What Kind Of Stateroom Do You Book?

[dogladyjw]

What kind of stateroom do you book most often?

[Silverfox]

We've done 50 cruises throughout the Caribbean, South Pacific, Trans Atlantic, Europe, Canary Islands, etc. What we book depends on where the cruise is headed.

 

If it's Caribbean -- even an inside is just fine. After all, one is not in their cabin that much!

 

If it's for more than 10 days, outside is preferred. South Pacific was a balcony and I'm glad for that as the water and scenery were so beautiful.

 

We do not book suites, mini suites, or the top categories. Maybe that's why we've done 50 -- we look at the price per category and judge according to that. Especially with the cabin TV showing a camera from the bridge, there's no guess any more about weather. Most days we are only in the cabin to shower, dress, and sleep -- maybe 10 hours a day. So I'm very content with whatever we book.

 

And sometimes the upgrade fairy comes along and taps our shoulder because of the number of cruises we've done with the various lines.

[RuthC]

Steerage---or at least the modern equivalent of steerage.

 

If I'm by myself I usually book a J-category inside; cabin J-345 on the S-class ships if I can get it. If it's the Rotterdam or Amsterdam I want K-2619.

If I book a guaranteed share I have to book K-category for an inside.

At least I'm on the ship!

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Wow, my answer to the question has changed so much of the past 3 years. In 2002 if asked it would be "any cabin as long as there was a little day light", in 2003 it was "I would prefer balcony but would consider an outside cabin" Then 2004 the answer was "Give Me A Balcony" Now it is 2005 and I have had a taste of the Suite Life and I am hooked. " I want a Suite" Of my next 3 cruises that are booked we are in a suite for two of them and booked in a B catagory for the Maasdam and on a "wait list" for a suite. I am sure hoping that wait list comes thru:o Yes, I know that suites are a lot more but since we cannot take B2B cruises we have just spent money and saved differently so we can have the money for suites.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We book "S" suites.

[General Max]

"S"

 

General Max

[Tatka]

Only for my first cruise (Celebrity Century) we had outside. My husband didn't go and he didn't know if we would be comfortable in inside room.

 

Since then it's all inside cabins. We always (almost always) sail during the high season and for three of us there is enough money saved for 1 or 2 shore trips :) . Also we usually have more than 1 cruise/ nice vacation a year so saved money help.

 

Besides...we loved our category I inside room on Zuiderdam, it was spacey even for 3 people. :D

[Aussie Gal]

We have a mixture. The lowest category we will take is a D with a window but we have had mainly verandah and mini suites. We have yet to taste the "S" suite life and I know what will happen, I wouldn't be able to go to anything less after that, so perhaps it is for the best that hasn't happened as we can now go when we want.

 

Jennie

[DFD1]

Aussie Gal: You have changed the ship picture. This one is nice, but the Prinsendam was great! Not to worry. We'll enjoy this one as well.

[Aussie Gal]

DFD1,

 

I thought I had better change it as we are going on the Maasdam in July and this is a photo of that lovely ship. Mind you, it is not as clear as my photo of the Prinsendam, as I didn't take this photo.

 

Jennie

[cruzbums]

s or ps

[BCEagle78]

Honestly, we are just happy to be on the ship. We have often booked inside guarentee. So far we have 2 cruise where we ended up in an outside cabin and 1 cruise where we ended up inside.

 

The way I look at it is simple. We spend 90% of our waking time outside the cabin. As long as I am comfortable to sleep, the location is not that much of an issue. If I planned to spend a lot of time in the cabin, I would probably be more picky.

 

For our next cruise, we are booked outside guarentee (category G) for Veendam on Nov 26.

[jaguarstyper]

On HAL, an S is the way to go for us. On the Vista ships, we are totally hooked on the aft corner suites, specifically 5186 and 5187. We have considered the PS suites, but cant seem to justify the increase in price. It seems a bit of overkill to us.

 

Tim

[michmike]

We travel with some good friends and typically get D or E (outside) connecting rooms. With the door between them open the rooms seem far more spacious and it's easy to get together for cocktail hour etc.

 

We were upgraded to verandahs a couple of cruises back (long story) and thoroughly enjoyed that, but for the additional $300 per person (on avg) I'm just fine with an outside. I'd even do an inside but DW draws the line there.

 

We're out and about most of the time anyway; plus my onboard tab generally runs less than $600 so I figure by foregoing the balcony I've basically covered that. I'd rather spend the additional money on shore trips which we research and arrange on our own. And for the life of me I can't imagine why I need an onboard concierge or a private lounge to eat bfast.. but hey.. if that is worth it to you.. go for it.. different strokes..

[Orcrone]

In four cruises there's one inside, two outsides and my first verandah next month. Mostly it depends on the incremental cost going from one category to the next. The Maasdam has a smaller percentage of balconies than newer ships, so the cost of a verandah is a larger premium (about $300 - $400 per person) on our last cruise. I couldn't justify that cost. The Zuiderdam has a larger percentage of balconies so the price differential was only $100 per person. That's much easier to justify. At the time of booking it was over $200 per person more to go to an SS, so we didn't opt for it. Since then the cost of my cabin has increased so that if booking today the price differential would only be about $85 per person. So if I were booking today it would be an SS.

