Inside Cabin VS Balconey Cabin

[rikitikitavii]

On 11/25/2022 at 1:41 PM, Susan Cark said:

W.O.W. ! The price difference is significantly less than I thought it would be - the difference is negligible. So I guess most people book inside cabins because they get better sleep in a cold dark room. Or seasickness from viewing the ocean out your balconey.

 

~S. Cark

To many cruisers, $600 is a make or break amount of money!  Multiply by 2 or 3 passengers, that gets to be a huge difference!!

[sparks1093]

On 11/25/2022 at 1:09 PM, Susan Cark said:

Hi all, I am very new to this forum but have been asking my friends this question, but haven’t been able to get a solid answer. Why would you book an inside cabin when the balconey cabins have amazing views, light, and fresh air? Do you book an inside cabin because of better sleep (dark metal bunker-type room) or is it for seasickness since you can’t see the ocean? Just trying to wrap my head around the purpose of the inside cabin, since you are missing out on waking up to amazing views at sea with an inside cabin. Thanks!

 

~S. Cark

No need to wrap your head around anything, different strokes for different folks. My sons book insides because they save them money. I book balconies because DW tells me too, but I could just as easily sail in an inside in order to save money.

[StephPS79]

I really like having a balcony, but we find we spend little time on it, not sure the cost justifies the use.  So we've tried booking a few interiors, but those cruises were either cancelled, or upgraded.  Got an interior booked for February though, so we'll see how it goes!  I'm not going to lie, I'm a little nervous about no access to natural light, we'll use the Bridge Cam trick during the day though and see if this is a mistake!

[rodndonna]

We typically do insides for the obvious cost saving reason. For our cruises, I like to look at that savings as money to be spent elsewhere on that cruise. Usually spent in port or for excursions, so it's not so much that we 'save' on that holiday, but we spend with a different priority. This is especially the case when sailing for a unique itinerary like Alaska.

 

We have a cruise next week which is an exception where we are treating ourselves to an aft balcony. It is a Caribbean/Bahamas cruise where we are not anticipating any major expenses off ship as its more about floating around the ocean in warm weather type of holiday.

 

[Mic101680]

• I book insides more often than anything else primarily because of the price difference, but also because I love sleeping in the pitch black. The room temperature also stays more consistent, and I love a cold room. I'm not ever really in the room all that much anyway, so it's not worth the extra cost to me - I'd rather spend the extra money in the spa or on a fun excursion.

[ldubs]

4 hours ago, rikitikitavii said:

To many cruisers, $600 is a make or break amount of money!  Multiply by 2 or 3 passengers, that gets to be a huge difference!!

 

Even if not a make or break amount, I would not call it insignificant and individuals will need to decide if it is worth it.   When looking at upgrades, we put it in terms of cost per day.  In the example given the upgrade would cost  $145/day for double cabin.  Is worth it?  That is really an individual decision.  

[KyloRen]

On 11/25/2022 at 10:09 AM, Susan Cark said:

Hi all, I am very new to this forum but have been asking my friends this question, but haven’t been able to get a solid answer. Why would you book an inside cabin when the balconey cabins have amazing views, light, and fresh air? Do you book an inside cabin because of better sleep (dark metal bunker-type room) or is it for seasickness since you can’t see the ocean? Just trying to wrap my head around the purpose of the inside cabin, since you are missing out on waking up to amazing views at sea with an inside cabin. Thanks!

 

~S. Cark

I’ve taken 5 cruises already this year. 4 were on this same sailing. I’m Good, I’ll take my free interior with free booze in the casino offer

 I’ll be taking an inside cabin next week for a 5d Mexican Riviera.

 

i use my room a ton less than my husband does , but he loves just sitting around on Serenety deck or chilling in the spa (not the spa at the pool i mean like the sauna).

 

I’ve had a balcony on the other 5 this year, and I hardly ever touch the outside.  They cost 2x as much if not more. It was well worth it to go to Bermuda and the 15d to Hawaii i did but I’ve been on the Mexican riviera 24 times now. I’m good! The smell of Ensenada when I roll in at 8 am is a smell I wont miss. Haha

 

if I had a choice between a balcony on floor 3 or a interior on spa deck it would be spa deck alllll day long

Edited November 28, 2022 by KyloRen

[reeinaz]

I'm in my room a lot and I still primarily book interiors. I've discovered that I really dislike hearing people that I can't see, so balconies aren't much a of restful place for me. People go onto the balcony to have "private" conversations. A person on the balcony is talking to person inside the room. Or my favorite is someone is using a walkie talkie to talk to someone else. Oh, and the thing I hate worse than hearing all of that, is seeing a head peeking around the balcony divider.

