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I look at 9 highly-sought after, and rare, cruise cabins that everyone wants for their cruising vacations because they have something unique, rare, or have added quirks or perks that make them more attractive than the others. So, which ones you should be quick off the mark to bag?
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0:00
when you're in the know like I was on
0:03
this particular ship you can have cabins
0:05
like this that are outliers they have a
0:08
bunch of things that make them unique
0:09
and different but importantly they
0:11
usually cost the same as other cabins in
0:14
the same class you need to be fast you
0:16
need to be smart and you need to know
0:18
what they are and hopefully after this
0:19
you will know exactly what they are so
0:21
you can be amongst those that zoom in
0:23
really quickly and snap them up I'm Gary
0:26
bembridge but let me start first of all
0:28
with some of the more obvious and hard
0:31
to find cabins that clear out really
0:34
really quickly when they come on sale
0:37
first of all let's talk accessibility
0:39
cabins less than two percent of cabins
0:43
on most cruise ships are accessible
0:46
cabins so if you need one for whatever
0:48
reason you really need to know what they
0:50
are and you need to know and move really
0:54
really fast for example I looked at the
0:57
four most popular cruise lines in the
0:58
four biggest categories of cruising
1:00
Carnival in the mass Resort value
1:03
category princess in the premium
1:05
category Viking in the small ship luxury
1:08
and Seabourn in Ultra Luxury and all had
1:11
two percent or less of their cabins as
1:14
accessible so accessible cabins are a
1:17
key issue they're rare and you need to
1:19
understand and move really quickly but
1:22
it gets even worse if you're a second
1:25
type of traveler looking for specific
1:27
cabins which I often am and that is if
1:30
you're a Solo Traveler none of those not
1:33
one of those four leading Lines by
1:35
category Carnival Prince says Viking or
1:38
Seaborn have any solar cabins not one
1:41
between them at the time of recording
1:44
now on my website tips for travelers.com
1:48
I have listed
1:50
the lines and the ships that have solo
1:53
cabins if you take a look at it it's a
1:56
pretty dismal list to be honest however
1:58
the good news is that many new ships
2:01
across most of the cruise lines are
2:04
starting to introduce solar cabins or
2:07
cruise lines are squeezing them in on
2:09
refits like Cunard which I'm on now for
2:11
example they added 15 on Queen Mary 2
2:14
and 9 on their other two ships of which
2:17
I am on right now one of those Queen
2:19
Elizabeth even small lines like Fred
2:22
Olsen added 40 solar cabins onto each of
2:25
the two ships they bought from Holland
2:27
America in their refit for 2023. the
2:31
only Cruise Line though that has any
2:32
real number of solar cabins is Norwegian
2:36
with their solo Studios so for example
2:39
on Norwegian Encore they have 82 solo
2:42
cabins and 128 on Norwegian Epic they
2:46
also didn't have a little solo Lounge
2:48
for the solo Travelers but these cameras
2:51
are kind of really tiny you might have
2:52
seen Tony at La li de Loco Channel
2:54
recently traveling in them but if you
2:56
want to go solo and avoid a double
2:58
surcharge to occupy a cabin you need to
3:02
move really fast and be pretty Nimble to
3:04
snap one of those solar cabins up the
3:07
third option which is much more
3:08
appealing to everybody perhaps you
3:10
extremely sought after hearts and ab are
3:14
aft cabins these are the cabins at the
3:16
very back of the ship now many people
3:19
really like those not only for the views
3:21
but also because on many Cruise Lines
3:23
including Cunard that I'm on 100 America
3:26
and many others they feature massive
3:29
balconies some of which even wrap around
3:32
the corner of the deck they offer
3:35
magnificent views so that's a really big
3:38
plus there's not many of them as I
3:40
mentioned now personally I'm less keen
3:44
on those cabins because they can have
3:45
kind of vibrations from the engines they
3:48
can have more movement in rough Seas but
3:50
they are really really popular really
3:53
rare so again you need to be nimble and
3:55
fast if you want to NAB one of those
3:57
particularly ones with a big wrap around
3:58
balconies another match sought after
4:00
cabin which people who know specific
4:03
ships really Chase
4:05
cabins which are in the ship's side
4:07
bulge mat of Royal Caribbean blog for
4:10
example he talks about these often he
4:13
really likes these and seems to seek
4:15
these out so basically
4:16
when you look at some cruise ships
4:18
you'll see in the middle section there's
4:21
a section that basically juts out now
4:24
some of the cabins at the edge of the
4:26
Bulge they tend to be bigger but often
4:29
they're not they just have much larger
4:31
than normal balconies they also look
4:33
down the side of the ship so they're
4:35
really really good for unobstructed
4:38
views Scenic cruising
4:40
people really like them because they
4:43
