Large balcony vs regular balcony for scenic itineraries

[berkeleykel]

Hi all, I may be overthinking this but I have a large ocean view balcony room booked for a Norwegian fjords cruise next year on Anthem. I’m thinking that a regular balcony may by preferable in order to better see the scenery from the room without all the overhang blocking the view. Thoughts?

Can I “downgrade” without an issue if I do decide to change cabin types? Based on current pricing a regular ocean view balcony would be a couple hundred dollars cheaper than the cabin type I have booked. 

[Linda R]

Personally I do not see that you will see better, or more, with a larger balcony.

[JohnK6404]

Generally speaking, a typical large OV balcony is just deeper (often located near the "bump outs" on many ships), not wider than a traditional OV balcony, so I don't see an advantage from a viewing perspective while outside on the balcony. Yes, if you're trying to view from inside your cabin, a standard OV balcony is probably slightly better due to shorter depth of the balcony.

[Bowen]

6 hours ago, JohnK6404 said:

Generally speaking, a typical large OV balcony is just deeper (often located near the "bump outs" on many ships), not wider than a traditional OV balcony, so I don't see an advantage from a viewing perspective while outside on the balcony. Yes, if you're trying to view from inside your cabin, a standard OV balcony is probably slightly better due to shorter depth of the balcony.

This was our experience when we did Alaska in 2019. We booked side by side rooms, my parents had a large balcony, we had a regular one. They were the same width, but there's was very deep, probably an additional three or four feet compared to ours. We could see the same things from both balconies.

[Yo2slick]

18 hours ago, berkeleykel said:

Hi all, I may be overthinking this but I have a large ocean view balcony room booked for a Norwegian fjords cruise next year on Anthem.

When is your sailing?  We are on Anthem July 2024!

[FionaMG]

20 hours ago, berkeleykel said:

Hi all, I may be overthinking this but I have a large ocean view balcony room booked for a Norwegian fjords cruise next year on Anthem. I’m thinking that a regular balcony may by preferable in order to better see the scenery from the room without all the overhang blocking the view. Thoughts?

Can I “downgrade” without an issue if I do decide to change cabin types? Based on current pricing a regular ocean view balcony would be a couple hundred dollars cheaper than the cabin type I have booked. 

I'm currently on Anthem heading to Norway in large balcony cabin that I won on Royal Up. I will try and remember to post a couple of pics for you tomorrow.

That said, having experience of normal balconies too, I personally don't think you gain anything from the large one as far as the view is concerned. In fact, I can't really see more from this one than I could from my previous two rooms on Anthem and they were both classed as obstructed balconies.

[berkeleykel]

5 hours ago, Bowen said:

This was our experience when we did Alaska in 2019. We booked side by side rooms, my parents had a large balcony, we had a regular one. They were the same width, but there's was very deep, probably an additional three or four feet compared to ours. We could see the same things from both balconies.

Did you feel that you preferred the view from your cabin vs your parents’ cabin when inside the cabin or did you not notice a material difference?

I’m thinking about times when we may be lounging in the room on the sofa or bed and whether the longer overhang due to the additional depth of a large balcony might make the view appreciably more restricted than a regular balcony. Understood that while actually outside on the balcony the views would be the same. 
 

[berkeleykel]

5 hours ago, Yo2slick said:

When is your sailing?  We are on Anthem July 2024!

No, June. I liked the July itineraries but with work commitments and Wimbledon (obsessed) the late June sailing worked better. Hope you have a lovely cruise!

[WAYNO]

The only Royal Up we've ever been successful with, was on Navigator, upgrading from a Balcony to a Spacious Balcony.  And other than  reading the dimensional differences on paper, my Wife could not tell any difference between the two. 

More than the size of the balcony, any views may or may not be hindered or obstructed by the deck or location on the ship.

Here is our "Spacious Balcony".

 

[FionaMG]

Just to say, I've not forgotten about posting pics but thought I'd wait till I get home as I'll be able to post comparative photos from our previous cruises on Anthem.

