Balcony on European River Cruise?

[Northern Residence]

We are two couples exploring the idea of a river cruise. I notice that some ships have french balconies and a few have full ones. Could I have some input please as to whether a balcony is worth the additional cost? One of our party is claustrophobic and is keen on a full balcony.

[4774Papa]

We are two couples exploring the idea of a river cruise. I notice that some ships have french balconies and a few have full ones. Could I have some input please as to whether a balcony is worth the additional cost? One of our party is claustrophobic and is keen on a full balcony.

To me having a French balcony is not worth the extra dollars.

For AMA the cost was almost a grand more. If you go with the lowest deck, you still get a large window.

[Talisker92]

This is an individual choice. On ocean cruises, some people are happy in inside cabins. Depending on your finances and likes and dislikes, I vote for a French Balcony every time. We had one on our last river cruise, and will have one on our next cruise.

We booked the cruise a year and a half ago as there were only four cabins with French Balconies. The ship only holds 78 passengers.

[freddie]

NR - Here is my humble opinion on your question, based on quite a few ocean cruises and two river cruises.

 

If your friend is claustrophobic (as I am, somewhat), a very good choice on a river cruise is a cabin with French balconies. On boats such as the Tauck boat on which we're booked for October, the French balconies are the full width of the cabin, resulting in floor to ceiling glass and the ability to open the sliding doors to let in air if one wishes to do so. Lots of light and sense of space, both important to claustrophobes.

 

A "real" balcony, on the other hand is a matter for debate with regard to river boats. Unless one likes to spend lots of time lounging on the balcony, the balcony simply takes up space that could be part of the interior of the cabin. Remember that the full balcony space has to come from somewhere; and it comes from interior cabin space, since river boats need to be narrow and can't just add balconies onto the sides of the boat.

 

With all due respect to 4774Papa, the lower decks of many river cruise boats could be quite unpleasant for someone who is claustrophobic (or even for someone who isn't ;)). Even a "large window" is not remotely the same as a wall of glass. Further, the lowest deck is on some boats really low, such as nearly at the water line. That is particularly troublesome if another river boat is rafted next to one's boat, resulting in a great view from the "large window" of the hull of the other boat a few feet away. Not for the faint of heart or for the faintly claustrophobic. Keep in mind that for an extremely claustrophic person, the notion of being even partly below the waterline in one's cabin is quite scary, even if the window is above the waterline.

[Caroldoll]

and I agree with him! I am not sure which have FULL balconies, but there are some restrictions going under the bridges, so just being able to open a window is a good thing! I am with Fred!

 

Carole

[Talisker92]

I also agree with Fred. I asked my wife, who is slightly claustrophobic about the below the waterline cabins and she said NO WAY.

I was in one of those cabins years ago, and it was not pleasant. On our 2007 River cruise, we were in a window cabin, but on our last river cruise, we opted for the French Balcony and really enjoyed it.

[LHT28]

We have not done our river cruise yet but I did not like of the idea of the basement deck so we chose a full balcony

I may like to sit out there on some days while cruising down the river

It is a personal choice

[shoshona2]

The people who took the lowest level cabin on our AMA Katarina Russian cruise last September said they couldn't stand their cabin since the A/C and heating weren't working right. They couldn't open a window to get some fresh air and on hot days couldn't stay in their cabin at all. We only used our full balcony to dry our umbrellas, but it was great to have some fresh air when we needed it. Our first river cruise had French Balconies and that was good enough for us.

 

Sheila

[franski]

Take a look at the boat - as not every boat has balconies - even French ones!!

 

For example, the River Queen is an older boat, and while it does have very large windows, they do not open.

 

The choice of a balcony really is a personal one. I happen to agree with 4774Papa and do not feel that the price of the balcony (French or otherwise) is worth it. However, I am not claustrophobic, so having a cabin at the waterline isn't a concern to me.

 

While all cabins are truly "outside" - and have a window - the window is often small and/or high up when you travel lowest category (aka aquarium class).

 

Fran

[aussietraveller58]

We are two couples exploring the idea of a river cruise. I notice that some ships have french balconies and a few have full ones. Could I have some input please as to whether a balcony is worth the additional cost? One of our party is claustrophobic and is keen on a full balcony.

