WAY OT: need assistance is selecting a cruise ship cabin?

[riu girl]

Not DCL (NCL Pearl) so hope I can post here.

We are first time cruisers and have the choice of several midship balcony cabins or an aft balcony cabin (cabin 10668 or 10168) on the same deck (deck 10) for the same price (category BA) . Need a cabin that sleeps 4.

Having never cruised before, I don't know which one to choose.

Can someone tell me which cabin I should choose and why?
www.ncl.com


Thank you

 

[yxe dad]

If you have never cruised before choose a mid ship cabin, there will less rocking if you hit bad weather. I didn't do well on my first cruise when we had a cabin near the front and hit some little waves. It wasn't bad, just enough to make me sea sick for a couple days. Our last cruise was a DCL cruise and we stayed mid ship. We had terrible sea's the entire trip to the point we couldn't dock at Castaway Cay. During the last night we were sailing and it got quite bumpy(I took my youngest son down from the top bunk) and being mid ship I felt better than I did on the first cruise.
Just my thoughts
Shayne

 

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

There is a forum that looks alomost exactly like this one, but dedicated to Cruising, over at Cruise Critic. You'll find hundreds of experts over there, including me. You can likely register the same screen name as here. Then head to the NCL thread.

Go to: http://boards.cruisecritic.com

BobK/Orlando

 

[riu girl]

Thank you both for posting. Yes, I have visited cruisecritic.
I feel like a total newbie over at that board. Just like I did at the DIS in 2004. The terms they use etc etc. I really don't understand it. I have spent about 3-4 hours on that board today reading as much as I can and I still feel like a total newbie. It will be nice to get my first cruise under my belt so I will understand more. The posters on cruisecritic appear great (jsut like DIS ).

 

[happycamper83]

I don't blame you.. it's taken me a long time to get used to cruise critic and I still just lurk over there.

I just recently booked my first cruise as well and the cabin selection process what somewhat overwhelming!! So many choices and categories.. I'm still not convinced the room we picked will be ideal... however the deal maker for us is that we found two balcony cabins next to each other and convinced my aunt and cousin to join us!

We ended up with aft cabins but we had no mid ship ones available to us or else we would have likely chose those!

I came SO CLOSE to having a land/sea DCL vacation.. but this trip is for my mom and when we couldn't get the airmiles flights for "free" on the needed dates, we ended up re-evaluating plans and she ended up picking a princess cruise. I will just have to do the land/sea with my sister some other time....

 

[sheilag]

try www.passporter.com's community - they have a cruise area as well. CruisingCo is a sponsor of that board ...

course, getting assistance from your TA is the best in this case - they have specialized knowledge

As for cabin selection, if you go it alone, pick midship - and look at floor plan - make sure you know where elevators are (do you like easy access, or don't want chance noise of "ping" will disturb you), and see whether noisy spots are above/ below/ near you

 

[LKHomemail]

We went on the NCL, the Pearl on April 15 of this year for a 9 day carrib sailing. It was a very beautiful ship. Had a good time.

I looked on the site and saw floor 10. I can't read the numbers , sorry, too small. When I click on larger view , I can't see full screen. Generally midship is the best position to be in as it is more stable. I would take the midship unless you are less than 3 - 4 cabins away from the elevators. The elevators are noisy . Also, note there is a bowling alley on this ship. Do not stay over or under the alley. Check to be sure that you are not below the jogging track too.

I can't recall our room number but we were midship maybe a bit forward , we were four doors down from one of the laundrymats.

 

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

We always pick the cheapest inside cabin; that's how we can afford to cruise 3X per year. It's very addictive. But all other factors being equal, I agree with everyone else that midship is best as there is the least amount of movement. The front can have anchor noise and on older ships the rear can have engine vibrations. Also, I highly recommend you check to see what is directly ABOVE you and directly BELOW you. Ideally there will be other cabins in both locations. You DON'T want to have the main theater and orchestra in either place, you don't want to have the disco or other lounges in either place and you don't want to have the pool deck or buffet above you. (lots of scraping chair noises!)

BobK/Orlando

 

[yxe dad]

we ended up re-evaluating plans and she ended up picking a princess cruise.

Which ship are you on. I've sailed with Princess on the Grand and the Sun. Both were great and offered lots of fun, food, and sun.

Hope your trip is amazing,
Shayne

 

[Tabetha]

Wow! The Pearl! That's a nice new ship.
I don't have a lot more to add because everyone's given the same advice I would have - stick to midship, and be mindful of what's above and below you.

And go see the Second City show!

 

[minnie56]

Mid-ship..not too high a deck. You feel the 'motion of the ocean' up there!!

 

[happycamper83]

Which ship are you on. I've sailed with Princess on the Grand and the Sun. Both were great and offered lots of fun, food, and sun.

Hope your trip is amazing,
Shayne

We're on the Grand. Glad to hear you enjoyed your trips!