I am considering booking a porthole cabin

[cruzin2010]

And I am looking for thoughts and opinions from anyone who has stayed in one.

[Tapi]

Love the porthole cabins. Great way to get an oceanview for the price of an inside. And they are larger than standard oceanview cabins because of the curvature of the hull.

 

We've had a porthole on the Riviera Deck (R2) and Empress Deck (E10). R2 was considerably bigger but had more "tunnel like" portholes. E10 was a bit smaller than R2 (but still a bit bigger than a standard oceanview), and the portholes didn't have the deep tunnels like R2.

 

Drawbacks? You can feel every wave crashing against the hull and every shudder if the seas are choppy. Also, get ready for the bow thrusters vibrations and loud docking line mechanism to scare the #@$& out of you when the ship pulls into port in the morning. It will be loud for a few minutes.

 

But secretly, I like the waves crashing and the bow thruster vibrations. It's a cool reminder that I'm at sea, and not at some land locked hotel room. :)

 

 

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Edited February 4, 2014 by Tapi

[twinglemom]

We had a porthole and connecting oceanview on the Dream last week. We loved the rooms. You definitely heard the waves crashing and there were some that were really loud but it didn't keep any of us from sleeping or wake us up. It was also loud coming in to port in the morning.... it felt like the room was shaking but we were getting up and ready to go by that point anyway and our kids slept through it in the porthole room.

 

I would definitely do that again as an affordable way to get the five of us into two rooms.

[okgirl]

I love PT cabins. I've had them on the Conquest and the Breeze all the way forward on deck 2.

 

My sister sleeps on the convertible sofa which was made into a bed the 1st night and never put back to a sofa, but that was okay with us. Like Tapi, I love having light in the cabin for an inside price and the floor space is amazing since the beds are set up in an L shaped configuration.

 

The crashing of the wave against the hull was puzzling at first. I thought it sounded like a large metal door being slammed somewhere below deck, but once I figured out it was a wave it didn't bother me at all.

 

My BIL had a PT on his 1st cruise and didn't like and couldn't get used to that sound so he wouldn't book one again.

[murphyarnold]

I love port hole room, I have had one a couple of times on the Glory and booked one for my up coming Splendor cruise. I have been in all types of cabins and port hole is my favorite!!! You save money, have a window, and I love the movement!! I only thought the movement was very light, but those cruises were very smooth.

[carrieluvsgreg]

Hmm, after reading the other posts, I've realized that we are all really different in our likes/dislikes... Others have listed the "downside" of portholes as feeling every wave... That's one thing we like about it! :)

 

It is noisier at times, but it's never really been bothersome to us. We've only secured portholes on Fantasy class ships and only been on upper and empress. I was warned by my PVP that the room on empress might be loud because of the closeness to the show theater, but I wanted to be on the same deck as we boarded, so I took it anyway... We never heard the show, band or any noise from the theater.

 

Love the portholes!

[Mutumbojimbo]

And I am looking for thoughts and opinions from anyone who has stayed in one.

 

 

We've stayed in PT cabins on the Fascination and the Breeze and enjoyed them. You will hear some noise in port and can occasionally hear waves against the hull but I think they're a great value. The price will be the same as for a 4A cabin but you get a view.

 

 

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[bar1068]

Hmmm....So I have a question to the porthole fans...I started to book one for our upcoming Sunshine repo cruise in April, but, ended up booking an interior because I was under the impression most porthole cabins only have twin beds that don't convert or a twin bed and upper bunk.

 

Do some portholes have "traditional" bed arrangements..like 2 twins that convert to a king or the like?

[bptex]

I'm a fan of them, had one on the Fantasy and the Triumph. It's fun watching the waves crash over your window if the water gets choppy. Yes they do move around a lot and holy cow the side thrusters are exciting but for the same price as an inside cabin you get free windows.

[BeyondKen]

Just got off Carnival Dream porthole room 1206. Two beds pushed together forming a Queen-size. They're great!

 

 

[cruzin2010]

now I just have to wait on my PVP to call me back so I can book:)

[Carnival_Brides]

We loved our porthole on the Fantasy. The room was big and the location was great. Our only complaint was the rattling noise when pulling in and out of port. It woke us up one morning (we were sleeping in), but otherwise it was great and we'd totally book one again.

[cgmiller63]

My first cruise I booked a porthole and I did not like it. I prefer a larger window.

[RWA Cruisers]

We will be in our first porthole cabin this Friday on the Ecstasy. We can't wait!

[lovestocruise19]

I have been considering booking a PT room for the savings. DH and I have always been in OV rooms and I enjoy the natural light.

