New to Celebrity.....Where are the penny pinchers?

We have cruised every cabin except a suite and if the price is right it will be an inside..a cave as we call it. I would rather cruise twice in a cave than once with a balcony.. If someone sees me going in to my cave and looks down on me then they are not a person I would care to associate with.

We drink tap water as we try not to drink our calories.. except for or evening Happy hour. :D

We never pay extra for food

We both grew up poor in large families and now can buy whatever we want, but really are very happy with simple things.

We always have an amazing time and you will too.

Yes it is very crowded by the pool but there are always other places on decks to lounge

Can't say we're actually penny pinchers but we do mind our cents and relish the fact that when the final statement comes at the end of the cruise we conserve trees by having a slim printout. We don't drink alcohol at all so avoid that big added expense there and can do without soft drinks for the duration of the cruise. Water, tea and punch/lemonade for me and morning coffee for the DW keeps us hydrated. We shop around excursions before we leave as often (not always) can find similar or better ones from local providers (and do understand the risks involved with non-ship provided ones).

Cruising still is the best value for the money any which way you go. Though I'm not thrilled with the recent trend to hike gratuities.

Hello everyone, my husband and I have finally decided to cruise a new line and are booked on the Equinox in February. We are doing our research and have noticed that we seem to be the only ones who have booked an inside stateroom. We have cruised before, and we never spend time in our cabins except for sleeping and getting ready for the day. We also don't need drink packages as we don't drink soda and rarely an alcoholic drink. Hoping we can get some confirmation that we will enjoy our vacation on Celebrity without having an upgraded cabin and drinking all day.

We are also happy with inside for the same reasons. We do however look carefully for upgrades. You should realize that drink packages include things other than liquor.

Also the ship's generally sail full so all those insides are full with people just like you.

DW and I have been on the Equinox 3 times and we have always booked the same inside cabin (9160). The cabin is the same inside space as the ocean views and the balcony cabins.

May I recommend that you look at where the front elevators are? There is an inside passage way on each deck from deck 7 on up thru 10 that has inside cabins that are located where there is very little foot traffic (less as you go higher in the ship). That is where 9160 is. DW likes these because they are a few decks from the Solarium which she loves and close to the Equinox Theater going down. Deck 9 is located between 2 passenger decks. There is very little motion since you are sailing in the Caribbean which is like a bathtub. So that's my recommendation.

If you are concerned about being in a dark cabin you can leave the light on in your bathroom and close the door which acts as a nightlight.

We usually put the money we save towards excursions and a moderate amount of drinks.

You WILL have a good time.

More thanks to the previous posters!! It sounds like there are more cruisers like ourselves then it seemed! An extra shout out to those that have responded with all the "free"/ included food and drinks. We also like to leave the ship with a very short onboard account. We actually like the darkness of the inside cabins and drink tap water all the time. Getting more excited about trying a different cruise line, everyone here has been so very helpful! Thanks again to everyone that has replied with comments and information!

Thousands of people cruise and don't post here. Your reasons for an inside cabin are shared by many. We don't take any of the alcohol packages. Our OBC is used for the internet and the specialty restos. Any vacation whether it is on land or sea is what you make of it.

Hello everyone, my husband and I have finally decided to cruise a new line and are booked on the Equinox in February. We are doing our research and have noticed that we seem to be the only ones who have booked an inside stateroom. We have cruised before, and we never spend time in our cabins except for sleeping and getting ready for the day. We also don't need drink packages as we don't drink soda and rarely an alcoholic drink. Hoping we can get some confirmation that we will enjoy our vacation on Celebrity without having an upgraded cabin and drinking all day.

We also almost always book inside cabins unless we can get a remarkable deal. We don't feel we need drink packages as we are Elite+ on Celebrity and Diamond on RCCL, so free happy hour drinks are more than enough. We are also RCCL Shareholders so are able to take advantage of the RCCL Shareholder OBC benefit. We also have the Celebrity Visa Rewards credit card and get OBC that way.

If you prefer bottled water, you can bring a case on board by putting a luggage tag on it. It will be delivered to your cabin along with your other luggage. I used to do this before the drink packages started.

Enjoy your cruise!

I too like to have a small final balance statement at the end of the cruise. My big box warehouse club travel department usually offers a pretty good OBC with the cruise and when I combine that with the RCI credit card rewards I can sometimes come close to a zero balance at the end of the cruise.

