raffy
Nov 23, 01, 2:23 am
Not long ago, a close relative of ours turned down the chance for a cheap,
last-minute cruise to Alaska - even though she's been dreaming and saving for such a trip for years. Her reason? None of the available cabins had balconies.
Protruding like barnacles from the sides of cruise ships, balconies are all the rage on the high seas. Cruise lines are rushing to retrofit older ships with them and trying to one-up competitors by building new ships with ever more balconies. Once a luxury, they're increasingly showing up in "standard" cabins, giving passengers a private, intimate view of the sea. They're such a phenomenon that they're changing the social dynamics of cruise ships - something not everyone cheers.
"Balconies are probably the single most in-demand feature today," said Rick White of White Travel, a Connecticut travel agency specializing in cruises. "Once passengers get a balcony, they're hooked."
Eighty percent of the outside cabins on Carnival's new Spirit and Pride ships have balconies - 682 of them per ship. Princess Cruises' new Golden Princess, like its sister ship the Grand, has more than 700 balcony cabins. And when Norwegian Cruise Line's Norwegian Star debuts later this month, nearly half of its 1,100 cabins will have balconies.
Princess' 10-ship fleet offers more than 3,000 cabins with private balconies, while nearly 4,000 new balconies will be added to its next five ships (Star, Coral, Island, Diamond and Sapphire Princesses).
Even ultra-luxury Seabourn, hoping not to be left behind, recently retrofitted its balcony-less Pride, Spirit and Legend with "French balconies" -
sliding-glass doors that open onto a 24-inch-deep sill, something akin to the terrace upon which Juliet stood while Romeo wooed her.
A balcony "gives you a window on the ocean," said Joseph Farcus, a marine architect who has designed 17 ships for Carnival. He instantly understood their allure when he watched whales from his balcony on a recent Alaska sailing.
Passengers can gauge the weather outside without dialing the purser's desk, enjoy drinks alfresco and privately entertain guests they meet on board - and of course let fresh air waft into their cabin.
As cruise ships grow larger and larger, passengers are increasingly looking for truly private spaces. Timothy Dacey, president of the Steamship Historical Society of America, points out that having a balcony cabin on a behemoth vessel means you don't have to mix with 2,000 other passengers at breakfast or worry about securing a deck chair.
Balconies allow cruise lines to designate more cabins as smoke-free, since smokers can simply step outside their own rooms. For example, the 90-cabin vessel of River Barge Excursions, which plies inland U.S. rivers, is advertised as all nonsmoking because 50 cabins have balconies, according to company CEO Eddie Conrad.
Additionally, as cruise lines "go to places where people want to see where they are - Alaska and Europe, for example - passengers love sitting (outside) and sailing in and out of port, versus wandering off to another deck," said Mark Kammerer, Holland America's vice president of marketing.
Currently, the minimum category of balcony cabin on Holland America ships is a mini-suite. In its new building boom, however, the line will increase balconies on its next five ships, beginning with Zuiderdam, which will have more balconies than any other Holland America ship - 461 of them in a brand- new room category called "deluxe veranda outside." Effectively, the category confers balconies to standard outside staterooms. A mere 15 percent of the cabins on the new Holland America vessels will be inside and viewless.
Missing from the balcony boom: most small expedition ships and ships plying the heaving oceans around Antarctica. In open seas and on transatlantic liners,
balconies are not nearly as appropriate as, say, in the becalmed Caribbean.
One reason for the popularity of balconies: Cruise lines believe passengers are willing to pay a premium for them. "Essentially, balconies are just another denomination of currency used in the assessment of value by agents and consumers," said Bruce Good of Seabourn Cruise Line.
Prices for balcony cabins range widely from line to line and ship to ship. Pricing oddities often create opportunities to get a balcony cabin for the price of a regular cabin, said White, the travel agent.
Balconies are not always the luxury they seem. You might not see your neighbors from your private perch, but you are likely to overhear them - and vice versa. Also, some balconies are so narrow as to be negligible, said historian Dacey, who describes those on Royal Caribbean's Monarch and Majesty of the Seas as "basically a door with almost a clip-on veranda."
Some observers blame the vaunted solitude a balcony confers for keeping passengers isolated from each other. Balconies reorganize the entire social structure of ships, Dacey said.
"It limits the sociability," he said. "Once, passengers used to meet on boat deck for parties. Now everybody's on their verandas, having their own separate social event."
Dacey recalls sailing through the Panama Canal on the old Rotterdam as the Crystal Harmony, a luxury vessel with 260 balcony cabins, was transiting simultaneously. "Everybody on our ship was out on deck," he said, "but everyone on Crystal was out on their own balconies in their bathrobes."
Similarly, some passengers who've sailed on Radisson Seven Seas' newest luxury vessel, the 700-passenger Mariner - the world's first all-suite, all- balcony ship - lament that the ship's public spaces feel eerily empty.
Perhaps that's why Silversea passenger Jane King of Newport Beach would never consider a balcony. "I cruise by myself and, if I'm too comfortable (in my cabin), I'm liable never to leave it and then I'll stay cruising by myself."
According to travel agent White, the hands-down most fabulous balcony on the seas will debut later this month on the Norwegian Star. The ship features a pair of "garden villas," each with three bedrooms, a large living room, dining room and luxury bath. Combined, they will create a 4,446-square-foot private garden complex (a k a "the balcony.") It comes with hot tub, lounge area and rooftop terrace.
"Not a bad way to sail around Hawaii," said White.
One of those villas (with approximately half the balcony space) will set you back about $10,000 per person for a week's cruise. (But that includes port charges and taxes.) Few passengers could opt for anything so lavish, of course.
