Which would you rather? More often or More comfortable?

[sail7seas]

Seeing as we all have a budget in one form or another, would you rather cruise more often and take a lesser category cabin and economize carefully while you are away......

Or would you rather have a larger cabin, with a veranda and not have to be as careful about what you spend while on vacation?

Obviously there is no right or wrong answer, just wondering what most people's choice is.

 

[O2cruise]

Since my vacation time is limited I'd rather splurge on my once a year vacation with a great cabin and a slightly longer itinerary (10-14 days as opposed to 7). I just love being pampered the way I am on a HAL cruise.

[elmorejj]

Actually, both!! We take 3-4 cruises a year plus about 4 other International vacations and I want space and comfort in all of them! I think the older we get, we need more space in our cabin/suite as we tend to spend more time there.....jean

[etrainer1]

ive been in inside cabins and in cabins with a verandah. but, i select 7 day cruises which fall out on a week where the prices are less expensive. i got such a great rate on the hal cruise going on 1/2/05, in a ss category which is cheaper than some of my regular balcony cabins on prior cruises! the bottom line is, i can have a great time regardless of the type of cabin i am in! (and i dont care how people dress!)

[Orcrone]

I would of course prefer an outside over an inside, a verandah over either of the other two, a suite would be nice and the penthouse is ideal. But since I'm much more limited on money than time I'd go with the lower category and cruise more often.

 

Of course sometimes it's only $100 or $200 per person to step up from an inside to outside, or outside to verandah. In that case the amount saved from going with the lowest category is not going to allow me to cruise more, so I might as well splurge.

[Sailboater]

We chose to have a verandah cabin as we tend to spend a lot of time in our cabin and we like having the ability to step out for a bit of fresh air at any time of day or night. For us, it is a luxury that we budget for.

 

We got addicted last year on a 7 day Alaska cruise. We did a 17 day Hawaii cruise this year and booked a 20 day Panama Canal cruise while on board for next year.

 

Could we cruise more often if we went with outside cabins instead of verandahs -- maybe but, so far, we have been happy to have a verandah and taking one long cruise a year instead of several short ones.

 

We live West Coast and really don't have a strong urge to go to the Caribbean. We are "heat wimps" -- once it goes over 80 degrees we kinda melt into inactivity. One of the reasons for the Verandah on the Panama Canal trip is we can stay in our A/C comfort until something of interest draws us out onto the verandah. If we get to "warm" we can be back in our A/C comfort in just a couple of steps. I doubt we will do much in the way of excursions on this trip (maybe save some money) because we want to avoid the heat and humidity.

 

I am sure there are many who would gladly give up the verandah for an inside to cruise more. There are probably others who would be happy to do 3 seven day trips over the course of the year rather than take one 20 or 21 day trip. I think it is wonderful that there are so many choices for us out there.

[WindyCity]

Definitely save and get an S suite - once you've been there - anything else falls short. DH can get claustrophobic and they only way I was able to convince him to go on the first cruise was to promise a "big" cabin with verandah. Well, he is hooked and states that the S suite is the only way to go....so we save to pamper ourselves.:)

[bombero]

We like to cruise frequently, so insides are best for us, as with so many things to do on a cruise ship, we are never in our room anyway.. What we can save on the first 2 inside rooms, will pay for the 3rd one.. It's kind of like [buy 2 Get 1 Free]. If you really like balconies and use them, I guess their worth the extra money to you.. I'd rather use it for an extra cruise... Bombero

[Vicar]

Between work and house and kids , Gf and I can't take off all that frequently. So when we do go away, especially when it is just the two of us, we splurge and get the Balcony Cabin or the fancier hotel, or whatever the case may be.

[Sue's Mom]

We love sitting outside in the evening watching the stars. BUT the budget won't allow and so we have an inside. Oh to win the lottery! ;)

[ekerr19]

We go as frequently and inexpensively as possible, but try and get the best deals. Must have an outside cabin is the only requirement.

[Krazy Kruizers]

:D

Money not a problem - so cruise with a suite and as many times a year as long as our health holds up.

