Cabin Categories...is it just me who doesn't care???

I don't care if I'm in an inside on a cruise when it's just me and hubby but for our upcoming we are bringing kids along and we booked a family oceanview room for the extra space. We could have upgraded to a balcony for no cost but I wanted more space! I couldn't image all four of us in an inside cabin! If I had unlimited funds I'd get a suite or if I wanted to wait and only take a cruise every few years....but I like booking cheap and getting to go at least once a year!

My impression has been that there are so many more posts regarding suites because people who have chosen to pay the extra money, especially when it's not pocket change to them, want to be sure they're really going to get full value. So they really get into the details of what is included, what is possible, etc. Which makes sense.

 

When this question has come up before, there was also the good point made about people who only have the time to vacation every couple of years or even less frequently, so then it does make sense to pay more per trip. You're not getting a second cruise out the of the deal regardless.

 

I also know cruisers where one family member has mobility issues, so the extra service is important and also just having a nicer cabin with more space because they pretty much don't leave it.

That second point is the one that gets missed a lot, I think. If your circumstances, like mine, don't allow you to cruise multiple times per year or even every year, then saving money on an inside or OV cabin doesn't really matter. And since I do get to cruise more rarely, I really want it to be a special experience. I've cruised in almost every category and enjoyed every one of the, but the suite life was worth the price. I don't have to have a suite to have a good cruise, but as long as I can make it work financially, it's worth it to me.

I've only been on 6 cruises but they were all inside cabins. Have two more booked and one will be an Oceanview. But that's because I booked while onboard Celebrity and in order to get the perks, I must book an Oceanview cabin. It was only $100 more per person than Inside and IMHO worth the extra money for unlimited booze and $225 OBC :D

We found ourselves never in the room enough to care. We may take afternoon naps here and there but having no windows didn't bother us. And the money I saved would get us to our next cruise sooner!

I need an accessible room, and we are three adults, so we want a couch that makes a bed, not a fold down berth. Other than that, I do not care. We have been upgraded twice to suites. They were very nice, but, not worth the money. Our income is limited. We like excursions, so save our money for them.

We've only done insides and oceanviews, and that's fine for us. Would I love to do a suite? Abso-freakin-loutely! I'd love the space and being extra-pampered. But that would mean we either have to share a room with others, or vacation only every few years. I'd personally rather vacation more often, on a stricter budget.

We splurged on a balcony for our upcoming cruise. I'm excited to not waste time looking for a quiet spot to read and not to waste time sleeping so much (insides are too perfect for encouraging late sleeping and naps...great if that's what you want).

Cabin selection IS an important part of my cruise and will impact what I do on board. I can have a good time, though, with any cabin.

I say a silent thank you to the suite lifers for helping keep inside cabin prices low. :-)

All of our cruises have been in insides. Once, we booked an OV for Alaska, but I downgraded to be able to do a particular excursion. We must be fine in insides - we keep going back! And there are 3 of us in an inside.

Now, our upcoming cruise at Thanksgiving is in a balcony - only because it was less than we paid for an inside for the last Christmas cruise. And it's my 50th birthday. I don't know how much of a difference it will make - we'll see.

We live debt-free but still within a budget. Each vacation (4-5 per year, one usually being a cruise) has a budget. We save for retirement and give generously, but we budget to be able to do all of that.

OP: There are plenty of people who feel as you do.

It is all a matter of personal preferences.

Within these preferences are individual wants and needs.

Everybody can have it their way on a cruise ship!

We will continue to "only" cruise once per year as there are so many options for vacationing.

Annually, we take a cruise, a longer motorcycle trip, several 3-5 day trips, a friends only trip and maybe a family Vaca--WDW or houseboat, etc.....

DH never has used all his PTO, he is just too busy career wise to use it all.

Since discovering cruising in 2010, we can't imagine not taking an annual one.

Only taking one per year, for us it justifies booking suites to enjoy.

While others may only sleep & shower in their cabin, we tend to stay in ours more when not in ports.

Most of the ships "activities" are not of interest to us.

We deal with enough people in our daily lives & value our privacy on Vaca.

We enjoy the peace and quiet, we would never cruise without at least a balcony.

Enjoying the fresh air and relaxing on the balcony are a huge deal to us.

An inside would be agony and an oceanview a tease.

We have been fortunate to have sailed in suites so far, but with DH retiring in a couple years, we will likely book balconies thereafter to stretch out our $ longer.

Motorcycle touring is our 1st love and we plan to do a lot of it then, but in my heart I hope to cruise more often too. :D

I can't do an inside. Feel to claustrophobic This next trip we are in a haven suite. I want to spoil my DH on his first cruise. He works so hard he deserves to experience it (and so do I) at least once. I'm hoping we don't get to spoiled and can go back to balconies but I'm not sure. I will know come November. We are supposed to do a Bermuda cruise next summer and haven't decided what type of cabin we will be in yet for that trip.

Its all about feel good factor.

If you're happy in an inside and you love spending the money you save on dining/excursions/UBP's etc. great. On the other hand, if you you want to feel pampered, need separate rooms for the kids or someone with mobility issues, or you just feel like being romantic on your balcony, who's to stop you. That's why we all have a choice

I've only ever sailed in insides because that's what we could afford when we included flights, alcohol etc. and they were fine, just fine. I did find it a pain having to check the TV to see what the weather was like outside, sleeping in because its so dark, and being ill for a few days with no natural daylight was NOOOOOOO fun.

