Totally enjoyed this cruise. It was our 8th cruise, and the second shortest - as it was just a day in Ensenada and a day at sea, with 3 overnights onboard. The sea state was 0-1, so most of the time while cruising at only 7-8 Knots you barely knew you were moving. This was also our first cruise in something other than a suite. Originally I booked this getaway cruise as an good deal on an inside on Aloha deck, just forward of the terrace pool/deck area. At the last minute (4 weeks out) I got a PCL spam advertising it, and my cost for the inside was only $149 ea. For $400 (including tax) we could get 3 nights in a 5 star hotel, with meals, and a day in Ensenada - nothing to think about. On top of that, I get a vet discount for onboard credits, and the real capper was that they applied 100% of the room cost toward another cruise in 2014. With all that, we decided to pay another $120 ($60 ea) to upgrade from the inside, to a balcony and rough it a bit less... after all it was only 3 days, not 2 weeks. Good move. Had a couple of minor issues. The Horizon court is now closed after midnight. Kind of puts the crimp on partying to midnight at Skywalker's and then getting a light snack at the buffet on the way back to the room. Otherwise, we thought the cruise was fine.
We found the balcony room (A722) to be just fine. Much more space then I expected. It was in all other respects the same room we get in a mini-suite, or a penthouse, or a full suite, only less in the way of open space and seating, and the proportionally diminished head facilities. The table and chairs (one desk chair and one sitting chair) are a bit tight in this area, and the small table was too small to use for dining in my opinion. But you could do it if desired and just cleared space on the desk. We found it was adequate for a plate of appetizers garnered from the Horizon court and a couple of glasses of wine. The balcony is also a bit tight for the chairs and table it has, but again is more than adequate for just sitting or standing at the rail. I think the balcony room would have been fine for a 7-day cruise on this ship, and would seriously consider a similar room for another cruise.
The down side of the room is slight. Because you are directly under the Horizon court, you can get noise from above. This noise was nill for the first 2 nights, but it seemed all hell broke loose the night before returning to port. All night there was running or something back and forth overhead. Not a lot of sleep. The other nights it was fine. This is the area that they close and convert to the fish restaurant at night so it generally gets less overhead foot traffic in the evening than the starboard side. The other advantage to this balcony is that you really do have a great view from the port side aft, and all the other mini-suite balconies are below and forward. Again, I found this to be a very acceptable location and room for a short cruise. The flat panel TV was much nicer than the old tube TV, and it did have composite, component, and HDMI inputs if you wanted to bring your own media source. Getting access to the inputs was not easy. Bring a mirror/flashlight if you plan to use them.
We found the balcony room (A722) to be just fine. Much more space then I expected. It was in all other respects the same room we get in a mini-suite, or a penthouse, or a full suite, only less in the way of open space and seating, and the proportionally diminished head facilities. The table and chairs (one desk chair and one sitting chair) are a bit tight in this area, and the small table was too small to use for dining in my opinion. But you could do it if desired and just cleared space on the desk. We found it was adequate for a plate of appetizers garnered from the Horizon court and a couple of glasses of wine. The balcony is also a bit tight for the chairs and table it has, but again is more than adequate for just sitting or standing at the rail. I think the balcony room would have been fine for a 7-day cruise on this ship, and would seriously consider a similar room for another cruise.The down side of the room is slight. Because you are directly under the Horizon court, you can get noise from above. This noise was nill for the first 2 nights, but it seemed all hell broke loose the night before returning to port. All night there was running or something back and forth overhead. Not a lot of sleep. The other nights it was fine. This is the area that they close and convert to the fish restaurant at night so it generally gets less overhead foot traffic in the evening than the starboard side. The other advantage to this balcony is that you really do have a great view from the port side aft, and all the other mini-suite balconies are below and forward. Again, I found this to be a very acceptable location and room for a short cruise. The flat panel TV was much nicer than the old tube TV, and it did have composite, component, and HDMI inputs if you wanted to bring your own media source. Getting access to the inputs was not easy. Bring a mirror/flashlight if you plan to use them.