Interiors + retirement, how bad are interior rooms

[rucrazy]

As it turns out after some initial discovery, it looks like we may be able to retire this year (at least me). It does not look like we will not be eating cat food (I used to shop at the same time as this little old lady and she always bought lots off cat food. I asked the clerk if he knew how many cats she had and she said she did not have any....) or visiting the local food bank. Looking at cruise prices it looks like everything is up from before. My question is does it make sense to book and interior room? We have always had balcony rooms, but we could save big bucks by doing an interior.

 

What are your feelings on interiors?

 

We used to be one of those couples that said we would always book balconies.. and that was fine... as long as we were not looking fixed income in the mirror.... but then came retirement to look at us.. now we book Interior on a high deck (Cat I. we actually prefer insides to ocean view) this affords us to cruise exotic ports and longer cruises.. we also discovered that inside staterooms get to the ports of call almost as the same times as balconies..

[Katie333]

This is an interesting discussion.

 

We have always booked oceanview and up (after 2 oceanviews we tried a balcony and never looked back).

 

Unlike many cruisers, we DO spend a fair bit of time in our room. We love spending time on the balcony and often enjoy meals in room or on the balcony. Even when we've travelled in colder weather, you can count on us to be on that balcony. I like the extra light, the fresh air and the slightly larger space a balcony gives you. We've had a chance to tour inside cabins and about 2 minutes inside was enough for me. :o

 

Where you spend your money is up to you. We spend very little on board, typically booking private tours or DIY, and don't indulgence in spas, meals that cost extra $ or the various extras the cruiselines offer. We bring the wine allowance on board and don't drink much extra beyond that. We always have lots of OBC. Our onboard bill has been as little as -$32 and as high as $460 (14 day cruise). I know there are cruisers who have onboard bills in the thousands.

 

My point is that, for us, the price of a balcony is worth it, and we save money in other ways to allow us to pay for it.

[vancouverfan]

This is an interesting discussion.

 

We have always booked oceanview and up (after 2 oceanviews we tried a balcony and never looked back).

 

Unlike many cruisers, we DO spend a fair bit of time in our room. We love spending time on the balcony and often enjoy meals in room or on the balcony. Even when we've travelled in colder weather, you can count on us to be on that balcony. I like the extra light, the fresh air and the slightly larger space a balcony gives you. We've had a chance to tour inside cabins and about 2 minutes inside was enough for me. :o

 

Where you spend your money is up to you. We spend very little on board, typically booking private tours or DIY, and don't indulgence in spas, meals that cost extra $ or the various extras the cruiselines offer. We bring the wine allowance on board and don't drink much extra beyond that. We always have lots of OBC. Our onboard bill has been as little as -$32 and as high as $460 (14 day cruise). I know there are cruisers who have onboard bills in the thousands.

 

My point is that, for us, the price of a balcony is worth it, and we save money in other ways to allow us to pay for it.

 

 

I totally agree with you.

 

The most frequent comments here : we love the darkness in the room to sleep better. My question is do you also have a room without a window at home, if not how can you sleep at home !!!! This is rationalisation.

 

We do not spend a lot of time in the cabin : well with an inside cabin, it is an excellent idea. The lack of natural light is a depressant. Also, there is nothing to enjoy in an inside cabin during the day, no view, no sunshine, no fresh air, etc. With a balcony, you can listen to the waves, watch sunrise and sunset, relax and doze off in you private chair, eat breakfast or lunch al fresco, etc. No wonder none of you spends a lot of time in an interior cabin.

 

I would rather spend my money on a balcony than sit in my interior stateroom and watch my interest grow and my investment increase. My children would prefer that I stay only in insides.....I want to spend it, enjoy luxury and have fun rather than being thrifty for others to enjoy my money later.

[the2ofus]

When I reached the stage in life where solo cruising was likely, I decided that an inside cabin was better than not sailing at all. I booked a lower prom K cabin on the Volendam and found that by having the bridge cam on at all times I did not feel too enclosed. Also, the largest balcony on the ship was just steps away. I still prefer a cabin with a window if I can afford one. My advice is to use a HAL PCC to help you find HAL sales when you can get and obstructed outside for the same price as inside. That happened on my most recent solo cruise. Even though there was a lifeboat in front of my window I had daylight and sunlight. It works for me.

 

Another plus with HAL insides, they all open onto well lighted main corridors with reasonably close access to stairwells/elevators that take you quickly to somewhere you can see outside.

 

On RCCI's Adventurer of the Seas I wanted to see what the inside cabins were like. They were tiny and in a warren of cross passageways down on the lower deck. Instant claustrophobia for me.

[TiogaCruiser]

I get a chuckle out of references to a "fixed income" hitting after retirement. I've been on a fixed income for the last many years.

 

As a public sector employee I maxed out in salary a long time ago. We don't get bonuses or commissions (nor should we). So it is a fixed income and budget.:)

 

And when I retire (5-10 years projected) it will be fixed still- but at a lower level. Hopefully debt will also be less or paid off then, too.

