Am I overthinking this? (Spoiler Alert: Quite Probably!)

[Amy Paperlady]

So, I've been trying to go on my first cruise since my husband and I got the bright idea to try one as a family Christmas gift while having a belated Valentine's dinner date, in 2020. Everyone knows how that panned out... (Actually a bit more frustrating than that--that first cruise I booked had gotten changed by MSC--Miami instead of Tampa (we'd be driving, and Tampa was pushing it--we live northeast of Nashville), one less night aboard, so no sea day--so I cancelled that and booked something on Carnival for the same days, which Carnival cancelled because COVID.) Then I booked for late May 2021, right after my older daughter's high school graduation, thinking that surely we should be good to go then *hollow laugh*

 

Fast forward to this year--'twill be my husband and my 25th anniversary on July 12th, though because Reasons, we will be taking our celebratory cruise on August 27. I think it's safe to say that, this time, we'll get to sail! Just us! (Sorry, girls!) After many hours of back and forth, I booked a porthole cabin, because it's a little bigger than a standard interior and the price at the time was about midrange for interiors. Every time I checked prices, we'd ended up with the lowest price for a pothole cabin. Now the whole rate structure has shifted downward significantly, but porthole cabins are no longer listed. I'm guessing that means they've all been sold? Especially since there were only 10 to start with. Should I just sit tight with the cabin we have, or change the reservation to something cheaper (husband doesn't care--I'm the one that has been stuck in a research loop since 2020)? If I do change it, should I go with an interior guarantee, an interior cheaper than the guarantee (yep, there's one), or grab the obstructed oceanview, which is less than $20 less per person? The main draw of the porthole room was the tiny bit of extra space, with the option to cover over the porthole for complete darkness while napping or to uncover for natural light. I've also had the thought that maybe to porthole cabins didn't sell out, and Carnival wants the lower decks forward for quarantining or something, but I've still got he same cabin number when I check my booking details.

 

Also, if I do rebook under a rate that offers gratuities paid by the TA,  what happens with the gratuities I already prepaid? Do they get applied to my cruise payments, get turned into OBC, or does it depend on the TA? If the rate has a reduced deposit, when I've already paid a full deposit, does that get applied to the cruise, etc.?

[Indytraveler83]

Whatever you do, don't go with an interior garentee rate. The "Let us pick your cabin" means you get the cabins everyone else didn't want.  That usually means you get the ones in noisy areas, especially with interiors.  That's not what I would want my first cruise experience to be.  

[nwcruiselover]

6 minutes ago, Indytraveler83 said:

Whatever you do, don't go with an interior garentee rate. The "Let us pick your cabin" means you get the cabins everyone else didn't want.  That usually means you get the ones in noisy areas, especially with interiors.  That's not what I would want my first cruise experience to be.  

Very good advice!

[sanger727]

I don’t mind interiors but I also agree with not doing an interior guarantee. also, I think the interior that’s cheaper than that has like bunk beds in it. Is there a reason you don’t want to stick with the cabin you have? 

[nwcruiselover]

I would advise sticking with the porthole cabin.  It’s so nice to have the natural light coming in and be able to look out, at the price of an interior.  I would recommend a regular porthole cabin vs. an upper/lower porthole cabin, which has less room.

[Essiesmom]

Instead of trying to downgrade, how about checking out ocean view cabins that might now be at the price you paid for the porthole?  And what ship will you be on?  EM

[heidiatmn1]

My 2nd cruise was a porthole room and I personally would choose an inside room near an outdoor public area (think near the pool ) over them. A lot of times the porthole rooms are far away from everything. We had one near the front on deck 2 I believe and the motion was awful-it seemed every wave was going to "crash" thru the side.

[Amy Paperlady]

On 2/27/2022 at 7:10 PM, sanger727 said:

I don’t mind interiors but I also agree with not doing an interior guarantee. also, I think the interior that’s cheaper than that has like bunk beds in it. Is there a reason you don’t want to stick with the cabin you have? 

 

Purely financials--if I didn't know about checking prices, I'd be perfectly happy. And there are actually 2 interior classes between the bunk bed one and the guarantee!  Basically the regular interiors near our current cabin.

 

On 2/27/2022 at 7:13 PM, nwcruiselover said:

I would advise sticking with the porthole cabin.  It’s so nice to have the natural light coming in and be able to look out, at the price of an interior.  I would recommend a regular porthole cabin vs. an upper/lower porthole cabin, which has less room.

 

It's a regular porthole cabin.

 

On 2/27/2022 at 7:24 PM, Essiesmom said:

Instead of trying to downgrade, how about checking out ocean view cabins that might now be at the price you paid for the porthole?  And what ship will you be on?  EM

 

Good point... I'll see what's available when I'm actually home, when I've time to call my TA (and they can call Carnival to change things). Right now, the obstructed view oceanview cabins available are 701 and 7202.

 

We'll be on the Valor, out of New Orleans, August 27.

 

7 hours ago, heidiatmn1 said:

My 2nd cruise was a porthole room and I personally would choose an inside room near an outdoor public area (think near the pool ) over them. A lot of times the porthole rooms are far away from everything. We had one near the front on deck 2 I believe and the motion was awful-it seemed every wave was going to "crash" thru the side.

 

Hm. I don't get motion sick, and my husband claims that he doesn't any more (he still won't go on midway rides with me, though--I was very happy once our daughters got tall enough for the good rides!)

 

So I may end up on the phone either tomorrow night after 7m CST or sometime during the day Wednesday...

[keels81]

I would take one of those obstructed view staterooms on Valor in a heartbeat.

[ober134]

I tried to downgrade once, but was led to believe that is not allowable by my PVP. But maybe a TA can do that?

 

 

[Amy Paperlady]

So, after all that waffling, it came down to a few more square feet (porthole) vs having a walkway outside the window, but being closer to everything (obstructed oceanview). Once I'd eliminated the regular interiors, I presented the options to my husband, and he confirmed my leaning towards our original porthole room (especially since I'd waffled long enough that the prices are going up again, so the price difference is a whole $5 pp).

 

Thanks everyone for your input!