Inside cabin, obstructed oceanview or oceanview on 14 day cruise,

[lauritagoddess]

I’m planning to book the 14 day to Iceland, Greenland and Canada next July on the Star.  I usually like balconys, but with it being colder where we’re going, I don’t think it would be worth having one, although having a balcony would mean we’d have a sofa which would be really nice on this long a cruise, to have a place to sit other than the beds.  But the difference in case between Inside or Oceanview and balcony, is a lot.  I had been looking at obstructed oceanview cabins, but have been going round and round with this.  Would we be okay for 14 days in an inside or an obstructed view cabin?  There will be a scenery that would be great to be able to see from our own cabin which would make a picture window oceanview much better, but it’s pricier than the other options.  I want to have money for the shore excursions in Iceland and for a post cruise stay in Reykjavík.  So, do you think we’d be okay for 14 days in an inside or an obstructed view?  Especially on a cruise with beautiful scenery outside some of the time?  Thanks for any input.

[Asawi]

Oh, this is difficult!

I'm usually happy with inside rooms because I like to spend a lot of time outside (and balcony is outside my comfort price range as a solo traveller). But on a scenic route like the on you'll be on an oceanview is so nice! I did Iceland/Norway on Star this July and got upgraded from inside to oceanview for a very reasonable amount. I was lucky enough to get a picture window room on deck 5 and I really enjoyed it! I loved waking up in the middle of the night to the midnight sun. (But being Swedish I'm used to daylight 24/7 in the summer, Others find that very odd and don't like it.)

The obstructed ocean views are in my opinion in great localtions, but I have no experience of actually sailing in one and how "obstructed" the views are. I have seen pictures and videos though, and I think I would enjoy one too. 

An inside room with a good location can be very good too. On my Alaska cruise this spring my inside was very near the exit to Spice H2O where I spend a LOT of time! I woke up early, sat there a while, had breakfast and then back. In and out of my room...

That wasn' very helpful was it... Oh well...

[Catchum]

Just back from Iceland (not NCL) look at what time you arrive in port - many times we arrived at 7am which meant that for sail in much of the scenery had passed before we were awake. We had an ocean view picture window which was nice but if your budget is tight I would go for an inside, put the bridge cam on the TV and enjoy the same view as the captain, before heading out onto the open decks. Iceland is very expensive, 8000 ISK is about $60 so check prices carefully.

[lauritagoddess]

3 hours ago, Asawi said:

Oh, this is difficult!

I'm usually happy with inside rooms because I like to spend a lot of time outside (and balcony is outside my comfort price range as a solo traveller). But on a scenic route like the on you'll be on an oceanview is so nice! I did Iceland/Norway on Star this July and got upgraded from inside to oceanview for a very reasonable amount. I was lucky enough to get a picture window room on deck 5 and I really enjoyed it! I loved waking up in the middle of the night to the midnight sun. (But being Swedish I'm used to daylight 24/7 in the summer, Others find that very odd and don't like it.)

The obstructed ocean views are in my opinion in great localtions, but I have no experience of actually sailing in one and how "obstructed" the views are. I have seen pictures and videos though, and I think I would enjoy one too. 

An inside room with a good location can be very good too. On my Alaska cruise this spring my inside was very near the exit to Spice H2O where I spend a LOT of time! I woke up early, sat there a while, had breakfast and then back. In and out of my room...

That wasn' very helpful was it... Oh well...

Lol, this is exactly why I’m having trouble deciding what to do.

[lauritagoddess]

1 hour ago, Catchum said:

Just back from Iceland (not NCL) look at what time you arrive in port - many times we arrived at 7am which meant that for sail in much of the scenery had passed before we were awake. We had an ocean view picture window which was nice but if your budget is tight I would go for an inside, put the bridge cam on the TV and enjoy the same view as the captain, before heading out onto the open decks. Iceland is very expensive, 8000 ISK is about $60 so check prices carefully.

That’s good advice, I’m going to check the port arrival times.

