1st cruise with inside cabin and need help

[weregoingcruising]

Looking for tips to help with the  adjustment from staying in ov's and balconies previously.

[roxievegas]

We went on a family cruise.  We gave our son/dil/grandkids the balcony cabin and my hubby and I had the inside.  The grandkids were in our room a lot, coloring, playing games (ages 5 & 3) and watching movies.  We had no problem adjusting to the inside.  We normally get a balcony, but we did not care this trip because it was a LA roundtrip to Mexico and the ports were of no interest to us.  We spent a lot of time at the pool, so we had a view then.

[The Fun Researcher]

Not really much to adjust to IMO other than having the right expectations.

 

The cabin will be smaller in general, and will be pitch black day or night if you turn the lights out (one of the things about insides that I love).  

 

Depending on the time of the year, the room will be less humid and more constant in temperature.  That's one thing I don't like about balcony cabins.  Open that balcony door and the outside air rushes in and can drastically change the feel in the room for a good bit.

 

I would plan to spend most of your time in the public areas to enjoy the views rather than camping out on the balcony.  Personally we are the types that would much rather be on the pool deck or higher and get our views and such that way, rather than sitting on a cramped balcony. (matter of opinion)

 

We bring battery operated tea lights and turn them on before bed, or during naps, so that you can see where you are going when you wake up. Sometimes all it takes is one in the bathroom, with the bathroom door left open.  That can sometimes be all the light you need to get around in the dark.

 

We use the cabin mainly for sleep and to change before meals.

 

Dan

Edited June 19, 2019 by The Fun Researcher

[ggo85]

The one thing that can be disorienting is not having even a crack of natural light when you awaken after the sun is up.  Nor do you know the weather without turning on the TV.  Not a huge deal but something that most people aren't used to.  Of course, some prefer it b/c you sleep really well!

 

Agree that, due to size and intimacy, inside cabins don't encourage you to spend a lot of time there.  It does give you a great reason/excuse to get up and enjoy all the ship has to offer. 

[Floater4life]

We call them sleeping pods. Great full dark sleeping. My advice.

1) If you like to sit I your cabin a lot...don't.  You can watch the ocean in many different ways

2) Have fun spending the money you saved.

 

Happy sailing!

[fragilek]

Hi just done our first inside in Feb as we booked 5 days ahead of sailing and that was all that was left.  I was worried in the end I would not hesitate to book them again.  I had the best sleeps ever.  One tip we got was to leave the TV on the web cam as it gets light with dawn, however, don't do this in northern EU as dawn is very early in the summer lol.  Hope it works for you too

[gerelmx]

I have traveled in all categories from interior to concierge, there are times when the budget rules and in others the destination. It is not justified to reserve a cabin with a balcony if it is not going to be used, it may be due to weather or any other reason.

[gold1953]

first.. The sq footage of the cabin is the same as OV and balcony. We tend to set wake up calls even though I never sleep in. We spend very little time in our cabins so often book bargain price 'caves'. We have sailed all except suites

[Morgsmom]

On our upcoming Reflection British Isles trip we booked an inside - the first for hubby. Mainly it was to save money to enjoy in the ports of call but also becuase the sun won't set until very late and get up very early.  I'm using it as an experiment as we wander into our silver years to see if we can cruise more often by adjusting to different cabin categories :)  

[The Fun Researcher]

13 hours ago, gold1953 said:

first.. The sq footage of the cabin is the same as OV and balcony. 

 

I had to do a double take on this, as it's certainly not what I'm used to on the Royal Caribbean ships I've sailed.  However, I looked at the Solstice class ships and you are correct.  The standard Veranda cabins are about 194 sq ft plus the balcony, and the insides are anywhere from 183-200 st ft.  Some sites include the balcony in the square footage making the balcony rooms appear to be more like 250 sq ft, but it' misleading because that includes the outside balcony.

 

This is actually quite nice for us, as we have couple of adjoining interior cabins booked on the Equinox in March.  RCCL's interiors that we're used to are supposedly about 150 sq ft, and the X interiors are listed at 194.  However, we typically have CONNECTING cabins on RCCL which is even better than having larger interior cabins in my opinion.  Being able to open the door between cabins makes the whole thing feel like one very large cabin with two full baths.  Will seriously miss that on the Equinox.

 

Dan

Edited June 20, 2019 by The Fun Researcher

[cynbar]

Anytime you find yourself missing a balcony or a window, remind yourself of the money you're saving and what else you can spend it on. That should do it.

[ak1004]

We sailed on inside balcony and suite. When inside and balcony are the same size there is really no difference.  Unless of course you like to sit on the balcony. 

 

For us inside is actually better since no light can come from outside and interrupt our sleep. It's not even about money. Just works better for us.

[screwsmcernst]

If you want a view of the ocean, you can turn your television to the bridge camera station.  You will get the views of the ocean and the sunrise and sunsets.

[bayoubabies]

10 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

We sailed on inside balcony and suite. When inside and balcony are the same size there is really no difference.  Unless of course you like to sit on the balcony. 

