Help me feel better about booking an inside cabin.

[lazydayz]

We have done 60 plus cruises; only two interiors.  Not my preference but my husband loves them.  I prefer having fresh air and natural light.  That said, I would do an interior for a short cruise if there were no other cabins available.  

[The Fun Researcher]

 We have done both inside and balconies.    The only benefit for me of a balcony is the size of the room itself being a little bigger.   

 

I would rather view the ocean from the nice upper decks or the walking deck where you have a much better view and more space.   Many times when we open the balcony door the room gets humid and warm and I don’t like the light bleed in the morning. 

 

Dan

[Jimmys Chippy]

14 hours ago, CMurph said:

We only booked balcony cabins for many years.  I'm not sure why we booked inside for the first time.  It was probably a free casino cruise.  We discovered that it was great!  True, I enjoyed a few minutes in the morning and evening on the balcony,  but during the day I prefer to be out somewhere on the ship.  The fact that the inside cabin is so small means that one of us leaves while the other finishes getting ready (translation....hubby leaves while I finish getting ready).  That results in him roaming around a bit more on his own.  If he wants to nap during the day..I leave the cabin and find a more open space to relax, read...whatever.   We don't just sit around in our cabin.  I remember as a kid taking beach vacations...I truly hated when others wanted to nap or go to a movie.  I was like...that is wasting precious time at the beach!   I don't want to spend precious time on a beautiful ship inside my cabin.   This doesn't mean we will never book a balcony or suite again, just saying that an inside cabin does not make an impact on our cruise at all.  For the record, we do not care for the promenade cabins.  The curtains need to be closed while you are in the room much of the time for obvious reasons.  Also, the layout of the cabin we were in was very cramped and hard to get around in.

Agree about the pronenade cabins, the same thing is amplified on those balcony cabins overlooking the Boardwalk and Central Park on the Oasis Class ships. Heavily overlooked with the added bonus of someone zip lining past your window!

[Guest]

I have cruised in both insides and balconies. I do enjoy sitting on my balcony, but I am of the opinion that I would rather be on a cruise than not be on one!!! 

 

I went on the Symphony last year and had a Central Park balcony as my boyfriend had never cruised before and didn’t know if he would like an interior. We only used the balcony twice, so when we were booking the one for this year, we went for an interior. We got an incredible price, and would not have been able to cruise this year otherwise!!!! 

 

I hate the snob factor around it, it literally makes no sense at all. 

[katrina915]

I have been to Alaska quite a few times, sometimes with balcony sometimes in inside.  I am not on my balcony on glacier days- best view is on deck.  It can rain on balconies also.  I book insides even when I can afford a balcony.  Can spend more money on excursions, etc.

 

No one has the answer for your trip other than YOU.  Pros and cons of both balcony and inside.

[sxphil]

We always had a balcony because my wife smokes and it was where her morning and evening puff took place

Since smoking has been banned our next 2 cruises we have chosen to try an inside Cabin 

 

We shall see

[dreadpirate3]

If I want to cruise with my husband, inside staterooms are not an option. We book oceanview cabins, and occasionally get an upgrade to a balcony, or even a JS after final payment. It works for us.

 

OP, I hope you enjoy your interior cabin, and I hope you have a great cruise.

[gsb]

Agree with most of the posts, but once you're had a balcony, insides are very depressing. 

[Arzeena]

On 2/9/2019 at 12:17 PM, TinkBellaMom said:

At the risk of sounding snobbish, we have never booked an inside cabin.  It is mostly because we have only cruised once every couple years and I love the sound of the sea from a balcony, so it is affordable when you have a couple years to save for the trip.

Now we are retired and live close to the piers.  My husband is always looking for our next trip.  He found a 5 day on the Indy at a very good price, but only if we take a inside on deck 10.  He says if we take these we can cruise more often, which makes sense.

My main concern is that I will feel a bit closed in with no view of the outside.  My friends who love them tell me they are cosy.

Some opinions from both sides would be appreciated.

