Still, after testing hundreds of cabins and cabin types over the years on more than 160 ships, I’ve determined a few hard-and-fast rules about cabins you should usually avoid.įor more cruise guides, news and tips, sign up for TPG’s cruise newsletter. Instead, they’ll book “guarantee” cabins, which is where you tell the cruise line to just pick any old cabin for you, as long as you get a deal.

Some want to be near the kids clubs or the spa or some other venue they know they’ll visit often. Others want to be on a low deck for stability. Some people want to be on a high deck for the views. Picking the perfect cabin location on a cruise ship can be a subjective exercise.

It isn’t much better in the cabins around the forward elevator bank and stairway on the same deck, which on many Carnival ships are right above the bustling central atrium and adjacent casino. Related: Why a windowless ‘inside’ cabin might be just fine If you’re in a cabin in this area, particularly one on the starboard side, you are dealing with not only the noise of the Carnival rowdies emerging from the elevators late into the night but also - on many vessels - the sounds of the piano bar and nightclub emanating up the stairway from right below you. This is the area on those ships around the aft elevator bank on the cabin deck that sits just above the main entertainment deck. It was on a Carnival Cruise Line ship - I can’t remember which one - and it was right in the middle of what I have come to call the “Bermuda Triangle of Bad Cabins” on Carnival ships. I still can remember the worst cruise ship cabin I ever had.

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