Balcony or not?

[billyelliot]

This will be our 1st Alaska cruise. We have done about 7 cruises 5 inside 1 window 1 balcony. We have enjoyed all of them. As this is a costly holiday, would we need to spend the extra on a balcony? Do you spend a lot of time sat watching. If so is it better on a balcony or up on top.

This is just the 1st stage of my planning lol still trying to decide which line, and itinery?

Any help would be appreciated thanks x

[Budget Queen]

With your "cost" reference, than I would say, no it is not a must. I recommend funds fully available for touring, and if they are limited, the cabin is a good place to cut back. Side viewing is never my preference in Alaska, I am always full front, most often outside, but some ships have excellent inside front viewing. You do have to be well prepared in your attire for outside viewing.

 

There are countless posts on this subject, do a board search and spend some time reading. There are many points of view to consider. For me, price, any excursion I want and frequest travel are my priorities. You need to determine yours.

[CruiserBruce]

At no time is a balcony a required thing. If you can't do it, that is fine. Every ship has inside cabins and cabins with windows, and they sail full every cruise.

 

There is always open deck space (with seating) and, depending on the cruise line there is usually a lounge with good viewing as well.

 

All that being said, balconies are very popular in Alaska.

[billyelliot]

Oh heck! This is going to be hard x

[paul929207]

No, a balcony is not a requirement to have a good time on an Alaskan cruise. There are places on all ships where you can sit and enjoy the view.

[mr green]

Alaska is the only cruise that we take a balcony [portside]. However since we do not have to fly to Vancouver, it makes extra cost a little more palatable, and to us, makes the cruise worthwhile.

 

john

[Tinkrbell]

Does anyone have any thoughts or experiences with an aft balcony on an Alaskan cruise?

[Keith1010]

As others have said a verandah is not a requirement. In fact, most of our best views have come from the open deck.

 

Keith

[Keith1010]

Does anyone have any thoughts or experiences with an aft balcony on an Alaskan cruise?

 

The advantage of the AFT balcony is your ability to have more views.

 

Keith

[Assateague Island Princes]

We've sailed twice to AK in a balcony (on HAL) for their 7 day roundtrip from Seattle - and we DID enjoy having our own private space and used it ALL the time - no matter what the weather.

 

That being said though, we also sailed on HAL's 14 day AK itinerary twice - the first time it was DH and I and we got an oceanview (DD7056) on the aft of the Amsterdam. It was wonderful! Just five steps (literally!) out our cabin door to a little known and little used public aft deck which we enjoyed as our own balcony. Our large window looked out over this deck so we felt like we had the best of both worlds - and much less expensive than a balcony cabin on the smaller Amsterdam. Plus it was just one flight of steps up from that aft deck to the Lido and Seaview Bar area where we spent the majority of our time. Really great!

 

This past Aug. 5th, I went on the Amsterdam 14 day itinerary again (sans DH - dog sitter extraordinaire!:D) w/my niece and her boyfriend. Yes, three to a cabin in an oceanview on the aft of the Main Deck (EE2707) and it was great. Again, just three cabins away from a little used aft deck which we enjoyed and just one flight up to the Promenade deck - the largest balcony on the ship. Again - really great!

 

So while I thoroughly enjoyed the balcony cabins when I had them, I wouldn't say they are necessary for a wonderful cruise. Lots of public spaces on HAL ships for outside and inside viewing. The Crows Next on the bow of the ship is floor to ceiling windows with comfy chairs for excellent viewing. The aft Lido deck offers the same with three sided alcoves just outside the Lido restaurant so you can get out of the inclement weather if necessary.

 

I say go for an inside or an oceanview, consider sailing HAL, and save your $$$ for pricey Alaskan excursions and have a blast! Alaska is spectacular, you'll want to go back again and again - we did!;)

[Ashland]

Does anyone have any thoughts or experiences with an aft balcony on an Alaskan cruise?

I especially love a corner aft balcony..but cruising Alaska it would all depend on what month (weather)..I was very glad when we cruised in early May to have a large overhang ceiling on the Radiance midship..

[trooper 1]

(Edited.) "...is it better on a balcony or up on top....."

 

An inside cabin is quite adequate. Remember you are going to Southeastern Alaska where rain is almost a given. You might, or might not even be able to sit on your balcony without getting soaked depending on the location of the balcony on the ship. We have used our balconies mostly for wine, cheese and crackers during Happy Hour anyway. They taste the same inside the cabin.

We have found we wanted better framing and camera angles for most of our photographs anyway and went to other locations on the ship.

[Budget Queen]

Does anyone have any thoughts or experiences with an aft balcony on an Alaskan cruise?

 

People rave about the aft balconies for the wind break, but they are not the place, if wildlife is a priority, since tracking from ahead is far superior for success. You don't want to catch the glimpse as you pull away. Hubbard Glacier and Tracy Arm, views are forward, glacier viewing with the National Park Service ranger commentary is port side.

 

But you can't see it all no matter where you are. :(

[agabbymama]

This will be our 1st Alaska cruise. We have done about 7 cruises 5 inside 1 window 1 balcony. We have enjoyed all of them. As this is a costly holiday, would we need to spend the extra on a balcony? Do you spend a lot of time sat watching. If so is it better on a balcony or up on top.

This is just the 1st stage of my planning lol still trying to decide which line, and itinery?

Any help would be appreciated thanks x

 

 

I WOULD NOT cruise without a balcony anywhere, but that's JMO. I would save an extra year if necessary to pay for that balcony.