Deb

Deb,

You will be fine and will enjoy your cruise. You will have a great opportunity to relax and use the sofas and chairs in the public areas. Plus you will get better sleep!

Look at it this way......more cruises in and inside or one in a balcony for the same kind money? I will pick more in an inside since I would love to go more often. There! I bet you are feeling better already! Enjoy your cruise! Come back and post about it.

[SchoolNurseMom]

We cruise in insides, windows, portholes and balconies. We book when the price is right for us and we're always happy to be on the ship. My only issue with insides is the fact that its so good for sleeping! LOL Our next two cruises are both insides, just five weeks apart!

[Oceansaway17]

if you get a virtual balcony you will enjoy seeing what is outside.  Also you can do the ship cam on the TV.

 

Inside cabins are cheaper and you save money.  I think inside are best for Alaska and Baltic area because of early and late daylight.

 

However, if you can get an Ocean view room without the balcony then that is another choice for saving some money but having sun light in the room

[Bookish Angel]

11 hours ago, gsb said:

Agree with most of the posts, but once you're had a balcony, insides are very depressing. 

 

Not for us. We started off in balconies but really disliked all the sunlight leaking around the drapes in the morning.  We like the near total darkness of the interiors as it helps us sleep in - something we rarely do when not on vacation.

Edited February 12, 2019 by Bookish Angel

[erby2283]

I could do it if I had to. As a migraine sufferer, I tend to find that the lack of sunlight leads me to sleep more than I normally would and I overall just didn't feel as well. Don't know how I would fare with a virtual inside.  I agree with others who say it depends on the ports as well.  I personally take a book and sit out on my balcony at every stop until we leave so I can take pictures and enjoy the beautiful scenery. I could do that elsewhere on the ship I suppose but it may be frowned upon doing so while in my bathrobe. 

[grinningimm]

You'll be fine.  I say that because a) I agree that cruising beats non-cruising, and b) if you don't like it as much it is a shorter cruise.

 

Having said that, my bias is FOR insides, for the savings.  I have only done three cruises, and we had a balcony on a Disney cruise that family paid for.  It was nice, but it was extremely expensive. For my money (literally) the extra cost to move up is just not worth it, even to an Ocean View, unless the difference is very small, and the cruise is longer than 5 days.

[Ken Greco]

One factor is the physical size of most inside cabins makes you feel like you are on top of each other. If you put the beds together as a king bead you have difficulty not bumping into each other getting in an out of the bed. Ocean view and balcony cabins make moving around much easier. Another issue is you do not have ambient light coming in so day or night is always the same

[gsb]

 

Save enough for claustrophobia therapy.

Edited February 12, 2019 by gsb
spelling

[capergal56]

This will be our ninth cruise.  We have booked an inside again this time.  We have had balconies and outside rooms with windows and for as often as we are actually in our room, paying the extra money for one of those can't be justified.  We had a balcony on our Hawaii cruise and it was so hot we barely used the balcony.  We've had inside rooms with virtual windows that project what it looks like outside the ship and had to keep reminding ourselves that it wasn't a real window!  We had a balcony for a Mediterranean cruise and loved it, but never felt we were spoiled by it.  Booking an inside room enables us to travel more often and to far-reaching ports.  If I were rich, I'd book a better room, but an inside room provides everything we need and is budget friendly.  This is a picture of our inside room on RC's Anthem of the Seas with a virtual window (on the left).  The room was comfortable enough for two and the total darkness provided a wonderful sleep.  

[The Fun Researcher]

2 hours ago, capergal56 said:

This is a picture of our inside room on RC's Anthem of the Seas with a virtual window (on the left).  The room was comfortable enough for two and the total darkness provided a wonderful sleep.  

 

Just booked two (connecting) of these today for March 2020 on the Anthem!  They look pretty dang nice.  Haven't had the virtually balcony before so that will be interesting.  Something different to try out.  

Dan

[mark_b]

We are not in our room very often.  We get a balcony since I get really bad motion sickness and need the fresh air.

