First cruise question

[vafoodie]

DH and I have been cruise curious for awhile. I do not want to spend anymore than is absolutely necessary because I’m not sure it will be our thing. For that reason, I want an interior room. My husband thinks he needs a balcony, which doubles the price. Are we really going to be in the room to do more than sleep

 

[Aerides]

There was a thread on the pros and cons a few years ago:

https://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f28/this-is-not-so-much-about-travel-91473.html

My personal take, as someone who can be claustrophobic, I would never not want a balcony. Not even just a porthole or window. One big extra vote against interior rooms in current times would be if one became ill during the cruise, or had to quarantine for any reason.

 

[naggz]

We've cruised 3 times, and each time had a balcony, and it was one of our favourite parts of the cruise ship and well worth the upgrade (although, I don't think it was double the cost for us).

Are either of you introverted?
The balcony gives you a nice place to sit and enjoy the view, without the openness and people walking by.

It's also nice to order the breakfast room service (free) and enjoy a slow morning on the balcony, while getting ready for the day.

 

[braumeister]

I would be wary of pinching the penny too hard. If you obsess about the costs of what should be a relaxing and enjoyable splurge (cruises are never essential expenses), you might not enjoy it nearly as much as if you gave in and let yourself get the most out of it.

That way, even if this first cruise isn't exactly to your liking and you don't do any more of them, at least you'll be able to say you gave it your best shot.

 

[cathy63]

DH and I have been cruise curious for awhile. I do not want to spend anymore than is absolutely necessary because I’m not sure it will be our thing. For that reason, I want an interior room. My husband thinks he needs a balcony, which doubles the price. Are we really going to be in the room to do more than sleep

For me it depends on the ship and itinerary. How many days will you be at sea vs in port? What are your ports of call?

Also, I will say that you should pick your first cruise carefully. I have several family members who are convinced they hate cruising because for their "first" cruise they went on a 4-night Carnival cruise during spring break.

 

[Animorph]

I'm with naggz. We are introverts. We enjoy sitting on the balcony, out of the room but still our private space. Totally worth it for us. If the cost looks prohibitive you might be able to wait for a sale on balcony rooms.

 

[jollystomper]

DW and I have also never taken a cruise - we planned to, going into 2020, but then of course... . We are again discussing it for 2023.

Though we want our first cruise to be a short one, one criteria we have is a balcony room. It costs more, but we feel it would provide us with a better feeling of space and less feeling of confinement than an inside room would. In our view it is worth paying extra for that feeling.

 

[njhowie]

I would be wary of pinching the penny too hard. If you obsess about the costs of what should be a relaxing and enjoyable splurge (cruises are never essential expenses), you might not enjoy it nearly as much as if you gave in and let yourself get the most out of it.

Agreed.

I would look to pinch pennies on the dining, drinks, and excursions while taking a better cabin.

Try not to take less than a balcony - get the cheapest balcony they have if you must.

Remember - you are going to pay about the same amount of fixed charges as everyone else on the cruise, so the cheaper the cabin, the greater the percentage of fixed charges which you have no control over...for example port fees and taxes, as well as mandatory gratuities.

 

[mpeirce]

DH and I have been cruise curious for awhile. I do not want to spend anymore than is absolutely necessary because I’m not sure it will be our thing. For that reason, I want an interior room. My husband thinks he needs a balcony, which doubles the price. Are we really going to be in the room to do more than sleep

What you do in your room is your business. If you are doing more than sleeping, having a comfortable room makes a difference to how enjoyable the cruise is.

Last winter DW and I took a long cruise (about a month) and paid for a slightly larger room than we have used in the past and it was noticeable to us. We just felt more comfortable with the extra room and have decided to continue with the larger rooms even on shorter cruises in the future. It’s worth it to us.

 

[CRLLS]

I would think that if you take an inside room, you may not like it too much. That might sway your opinion on future cruises. I would say go for the balcony and see how you like cruising. Then decide how much you enjoyed having the balcony or not for future cruises.

We've been on 2 cruises and enjoyed both. The first was a very small boat by today's standards, 790 passengers if I recall correctly. We had an outside cabin with a (small) window, more like a porthole. The 2nd cruise was on a 2,500 passenger ship with a balcony. If we do another cruise, nothing less than a balcony for us.

 

[Lewis Clark]

Cabin type is very much a personal preference. My wife and I have been on about a dozen cruises. We have had interior cabins and we have had balconies. We didn't use the balconies much, even on days without a port visit. Sometimes the weather makes being on a balcony uncomfortable due to strong winds even if there is no rain.

Neither of us is claustrophobic. And we spend very little time in the cabin while we are awake. I'd always choose the interior cabin to save money, because spending extra for a balcony has no value for me. I'd rather spend those dollars on an activity meaningful to me. My wife says she prefers a balcony and then rarely uses it, other than using the balcony door as a large window.

If you think you might be susceptible to seasickness, I'd recommend an interior cabin, as low as you can get, and as close to the middle of the ship as you can get. This will minimize the motion if the ship is in rough seas.

