15 Best Inside Cruise Cabin Hacks & Tips

Table Of Content

• Solo Cruising Might Mean an Inside Cabin
• More Royal Caribbean
• How to Get From the Fort Lauderdale Airport (FLL) to the Miami Cruise Port
• Staterooms
• Interior Staterooms
• It’s not as bad as you think: 6 reasons I’m happy booking a windowless ‘inside’ cabin on a cruise ship
• Inside Cabin Hacks & Tips
• Interior Cabins Are the Least Expensive on the Ship

In my mind, if my alarm didn't go off yet, then it's not time to get up. As advertised, the light was off when I went to sleep and on when I woke up. The nice thing about this is when I woke up earlier than my alarm, I could sense no light without opening my eyes. In addition to inside cabins being super small and inexpensive, they're also very dark. The only downside to this trick is if you either have a lot of luggage and/or your bags are oversized.

Carnival Cruise Interior Cabin vs Royal Caribbean Balcony - Royal Caribbean Blog

Carnival Cruise Interior Cabin vs Royal Caribbean Balcony.

Posted: Tue, 22 Aug 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

Solo Cruising Might Mean an Inside Cabin

This $500 was put towards flights to Miami, shore excursions in port, specialty dining, and other incidental expenses during the cruise. The most stable place to be on any cruise ship is low down on the vessel near its equilibrium point, which is generally near its center. Since inside cabins are closer to the center of a ship than "outside" ocean-view and balcony cabins, they can be more stable in rough seas. The trick is to find an inside cabin toward the center of the ship in both directions — lengthwise and widthwise. With shorter cruises (especially 3/4-day trips), you’re likely to spend a lot of your time outside the cabin.

More Royal Caribbean

These fares can be a great option for travelers who don't care much about cabin location or who don't spend much time in their room. At worst, you get a cheap cruise in a room that's a little smaller, somewhat noisier or a longer walk than other cabins, and you might not be eligible for certain extra-value booking perks. At best, you can get upgraded to a room in a higher cabin category than you paid for.

How to Get From the Fort Lauderdale Airport (FLL) to the Miami Cruise Port

There is no set formula of how much more you’ll pay for a balcony room compared to interior. The price difference depends on each specific cruise, but an example can give you a good idea. The proximity of a cabin to areas of the ship that are most important to you should also come into play. If you want to be near the main pool deck and buffet, choose a cabin on a higher deck. If you’re looking to be closer to the casino or indoor promenade, you might want one on a mid to lower deck.

If you are happy with booking an interior cabin, it increases your options in both the ship you sail and your location around the ship. Every deck will have interior cabins for guests, but not every deck has balcony rooms available. There’s nothing like a lack of natural light and fresh ocean breeze to get a person out of their room and out and about on a cruise ship. When people have a cabin with a balcony, they’re more likely to spend some extra downtime in their room sitting on the balcony listening to the ocean waves or hanging out reading a book.

It can feel a little claustrophobic to spend hours in a small room with no windows while you read, journal, or watch movies! If this sounds like you, a larger stateroom with a sofa and/or a balcony might be a better fit. Some cruise lines have various categories of inside staterooms that are quite spacious in comparison. The average inside stateroom is the smallest category of room (except for solo cabins, which are a rarity in the cruise world). When you book an inside stateroom, you’ll accrue loyalty points just as quickly as other stateroom categories (except full suites – they often get extra loyalty credit).

The rooms are often slightly larger than inside cabins; on some ships, they might have a sitting area in addition to the bed and bathroom. Therefore, the cheapest way to cruise is generally in an inside cabin. On all big ships, the base rates you see are for interior rooms. Prices will typically increase for more desirable inside cabins with extra space or in a prime location, and rooms with windows or balconies. Interior cabins on most cruise ships will range from about 150 to 185 square feet of space.

