Hi I'm Gary Bembridge and this is another of my Tips For Travellers. In this video I'm
going to talk about the 8 reasons to choose to cruise in a balcony or veranda
cabin. Please subscribe to my channel and every single week you'll be alerted when
there's a brand new video packed full of travel or cruising tips and advice. I did
a video about inside cabins which caused a huge amount of interest and a lot of
debate. There are people who absolutely love inside cabins and a lot of people, like
me, who actually prefer having a balcony. So I'm going to explore 8 reasons why you
should consider cruising with a balcony. The first reason of course is price, an
inside cabin is the cheapest way to cruise but you'll often find that you
can get a balcony cabin at a great price. Now normally you'll pay up to a 50
percent premium for a balcony cabin over an inside cabin, but there are often
great deals. So one thing to look out for is offers, and you'll find
particularly when cruises first go on sale many cruise lines will offer paying
the price of a lower grade and get an automatic upgrade. This is increasingly
common with the big mega ships where the bulk of cabins are actually ones with
balconies. So what the cruise lines will do is when they launch new itineraries
they'll often offer an upgrade, so you pay the price of a lower cabin grade but
you get a balcony - because the inside cabins are always the easiest cabins for
them to clear because they are the cheapest. So look out for great deals, so
instead of having to pay that 50% or plus premium if you are a person who
likes to plan way in advance and will book your cruise a year or even longer
in advance, take a look for those special offers. So a great reason for cruising in
a balcony cabin is if you can get it for a great price. For me one of the key
reasons for choosing a balcony cabin is the itinerary. So if you're going on a
cruise somewhere that's especially scenic where you're going to have
scenery all the time. So if you're cruising for example to Alaska,
Norwegian fjords or perhaps you going to the Arctic or the Antarctic or
you're going to be transiting the Panama Canal,
these are all itineraries which have phenomenal scenery and you're going to have
scenery all the time, so actually having a balcony is a real plus and will add
an enormous amount to the cruise, because you have scenery
all the time and you're able to step out very quickly on a balcony if you're
passing some beautiful scenery because you know it's there. So I really
recommend if you're going on one of those itineraries to take a look and try
and budget to go in a balcony cabin. It really will make a huge difference to
your cruise if you can find a way of pushing yourself up that little bit
extra and investing in a balcony. If you go on a route which perhaps are very
port intensive and you actually when you're out at sea you are literally out
at sea, you might decide that actually it's not worth investing - but if you're
going to places like Alaska, Norwegian fjords, Arctic, Antarctica, transiting the
Panama Canal you'll absolutely love being in a balcony. Now another great
reason for considering a balcony is if you're going to want to escape from
your kids, your family or your travel companion! What do I mean by this? The
advantage of having a balcony is perhaps if you're traveling with kids and
sharing a cabin, or perhaps you're traveling with a friend or companion who
perhaps likes to sleep in late or likes to get up early, the advantage of having
a balcony is you could perhaps put the kids to bed at night and then you and
your partner can go out on the balcony and just enjoy the sea air while your
kids go to sleep. Or perhaps if you wake up early and you want to have some space
and time, you can just get up quietly go on the balcony and just enjoy being on
the balcony while your companion or partner keeps sleeping. It
gives you a little bit of extra space and quiet if you do need to be in a
cabin with your kids or family or companion or partner but you actually
need some time and space away from them. Another great reason for considering a
balcony is if you feel that you're likely to be claustrophobic or you know
that you're claustrophobic and you don't like the idea of being in a space where
there's no light. Obviously you could look at an ocean view cabin because
you're going to have some natural light but the great advantage of a balcony
cabin is if you are worried that you're going to feel really closed or boxed in
either an inside cabin or even an ocean view cabin, then consider a balcony
because obviously you can step out into the open space and get fresh air. So
it's going to give you a sense of not feeling as trapped. Some people like
balcony cabins, and I'm probably one of those people, because you're more likely to
have natural light. So obviously you have good blackout curtains but
you're more likely to get into a natural rhythm of going to sleep and waking up
with natural light than you are in an inside cabin. If you're worried about
getting seasick it s also a great option because
obviously you can step out to the balcony and get fresh air which
