Inside Cabin for Port Intensive Cruises

[Q Family]

I thank everyone for their input..seems I am not the odd duck after all..calling Mom to tell her she is the odd duck 😁😁

[OlsSalt]

1 hour ago, kochleffel said:

 

 

One suggestion I've seen for an inside cabin, but not tried, is to leave the television turned on, set to the bridge camera, with the volume all the way down.

 I tried this to see if it would create ambient light in the  cabin as it transitioned into morning. Found it did not. But at least it was a "window". Love that prior suggestion here who found the "daylight clock".

 

 Worth looking into - between the webcam screen on the TV and the sunlight ambience light, one might match the "Magic  Windows" offered on Disney inside cabins. 

[OlsSalt]

15 hours ago, Q Family said:

 
The mail store with the big A has them ( not sure if we can name names on here)

 

 

Thanks for finding this. Definitely a book mark should I ever need to book an inside cabin again. (which is about the only way to make solo cruising work.)

 

Agree, that inside cabins may feel like living in a closet but their layout is not cramped at all. The one time I used one, it was pretty much the same layout as any other cabin. With curtains covering the area where the ocean view windows would have been. Almost faked one into thinking they were in an ocean view cabin, until pulling them back revealed the  blank steel plate wall.

[OlsSalt]

Thanks QFamily, for this "sunrise alarm clock"  find: this one look packable and can plug into a USB outlet, which are now found on the bedside table lamps on some HAL ships.

 

A win win, if there are USB ports in the inside cabins: https://www.dekalastore.com/products/dekala-sunrise™

Edited April 14, 2022 by OlsSalt

[Btimmer]

On our Rotterdam cruise in December, 2021 in an inside cabin, we found the TV at the foot of the bed to be just like having a picture window.  The camera lense was very clear.  On other ships that has not been the case.

 

We've tried the trick of leaving the TV on overnight with the sound turned down, but that hasn't worked for us.

 

Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences.

[prescottbob]

We’ve been “insiders” for some time. The only advise I could give would to be to look at the deck plan carefully for those “grayed out” areas next to your potential pick. Sometimes there can be staff stair ( think 0430-0500 crew climbing up stairways next to the room), noisy storage areas, etc.  I would suggest contacting you TA/ HAL for the “grey spaces”.

It also helps to make friends early on that have a suite, etc. 😀

 

Be well.

Bob

[Heartgrove]

Hopefully the "insiders" are not the same ones that are the squatters that stay all day in the Lido,  Crows Nest, or deck chairs on the Seaview Deck.

[janmcn]

Always book cabins depending on itinerary! Everything from inside (only the big J cabins though) to Neptunes and everything in between.

[OlsSalt]

3 minutes ago, Heartgrove said:

Hopefully the "insiders" are not the same ones that are the squatters that stay all day in the Lido,  Crows Nest, or deck chairs on the Seaview Deck.

 

It was the tradition on ships of yore, when most were inside cabins and often shared bunk bed cabins, to have large public spaces where passengers were expected to gather during the waking hours.  

 

Agree, hogging table space in dining venues and even setting up card games during dining hours  should be discouraged. There are plenty of other public areas for non-dining activities and for gathering during those times. Bring back the former 30 minute rule - abandon a lounger for more than 30 minutes and the deck stewards clear it out and make it available for others to use.

[Homosassa]

2 hours ago, prescottbob said:

We’ve been “insiders” for some time. The only advise I could give would to be to look at the deck plan carefully for those “grayed out” areas next to your potential pick. Sometimes there can be staff stair ( think 0430-0500 crew climbing up stairways next to the room), noisy storage areas, etc.  I would suggest contacting you TA/ HAL for the “grey spaces”.

 

My long time travel agent always assures me that those gray spaces are the designated middle of the night practice area for the drummers.  🤪

[atexsix]

2 hours ago, OlsSalt said:

 

 

Thanks for finding this. Definitely a book mark should I ever need to book an inside cabin again. (which is about the only way to make solo cruising work.)

 

Agree, that inside cabins may feel like living in a closet but their layout is not cramped at all. The one time I used one, it was pretty much the same layout as any other cabin. With curtains covering the area where the ocean view windows would have been. Almost faked one into thinking they were in an ocean view cabin, until pulling them back revealed the  blank steel plate wall.

Oh I hate it when cruise lines put up those fake curtains, thankfully the Eurodam didn't have them; all it does is draw attention to what's missing, like a toupee. 

[Q Family]

21 hours ago, janmcn said:

Always book cabins depending on itinerary! Everything from inside (only the big J cabins though) to Neptunes and everything in between.

Thanks as this is helpful sometimes I can not figure out the letter difference on cabins. I shall look for J insides 🙂

[janmcn]

1 hour ago, Q Family said:

Thanks as this is helpful sometimes I can not figure out the letter difference on cabins. I shall look for J insides 🙂

Make sure to also look on the deck plans to make sure they look “square.”  Deck plans are key to finding the proper cabins in any category!

[Homosassa]

On 4/13/2022 at 10:22 PM, RuthC said:

For all but the Pinnacle class ships (maybe, I haven't been aboard those to be positive) what you are saying about the inside cabins is totally not true.
The large insides can be very large, with more space than some outside cabins. Depending on the class of ships, especially Vista and Signature, there are some large insides that have more useable space than the Neptune Suites! I couldn't believe it when I was in such an inside, and went to a party in a Neptune. My cabin was larger! 

Shhhhh, Ruth!  

 

Don't give away the secret of inside cabin size.

[RuthC]

4 hours ago, Q Family said:

Thanks as this is helpful sometimes I can not figure out the letter difference on cabins. I shall look for J insides 🙂

What ship(s) are you looking at. If you are looking at a Vista or Signature class ship, then only look on Main Deck, and look at both J- and K-categories on that deck. 

[cowmilker]

Y'all, really.  If you want to see a small inside cabin, sail with American Queen on the Mississippi River in an inside cabin.  Seriously.  Think of a room the size of a queen bed, with shelving on the wall at the foot of the bed, and NO closet at all.  That's it.  The bathroom was decent sized, which means that it was almost as big as the room itself.

We are inside cabin people (have never booked anything else, and been upgraded a couple of times to an OV), but that inside on the AQ was too much even for us.  It was only for a week, and it was also half price, and I am glad.  Never, ever again.

[jeh10641]

I recently discovered the website for cruisedeckplans that gives detailed descriptions for almost every cruise ship cabin. It has deck by deck locations, size, category, photos/videos and more. That is how I chose my cabin for my Anthem of the Seas cruise in Oct. 2023.

 

Jim

[bartexas]

Our “standard” is a Signature Suite or the equivalent (i.e. Penthouse Suite on Oceania). We have previously booked a verandah, and rebooked to an SS when prices went down.

We spend a lot of time on the verandah. At home, we have a screened in porch where we eat dinner many nights, and a backyard deck where we have “happy hour” most afternoons. For that reason, I don’t think we’d ever do an ocean view or inside.

 

Just got an upsell to a Neptune that we accepted. Worried that it will up our standards - once we did the SS, the better half has a hard time moving to something smaller. I’m excited to try it. Because it’s Alaska, and there’s lots of sea days, I felt like I could “justify” it.