Cabin Categories!

[Focusdude]

I am currently researching a trip for the fall of 2006. I originally wanted October, but because of last year's hurricane season, I think I am leaning more toward November now.

The question I have is this - does anyone ever travel in Category 10, 11 or 12? It seems like everyone on this board is always in Category 9 or above! I was going to book a lower end cabin, so we could have more cash for the trip (my husband wants to go on the golf excursions!). I am planning on a 7-day Western Caribbean.

Any thoughts? ???

 

[LCTsMom]

I just booked two connecting secret porthole rooms on a 4 day cruise for September 2006. These rooms are sold as Cat 10 rooms but they are outside rooms with obstructed porholes. From everything I have read, people have been very happy with these rooms. They were an affordable option for us. Hope that helps.

 

[jrabbit]

Our first cruises were in cat 11 and 10. Obviously there are a lot of people that cruise in these categories because there are 256 rooms in these categories out of 875 total rooms.
Cat 12: 13
Cat 11: 147
Cat 10: 96

We first sailed in a cat 11 - definatly thought it was ok because we had a blast (remember - being ON the ship is always better than being OFF of the ship - except for when you are in port ) It didn't miss the split bath or a porthole or verandah (because we never had one before). Once we moved up to the cat 10 we really enjoyed them too. The split bath is nice and so is the small amount of extra room. Once again, no problem with the room at all. The only thing about the cat 12-10 rooms is that there is no natural light and when you wake up you don't know if its 3am or noon!!! Generally they are pretty quite and since they are dark and since you've played hard all day and into the night sleeping never seemed to be a problem (except for oversleeping and missing out on the next days activities)

We then got a cat 10 spr room (an outside room with an obstructed porthole) and were hooked on having a room with natural light. So it's been the spr rooms or cat 9 for us since then.

Remember, regardless of room category EVERYONE shares the same common areas and has access to the same services (with the exception of cat 1-3 rooms - they get a few extra bennies that the rest of us don't). And these common areas: dinning, entertainment, activities are what the cruise is really about. If all you can afford is a cat 10-12 room, go for it - DCL gives you a great cruise!!

 

[depomas]

HI! We have cruised in a ca 11 as well as a 9, and a 5. The only reason we did the 5 and 9 was because of a great promotion. We will continue to book the cheapest cabin possible. I would rather save the money for onboard or any other expenses that always seem to pop up!

Every family has their own thing. Some people need the balcony. We don't. YES it was beautiful, but not our priority. In our case we actually slept better without any sunlight coming in. The secret porthole rooms do seem like a great bargain. The thing is they are not so secret anymore, so you need to book way ahead of time...

 

[Jilliebean]

We've been in categories 9, 10, and 11 on different cruises. While we prefer the the natural light and view from a catgory 9, sometimes the price on the inside stateroom make them irresistable! If you're on the ship, you can't really go wrong!

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Of course!! We've been in Cat 11 on our first cruise; then a Category 5 on our second. For various reasons we've booked a Cat 11 for our cruise next year. Lots of people believe the important thing is being on the ship, not necessarily a higher category stateroom. The money saved can pay for lots of other things.

P.S. See my tag!!

 

[Lisa F]

Our first cruise was a cat 8, followed by a cat 6, followed by a cat 11. In our experience the extra price of the more expensive rooms was not worth it. We didn't spend a whole lot of time in the room anyway and cat 11 rooms are wonderful for sleeping.

 

[glindamood]

We have stayed in a Cat 11, 10, 6 and a Cat 4. My preference is a Cat. 10 as I like the extra space and furniture. I will say that DH and I did an Eastern trip in a Cat. 11 and we managed. I also have a Cat. 11 booked for our December Western trip. As mentioned earlier - it is a personal choice but I would prefer to sail more often on an inside cabin that less with an outside cabin.

 

[Focusdude]

Everyone - thank you so much for the help! I will no longer feel inadequate for not booking below a Category 6!

 

[LiserAnn]

By the way, the secret porthole rooms (SPR), which are charged as a Cat 10 are cabins 5020, 5022, 5024, 5520, 5522 and 5524. If you can DCL and ask for the SPRs most won't know what you're talking about, so ask by the room numbers. These were originally cat 9 cabins but the portholes have partially obstructed views so DCL changed their classification.

 

[ChrisnSteph]

Our first cruise was a cat 8, followed by a cat 6, followed by a cat 11. In our experience the extra price of the more expensive rooms was not worth it. We didn't spend a whole lot of time in the room anyway and cat 11 rooms are wonderful for sleeping.

Our first cruise was a cat 11, and personally I liked it. Very cozy and quiet. At the time it was just three of us and it was quite comfortable. I slept so good in that cabin! We have sinced moved up to cat 9, but just because we have a family of five. We don't spend alot of time in our cabins so having a really spacious room isn't a huge priority. Our next cruise we're booking two cabins - not sure which cat yet but it will be one of the cheaper ones - and the cost should still be less than booking a bigger room. I think a verandah would be nice but I can't justify the cost for the amount of time we actually spend in our room. Like somone else said earlier, everyone shares the same common areas so it really doesn't matter what cat you are in. (I'm sure for some there's a bit of "snob appeal" to HAVING to book cat 1-3... ). Choosing a higher cat can make your cruise much more affordable and you can still enjoy everything else the ship has to offer.

 

[captaincrash]

Hello,

Thought I would add.... we have been in a 12 and a 6. The 12 was our 1st time and the 6 was a courtesy upgrade. We are now booked into a 9 I think with the larger single porthole on deck 2. We feel this is an cost effective compromise since we get the natural light and convenience of a view while in our pajamas -plus the cabin has the larger "elbow room" with solit bath.

Although we could have dropped 3 catagories to a 12 - we obtained exactly what we needed to "make" our trip. However, it is fine to have ANY cabin size or placement.... excepting maybe 2500 at the front of the ship!

 

[MrsMork]

We've done the Cat 11 with DH, myself and 2 GSs. Room was not an issue for us as we are only in the room to sleep and change clothes. We have also been in a secret porthole, and a Cat 9 on Deck 2. We are booked for 2 more and are in Cat 11 for both of those. That speaks for itself.

 

[ChrizJen]

My answer is about the same as most here...

We took our first DCL vacation in Sept '03 in a cat 11 on deck 7. We LOVED it! We liked the sleeping. Once the lights went out, it was totally dark, and we didn't wake up until the alarm went off. It was the best sleep ever! (of course being COMPLETELY wiped out from the day's activities can help with that also! )

That said it really has a lot to do with personal preference. Some say they feel claustrophobic in the cat 11-12's. Others say that if they experience seasickness, having a veranda or a windo hleps with that. But we really enjoyed our cruise in the cat 11, and we would do it again. I'd rather be in a cat 11 or 12 than not be on the ship at all!!

 

[StuartMI]

Our first experience in SPH 5520 will be this October 23rd for a 4-day. Prior to that we had 5650 (Cat 6 - Barb/Tony suite) and after our October/05 cruise, we have 6524 booked (Cat 8) for our 7 Day Eastern cruise.

I'm sure the SPH rooms are just great, however they were only $100 cheaper than the regular cat 9 rooms.