Helen, Arlene did an excellent job of describing my feelings about the portholes. ;) The portholes may work fine for you. I think Antarctica is the only place where the portholes are closed. It was very claustrophobic for me..... didn't know I actually had it. I just had to get up and out of the cabin to see light and the outside. The Adventurer cabins are nice and cozy. Since I am a tad short, I had to stand on my tiptoes to see out. It wasn't about the balcony. Betty and I were in 304 which was a bit larger than Arlene & Marc's cabin. Loved deck 3 which was close to the mud room and the steps to the zodiac launch.