You’ll nearly at all times discover me in an inside cabin on a Royal Caribbean cruise. Whereas the other of luxurious, I by no means thoughts my small, windowless rooms, particularly if it means I can lower your expenses on cruise fare.
Nonetheless, I simply disembarked a 4-night cruise in a Spacious Ocean View cabin on Liberty of the Seas. Eager to “deal with myself” but in addition strive one thing new, I upgraded my cabin for $248 further on high of the $779 I initially paid for an inside cabin. This introduced my complete cruise price to $1027.
I at all times love attempting new methods to cruise with Royal Caribbean, so once I realized I may improve to a Spacious Ocean View cabin for an inexpensive worth, I figured I’d give it a strive.
I had by no means sailed in an ocean view room earlier than, so I used to be curious to see how my cabin expertise would differ from an inside or balcony cabin. The value of an ocean view cabin is normally between inside and balcony cabins, however I had two essential questions:
- Would an ocean view cabin be that totally different from an inside to justify the additional price?
- If I’m upgrading to an ocean view, is it higher to spend a bit of extra to improve to a balcony?
With further room and scenic views out the porthole window, was this improve value it? Let’s discover out.
Royal Up vs commonplace improve
Many cruisers look to Royal Caribbean’s stateroom bidding program, RoyalUp, when hoping to improve their cruise ship cabin. I’ve used RoyalUp as soon as earlier than (with none luck), however I’ve since realized it’s higher to first contact your journey agent about the fee to improve with out bidding.
Associated: Royal Caribbean’s RoyalUp information, suggestions, and tips
RoyalUp permits friends to bid on larger stateroom classes with the hope of profitable the bid and upgrading at a decrease price.
What I’ve realized, nonetheless, is that the minimal bids on RoyalUp aren’t at all times cheaper than upgrading your stateroom straight by way of Royal Caribbean or a journey agent.
Once I requested my journey agent how a lot it could price to improve from my inside cabin, for instance, I used to be shocked to see such affordable costs. The Promenade View Inside and Assure Ocean View cabins have been really cheaper than the unique worth I paid for my inside stateroom.
In the meantime, if I had positioned a bid on a Assure Ocean View by way of RoyalUp, I’d have needed to bid a minimal of $30 per particular person for the weakest bid doable.
Preliminary impressions
As quickly as I walked into our cabin, I used to be happy to see it was fairly spacious, though I used to be a bit shocked that the room was the identical measurement as a balcony cabin.
For some purpose I anticipated this cabin to be much more spacious than a balcony room, however that is most likely reserved for the Extremely Spacious Ocean View cabins.
Regardless, in comparison with the tiny inside rooms I normally keep in, our ocean view cabin felt enormous! The inside cabins on Freedom Class ships are tiny, and whereas I’ve stayed on this measurement stateroom with friends earlier than, it’s positively a good squeeze.
Associated: I attempted the very best inside cruise ship cabin hacks to see how properly they labored
Our cabin was geared up with many facilities, together with:
- King mattress (that we later separated to 2 twin beds)
- Desk and vainness space
- Wardrobe
- Sofa and aspect desk
- Tv
- Mini fridge
There was ample storage within the room, from drawers on each side of the vainness to our nightstand and a spacious wardrobe. There have been additionally cabinets on the aspect of the vainness close to our mattress which I discovered helpful all through the cruise.
There was additionally storage situated behind the mirrors within the vainness and toilet which may simply be neglected, so we took benefit of this, too.
The very best a part of our cabin, in fact, was the porthole window. This window was bigger than I anticipated, though I used to be shocked that we had a “balcony” exterior the window.
As a result of this room is on deck 7 versus the vast majority of ocean view cabins on decks 2 and three, the porthole neglected a non-usable balcony earlier than reaching the ocean.
Professionals of our cabin improve
Extra space
An apparent good thing about staying in our Spacious Ocean View cabin was having extra space. We by no means bumped into one another within the cabin and had no scarcity of cupboard space.