I am the only one in my family with that issue, so when the wife and kids go, they get an interior room to save money.

 

We are not in the cabin much anyways.

 

Enjoy it!  I would rather go more often and cheaper if I could!

 

[hallux]

2 hours ago, The Fun Researcher said:

Haven't had the virtually balcony before so that will be interesting

 

It's more gimmicky than anything.  How often are you in your cabin during the day?  I don't recall if it was turned off by my cabin steward at night or if she just closed the curtain in front of it.  If it's left on, you just see the virtual railing as there isn't much to see outside at night.

[Ocean Boy]

9 minutes ago, hallux said:

 

It's more gimmicky than anything.  How often are you in your cabin during the day?  I don't recall if it was turned off by my cabin steward at night or if she just closed the curtain in front of it.  If it's left on, you just see the virtual railing as there isn't much to see outside at night.

I also remember a post from someone who said it didn't function their entire cruise. I don't remember if they got any compensation or not.

[hallux]

I think mine did, but since I was only in my room to shower, change or sleep it didn't really matter much.

[The Fun Researcher]

17 minutes ago, hallux said:

 

It's more gimmicky than anything.  How often are you in your cabin during the day?  I don't recall if it was turned off by my cabin steward at night or if she just closed the curtain in front of it.  If it's left on, you just see the virtual railing as there isn't much to see outside at night.

 

6 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

I also remember a post from someone who said it didn't function their entire cruise. I don't remember if they got any compensation or not.

 

3 minutes ago, hallux said:

I think mine did, but since I was only in my room to shower, change or sleep it didn't really matter much.

 

Yeah, it will be something new and fun to try out.  It's part of the reason I wanted to book the Anthem since we haven't done that class of ship yet.

 

I didn't get the rooms because they had virtual balconies, it was my only choice for inside connecting rooms.  🙂 It will be interesting to see what things look like outside when we wake up in the morning.  Other than that we're not in our rooms much so it doesn't matter a whole lot.  I do like the look of the Anthem inside cabins.

 

Both our cabins have the virtual balcony, so even if one isn't working we have a second shot at it.  😉

 

Dan

 

Dan

[JillK]

3 hours ago, The Fun Researcher said:

 

Just booked two (connecting) of these today for March 2020 on the Anthem!  They look pretty dang nice.  Haven't had the virtually balcony before so that will be interesting.  Something different to try out.  

Dan

We did exactly the same thing a few months back for March break 2020 for our family of six and we are very curious to see what it's like.

 

I have cruised primarily in insides and oceanviews and only switched to balconies when booking with NCL and Celebrity under 3rd/4th pax free when booking that category. 

 

The only exception was when we booked a neighbourhood balcony on Oasis and were able to get this category (guarantee) for a nominal amount more than we could selecting an inside cabin.

 

I agree with many people in that I prefer to be able to cruise more often rather than have a balcony on every cruise. For those that I did cruise in a balcony, I really didn't use it that much but do appreciate the larger size cabin.

 

Our last inside was on the Brilliance in the UK last year and it was a generous size with a comfortable seating area and a drape to separate the bed from the rest of the cabin. We really liked the cabin and like most other people, find we don't use it alot during the day. We are more interested in being out and about on the ship and can always find a nook or cranny to play cards or read. 

 

You won't know until you try it if you like it or not of course but whatever you decide, happy cruising! 

[Mythbuster]

For all those who say "they don't spend much time in their cabin"  it is the chicken or the egg to me.  Perhaps you not spending much time in your cabin because it is small and uncomfortable?  Everyone has their own needs.  I do not like sitting by the pool fighting for a chair that is only 1 inch from a stranger.   I love to sit and read or nap in my cabin or on the balcony listening to my music relaxing.  I am also claustrophobic and the balcony makes the cabin feel larger with an additional escape, those who are not claustrophobic would not understand that.  Believe or not a room can feel closed in even in the dark with your eyes closed.