Port Hole Cabins Good or Bad?

[wrigley80]

I am already looking at cruises, I have a bug! :rolleyes:

 

I was looking at a porthole cabin can you tell me the good and the bad about them please? We have been on 2 cruises so far. One room had a balcony and the other was interior. Thanks.

 

On our last cruise (March 17, 2012) we had a porthole cabin on the Carnival Fantasy. We have been on 7 Carnival ships but never had a porthole room so we were excited to have a different category room. It was a nice room but this happened...........

 

 

Our porthole window was broken during the night with no explanation as to what happened. We were interrogated by Carnival security for over an hour on day 2 of our cruise. I understand this can happen to anyone but it just wasn't a good way to start our vacation :(

[wrigley80]

To me they are not worth it unless a free upgrade. Inside or balcony I say. If they upgrade you from an inside to a porthole fine but I would never pay for one.

 

Porthole cabins come for the price of an inside

[cruisenanny]

To me they are not worth it unless a free upgrade. Inside or balcony I say. If they upgrade you from an inside to a porthole fine but I would never pay for one.

Aside from the 1a's they are the cheapest cabin you can buy. Any other inside cabin will cost you more than a PT, so you would not be upgraded to one from a regular inside.

[DDMiller]

We had a porthole in the inspiration in January and loved it so much that we booked two portholes on the Splendor for May. The anchor dropping was the only negative that we noticed. It shook the whole room. Since we were up already it wasn't anything that would stop us from getting this type of room. The price for the Splendor was less than an inside.

[corkyanige]

I've only ever sailed in a port-hole cabin... and LOVE THEM!! I don't want to pay the price for an ocean view but also do want to do an insider... so it's perfect.. I get a small view of the ocean for the price of an interior!

 

For our upcoming cruise, I *splurged" a little and upgraded to an obstructed view *inside* cabin... so I will have a window looking out onto a deck.

[All4fun&fun4all]

We loved our porthole room on our 2010 sailing. We are thinking of getting another porthole if we decide to go with the December 8th sailing date on Fantasy.

 

We would have gone with one on our most recent cruise but they were sold out when I booked the aft OV I got. Then, all of a sudden, some porthole rooms were released and I missed out. :( Next time for sure.

 

The motion wasnt all that bad. Just ask yourself this question: How often will I be in the room? If you intend on being in the room more than just for sleeping or changing clothes then you may be bothered by the motion. We dont stay in our cabin very long at all.

[mpcaruth]

The quad PT cabins are typically the same size as the OV cabins and contain a pullout sofa and bunk over the sofa. The quad interiors are smaller, with no couch. The bunks in the quad interior are located over the king/twin beds.

For us, having the kids' bunks in another area not directly over our bed, makes for a less-crowded, more pleasant experience. The quad PTs are always booked early, but if available, I choose them over the OV to save $300 or so.

[cruzlovr75]

On our last cruise (March 17, 2012) we had a porthole cabin on the Carnival Fantasy. We have been on 7 Carnival ships but never had a porthole room so we were excited to have a different category room. It was a nice room but this happened...........

 

 

Our porthole window was broken during the night with no explanation as to what happened. We were interrogated by Carnival security for over an hour on day 2 of our cruise. I understand this can happen to anyone but it just wasn't a good way to start our vacation :(

 

 

Wow I can't believe this happened. Sorry you had to deal with that on your vacation.

[elcuchio24]

We had a PT on imagination this fall, only non-balcony cabin we've ever had. Nothing special, but better than a straight interior, and fine/cheap for 4 nights....

[SMSACE6]

I had a port hole room on the Freedom, and I was travelling solo, and got it for the same rate as an interior room. I have had interior rooms three times and had no problems, especially when travelling by myself. I must however admit, that I did enjoy that little window. At least you could see some daylight in the morning, and see if you are close to your port. Yes, as others say, not much of a view from those windows, but you can see if it is light or dark outside, and that was a plus for me, who often takes the inside rooms. I have not ever had a balcony yet, so I might get "spoiled" once I do that, and then would not want anything else.