:)

[cruisinjudy]

We are averaging about three cruises a year, mostly longer than seven days. For now a verandah is what we can afford, but maybe when the house is paid off in 2006 we can go for that suite!!! :D For now I am NOT willing to cruise less often to get that suite.

[paljoeysmom]

I would prefer to go cheaper and more often. Hubby prefers to go less often and in style. We have done the gamat of categories.

 

Inside, outside, balcony, FULL SUITE, and now we are booked into a mini-suite on our next cruise. I know others say once you have had a nicer room it is hard to go back down. For myself I disagree. Love to cruise, no matter what kind of cabin I am in. We spend lots of time on the decks anyway.

[Tatka]

For me money is a problem...( Well we are not poor or otherwise we wouldn't cruise ;) ) but I always try to keep our vacation under $3,500 for three of us (excluding our Med cruise this year with very expensive tours) so we can do it 2 times a year... (plus our son usually attends quite expensive overnight camps or hockey camps)

 

So...if we were able to cruise in the off season we could probably afford balcony cabins, but our son is in school so the only time we can cruise is summer or holidays.

 

We don't see much of a difference between inside and outside so we usually book inside.

 

This is probably said 1000 times here but we don't really spend alot of time inside..so it doesn't prevent us from enjoying our vacation.

 

My main requirements for vacation (aside from tours etc) are good service and food..which we can receive no matter what our sleeping accomodations are. (One reason I will never sail Cunard!)

[lipoppop]

S7S, how many threads did you start today? At least 5 so far that I have seen.

 

We have only booked an A except for the next which will be an S and that will probably not happen often again, only if the price is right.

 

That said, I look for how much we have to pay per day as a prime criteria for booking. If the rates are good I will probably do an extra cruise.

[Lois R]

Interesing post for sure......I am in the low budget category....I cannot afford a suite PERIOD.

I sail solo and in my cruises listed below..(other than first 2) I have had 2 outside cabins and 2 inside.

I only shower, change clothes and sleep in my cabin.......now if It was ever possible financially I might try for a balcony one day but I know I could never afford a suite.

So...I will stick with my 7 nights and enjoy myself. And I thank my lucky stars every day that this will be my 3rd cruise this year....never in my life would I have thought it possible......

[sail7seas]

S7S, how many threads did you start today? At least 5 so far that I have seen.

 

At least I have us talking about something besides dress code and tipping. :D

[Druke I]

My wife and I spend little time in our cabins - but do prefer an outside.

On some itineraries, a balcony is nice, but we have never considered a balcony "essential".

 

Michael

[jhannah]

We tend to spend a good bit of time in relaxation on our cruises ... so we go for more space and a veranda. (A veranda at the very least.) We've been fortunate lately to either be upgraded or obtain some great deals, as mentioned above, where roomier facilities were available for very little extra cost.

[RevNeal]

For me money is a critical issue. If I could afford 21 days in a Suite I'd be happy to do it, but I can't afford it ... so ... I book what I can afford! :D

 

J-category inside cabins are a good compromise: inside cabin, but with GREAT location amidships and a few steps from the ship's biggest verandah! :)

[LAFFNVEGAS]

We want BOTH:D Actually once we get fixated on something we do it a lot "like Cruising" Since we are getting our first S Suite this November I am guessing we will be hooked. I guess the number of cruises we can take per year is really more important but fortuately for right now financially we can also afford a nice cabin. We were going to Hawaii at least once per year sometimes twice and now prefer cruising so our money put aside for vacation has not really changed.

[lddam]

Like most retired folks I know, we have limited discretionary funds for vacationing. I would prefer to go more frequently on cruises of shorter duration with inside accommodations. Marcia prefers at least a 14-day itinerary in a veranda cabin, even if it means only 1 cruise for the year.

 

We've been married 38 years. I'll let you figure out what course we usually follow.

 

Dave

[Krazy Kruizers]

:) lddam

Your wife has the final vote - verandah!

And as her loving and devoted husband of 38 years, you have no problems with that.

:)

[Krazy Kruizers]

:)

 

OH yes, s7s, started 8 new posts todays.

She is keeping us hopping.

:D