Balcony worth it?

My parents recently took their first cruise and absolutely loved it. My girlfriend and I will be on our first cruise on the Serenade in Dec in an ocean view room. My folks said I would be crazy not to upgrade to a balcony room and think it made their trip so much more enjoyable. My feeling is I have the window to see where we are and not feel as boxed in. Is the extra $ worth it? Anyone have any advice?

I meet with my travel agent tonight to get the payment over with so I thought Id ask the experts from C.M. for advice first before making any changes.

Thanks

[luv2B@sea]

We had a balcony on the Navigator in May and now it's the only way to go. We absolutely loved it. Everyone who doesn't get a balcony says you're never in your room so don't waste the money, but we were in our room enough to thoroughly enjoy it and it wasn't a waste of money at all. We'd order room service when we got back from a port and sit on the balcony relaxing enjoying whatever we ordered, had breakfast out there in the morning and just watced the world go by. We felt it was definately worth it and like I said it's the only way to go for us now.

YES! Get spoiled early,. It is really worth it for many reasons....Your cabin will be brighter lighter & you will have access to fresh sea air. You can sit out & watch the stars, have coffee in the am, or cocktails before dinner. You can see the sun set.or rise or maybe spot a pod of whales. It is great coming into port to pass the lighthouses & other sights along the way. It costs more & because of that we cruise less often but it's really th best thing..unless you are not interested in spending time in the cabin--then it would be a waste> Enjoy your cruise!

listen to your parents !!!!!, you are taking your girlfriend so I'm assuming this will be a "romantic" type cruise for the both of you...spend the extra $$$$ for the balcony so you can watch the sunset and the stars with her and hear and feel the sea breeze and let all of us know how much she loved having a balcony cabin, when you guys return

Yes....YES......YES!!!!!!!!!!!

My first cruise was with a balcony and know I can't go any other way

[Donna]

I'll have to agree with the rest of the poster, yes to the balcony. It just makes cruising so much nicer with one, talk to your travel agent and see how much more it would cost, may-be it won't be too much, its worth checking into.

[Laurie M]

I used to think a balcony would be a waste of money.....that is until I got one.
You will love it!

And, as Venice said...it will be more romantic.

Also, as hcat said...get spoiled early. Although...it can backfire on you....you get used to that luxury and its hard to go any other way. :-) As a matter of fact, I've become so spoiled that on my next cruise (which is in 4 days...yeaaa!)...I'm moving up to a junior suite. :-)

Sounds like its unanimous! I'm going to listen to the pros and go for it. It does sound like it would be pretty cool to have room service bring coffee and breakfast and hang out on the balcony to watch the sunrise. We are recent college grads and this will be our first real vacation on our own, without our families so we want it to be memorable. Thanks everyone for your info

[bicker]

Unanimity around here is pretty darned rare. I'd definitely heed it. <grin>

[bigsky]

Worth every penny!! We won't cruise without a balcony anymore!!
Girlfriend? I hope you have seperate rooms...tee hee...Ü

[norma]

Looks as if I'm the only dissenter. Have been inside, oceanview and balcony. Enjoyed them all. Yes, the balcony was nice but I am one of those that looks at itinerary & cost. Caribbean, no balcony, I've been there lots and don't need to see us pull in to port.
Alaska, absolutely. The scenery is beyond belief.
Breakfast on the balcony is nice but I don't mind eating in the dining room or buffet.
If there is a small difference, sure splurge but sometimes the difference is about half the fare of another cruise. I'd rather go inside & cruise twice a year.
Different strokes for different folks. Do what works for you & GF.
Norma

My husband and I are cruising on the Explorer in early September, and had initially decided to go with a Promenade room. We weren't sure if spending the extra money on a Balcony room would be worth it, since neither of us have been on a cruise previously.

However, after thinking about it, we realized that having a balcony would most likely be an enhancement to our vacation experience. For a few hundred dollars more we realized that we would be able to have an even better experience on our cruise.

So we did it, and changed our booking.

Now I am really looking forward to watching the sunrise (while enjoying a nice cup of coffee), and then watching the sunset (while enjoying a nice glass of wine) with my husband.

SS

[hkolln]

OMG YES YES YES....GET THE BALCONY!!!

We sailed on our previous cruises with inside and then oceanview cabins.
The oceanview cabins windows were full of salt water and we couldn't even see out...IT SUCKED!

Next cruise on the Voyager of the Seas we booked a BALCONY!!! I can't wait...it being our wedding anniversary also we want to sip champagne out while the sunsets!
Oh...ROMANCE!!!

[Cruiseguy]

Absoposilutely, down side, once you get a balcony, you will never go back. Go for it.

and then next cruise go for the mini suite !!!!

Thanks everyone, The travel agent agreed and thought we would enjoy having the balcony as well. I included travel insurance and everything is paid off early so now I guess its just sitting back and waiting.... and planning excursions! I appreciate everyones advice, thank you all.

[hkolln]

Man...I was SOOO tempted for that mini suite on the Voyager in February but it was twice the price!!!! I need to really save up for that..

Our splurging included a balcony but maybe in the future we can get a suite!

Don't go for it. Do not spend the extra money. Do what I do....Wait for a meal or a shore excursion and when a balcony or suite cabin is being cleaned just go in and use it for an hour or so. It's the only way to go!

Oh my!

It really is personal choice. I've had inside, outside, and outside balcony. For me, it just isn't worth extra money because I'm not in the room that much. I'd rather be out and about. One of the best quotes I recall on this site in regard to this goes something like this "Consider a hotel analogy. Would you rather have a hotel room with or without a window"

Now on some cruises I think it may be worth it. Any cruise that spends a lot of time cruising exotic scenary, e.g. Alaska, Chilean Fjords....but for me I'd rather be in the public areas than on a balcony. I'm more extraverted than introverted.

[CA Cruiser]

My sister and her DH just got back from a HAL cruise, their first balcony. They have always been the "inside cabin" type of people, never wanting to spend the money. They got a wonderful deal and couldn't pass it up. WELL, she called me this morning and the first thing I asked her was how she like the balcony room. She replied, "OH MY, IT WAS PHENOMENAL". NO, IT WAS MORE THAN PHENOMENAL!!!" Needless to say, I don't think they will ever go back to the inside again!

SPIRIT 11/17/04
MARINER 8/29/2004, (first aft balcony!!)
Star Princess 2003, Glory 2003
Star Princess 2002, NCL Star 2002
Westerdam 2001, Inspiration 2001
Jubilee 1989, Jubilee 1991, Elation 1999
Azure Seas 1982, Tropicale 1988