 

We were in an aft OV with two windows on our last cruise on the Conquest. Although the two windows were nice, there was a lot of vibration in the aft that sometimes bothered us. I'm wondering if the PT rooms experience the same vibration or if it is a different sensation. Waves crashing might be kinda cool, but I don't know what DH would think! ;) Also, do all PT rooms have a couch?

[flounder315]

I booked my 1st porthole. Can wait to give it a try

[All4fun&fun4all]

I have stayed in porthole cabins on Fantasy (U-15 & R-1) and Fascination (E-7). I try to book porthole cabins on all of our sailings.

 

What I love about them: Easy to find my cabin, cant beat the price, sitting in the shelf and looking out the porthole, perfect size for two people. Ultimately we choose the porthole cabin simply because we aren't in our cabin but to sleep, change and refresh cocktails. I can peek outside in the morning and see what the weather is like, dress for my day and head up to lido.

 

Drawbacks (for some folks): Pulling into port there is some vibration even if they aren't lowering the anchor. It doesn't bother me because it acts as a nudge to get me moving when we are in port. There is a bit of motion up there especially in the evening. (Do they pull up stabilizers in the evening to make faster progress? I thought I read that somewhere) But the motion is what I enjoy. It let's me know I am at sea. Crew doors...in R-1 and E-7 there are crew doors right next to the rooms. There was a fair amount of traffic from various members of crew during the day and early evening hours but I never heard any noise during the evening. Oh and in E-7 there was one night we could hear something from the venue above but it was only around 9pm and we were getting ready to head back out at that time.

[h_blond2]

We've stayed in a porthole room on our last few cruises and we love it! We really like the fact that you can get these rooms for an interior room price..it only costs $2 more a day for a porthole room! I also like being able to sit in the window and look at the water!

[tncap]

I would book a PT again, but not on Riviera deck due to wave noise.

[Mutumbojimbo]

Hmmm....So I have a question to the porthole fans...I started to book one for our upcoming Sunshine repo cruise in April, but, ended up booking an interior because I was under the impression most porthole cabins only have twin beds that don't convert or a twin bed and upper bunk.

 

 

 

Do some portholes have "traditional" bed arrangements..like 2 twins that convert to a king or the like?

 

 

I can't speak for all but M7 on the Fascination, and 2221 on the Breeze do NOT have bunk beds. I would be certain that the same rooms on their classmates have 'normal' beds too.

 

 

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[DavyJoneses]

Love the porthole cabins. Great way to get an oceanview for the price of an inside. And they are larger than standard oceanview cabins because of the curvature of the hull.

 

We've had a porthole on the Riviera Deck (R2) and Empress Deck (E10). R2 was considerably bigger but had more "tunnel like" portholes. E10 was a bit smaller than R2 (but still a bit bigger than a standard oceanview), and the portholes didn't have the deep tunnels like R2.

 

Drawbacks? You can feel every wave crashing against the hull and every shudder if the seas are choppy. Also, get ready for the bow thrusters vibrations and loud docking line mechanism to scare the #@$& out of you when the ship pulls into port in the morning. It will be loud for a few minutes.

 

But secretly, I like the waves crashing and the bow thruster vibrations. It's a cool reminder that I'm at sea, and not at some land locked hotel room. :)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

Yes. And on the money you save you are closer to another cruise.

[Froufie]

Always book a 1A porthole when travelling solo - love the natural light and the price! As mentioned I do prefer one on the Main deck tho! :)...and more pics and info here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=839087

Edited February 4, 2014 by Froufie

[ready2cruzagain]

Hmmm....So I have a question to the porthole fans...I started to book one for our upcoming Sunshine repo cruise in April, but, ended up booking an interior because I was under the impression most porthole cabins only have twin beds that don't convert or a twin bed and upper bunk.

 

Do some portholes have "traditional" bed arrangements..like 2 twins that convert to a king or the like?

 

Carnival Conquest cabin 1220 is a port hole room with twins that convert to a queen and it also has a couch! Loved that cabin...so much more space than an interior cabin!

[christyran1228]

We had porthole cabins on the upper deck of the Elation this past August ... they were great!

 

I get ferociously sick from motion, and I really didn't have a problem on our trip ... and we even had a bit of rough seas one day.

 

Beware of the freight train coming through when you anchor, though! I forgot to warn my kids the night before, and they got a pretty good scare. lol

 

 

Bonus for me: the cabins were a good distance away from the food, so there were a lot of opportunities to walk off all of the ice cream cones. :)

Edited February 4, 2014 by christyran1228

[CruiseScrooge]

yup. portholes are great for cheap solo'ers like me. i'm a thunderstorm lover type person and enjoy the sound of waves in choppy water hitting the ship. they aren't for the quiet cabin lovers. that's in the lowest deck cabins of course.

Edited February 4, 2014 by CruiseScrooge
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