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Where is the best place on a cruise ship to have your cabin? I’m changing the way I choose my cruise cabin after realising I had not properly factored in the best cruise deck to be on that can improved the experience and enjoyment of my trips. I’m not changing the basics I use to find a cabin, just adding to them as I’m now convinced there is a best place to be on cruise ship. There is a best deck and place along that deck too.....
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0:00
i'm shaking up the way i choose my
0:01
cruise cabin after realizing i had not
0:03
been properly considering a factor that
0:06
could have improved the experience and
0:08
enjoyment of my trips i want to tell you
0:09
about this to help you also
0:12
up your cruise enjoyment if you're new
0:14
here welcome aboard i'm gary bembridge
0:16
and it's my goal to make it fun and easy
0:18
to discover plan and enjoy unforgettable
0:21
cruise vacations i'm not changing the
0:24
basics i use to find a cabin just adding
0:27
to them as i'm now convinced there is a
0:29
best place to be on a cruise ship there
0:31
is a best deck
0:33
there are five things i do right now
0:35
when it comes to my cabin first i decide
0:38
which grade inside ocean view veranda or
0:41
suite
0:42
everything i'm going to talk about from
0:44
here on applies to every single one of
0:47
those grades i personally almost always
0:49
go for a balcony reasons i've covered it
0:51
in another video
0:53
second i choose a fare that allows me to
0:56
choose my own cabin so not a guaranteed
0:59
fare with a cruise line choose the cabin
1:01
one where i actually get to choose the
1:03
cabin myself third i then make sure that
1:07
the cabin that i'm picking is surrounded
1:09
by cabins above below either side and
1:12
ideally opposite this means that i avoid
1:15
being above next to or near any noisy
1:18
venues or busy spots on the ship
1:20
fourth i make sure there is no
1:22
interconnecting door so the television
1:24
arguing or noisy neighbors will not be
1:26
heard in my cabin
1:28
and then i tick the box saying no to an
1:31
auto upgrade because once i've chosen a
1:34
cabin that meets these things i do not
1:36
want to lose it by being upgraded to a
1:38
cabin which is perhaps worse i was
1:40
reminded how key this last step is as
1:43
just today in fact i got a message from
1:45
a channel follower june where they'd
1:47
forgotten to tick the refuse auto
1:50
upgrade button and had been upgraded to
1:52
a cabin which they really didn't want to
1:54
be in and they didn't like the problem
1:56
is you have no chance to accept or
1:58
reject the new cabin if you have agreed
2:01
to auto upgrade and once the line has
2:04
moved you it's almost impossible to get
2:07
them to reverse it however
2:09
even going through those five things it
2:12
leaves me often with hundreds of cabins
2:15
around the ship and not all of those get
2:18
me in the best place on the ship as i
2:19
found out on my last four cruises ships
2:23
as we know can be huge with many many
2:25
decks for example of the four ships i
2:28
was on recently sky princess and regal
2:30
princess had 19 decks pinot britannia
2:32
had 18 and celebrity silhouette had 16
2:36
however
2:38
ships don't have as many decks as they
2:40
say they do because most ships actually
2:43
skip a deck
2:44
so for example on most us and uk ships
2:47
they leave out deck 13 so sky princess
2:50
and regal have for example 18 not 19
2:54
decks
2:54
msc the italian line these are decks 17
2:58
not 13 because italians are more
3:00
superstitious about the number 17. so if
3:03
you're on deck 12 and you want to go to
3:04
deck 14 say on skype princess it's only
3:07
one deck up not two now this is going to
3:09
become really important when we start
3:11
looking at which of the decks you should
3:12
be on
3:13
also
3:14
when you look at the deck plans you will
3:16
see there are other missing decks for
3:19
example on sky princess the deck plans
3:22
only start from deck 5 on celebrity
3:24
silhouette at deck 3 and so on the
3:27
missing decks are mostly for crew
3:29
quarters and various ship operational
3:32
facilities
3:33
we have really limited access to those
3:35
for example the medical center is often
3:37
on the lower missing decks or we might
3:39
pass through them when we disembarking
3:41
in some ports or going on ship tenders
3:43
some decks are then given very specific
3:45
names and which are consistent across
3:47
ships and these tend normally not to
3:49
have passenger cabins there's a
3:51
promenade deck or main deck as it's
3:53
sometimes called this tends to be
3:56
and the decks above or below on bigger
3:57
ships where
3:59
the bars are the main dining rooms
4:01
theater casino and a lot of the
4:03
entertainment venues are
4:05
there's also a lido deck where the pool
4:08
buffet restaurant usually fitness center
4:11
perhaps the crow's nest bar overlooking
4:13
the bow they're all on this deck there's
4:15
usually a sun deck at the very top of
4:17
the ship for sunbathing
4:19
and a sports deck which might have a
4:21
basketball court a crazy golf or
4:23
whatever on why am i telling you this
4:25
and what difference does it make to
4:26
finding the best place and deck on a
4:29
cruise ship well because i found knowing
4:31
the quirks and layout of the ship makes
4:34
sure that i and you can find your
4:37
perfect place i've learned that the key
4:40
is to make cruise ship deck plans your
4:43
friend and really importantly to ignore
4:46
totally the interactive deck plans the
4:48