[Drazil65]

We book balcony or suites, we love that piece of outside real estate for coffee in the morning (in PJs) or sipping wine before dinner,  to have our own space to getaway from the crowds outside and can always get a seat.  It works for us and that is part of our cruise experience.  That extra $600 or whatever it turns out to be is used by some people on cheers cuz that is their thing and we prefer the upgraded cabin with a balcony and we love it! 

 

So as many others have pointed out, its a personal preference, to each their own!  

 

[1kaper]

1 minute ago, Drazil65 said:

We book balcony or suites, we love that piece of outside real estate for coffee in the morning (in PJs) or sipping wine before dinner,  to have our own space to getaway from the crowds outside and can always get a seat.  It works for us and that is part of our cruise experience.  That extra $600 or whatever it turns out to be is used by some people on cheers cuz that is their thing and we prefer the upgraded cabin with a balcony and we love it! 

 

So as many others have pointed out, its a personal preference, to each their own!  

 

 

The coffee is the one thing I love but my last two cruises the coffee delivered to my room was so terrible.  If I have to go get dressed and find coffee it’s just not the same to go back to the balcony. 

[staceyglow]

3 hours ago, reeinaz said:

 Oh, and the thing I hate worse than hearing all of that, is seeing a head peeking around the balcony divider.

I only do that if I smell cigarette smoke and if it's them, I remind them of the no smoking policy as nicely as I can. 

[MsOne]

This question was clearly not posed as the title implied. Instead of a what do you prefer, it is why don't you like I what I think is best. But, hey whatever, I'll still play along. Interestingly enough, I had this question before I started cruising because so many people kept mentioning how much I'd enjoy the balcony once I told them I booked a cruise. They were so confused when I said it wasn't a balcony lol. My only cruise before then was as a child back in (as my son says) the 1900s 😁....and balconies weren't really a thing. Anyway, everyone who tried convincing of the balcony told me about how much they LOVED waking up sitting on the balcony watching and sunrise (strike 1, I don't do early mornings) and drinking their coffee (strike 2, I don't drink coffee lol). Over and over, even on these boards, people totally romanticized this sunrise and coffee scenario...and occasionally sunset...or the, 1 person sits outside while the other is getting ready for dinner. None of this applied to me and after my cruise I had NO regrets about the inside room. Funnily enough, neighbors around commented on two cruises in a row about how awesome they thought our room was. One was even surprised there were even "inside" cabins in that area of the ship. I guess she thought it was too siddity for "common folk" to be on that deck lol. She asked as I was exiting the room, "how do you like the big window?" I was so confused, then I said, oh, there's no window. She just stared confused. And I chuckled and continued, "I like it dark like a cave when I sleep 🙂." Her daughter nudged her and gave her a look that said 'See! I told you we should've done that' LOL.

So as you can see, I say inside -- even though our next cruise is not -- we'll see how this goes 😧.

 

I guess to sum it up reasons can include, dark, PRIVATE, price, PRIVATE, and the way I look at it -- the whole ship is a balcony! I'm not missing anything by not having one when I want to sleep. I also really like being out in open water, going to bed and waking getting ready as usual, then when I walk out it's like "Wowwwww we're approaching another country! Look at that island!" All while on the way to breakfast.

Last point, I think one thing that sealed the deal before that first cruise (as an adult) was reading these boards and the number of people who did mention how hot it got with a balcony. I live in south Texas, so I'm sure what some of those people are complaining about is just known around here as Tuesday, lol...but still, I'll stick with the inside and go on several cruises for the same price as that balcony. I can literally count on one hand how many times I sat on my own balcony the last time I had one, and I had it for 5 years. I enjoyed the great views from my picture window though!

[1kaper]

2 minutes ago, MsOne said:

Anyway, everyone who tried convincing of the balcony told me about how much they LOVED waking up sitting on the balcony watching and sunrise (strike 1, I don't do early mornings) and drinking their coffee (strike 2, I don't drink coffee lol).

 

agreed on strike 1. I do like coffee but already covered that in an earlier post. 
Another one I often here is sunset. We just did and 8 day. I managed to make it to my room

on time once and it was cloudy so it wasn’t great.  
I love a good sunset but I also thoroughly enjoyed everything else we were doing during that time. Including napping (sunset was super early)

 

 

[1kaper]

Lol.  Hear. Not here. so embarrassed and too late to edit. 

[skywalkr2]

My last cruise was in a balcony and it smelled of Marijuana 80% of the time.

[reeinaz]

18 hours ago, staceyglow said:

I only do that if I smell cigarette smoke and if it's them, I remind them of the no smoking policy as nicely as I can. 

I had an aft wrap balcony cabin on the Conquest and was lying in my bed shortly after we were given cabin access when I saw a head from the aft balcony next door peeking around the divider, seemingly looking directly into the balcony door of my cabin.  I have no idea if they could see me or not, I'm sure if it was nighttime and I had my lights on they would be able to, but I ended up keeping the door drapes closed for the entire rest of the cruise.

