Breakaway Balcony Question

[dznymom]

Getting really excited about my upcoming Breakaway cruise & ready to have a blast. I do have a couple of questions.

 

We have booked a plain old balcony, and I read that they are small but now I am thinking they are really small. I saw a picture yesterday, and it looked like it was too small to even sit with the chairs facing outward. Did I see that wrong? It has made me consider switching to a 'large' balcony but I see that those are pretty exposed. I really don't want to splurge for an AFT this time, but I am wondering what the pros and cons are of the large balconies on Deck 9, or if anyone has any suggestions or comments. IF I were to do an AFT, what deck would you recommend?

 

I am also wondering what the cost of the Cake Boss pastries are, and if there is anything not to miss there. Isn't it funny the things that we think about before a cruise?

[Will Sail For Food]

We booked a plain ol' balcony also. If you look at the diagram of the ship, you will see that there are some plain ol' balcony rooms that are at places where the sides of the ship curve a bit. These rooms have slightly larger balconies for the exact same price. For instance, we booked 14242 on the Getaway, which is one of these. It's still small, but larger than the regular ones. There was a thread on here within the past week that shows pictures. I'll try to dig it up for you.

[youngestof9]

can't answer about the balcony because we did decide on an aft balcony and loved it. We're trying the B6 (large balcony) on the Getaway even though it's exposed - I actually like that it will get a lot of sun.

 

But as for Carlos - I absolutely LOVED this shortbread thing - it was shortbread, pecans and half of it was dipped in chocolate. It was really excellent. In fact, I bought a few pieces the last day and brought it home! Yum!

 

Have fun - we enjoyed Breakaway.

[Will Sail For Food]

This thread shows pictures of the angled balconies. These are the same price as the regular balcony rooms. (At least they were when we booked the Getaway a few weeks ago!)

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1966231

[cruisebear84]

We booked a plain old (midship) balcony, and it was fine to sit outward and upright. We faced each other and stretched our legs on the little "table" if we wanted to lounge. I was plenty happy with it. It was our first cruise and we were lucky to book it at less than what we originally had planned. I did visit some larger balconies on a cabin crawl, but decided we didn't regret having a giant one for just the two of us. Whatever you choose, a balcony is a balcony and the view of the sea can't be beat! Have a great trip :D

[mizLORInj]

We had a regular balcony (BA category) and I have to say it was not as small as I thought it was going to be. We made it work and it was fine for us.

I agree about the forward large balconies--they are very exposed, and you are more likely to feel motion in the front of the ship than anywhere else.

The angle ones look good.

Edited January 10, 2014 by mizlorinj

[SliceOfLife]

I also had a mid ship mini suite, same size balcony as regular balcony cabins. It's not as small as the picture makes it out to be. If you angle your chairs at opposite sides of the balcony there is plenty of room to stretch your legs out.

 

I thought the lobster tails at Carlos were good, the cannoli was just okay. I think it was $3.50 for each.

[SMerritt]

can't answer about the balcony because we did decide on an aft balcony and loved it. We're trying the B6 (large balcony) on the Getaway even though it's exposed - I actually like that it will get a lot of sun.

 

But as for Carlos - I absolutely LOVED this shortbread thing - it was shortbread, pecans and half of it was dipped in chocolate. It was really excellent. In fact, I bought a few pieces the last day and brought it home! Yum!

 

Have fun - we enjoyed Breakaway.

 

I had the same thing at Carlos Bakery.....AMAZING! I have now placed Carlos Bakery at the top of my list with my Lavazza

 

I do not know if it was a good or bad thing, went to Carlos Bakery the last sea day of our cruise - Look Out Getaway - might be a daily visit in my future.

[kayhil3]

I had also booked a mid ship balcony and after seeing pictures of the balcony switched to an aft balcony for only $160 total for two people. I am on deck 10. decks 9 and 12 have the largest balconies but from 12 up you get a lot of noise and vibrations from spice h20 (from what I have read on cc) . It really depends on how much time you will spend on the balcony, we use it a lot. What ever you decide have a great time.