[bluesea777]

We went for an inside one cruise and vowed never again, so we have gone for obstructed ocean view a few times and loved them. It’s the lowest priced in the Ocean View category and they’re on deck 8. We have never had a cabin below deck 8. 
 

 

[D_And_K_gocruising]

It's funny, my wife and I were just talking about this if we like our first cruise and want to go more but "scale back" some (we are doing spa club balcony).    I am afraid that if we do an oceanview it will cause me more issues of claustrophobia than an inside would.  Being able to SEE outside, but not being able to open that damn window lol.. I could be 100% wrong, but I know how my brain works (be glad you dont have to live in it 🙂 )   So curious to read what people think.. 

 

[ChiefMateJRK]

I have nothing but fun while I’m on a ship.  Nothing else matters.

 

I book inside, but have upgraded to both regular balcony and aft balcony several times.  The only one that made my cruise more memorable was the aft.  Like many things, it was likely just the novelty, which will wear off. I’ll do it again for a very cheap price, but otherwise I’m just as happy in an inside.  It’s only where I sleep and shower. 

[Casey2]

I have been in an inside, outside, balcony and was ugraded to a mini suite once.  Some considerations other than price might be  how much port time and the length of excdursions you will do.  In Europe and Hawaii we were quite frequently off the shiip at 8 or 9 AM and didn't get back until 6 PM so we took inside cabins.  

The type of cabin we had did not have any bearing on how much we enjoyed the cruise.

[insidecabin]

On the Star.

 

Aft inside for easy access to buffet and H2O.

 

Want to see something get upto H2O.

270 views better than any window in an OV

 

Second choice obstructed OV on deck 8.

 

On jewel class the insides are tiny,

Star & Dawn they are adiquate.

[bluesea777]

1 hour ago, bluesea777 said:

We went for an inside one cruise and vowed never again, so we have gone for obstructed ocean view a few times and loved them. It’s the lowest priced in the Ocean View category and they’re on deck 8. We have never had a cabin below deck 8. 
 

 

 

Forgot to add we booked the obstructed ocean view (OK) cabin on the Star for our Norway/Svalbard/Iceland cruise next year June.

 

You'll see lifeboat in front of you but you'll still be able to see the sea and sky. So that is good enough for us.

 

 

[lauritagoddess]

I did check our port times and most of them are pretty early,  in our previous cruises on NCL, we’ve done balcony and mini suite.  On another line, we’ve done inside and oceanview with two small porthole windows.  The oceanview with the portholes was for a cruise that was slightly longer than this one, but the inside was only a few days.  I feel like I want some light, so oceanview, but I also want to save money.  Would it be too much to be in an inside cabin for 14 days.  I didn’t feel claustrophobic when I did an inside, but it was a little disconcerting not having sun to wake up and having no idea what time it was.  I feel like I’m leaning now towards obstructed, but I’m still not sure, lol.

[D_And_K_gocruising]

24 minutes ago, lauritagoddess said:

I did check our port times and most of them are pretty early,  in our previous cruises on NCL, we’ve done balcony and mini suite.  On another line, we’ve done inside and oceanview with two small porthole windows.  The oceanview with the portholes was for a cruise that was slightly longer than this one, but the inside was only a few days.  I feel like I want some light, so oceanview, but I also want to save money.  Would it be too much to be in an inside cabin for 14 days.  I didn’t feel claustrophobic when I did an inside, but it was a little disconcerting not having sun to wake up and having no idea what time it was.  I feel like I’m leaning now towards obstructed, but I’m still not sure, lol.

Get one of those sun simulator light thingies.. 

[ChiefMateJRK]

1 hour ago, D_And_K_gocruising said:

Get one of those sun simulator light thingies.. 

