Balcony or oceanview?
 

I'm going to book the Caribbean Princess this May. We're a younger couple, late twenties who love nightlife and a busy atmosphere. WE're really social and will have fun no matter where. We're not into water sports yet.

Does anyone have any feedback about whether or not we should consider getting a balcony room versus an oceanview room. Is the balcony much better? The cost is approx. 1100 p/p for oceanview and 1600 for the balcony. $1000 total for the balcony, is this worth it? Money is not an object, but we're not wasteful either.

Thank you all,
Natalie

We just had a balcony on the Coral Princess and felt it was worth the extra money. However, we only paid about $300 extra total for 10 days. We had coffee on the balcony most mornings and sat out there to read late most afternoons. It also seemed to make the cabin larger because we never closed the curtains on the sliding glass doors.

However, if you're very active and on the go all the time from the room, it might not be worth the extra for you.

Actually I checked Yahoo travel and the price difference for OV vs. balcony was around half that, about $250.00 pp or $500.00 total so I am not sure about your price difference. Anyway for $1000.00 I say its too much. Even if the price is closer to $500.00 it does seem like alot for active folks like yourselves. Bon voyage. :-)

Just a personal position, but I wouldn't pay for an oceanview room. If I were not going to book the balcony, I'd book an inside and spend the money someplace else. If I thought I'd use the balcony, I'd go ahead and spend the money on it. I've done both, depending on the itinerary and the "right" price. The one time I did have an oceanview (on the old Love Boat which had no balconies), I rarely looked out the window. In an inside, if you want to see what it looks like outside you can see in on the TV 24/7. Really depends on how much time you will spend in your room and how much money you want to spend. A balcony is wonderful if you are going to use it and if money is no object. I just don't think an oceanview adds much value.

Personally I wouldn't do a 7 day without a balcony. As muchn as a enjoy the activity, it's so nice to be able to get away from it all and just have a glass of wine, snack on room service, read a book, watch the water...

You might see if you can get a lower price on the balcony, though--try www.CruiseCompete.com. You select the sailing and let agents compete to get you a better deal.

I agree that if I can't have a balcony on a 7 day, I would rather not go. I do not care about a 3 or 4 day, but we use our balcony all the time and it is definitely worth it to us!

We did a 19 Day QE2 cruise last fall in the Med and wouldn't have traded our balcony for anything. Even though our room was large it gave us the feeling of more spaciousness. Also we were able to achieve the feeling of being on the ocean by ourselves when sitting for a quiet breakfast or reading in the afternoon. I would go for the extra cost!

You'd use it and it's nice, but for guys like yourselves I just don't think it is worth the extra money.

Be careful, because on the Caribbean Princess many levels of the balcony are totally uncovered and you can view others and others can view you- at all times. Not a lot of privacy at all.
The Caribe level has half covered and half open, the top two levels Baja and Alaho are all covered and much smaller in size. Keep that in mind when you pick your stateroom. I had C710 is a sister-ship and it was Caribe. The balcony was large with table and 1/2 covered. But even ourselves could easily converse with all below and many above us.

The kids your age on the ship were in the casino, pools, shows, bars, disco, internet cafe etc. and I bet you don't use it worth any amound of money. You don't sound like "sitters".

One thing to add--if you've never had a balcony, you won't miss it. Once you have one, you won't want to go back.

It turns out that the special enabled us to book a minisuite with balcony for 1299, which I thought was a steal. We're all confirmed, so I must say thank you to all for your recommendations, much appreciated!

You will love the minisuite, they are typically a lot larger than a std cabin. Did you go to www.princess.com and check out the room location on the floorplan. It's fun to see exactly where you will be.