We didn’t even make the most of a lot of the storage, in truth, as a result of there was greater than sufficient room to maintain our suitcases on the ground of the cabin with out having to unpack for a brief cruise.
I spent extra time than traditional in my cabin
On a brief 4-night cruise, I by no means anticipate to spend a lot time in my room. Between attending onboard occasions and filming movies across the ship for the Royal Caribbean Weblog YouTube channel, I normally spend little time enjoyable in my cabin.
This week, nonetheless, I spent extra time than traditional in my cabin. I’ve just a few hours of pc work to do every day, for instance, which I normally do from a public space onboard when staying in an inside room. Unsurprisingly, I don’t love working in a room with out home windows.
Associated: Can you’re employed remotely from a cruise ship in 2022? I put it to the check.
With an ocean view room, I spent these hours working subsequent to my non-public porthole window as an alternative.Â
Our itinerary additionally modified as a result of climate and we ended up with two sea days as an alternative of only one. This meant we had further time to take pleasure in our stateroom (take naps) in the course of the cruise.
Nice choice for a first-time cruiser
I sailed on Liberty of the Seas with my cousin Keli, and he or she had by no means been on a cruise earlier than. I assumed having an ocean view cabin versus an inside was good for my cousin’s first cruise.Â
Whereas I’ve introduced many first-time cruisers onboard in inside rooms and we’ve had an important expertise, I assumed Keli would recognize being in a extra comfy room with a window.
And it labored, as a result of she’s already trying ahead to crusing once more sooner or later!
Cons of our cabin improve
Stateroom location
One downside of our upgraded stateroom in comparison with the inside room we initially booked was the situation.
Our ocean view cabin was situated within the very aft of the ship, so this location wasn’t as handy as someplace nearer to the elevators and stairwells. We spent a variety of time strolling forwards and backwards to our cabin down a protracted hallway.
Plus, as a result of it was on the ship’s aft, I felt a bit of extra motion than I usually would as we sailed by way of the Caribbean. Our upgraded cabin location wasn’t a dealbreaker, however I’d most likely take the situation extra into consideration subsequent time I improve my stateroom.
The one plus of our stateroom was that it was situated on deck 7, so we hardly ever needed to take the elevators as we have been situated only some decks from all the principle points of interest onboard.
Spending cash on a cabin improve as an alternative of different actions
Trying again, we most likely may have stayed in our inside cabin and used the $248 we spent on a cabin improve for different cruise add-ons.
For round $120 per particular person, for instance, we may have booked an Limitless Eating Bundle for our 4-night cruise. Eating at specialty eating places as soon as (or extra) daily may have enhanced our cruise expertise greater than a bit of extra space in our cabin.
We additionally may have put this price towards shore excursions, drinks, web, and different onboard spending.
Solely a 4-night cruise
Spending $248 on a cabin improve would have unfold out additional on a 7-night cruise in comparison with simply 4 days. This introduced the nightly price of the improve to $62, whereas it could solely be $35 per night time on a weeklong cruise.
Subsequent time I improve my cabin, I’ll calculate the nightly worth of the improve to assist justify whether or not or not it’s value it.
Obstructed view
This con didn’t trouble me an excessive amount of, however our “ocean view” really seemed out towards a balcony not in use, so we didn’t have the panoramic view of the ocean we might have gotten in a smaller, cheaper ocean view cabin.
Was the improve value the fee?
I’m nonetheless torn whether or not our cabin improve was value the additional price or not. Whereas $248 is not some huge cash within the grand scheme of our cruise trip, we may have put the cash towards different onboard experiences.
That being stated, I actually loved having a bigger stateroom with attractive ocean views from the porthole. There is not any doubt this room was higher than an inside cabin, and I may have spent my whole day studying in mattress subsequent to our cabin’s window.
Total I’d lean towards the improve being value it moderately than a waste of cash. Whereas I’ll most likely proceed to sail in inside staterooms for the bottom cruise fare doable, it’s good to deal with your self each from time to time!
