I have recently booked an inside cabin on a 7-night Sapphire Alaska cruise. There were many reviews talking about how wonderful it was to have a balcony or mini suite. I thought I could save money by having an inside cabin. But, is it going to be so inconvenient or not as enjoyable when viewing the glacier from the deck? I don't mind having a small space. It is only 7 nights after all plus I probably will not be in the room that much. Thanks for the help!
It is nice to have a balcony, for sure. An inside cabin is a different experience. When I cruise, I use an inside cabin as a place to rest, change clothers, sleep. If you like the air, you will have to spend more time on deck. However, I can tell you that for Alaska, we enjoyed seeing the glaciers from on deck more than from the cabin (we had a suite with a larger balcony). If money is at all tight, and you don't mind going up on deck to see glaciers (which typically only occur on two cruise days) then the inside cabin seems like a good way to save money. Perhaps you could look for a cabin on a deck easy to access the outside. Have fun. Alaska is T-Riffic!
I agree with waterart. I think the issue for watching the glacier is that folks with a balcony feel more comfortable, being able to watch from the comfort of a chair or from the railing of their private balcony. But I think the best glacier watching is done from the outside, near the front of the ship. You can see the scenery on both sides of the ship, unlike watching from your balcony. You have a lot of flexibility as to what to watch and for how long, from different places on the ship's open outside decks. Some people duck into a lounge to warm up or get a coffee and watch from inside for a while.
Bring appropriate warm clothing and a pair of binoculars, and you could be up there for hours at a time. It's an amazing experience.
I agree with everyone on this one. Unless money is a big consideration an inside cabin isn't the most enjoyable way to go. A balcony is a nice option but not at all necessary. The best way to see the glaciers is up top on deck so you can get a 360 degree view of the world.
We haven't done Alaska yet, but having cruised another very scenic area last year (Norwegian Fjords), I agree with everyone above that a balcony isn't necessary. We had one on our Fjords cruise, but rarely used it. As RichC stated, the best views were the 360-degree views you can get only up on deck.
We haven't been to Alaska in 11 years & decided to go again this June/July since I had to use up some travel airline credits. We're getting an outside cabin again this time. At least we can see the light- maybe even late into the evening. Bring lots of camera memory- there's loads of picture taking opportunities.
For me personally, if I were doing the Alaskan cruise I'd absolutely have at least a balcony cabin. Most of your time is spend watching the sights and sounds...and that's kind of hard to do in an inside cabin. Then you have to go up top, hunker down with some blankets and then if you need anything run back down to your cabin....then you're missing sights you would've otherwise seen from your convenient balcony. Please don't short yourself and just get that balcony cabin...it'll pay for itself in memories! Good luck! Diane <a href='http://www.cruiseclocks.com/'><img border='0' src="http://www.cruiseclocks.com/ticker/1516557359/ticker.png"></a><br><a href='http://www.cruiseclocks.com/'>Free Cruise Clocks</a>
We had an inside cabin on the Golden Princess last September, and it was great. I never slept better, it was nice and dark, and the hum of the engines was great "white noise". Waterart is right...you should go on deck to see the glaciers anyway...when you're at the front of the ship you have a panoramic view...something you won't get from a balcony. We were up on deck by 7a.m. everyday, and only went to the cabin to briefly during the day..that probably would have been different if we'd had a mini-suite or a balcony, but the savings is teriffic on an inside cabin, and being in an inside cabin didn't take away at all from our enjoyment of the cruise, which was absolutely fantastic!
Bring lots of camera memory- there's loads of picture taking opportunities.