But maybe booking a balcony boils down to simply this: Like some things in life, just having one is more fun.
last-minute cruise to Alaska - even though she's been dreaming and saving for such a trip for years. Her reason? None of the available cabins had balconies.
Protruding like barnacles from the sides of cruise ships, balconies are all the rage on the high seas. Cruise lines are rushing to retrofit older ships with them and trying to one-up competitors by building new ships with ever more balconies. Once a luxury, they're increasingly showing up in "standard" cabins, giving passengers a private, intimate view of the sea. They're such a phenomenon that they're changing the social dynamics of cruise ships - something not everyone cheers.
"Balconies are probably the single most in-demand feature today," said Rick White of White Travel, a Connecticut travel agency specializing in cruises. "Once passengers get a balcony, they're hooked."
Eighty percent of the outside cabins on Carnival's new Spirit and Pride ships have balconies - 682 of them per ship. Princess Cruises' new Golden Princess, like its sister ship the Grand, has more than 700 balcony cabins. And when Norwegian Cruise Line's Norwegian Star debuts later this month, nearly half of its 1,100 cabins will have balconies.
Princess' 10-ship fleet offers more than 3,000 cabins with private balconies, while nearly 4,000 new balconies will be added to its next five ships (Star, Coral, Island, Diamond and Sapphire Princesses).
Even ultra-luxury Seabourn, hoping not to be left behind, recently retrofitted its balcony-less Pride, Spirit and Legend with "French balconies" -
sliding-glass doors that open onto a 24-inch-deep sill, something akin to the terrace upon which Juliet stood while Romeo wooed her.
A balcony "gives you a window on the ocean," said Joseph Farcus, a marine architect who has designed 17 ships for Carnival. He instantly understood their allure when he watched whales from his balcony on a recent Alaska sailing.
Passengers can gauge the weather outside without dialing the purser's desk, enjoy drinks alfresco and privately entertain guests they meet on board - and of course let fresh air waft into their cabin.
As cruise ships grow larger and larger, passengers are increasingly looking for truly private spaces. Timothy Dacey, president of the Steamship Historical Society of America, points out that having a balcony cabin on a behemoth vessel means you don't have to mix with 2,000 other passengers at breakfast or worry about securing a deck chair.
Balconies allow cruise lines to designate more cabins as smoke-free, since smokers can simply step outside their own rooms. For example, the 90-cabin vessel of River Barge Excursions, which plies inland U.S. rivers, is advertised as all nonsmoking because 50 cabins have balconies, according to company CEO Eddie Conrad.
Additionally, as cruise lines "go to places where people want to see where they are - Alaska and Europe, for example - passengers love sitting (outside) and sailing in and out of port, versus wandering off to another deck," said Mark Kammerer, Holland America's vice president of marketing.
Currently, the minimum category of balcony cabin on Holland America ships is a mini-suite. In its new building boom, however, the line will increase balconies on its next five ships, beginning with Zuiderdam, which will have more balconies than any other Holland America ship - 461 of them in a brand- new room category called "deluxe veranda outside." Effectively, the category confers balconies to standard outside staterooms. A mere 15 percent of the cabins on the new Holland America vessels will be inside and viewless.
Missing from the balcony boom: most small expedition ships and ships plying the heaving oceans around Antarctica. In open seas and on transatlantic liners,
balconies are not nearly as appropriate as, say, in the becalmed Caribbean.
One reason for the popularity of balconies: Cruise lines believe passengers are willing to pay a premium for them. "Essentially, balconies are just another denomination of currency used in the assessment of value by agents and consumers," said Bruce Good of Seabourn Cruise Line.
Prices for balcony cabins range widely from line to line and ship to ship. Pricing oddities often create opportunities to get a balcony cabin for the price of a regular cabin, said White, the travel agent.
Balconies are not always the luxury they seem. You might not see your neighbors from your private perch, but you are likely to overhear them - and vice versa. Also, some balconies are so narrow as to be negligible, said historian Dacey, who describes those on Royal Caribbean's Monarch and Majesty of the Seas as "basically a door with almost a clip-on veranda."
Some observers blame the vaunted solitude a balcony confers for keeping passengers isolated from each other. Balconies reorganize the entire social structure of ships, Dacey said.
"It limits the sociability," he said. "Once, passengers used to meet on boat deck for parties. Now everybody's on their verandas, having their own separate social event."
Dacey recalls sailing through the Panama Canal on the old Rotterdam as the Crystal Harmony, a luxury vessel with 260 balcony cabins, was transiting simultaneously. "Everybody on our ship was out on deck," he said, "but everyone on Crystal was out on their own balconies in their bathrobes."
Similarly, some passengers who've sailed on Radisson Seven Seas' newest luxury vessel, the 700-passenger Mariner - the world's first all-suite, all- balcony ship - lament that the ship's public spaces feel eerily empty.
Perhaps that's why Silversea passenger Jane King of Newport Beach would never consider a balcony. "I cruise by myself and, if I'm too comfortable (in my cabin), I'm liable never to leave it and then I'll stay cruising by myself."
According to travel agent White, the hands-down most fabulous balcony on the seas will debut later this month on the Norwegian Star. The ship features a pair of "garden villas," each with three bedrooms, a large living room, dining room and luxury bath. Combined, they will create a 4,446-square-foot private garden complex (a k a "the balcony.") It comes with hot tub, lounge area and rooftop terrace.
"Not a bad way to sail around Hawaii," said White.
One of those villas (with approximately half the balcony space) will set you back about $10,000 per person for a week's cruise. (But that includes port charges and taxes.) Few passengers could opt for anything so lavish, of course.
But maybe booking a balcony boils down to simply this: Like some things in life, just having one is more fun.