 

On our August cruise last year (AMA) with glorious weather, I think either "french" balcony as we had, or a traditional balcony, would have been equally good, and most definitley worth the additional cost to me. It was an absolute pleasure to spend some quiet time just on my own each day, watching the river go by. Opening the french window fully back gave a great sense of being open to the river, listening to the sounds as well as the sights, which I think your friend would like, and a full balcony would be lovely too. Breezy though!

 

Keep in mind that quite regularly the ship will pull up RIGHT next to another, or will be in a cement lock for a period of time, and then no matter which type of room you have, you will be looking at a cement wall. I found that pretty hard at times even though I am not overly claustrophobic , and I slipped up to the upper deck for some air and space! I also found the lower deck dining room a litte "close" at these times. So I would suggest your friend books as high a cabin as she can afford.

[Condocat]

Whether "French" or regular, definitely book a cabin with one. You will be happy to have the extra light and the feeling of extra space, not to mention being able to enjoy the beautiful views.

 

One evening at dinner, a lady with a great sense of humor who was in a cabin at the bottom of the ship described it as staying in washer machine.

[franski]

"Extra light" from a French balcony does depend on the time of year. This isn't really noticeable if you travel for Christmas markets. The days are so short that the sun isn't really up until you are eating breakfast (if you plan to do all of the morning excursions...), and it is dark by dinner time.

 

Fran

[caviargal]

We have always had a cabin with a French balcony. While it was nice to have, this year we are booked in the lowest category and will not have one. We took a look at those cabins last year and decided to just save the money. We are rarely in the cabin and often when we open the drapes we are docked somewhere that makes us close them again for privacy.

 

We do not spend time in the cabin during the day and we cruise Nov. or Dec. so the days indeed are short.

 

Not worth it for us - the savings paid for an airline ticket and then some.

[4774Papa]

Whether "French" or regular, definitely book a cabin with one. You will be happy to have the extra light and the feeling of extra space, not to mention being able to enjoy the beautiful views.

 

One evening at dinner, a lady with a great sense of humor who was in a cabin at the bottom of the ship described it as staying in washer machine.

We stayed in a lower deck cabin on the Tolstoy on our Vantage Russian cruise. There was plenty of light. Our AMA cabin on our Rhone River cruise (from the photo has plenty of light). My DW is a bit claustrophobic, be we had no problem. We were only in the cabin when it was time to sleep.

 

Go on the website of the company you plan to cruise and look at the photos of the cabins. Perhaps it will be important to you to pay almost a grand for seven days with a French Balcony, they are nice, if you stay in your cabin. We don't.

[tonyd285]

We had a balcony cabin on a Grand Circle Christmas Markets on the Rhine cruise a couple of years ago. Because of the winter weather we hardly ever went out other than to take photos. Another issue was that the balcony took space from the cabin. In 2010 we cruised on the Danube and had a cabin without a balcony but with a large picture window. The difference in cabin size was rather noticeable. I would vote for a picture window cabin rather than a balcony because of the cost and space considerations.

[tiggypooo]

During my first late May/early June cruise, we had full length windows, but they did not open. After 2 weeks in the room with unopened windows, although the A/C was working fine, it was stuffy and needed airing out.

I wouldn't sail without being able to open my window again.

[freddie]

As I tried to suggest above, I would consider French balconies (which aren't really balconies at all, but rather sliding glass doors opening onto a railing) to be the best alternative both to windows that don't open or to real balconies that take up space from the cabin. French balconies give one lots of light, the opportunity for air if one needs such, and no intrusion into the space of the cabin.

 

The repeated message that, "We're never in the cabin except to sleep; so it doesn't matter that (fill in the blank - the cabin is tiny, the cabin is dark, the cabin doesn't have a comfortable chair to sit in for a hour to read a book, etc.)", is not compelling to us. Even though we are extremely active and spend most of our time outside of our cabin, we wouldn't consider an inside cabin on an ocean cruise or a cabin on a river cruise that was so low in the ship that all the light comes from a couple of portholes or two small windows so high up on the wall that one cannot even see out of them. Both of those last two options exist on most river cruise boats and would be anathema to someone with claustrophobia.

 

On our AMA Mekong River cruise, the lowest deck cabins had two small portholes high up in the wall. Further, the portion of that deck where the passenger cabins were located had those creepy bulkhead watertight doors that one had to climb through to get into the corridor. Yikes, thoughts of those doors being sealed if there was a major water intrusion into the boat are pretty scary, no? All things considered, we will stick with a cabin higher up in the river boat and with a wall of glass, preferably one that had a sliding door that opens.

