If you haven't cruised before you will likely be pleasantly surprised with how well designed cabins on modern ships generally are.
Expect all the comforts of a plush 5 star hotel with a surprising amount of cupboard and drawer space. one of the best bits of cruise holiday is that you only unpack once, and then you slide that big old suitcase under the bed and it's not seen again until the last night.
The air-conditioning is normally excellent with individual control. And the beds on good ships are some of the most comfortable I have experienced.
Older ships tend to have have small rooms and consequently no room for a separate sofa from which to watch TV, or just relax. This makes a difference on longer cruises. Some ships have a curtain that separates this area from the bed, which is great is you and your travel companion have different sleep patterns.
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| Royal Caribbean |
Sound proofing is again normally fantastic and it is rare to hear any other guests in the hallway or next door.
Occasionally some ships, generally older ones have issues of noise from decks above or below a particular cabin. This can happen if under the pool deck where deck chairs are repositioned at night, the runner track, galleys or even large show rooms. Again it's normally only a problem on older ships and you can save a lot of grief checking deck plans before selecting a cabin.
There are also websites that offer advice on cabin selection and those that have caused problems in the past.
Bathrooms are notorious small. That being said on new ships some of them are as glamourous and better designed than 5 star hotels.
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| Celebrity Eclipse - standard bathroom. |
Bathrooms are one of the reasons I suggest you avoid older ships - while almost every other part of the ship can be updated bathrooms are one area that really can't be changed. Older ships will also have shower curtains instead of sleek glass doors, which make a huge difference in a small space.
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| Pacific Dawn - standard bathroom |
Every cabin has a TV naturally, and on these you should be able to view movies free of charge, numerous cable channels and your account.
These first three videos are of our first big cruise Transpacific from Sydney to Hawaii, via the Cook Islands and Tahiti. Rhapsody, although an older ship, has 'good bones' and has been maintained beautifully by Royal Caribbean. In April this year she had a major refurbishment and she looks and feels like a new ship. Some ships have a great vibe, and Rhapsody, although older and smaller than most today, always rates surprisingly high in cruise critic reviews.