[Tarkus]

I'm a cheap inside cabin type. Sailed an outside balcony once with my ex-wife and (at least for me) it just didn't justify the extra cost... never used the balcony, and really didn't like the early morning light waking me from my previous late night(s). Besides, I really don't spend much time in my stateroom other than bathing, changing, and sleeping.

[Peggy Sue]

our first cruise was a tiny inside .. we don't have a lot of curises under our belt, but we've booked inside, outside, verandah and suites. We sailed on HAL twice .. our first on the Zuiderdam. We originally had a cat B booked, but right before final payment a special offer was being run and we ended up in an S and paid less than what we were going to pay when we originally booked the cat B...we were so spoiled.... So, this past November, we booked an S .. loved it again. We spend quite a bit of time in our suite...we enjoy our verandah..and will sit there and read, sun etc. instead of being up with the crowds. We had for Alasaka end of May .. taking my dad along. he doesn't have a traveling compainion.so we priced a lot of different options and for the space ratio we decided to book another S .. I'm sure there will come a day when we book another cabin type...by for now, we are enjoying all that wonderful space!!

 

peggy Sue

[Cracker Ken]

We always book inside cabins. Sure, I'd love a balcony with a huge window and all that, however I'd rather spend less money on cabins, and go on more cruises. We have never had anything other than inside. On HAL, there are these really nice cabins I refer to as a "sideways room." The cabin is situated such that you enter into the side of the cabin. You would be facing forward on the ship while in bed. For instance, 773 on one of the S class ships, or 1875 on the Rotterdam. This are huge cabins. One of our stewards called them "inside suites." These were on the lowest of decks, in steerage. We will be in 773 for the 3rd time when on the Veendam in November.

 

One word of caution, is that these "sideways" cabins can be tiny on the Vista Class ships (Zuiderdam, Oosterdam, etc). An example is 5005 on the Zuiderdam. Very tiny. It's classified as a "standard" cabin, but the don't tell you just how small it is. My estimate, is in the area of 125 sq ft. Unless you are traveling along, don't get those little cabins on the Vista ships.

 

Ken

[DMRick]

We have the cabin right next door to where your room was in January. On the Holland deck view site, it looks like there is a small storage room jutting into the two rooms. Can you tell me more about these cabins? I'm wondering if these are smaller, because of that jetting in part. Thank you,

Doris

We will be in 773 for the 3rd time when on the Veendam in November.

[JLC@SD]

We usually book the lowest cost......early........and have been lucky to get upgraded many times.

 

Our philosophy is that other than the cabin......everything else on the cruise is the same........food, entertainment etc. We prefer to travel longer and more often with the saved money and do pre and post cruise trips.

 

We are going on Sapphire Princess in February.......and with the money saved on the cabin.......inside gty.......we will have a pre cruise stay in Australia......and a post cruise stay in NZ (Queenstown) and Fiji...;)

[jtl513]

Most days we are only in the cabin to shower, dress, and sleep -- maybe 10 hours a day. So I'm very content with whatever we book.

That's our attitude too ... but I have to have a window ... and not just a porthole either.

 

And sometimes the upgrade fairy comes along and taps our shoulder because of the number of cruises we've done with the various lines.

In our experience the "number of cruises" has nothing to do with upgrades!:) We've only been on 3 cruises ... all HAL ... and will be starting a 4th in about 40 hours. On all four we've been upgraded. On our first, the Amsterdam, it was only a couple of steps ... something like EE to DA. Then on 2 Vistas it was VF to VA, and on Veendam it was HH to FF. Three times we booked through a "large" TA, and this time we called HAL directly. I guess the upgrade fairy just likes the sound of our name! :D (BTW, all were guarantees.)

[lougee1043]

always with a balcony and if the price is right a deluxe--- just love the neptune lounge

[Randyk47]

Prefer S but book B to S depending on cost. Last 3 cabins have been SS, RS (Royal Suite on Celebrity), S, and have a B booked for the Veendam. It was hard to go "back" to the B but I choked at the S fare for a 14-day cruise. :eek:

[Grumpy1]

113 days in a Cat SS, 12 days in a Cat B, 33 days in a Cat S (3 cruises), 66 booked in a Cat SY and 7 booked in a Cat S. We usually go for the Deluxe suite on shorter cruises, and a Superior Suite on Prinsendam. We'll book any verandah if that is all we can get for the cruise we want, but prefer an SS or S.

[Djptcp]

DH and I are sailing on the Zuiderdam on the 16th and have a VF balcony (5070). This is our 11th cruise, 2nd on HAL. We have run the gamut on types of cabins from inside to outside to penthouse suite (Carnival). I liked the inside because we usually stay up very late in the casino every night and not having the light pouring in so early was nice. However, the last inside we took was on Royal Caribbean in 2002 and the cabin was so tiny I got a little claustrophobic. I much prefer outsides, but we don't always need a balcony -- only if the price is right and it was very right for the Z next week. Since we live in Florida now, we feel we can afford to go on 3-4 cruises a year because we can drive to the ports, but not if we want to do a suite. So, an outside is fine and a balcony at the right price is fine, too. As long as we're cruisin' :D

Holland America - 2004, 2006

Carnival - 1995, 1998, 2006, 2006

NCL - 1994, 1996, 1997, 2003

Royal Caribbean - 2002