 

[FIYes]

If you go to Cruise Critic, you find threads addressing cabin selection. Balcony versus interior is like when to take SS or whether to pay off the mortgage on this forum.

You will get a better cabin for more money. The question is whether it is worth the extra money. Keep in mind that all the cabins are small. They are however well designed to use the limited space.

I have been on several cruises. I wasn’t sure that I would like cruising, but some friends encouraged us to go on a cruise with them. Turns out, we enjoyed cruising. Our first few cruises were in interior cabins. I had the attitude that I would rather take two cruises with an interior cabin than one cruise with a balcony cabin. I have had a balcony cabin for a couple of cruises. The itinerary makes a difference on how much a balcony cabin adds value. If you are in port every day and only sleeping in the cabin then it is hard for me to justify the extra cost.

I hope to get back to cruising. I do have a cruise planned for 2023. It is an oceanview cabin.

 

[Kork13]

We've done interior, port-hole, and balcony rooms for cruises. The biggest factor is how you expect to spend your time. If you like to stay away from the busyness of the ship, having a semi-private balcony to hide away on & relax is invaluable. But if you're always out & about, truly only using your cabin for a place to sleep/shower, an interior cabin is totally fine.

My advice: try the balcony for your first cruise, and pay attention to if/how you use it. That'll inform your decision making for future cruises (assuming you enjoy yourselves).

 

[thod]

One big extra vote against interior rooms in current times would be if one became ill during the cruise, or had to quarantine for any reason.

I did contract covid on a cruise. Unless there was a great deal of quarantine going on, they will not leave you in your room. You will switch to one of the rooms blocked off on the 1st floor forward near the infirmary.

In our case it was not a big move as we were already in a deck 1 porthole room midship. Just moved our stuff forward about 10-15 rooms.

 

[Teacher Terry]

I have had rooms with large window which is called a ocean view and smaller interior rooms and I am somewhat claustrophobic. We were only in the room to sleep and shower except when I was teaching my online class. For us a balcony room would have been a waste of money.

 

[RetireBy90]

I would add that the clientele would be important for me. We did one with kids and young adults and they were annoying around the pools so we spent more time on the balcony. We will take a Viking in March and I’m advised it is less people and no little kids. I really enjoyed my first and only cruise, but don’t like big crowds so I would prefer smaller ships.

 

[friar1610]

I spent enough time in windowless bunkrooms/staterooms when I was in the Navy. Balconies (and wine, women and song) for me on cruise ships!

 

[Souschef]

I agree with the discussions of interior vs balcony is strictly a YMMV issue.
I have been on 47 cruises, and with BTD have slowly moved from a balcony to a mini suite to a suite. It depended on the length of the cruise and how many sea days there were.
We personally love a balcony and we sit out, read, listen to music, watch the in port goings on, etc. The main thing is the privacy.

 

[YVRRocketSurgery]

We don't mind an inside cabin because lights out makes it really easy to sleep. We've primarily done insides for Caribbean itineraries and I don't think we've missed out on much (though, you don't know what you missed, what you don't know ).

I like a balcony because I like watching stuff happening on the dock when in port. But I'm on the side of "It depends on the itinerary." Looking at the open ocean when at sea kind of gets repetitive unless there's stuff to see. But it is nice just to have quick access to look outside.
We did a balcony both times we cruised from Italy to Greece/Turkey and it was fun watching from our room as we sailed through the Messina Strait and Dardanelles Strait. We had an ocean view for inside passage to Alaska and I wish we had a balcony. Obviously we could have gone to public areas to watch too but it's kind of more comfortable from your own cabin.

Eating breakfast on our balcony is kind of fun but I don't feel it's a must do for us.

You can always try booking an inside cabin and then try for a discounted upgrade onboard. The upgrades while onboard are priced per room versus per person.

 

[disneysteve]

My wife's favorite part of cruising is getting room service breakfast and enjoying it on the balcony. It's worth every penny to her. I like the balcony and being able to open the door and get fresh air in the room, but would be fine without it, but I wouldn't want an inside cabin. I'd want a nice window at the very least (had that on our first couple of cruises).


There may be other options depending on the ship. The newer Royal Caribbean ships (Oasis et al) have "inside" cabins that have a large picture window that overlooks the promenade area of the ship so it's not as closed in as a traditional inside cabin. They also have balcony cabins that face the boardwalk area of the ship rather than facing out to the water. Those are a little cheaper than the oceanview ones.

 

[SecondAttempt]

DH and I have been cruise curious for awhile. I do not want to spend anymore than is absolutely necessary because I’m not sure it will be our thing. For that reason, I want an interior room. My husband thinks he needs a balcony, which doubles the price. Are we really going to be in the room to do more than sleep

I have never wanted to go on a cruise except maybe to Alaska or other places difficult to see otherwise. My partner gets seasick (and she is native Hawaiian!) so she is also not interested. We have been on numerous ferrys and similar things so I don't think she is super sensitive. She also was a competetive paddler so used to judging waves.

