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Anthem Balcony in December


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Our current Anthem cruise was cancelled and so we re-booked our Anthem cruise for Christmas week in December.  It's a Bahamas cruise leaving from New Jersey and it stops at Port Canaveral, CoCo Cay and Nassau.

We re-booked the same with 2 connecting interior virtual balcony rooms.  The booking is costing us $1200 more than the one we just cancelled (ouch), but we stuck with non-refundable as refundable is $2500 more!.

I'm looking and for $530 more, we can get 2 connecting balcony rooms.  

Will we get much use of the balcony?  Can't see us standing out there when near New Jersey as it'll be the middle of winter. At what point would it warm up?

Having said that, we're thinking of paying the additional $530 (on an already raised cost from our original booking) just because of the current situation...what if cruises are running again (really hoping) but then the ship gets quarantined?  So we're thinking of just switching to it.

Thought?

P.S. - I assume since we'd be switching from 2 interiors to 2 balcony rooms, booked as non-refundable that there is no cancellation fee (vs is switching from 2 interiors to a single room where there would be a cancellation fee)?

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The only time a cancellation fee is invoked is if you cancel outright or change the ship or sail date.  If you are upgrading from one category to another on the same sailing there would be no fee for doing so.  The only possible exception would be if you downgraded from a full suite to a non-suite they MIGHT assess you a $100 PP fee but that is not your situation so I would not expect any fee at all for making the changes you have described.

It's hard to quantify the "extra" that the balcony gives you over an interior.  #1, there is more room, overall, so that's enough for me, right there.  However, whether or not you would get "use" out of a balcony during the cold months out of NJ is so personal.  For me, even if I do not go out and sit or stand on the balcony that much, it is still so nice to have the natural light from outside and the ability to open that door and get fresh air.

For me, the extra $530 is a no-brainer.  Overall, you will enhance your experience by having more room and the balcony accessibility, even if you don't use it that much.  That actually sounds like a great deal to me !!

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Thank you both for the input.  Appreciate it.

The crazy thing is in normal circumstances, we wouldn't pay the extra $530 as that can go towards excursion, etc.  But we're thinking in this case, if things are still iffy in Dec but cruises have resumed, a balcony may be a good thing in the worst case of a quarantine.  

@WAAAYTOOO good point about just natural light.  Thanks too about the note about cancelling rooms.  I figured no fee if switching from 2 rooms of of one category to 2 rooms of another category.  But I think if we switched form 2 rooms of one category to a single room, we would be charged cancellation fees?

@Lovetocruise2002 do you by any chance remember when it warmed up for your March cruise?  Not sure if December is even the same (and probably even colder if anything), but may give us an idea.

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37 minutes ago, WannaCruise said:

do you by any chance remember when it warmed up for your March cruise?  Not sure if December is even the same (and probably even colder if anything), but may give us an idea.

I was so disappointed!  It did not warm up until after our Port Canaveral stop.  It was cold there.  So basically, the only warm day was Nassau and then back to cold weather again.

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6 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

I was so disappointed!  It did not warm up until after our Port Canaveral stop.  It was cold there.  So basically, the only warm day was Nassau and then back to cold weather again.

Ugh. Thanks. That is a shame. I think we can expect the same for our Dec cruise.

We did end up switching...the main scare is the whole quarantine thing. Hopefully by then it's a non-issue but at this time we can't count on that. Obviously if things are still bad we'll cancel anyways but in the case things are back to more normal...and then if it happens we'll have comfort of seeing the outside for real.

Funny enough, when we told our kids, our son was disappointed he won't get to see the virtual screen.

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3 hours ago, bytheslice said:

I have sailed from Bayonne in December and twice in January. The December sail away was the coldest of the three, I remember being outside with a coat as we left Cape Liberty. Some people(brave or crazy, depending on your outlook) were in hot  tubs during sail away.

Both January sailings(more recent than the December cruise) were typical winter days but not as cold as the December cruise. A snow squall appeared prior to sail away on one cruise, lasted 15-20 minutes and actually looked pretty on the pool loungers. The other January cruise the temperature was in the 60s on the first full sea day.

All 3 cruises, the outside decks were closed on the last full day returning to New Jersey.

Have not sailed in a virtual balcony, from what I heard it does brighten the room more than an inside cabin.