[dznymom]

Thanks so much for the great info. After much deliberation and studying all of the pictures, we have decided to get one of the Large Balconies on Deck 9. WillSailForFood, that link was really helpful, especially the picture of the outside with the stateroom numbers on it & the one looking down from above. We are pretty confident that we will be fine with the exposed balcony, and can't wait to see for ourselves! I promise to take pictures and report back.

 

As far as Carlos' Bakery goes, I think I am in trouble. Shortbread thingies & lobster tails sound divine :p

[indigosoulchild]

We booked a plain ol' balcony also. If you look at the diagram of the ship, you will see that there are some plain ol' balcony rooms that are at places where the sides of the ship curve a bit. These rooms have slightly larger balconies for the exact same price. For instance, we booked 14242 on the Getaway, which is one of these. It's still small, but larger than the regular ones. There was a thread on here within the past week that shows pictures. I'll try to dig it up for you.

 

Hi Will Sail For Food, I hope you had a great cruise!!!

I just booked 14242 on the Getaway for our cruise in November. Was hoping you could give me your opinion on the room. Was the bed near the closet? Did you enjoy the extra space from the balcony? Did you find it too windy? Any other tidbits would be awesome :) Hope you're cruise withdrawal is not too bad!

[Dblack87]

Hi dznymom, How did you like the forward large balcony? Could you feel a lot of motion from the ship? I was thinking of upgrading, and was looking for people's experience with them. Thanks!

[Bemmy1]

I stayed in 9732 on the Breakaway and it was amazing! It had one lounger and two chairs. I never felt that the people above were staring at us and 1/2 was covered so you can always sit under that part without your knees hitting glass if you felt too exposed. We did not feel any movement. I loved my room!

[Dblack87]

Thanks! So helpful. We are thinking about 9122 now, but it looks to be pretty much the same. I just wanted to get an opinion on the motion! It's great to know that you had a lounger! I hope we get one!

[dznymom]

Hi dznymom, How did you like the forward large balcony? Could you feel a lot of motion from the ship? I was thinking of upgrading, and was looking for people's experience with them. Thanks!

 

We absolutely loved it! We were in 9134 and our friend was in 9136 which was an angled balcony. They were both fabulous! There was enough coverage that we didn't feel exposed and you could get some protection from the sun or wind. You could also get plenty of sun so it was the best of both worlds IMO. We liked having the one lounger and 2 chairs out there.

 

The location was perfect for us. It was very convenient to Deck 7 for the casino & O'Sheehan's where we spent lots of time. We also loved the Waterfront, so spent a lot of time on Deck 8. We really enjoyed popping a bottle of champagne and watching the fireworks from the best viewing spot on the ship (9136 was perfect for that)!

 

We have no issues with motion, but I didn't notice it being bad at all. Although it's fairly far forward, it's not that high up so that may help. We actually love rough seas though, so I am not the best person to ask :p

 

All in all, if we sail the Breakaway again we will try to get the exact same staterooms. Hope this helps a little. Have a wonderful cruise!

[Medic2378]

We stayed in the B6 balcony (9124) last January. We loved the room. Half of the balcony is exposed. We actually enjoyed that because we could lay out in the sun in the comfort of our room. It was nice having room for two loungers on the balcony. There was actually enough room for two loungers and a regular chair. I will attach a picture. The only con we had was that we did feel a decent amount of motion in the room. However, sailing out of NYC in January I think that is to be expected in a forward cabin. Once we were in the Caribbean there was very little motion. I don't think the motion was significantly worse than what we had in a more aft cabin the January before on the Explorer! I can definitely say we will definitely book a B6 again!

[Flopthis25]

we had 3 rooms next to each other on 12. We were near the aft elevators. The balconies were fine for us.

In port, our room steward opened up all the dividers.

 

We loved being in the back next to the elevators. In our rooms, we never heard any noise from above. On our balconies, we heard music from H2O while in port. But we liked hearing the music!

[LLCoolDoc]

We are leaving next week on the BA and have an AFT facing balcony on 12 (12310) - hoping we get some sun......anyone know?????

 

:D