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"Spacious Balcony" cabins on Anthem


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So, I'm looking at cruising on Anthem for Thanksgiving, and I'm already set on a balcony cabin because of the FCC I'll have. Of course, they can't make this easy for someone like me who is basically pathologically incapable of making a decision without thinking through every possibility! ?

So, my question is: if you were going to pick a balcony on Anthem...where? And why?

I see these interesting-looking "spacious balcony" offerings, but even after watching videos and looking at pictures, I'm not sure what to think. It looks like the balconies are bigger, but the rooms slightly smaller? Would these balconies provide more protection from the wind since it'll be November in the upper parts of the North American Atlantic? (I'm used to cold weather -- I'll use my balcony every day, weather be danged! :P)

I'm a solo traveler. Regular balcony, and perhaps watch for a price drop or a RoyalUp opportunity? There's just $150 difference right now, but as we all know, there could be wild price swings between now and then!

Some day, I'll actually take my first RCCL cruise and have some frame of reference! ?

 

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I only have 1 experience with an Anthem “spacious” balcony and that was in Feb in a Grand Suite with spacious balcony.

1.  It was so cold and the weather sucked so bad that I might have ventured out there twice.

2.  The extra space was a weird corner that required a divider door to be slid open. Even if the weather had been beautiful I don’t think it would have been useable really.  

Total waste of money, IMO.  I will say, it seems like the extra space in those balcony rooms might be more accessible than the ones in the Grand Suite. Bottom line....I wouldn’t spend much extra for it.

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Thanks; that's what I was thinking, but I don't judge things very well from videos or still images -- I'd much rather have some actual insight from folks. There's about a $150 difference, and I figure I'll just grab a regular balcony (if for nothing else, so I can stretch have a quiet "me moment" outside for a few).

I really appreciate the thorough answers from y'all! ?

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We had rooms 6562 and 6570, which are Obstructed View Balconies for our Thanksgiving 2018 cruise. For that category they don’t charge more for a bigger balcony. We lucked out that the ones with good size balconies were still open when we booked. Although there were lifeboats if we looked down, I still enjoyed my time on the balcony. It was cold on the way down, and we hit quite the storm on the way back. But I still snuck out there for a little bit here and there. 
Not sure if you want to consider that category, but for the price difference we were very happy with what we got. 
We liked the location and rooms so much we booked the exact ones for Thanksgiving 2021. 

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@Chadster, you're correct that the "Spacious Balcony" category rooms give you bigger balconies in exchange for smaller cabin space. And it's not an equivalent exchange, either:

  • Regular OV Balcony cabin is listed on their site with 198 sq ft cabin space, 55 sq ft balcony
  • OV with Large Balcony (current name) is listed with 177 sq ft cabin space, and 65 sq ft balcony

+10 sq ft is not much at all, and to have to give up over 20 sq feet in the cabin to get it doesn't seem like a good trade-off. But since you said you're traveling solo, it might work out just fine in your case.

Do be aware you feel the motion a good bit on the higher decks when forward or aft and in rougher waters (which the Atlantic tends to get at that time of year). If they have any of those cabins on deck 6 or 7, might be worth considering. And the "hump" balcony cabins are really nice. The balcony isn't huge, but I'm 6' 3" and had no problem sitting in the chair with my legs stretched out on the ottoman they include.

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2 hours ago, JLMoran said:

And the "hump" balcony cabins are really nice. The balcony isn't huge, but I'm 6' 3" and had no problem sitting in the chair with my legs stretched out on the ottoman they include.

The "hump" balcony cabins you mention -- do you mean like 8262 in this diagram?

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6 hours ago, Chadster said:

The "hump" balcony cabins you mention -- do you mean like 8262 in this diagram?

Anthem.jpg

No, the "hump" on Anthem runs from cabins X246 through X232 on the port side, and X648 through X632 on the starboard. You could make a case for the X248 / X268 cabins, which I believe are part of the "OV with large balcony" category, but those have such obstructed views looking forward that I tend to ignore them.

