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Downgrading is my new philosophy


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I would still be booking insides if my poor husband hadn't made a plea for some real sunlight coming into the cabin. He's fine with obstructed - just needs real light - so that's an option for us. Price on those is usually not much more than insides.

 

For our January cruise I have booked a porthole. Inside price, but natural light comes in. Saving a ton. We booked way ahead before these sold out. Some ships have cabins which are priced as insides because they have Windows to a deck, not the ocean . You have to be a bit more careful about privacy with these, but they may be a good option for some people.

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We've settled into a routine of one cruise each winter. We added a cheeky bargain extra summer cruise to the Baltics this year. We disembarked just over a week ago. It was a great cruise and because it was an extra treat, we went for an Ocean view. I wouldn't do it again. For me, it really is 'once a balcony, there is no going back'!

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I have done and inside, porthole and balcony.

 

Best sleep was inside.....only problem was if you woke up you had no clue if it was 3am or 10am. My alarm clock that projects on the ceiling is going on my next trip.

 

Porthole - don't really remember much -it was 1973 and just a few years have slipped by since.

 

Balcony -booked one on my last cruise. I think we may have only spent 30 minutes total out there....the rest of the time we were out and about or sleeping. I found it either very hot or very windy. I did enjoy it the short time I was on it but for the amount of time it got used and the price difference I don't think I'd book one again

 

I think I'd be happy with an obstructed OV - I'd at least know whether to roll over and get more beauty sleep or rise'n'shine:)

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After being on the triumph when the fire happened, I can't cruise without a balcony. I need to have a safe place to sleep outside if necessary. We had an inside cabin on deck 2. It was so hot & sewage filled we couldn't return to it even a few hours after the fire, much less sleep there. I wish I could go back to an inside & save $ and have that great dark hole for sleeping but I get anxious even thinking about it.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

 

Perfectly understandable.....

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In our youth, we always did inside cabins, but now opt for balconies if it makes sense. We usually figure cost, area and ship. Last cruise on the Getaway we had a balcony and glad we did. Lots if kids, crowded pool area, and the Caribbean so we were on our balcony most of the time. Love sitting on balcony in the middle of the night. On Princess though there are usually quiet areas where you can sit inside next to a window so we usually opt for an inside cabin. Booked a balcony for an upcoming Mediterranean 28 day cruise. Can't quite see ourselves spending that much time in an inside cabin, but did a 15 day Panama Canal cruise inside.

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  • 1 month later...
BFF and I had a balcony last year and moved to an OV this year when we realized we only used it for morning coffee. I'm moving to a porthole room this fall as I'm traveling solo and it's a bit of a savings over an OV.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

We began in an OV, then to a Balcony and now back to an OV for this upcoming cruise. The only thing I'm more worried about is downgrading in size of the cabin (last one we cruised was around 275 sq.ft. and this one will be only 159 sq. ft.). Otherwise, we too only had coffee in the morning or a cocktail in the evening before dinner and we can do that anywhere on board. The savings is too big for the LITTLE time we spent on it! :D

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  • 1 year later...

Hey go for the savings and the inside if you are just as happy with that. Don't waste the money with things you don't care about. My brother is an inside guy on cruises and that leave him more money for other things or more vacations in his vacation budget. I think we are all coming to this with different vacations budgets, different preferences for what we like and think is worth while. Many people, must though in general really like the private outside space I'm assuming, given how popular balconies are and how many they build on newer ships. I'm a balcony person (and the immediate and extended family are too even more than me), so I'm one to go for these if I am doing a cruise. I'd go for a less expensive line with one vs. a more expensive line without one; fewer vacations with one vs. more vacations without one; would opt to pick a more modest get-a-way that is land based vs. a no balcony cruise etc.

 

I just booked a cruise for January 2019 yesterday. We had a certificate for a seven day inside cabin cruise for two (It's just the base fare for an inside that is a freebie - was worth about $650 pp for two people) and I spent $1200 extra to upgrade to a mini suite ($600 pp for the first two people) (not a suite at all, but little bigger room) with a large balcony on the NCL Getaway. They with this had a 3rd/4th passenger can come along for just port charges deal too, and we are taking our 22 year old son in our cabin too. The extra inside cabin room too, while not substantial will be nice with three of us too. The base fare freebie made the cruise I'm booking fit in my vacation budget. My parents both healthy active 82 year olds are doing the same kind of cabin also, but didn't have a freebie cert. They would not even consider a cruise for dad without a balcony. We spend a bunch of time on our balconies, and now that they don't let you take partitions down like the big ones where a bunch of us can sit out together and visit and the NCL balconies themselves are pretty cramped (some of the smallest ones in the industry), we wanted to get the bigger private space where we can all sit out.

 

One of the main things I do on the cruise is visit with my family and extended family on the balcony. My dad has more limited mobility and loves to sit out, so this is just super for him, not having to go far at all for that outside space (He's a sit out guy. Both my dad 82 and son 22 in particular like to look at all the activities pulling in and out of port and going ons big time). Also, we read, talk, play with computers, do photo editing, etc. on that balcony. DS is into photography and takes quite a few photos from there daily night and day. Sure we'll do a few of the cruise activities, but you're not going to find us hanging out in the sun by the pool.

 

I'd like to think that I would be flexible, adaptable, and would be OK with an inside, but actually no private outside space on a big ship with all those people just doesn't sound very appealing to me. I think I'm really more of a land based vacation girl, but my family / extended family has been, with the balcony, able to talk me into a cruise on vacation on occasion. I don't think, though, I'd ever actually pick a cruise vacation if I was the only decision maker, but it is a favorite of both my parents and my son. And for next winter/spring DH and DS liked the sound of a cruise way better than my land based vacation ideas. We do land based vacations in the summer too, usually out west. And this year for winter/spring did a mini trip to Key West -- didn't cruise in 2018.

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  • 3 months later...

So far, I've been immensly happy with my little cabin in the dungeon, as I call it (since not only do I book inside cabins, but I usually book on a lower deck since I notice the movement less that way) :D

 

To each his own though :)

 

Melissa

 

Right there with you! We do inside lower level. I'm such a horrible sleeper, that the rocking and rolling on the higher levels will wake me right up! Also, even the slightest bit of natural light wakes me as early at 4:30 in the morning (like literally -- the SLIGHTEST bit of natural light) so I would never get any sleep if I wasn't in my dungeon.

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