Which would you rather? More often or More comfortable?

[taszmom]

I go for balconies when it's a 7+ day cruise, but I don't see spending the extra $ for a suite. Rather spend that money on other things. Will usually do an inside on shorter cruises.

[viennacruiser]

We are going to try and do a little of both...we will do a S in March 05 on the Z, surprise for the DH, he thinks we have an outside;) and than at the end of July 05 we will do a family cruise for my parents 50th and we will have an outside:(

taking the kids along on this one and chipping in for the parents :D .

Nancy:)

[ASM]

Love that verandah! Trying to avoid a suite. I know I'd be hooked and DH would not approve--but then again, he likes camping!

[DFD1]

Life is full of blessings....different ones for different people in different circumstances.

Be thankful for yours, whatever they are. Inside, outside, suite, veranda, balcony...they are all blessings. Regardless of where you sleep, enjoy your next cruise! That's what I'm going to do.

[ger_77]

More often ... for us there's nothing less comfortable about an inside cabin, and we've had both inside and outside. We've never booked a balcony because we find we are in our cabin only for sleeping and changing clothes. We're on the go all the time, so an inside cabin is fine if that's all that is available. Certainly More Often!

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

[Lisa63]

No doubt -- I'd rather cruise more often. It's been a year since our last cruise, and the wait has been too long. I'd rather go every six months than to wait a full year again.

[Peggy Sue]

our first 7 day cruise was an inside cabin..boy, was it tiny... but, we didn't care, we slept, showered and dressed in there and were out and about exploring the ship, ports etc.

 

Our next cruise was a 7 day outside..having the window was nice, but folks could walk by our window...so our drapes were always closed......

 

We've been on short 3 and 4 day cruises...we had a verandah..didn't use it much..cruise was too short.

 

Then...we had the pleasure of a S suite on the zuiderdam. Wow..was that terrific! We used our verandah every day...spent lots of time out there reading, cat napping. It was a pleasure to spend time in the suite too..very comfy, with lots of space to lounge around. We're spoiled..don't want to go back.

 

Is there a down side to the "suite" life? We really didn't spend much time exploring the ship..we hung out in our own little corner of the world..We did venture out when it port, and evenings for dinner and entertainment..shows, dancing etc...but during the "at sea" days, we were content to live in our suite and enjoy all it had to offer..loved that verandah and sitting out there watching the world float by. So very relaxing....!!!!

[Tricia724]

Cost is always a consideration for us, too, and we try to take advantage of good opportunitites. We're getting rather spoiled with a nice, warm Carribean cruise during the less-than-charming Pennsylvania winters. Since we're both retired now, we can be flexible about dates and travel times.

 

The only accommodation I won't consider is an inside cabin. I'm snakebit from a cruise I took many years ago in an inside cabin. We had some really rough weather and the room was SO small that I felt like I was locked in a an elevator that was going UP and DOWN! I swore I'd never book another inside, and I haven't...although I've seen some of the J and K cabins on HAL, and they don't look too bad.

 

That said, I'll consider anything else that meets my price range. Last February on the Oosterdam, I took advantage of a special offer from HAL and booked an "S" for the Eastern Caribbean. While on board, HAL offered us a second week at cut rates, and we did the Western route for $372pp in a "D" outside cabin on Main Deck. And you know what....we enjoyed the second week as much as the first week. Of course, we didn't get invited to parties or have the concierge lounge at our disposal, but we had a great time. I will probably never get another cruise bargain to equal that one. I really enjoyed doing the back-to-back and hope we can do it on the Westerdam this winter.

 

But if the issue is quantity vs. quality....I guess I'd rather have one nice, longer trip than a couple of low-budget trips.

[pollux]

With my DH full suite.

With my son ,sister or solo inside.

My favorite balcony: LOWER PROMONADE.

[ryansmemom]

We are definitly full Suite people. We spend a lot of time in the suite. I have limited stamina and mobility and really enjoy the amenities. We are able to cruise one or two times a year for 10 to 15 days each cruise. That suits us.