Each deck has exactly two balcony rooms at the back of the hump -- X246, X244, X646, and X644. The view forward is ever-so-slightly obstructed, and the view aft is wide open; overall they're great cabins. I stayed in 7244 last October on our 5-night Bermuda trip, after staying in 7238 (a J4 jr suite) the year before; it was barely more expensive than the lower balcony categories since deck 7 is considered by Royal to be "worse" than decks 9+ due to distance from the pool, WJ, etc; yet for us deck 7 is the sweet spot because of the near-total lack of motion mid-ship. And it's just two decks above the Royal Esplanade on deck 5, which is where you go to get to Two70, and that was our favorite hang-out spot in the cooler weather when we didn't go to the Solarium on 14.

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On 4/27/2020 at 10:30 PM, sleepy425 said:

We had rooms 6562 and 6570, which are Obstructed View Balconies for our Thanksgiving 2018 cruise. For that category they don’t charge more for a bigger balcony. We lucked out that the ones with good size balconies were still open when we booked. Although there were lifeboats if we looked down, I still enjoyed my time on the balcony. It was cold on the way down, and we hit quite the storm on the way back. But I still snuck out there for a little bit here and there. 
Not sure if you want to consider that category, but for the price difference we were very happy with what we got. 
We liked the location and rooms so much we booked the exact ones for Thanksgiving 2021. 

Which of these rooms did you like better?  I’m looking at booking these exact same rooms ? which do you think would be better for 3 people?

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I have not been on Anthem yet but we were considering booking a cruise on her until all this C-19 stuff kicked off.

I had asked for some advice over on CC and someone there mentioned the "square" balcony cabins. There are only eight of these and they are located (four each) on decks six and seven, with the deck six ones being officially classed as obstructed. However, when I investigated further, they didn't seem to me to be much obstructed at all. They are different from the "normal" cabins in that they are wider and shorter (if you look on the deck plans you'll see what I mean) and, from the pictures I found online at the time, they appear to have a double window opening to a wide balcony. If and when we do book a cruise on Anthem I will be seriously considering these cabins. The numbers are 6/7654, 6/7658, 6/7254 and 6/7258. 

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2 hours ago, FionaMG said:

I have not been on Anthem yet but we were considering booking a cruise on her until all this C-19 stuff kicked off.

I had asked for some advice over on CC and someone there mentioned the "square" balcony cabins. There are only eight of these and they are located (four each) on decks six and seven, with the deck six ones being officially classed as obstructed. However, when I investigated further, they didn't seem to me to be much obstructed at all. They are different from the "normal" cabins in that they are wider and shorter (if you look on the deck plans you'll see what I mean) and, from the pictures I found online at the time, they appear to have a double window opening to a wide balcony. If and when we do book a cruise on Anthem I will be seriously considering these cabins. The numbers are 6/7654, 6/7658, 6/7254 and 6/7258. 

Have done these twice on Anthem and have 7258 booked down the road too. They are "boxy" but I enjoyed the wider balcony . The cabin is officially listed as 177sf with a 65sf balcony. The lifeboats do obstruct downward view but I haven't seen that as an issue, especially if the price is right.

 

P.S. some listings do list these with standard dimensions but those are not accurate (the 198 and 50 are the conventional category 2 E)

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Its a cruise lifestyle choice to me. We have been in the Jr Suites w/Large balcony many times and enjoy them. We are balcony people and not pool people. The pool is loud and croweded and the larger balcony offers us some peace and quiet and enough room to lounge/sun ourselves. We also enjoy the added space from the balcony. Sitting on a regular balcony can be a little cramped. If you are an occasional balcony person and dont plan to spend much time in your room then I would say its not worth the money for you. But if you are like us, enjoy a quiet dinner out there (even Johnny Rockets takeout) or prefer less crowded areas it can be great. We tend to book the 232 cabin on deck 10 or 9. We are not super fussy about the walk to wherever. We dont really have a preference on being close to anything in particular and we are mid ship so its all relative. Good luck booking and have a great trip. Thanksgiving on anthem is a great trip. 

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On 4/28/2020 at 11:31 PM, CFL said:

Which of these rooms did you like better?  I’m looking at booking these exact same rooms ? which do you think would be better for 3 people?

6562 was closer to the stairs so I liked that one. That’s the one my parents were in with 2 of my kids. My husband and I were 6570 with the other 2 kids. So either one would be great for 3 people!

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