6 Cruise Ship Cabins to Avoid

You might expect loud noises, close quarters and crazy maneuvers in the dance club onboard your cruise ship; but not in your cabin. Even if you don’t plan to spend much time there, it should be a restful and private place so you can maintain that much-needed vacation stamina. To help you do so, here’s a compiled list of cabins you’ll want to avoid booking if closet-like dimensions or scraping chair sounds overhead aren’t appealing to you.

1. Cabins Seriously Lacking in Square Footage – The average master bedroom in an American household runs about 200 square feet. “Inside” doesn’t mean one size fits all, so carefully read cabin dimensions before selecting. Also, check whether a balcony is included in the total square footage of the room — the added outdoor space might be nice but not if it’s being factored into an already teeny-tiny cabin.
2. Cabins With Obstructed Views – An obstructed-view cabin category might cost less, but the quality of the vista varies from room to room. One view might be only partially obstructed, leaving most of the window occupied by sunsets over waves, while others artfully frame a length of lifeboats.
3. Noisy Cabins – One common rookie cruiser mistake is not checking the deck plans before booking a cabin.  Anything near a dance club, sports venue, lido deck or all-night eatery could mean throbbing bass, bouncing basketballs and the sweet sound of deck chairs scraping at 3 a.m. It’s widely agreed that the best passenger deck to choose is one sandwiched between other passenger decks — you might run into noisy neighbors, but it’s unlikely they’ll have access to pots, pans or an industrial sound system. Another potential peeve is the dinging of elevators, if you’re close enough to that area to hear them. And don’t forget the cruise ship engine. While humming noises put some to sleep, the loud buzz of machinery might drive you batty. Passengers on the lowest deck are most likely to hear engine or even anchor sounds.
4. Cabins With No Privacy – A view is always preferable to no view, but be wary: Cabins that open onto a promenade deck offer little privacy, even with curtains closed.
5. Cabins Prone To Motion – If you know you have a history of motion sickness or even if you’re not sure, err on the side of booking a more stable cabin. By “stable,” we mean mid-ship, closer to the interior and on a lower deck, where rocking motion is less likely to be felt. A balcony room might seem enticing for the fresh air, but a location on the outer edges of the ship could make it more susceptible to movement. That said, visual contact with the horizon line is said to aid in reducing nausea as you bob up and down.
6. Guarantee Cabins – Not saying that guarantee cabins aren’t worth the gamble for an upgrade, but if you want assurance that you won’t be in a pitching, noisy cabin, these cabins aren’t the way to go. A guarantee cabin isn’t actually a type of cabin but, rather, a method of booking a cabin. You pick a minimum cabin level you’d be comfortable in, and the cruise line assigns you a cabin close to booking dates based on availability. The potential for an upgrade is appealing, and if you’re cruising on a budget and don’t have a particular issue with any of the cabin dilemmas listed above, then it could be worth your while to see what a guarantee might deliver. But your guarantee also could place you squarely above the anchor, next to a crew entrance or below the theater. With guarantee cabins, you lose your ability to complain about what you end up with.

After reading these helpful tips and you’re ready to book your next exciting cruise vacation, please contact Bargain Travel at 1-800-820-4567 (toll-free) or complete our online request form and one of our travel experts will be happy to assist you.