Insignia -- tips for their Cuba ports, and info on Stateroom E6030

[Wyoming2010]

We had a porthole on deck 4 on Nautica -sister ship to Insignia. We loved the location behind the reception desk and there was adequate room for my husband who also has mobility issues. The porthole actually provided good light. Here is the view from our room.[ATTACH]425894[/ATTACH]

 

 

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Thank you for the great picture. Problem is if we upgrade to Deck 4 instead of 3, it's a jump in price of $1,000. Like I said, weighing the options and how much we will be spending on excursions, I think we'll wait it out and see how finances play out. Who knows, maybe we'll be lucky and get an upgrade (one never knows). But I love being able to see the different views just in case we do decide to jump up.

 

Also, from the deck plan, it appears there are only 15 cabins on Deck 3 on one side, and the tender loading area is also on that floor. I would think that would make it noisy?

[4Lakes Lady]

Totally understand budget constraints and I think no matter what cabin you end up with, you will be satisfied! We love to sail on Oceania and have stayed in several different categories. We’ve never had a problem with any of them since we are just happy to be able to experience such a terrific cruiseline (IMO!)[emoji4]

 

 

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[bigmjh]

We had a porthole on deck 4 on Nautica -sister ship to Insignia. We loved the location behind the reception desk and there was adequate room for my husband who also has mobility issues. The porthole actually provided good light. Here is the view from our room.[ATTACH]425894[/ATTACH]

Below is an image of a porthole room on an 'R' ship ... what you posted is actually an oceanview Cat C1, C2 or E

[YoHoHo]

With my husband's mobility issues, it could be a problem....

 

Thank you so much for your honest review. My travel consultant sent me a picture of the actual view from our room 6030, and I really don't think it's that bad. And after finding some reviews about how tiny the porthole windows are, I do think I'll enjoy the size of this window instead, even with the obstruction. Thank you again for reaffirming my instincts.

 

Glad you are taking the cabin. Folks often site that it is 20 or so sq ft. smaller. Bear in mind it does not have one of the small sofas. So the floor space it uses is available to you as free space.

Also these cabins have a very different layout with the entrance basically at the side of the cabin so you walk into the middle of the room. There is no space wasted by the hall/walkway from door past the washroom to the main cabin area.

 

But this raises a concern from the comment I quotes at the top with mobility concerns.

 

1. Location. good choice as 6030 is close to the elevator

 

2. there is no sofa. One chair and the end of the bed to sit on.

 

3. the space between the side of the bed and the wall, on both sides is quite narrow. Just the width of the night table as can be seen below vs lots of room around the bed in the upgraded window cabin.

 

 

vs

 

a. I agree with KS&JSW have that little round table removed as it sits in the middle of the space and has little value IMHO.

 

You have express two main concerns: light and view

View: As StanandJim wrote you did choose an obstructed view cabin so the view will be, obstructed. A few of them (you scored) have very little obstruction. Other cruise lines would break this into a sub category and charge a little more.

Light: even the fully obstructed are going to have light enter. Less then sun shining directly in but they are not dark like an inside. Some folks want a little natural daylight to feel connected with day vs night. The fully obstructed would still provide that.

[triplestar]

HI, There has been a lot of negative replies re your choice of cabin. Deck 6 is a nice deck compared to deck 3 or even deck 4 which has people walking past the cabins on the way to tender station when ship is tendering, so you could say that is a plus. The cabin is small ,but there is no difference in the size of the closets or bathroom, and in fact the closets are in a better position than in the other oceanview cabins. There is no sofa to sit on & the table takes up a lot of space you can ask for that to be removed. It is an obstructed view ,but less obstructed than some of the obstructed view cabins, you will still have some natural light & not need the lights on during the day. I don't think that it will ruin your cruise, just think of all the excursions you can pay for with the money saved. Enjoy your cruise & your road trip.

[gbits]

This thread is making me nervous. We booked a D on an Insignia NE/Canada Cruise sailing in a little more than a month. I went back & forth and finally switched to the D when it was offered on a guarantee. At this point the entire ship is wait listed except for 2 OS cabins. We have sailed O twice, but both times on Marina. Wanted to try a R ship, and we will have fun no matter what but I hope I’m not kicking myself for giving up the C2 for the D. 🤨

 

 

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[MisterBill99]

This thread is making me nervous. We booked a D on an Insignia NE/Canada Cruise sailing in a little more than a month. I went back & forth and finally switched to the D when it was offered on a guarantee. At this point the entire ship is wait listed except for 2 OS cabins. We have sailed O twice, but both times on Marina. Wanted to try a R ship, and we will have fun no matter what but I hope I’m not kicking myself for giving up the C2 for the D.

