Deciding whether a balcony fits in your budget depends on how you value your time on the ship.
It’s hard to imagine a hotel charging extra for a room with windows, but when it comes to cruising, fresh ocean air comes at a premium: Typically, the coveted outdoor balcony space on a cruise costs at least $100 per person, per voyage more than an interior or porthole stateroom. But with budget and savings in mind, are cruise balconies actually worth the extra fee? We explore.
My wife and I prefer a balcony room on the cruises we take but we have also opted for porthole/window staterooms when either the balcony was cost prohibitive or not available. Having a balcony for us is like having a second room where if the other is sleeping, there was a nice place to sit and read.
I have noticed that on some older ships that do not have as many balcony rooms, they either book up fast or command much higher prices.
I have not had a interior stateroom on any of the cruise I have been on but may consider one on a Royal Caribbean’s Quantum class ship with the high-definition TV walls with a live feed of the ocean and ship’s ports.
My general rule is that the actual stateroom type does not matter as much to me as long as I get to go on a cruise
