Cruise Line Cabin Grades – Explained

Well Christmas is definitely over!
I’ve been absolutely swamped this last week with people looking to sort out their summer holidays for this year. The surprising thing about many of these enquiries though is the amount of first time cruisers calling up excited to try a cruise for the first time.

Anyone who’s ever booked through Cruise.co.uk before will vouchsafe to you that we’re always willing to take the time to explain all the little details of a cruise to someone who’s never done it before, all those silly little things that more experienced cruisers take for granted. Like Onboard Credit, like Gratuities and like what the different cabin grades actually mean. I must have explained at least fifteen times over the last week what the difference between an inside, outside and balcony cabin is.
It did get me thinking though that if so many new cruisers are asking me what the cruise lines different cabin grades mean; how many are looking for the answers online?  So.........

Inside Cabin: Probably the easiest to explain; as it sounds your cabin will be ‘inside’ the ship so your room wont receive any natural daylight. In its simplest terms you’d get four walls, a door, but no window. This is the cheapest category of room when booking a cruise.

Outside Cabin: Not as it sounds outside the ship in the cold, (my wife’s made that mistake before now), but rather containing an outside view. The cabin will be almost identical to an inside cabin except in addition to your four walls and a door, one of the walls would have a window with an ocean view.

Balcony Cabins: Pretty much as they sound, much the same as an inside cabin, (except a bit bigger), with French windows on one wall leading out to your own private balcony.

Suites: These are the top grade rooms on any cruise ship and will be much bigger than other grade rooms. They will normally have several different rooms along the lines of one or two bedrooms, a sitting area/living room, perhaps your own dining room etc.

Subcategories: A lot of confusion with the different grade cabins aboard a cruise ship comes from the fact that within each grade of cabin there will be seven or eight subcategories, each one more expensive than the last. You may find that the ‘top’ graded inside cabin will be slightly larger than the ‘lowest’ grade inside cabin, but normally they’re about the same size. The reason the cabins cost more for a similar sized room is directly related to the cabins position on the ship. Generally the higher and more centrally located your cabin is, the more you will have to pay for it. However, just to confuse things even more the Outside and Balcony categories get even more confusing because you also have to factor in restricted views. You can follow this link here to read more about obstructed views but as a general rule of thumb it’s safe to assume that the cheapest grades of balconies and outside views will have a restricted view. Another pit fall to lookout for is that some suites don’t come with balconies, just floor to ceiling windows.

Hopefully this will have answered some of your questions regarding cabin grades on cruise ships. If you have any more questions feel free to post them below for me to answer or feel free to call, (my contact details are at the top of the page). All of us here at cruise.co.uk are always happy to help first time cruisers.

Happy Cruising