Her mom and sister went on a cruise from Hawaii to Kiribati back when they had to move ships there for Jones Act reasons. Her sister spent the cruise in misery even though growing up she never got sick. So I don't think a lot of cruises are in our future.

My sister just returned from a short Mexico cruise that was only $50/person. The cruise lines are pretty desperate right now. You might look for a very short cruise somewhere near you to test the waters (no pun intended) and make sure it is something that you actually like.

I live in a cruise port. I witness cruisers spending a lot of their time waiting in line for the tenders, not having time to explore the town, being shuttled to Walmart, and overcharged for excursions that they could do easily on their own. No one gets to experience the nightlife or the way the town is when not packed with cruisers.

I don't really have anything against cruise lines except conclusing they are not for me. You might want to take advantage of the current situation to see if they are right for you.

 

[dixonge]

We did a 7-day cruise one-way Vancouver > Anchorage, AK back in 2007. We only did it because some friends were going to get married onboard. We decided on the cheapest interior room we could find. It was pretty small. Might have had more room in our most recent RV bedroom LOL. But we never planned to spend much time there. The DW, as it turns out, wants to squeeze every bit of experience out of any large expense like that. So we exercised in the mornings (jogging track) and walked and lounged and buffeted and did the whole dress-up dining thing. Wine tastings. A few events. We also did tours at every stop, saw whales, birds, nature. DW and friends did a zip-line.

Our friends got a small balcony room, then were upgraded to a bigger one, free! But the wedding never happened. His mother's health took a turn and they ended up getting married at her bedside.

If we ever cruise again, it won't be a traditional one. We feel we get a lot more bang for the buck just flying and taking local transportation.

 

[mystang52]

Depending on the ship, it's not just a choice of inside vs balcony. There could be the choice of "outside view" or whatever the cruise line calls it, where you'll have a window looking outside. Pre-pandemic, DW and I were annual cruisers for 25 years.
For a first cruise, I strongly suggest not booking an inside cabin. Enjoy the view, the ambient daylight, and the overall cruise experience with an outside view or balcony cabin. You can easily save some money by avoiding the overpriced and, frankly, unnecessary extras: drinks (or, more than one per day), photos, ship gift shop knick knacks, etc. Thoroughly read between the lines of shore excursion descriptions - some are worth the money, others are just rip-offs like "day at the beach," which often is nothing more than a bus ride to the beach.
If you enjoy your cruise, you can then decide if inside cabin is right for you on a future cruise. DW and I went full circle; first 1 or 2 cruises were outside cabins, then we went to inside, but over the last 10 years of cruising we did balconies only.

 

[levindb]

DH and I have been cruise curious for awhile. I do not want to spend anymore than is absolutely necessary because I’m not sure it will be our thing. ....

If your focus is to spend very little, you may not enjoy the cruise world. Most cruise lines tend to charge for small amenities in life: special restaurants, alcohol, WiFi, excursions, room service, etc. If you decide to participate in these special activities, and bring out your calculator to decide if you only drink coffee and water, or whether you will walk the port town or go snorkeling...you may not experience all that your journey has to offer.

I have been on a short 4 day cruise to see if I would be vomiting constantly, and my last cruise was 137 days around the world. I would plan on spending twice the original cost of the cruise, just so you loosen up the purse strings a bit. I would encourage you to do what you can to enjoy the first cruise of your life so that you can have the potential to enjoy it. Otherwise, cancel the cruise and just give the money to your heirs/charity...since they will get it in the end anyway.

Sorry if this sounds harsh, but I truly believe people should enjoy their lives.

 

[njhowie]

I agree with the discussions of interior vs balcony is strictly a YMMV issue.
I have been on 47 cruises, and with BTD have slowly moved from a balcony to a mini suite to a suite. It depended on the length of the cruise and how many sea days there were.
We personally love a balcony and we sit out, read, listen to music, watch the in port goings on, etc. The main thing is the privacy.

If you really want to BTD and have the experience of a lifetime, take a cruise in one of Royal Caribbean's Sky Loft suites. We were blessed by the upgrade fairy for our 25th anniversary cruise and it was unforgettable. You get your own personal "genie" and he/she takes care of everything for you pre-cruise, until you disembark. The genie will whisk you to the front of every line, make your reservations for specialty/premium dining every evening, get you advance reservations at any/all on-board activities, personally take you on/off the ship at all ports so you won't wait in lines, escort you to your personal premium seats in the theater, and on and on. Then you also get the special charge card. Purchase as much alcohol/drinks or any other things that require purchase, and then the genie magically makes all the charges disappear nightly. Of course unlimited wifi for everyone is also included.

Oh, then there is the suite itself - two floors, two bathrooms - basically the size of a small townhouse. They make sure that there's always a platter of fresh fruit, desserts, snacks when you return to the suite.

We had done 10 cruises prior to this one, almost 5 years ago now. DW refuses to cruise again because she knows that it will be impossible to top that experience. I suppose in that sense, it could be saving money if we don't cruise again for 10 or 20 years.

I've attached a couple photos just to give an idea how large the suite is.