don't cost anything extra you'd expect
4:46
cruise lines to charge a higher premium
4:47
but generally they don't again there's
4:49
not many of them so you need to study
4:51
the ship's deck plan to find out where
4:53
they are and then when they come on sale
4:55
sweeping fast and get one the fifth type
4:58
of cabin is also one where you need a
5:00
little bit of Insider knowledge this is
5:02
where you have bonus cabins in the same
5:05
category a little bit like the one that
5:07
I just mentioned with the Bulge
5:09
balconies so for example on Norwegian
5:12
Cruise Lines Breakaway class of ships
5:14
they have Ocean View Cabins at the very
5:17
front of the ship but in the middle on
5:19
decks 9 10 11 the cabins which end with
5:21
700 9 700 10 700 are twice the size of
5:25
the other family ocean view rooms on
5:27
either side now many Cruisers who have
5:29
fans of Norwegian know this and they
5:30
quickly move in and sweep those up so
5:33
how on Earth do you find these quirky
5:36
bonus cabins well of course you need to
5:38
know the ships well so the best thing to
5:40
do is ask your travel agent if they know
5:42
of any or even better what I find is ask
5:44
fans of the ship Cruise Critic notice
5:47
boards are a great way of finding out
5:49
those quirky cabins that people have
5:51
sussed out as having extra bonus things
5:54
around them you'll also find hidden
5:57
bonus cabins in the same category as I
5:59
mentioned normally cost the same price
6:01
and give you so much more because
6:04
they're hard to find you need to move
6:06
quickly as I've said with all of the
6:08
others the next area of cabins that are
6:09
worth looking at and again are hard to
6:11
track down and book are Spa cabins many
6:14
cruise lines have started to introduce
6:16
these grade of cabins I found them on
6:18
lots of lines now Carnival celebrity on
6:21
America Norwegian Royal Caribbean and
6:24
most recently when I was on Azamara so
6:27
they all have these Spa cabins which are
6:29
normally linked in some way to the spa
6:32
as the name would obviously suggest they
6:34
often have Spa access in room diffusers
6:38
access to fitness equipment special
6:40
menus and other perks they're really
6:42
popular and there's very few of them
6:44
because many of them have often been
6:47
wedged into the ships on refits
6:50
so for example on Asmara quest in their
6:54
refit they squeezed two of these rather
6:56
nice looking cabins in they're popular
6:58
because the added benefits they offer
7:01
are really popular appealing because
7:04
they're so few of them they sell out
7:06
quickly now they do often have a premium
7:09
versus other balcony cabins but you
7:11
often find the perks can balance it out
7:14
one grade of cabin that appeals to a lot
7:17
of people and are hard to find are
7:19
family cabins which can cater for you
7:22
know five six or more people the family
7:24
cabins are limited in numbers now these
7:27
tend to be oversized cabins they often
7:29
have a separate bedroom area or even a
7:32
whole complete separate bedroom space
7:33
they often have split or multiple
7:36
bathrooms now a really obvious example a
7:39
good example is on Disney Cruises I was
7:42
on Disney Magic recently and I had what
7:45
was known as the deluxe family Veranda
7:47
cabin this had a split bathroom so it
7:50
made much better when families were kind
7:51
of getting ready together
7:53
now most of the family lines so that's
7:56
things like MSC Royal Caribbean Carnival
7:58
and Norwegian of course have quite a lot
8:01
of family cabins they have all those
8:03
spaces that I mentioned included now the
8:06
good news is also depending on your
8:07
budget they have them available at
8:09
different levels so again if I use Royal
8:11
Caribbean as an example they have family
8:14
cabins
8:15
interior cabins Ocean View Cabins right
8:18
through to Suites so catering for loads
8:21
and loads of different budget types
8:24
but even on other lines like common
8:26
America which is trying to attract more
8:28
families they've started to introduce
8:30
family suites but they only have 32 of
8:32
them on their new ships now these cabins
8:34
have more living space they can hold up
8:37
to five guests they have separate
8:38
bathrooms they have more storage space
8:40
but you need to move fast because
8:42
there's so few of them if you're
8:43
traveling as a family particularly of
8:45
course during Peak family Seasons now if
8:48
you don't manage to get a family
8:49
specific cabin one way to get around
8:52
that is to book perhaps at a lower grade
8:55
than you were thinking but book
8:57
interconnecting cabins next to each
8:59
other but again you need to plan ahead
9:02
to make sure you find those and get
9:04
those locked in but another key area
9:07
link to all of this is if you're
9:09
planning to book a multiple occupancy
9:12
cabin so you're going to be traveling
9:14
say as two couples together in the same
9:16
cabin or you're traveling with friends
9:18
now firstly there are a limited number
9:22
of multiple occupancy cabins on many
9:24
line lines now if you're in the more
9:26
family resort lines like Embassy Royal
9:28
