Oceanview or Promenade?

[Newbcruiser1]

I will be cruising on the Explorer this summer. My last cruise on the radiance, we had a balcony and loved it, but as of now, the price is out of our reach.

 

I worry that an OV room on decks 2 or 3 would probably be too close to the water and make me sea-sick from seeing the waves so close. Does anyone have any experience with this? What about noise from being so low down? Do the PR rooms get any daylight from the skylights in the promenade? How are they as far as noise goes?

 

There is about a $200 difference per person between a PR room and an OV guarantee... Any opinions on which would be best?

 

Thanks! :)

[bajathree]

Personally I just don't like lower deck rooms like that....I would opt for an upper level PR.

[PirateGal]

I'd chose the promenade room. We had one on the Mariner and I loved it. The light from the promenade seemed to change through out the day to match the time of day and I loved people watching below. If you have the late dinner seating, you can check out what people are wearing to dinner before you get dressed! We didn't experience much noise at all...just during the parade but we were watching it anyway.

[cb at sea]

You really won't have waves that close to your window, even on deck 2! But, the view isn't the same as a balcony, by a long shot!

I'd prefer something on a higher deck, so I could use the stairs to come and go from the pool, which is where most of my time is spent. The lower the deck, the more elevator time you will need!

[cruiserbryce]

If I am choosing between the 2 I would go with the OV room...I am on a cruise I like to see the ocean if I can:)

[luvscruising2007]

Have not done deck 3 on Explorer but did on Radiance and Brilliance. Noise was no problem nor was seasickness. I don't remember being particularly close to the waves and I spent alot of time looking out of the window. I personally would prefer the natural sunlight as opposed to artificial light. Others have posted they like to look out of promenade windows to watch the parade and other activities on the promenade. Whatever room you choose you will have a great cruise. Enjoy!!

[senrab]

I will be cruising on the Explorer this summer. My last cruise on the radiance, we had a balcony and loved it, but as of now, the price is out of our reach.

 

I worry that an OV room on decks 2 or 3 would probably be too close to the water and make me sea-sick from seeing the waves so close. Does anyone have any experience with this? What about noise from being so low down? Do the PR rooms get any daylight from the skylights in the promenade? How are they as far as noise goes?

 

There is about a $200 difference per person between a PR room and an OV guarantee... Any opinions on which would be best?

 

Thanks! :)

 

Don't forget that the "daylight" you see in the Royal Promenade skylights is a clever lighting trick. The pools (and pool deck) are above the RP, and thus prevent any real light from entering from above.

 

As others have mentioned, the lighting changes with time of day.

 

If it were my money, I'd opt for the PR room. I visited a friend in an oceanview on Voyager, and was unimpressed. The window was small and over the beds, so you couldn't really sit and gaze out. It let in natural light (and could serve as an "alarm clock" of sorts, but I didn't say to myself, "this is nice."

 

I've never visited a PR room, but judging from pictures and the comments of others, if I were to find a balcony out of my budget, I'd opt for a PR room in a heartbeat. Low cost (mostly) of the interior, but with a veiw, of sorts...

[firefly333]

Last time we did a OV on deck 2 and the deck doesnt go thru. We kept wishing we had a PR, so that's what we are doing this time luckily enough. The OV cabin is larger, but we decided we didnt care about the view enough to book it again.

[Newbcruiser1]

Thanks for sharing all of your opinions/experiences! I think we'll likely go for a promenade room since the cost is less (we could easily spend the $200 pp on other things like excursions or drinks). We will miss the balcony, however for the amount of savings we'd be getting, I can sit on deck and watch the water instead! :)

[phantom728]

Love the PR cabins and will post a few pics of ones from Explorer. We had them last year Nov and will be in them again in Feb. Would rather be up higher than down lower in the ship.

 

If possible try and get mid PR cabins or ones towards the front. The back ones overlook the centrum more than the promenade. Just a tip:)

 

Hope this helps!

[Newbcruiser1]

Ahh great pictures! Thank you! :) There seems to be more seating in the PR rooms as well! I think that helped us make up our mind (as well as the price difference, and being higher up in the ship and within walking distance of more areas).

[firefly333]

This is the OV we had, way down on deck 2. As you can see there is very little space around the bed. There is however, a large sitting area. The window is very large, but we decided this time we wanted to see the action instead of the water.

 

Don't get me wrong, it was a beautifull cabin, we just wished everytime we walked past the open door of a PR we had that instead.

[GeckoGirl]

We loved our Promenade room, we were on Deck 8 overlooking the perfume store. Every morning I would look out the window and see what displays they were setting up for the promotions that day. One day it was the liquor tasting, another time it was the jewelry sale etc.

 

The only noise we heard was the parade but we watch it from the window seat. I have never had an Oceanview room but I really did like the Promanade room. Plus it was fun to people watch.

 

Just make sure you close your curtains when changing, becasue the people across from you can see in your window when the curtains are open.

[westcoastvecs]

Promenade! LOVE the windowseat!

 

;-)

Robin

[Newbcruiser1]

Thanks everyone! And thanks for those OV pictures as well - I think they just confirmed that the window is too close to the water for my liking! ;) PR it is! (unless of course there's a big price drop on a balcony in the next few months!)