Cruise: How to choose your cabin wisely?

We are in the middle of booking our next cruise! In October 2023, I will be fulfilling another one of my dreams: taking a transatlantic cruise. We will depart from Barcelona and arrive in Florida 15 days later.

This is the second time we will travel on a “giant of the seas” after our cruise through the fjords with MSC in August 2014. In a completely different style, we also took a cruise on the Nile..

So the question of choosing a cabin for these two weeks of cruising arises. Let me share some food for thought.

We are going with the company Royal Caribbean. There might be a few differences, but the logic will be the same with other companies (Costa, MSC, …).

The different types of cabins

There are generally 3 or 4 different types of cabins (from the cheapest to the most expensive):

• Interior cabins: without a porthole
• Exterior cabins: with a porthole that doesn’t open
• Cabins with a balcony
• Suites

We chose a balcony cabin. For several reasons:

• It’s pretty cool to be able to enjoy the view right after waking up, relaxed, in your underwear 😀
• Since this is a transatlantic cruise, we’ll have long days at sea. We’ll be glad to have a balcony all to ourselves.
• Royal Caribbean is an American company. And Americans love air conditioning. We’d rather have the option of fresh air.

Be careful, on the largest ships, like the Symphony of the Seas that we’re taking, there are balconies that overlook the interior of the ship. So you’ll have a view of other cabins, not the ocean.

Beware of obstructed views

This is one of the points rarely communicated clearly. Even if you’ve chosen a cabin with a porthole or balcony, you might have a partially obstructed view (by cables, a lifeboat, …). That can be a nasty surprise.

With Royal Caribbean, you have two options:

• Either you choose your own cabin (by paying an extra fee)
• Or you let the company (and in this case, a computer that randomly assigns) place you, with potentially a bad surprise.

If you choose your own cabin, you have access to the ship’s deck plan.

With small pictograms, one of which indicates cabins with an obstructed view.

Which cabins are the quietest?

To have the quietest room possible, you should:

• Be on a deck with only cabins (no bar, no restaurant, no kids’ area, etc.)

If your cabin is next to the restrooms and the theater, you’re bound to have foot traffic.

• Be between two decks that only have cabins (if you’re right below the casino, you might have some noise)
• Avoid connecting cabins. You’ll have a divider with a closed door, but the soundproofing won’t be as good as in a regular cabin.

At the bow? At the stern? Amidships?

Cabins mid-ship are recommended for two reasons.

First, cruise ships are massive (the Symphony of the Seas is 362 meters long!). Points of interest (restaurants, gym, theaters, etc.) are spread throughout the ship. If you’re at one end, get ready to do a lot of walking (but it’s good for you!). On our first cruise, we were at the back of the ship and it didn’t really bother us (but for people with mobility issues, it could be very inconvenient).

Second, the closer you are to either end of the ship, the more you’ll feel the motion. It’s relative, because you’re not on a small sailboat but on a floating city. But the closer you are to the middle of the ship, the more stable you’ll feel. At the stern, during departures and arrivals, we felt vibrations and smelled the engine.