Bit of fun - No room higher than a guaranteed interior is worth it. Change my mind.

[Ashland]

4 hours ago, wikoffclan said:

I love Interiors for the total darkness and ability to sleep undisturbed. I love a Balcony for the quiet outdoor spot to relax, read and enjoy a glass of wine with an ocean view. So.... it really depends on what your priorities are and the particular cruise you're on.

 

My photo of the port at Malta from the Balcony on my QE cruise is priceless. Sleeping in until 10 AM in my Interior on my last cruise was Heaven. Your choice/You choose.

Malta...my favorite !!! Sailing out and that view of the port as we left from my true aft balcony and the pictures was also priceless.

[ditmar2007]

13 hours ago, amurray88 said:

Ok folks - I'm heading on Symphony in 4 weeks time. I've only ever gone interior and Royal Up starts at £15pp for neighborhood view interior and £75 for balcony.

 

For some reason I don't feel I can justify this. Can someone prove me wrong? 😂

I've done both. I'd rather have an extra cruise and have inside cabin.

Andplusalso: I sleep SO well in an inside. No daylight to wake me up.

 

Edited March 14, 2022 by ditmar2007

[Wedgeh]

14 hours ago, amurray88 said:

Ok folks - I'm heading on Symphony in 4 weeks time. I've only ever gone interior and Royal Up starts at £15pp for neighborhood view interior and £75 for balcony.

 

For some reason I don't feel I can justify this. Can someone prove me wrong? 😂

As someone who mostly cruises insides, I'd recommend a bid for the inside with view - we had it on IOTS and really liked it, at that price differential I think you'd be happy you did it.

[PhillyFan33579]

Why should anyone try to change your mind? If you prefer interior cabins there is nothing wrong with that. I hear and read all the time from people that say they only use their cabin to sleep and shower, so an interior cabin makes perfect sense for them. I enjoy sitting on my balcony during the day and especially at night when the ship is cruising, so we always book at minimum a balcony cabin. But it would be a waste of money in my opinion to book a balcony if you don’t spend any time in your cabin during a cruise (other than to sleep and shower as mentioned above). 

[2chiefs]

Title of this thread begins with: "Bit of fun"

3 pages of responses within 24 hours = mission accomplished.

Edited March 14, 2022 by 2chiefs

[PTC DAWG]

I have an idea, book the room you want,  and I’ll do the same…no need for me to try and change your mind..

[island lady]

I am quite certain that the OP started this post looking for funny comments...interesting how it turned out way too serious with various personal opinions.  😜

 

OP...stick to your inside cabin.   Save the big $$.  😉  

 

OP...here is your reason:  No illegal smokers on other balconies to worry about...no screaming children...no loud music, .....no bird poopies...no bugs....no flying fish flopping around....no peeping Tom balcony window cleaners...no salty sea hair giving you a bad hair day.  😄 😄 

[gatour]

Some of the replies are assuming that the upgrade is foa r an ocean balcony and not a Boardwalk/Central Park balcony.

 

On Oasis class ships we have only done Central Park balconies.  I enjoy sitting out there in the evening enjoying the music.

 

On other cruises we have gone back and forth between inside cabins and ocean balconies.  Usually the deciding factor is the cost difference and how port intensive the cruise is and if we have been to the various ports before.

 

My wife does not like heights so she get very use of balconies.  The good point about inside cabins is I get my best sleep in them as I am normally as soon as I see sunlight coming in the window obviously not an issue with an inside cabin 

[Tree_skier]

16 hours ago, crzndeb said:

Unless you’re next to a smoker (which they shouldn’t be doing anyway), a non stop talker, a music lover who likes to share, a whistler….😂😂😂

 

OP,

I am a solo traveler, and I’m perfectly happy in an interior cabin. If you like interiors, and you like the cabin you’re in, stay there. There is a chance you might get a nice cabin with Royal Up, or you may get a less than desirable one. I don’t gamble, so what I pick, I stick with.

So far I've been lucky.  I've only had one smoker. She was in the cabin immediately to my right.  I smelt it on day one just after cabins opened up.  A quick call to security and they came up to remind her of the smoking policy and that was it. No more problem.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

there is nothing wrong with booking an inside cabin. I do stop at "guarantee inside", though. At the beginning of our cruising history, we didn't know much and went with a guarantee inside every time. And every time RCI would assign us a simply awful location.... It was always next to some service corridors which had very noisy traffic all through the night.