[lahlah57]

Know the river shipline and see what is offered. French balcony is not one you can walk out on or sit in a chair on. You can open it and it gives the sense of space. The full balcony is one where you walk out on and sit out on. That is my preference because I choose to take in the scenery, drink a glass of wine as I sit and watch the passing landscape. Some people are just fine with no window:confused: and not spend any time in cabin.....not my cup of tea! Price$$$ and personal needs is what dictates the individual .

[Willsot]

At the time we booked our Danube river cruise no balcony rooms were available. Because the dates (Sep/Oct) were what we desired we went ahead and booked a window-only cabin on the bottom level and decided to apply the savings to pre- and post-cruise extensions. I was very concerned that the cabin would be a problem for our 16-day cruise but we adapted to the small but efficient cabin and found it quite comfortable. Our pre- and post-extensions were fantastic and really made the vacation outstanding.

[ddschur]

We have only cruised with Tauck and for us, a balcony is a MUST!

 

We enjoyed being able to open the sliding doors and enjoy the air and see the lovely castles and scenery without any obstructions.

 

It may have been covered already, however, understanding what a "French Balcony" vs. a "Full Balcony" means is important.

 

The following is my understanding of the Full vs. French balcony comparison:

 

The size of the boat is determined by the locks that you have to navigate so the width of the boat is pretty much set. If you get a "French Balcony", you have the ability to open your sliding doors and enjoy the cruise with a larger room size.

 

On the other hand, a "Full Balcony" which very few cruise companies offer (I think Scenic may be one of those offering it) provides a small balcony but, because of size limitations, reduces the size of your room!

 

Obviously what is most important for you drives your decision but for us the French Balcony was more than adequate.

[Ozjohnno]

One of our fiends used Scenic a couple of years ago so I asked him via email about their "Space ship balconies" and here is part of his reply.

 

"We enjoyed our trip with Scenic and like most we felt there was room for improvement in a number of areas. As to their balconies Rod they are really just a gimmick - you know a way they can be different from all the other companies sailing the Rhine. They sound good but when you actually see them they are quite small. It is true that two people can sit out there but because of the size of the area you have to sit facing each other not the river bank and the cabin would be roomier without them. We decided it was more comfortable on the sun deck."

 

I hope my friend's opinion helps in your decision making.

[Granny DI]

I vote for the French balconies on the Avalon Panorama. They are actually very large sliding glass doors. We left them open all the time just for the fresh air, sights and sounds. We have done a lot of ocean cruising and couldn't always use the balconies due to high winds, etc. If you want a full balcony on a river cruise climb a few stairs and sit on top. The top is better than any ocean balcony. We were not interested in the cabins with just windows. Not sure you could even open one of them, much less see out of them.

[caviargal]

I vote for the French balconies on the Avalon Panorama. They are actually very large sliding glass doors. We left them open all the time just for the fresh air, sights and sounds. We have done a lot of ocean cruising and couldn't always use the balconies due to high winds, etc. If you want a full balcony on a river cruise climb a few stairs and sit on top. The top is better than any ocean balcony. We were not interested in the cabins with just windows. Not sure you could even open one of them, much less see out of them.

 

We had a French balcony on the Panorama and it was the same as those on the other ships (4) we have been on. We did not use it as it was December and cold and many times there was no privacy as were docked next to walking street or another boat.

 

This is one reason we booked a window this time around - just not worth it. It will be interesting to compare to our past cruises to see if we miss it at all.

 

We did spend a lot of time on deck.

[kaudreamer12]

We are two couples exploring the idea of a river cruise. I notice that some ships have french balconies and a few have full ones. Could I have some input please as to whether a balcony is worth the additional cost? One of our party is claustrophobic and is keen on a full balcony.

 

I agree with the choice of a "French Balcony". I wouldn't even book a hotel room without an ocean view, and to be in a room without an option to open a window is not an option unless it is in winter. We booked a FB for our 17 day land and Danube river cruise for August / Sept 2012 on the Sound of Music because of size at 165 sq feet and the amount of light that the FB will provide. To us it is well worth the extra costs, if you're going already paying $$$$ an extra $$ will be well worth it.

[JesterPlaying]

One other thing to keep in mind when selecting a cabin is the type of bed. On some lines you only get a hotel bed with the upper cabins that have the french balcony. The lower ones may only offer pullman type beds that fold out. Being 6'6" I often choose a cruise line by what I can comfortably sleep in.