 

That said, if you have been happy in an inside or ocean view, then a balcony isn't absolutely necessary. It's all up to you.

[Dreamer757]

We have only sailed to Alaska once (so far) and we had a balcony. We used it only the first two and half days. It rained all the other days. For our next trip to Alaska, we have booked an inside stateroom saving over $500 per person!

 

Also, we just came back from our first cruise with an inside stateroom and it was fine. We actually spent more time out and about on the ship.

[MSMcDuffy]

My first Alaskan cruise was on a balcony and while it was wonderful, we didn't use it very much except to take some pictures and look out ahead to see where we were going. It was just too cold for me while the ship was moving (and this was mid-July). But it was nice to sit on the couch and still be able to see a lot of scenery thru the balcony door.

 

Next cruise we had an oceanview and it was fine. Sounds like you are used to all types of rooms so I'd say your money can be better spent elsewhere on the vacation.

[chipmaster]

If budget or $ makes the difference between going and not, or taking a good excursion or having a balcony, NO BRAINER go inside.

 

I found the views topside great, if it is rainy the lower covered decks are as good as any private balcony in terms of protection and ability to step out and back when you get cold.

 

How much time one spends is very personal and there are deck chairs all around the ship if one loves just watching...

 

 

This will be our 1st Alaska cruise. We have done about 7 cruises 5 inside 1 window 1 balcony. We have enjoyed all of them. As this is a costly holiday, would we need to spend the extra on a balcony? Do you spend a lot of time sat watching. If so is it better on a balcony or up on top.

This is just the 1st stage of my planning lol still trying to decide which line, and itinery?

Any help would be appreciated thanks x

[Jasperdo]

I've cruised to Alaska twice ... both times with an inside cabin. I prefer being up on deck most of the time anyway, especially in Alaska. There is fantastic scenery on both sides of the ship. I'd feel that I missed half the trip if I just had a view from a balcony. Plus, I feel you get a better idea of the scope and majesty of the scenery if you're on a wide open upper deck.

[billyelliot]

Thank you very much for yr thoughts. I think from reading I will save my money and go ocean view. That way we will have more money for trips! I have never been on Hal, but it sounds like one I should look at.

Any suggestion on itinery? I am reading though past post but thought I would ask if there is a "not to miss" we are thinking of going late May/June or Sept to also catch a good price. Xx

[TheCalicoCat]

Having already dealt with this question myself, we chose inside. & Now we are going to take a nice tour in Skagway (Maybe in Juneau as well - depends on the funds)!

[Budget Queen]

Thank you very much for yr thoughts. I think from reading I will save my money and go ocean view. That way we will have more money for trips! I have never been on Hal, but it sounds like one I should look at.

Any suggestion on itinery? I am reading though past post but thought I would ask if there is a "not to miss" we are thinking of going late May/June or Sept to also catch a good price. Xx

 

You need to determine, if you want a one way, or round trip. And if round trip, Seattle or Vancouver???

[arlodog]

We sailed on HAL out of Vancouver for our 25th anniversary trip. We booked an inside room on the promenade deck and were literally 3 doors down from the door leading outside to a deck which wraps around the ship--like someone else said; you have a large deck that was mostly very private! We enjoyed a glass of wine in the evenings before dinner and it was very quiet except on the glacier days on this deck.

 

We wanted to do whale watching and a float plane trip so that is where we spent our money. I love balcony's in warm weather, but we spent most of our time in the viewing areas of the ship to take in the spectacular views of Alaska which we would have missed on our own balcony. Plus we got to meet a lot of other passengers which was great fun!

 

I want to go again this summer and have started to look, but will be going with my son this time...unfortunately the ships out of Seattle don't have the rooms on the promenade deck that I am looking for....may try Princess for this trip!

 

We went at the end of July and timed it for the salmon run--no guarantees, but we looked at when we could probably see them running. We wanted to try and maximize our wildlife viewing and the salmon bring out the bears! Loved seeing them run up the ladder and the seals catching them in Ketchikan!

[account4fun]

This will be our 1st Alaska cruise. We have done about 7 cruises 5 inside 1 window 1 balcony. We have enjoyed all of them. As this is a costly holiday, would we need to spend the extra on a balcony? Do you spend a lot of time sat watching. If so is it better on a balcony or up on top.

This is just the 1st stage of my planning lol still trying to decide which line, and itinery?

Any help would be appreciated thanks x

 

I am in the category of absolutely get a balcony! We had an aft balcony so we were spoiled but it was SO worth it. We moved around the ship a lot but we did spend a lot of time in the mornings on our balcony looking for wildlife. We would also leave the other decks and go back to our balcony to get different views of the glaciers etc. We spent a lot of time out there getting pictures and viewing wildlife that would not have been possible on higher decks. For Alaska I think it's definitely worth it!

[Putterdude]

This is question that gets asked regularly and the answers are always mixed. I have seen Alaska from a porthole, an obstructed view and from a balcony. A balcony is always nice but with unpredictable weather in Alaska, particularly in the shoulder seasons, it can prove to be unusable. Frankly we have used a balcony much more in the Caribbean then in Alaska. If costs are an issue I would certainly give the balcony a pass. Ships have many great viewing areas and even if you were able to spend the whole cruise on a balcony you would only have seen half of the scenery that Alaska offers.

[Orangeguy]

One thing that I haven't seen mentioned is the amount of daylight you have in Alaska in the summer... the least little bit of light causes me to wake up so the thought of the sun coming up at 4am makes me want an inside cabin.