Everyone who has been on a cruise even once does not have a problem when choosing the cabin. However, if you are going on a cruise for the first time and faced such a vital issue this article is likely to be useful for you.
A cruise ship cabin is very much like a hotel room but has a smaller area as a rule. The standard cabin size usually amounts to 14-18 square meters except that of suits. There you can find everything that is usually can be found in any standard hotel room: a bed, a desktop, a chair, a large wardrobe to store the clothes, mirrors, a bedside table, a telephone, a TV set, and a safe deposit box. The cabin temperature is adjusted by the self-operated temperature regulator. Beds located in the ship cabins are usually detachable which enables to join them together to get one double bed as well as to detach them obtaining two separate sleeping places if needed. You don’t have to move the beds yourself if you are not satisfied with their configuration, it is enough to ask a steward to do it when cleaning your cabin.
All the cabins of the cruise ship are provided with cleaning services on a daily basis twice a day. Every cabin is served by its own steward who is responsible for its cleaning making it in the morning when you leave your cabin for breakfast and in the evening during dinner time. You can avoid unnecessary disturbance and refuse cleaning services of course by putting a “Do not disturb” sign on the handle of your cabin door. Whether to remunerate your steward with the tips or not is up to you as they are meant to be included in the service charge every passenger usually pays.
All the cabins of the cruise ship are equipped with their own bathrooms. Bathrooms located in the standard cabins are equipped with shower booths to save space as a rule, and yet, sometimes there are cabins containing fullfledged baths. There are shower gel and shampoo dispensers in every bathroom so you don’t have to take them preparing for your cruise. In the picture below you can see the standard bathroom located on the MSC Divina cruise ship.
As far as you can see, there are bath towels, shampoo, shower gel, and a separate tap containing liquid soap on the sink as well as some bath amenities such as shower caps kept on the shower shelf. There is a special retracting rope for the laundry and swimming suit drying located on the right of the showerhead. By the way, the toilets have a vacuum flush system, like in the aircraft for the water to be ingested inwards. However, it can frighten you a little bit when you use the toilet in your cabin for the first time.
Undoubtedly, all the cruise ships differ, moreover, inside the same ship you can find a variety of cabin types. And yet, in general, all of them can be attributed to one of the 4 main categories.
Inside cabins (Interior cabins)
Outside cabins (Oceanview cabins)
Balcony cabins (Verandah cabins)
Suites
Let us review each above-mentioned cabin type.
Looking at the floor plan of the accommodation deck of almost every cruise ship you can notice that the passenger cabins are located on either side of two long passages crossing the entire watercraft.
Moreover, some cabins “look” inwards whereas the others face outside. Those cabins looking inside the passage are not meant to have windows as they could be simply useless looking at the ship’s inner space. In any case, you could not see something special and interesting looking through it. Hence the name “inside cabin” appeared.
The main disadvantages of such interior cabins are as follows:
Lack of the windows
Lack of the sunlight (you wake up in the morning in a completely dark space)
The small area of the cabin as such type of the ship’s cabins is distinguished by smaller size as compared to other cabin categories.
Nevertheless, the inside cabins have one significant advantage. It is their price. Such a type of ship cabin is always the cheapest. The picture below demonstrates the smallest interior cabin located on the Costa neoRiviera cruise ship.
As far as you can see the free space area is extremely little being enough for two travelers whereas in case you are on a cruise with your children you will experience a lack of living space. Usually, such interior cabins are equipped with hinged shelves serving as additional sleeping places as in the trains. This picture demonstrates what they look like.
More expensive cruise lines offer their guests more spacious inside cabins. In some cases, there is even a small lounge area with a sofa and a coffee table.
The Interior cabin is the best choice for you in case you are not planning to spend there most of your cruise time. For instance, if you are going to spend your daytime on excursions observing sights in the ports and the cities the ship visits whereas your evenings will be spent in the bars and restaurants of the cruise ship, and your passenger cabin will serve you mostly as a place for rest and sleeping such a type of cabin is what you really need. Cheap and cheerful, as it is said! You can enjoy magnificent picturesque sea views on the numerous open decks of the cruise ship.
By the way, many people consider for some reason that interior cabins are usually located below the waterline and therefore are afraid to buy them. That’s nonsense. All the passengers' cabins of all the cruise ships are always located above the waterline.
You can see the example of such cabin type below.
The main advantage of any oceanview passenger cabin is of course the window looking outside. It should be noted that it can not be opened so it is impossible to air your cabin to enjoy the maritime wind. However, you will be always aware of where currently the ship is moving. Besides, you have a great opportunity to wake up in the morning from the rays of the sunlight instead of lying in inky darkness.
Oceanview cabins have larger areas than those of the inner ones. The pictures above demonstrate this type of cabin where a lounge area with a sofa is located. In terms of the price and comfort, such cabins take an intermediate position between interior cabins and cabins containing a balcony.
When selecting an oceanview cabin please take into account the fact that the windows sometimes can face the promenade deck and you will observe the other passengers walking and constantly passing your window. Please learn our detailed decks' floor plans to avoid such a situation.
Balcony cabin represents the most popular category of the cabin today. Unlike the old ships from the 90-s where almost all the cabins were inner or had a window and only suites could boast balconies, most cabins of the modern giant ships are equipped with balconies.
The own balcony allows you to entirely feel the amazing atmosphere of the sea cruise, breathe fresh maritime air when you want, meet sunsets and sunrises, and of course, have breakfast outdoors enjoying the sea view.
The area of a standard balcony is equal to 3-4 square meters. There are usually two sun loungers and a small table on every balcony. Balconies as a rule are fenced by solid glass partitions to provide the safety of the passengers and especially of the children. Access to the balcony represents sliding glass doors from floor to the ceiling providing you with breathtaking sea views and a lot of sunlight.
Balcony cabins have enough space for those who travel with children. Usually, children sleep on folding beds or the hinged shelves in such cabins.
The only disadvantage of such cabins is their price. It is 1,5-2 times higher than that of the interior cabins.
For those who have got accustomed to traveling with comfort and are ready to pay for it, cruise companies offer exclusive cabin types distinguished by the increased area and superior outstanding service. It is completely impossible to describe all the varieties of the existing suites. Every cruise ship has its suits characterized by numerous variants of individual layout and design including comparatively simply arranged spacious rooms as well as two-level lofts having jacuzzi and served by the personal butler.
Royal loft suite (Royal Caribbean):
Reflection suite bathroom(Celebrity Cruises):
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