 

 

Thanks for sharing. Must be so strange being in jackets and even more so seeing snow.

Ok.. we know to expect even the outside decks being closed. I assume Anthem has a lot of indoor stuff going on.  We know it's not a warm holiday cruise.

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@WannaCruise………..we just sailed Anthem for the New Year's Eve Cruise a few months ago.   We had a balcony cabin AND a virtual balcony cabin for our teens.   The weather was cold in NY/NJ and warmed up but still chilly by the time we got to Port Canaveral 2 days later.   Weather improved dramatically for Nassau, Coco Cay, and our first sea day headed back.   Rain/cold weather for our last day at sea.   I would think you could get worse weather but what we experienced was probably typical for that time of the year.

Here's the thing.   We were disappointed with the virtual balcony.   The room seemed small and dark.   The "virtual" was neat but the novelty wore off pretty quickly.  One day it didn't work at all.   The actual balcony let in lots of light even on the chilly days, was great to look at the stars at night, and very useful for the 3.5 days of nice weather.   The room felt significantly larger and the ocean air was refreshing no matter what the outside temps were.

I would take half a cruise with decent weather in a balcony cabin even for the extra $$$ vs. the virtual cabin option.   

 

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15 hours ago, Va4fam said:

@WannaCruise………..we just sailed Anthem for the New Year's Eve Cruise a few months ago.   We had a balcony cabin AND a virtual balcony cabin for our teens.   The weather was cold in NY/NJ and warmed up but still chilly by the time we got to Port Canaveral 2 days later.   Weather improved dramatically for Nassau, Coco Cay, and our first sea day headed back.   Rain/cold weather for our last day at sea.   I would think you could get worse weather but what we experienced was probably typical for that time of the year.

Here's the thing.   We were disappointed with the virtual balcony.   The room seemed small and dark.   The "virtual" was neat but the novelty wore off pretty quickly.  One day it didn't work at all.   The actual balcony let in lots of light even on the chilly days, was great to look at the stars at night, and very useful for the 3.5 days of nice weather.   The room felt significantly larger and the ocean air was refreshing no matter what the outside temps were.

I would take half a cruise with decent weather in a balcony cabin even for the extra $$$ vs. the virtual cabin option.   

 

Thanks for letting me know your experience with the weather. Sounds like it's the same 8 day cruise and same time of year so that helps.

While our kids are teen/almost pre-teen we prefer connecting rooms, but a balcony and virtual is a great compromise when ready they (or I) am ready for non-connecting.  

I can get what you mean about the virutal...neat at first but then wore off.  That's frustrating too that it didn't even work at one point.  We've stayed in promenade rooms and like having a window to see out (even if inside the ship) but do wonder about the virtual.  In other circumstances though, I can see us going back to a virtual balcony sometime.  We don't spend a ton of time in the room.

Appreciate the input.  We did end up spending the extra and switched to the 2 balcony rooms. I agree that the natural light will be nice, even if we don't step outside.

P.S. - What a great time to cruise!  I would actually prefer New Years over Christmas (as we don't celebrate) but New Years cruise was much more for 2020.

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12 hours ago, bytheslice said:

Anthem is a ship for cold climate. There are multiple and varied seating areas. 270 is outstanding to sit and view out the enormous windows, there is a small area on deck 6 or7 at the back of 270 with computers, if it is too noisy in the 270 seats. Your kids will enjoy Seaplex on deck 15. Use the front elevators to access the indoor pool or the solarium pool without having to walk outside if the temperature is too cold for you. We always found the esplanade more crowded on the bionic bar side. If you can, schedule the north star for a day in port so you have more to see than ocean water.

Forgot to add earlier, we only had 1 day of snow accumulation that needed to be shoveled this winter. Heaviest snow fall day was in November 19(we live about 20 miles from the port). Overall a very mild winter, then again I worked outside and cold weather is not an issue for me.

Thanks for the tips.  I've heard 270 has amazing views.  Looks like a really neat all-purpose room too with entertainment. Really hope things are a go for Dec so can experience it.

Great tip too about how to get to the indoor pool without going outside.  Definitely will be useful.

SeaPlex looks like tons of fun for kids. I worry a bit for the crowds for this cruise, but would try and go before it opens for any event in which they are interested.

Same here in Ontario...we had an early snowstorm, then a few after that, but overall wasn't really that bad.

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