They have provided those on every single cruise I've been on.  You just have to find the switch on the wall.🤣

[vswan]

I am currently struggling with this. Just booked the Jade this weekend for Jan 24. Going solo so whichever cabin I booked was double occupancy. Wanted a balcony just to have my own outside space, but they only had sailaway (no free at sea) or aft balcony at more than double the price of the OV. Decided to go with the OV, but will be keeping an eye on things if a balcony opens up at a more reasonable price. I figured I could always place a bid for upgrade, but with a pretty full ship the odds are not good. The problem with the smaller ships is that they do not have as many balcony cabins so they can get premium prices.

 

I will say that I have always been pretty fiscally conservative, so having a hard time opening up the wallet at twice the price. Especially when traveling solo but having to pay for double.

[lauritagoddess]

I bit the bullet and booked the obstructed oceanview.  It would have been cheaper to do the inside, but I felt like we needed some natural light.  I also saw a video on YouTube where a couple had an obstructed oceanview on the Dawn and said that they could just run down one flight of stairs to deck 7 and have the promenade to have the outdoors, and I figured the same for the Star.  

[Asawi]

47 minutes ago, lauritagoddess said:

I bit the bullet and booked the obstructed oceanview.  It would have been cheaper to do the inside, but I felt like we needed some natural light.  I also saw a video on YouTube where a couple had an obstructed oceanview on the Dawn and said that they could just run down one flight of stairs to deck 7 and have the promenade to have the outdoors, and I figured the same for the Star.  

I think you will be very pleased with your obstructed oceanview. Like I said in my initial post, they are in a great location.

[SoloAlaska]

I originally booked guaranteed interior for my upcoming TA (15 nights) but when the price dropped I’m upgraded to FAS OV and couldn’t be happier. I like waking up to natural light and with jet lag and all it will be a good perk to have a window. Price dropped again so I’m adding the drink part of FAS now. I usually cruise interior without any problem but I’m solo and it’s a good way to make me get out of my cabin and enjoy different spaces onboard.

[lauritagoddess]

Oh, and the obstructed view I booked is one of the sideways cabins.  It seems like it’s a little roomier or at least looks that way, and I like that the window is on side rather than behind the beds.

[D_And_K_gocruising]

20 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

They have provided those on every single cruise I've been on.  You just have to find the switch on the wall.🤣

🙄 you know what i mean... 😄

[bluesea777]

1 hour ago, lauritagoddess said:

Oh, and the obstructed view I booked is one of the sideways cabins.  It seems like it’s a little roomier or at least looks that way, and I like that the window is on side rather than behind the beds.

 

We love them sideways cabins!

 

 

[TrueNorth59]

We were in an inside cabin on our Alaskan cruise in June. I glad we did it. It rained every day and it was very foggy in the morning. Also sunrise was 330 am. We don't spend alot of time in our cabin. We want to enjoy the ship. We just got upgraded to an obstruct balcony cabin. We didn't bid every high for it. The life boats are parallel to the balcony. We'll be able to see  the view while standing. Obstruction occurs when we're sitting on the balcony with  view of the life boat. We're ok with that. We want daylight and fresh air for a 2 week cruise. 

[bluesea777]

6 minutes ago, TrueNorth59 said:

We were in an inside cabin on our Alaskan cruise in June. I glad we did it. It rained every day and it was very foggy in the morning. Also sunrise was 330 am. We don't spend alot of time in our cabin. We want to enjoy the ship. We just got upgraded to an obstruct balcony cabin. We didn't bid every high for it. The life boats are parallel to the balcony. We'll be able to see  the view while standing. Obstruction occurs when we're sitting on the balcony with  view of the life boat. We're ok with that. We want daylight and fresh air for a 2 week cruise. 

 

Which ship and which cabin? There are no "obstructed balcony" cabins on any of the NCL ships. 

 

 

[TrueNorth59]

23 minutes ago, bluesea777 said:

 

Which ship and which cabin? There are no "obstructed balcony" cabins on any of the NCL ships. 

 

 

Royal Caribbean the Anthem of the seas

[bluesea777]

52 minutes ago, TrueNorth59 said:

Royal Caribbean the Anthem of the seas

Okay, this is NCL forum so let you not confuse our NCL people.

 

🤓