The cruise was so amazing we're thinking of going again next year.

[Bowen]

On 7/8/2023 at 7:15 PM, berkeleykel said:

Did you feel that you preferred the view from your cabin vs your parents’ cabin when inside the cabin or did you not notice a material difference?

I’m thinking about times when we may be lounging in the room on the sofa or bed and whether the longer overhang due to the additional depth of a large balcony might make the view appreciably more restricted than a regular balcony. Understood that while actually outside on the balcony the views would be the same. 
 

I didn’t notice any difference at all.

[Jeff McG]

A deeper balcony provides more room to sit on the balcony, but from the physics of it, inside the cabin it reduces the field (angle) of view.  That is, from the same view point inside the cabin, you will have a more narrow view available with the deeper balcony.

[FionaMG]

So, a promise is a promise, and now that I'm back from my cruise to the Norwegian fjords on Anthem of the Seas, here are some pics that may help you make a decision @berkeleykel.

 

First up is cabin 6560. This is officially classed as an obstructed balcony cabin but is one of the least obstructed ones. The first three are taken standing at the rail of the balcony while docking in Vigo. Looking towards the front of the ship and straight out there is virtually no obstruction; looking to the rear of the ship, the view is completely obstructed by the davit holding up the lifeboat. I have seen reports that the same cabin on the opposite side of the ship is also largely unobstructed (I'd guess a mirror image). While 6560 is a 2-berth cabin, its opposite number is a 3-berth.

These three are taken sitting on one of the chairs on the balcony (I didn't exactly pick the best port to shoot these ones, I'm afraid. If you just try and imagine a more picturesque port, you'll see that the water would be visible from this position).

And this last one is taken from deep inside the cabin.

On now to cabin 6654. This is also classed as an obstructed balcony cabin but it is one of the very few "square" cabins, along with 6658 and their opposite numbers on the other side of the ship, as well as the four immediately above them on deck 7, which are actually classed as large balcony cabins but which essentially have the same view, just being a little bit higher up above the lifeboats. We absolutely loved this cabin because of the layout; it felt more spacious than it actually was. Top bonus was the balcony, which was wider than your average balcony but not deeper, so to my mind, the view out from these cabins is excellent, except for if you're looking straight down. The con was that you only get an armchair rather than a sofa, which made no difference to us but might to others.

 

And, lastly, we have 7260, a large balcony cabin that I won through Royal Up (my original booking was an OV GTY).

One thing really worth bearing in mind with the large balcony cabins is the direction they are facing. Ours faced aft, so it was sheltered from the wind, but somebody from another forum that I met while cruising Odyssey last year had one that faced towards the front of the ship, so it effectively became a wind tunnel and was too windy for them to use when the ship was moving.

As to my personal opinion, I didn't feel that we had a particularly better view from the large balcony than we did from our other two so, to me, it would not be worth paying extra for a large balcony over a normal balcony on a scenic cruise. However, if you really do want a large balcony and assuming an armchair will do instead of a sofa, I would seriously consider one of the "square" cabins on deck 7: 7254, 7258, 7654 and 7658.

I hope you find this useful. If there's anything else you'd like to ask about the ship, please feel free and I'll do my best to answer.

 

 

[Zacharius]

 

A deeper balcony provides more room to sit on the balcony, but from the physics of it, inside the cabin it reduces the field (angle) of view.  That is, from the same view point inside the cabin, you will have a more narrow view available with the deeper balcony.

The engineer in me is so happy that physics got brought up in this convo 

[berkeleykel]

@FionaMG thanks so much! It was so kind of you to take the time to do such a thorough review.

The square cabins look intriguing and I had no idea they existed. Two of them on deck 7 are still available so I’m thinking about switching to one of them. The only thing holding me back is the proximity to the lifeboats when looking down. But we have a sailing in 3 weeks on Symphony similarly close to the lifeboats (we’re on deck 6) so I’ll see how we like that first. 

[FionaMG]

@berkeleykel, my pleasure. Glad to be of assistance.