What is a Balcony?

A lot of cruise lines have various grades of a balcony cabin on their ships these days but what do they mean?

I get asked this question a lot when advising what is available when customers ask for a balcony cabin, so here are the differences so you too can understand.

For instance, on the P&O Britannia, they have obstructed balcony cabins, this is where there will be a lifeboat or part of a lifeboat or just the mechanism of the lifeboat outside your balcony.  You can still sit out there and enjoy a drink & the sun but you may not be able to see through the glass completely.  This may not be an issue to some but others would never have one of these including myself as I like to see out and watch the world go by.

So what does this look like I hear you ask?

These are actual pictures I took from the Britannia so you can see, some are completely blocked, others are partly blocked and some hardly blocked.

            

To have a clear view balcony you need to be higher up on the ship as on Britannia if you are one deck up above the lifeboats you see this:-

     

A clear view is where you don’t have anything blocking your balcony at all:-

    

All ships are laid out differently and not all have obstructed views.

The Queen Mary 2, for instance, has sheltered balcony cabins or metal fronted they may be called, this is where the balcony is covered but you have an opening where you can see out, here is a picture I took on QM2 to show you. I send this to a lot of my customers so they can see what I mean:-

     

QM2 is an ocean liner so needs to have these balconies for the transatlantic crossings she does regularly.

Other ships such as P&O ships & some Princess ships have a metal fronted balcony as they may be nearer the front of the ship or above the lifeboats below them, here is what a metal fronted looks like:-

Oasis class ships with Royal Caribbean have inward facing balconies too, so you still have a balcony you can sit out but you overlook either ‘The Boardwalk’ or ‘Central Park’, here is what it looks like:-

These are ‘The Boardwalk’ balconies towards the back of the ship.

These are ‘Central Park’ balconies towards the front of the ship.

Some suites on ships have the large wrap around balconies but I haven’t been lucky enough to stay on one of those – yet!

So be sure to check what kind of balcony you are getting when you book your next cruise. Most of the ‘lead in’ prices you see maybe one of these so beware to check!

Of course, I will tell you this when you book with me on 0330 303 8208 or email [email protected]

Until next time – enjoy the sun & happy cruising!

 

 

 

2 Comments on “What is a Balcony?

  1. Babs if your registered disabled do you have to pay a premium for balcony cabins.
    Thanks les

    • Hi Les,

      You pay the same price as anyone but just need to have an adapted cabin if required and if taking a motorised chair.
      These do get booked up early so my advice is to book asap.

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About Me

My name is Barbara Hopley (my real surname is now Neale) but most people call me ‘Babs’ – doesn’t sound as old as I’m not really that old. I am passionate about Cruise and have over 30 years of experience of travel knowledge. After working for various travel companies I…

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