In fact, at times, I'll even book a cabin that doesn't have a window — or, as they're known in the cruise world, an "inside" cabin. It was mentioned above how dark these rooms can be when the lights go out. And without any natural light coming in, that means it stays dark. Close the door, turn out the lights and it’s just as dark at noon as it is at midnight.

Interior Cabins Are the Least Expensive on the Ship

Get all the comforts of home and then some, with absolutely none of the hassles. Or just spend time on your balcony — you’ve got one of our most spacious rooms. For those looking to cruise for cheap, you might also want to consider a guarantee cabin. This will ensure you get a cabin in your desired category, but you won’t be able to pick the exact location. The cruise line will assign it to you, usually a few weeks before the sail date. A cruise tip I learned from a friend and Mom of two kids, is to pack your organizer at home so it’s ready to hang and saves time unpacking on a cruise.

Like most cruisers, I get on ships to enjoy all they have to offer in their public spaces and to explore all the wonderful places to which they sail. On a typical seven-night Caribbean sailing on a mainstream cruise line, you can save an average of $350 to $400 per person per night when comparing inside cabins to balcony cabins. Perhaps, you'd prefer to use the money to fund your poker habit at the onboard casino or keep the wine flowing at dinner. Spend money on the most important parts of your vacation -- and if you skimp on the cabin, that's A-OK. On shorter cruises, we find that we don’t spend much time in the cabin. In this case, there’s not much advantage of booking a balcony when we wouldn’t use it that much.

Moreover, the channel changes between the bridge view and a map view. Moving back to map view means more light than when it's on bridge view. If you are sharing a cabin, privacy is always going to be at a premium. Royal Caribbean's cabins have a curtain in the middle, but it only goes a bit of the way.

Certain Royal Caribbean ships have a virtual balcony, which is a large, floor-to-ceiling television screen projecting a live feed from outside the ship. Having stayed in two virtual balcony cabins, I find these to be a nice way to get an outside view at a fraction of the cost of a balcony cabin. Booking an inside cabin means I can stretch my vacation budget further. On my recent cruise, I saved around $500 by sailing in an inside room instead of a balcony cabin.

I booked the cheapest balcony cabin on Carnival's newest ship for $2600. Look inside my 205-square-foot balcony ... - Cruise Blog

I booked the cheapest balcony cabin on Carnival's newest ship for $2600. Look inside my 205-square-foot balcony ....

Posted: Thu, 14 Mar 2024 07:00:00 GMT [source]

Disney Dream and Fantasy offer similar inside rooms with Magical Portholes -- small, round video screens that show exterior views as would a real porthole window. And on Carnival, some cabins labeled as inside actually have porthole windows for natural daylight (if not wide open seas). We've seen inside cabins priced from $39 per person, per night.

Another item to remember for any cabin is a non surge protected power bar with extra outlets and USBs. I’ve yet to try this, however cruise passengers report that they love them. If you think you might miss those glorious ocean sounds, bring a small white noise machine that mimics the sounds of the sea. These space saving foldable boxes can be used to store everyone’s flip flops or other items that would otherwise be in the way.

While deals that low are reserved for special sales, you can often find interior rooms from $80 or less per person, per night. That fare includes not only your room but also food in select restaurants (including the main dining room and buffet), entertainment onboard and use of pools and water slides. If you're short on cash, but need a getaway, an inside cabin gets you access to most of the awesome amenities found on mega-ships. In our example above, the balcony room costs more than 50% over the price of the same trip in an interior cabin. That’s money you could keep in your pocket or use to take another cruise.

I figured if they shared them, these tips had to have some sense of usefulness. Additionally, shouldbecruising.com participates in various other affiliate programs, and we sometimes receive a commission from purchases made through our links. Wondering how room service and dining in general works on a cruise? I explain it all in What New Cruisers Don’t Know About Cruise Food & Drinks. To prevent yourself from smashing into the edge of the desk or tripping over shoes in the middle of the night, consider packing a nightlight. Every passenger has a different budget, and ultimately you are the only person who can decide what splurges to allocate your budget toward.