Question on cabin classes
I'm looking at Alaska; Inside Passage, June 2023. The cabin classes vary as such, Classic Veranda, Deck 5, $8890. Superior Veranda, Deck 8 & 7, $9090. Deluxe Veranda, Deck 7 & 6, $9390. So the price goes up as the deck goes up? The description and photos/layout of all of these rooms is exactly the same. Same square footage, amenities, etc. Do you pay more to be on a higher deck? What is the difference between the cabin classes? Any info is helpful. I have only been on Tauck river cruises. Thanks.
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Like you I'm a novice on ocean cruises. I d o know that yes, in general the higher up you go the higher the price. I did find more information on the different cabins on the Silverseas' website so you might want to look there until someone with actual experience can give you some insight.
Even on small ships like Wind Star, it is all about location, location, location. On Wind Start all cabins are 188 sq ft and identical. Deck 1 cabins, B and BX, are less expensive (closer to the machinery spaces?) than Deck 2 cabins, A and AX. Also, there are two classes of cabins on each deck. Cabins closest to the center of buoyancy, AX and BX, are supposedly less likely to experience fore and aft pitching motion than the less expensive A and B cabins on their respective decks. On our recent Treasures of the Aegean it didn't matter- it was so calm that it was almost impossible to tell when the ship was underway.
This is my opinion from experience. The middle of the ship is recommended. I know this might go against popular believe. The cabins that are more luxurious (so to speak) with more square footage are not always the best on the ocean voyages. You will experience less motion on the ship if the ocean or sea is rough on a particular day. In a lower cabin, you feel the rocking and rolling somewhat less. Another thing to take into consideration is to look at the stateroom you choose online beforehand and note what is above you. I learned that lesson quickly on a cruise. Some cabins (even the luxury ones) might have a restaurant above a stateroom and when you’re trying to sleep, the crew is shuffling chairs or tables around. The can also occur if a deck is above you and some folks decide they need to jog at 5:00 in the morning. These are just two examples from personal experience that won’t happen if a stateroom is above you instead of a common space.
We were on Silversea recently and had the Deluxe Veranda Suite on Deck 8. We were very pleased with all the amenities and restaurants
Another thing to consider in choosing the deck is whether there is an obstructed view out. While we had a deck 4 Prestige cabin on Le Lyrial right in the center of the ship with a clear view through a slider to the sea on a 2016 Venice and Dalmatian Coast tour, a fellow guest was surprised that the lowest cabin deck of the ship had a concrete wall and they had to stand to see anything. Of course their cabin cost was less. Looking at my paperwork, I note the tour is1/3 more today, not surprising. It is a different ship for 2023. The proposed ship view is a single door with a window on the side. Likely to make room for the cramped sofa. Not the same experience at all.
We went with Viking on the Douro river cruise and had one of their best cabins. However, every single port they stopped at there was a big ship blocking our view. The only time we had a view was when the ship was sailing. It was very disappointing especially as some of the ports were just lovely like Porto.
Cabins on a cruise ship are a whole different thing to on a river cruise. If you are talking about the view on a cruise ship, it doesn’t matter how large your window is if it’s foggy outside and you can’t see the glacier at all, which a happened to us last week. I would however feel very claustrophobic without anything less than a large window or patio door. We were able to peep into some inside cabins on our cruise and they were very small indeed
If it about motion on a rough sea day….our cabin was slightly to the back of the middle of the ship. Apparently, our first night was the roughest experience all season so far. We barely felt a thing. (Others on our tour talked about feeling sick with it. ) Not like our first night on the small ship cruise to Iceland when our bodies left the mattress and crashed down on it again for most of the night.