 

Also, the porthole room is forward on the ship, and you might feel a little more motion in that location depending on the seas. I like the motion, so again for me not a problem. This just my opinion of course, but the money you save on having one of these rooms, can buy you more of what you like to buy on board, or in port.:)

[PA2CRUISE]

We had a PT on the Imagination on our cruise earlier this month. I loved the fact that I could get a windows for an interior price. BUT... the room rattled constantly when at sea which drove me crazy!!! DH didn't mind the noise at all but it would take me forever to get to sleep. :(

 

I had someone from maintenance check it out and they stated that it was just the seas hitting the exterior of the ship and this is normal for rooms at the front of the ship. But it didn't make sense to me because the noise appeared to be coming from the middle of the room in between the walls. Which makes me think there was something loose between the walls. So if you're on the Imagination in cabin M29 - beware! Regretfully, I won't be booking a PT again..

[candigirl]

I love PT cabins!!!! Great price, love forward cabins. If you look at the deck plans (especially for Carnival ships) there are always a couple of cabins that are longer (meaning conciderably larger) than the others. Book those....they are awesome!! For example on Carnival Elation it was M11 and M14. The window ledge was so large (good for storage) that my little niece had a sleepover right on the ledge one night! That sure made her mommy and daddy happy cruisers.:p

[MemphisFan]

I love PT cabins!!!! Great price, love forward cabins. If you look at the deck plans (especially for Carnival ships) there are always a couple of cabins that are longer (meaning conciderably larger) than the others. Book those....they are awesome!! For example on Carnival Elation it was M11 and M14. The window ledge was so large (good for storage) that my little niece had a sleepover right on the ledge one night! That sure made her mommy and daddy happy cruisers.:p

 

Woo hoo! We booked M14 on the Elation! We heard it may be a little bigger and it looked like it from the diagram.

[paleskin]

I agree about the noise of the anchor! I had our first porthole room last year on the Sensation and loved everything BUT the anchor dropping! Was that LOUD! WE had to drop anchor out in International waters at 4am because of fog in the channel and I nearly fell out of bed from the noise! Don't get one if you like to sleep past 6am.

[LynnAnne]

DD and I loved our cabin last Oct on Freedom!! DH and I have one booked on The Victory in Feb. can't wait!! Would love to hear more feedback on PH cabins!! Best Bang for your buck. Hope my DH likes it!!

[LandlockedCruiser01]

Stayed in a porthole cabin on my cruise. Absolutely loved it!

 

PROS:

* Paid less than the price of a true inside, but still natural light during daytime.

* Seeing portholes reminded me that was on an actual ship, and not a hotel.

* There was a big ledge in front of the portholes that I used for stashing my suitcase.

* I still had almost the same accomodation as the higher-priced rooms had.

* The strong motion was actually nice; it had me falling asleep within minutes.

Overall, I spent very little time in my cabin, a grand total of less than an hour a day outside of sleeping. But these pros helped a lot. I really liked not waking up to a dark room; too easy to oversleep when there's no sunlight in the morning.

 

CONS:

* The view from portholes was tunnel-visioned; I saw only what's directly in front.

* The forward location had a lot of motion in choppy seas

* Bow thrusters were loud and made the room vibrate when they kicked in on port days

* The cabin was far from most of the ship's amenities, like the MDR, clubs, pool, etc.

These bothed me very little or not at all, but I'm pointing them out anyway, for people in general. The thursters scared me a little the first time, but they prevented me from missing valuable port time in what was a short stay.

[Ours91]

We enjoyed our porthole cabin however next cruise we want to get something more mid ship. The porthole had an ok view , but noisy and a little rocky.

[cls624]

We were in our first Porthole cabin on the Dream lase year.

It was a great value, and I thought the windows let in enough light.

However, we usually like to be midship. Our PVP talked us into it, since it was a great deal. We did hear the anchor dropping a few mornings when coming into port. We did also feel more motion being in the front of the ship.

We probably wouldn't get another one, but It wasn't too bad.

It was definitely different than being midship.:rolleyes:

[treasure4two]

The port hole I was looking at is on the Liberty and its the same price as the inside room.

 

My hubby does tend to get seasick, we usually choose mid-ship. Would a port hole be a bad idea then? More motion felt up front?

 

 

We like portholes but there seems like there is a little more motion up frint. We had several porthole cabins and loved them all except on the Splendor-the noise when coming in and out of ports was so loud that I turned the TV up as high as possible and the ship noise was so loud, I could not hear the TV plus it shook really bad. Just my thoughts. I

We love the Splendor, just not portholes-but definitely would do a porthole again.

[Cruise-Crazy]

A porthole is better than nothing. :). Most of the times I have had a porthole it was at an interior price. Always prefer a balcony :D