 

For us inside is actually better since no light can come from outside and interrupt our sleep. It's not even about money. Just works better for us.

Is there anything with a small light on it in the bathroom? I've read there were no outlets in the bathrooms so a small night light wouldn't work. I love to sleep in complete darkness, but we need to be able to find our way to the bathroom without turning on the cabin light...what do you do about that?

[roxievegas]

my son used his phone to measure the room size of the inside and the balcony.  the inside was 10 sq ft less then the balcony.

[Slugsta]

17 minutes ago, bayoubabies said:

Is there anything with a small light on it in the bathroom? I've read there were no outlets in the bathrooms so a small night light wouldn't work. I love to sleep in complete darkness, but we need to be able to find our way to the bathroom without turning on the cabin light...what do you do about that?

 

Some people use a little battery-operated tealight in the bathroom and leave the door open a little. I often find that the light from my charging appliances is all I need. In fact, there is sometimes light coming from underneath the cabin door too and I have found that enough. I always find it strange when people say there is absolutely no night in an inside cabin as I haven't found that to be the case.

[bayoubabies]

1 minute ago, Slugsta said:

 

Some people use a little battery-operated tealight in the bathroom and leave the door open a little. I often find that the light from my charging appliances is all I need. In fact, there is sometimes light coming from underneath the cabin door too and I have found that enough. I always find it strange when people say there is absolutely no night in an inside cabin as I haven't found that to be the case.

Great to know...thanks.

[Tatka]

We have balconies here and there, but we sail mostly in insides.

Our logic is this. We have large house for two of us and we often "get lost"

and are not communicating much 🙂 .

 

Our 5 cruises a year is for doing things together... Exploring ships, playing shuffleboards, watching shows etc, so we are not spending much time inside. Btw we noticed that even when we do have balcony we don't spend much time in our cabin. So we mostly sleep there or maybe  just a short massage. When we are in we turn on TV for ship camera and use it as a window.

 

Btw.. when we have balcony I wake up with a sunrise. Nothing I can do about it. In insides I sleep much better.

 

As for light.. We do not turn off light in the bathroom, so it provides some light at night even with a closed door.

Edited June 20, 2019 by Tatka

[woneill63]

'Caves' and 'sleeping pods', ha, ha.  

 

I usually take two guy cruises every year, shorter length, four or five days at most, and we always get interior cabins since we just use them for sleep and showers.  I get my best late afternoon naps in these cabins.

 

When cruising with my wife and son we always get a balcony as my wife is a little claustrophobic and we could use the extra space with three in a room on a seven nighter or longer sailing.  My son and I usually have room service breakfast out on the balcony while the wife sleeps in.

[helen haywood]

23 minutes ago, roxievegas said:

my son used his phone to measure the room size of the inside and the balcony.  the inside was 10 sq ft less then the balcony.

 

I'm not saying your son's measurements were wrong....it is possible that there are some cabins that differ slightly in size than others.  But that being said, the cabin furniture in a regular (non-suite) balcony cabin and an inside are exactly the same.  The same size desk/vanity table.  The same size coffee table.  The same size sofa.  Same size bed.  Same size bathroom.  So I don't see how an inside can be substantially smaller than a balcony cabin.  (Of course an accessible cabin will be larger.)

 

We sailed on a transatlantic in an inside as the price was $1400 less than a balcony.  We were fine.  As others have said, there are plenty of places to get your ocean view fix.  And the bathrooms have a night light.

[yorky]

We have never minded inside cabins, Celebrity just don’t make them good value with no drinks package 

[Tatka]

33 minutes ago, woneill63 said:

When cruising with my wife and son we always get a balcony as my wife is a little claustrophobic and we could use the extra space with three in a room on a seven nighter or longer sailing.

 

    I am not suggesting to cruise in insides, especially with kids (especially with adult kids. We cruised in balcony room with our adult son just for space )

 

    I am very claustrophobic! However in some reason inside cabins don't make me feel this way at all. In most cases claustrophobia caused by the phobia of suffocation, but ships have such a good ventilation system.

 

   Your wife is amazing. I cannot imagine staying on land when my husband cruises!

 

 

[Essiesmom]

Which Celebrity ships are we talking about?  The S class ships have a dim nightlight in the bathroom that is always on if the lights have not been turned on.  there is also an outlet in the ceiling above the sink.  M class have permanent nightlights installed where the old hairdryers were on the bathroom wall.  So no need to pack a nightlight for the bathroom.  Haven't noted what Edge has.  We carry USB port multipliers and they have a little dot of light on them, enough to give us a nightlight in the cabin.  EM

[Slugsta]

Sorry, I missed that the OP referred to Celebrity in particular!

[ak1004]

1 hour ago, bayoubabies said:

Is there anything with a small light on it in the bathroom? I've read there were no outlets in the bathrooms so a small night light wouldn't work. I love to sleep in complete darkness, but we need to be able to find our way to the bathroom without turning on the cabin light...what do you do about that?

 

The light in bathroom has 2 settings. One is the main light and second is a small light that is perfect if you leave the bathroom door a bit open. Just perfect for not to break your legs on your way to the bathroom.