 

If we had to choose, we would choose comfort over frequency. At least that's what Chimera said after our first cruise in a suite.

 

Linda :D

[localady]

Like Laffn I want it all!!!!:eek:

 

But we will settle for more sea time vs. a Suite when push comes to shove. Love the prices in the Carb. because we can afford a Suite, Alaska and Europe we are happy with a veranda. We tend to spend alot of our vacation relaxing on our veranda and it's worth ever dime IMHO.

 

I also agree, either way we are so blessed!!!!:cool:

[kryos]

Seeing as we all have a budget in one form or another, would you rather cruise more often and take a lesser category cabin and economize carefully while you are away?

Definitely cheaper cabin and more cruise. But, I think it all depends on your "cruising lifestyle" and how many people you are traveling with. If you have a group of four traveling together, you could probably afford the nicer cabin and plenty of cruise too. But, in my case, I travel alone. If I were to book a veranda suite, I would be limited in how often I could cruise ... probably only once every couple of years. But, by booking an inside stateroom, I save enough that I was able to make my upcoming 7-day Zuiderdam cruise a 14-day b2b. I could never have done that by booking a balcony suite.

 

Also, I think a lot that goes into the decision of the stateroom category is your cruising lifestyle. Do you entertain a lot in your cabin? Do you spend an inordinate amount of time there? If so, then stateroom category is going to be of major importance to you. But, in my case, I'd rather spend time doing excursions when in port, and partaking in shipboard activities while onboard. I generally use the cabin to sleep, shower and maybe relax awhile before turning in. Since it's dark then anyway, the fact that I'm in a stateroom without a window doesn't really matter to me. So, I'd rather save the money and put it to other uses.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[lipoppop]

At least I have us talking about something besides dress code and tipping. :D

 

Amen.

[LizB1]

Money is not an issue with us, but we feel that most any cabin on the "S" Class and "R" Class ships is fine with us. We seem to have plenty of space for the time we spend in the cabin and don't mind an Inside cabin either. I think it's not only a matter of comfort but a matter of economics...we prefer to spend our money in many different ways.

 

By the way, we have had everything from an Inside "M" cabin to a full Deluxe Suite depending on the cruise, itinerary and length of cruise.

[jazzsea]

I've reached the point where the quality of the stateroom means more to me than the number of times that I cruise. We book a verandah cabin most of the time and jump on any great pricing for a deluxe suite.

 

I've mentioned on several posts that I am looking for an assistant with my cruise business. If anyone ever responds I might have more time to ride the high seas.

[bepsf]

More Comfortable!

 

Since I have limited vacation time i'd rather save my money (i'm not wealthy either, but I make do) and go all out for my time off

- Therefore its the suite-life for me!

 

Brian

[Charlie2na]

Our first cruise, we thought it might be a "once in a lifetime" thing so we went all out for us ,and got a cat A mini. Foolish me, just booked our second and got a cat j, but a longer cruise[11 day] for same money... So maybe can do two this winter instead of once in a lifetime... HA!

[the2ofus]

We would choose cruising more often and for more days over shorter cruises in more posh surroundings. It is the general amenities of cruising, the dining options and the ports that are the focus of our experience. We're not used to posh at home, so really don't look for that in cruising. However, a verandah cabin every 9 years or so is not to be sneezed at, if the price is right. :)

 

Having said that, we do like the elegance and charm of HAL and would choose a HAL cruise over less costly cruises to the same destinations on other cruise lines.

[BCEagle78]

After reading some of the posts, we try to squeek out one cruise per year. We also have 2 kids in college and we just had a wedding on July 24 for our oldest daughter. Money is going in all different directions at this time in our lives (mostly outward :( )...

 

But we love to cruise and I can envision the day when we will be able to cruise more than once per year... It must be nice...

 

Until then, we book our annual inside guarentee and rub elbows in the dining room and the casino with the suite dwellers and you know what... nobody knows what category we booked...

 

Cruising - great vacation!

[BCEagle78]

This is an interesting topic!