The last time I booked a drink package it came with a free end-of-cruise pickup by the nearby Betty Ford Clinic.;)

Don't drink, don't smoke, what do you do? Goody two shoes. 😇

Do what ever you have been doing as that seems to be what you enjoy and makes you happy

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌞

Actually, the only other cruise line we have done is Disney. We are booked on a Princess as a B2B with this Celebrity cruise in February, so glad to hear it will be similar. I know the stateroom will be smaller, and I am going in with a very open mind regarding the new cruise lines. We have been able to keep prices down on DCL, but we are ready for new itineraries, and the DCL prices are crazy for a southern Caribbean itinerary.

Disney is really quite steep for what you get. The Princess ships(Royal class)have a surprisingly small bathroom. You'll love the bathroom on Celebrity Solstice class ships. Without a doubt Princess has the cheesiest bath towels I ever saw on a ship. Small, rough to the touch. Kind of like what you get in a cheapo motel. Storage outside the bathrooms, however was much better than on the Eclipse

Disney is really quite steep for what you get

I agree, but we have been able to sail for at or around $100pp/pn on all of our Disney cruises. However, It's becoming much harder, and impossible for a non repo cruise. And we are ready for a southern Caribbean cruise! Won't pay Disney prices for that itinerary.

We have been on almost 40 cruises and have booked an inside cabin for most of them. We sail 2 or 3 times a year. On our last cruise in January 2017, on the Eclipse 2 week Caribbean cruise, we met a few couples who were doing back to back cruises in an inside cabin. Two couples were from Long Island, NY and another couple was from Chicago. Their game plan was to be out of the winter weather for 4 weeks; the inside cabin afforded them their getaway. We are sailing on the Reflection in October (Mediterranean) and we booked an ocean view cabin because it was cheaper than the inside cabin. It will be our third cruise in 2017.

I registered to comment just to say I am a penny pincher too. We just got back from my first (husband's third) cruise. We were on the Eqionox 4/3-4/14. We had an inside stateroom and were completely fine with that. We knew we'd only be in there to sleep, change, and have, uh, honeymoon time (it was our honeymoon after all). Obviously I am a newbie and not an expert, but I didn't feel for a moment like I was missing out.

We also ate all our dinners in the MDR. I am a vegetarian and was only disappointed in one meal.

I am still on the fence as to whether we should have sprung for a drink package. I had a latte every day and we drank our share of pins coladas. And probably someone else's share too.

I think everyone had their own ideas about what is a vacation essential. Just wanted to let you know you are not the only cheapie.

Hello everyone, my husband and I have finally decided to cruise a new line and are booked on the Equinox in February. We are doing our research and have noticed that we seem to be the only ones who have booked an inside stateroom. We have cruised before, and we never spend time in our cabins except for sleeping and getting ready for the day. We also don't need drink packages as we don't drink soda and rarely an alcoholic drink. Hoping we can get some confirmation that we will enjoy our vacation on Celebrity without having an upgraded cabin and drinking all day.

Not sure we understand your question. If you are happy in an inside cabin then you should be fine. And if you do not drink (or drink much) you can be happy not drinking much. There are others who prefer to pay more money because they enjoy a balcony, suite, more drinks, etc. That is why we have minds...to make our own choices.

Hank

We have always done balconies up until our last cruise. It was a music chartered cruise so it was a bit pricy. To justify it we booked an inside cabin. We ended up loving it. It was nice and dark for nap time and found the free Solarium to be just perfect for sitting in a comfy lounger and reading a book.

Don't drink, don't smoke, what do you do? Goody two shoes.

Subtle innuendo follow,

There must be something inside

Hello everyone, my husband and I have finally decided to cruise a new line and are booked on the Equinox in February. We are doing our research and have noticed that we seem to be the only ones who have booked an inside stateroom. We have cruised before, and we never spend time in our cabins except for sleeping and getting ready for the day. We also don't need drink packages as we don't drink soda and rarely an alcoholic drink. Hoping we can get some confirmation that we will enjoy our vacation on Celebrity without having an upgraded cabin and drinking all day.

I will claim the PP title. Husband and I have sailed Celebrity 8 times with 9 and 10 booked. We have had an inside, balcony, aqua, and sky suite.

I would book an inside in a second for the chance to cruise. While we loved our suite and Luminae we had a really good price and probably wont book again as they are higher.

