We had decided to pay the extra money to upgrade to a balcony for the first time. We thought that a cabin on the 10th deck would be perfect for accessing the most important entertain sites. The first night was certainly a rock and roll affair because of the weather. By morning, the stateroom was quite cold and the touch around the frame of the balcony door and window was bitter cold. We contacted room service without satisfaction although they had promised a response. I ended up after a reasonable wait of several hours, going to Guest Services and making a complaint. We did receive blankets but my bigger complaint was why there was not a better solution for the very cold room.
I could be wrong but I believe it was the location of the stateroom with a balcony that was poorly insulated, the room was not properly heated or a combination of both. By noon on Sunday off the Florida Keys it was 55 degrees and wind gusts out of the North at 18mph.
Carnival certainly cannot be blamed for the weather but I do fault their inability to keep staterooms for their passengers comfortable. Because of the weather out bound on Saturday and Sunday as well as the return trip on Friday and docking on Saturday, March 9th, the use of the balcony was somewhat restricted. In fact, during the cruise on Wednesday, March 6th, they actually notified passengers that the balconies would be closed for cleaning from 8am to 12:30pm. There was no opt-out option. Do I feel like the extra money paid to upgrade to a Balcony Stateroom was worth it? CERTAINLY NOT!
