Indoor cabin on cruise

[Mariets]

I've decided to book a cruise but they only have inside cabins left. Has anyone done that?

We had an indoor cabin on a Disney cruise, it was all we could afford. I wasn’t there to spend time in the cabin!

I think that's the thing, if you have an inside cabin you just use it for sleeping and there are lots of other options to spend your days on deck, quiet places, busy places, sun, shade. The balconies aren't huge, you might have your view partially obscured by lifeboats and they do only tend to have space for a table and a couple of chairs. I'd class it as a nice extra but not essential.

If you want to be with them, then it might be worth it, but one of the reasons why I've never been on a cruise is that a balcony is a non negotiable for me on holiday because that's where we spend all our time when we're not out and about and balcony cabins always look really expensive compared with other holidays. I wouldn't want to be trekking off to find other outside space all the time.

I usually go inside - nice and dark for sleeping and I don't spend loads of time in there as there's plenty of ship spaces to hang out. I've done a balcony one for Panama Canal because that was worth coughing up the extra, but for xmas markets in Scandinavia/Germany it wasn't, as it was dark a lot anyway!

Yes, good point, it depends on the type of cruise. Any hot weather holiday I want to sit on the balcony, but less likely to do this if it's cold and dark outside.

I love them because they’re so dark at night so you get an amazing sleep. I’m not fussed about sitting on the balcony or anything.

I usually just go for the cheapest room because cruises are so expensive anyway for us as we usually do the newest ships.

I've cruised quite a few times, and do prefer a balcony. But I've had an inside cabin once, and if it's the only option, I'd take it with no hesitation. It's fine, great for sleeping, and there are usually plenty of options around the ship to sit outside if that's what you like to do. And if you have a very port intensive cruise, there's not much time to be sitting on the balcony anyway.

I don’t mind an internal cabin but DH has said he didn’t like it. Therefore we are back booking ones with a balcony.

Yes, we're the opposite, in hotels we only tend to use the balcony for maybe coffee in the morning and a last drink / bit of reading before bed, we never use them during the day.

Not something I would do if any of us gets sick we all decided we would feel too closed in

I don't like the darkness of internal cabins, we don't use blackout at home and find it annoying in hotels etc when the only curtains are blackout. Hate waking in the dark.

I prefer an inside cabin to an outside, much cheaper and they are pitch black with zero cracks from the curtains window etc. I wouldn’t say no to a free upgrade to a window view or balcony etc but for value it’s unbeatable for us.

I find on older ships and cheaper cruise companies the price jump to a balcony cabin is much larger than on the newer and larger ships where there build many more balconies.

As I've said it was the only type still available and im already paying av25 % supplement for a single room. It's a week long cruise departing from Spain and visiting Italy and Greece. If I like it and want to do another then I'll make sure I book earlier and get a choice. There's no days at sea so I'll be able to leave the ship.

Only ever had an inside room. It was fine, but we were literally only in there to sleep and get showered and changed

I’ve done it, and just didn’t spend much time in my cabin. It was fine when it was all I could afford.

Inside cabins are fine. I liked how dark it was. Obviously a balcony is much better but definitely doable

no way I could sleep in a room with no window - I suffer from night time panic attacks and often the only way to calm down is put my head outside the window - I also don't do well in hotels where the window doesnt open!!

I would also worry about fire and not being able to get out of the room.

6 cruises here, always inside cabin. I personally like it for the blackout effect as another poster said. Also other than sleeping I spend no time in the cabin! I’d rather save money and spend on excursions!

I have been on 47 cruises so far in my 42 years on earth and on all of them have had inside cabins! Would I like a balcony?! Of course! Would I get on so many holidays if I paid for one?! No! I don’t think they’re worth stretching to for our family as we’re rarely in the cabin but if you can afford one then yeah, I’d book it! If not, then an inside is just fine!

Just NO from me, I have to have a sea view, minimum, prefer balcony.

It will be fine. You have nothing to compare I to.

I actually think a poor balcony can be a worse choice. Theres nothing more disappointing then paying, what could actually be the cost of interior, for a balcony and it being terrible. Noisy neighbours (drag and slam that sliding door), or in the shade, the screentoo high to see over when sitting, zero space , scarily high up are all possibilities .

It is on Costa Cruises, the balcony is the main place you can smoke, they are quite weak on public places you can smoke with any comfort, and if you are a non-smoker I would imagine it would do your head in. MSC are better for banning smoking on balconies, and providing more palatable smoking areas. It definitely depends on the cruise company and the ship. I have done indoor and balcony. Indoor does have some benefits, it is cheap (the main benefit), it is very dark and you cannot see what is going on (sometimes quite useful). It is also small, imagine the smallest hotel room. Balcony is better for most (you often get a bigger room with sofa and there is somewhere to "escape to"), but if you have others that have balcony then that might suit also. Hope this helps x

They can get a bit whiffy with the lack of fresh air. I recommend taking some sort of air freshener.

I prefer the shade, I like the balcony not just to sit on but to have the door open when I’m in the cabin. I’ve never had a ‘bad’ balcony.