Our next cruise is a balcony that we got for the same price as an inside. Promotion.

We look for the deals.

We never had the drink package because it did not work out to our advantage. If there was a promotion we took tips or on board credit.

We don't need bottled water on the ship. The dispensers are fine especially in Aqua cafe where they are infused with lemon/lime.

I fill a glass with ice and pour my minty tea in it for a very refreshing ice tea. They have a selection and hubby prefers Earl Grey.

My husband is up early and secures our favorite spot on deck. No, we are not chair hogs. He sits there and we take turns getting our breakfast from buffet to bring back to our spot. We take short walks or a dip in T pool and back to our spot. So there is really no need for a balcony for us on a Caribbean itinerary since he likes to be on deck.

Enjoy. I love cruising and I love Celebrity.

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First let me say Disney is in a class by itself when it comes to cruising. I have cruised Disney once and Celebrity twice with our third Celebrity cruise coming up in August. All that to say try not to compare because you can't.

As to the inside cabin, our friends did their first Celebrity cruise in an inside cabin for 11 nights with their adult daughter. They did not complain. The cabin seemed to be exactly like our balcony cabin except no balcony. I hope you will come to love Celebrity as much as we do.

Friends we met on a cruise suggested bringing a Britta water pitcher with charcoal filter (the small size pitcher). They kept it in their refrigerator and filled their personal water bottles as needed. I have not tried it, but as bottled water is NOT free on Celebrity this would be a cost saver.

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First let me say Disney is in a class by itself when it comes to cruising. I have cruised Disney once and Celebrity twice with our third Celebrity cruise coming up in August. All that to say try not to compare because you can't.

 

As to the inside cabin, our friends did their first Celebrity cruise in an inside cabin for 11 nights with their adult daughter. They did not complain. The cabin seemed to be exactly like our balcony cabin except no balcony. I hope you will come to love Celebrity as much as we do.

We are definitely going in to this cruise hoping to share our love of cruising with a new line! My husband works from home on his computer, so anywhere we travel that has free internet, he can work. Cruises and camping are the only times I can get him to put his computer away and actually vacation! So cruising different lines with more choices in itineraries and less cash out of pocket will definitely help my enjoyment of new cruise lines!

Have had the pleasure of sailing in an inside (when I was in my 20's), ocean view, balcony and suite. Our last 3 cruises have been in the Penthouse Suite for various uninteresting reasons including the fact that I travel with school age children.

Thing is, I'm looking forward to when it's just me and my darling spouse on our own again as I'm perfectly happy in an inside. Love the dark for sleeping, napping, etc. You have run of the ship, and while the suite venues are nice, once you've done them a few times it's less interesting. Can't wait until I have more leisure time for travel; insides are an attractive option and a fantastic value.

You will have a fabulous trip. So jealous of your b2b. Hope to do that some day.

We (family)have cruised inside, OV and balcony cabins. We've never wondered whether the people we were sitting chatting with had an inside room (gasp) or were sailing in the Presidential Suite (although I doubt we've been chatting with anyone in that particular suite.

The PH suite passengers you've been chatting with (us) would never mention our own digs (you would discover only after we invite you over for a drink) and don't care what room you're in either.

I've never done an inside cabin, but if it was the only thing I could afford on an itinerary that I desperately wanted, I'd do it in a heartbeat. And it being pitch dark would be a huge bonus for me, because the smallest amount of light bothers me; even with blackout curtains, I wear a sleep mask.

We have an SS on our now tantalizingly close cruise, but that's because it's for several special occasions (my husband getting his Masters, my graduation from medical school, and the honeymoon we put on hold for almost six years) and we've been saving for it for a very long time.

But go, have a good time, and spend that money doing awesome things in awesome places.

Hello everyone, my husband and I have finally decided to cruise a new line and are booked on the Equinox in February. We are doing our research and have noticed that we seem to be the only ones who have booked an inside stateroom. We have cruised before, and we never spend time in our cabins except for sleeping and getting ready for the day. We also don't need drink packages as we don't drink soda and rarely an alcoholic drink. Hoping we can get some confirmation that we will enjoy our vacation on Celebrity without having an upgraded cabin and drinking all day.

We have sailed 7 lines since 1987. 1st Celebrity in 1994.

This yr will be our 3rd time on the Equinox. IMHO, you will wonder why you waited so long. It is like a relaxing day at a country club.