First time cruisers-- please advise

[carriebryce]

My husband and I are getting ready to book a 5 night cruise on RC's Enchantment of the Seas. We are going to get an inside room to save money, figuring we won't be in the room enough to make a difference.

Can anyone give any advice on picking a decent room, i.e. towards the front/back/center of the boat? What about which deck? I don't imagine our choices being too great w/ an inside stateroom but we'd like to make the best of it.

Thank you so much for your help!
-Carrie

[serene56]

[url="http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/ships/class/ship/home.do?br=R&shipClassCode=VI&shipCode=EN"]http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/ships/class/ship/home.do?br=R&shipClassCode=VI&shipCode=EN[/url]

Here is a web site for the deck plans for the enchantment. I would look at deck 3. Your cabin will be sandwiched between decks of cabins instead of public rooms. Deck 4 cabins are under the casino. (although very handy with the dining room and other places- deck 3 is one deck down) If you have motion sickness its better to be lower and mid ship since the higher you go the more you will feel.

Living on Earth is expensive,
but it does include a free trip around the sun every year.

Going NOWHERE
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[cruisinqt]

We like to save some money by booking a cheap inside cabin, too. What we do is book a guaranteed inside which is usually the cheapest. They guarantee you an inside cabin but you don't get assigned a room. What usually happens is, they sell out of the cheapest insides and you get upgraded to a better cabin. Also, watch the prices and if the price of your cabin drops after you purchase it, ask for an upgrade. You just call your travel agent and tell them your cruise price dropped and you want an upgrade. Many times, they will call your cruise line and get an upgrade for you.

The best time to get upgrades are off season when there is a lull in business and your cruise is not sold out. Upgrades are few and far between on cruises at christmas time and springbreak when cruises are sold out. You might keep this in mind when booking. I don't know why they are cheaper during off season. The opposite would make sense to me. But my husband says that it's probably because in off season when the cruise is not sold out there are extra rooms not being used. So he thinks the cruise line upgrades people to a higher level and leaves some of the lower decks empty and lets the employees have some time off. It's just speculation. But I do know for a fact that upgrades are normally found off season.

If you book the week after Thanksgiving or other holidays, that's off season and you have more of a chance of being upgraded. With this type of booking, there's still the chance you won't get an upgrade. But we have found that most of the cheap insides are on the lower decks. It's pretty quiet down there and the only annoyance is having to walk a good distance to get to your cabin. For us, it's worth a try for an upgrade to a nicer cabin. It has happened many times and usually works for us.

[srphnx]

There is nothing to be sorry about in an inside, paying $500 for a window or $1000 for a balcony for a week is a bit of a stretch for us, we would rather have a second cruise.

[doone]

I usually book an inside cabin and always book far ahead enough to get mid-ship, on one of the lower decks. I find these decks to be quieter and you don't feel the ship's movement as much. Hope this has helped.