:D

[igraf]

Good logic in general as I also would rather do more cruises, except that the price difference between inside and oceanview staterooms is more like 25%. Even less of a real difference if one also considers airfare, precruise hotels, excursions and the usual extra charges on the ship as these costs would be similar. Overall, perhaps only a 10% difference overall between inside and oceanview staterooms on shorter cruises.

 

igraf

 

 

 

We started out with suites and Verandas, then tried ocean view, then inside. Now we do almost all insides....

 

The extra bonus is that we now do 3 times the number of cruises that we used to.

[LSEA]

I totally agree with you.

 

The most frequent comments here : we love the darkness in the room to sleep better. My question is do you also have a room without a window at home, if not how can you sleep at home !!!! This is rationalisation.

 

We do not spend a lot of time in the cabin : well with an inside cabin, it is an excellent idea. The lack of natural light is a depressant. Also, there is nothing to enjoy in an inside cabin during the day, no view, no sunshine, no fresh air, etc. With a balcony, you can listen to the waves, watch sunrise and sunset, relax and doze off in you private chair, eat breakfast or lunch al fresco, etc. No wonder none of you spends a lot of time in an interior cabin.

 

I would rather spend my money on a balcony than sit in my interior stateroom and watch my interest grow and my investment increase. My children would prefer that I stay only in insides.....I want to spend it, enjoy luxury and have fun rather than being thrifty for others to enjoy my money later.

 

You raise some interesting points. Although I would suggest that when some posters refer to better sleep they are talking about sleep during day light hours. That does make a difference in my opinion. I do have a difficulty sleeping at home during day light hours.

 

We have vacationed in almost every category. Of course I prefer a verandah or better yet a suite, however we tend to book at the last minute and don't always have a choice of staterooms. When we land in an interior we always enjoy our time there. For us it is pointless to pay additional money for an oceanview. A window that doesn't open offers no value for us. Often though we have been given a complimentary upgrade from an interior to an oceanview.

[RuthC]

I get a chuckle out of references to a "fixed income" hitting after retirement. I've been on a fixed income for the last many years.

:) I know exactly what you mean. The last several years of my working life I was on a totally "fixed" income---there were no raises at all for many years there.

At least my Social Security does increase a tad each year now. It's not "fixed" at all. :D

[travelinjones]

We've sailed in every meta-category on HAL from the smallest inside to a Deluxe Verandah (Or Neptune) Suite.

 

While large suites are nice, we are always happy to cruise even if in an inside.

The only Holland America ship that we would not buy an inside is on the Prinsendam -- they are tiny!

 

A tip:

-- book a guaranteed inside and then advise your travel agent that you want to be notified immediately of any Special Upgrade offers. (you can often buy your way up to an obstructed outside or higher at a significantly discounted price through these paid upgrades 2-3 weeks before departure.)

[ger_77]

Also, there is nothing to enjoy in an inside cabin during the day, no view, no sunshine, no fresh air, etc. With a balcony, you can listen to the waves, watch sunrise and sunset, relax.

 

You also don't get fresh air in a regular ocean-view cabin; the only way you will is with a balcony. Many of us appreciate the opportunity to cruise and don't feel we have to spend the extra money for a balcony when we all reach the ports at the same time and can go on one of the decks to get all the sunshine and fresh air we want. Just my humble opinion.

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

[Markanddonna]

I think you need to consider the month you are traveling and the region before you think booking a balcony on a TA. We had one in early Nov. from the Mediterranean and only could use it when we entered the Caribbean area. The weather in the Med region was rather chilly and rainy on many days and the ship really moves fast with quite a wind and spray in the Atlantic.

 

Personally, I would book an inside or an Obstructed view in order to save $ and if you really wanted to lounge, spend your $ on a spa pass.

[ksqueak]

As it turns out after some initial discovery, it looks like we may be able to retire this year (at least me). It does not look like we will not be eating cat food (I used to shop at the same time as this little old lady and she always bought lots off cat food. I asked the clerk if he knew how many cats she had and she said she did not have any....) or visiting the local food bank. Looking at cruise prices it looks like everything is up from before. My question is does it make sense to book and interior room? We have always had balcony rooms, but we could save big bucks by doing an interior.

 

What are your feelings on interiors?

 

 

I almost always book an interior. They are pretty large with plenty of room. You aren't in your cabin a whole lot anyway. I'm the opposite of you - I've never had a balcony :-)

[northernphoenix]

Just returned from a Canada/NE on the Eurodam. I have cruised in an Oceanview , and deluxe suite , and most recently an interior . It was an experiment , since I travelled with my cousin, who also has only cruised in balcony . She suffers from insomnia, and had the best sleeps in months while in this room. I would not hesitate to choose to cruise in this category, but DH is not willing. I will have to cruise with my cousin, or DD, since I won a 7day cruise for two( in the lowest category ) when I booked our next land/cruise of Alaska, while on the Eurodam.