I assume you don't have your cabin assigned yet, do you? I'm on the 8/24 cruise (sounds like the one before you?) and also have a D guarantee but it's not assigned yet. Everything except or the top category is wait listed on my sailing as well. I'm hopeful that I'll get something better, but I guess it all depends on how successful they are on upsells.

 

I don't see people walking past my cabin when tendering to be a big deal given that we only have one tender port and I'll be off the ship there.

[gbits]

You are correct on all counts MisterBill99, I board right after you on 9/3 & no cabin assignment yet. Would be great if no one takes the upsell & we wind up in the OS [emoji6]

 

 

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[LHT28]

This thread is making me nervous. We booked a D on an Insignia NE/Canada Cruise sailing in a little more than a month. I went back & forth and finally switched to the D when it was offered on a guarantee. At this point the entire ship is wait listed except for 2 OS cabins. We have sailed O twice, but both times on Marina. Wanted to try a R ship, and we will have fun no matter what but I hope I’m not kicking myself for giving up the C2 for the D. 🤨

 

 

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The D cabins are the same size as the C

 

I do not recall going past the D cabins to get to the tenders usually you are directed to the stairs from deck 4 forward to get to the tender

 

I seem to recall that the D cabins can only be reached from the aft stairs or elevators

[Wyoming2010]

Glad you are taking the cabin. Folks often site that it is 20 or so sq ft. smaller. Bear in mind it does not have one of the small sofas. So the floor space it uses is available to you as free space.

Also these cabins have a very different layout with the entrance basically at the side of the cabin so you walk into the middle of the room. There is no space wasted by the hall/walkway from door past the washroom to the main cabin area.

 

But this raises a concern from the comment I quotes at the top with mobility concerns.

 

1. Location. good choice as 6030 is close to the elevator

 

2. there is no sofa. One chair and the end of the bed to sit on.

 

3. the space between the side of the bed and the wall, on both sides is quite narrow. Just the width of the night table as can be seen below vs lots of room around the bed in the upgraded window cabin.

 

 

vs

 

a. I agree with KS&JSW have that little round table removed as it sits in the middle of the space and has little value IMHO.

 

You have express two main concerns: light and view

View: As StanandJim wrote you did choose an obstructed view cabin so the view will be, obstructed. A few of them (you scored) have very little obstruction. Other cruise lines would break this into a sub category and charge a little more.

Light: even the fully obstructed are going to have light enter. Less then sun shining directly in but they are not dark like an inside. Some folks want a little natural daylight to feel connected with day vs night. The fully obstructed would still provide that.

 

WOW, this is incredibly informative and detailed and just confirmed that we might do okay in our original choice. You covered so many areas and really eased my mind. Thank you so very much for taking so much time to give me positive feedback along with suggestions.

 

I just love the information you provided about the room entrance being so open and easy to navigate. Those narrow entrance hallways can be tricky sometimes.

 

I should clarify that my husband's mobility issues do not require a wheelchair or walker -- he just is a little slower turning around or getting around things. I did show him the pictures and he still thinks we should keep this room as he'll only be getting in and out of bed once a day LOL -- so he's not worried about getting around the bed (just have to make sure there are no bed coverings or sheets hanging off to trip on). I do like the idea though of removing the glass table. Question, is there room to move that to the other side of the desk as another table top?

 

The Oceania travel consultant we're working with has offered to have a straight back chair put in our room -- some of of the pictures I've seen show one at the desk in this room, others just show the little cube seat. So that will help with his back. He's pretty easy going so even if he has to use the bed to sit up and do things he'll be fine.

 

This will be the first cruise line we will take that provides soda and water free of charge in the mini-fridge. Nice amenity.

 

Thanks again.

[Wyoming2010]

HI, There has been a lot of negative replies re your choice of cabin. Deck 6 is a nice deck compared to deck 3 or even deck 4 which has people walking past the cabins on the way to tender station when ship is tendering, so you could say that is a plus. The cabin is small ,but there is no difference in the size of the closets or bathroom, and in fact the closets are in a better position than in the other oceanview cabins. There is no sofa to sit on & the table takes up a lot of space you can ask for that to be removed. It is an obstructed view ,but less obstructed than some of the obstructed view cabins, you will still have some natural light & not need the lights on during the day. I don't think that it will ruin your cruise, just think of all the excursions you can pay for with the money saved. Enjoy your cruise & your road trip.

 

Thank you much! Another great positive point of view and reaffirmation of our choice. It's good to get all this feedback. The great information and tips from those who have done it is the most valuable.

 

A previous poster mentioned that you don't actually walk past C cabins to get to the tender. My comment may have been misleading -- I just meant whether having your stateroom on the deck where everyone comes down to the tender would make it noisier on tender days. Being such an upscale line, I am going to assume they have that under control.

 

Anyone taken this ship to Cuba? Do they have to tender there?

