bed or sofa next to balcony?

[mom2missmous]

Hello DIS friends!
Any RCCL Oasis veterans out there know which is better- room with bed near balcony or sofas near balcony(of course it is all GOOD as we get to cruise, but as we are more used to Disney and therefore sofa near balcony a little nervous that it looks like according to another site our room has bed near balcony instead)?

 

[starvenger]

This is really a matter of personal preference so it’s hard to answer. For me, I prefer the bed closer to the balcony as this means that it is easier to access the closet, which shares a wall with the bathroom.

If you don’t mind my asking what are you most nervous about? And do you have an ocean view balcony or a park/boardwalk balcony?

 

[msjprincess]

I agree with starvenger, it;s all a matter of preference. I prefer the bed near the balcony. What is it that you're nervous about?

 

[mom2missmous]

Thank you for your responses! We have mostly sailed Disney (which had sofas near balcony)
with a few sailings on r c c l, but on different ships -not oasis size. Heard cabins on these ships are a little more cramped, so thinking that having bed near balcony might make room "seem" smaller as the living room area does not "extend" onto balcony. Hope this makes sense- basically afraid of feeling crowded in room (just 2 of us though)

 

[HopperFan]

Everyone is different. First cruise I had bed by balcony and I enjoyed laying in bed during breaks with kids next to full length of glass looking out. We had no choice as we were 5 in our cabin and the kids beds were set in stone.

Then we had promenade rooms, which I loved and was so glad for window seat and sofa by window. Room felt big. Just two of us and connected to another with two.

So next we were going with two other couples side by side balconies which we would open up on Oasis. We were in middle cabin with sofa by balcony, they had beds by balcony. (DS who is disabled slept in sofabed) I loved ours the way it was. Having our seating area right by the glass wall made the room seem so big .. and with the gathering outside, if we slept in, our bed wasn't close to the folks outside who were big early birds. I thought their rooms seems very nice, but I wasn't drawn at all to want to sit in their seating areas because it felt so tight.

SO what you say was how I felt. It was great to have exact rooms side by side to compare. Our room felt so big and open with the sofa by the balcony .... the others cabins felt cut up with smaller spaces.

PS We had hump cabins and booked them again on Harmony in November ... the extra balcony space really makes a difference.

Most my pictures are elsewhere but found these two on my fb.

 

[starvenger]

Heard cabins on these ships are a little more cramped, so thinking that having bed near balcony might make room "seem" smaller as the living room area does not "extend" onto balcony. Hope this makes sense- basically afraid of feeling crowded in room (just 2 of us though)

OK, this does make sense.

My last cruise was on Harmony (where I believe the rooms are slightly smaller than Oasis and Allure) and we had the sofa by the balcony. But everything there was tight, especially at night when the bed was pulled out - if you wanted to reach the balcony you had to walk over the trundle. But we also had a connecting room (noisy neighbours, I had to complain to Guest Services) so that might account for it.

My parents, otoh, had a non-connecting room with bed by the balcony, and the sofa area seemed fairly spacious. We actually had 6 adults in there at one point, and it didn't feel crowded.

Looking back on my trips on the Allure, we had connecting rooms for my family of 4, and both sides felt spacious enough, but I do agree with the sentiment that it does feel more "open" with the sofa by the balcony. With 2 people I suppose that's not much of an issue.

 

[NoNotMe]

Is there a way to know the room set up prior to booking a room? I would prefer the bed by the balcony myself.

 

[starvenger]

There are a couple of ways.

- the first way would be to email Royal Caribbean. But that’s no fun.
- the second would be to look at the deck plans and find the connecting rooms in your row. Since rooms alternate A-B-A-B you can match up with one side of the connecting rooms. If you are in the hall facing the doors, the left side (“A”) has sofa near the balcony, and the right side (“B”) has the bed.

 

[NoNotMe]

Very cool! I will have fun checking the second way. Thank you

 

[John VN]

For us it seems too cramped with bed at glass. When we are in the cabin neither one of us wants to be sitting on the bed while reading a book or taking in the sights and sounds outside when the door is opened.

 

[Denise W]

We are on Anthem of the Seas right now. We have a balcony room and the sofa is by the balcony. We were told the balcony rooms alternate between the bed and the sofa being next to the balcony.
Denise