balcony next time. If you think this may be a special trip and that you won't be doing something like this again, maybe that changes the equation. Good luck.

get back to the Med without my kids..now that is funny....it is my kids that are getting back to the Med without ME!!!! My 2 teens are in Sicily on a school trip right now..they also were in Athens and will be in ROme for the weekend!! Lucky girls...and they both kicked in a lot of their on money as well!!:D

 

The college kid is working on campus and has been to Italy every summer since 2008..but this year she is really missing not being there...and her latest text was short and sweet..."I have to work in Italy someday!"...and she will and speaks fluently so that will help.

 

DH and I sometimes fanatize about cruising with just the little one when the teens are in college in a few years....because there is no way the baby will let us leave her behind....and to answer the inevitable questions...we have dysfunctional inlaws that we won't leave any of them with.:eek:

 

So we have certainly spoiled them with world travel, just like my mom did with me, thankfully...and I make sure that we somehow get them to see the world...glad to know that there are other large families doing this as well........world travel is so wonderful and educational!!!