[LHT28]

A previous poster mentioned that you don't actually walk past C cabins to get to the tender. My comment may have been misleading -- I just meant whether having your stateroom on the deck where everyone comes down to the tender would make it noisier on tender days. Being such an upscale line, I am going to assume they have that under control.

 

Anyone taken this ship to Cuba? Do they have to tender there?

You may be getting confused

 

the Deck 4 cabins are C & people may pass by to get to the tender area located on Deck 3 forward

 

The deck 3 cabins are D & usually pax do not go via that hallway to get to the tender they usually use the stairs or elevator at the forward end of the ship

 

 

Check on the itinerary & if there is an anchor symbol next to the port then it is a tender port

[Wyoming2010]

You may be getting confused

 

the Deck 4 cabins are C & people may pass by to get to the tender area located on Deck 3 forward

 

The deck 3 cabins are D & usually pax do not go via that hallway to get to the tender they usually use the stairs or elevator at the forward end of the ship

 

 

Check on the itinerary & if there is an anchor symbol next to the port then it is a tender port

 

Sorry about that. Thanks for the tender information.

[MisterBill99]

You are correct on all counts MisterBill99, I board right after you on 9/3 & no cabin assignment yet. Would be great if no one takes the upsell & we wind up in the OS [emoji6]

Bad news for me. I just checked and I was assigned a D category on deck 3 :(. Hope you have better luck.

[gbits]

Bad news for me. I just checked and I was assigned a D category on deck 3 :(. Hope you have better luck.

 

 

 

Oh sorry to hear that. I just checked and no assignment yet. One of the 2 OS cabins are gone and the PH1 is now offered as a guarantee. I guess whomever was in the PH1 that opened up took the other OS. Keeping my fingers crossed that we get some sort of bump up [emoji1]

 

 

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[MisterBill99]

Oh sorry to hear that. I just checked and no assignment yet. One of the 2 OS cabins are gone and the PH1 is now offered as a guarantee. I guess whomever was in the PH1 that opened up took the other OS. Keeping my fingers crossed that we get some sort of bump up [emoji1]

On the bright side, mid-ship location on deck 3 should be pretty good if the sea is rough.

[MisterBill99]

Oh sorry to hear that. I just checked and no assignment yet. One of the 2 OS cabins are gone and the PH1 is now offered as a guarantee. I guess whomever was in the PH1 that opened up took the other OS. Keeping my fingers crossed that we get some sort of bump up [emoji1]

Update - I emailed my TA and told her I didn't get an upgrade and asked if there had been any upsell offers. She said that she had just gotten one, $400 per person for a balcony. Since the price difference between my D and the cheapest balcony was $1200, I decided to go for it. I was able to call and do it myself. I got a B1 on deck 6 which was actually $100 more regularly, so I saved $700 per person.

 

Oddly, they had 3 balcony cabins available for me to choose from even though the website says it's wait listed.

[Go-Bucks!]

Anyone taken this ship to Cuba? Do they have to tender there?

Took Insignia to Cuba (Havana, Cienfuegos and Santiago de Cuba)....no tendering...docked in all of them.

[gbits]

Update - I emailed my TA and told her I didn't get an upgrade and asked if there had been any upsell offers. She said that she had just gotten one, $400 per person for a balcony. Since the price difference between my D and the cheapest balcony was $1200, I decided to go for it. I was able to call and do it myself. I got a B1 on deck 6 which was actually $100 more regularly, so I saved $700 per person.

 

Oddly, they had 3 balcony cabins available for me to choose from even though the website says it's wait listed.

 

 

 

That’s great news, congratulations! I’m not sure I get the math (didn’t you actually save $900pp?) but I think that’s a great deal. Checked mine again tonight and we are back to everything waitlisted except 2 OS cabins....

 

 

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[MisterBill99]

That’s great news, congratulations! I’m not sure I get the math (didn’t you actually save $900pp?) but I think that’s a great deal. Checked mine again tonight and we are back to everything waitlisted except 2 OS cabins....

Price difference between D and B1 is $1300pp. I paid $400, so yeah, a $900pp savings. Of course, I never would have paid anywhere near that. Please post what you get and any upsells.

 

The "wait listed" thing must be a game that Oceania plays because when I called to accept the upsell, they had 3 B1 cabins available and it's wait listed on the website, as is everything else but the OS. I should have asked what else they actually had available.

[MisterBill99]

Oh sorry to hear that. I just checked and no assignment yet. One of the 2 OS cabins are gone and the PH1 is now offered as a guarantee. I guess whomever was in the PH1 that opened up took the other OS. Keeping my fingers crossed that we get some sort of bump up [emoji1]

Did you get your cabin assignment and/or upsell offer yet?

[Wyoming2010]

Anyone else have tips or info about stopping in Cuba ports and sailing on Insignia? Thanks.