We wised up and now always book a non-guarantee cabin.

[rmurray847]

3 hours ago, 2chiefs said:

Title of this thread begins with: "Bit of fun"

3 pages of responses within 24 hours = mission accomplished.

Yes...and some responses clearly missed the "bit of fun" part!

[DCPIV]

I'm not big on guarantee fares, and I wouldn't do that unless that's all that was left and I really had to be on that cruise (a big family trip or something like that).  The only thing you are guaranteed is that your room will be something left over after everyone else chooses the good ones.  That's kind of like walking into a restaurant and saying "I'll take the table right next to the kitchen door, please.  Oh, wait.  Is the table right next to the bathroom open?"

 

One of my favorite ways to wind down at night is to sit out on the balcony while we're underway.  The sights and sounds deeply relax me almost immediately.  It's one of the reasons I enjoy cruising.

 

I've cruised a good number of times in an OV room (mostly because we started cruising before balconies were so prevalent).  It's a fine way to go, but I still prefer the balcony.  I've only stayed in an OV once since we started sailing with balconies, and I missed it.  That was a last minute sailing that was rather magical for many reasons, so I didn't miss the balcony all that much, but I did miss it.  

 

I've never stayed in an interior cabin, but I know many who actually do enjoy it.  One of our friends referred to her interior cabin as her "sensory deprivation tank room." 🤣

[rmurray847]

20 hours ago, amurray88 said:

Ok folks - I'm heading on Symphony in 4 weeks time. I've only ever gone interior and Royal Up starts at £15pp for neighborhood view interior and £75 for balcony.

 

For some reason I don't feel I can justify this. Can someone prove me wrong? 😂

Well done in generating many passionate replies!!  And of course, no one can "prove" you wrong; it's very subjective.  HOWEVER, I would say that if you can ever see your way clear to trying an oceanview balcony (such as, a great price is available), please do.  Only then do I think you can make a categorical assertion.  IMO, the difference is HUGE.  But, it may not be huge enough for you to spend on.  However, it could change your mind forever, and you transform your cruising vacations from great to amazing.

[island lady]

16 minutes ago, rmurray847 said:

Yes...and some responses clearly missed the "bit of fun" part!

 

Are you related to the OP?  😉 

[dani negreanu]

20 hours ago, Aquahound said:

I'll say it with a picture.  

 

This picture is "messing with my mind" too... Might be the angle?

[Travelling2Some]

1 hour ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

there is nothing wrong with booking an inside cabin. I do stop at "guarantee inside", though. At the beginning of our cruising history, we didn't know much and went with a guarantee inside every time. And every time RCI would assign us a simply awful location.... It was always next to some service corridors which had very noisy traffic all through the night.

We wised up and now always book a non-guarantee cabin.

Agree.  We are fine with any cabin category but very picky about location, so have never booked a guarantee.  We might choose balcony, interior or OV depending on the itinerary and price spread and are happy in any of them.   We live on an island and see the water every day so unless there is something much more interesting out there like fjords or glaciers it is not anything special for us to look at the ocean.  For us it is just not value for money to pay twice as much for the exact same cruise just to have a balcony.  If we didn't live on the water we might find it more worthwhile.

 

We were once upgraded to a suite by surprise on Celebrity and it was in a noisy location and not anything we would ever pay extra for.  (Why are the suites so often right under the pool deck???)  We don't need jets in the shower and we sure as heck don't want complimentary canapes.  (I'd rather drop by the buffet and choose snacks I actually like.)  I probably ordered from the MDR menu about half the time when eating in the suites-only restaurant. 

[Travelling2Some]

4 hours ago, gatour said:

Some of the replies are assuming that the upgrade is foa r an ocean balcony and not a Boardwalk/Central Park balcony.  On Oasis class ships we have only done Central Park balconies.  I enjoy sitting out there in the evening enjoying the music.

 

 

Yes, I LOVE those balconies and will always book one on Oasis class ships.  Like you said, I love the music and bird song, and twinkling lights and nice smell of all the greenery in Central Park.  My husband likes the people watching and being able to see everything that goes on at the Aqua Theater on a Boardwalk Balcony.  We take turns so he gets Boardwalk half the time and I take Central Park the other half.  We also like the interiors with the big window and window seat overlooking the Promenade and always take those on Royal's smaller ships.

