Inside cabins, are they so bad?

[Invincible]

We've only cruised 3 times up to now, we had a balcony going down to the Canaries and back in late April 2008 when it was too cold to enjoy it, another balcony in the Caribbean last Feb which we really loved as it was so warm, and a sea view in the med last October which was fine as the weather was indifferent outside anyway. we're off again in a few weeks when we again have a seaview cabin this time at the rear of the ship. I've really got into cruising and love it and I'd even sleep in the corridor if I could be on board but my wife insists she will not go into an inside cabin because she feels she'd be "shut in a wardrobe" being in a room with no natural daylight. So as retirement looms over the horizon with the reduced spending power which we'll obviously have are inside cabins so bad?

[cruiseanywhere2]

Having cruised 14+ times, sometimes inside cabins, sometimes outside and suites I can honestly say that inside cabins are not so bad. The best inside cabin we had was on the Oriana it was light and spacious. You do miss the natural light but when we went to Iceland I would have had no sleep at all in an outside cabin as it never went dark. There are usually large mirrors and you can always leave the bathroom light on in the night.

It's a personal choice but you could always try a short cruise and let's face it how much time do you actually spend in your cabin?

[Quercus]

We spend quite a bit of time in our cabin, I think that the time spent in the cabin is directly proportionate to the grade of cabin. Fair enough if someone doesn't want to spend any time in the cabin then it is a waste of money getting anything other than the cheapest available. We would go on a shortish cruise in an inside & to be honest if something really really cheap came up we may be tempted! Having a balcony in a good location is part of our enjoyment, we find the deck areas too crowded, especially round the pools, we also find little of great interest to do during the day on sea days, so our balcony is like our beach hut!

[cruiseluvva]

We also spend a considerable amount of time in the cabin - or rather on the balcony.

 

I had an inside cabin to myself once, on the QM2, when travelling with friends, and that was just about ok because we were out all the time.

 

When travelling with my husband, we like the peace of our own balcony so wouldn't choose to have an inside cabin. But never say never!

[Host Sharon]

I have had several inside cabins, and though I prefer a window, if it means the difference between cruising and not cruising then so be it. The size of cabin is usually around the same as an outside twin - just no window (although some on Arcadia and QE are much larger). One trick is to leave the cabin TV on with the Bridge Cam view - then you can see daylight!

[timh111]

We had an Inside on the Ecstasy and it was fine. It's pretty much how much time you spend in your cabin. We cruise the Caribbean mostly and Bermuda so we prefer a Balcony. But, even when it is a cold itinerary, there is nothing better than having a Balcony for when you cruise in and out of ports. If you just use the cabin to shower, change, sleep and "Whatever":rolleyes:, and are working on a budget...an inside FOR ME would be just fine!!

[Quercus]

We REALLY don't know. We don't know what we would do if the only cruise we could do was in an inside, we just love the balcony especially an aft one.

[SeaSickGill]

Hi

I love inside staterooms, it makes the holiday very affordable - bordering on cheap. Yes there's no inside light but so what, I like to spend time on deck, not sat on my balcony:)

 

Though if an upgrade was offered - I don't think I'd turn it down;)

[Quercus]

Hi

I love inside staterooms, it makes the holiday very affordable - bordering on cheap. Yes there's no inside light but so what, I like to spend time on deck, not sat on my balcony:)

 

Though if an upgrade was offered - I don't think I'd turn it down;)

If you can find somewhere on deck!! Maybe I am reading this wrong but you sound like you think it's wrong to sit on the balcony?

A couple of balcony views...

[SeaSickGill]

If you can find somewhere on deck!! Maybe I am reading this wrong but you sound like you think it's wrong to sit on the balcony?

A couple of balcony views...

 

 

Hey not at all, you've read it completely wrong - I'm just trying to gee up Invincible:eek:

 

I've never had a problem finding deck space though, thanks to the folk sat on thier balconys!

[Quercus]

Deck space was virtually impossible to find on Azura, within reach of a cooling pool anyway, they were up in the early hours putting out the towels!!

[Host Sharon]

Deck space was virtually impossible to find on Azura, within reach of a cooling pool anyway, they were up in the early hours putting out the towels!!

 

It depends on the ship. The older ships have much more deck space - not a problem on Oriana or Aurora for example.

[jeanlyon]

I had the same problem on Azura, but not on any other ship. Have sailed on little ones and Artemis. We always have inside cabins, refuse to pay double for a balcony. I've never felt it was like a cupboard, in fact, havebeen pleasantly surprised by the size. We have an inside cabin on our upcoming cruise of 24 days on Arcadia. My cabin is for sleeping and dressing. The rest of the time, I like to be out and about.