If you have limited vacation/holiday time or want to get away from the crowds for some tranquility, enjoy your suite. If you really don't care that's fine too, but maybe consider the cabin location. Being stuck in a cabin right next to a crew passage where they constantly go in and out all night banging trolleys and singing is something which will make you care.

Count me in among those who need a balcony. I can't even stand having the curtains closed.

Maybe an oceanview would be enough. I couldn't tell you for sure. We haven't had one for years and years, probably before most ships even had balconies.

I live in a small house / have a 30' Catalina that I live in most of the summer (when the snow melts up north) - and am fine with pretty well any cabin I have on board.

I live in a very small space, but I like to live better on vacation than I do in real life. :)

We have cruised mostly balconies (some we have booked, others were free upgrades after final payment), a few OV (very first cruise and both cruises planned in 2015 - one over 12 days the other 17) and a couple of insides (a short one as an experiment to see if I could really do it:eek: and another because I really wanted to save some money). We have never cruised in a suite.

Balconies are great when you are going to a warm place with lots of beautiful views, several sea days, and not very port intensive (think Caribbean).

Insides are good if you are going to a destination that will not really be warm (British isles, Baltics, or even Alaska), or that are very port intensive so that you have no sea days and are off the ship a lot (Mediterranean or even Hawaii). These are not my first choice, but the price cannot be beat.

OV are a good compromise - they provide a limited view, some natural light and if it is cool or hot outside or even raining you don't really care;)

Now why after 15 cruises, 4 more booked, 2 in the planning stages for 2016, do I not sail in a suite? Because I could never swing 2-3 cruises a year and travel to Europe (6 times) and soon Asia and South America if we only stayed in suites. I would book the worst cabin on the ship to keep cruising several times a year wherever I wanted. No scrimping and saving to cruise every few years in a suite for me. If there was a real deal on a suite, of course I would do it, but not at the sacrifice of something else. What in the world would I do with a butler? I would stay in the darn room all day just to get my monies worth:p

So cabins are really situational for me. I would not let a cabin choice keep me from going and doing what I really wanted to do. Once we retire, if an inside is all we can afford and booking one will keep us traveling, then I will really love that inside:D

We cruise last minute inside deals .

Tomorrows sailing on the Dawn inside is available for $399 pp = $1110 for two with port fee's and tax's included .

My number is $299 pp =I can't stay home for that price and I may find later tonight .

Should I ask D.W. to finish packing .

I have to admit that I am one of those individuals that do care where I stay. I've done inside once and never again!! Just way too cramped for me. I've sailed in a suite on Carnival and twice with NCL and I must say it is a world of difference.. We will be sailing this Sunday on the Breakaway in the Haven. They only way to describe the experience is probably comparing flying first class vs. economy, or driving a Porsche vs a Hyundai...Once you've experience that level of service and luxury, it is VERY difficult to go back. I do appreciate that everybody has different opinions and budgets but if you can afford to do it why not? Afterall, you can't take the money with you when your time comes. Might as well live life to the fullest while you can enjoy it!;)

I have cruised many times in an inside cabin. Now that I'm limited in my ability to do as much as I would like to, I spend a lot more time in the room. Because of this, I want at least a balcony in order to enjoy the view.

When I started cruising it was the cheapest cabin on the ship (as I always have cruised single except for 2 cruises, price was important). This lasted for 11 cruises. As my career has progressed and as i am still single with no children, the disposible income has increased while the vacation time has not. Last October I booked my first suite as a treat for a rough year. I fell in love with the view out the window (2 stories - crown loft on RCCL) and the shower. I then did panama canal on the NCL Star in an SG? (the one without the balcony) and again mostly loved the view. So now I look at price and if it is not bad I will book a suite for the view from my bed as to me that is worth it and the other perks are ok but I rarely use them as I am usually traveling with friends or relatives not in suites.

We have cruised everything from insides to DOS's in the Haven. My first cruise ever was in an inside and I stayed sick that whole week. Then we tried a balcony. Wow, totally different experience. We found we love being able to actually see where we were and where we were headed (have seen things from a balcony that we would never have seen in an inside). Then we were fortunate to find a suite at a fire-sale price and we were hooked.

When the kids were younger we cruised much cheaper because it was all we could afford. The kids are grown now and we can afford the extra space. We are very much cabin dwellers so square footage is important to us. We spend a tremendous amount of time on our balcony so that is also key to us. We have done the ports and excursions to death so we tend to do some sight-seeing and a bit of shopping in port and then return to our cabin and balcony to enjoy the remainder of the day. This is what works for us.

For some, it's about the destination, some the accomodation, some just being at sea and then for others, all of the above.

I've had the benefit of sailing on regular balcony rooms and also on suites both on NCL and Celebrity.

While I personally LOVE suites (who doesn't love more space, bigger balconies, butler service etc?) - I didn't find that staying on the balcony detracted from my experience. The one thing I do love about being a Haven guest is that I have access to the private pool/hot tub and restaurant - which honestly are huge perks. There's something to be said about not having to fight for space in the Jacuzzi, jostling for prime sunbathing spots and eating in a private full service restaurant that serves food that's honestly better than what you get in the MDR. I also love the priority disembarkations. Nothing is nicer than being whisked away on a separate elevator away from the crowds in the morning. And it helps to have a reserved Haven section for the shows. So I guess in the end, it's less about the actual room for me versus the side perks of the suite life.

But of course there's a steep price for it, which frankly I'm not always willing to shell out for since I cruise relatively frequently now and don't see the need to make EVERY experience feel so plush.

Besides I feel like butlers are somewhat overrated. I felt the service I got in a regular room was just fine. Beds are clean, turndown service. I'm good.