Marilyn

[LindaM]

I almost always book an interior. They are pretty large with plenty of room. You aren't in your cabin a whole lot anyway. I'm the opposite of you - I've never had a balcony :-)

 

Hi Karen,

 

We rarely get balconies. We are going to have one on Prinsendam in July for Iceland. You should come with us! I am doing it for the "scenery" this time. We didn't have a balcony for a Caribbean cruise we took on Regent in April---the funny thing was, even after having one on Regent previously, I did not miss it at all. We'd hang out in other areas.

 

Linda

[LindaM]

The first year being retired can be traumatic, because you don't know how the money situation will work out. I actually worked 4 years longer than I needed to, because I was concerned I wouldn't have enough money for cruises.

 

Once we started collection Social Security---I figure that is money for splurging on verandahs. We booked insides because we were saving for retirement and felt guilty if we squandered money on expensive cabins. Now, I doubt if we will book an inside again. But, I still feel they are perfectly fine. We did spend time in our inside cabins and did not feel claustrophobic.

[Roz]

I've sailed in several interior cabins, as I'm a solo, and it's a money saving move. I've only had one "dog", and that was on the Noordam. A "cabinette" (tuna fish can?), to use Ruth's terminology. So my advice is just be careful of the exact room you book.

 

For me, if it was between cruise or no cruise, I'd book the interior room.

 

Roz

[Daisyloo]

We booked balcony cabins our first couple of cruises. Then my husband suggests we try an interior. His rational was that we would save a lot of money and we would be able to cruise more often with the savings. We thought about how often we had actually used our balcony on each cruise and realized we spent very little time out there.

We decided to try an inside with the understanding that if I didn't like it, we would go back to a balcony cabin in future. I tend to be a bit claustrophobic so I wasn't sure how I would like being in a inside cabin.

Well, we liked our interior cabin and had no problem with claustrophia. We found it was great for sleeping, being dark and quiet. Since that first interior we have only booked interior cabins and been very happy. I know it would not be to everyone's taste but it works for us.

My advice is to try it - you might love it and have more money to book your next cruise. :)

[ksqueak]

Hi Karen,

 

We rarely get balconies. We are going to have one on Prinsendam in July for Iceland. You should come with us! I am doing it for the "scenery" this time. We didn't have a balcony for a Caribbean cruise we took on Regent in April---the funny thing was, even after having one on Regent previously, I did not miss it at all. We'd hang out in other areas.

 

Linda

 

 

Wish I could! I'm booked for Canada/New England in June and then finally knee surgery in July. Let me know your 2015 plans and I'll see what I can do to catch up with you :-)

If I have vacation time and recovered enough I'd like to do the Panama Canal in the fall. I've done both sides but never transitted it so I figure it's okay for recovery as I've been to most of the ports. That's one of the places I would consider a balcony.

[LindaM]

Wish I could! I'm booked for Canada/New England in June and then finally knee surgery in July. Let me know your 2015 plans and I'll see what I can do to catch up with you :-)

If I have vacation time and recovered enough I'd like to do the Panama Canal in the fall. I've done both sides but never transitted it so I figure it's okay for recovery as I've been to most of the ports. That's one of the places I would consider a balcony.

 

We haven't figured out 2015 yet!! Would like to do Australia/NZ, but everything depends on our 15 year old dog. BTW, my sister did extremely well with her knee replacement. No complaints whatsoever! I'd sort of like to do a TA, from Europe to the US at some point.

[ksqueak]

We haven't figured out 2015 yet!! Would like to do Australia/NZ, but everything depends on our 15 year old dog. BTW, my sister did extremely well with her knee replacement. No complaints whatsoever! I'd sort of like to do a TA, from Europe to the US at some point.

 

 

loved, loved, loved New Zealand! Did 2 back to back on the Oosterdam out of Sydney last year. Also saw the great barrier reef. If you do decide to do this book the reef as soon as they release shore excursions. If you weren't lucky enough to be on the tour - you didn't get the chance to dive/snorkel the reef. And sorry, won't join you on a TA - the Atlantic and I usually don't get along too well, movement issues. The Pacific was nice to me when I sailed to Hawaii.

[srlafleur]

My husband would stop cruising if we couldn't have balconies (he says). I, on the other hand, would give up the balcony if it meant the difference between a cruise and no cruise, but I would miss the balconies terribly, particularly on certain itineraries. The Caribbean, not so much. Alaska, Hawaii, or anywhere with scenic cruising, oh, yeah. NEED that balcony.

I cruised with my 3 (then teenage to adult) kids a few years ago, and I've gotta say the worst thing about the cabin was that it was so danged dark. Which is very cozy, but for some reason put us all to sleep as soon as we returned to the room after dinner. I swear, we'd all just collapse on the beds "for just a moment" and be down for the count! And I'm talking night-owl teen and college age, here. No disco for any of them!