[trfccruiser]

On how much time you spend in the cabin.I have been on nearly 30 cruises and have only stayed in inside cabins except once in an outside cabin which was no bigger than an inside and just basically had a small window.Generally,we only sleep and get ready in the cabin,so never been a problem for us and it has saved a lot of money over the years.You also sleep fantastically well as its so dark.

That said, for the first time we are going in a suite on Oriana but it's just for 2 nights and it's a surprise for my wife.

I'm pretty sure I'll happily return to an inside especially as I'm a bit of a cheapskate but you never know I may get a taste for it...

[trfccruiser]

...

[tom_uk]

We had inside cabins on our first two cruises: seven nights on MSC Sinfonia and a couple of nights on Norwegian Jewel (her first cruise, in fact).

 

The Sinfonia cruise was OK - our cabin was right at the forward end of our deck and it was quiet. The weather was OK so the position didn't cause us any problems. In fact the main problem was that the cabin was pretty small - a bare 150 sq feet, IIRC.

 

On Norwegian Jewel, however, we were much less successful. This cabin was amidships, and there was a continual noise going on behind the cabin - just behind my head, in fact, when I was trying to sleep. Looking at the deck plans again, I could see a big white space the length of the deck behind the inside cabins - I think it's a service void, and contains all sorts of equipment, piping and so on. So that experience was unpleasant, and put us off inside cabins.

 

As a result we've had either window cabins (Oriana, Galaxy twice, Braemar) or balcony cabins (Solstice, Ventura twice, Arcadia) since then. The balconies are very nice (we didn't really use it on Arcadia) but for us the biggest thing has been that these cabins are very quiet - you're away from the ship's systems.

 

What we'll do when we retire I don't know. It certainly seems to be the case that you can often get a late booking in an inside cabin for a very low price, and that might turn out to be very tempting.

[macca46]

It depends on your budget I guess.

If I had the choice of two Cruises in an inside Cabin or one with a Balcony...

Inside would do me, In the USA outside and Balcony Cabins are not massively more expensive.

In Australia there is a significant premium for a Balcony as the Ships based in Oz have a far smaller percentage of Balconies available.

[The Mommy]

We do both depending on the price, itinerary and the number of people in our group. For instance we have just traveled as a group of 10 on a 14 night cruise with 10 ports - no need to pay for a balcony as we like to spend time together. Conversely we were on Equinox last year as a 4 group so had adjoining balcony cabins and had the division removed for us to enjoy the larger space.

When we choose an inside we have no problem at all, keep the web cam on the TV and use the savings to pay for the bar bill!

[jeanlyon]

Our inside cabin on Azura was excellent, open wardrobes, very good bed and very quiet. We were forward on D deck.

[Uri1961]

Tje first cruise I went on was inside and I didn't like it. I have traveled balcony or higher ever since. If you do not like closed spaces, I would not recommend it.

[Lewing]

Well I hope there is nothing wrong with an inside cabin!!! We are on Aurora in April for 3 weeks!!! We just could not afford another £800 just for a window so we really hope an inside cabin is going to be ok.

Our thoughts were that you only use the cabin to dress and sleep in so fingers crossed we wont be disappointed.

Linda

[madison quest]

it seems most people think the same, i would sooner be on board in an inside than left on the dockside wishing i was going.

you never know, if you go out of season a bit, and book inside there is sometimes the remote chance of being up graded.. result!:D

[Quercus]

it seems most people think the same, i would sooner be on board in an inside than left on the dockside wishing i was going.

you never know, if you go out of season a bit, and book inside there is sometimes the remote chance of being up graded.. result!:D

 

We don't, we would rather not go than have an inside, unless to be really honest it was SO cheap it would be rude not to!

One thing we have noticed is all the people that have nowhere to go because they hate their cabin so much are taking up seats in the bars & coffee shop reading, knitting, playing cards, soduku or whatever & those who wish to actually buy a drink have nowhere to sit.

[southwinds]

Its all down to what you can afford.. we spend notime in our cabin. We started out having inside cabins and they really are fine... top tip if on Oriana or Aurora find one aft which is close to the outside door to the aft deck .. so you get a massive aft balcony evening and morning to your self... !!!!before everybody gets up ...

If you are down low it might feel a bit closed in...

[SeaSickGill]

Well I hope there is nothing wrong with an inside cabin!!! We are on Aurora in April for 3 weeks!!! We just could not afford another £800 just for a window so we really hope an inside cabin is going to be ok.

Our thoughts were that you only use the cabin to dress and sleep in so fingers crossed we wont be disappointed.

Linda

 

 

You'll love it, don't worry:)