Decisions about my first cruise

[kitty9]

I'm not understanding the whole thing of cabin size. I've stayed at some of the best hotels in the world including the Peninsula in Hong Kong, The Ritz in Paris and the Oriental in Bangkok, and the rooms in those hotels were not huge. Heck, in some of the most expensive hotels in Rome, like the Hassler, the rooms are smaller than the standard cabins on most ships and you're paying hundreds of dollars a night for maybe 120 sq ft. Plus, if you do things right on the cruise, you're not in the cabin long enough to make any difference. You don't need 500 sq ft in a cabin, you really don't. I'm not sure how large your bedroom and bathroom are in your house, but if your bedroom is around 15X15, and you have a standard size bathroom, why need something larger than that? Like everyone says, as a solo you don't need a huge cabin, especially if you're trying to keep a small budget. On Crystal, I'm in a cabin that's 202 sq ft and that's more than enough space. It has bathtub, double sinks and is more than enough space to do what any woman needs to do in a bathroom. So unless you're planning on hosting a lot of parties in your cabin, you don't need anything larger than 190 sq ft.

[madelinerose]

Darcie, you are not alone. ;)

[Cruisin' Chick]

Darcie, you are not alone. ;)

 

I didn't get it either. Especially if we're talking about one person.

[kitty9]

I didn't get it either. Especially if we're talking about one person.

 

Yeah, it is only one person. I've been in inside cabins that were about 140sq ft and that was sufficient for a solo cruiser. Now, that I'm able to afford a larger cabin, for me anything over 220 sq ft is pretty darned big, especially when you consider that I'm usually out of the cabin by 8 or 9 and I don't go back, unless to shower and change clothes for the evening, until midnight. So in all reality, most people are in their cabins less than 8 hours a day, and most of that is for sleeping/showering/changing clothes.

[ariawoman]

Take a Seabourn cruise, smallest cabin on their ships is 277 sq feet. I stayed in one last year and it was plenty large enough for the 2 of us. Honestly, what you *think* you need, and what you actually need, are 2 different things, unless of course you are in say, a wheelchair and need more space for handicapable access.

 

Of course, Seabourn isn't cheaper either, but you'll get the room size, the personal attention, the no fee at any restaurant type deal. I don't think there are demonstrations though, who has time for that when you've got a whole country to explore in the matter of an 8 hour port time!

 

I agree with others, meet with an experienced travel agent and express what it is you're looking for. Heck, I've got a spreadsheet right now for my october vacation in the Mediteranean with 7 potential itineraries on it! Surely you can find several for yourself to narrow it down. Create a spreadsheet, put the cabin size of the room you can afford, the cost, the itineraries, dates, etc and see what you can figure out. Half the fun of going on a cruise is thinking about where you'll go, what you'll do, planning it, etc, so in essence, you're ruining part of the fun for yourself by limiting yourself to 1 ship out of the many.