Caribbean or even things like Disney
9:29
they do have many more of them but a lot
9:32
of cruise lines which are catering more
9:34
for couples they have much fewer of them
9:37
so you need again to find out what they
9:40
are move pretty fast if you're traveling
9:42
as a group but secondly you also need to
9:44
look for cabins which have a more
9:46
distinctive area so for example in this
9:48
cabin there's a seating area there's a
9:50
bedroom area but there's no curtain
9:51
between the two but there's many cabins
9:53
that would have a curtain between the
9:54
two making it a much more private space
9:56
if you're sharing so they are much
9:58
harder to find they're much better if
10:00
you're traveling with friends or
10:02
extended members of your family because
10:03
you have a bit more privacy to find
10:04
those you need to ask your travel agent
10:06
the cruise line or again those Cruise
10:08
Critic boards are great to check if the
10:10
cabins that you look at have that kind
10:12
of separate divider thing it doesn't
10:14
cost anything extra now the next area is
10:16
one of my favorite areas and it is the
10:18
more quirky one-of-a-kind cabins that
10:21
are special different and some of these
10:24
cost more but not always a lot more
10:27
money now one of the most renowned of
10:29
all of these is the Ben and Jerry's
10:32
Suite which is on the freedom class
10:34
ships in the Royal Caribbean Fleet this
10:36
is a stage room that is just above the
10:39
Ben and Jerry's store as the name would
10:41
suggest and you get all sorts of perks
10:43
you get free ice cream the cabin itself
10:46
is quite unique has very distinctive
10:48
decors of the cow hide Decor you then
10:52
have Perks like Concierge Lounge party
10:55
reservations it's just a very unusual
10:57
fun cabin the second one which I think
11:00
is fantastic is and I saw it on
11:03
haphagloid Europa too is they have what
11:05
they call a family apartment where you
11:07
have two connected cabins two separate
11:10
areas but the kids area is fitted with
11:12
special bathrooms it's got bunk beds
11:14
it's got all sorts of toys in it then
11:16
there's the tower Suite which is on the
11:18
new Disney ships like wish and treasure
11:20
this is a suite which is built into the
11:23
funnel it's super quirky it's really
11:25
unusual and it's pretty spectacular on
11:28
Royal Caribbean they have quite a few
11:30
unusual and unique
11:33
Suites and cabins like the aqua theater
11:35
Suites they're on the Oasis class ships
11:37
they can hold up to eight guests they
11:39
Overlook the aqua theater so you have
11:41
this big wraparound balcony with
11:43
Incredible views of the sea and of
11:45
course kind of prime time fantastic
11:48
private space to watch the aqua shows
11:51
also in Royal Caribbean you'll find one
11:54
of the things that I think is amazing
11:55
the ultimate family Suite a two-level
11:57
complex it's got air hockey Lego wars
11:59
hot tubs and a slide between the two
12:01
levels but there are many different
12:04
themed special Caverns across different
12:07
cruise lines I was on Virgin recently
12:09
where they have what they know is
12:10
they're rock star suites with guitars
12:13
and record players and all that kind of
12:14
stuff so ask around what are these
12:17
little quirky ones on ships many people
12:19
chase cabins which have been added onto
12:22
ships and this I've found is a really
12:24
good watch out as many ships age lots of
12:27
cruise lines start to add more cabins by
12:29
reconfiguring spaces that aren't being
12:31
used very much in refits so for example
12:33
as I mentioned Cunard introduced solar
12:36
cabins by reconfiguring space that was
12:39
in the casino for example so on Queen
12:41
Mary 2 though they added Britannia club
12:44
which is a whole completely new class of
12:46
cabins completely new category they
12:48
added this at the top of the ship it was
12:50
an area that used to be an open deck
12:52
space that was not really being used
12:54
other cruise lines like silver sea have
12:56
cut ships in half and added whole
12:59
midsection so they've stretched it you
13:01
know Windstar recently have done it with
13:02
Breeze Legend and pride and they've
13:06
basically added brand new cabin so what
13:08
I've done for example for a cruise that
13:10
I've booked on wind staff and next year
13:12
is I've made sure that I've booked in
13:15
one of the cabins in that new added
13:18
section because looking at their little
13:20
bit modern or contemporary they have
13:22
better facilities and they don't
13:24
actually cost anything more but they're
13:26
just basically going to be better
13:28
because they've been added in much later
13:30
if you want to know more about choosing
13:33
a cabin watch this video where I talk
13:35
about how you can find a cabin in the
13:37
best part of the ship so even if you've
13:38
missed out on some of these special ones
13:40
you can ensure that you get the best
13:42
place on the ship starting with a little
13:44
trick that works for me every single
13:47
time see you over there
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