 

Also a good point that many things can interfere with your enjoyment of a balcony.  Everything from weather to noisy or smoking neighbors. 

[mac_tlc]

17 hours ago, soremekun said:

This picture is messing with my mind.  Is the left triangular side a reflection?

It’s looks like a picture of the balcony on the Celebrity Solstice.When it first came out, there was an “X” applied on both sides and it ran through the balcony glass from deck 6 to deck 11. Some balconies avoided it, others it covered the entire glass, others just a portion. Wherever it was it created that reflection look.

 

They never put it on any other S class ship and removed it from Solstice.

 

Looking at poster’s signature, they were on the Solstice when it was still there.

 

Edited March 14, 2022 by mac_tlc

[DCPIV]

1 hour ago, mac_tlc said:

They never put it on any other S class ship and removed it from Solstice.

 

Yeah, a lot of folks got pretty cranky about having an obscured balcony view.  That was one of those ideas that someone at a desk thought would be cool to do and about how good it would look from shore, but they forgot that they had some customers to consider.

[Aquahound]

22 hours ago, soremekun said:

This picture is messing with my mind.  Is the left triangular side a reflection?

 

21 hours ago, Jimbo said:

I was thinking Photo Shop........

 

7 hours ago, dani negreanu said:

 

This picture is "messing with my mind" too... Might be the angle?

 

It's the Celebrity Solstice.  On that one ship, there was a large "X" logo that spanned the hump balconies.  At certain angles, the back of the tinting was reflective.  At other angles, you could see right through it.  Just depends on the angle of the sun.

 

Ah, sorry for the double-tap.  Responded before reading the rest of the thread.  🙂

Edited March 15, 2022 by Aquahound

[amurray88]

On 3/14/2022 at 4:45 PM, rmurray847 said:

Well done in generating many passionate replies!!  And of course, no one can "prove" you wrong; it's very subjective.  HOWEVER, I would say that if you can ever see your way clear to trying an oceanview balcony (such as, a great price is available), please do.  Only then do I think you can make a categorical assertion.  IMO, the difference is HUGE.  But, it may not be huge enough for you to spend on.  However, it could change your mind forever, and you transform your cruising vacations from great to amazing.

What terrifies me is that my wife is R Murray and I'm a bit scared you are my wife just trying to get me to upgrade 😂😂.

 

Royal up is letting me do a neighborhood upgrade for £75pp for 7 night symphony... trying to decide whether to try it out or not.

[amurray88]

On 3/14/2022 at 3:06 PM, Itchy&Scratchy said:

there is nothing wrong with booking an inside cabin. I do stop at "guarantee inside", though. At the beginning of our cruising history, we didn't know much and went with a guarantee inside every time. And every time RCI would assign us a simply awful location.... It was always next to some service corridors which had very noisy traffic all through the night.

We wised up and now always book a non-guarantee cabin.

I could be wrong...my hope is that this ship will still be sailing 60-70% (9th April) so my hope is that RCI will put everyone in reasonable rooms and keep it all compact for cleaners etc. 

 

Maybe not 🙈

[Cutigerlady]

My only issue with an inside room is that I stub my toe trying to go to the bathroom at night because it’s so dark!  I try to remember a night light so I can see a path. 

[Cmackdaddy]

After 60+ cruises we are sailing mostly in Grand Suites now. Started out doing inside, then OV and settled on balconies for  years. Did an upgrade to a GS a few years back and  really loved the additional room and suite perks. We now book a balcony and  always make a bid on the Royal Up to a GS. It's amazing how often you can get a GS for a couple hundred more. The only issue we have is that the GS are seldom located where we prefer, that being on the rear hump. There's no way we'll ever go back to an inside, especially an inside guarantee.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

14 hours ago, amurray88 said:

I could be wrong...my hope is that this ship will still be sailing 60-70% (9th April) so my hope is that RCI will put everyone in reasonable rooms and keep it all compact for cleaners etc. 

 

Maybe not 🙈

April 9th is still a spring break for many schools in the US, so if your sailing is from a US port - there may be many people with kids onboard.