is very good and if feel motion sickness it also enables you to look at
the horizon which is one of the key ways to deal with motion sickness is to get out and
look at the horizon. One of the advantages of a balcony cabin is you can just step out
right there and get the fresh air, you can look at the horizon and it may make
you feel less stressed about getting seasick. So a lot of people who choose
a balcony cabin they choose it for that reason - they feel it's just
something that's going to reassure them if they worry about getting seasick. Now one
of the key things to note is that a balcony cabin often has the same
amount of space as an ocean view cabin, so the actual area inside is the same
size as an ocean view cabin. So the more space is actually the balcony - but you
are going to have a sense of much more space, and I always do find that a
balcony cabin does feel much more spacious to me anyway than an ocean view
cabin. So it does give you a feeling of having more space but bear in mind if you
are looking for more space the balcony is your extra space it's not going to
give you more space normally than an ocean view cabin. If you're really
looking for much more space in your cabin you're going to have to look at the
next level up which are Suites, but you're going to have overall more space but
bear on mind it is the balcony that's the extra space. Now one of the reasons that I give
for choosing a balcony cabin is it gives me the opportunity of having a quiet
space or a bolt-hole if I want it. If you're traveling on a very large ship
with as many thousands of people, finding a quiet space it's not always possible.
The advantage if you have a balcony is it's a place you can retreat to - of
course it does mean that you have to hope that your fellow passengers on
either side of your above you are not noisy balcony people! But the great
advantage of having a balcony is if you just want to find somewhere quiet to sit
in the morning even in the afternoon whenever it is to read a book or
a doze you're going to be able to do that. Your options are often
finding places in the library or one of the public spaces or the pool
which all tend to be a little bit more busy. So the great advantage of a balcony
it can become your own little private space and I've done many cruises
where it's been great just to go to the balcony with a book or read the
newspaper or do the crossword or whatever and it's just your little
quiet bolt-hole space. This is probably more applicable if you're on a
longer cruise or a cruise which has lots of sea days.
If you're on a very port intensive trip you're not likely to need that as much,
but if you're on a longer cruise particular one with lots of sea days you
might find having a balcony becomes a real plus because it's something that
you are more likely to use. If you're traveling in warm climates a balcony
can be a great plus as you have the advantage then of just stepping out to
the balcony, perhaps having breakfast on the balcony as you sail into port or
even in the evenings before you go to bed you can sit out on the balcony
together, have a glass of wine or something to drink and just enjoy the
warm air. It's a really nice space to just escape to in a warm climate but if
you're traveling in colder climates or you're on a transatlantic and it's going
be very stormy and windy you are not likely to really use
a balcony. My next reason is a real out there one, a little bit wacky and a little
bit unusual. But if you've found all of the other reasons have not been strong
enough to justify going in a balcony to your partner or whoever you're traveling
with, try this one. If your ship contracts norovirus, which is always a possibility
of course norovirus doesn't happen as much on cruise ships as people think it does,
but if your ship contracts norovirus and you get the norovirus you're then
required to stay in your cabin. You're isolated in your cabin until the virus
has passed and you're completely free of the virus. Now obviously if you're in a
balcony cabin being required to stay in your cabin is going to give you a little
bit more space and more options, because you're going to be able to go out on the
balcony and enjoy the fresh air and be able to see much more what's going on.
So for example I once got the norovirus and was in an ocean view
cabin with a restricted view and was stuck in that cabin with nothing to
look at - and we were passing through the beautiful Norwegian fjords. If I had been
in a balcony cabin I'd have been able to go out on the balcony and at least get a bit more of
the scenery. Now is that a great reason for choosing a balcony: preparing in case you
get the norovirus and are stuck in your cabin - probably not! But it's certainly a
little bit of an out there reason. That's eight reasons why a balcony cabin could be a
great option for cruising. I love cruising in a balcony cabin and that
will always be my first choice. I really love cruising in a balcony cabin. If you
found that helpful I'd love it if you watch many more of my Tips For Travellers
videos and you'll get much more inspiration, tips and advice.