[bugsy7]

On 11/26/2022 at 7:43 AM, ShakyBeef said:

 That's easy.  Two in a Balcony.  No contest.

His math was off also the 2 balconies would be $4208  the 3 interior would be $ 4572  $ 364 dif.

 

[bugsy7]

On 11/27/2022 at 8:25 PM, Badfinger said:

 

And when you consider one probably has to earn about $850 gross dollars in order to clear $600 net after taxes, ss, etc...yeah definitely not negligible.

 

That said, I much prefer a balcony.  But then I try to avoid crowds and loud music on a cruise.  I find the opportunity to sit on the balcony, looking over the water, with perhaps my favorite beverage, a few snacks and some music, lost in my thoughts...now that is something that is just not available to me at home.  I try to do that for a couple hours most everyday when we are on a cruise.  Add to that a couple visits a day to the Cloud 9 Spa thermal suites and T-Pool..now that is a vacation and worth the extra money to me.

 The prices that were shown were $290 PP $580 per cabin

[Top_of_the_Cube]

On 11/25/2022 at 12:41 PM, Susan Cark said:

W.O.W. ! The price difference is significantly less than I thought it would be - the difference is negligible. So I guess most people book inside cabins because they get better sleep in a cold dark room. Or seasickness from viewing the ocean out your balconey.

 

~S. Cark

 

[Sorry, but I am a little cantankerous today]  After original post, four of the next five comments mentioned price, and none mentioned better sleep, cold room, or seasickness.

 

Then OP comes back with the above response.  Seriously?

 

Anyways, my wife prefers inside cabins because she, uh, gets better sleep in a cold dark room.

[ShakyBeef]

3 hours ago, bugsy7 said:

His math was off also the 2 balconies would be $4208  the 3 interior would be $ 4572  $ 364 dif.

 

Yeah, I hear ya.  But the math doesn't really matter to me (admittedly, that places me in the minority here).  I could have truthfully said one cruise in a Balcony over seven in an Interior.  Realistically, though, I'm more likely to say one cruise in a Suite over fifteen in an Interior.  As far as I can see, I will never cruise in an Interior.  And I prefer Suites.  But, in the right circumstances, I would still sail in a Balcony, or even in an Ocean View. 

[CruizinSusan70]

7 hours ago, ShakyBeef said:

 Realistically, though, I'm more likely to say one cruise in a Suite over fifteen in an Interior. 

That says it all...... you're like the rebellious fish on NCL.  If given the choice between 15 cruises or just 1 in a suite, I will infer that more people would choose quantity over quality.

[sparks1093]

6 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

That says it all...... you're like the rebellious fish on NCL.  If given the choice between 15 cruises or just 1 in a suite, I will infer that more people would choose quantity over quality.

For us a lot depends on how often we can cruise. We can cruise about once every year-year and a half and a balcony fits into the budget nicely at that frequency. If we were only able to cruise every 3 to 4 years then we'd probably splurge and get a suite each time (we are sailing in a suite in April but we are celebrating a milestone anniversary so we are splurging). If we could sail several times per year then we'd likely have to choose an ocean view or inside in order to be able to afford it. When I first went to sea it was in a very large inside "cabin" with a lot of room mates, so I'm not as particular as DW is as long as I'm at sea.

[TORQ]

Oh that’s easy! Back in the day when my wife and I were bringing our 3 kids, and paying for five airfares from Boston to Florida or California and buying a cruise for five people and paying for five excursions in each island. It came down to those little pieces of paper with numbers on it called money$‼️ 
 However now they have kids of there own, they’re not grandfathered in anymore‼️ And my wife and I book nothing but balconies preferably aft balconies, we will never be in an inside state room again. And that’s all I got to say about that😉

[Drazil65]

If given the choice between 15 cruises or just 1 in a suite, I will infer that more people would choose quantity over quality.

 

For some people money is the issue (for whatever reason) and obviously they would not be looking at a balcony or suite and that is ok.  However each person wants to spend their vacation money is cool and people should do what fits their lifestyle and budget. 

 

For us,  our vacations are about family time and quality all the way.  We cruise 2x's a year typically we can drive to most east coast ports very easily so no plane fare (once in a while if we choose Miami port).  We do one in first 6 mons of the year and always one the week before Christmas (our family gift to each other).  We have been cruising for a little over 2 decades and we know what we like and what enhances our vacation.  We dont do insides (never did actually) and never do any deck below 7 and our budget for each cruise vacation has a balcony or suite built in, its just part of the equation for us.  So we are definitely in the 1 suite over 15 insides camp.  

[rikitikitavii]

23 hours ago, skywalkr2 said:

My last cruise was in a balcony and it smelled of Marijuana 80% of the time.

That has consistently been an issue when I have a balcony on Carnival!!  Can’t enjoy the balcony!