lions have on their websites because in
4:50
my view they hide and they certainly
4:52
make it harder to spot any issues
4:54
instead i always download a pdf copy of
4:56
the deck plans or i use ones in the
4:59
brochure also i make sure that that
5:02
specific plan covers the dates of my
5:04
crews because there are often different
5:06
versions because when ships go into
5:07
regular dry docks tweaks and changes
5:09
made to layouts and venues are added or
5:12
moved with that in mind and deck plan in
5:14
hand here are my tips around which of
5:16
the decks you should be on
5:18
first as a general principle but then
5:20
i'm also going to give you some tips
5:22
around specific destinations because in
5:24
some cases the deck you should be on
5:27
changes by itinerary well first of all
5:29
there's decks that i make sure my cabin
5:32
is not on i avoid the deck below the
5:34
lido deck for example this is where you
5:37
can and i have been affected by noise
5:40
and disruptions for much of the day and
5:42
into the night from pool parties
5:44
scraping chairs early morning throughout
5:46
the day under the buffet there's often
5:48
noise if you below the fitness center
5:51
you can be disturbed with the pumping
5:53
music from the fitness classes or people
5:55
dropping weights and it does actually
5:57
get really annoying the same with the
5:59
sports deck where you can have people
6:00
thumping around on there so next i then
6:03
avoid decks above and below the
6:05
promenade or the main deck here you've
6:07
got the theater you've got night music
6:09
venues night club bars main dining room
6:12
and things like the kitchens i then
6:14
avoid any decks where people can walk or
6:17
stand in front of my cabin now on
6:19
classic cruise ships this is pretty
6:21
unusual though some new ships like piano
6:23
iona does have actually balcony cabins
6:26
on the promenade deck which people can
6:28
walk past and look into your room or
6:30
watch you sitting on the balcony i've
6:32
been on smaller ships and particularly
6:34
on expedition ships where which have
6:36
public decks outside my cabin people
6:39
tend to congregate there to view the
6:40
scenery
6:42
watch the wildlife and it can actually
6:43
be pretty disruptive and a little bit
6:45
annoying now most of those decks i was
6:47
already actually discounting by working
6:49
through my existing five steps to find a
6:51
cabin so where did i find on top of this
6:54
i now also need to focus this is where
6:56
the learning i made on those recent
6:57
trips has come into play well first of
6:59
all i learnt a lesson from my experience
7:01
on regal princess compared to that on
7:03
sky princess both with the same number
7:06
of decks on regal
7:08
i was on a lower level deck and found
7:12
multiple times a day i had the long trek
7:14
to get up to the buffet to go back to
7:16
the fitness center to go up to the pool
7:18
and then back down again it was made
7:20
worse because the number of people
7:22
allowed to use the elevators at that
7:24
time was restricted because i was on a
7:26
cruise just after shutdown so i found
7:28
myself having to track up and down at
7:30
least six stacks multiple times a day to
7:32
do those different activities
7:34
now of course as limits on using
7:37
elevators eases i'm not sure i am
7:39
perhaps you i'm that comfortable being
7:41
crammed into lifts like we used to be
7:43
with lots of people but anyway
7:46
second to that though if you have
7:47
mobility issues this
7:49
actually becomes a really big issue it
7:50
just adds to all your hassle so i
7:52
realize the key
7:54
is to think about where i spend most of
7:56
the time on any particular cruise and it
7:59
tends to be the lower decks like the
8:01
promenade main deck you know going to
8:03
the main dining room guest services the
8:04
theater the casino the bars it's where
8:06
most of the evening activities take
8:08
place the other place i spend a lot of
8:10
time on is the upper decks like i
8:11
mentioned the lido buffet gym pools hot
8:14
tubs sail away and other deck parties
8:17
i and i'm sure you spend most of the
8:19
time then at the top and the bottom of
8:22
the ship so simply i now aim to be on
8:24
the deck absolutely midway between those
8:27
again remembering there is that missing
8:29
deck so checking with the exact middle
8:32
deck
8:33
is
8:34
the absolute key in that process so if
8:36
i'm heading up from my cabin to the
8:38
joomla pool i only have a few decks to
8:39
go
8:40
up if i'm heading down from my cabin to
8:42
go to the theater again i only have a
8:44
few decks to go up and down i'm actually
8:46
comparing my phone tracker the number of
8:48
steps and stairs i worked on regal
8:50
princess on a lower deck versus sky
8:52
princess whereas on a more middle deck
8:54
it was dramatically different it was
8:55
just so much less hassle and time
8:58
however
9:00
being on the right deck is not the only
9:02
consideration wear on that deck is also
9:05
key i used to always choose midships
9:08
as it means less movement
9:10
but there's more to consider as i found
9:12
on piano britannia for example where
9:14
being midships meant i was some distance
9:17
from the stairs and the lifts because
9:19
they only had one set of stairs and
9:21
lifts at the front of the ship and
9:23
another near the rear of the ship
9:25
so that's a consideration now to ensure
9:28
that i'm closer to a set of stairs and
9:30
lifts because it just makes life so much
9:31
easier on britannia it was a big
9:34
distance either way now some vloggers
9:36
and cruise commentators argue that being
9:38
at the end of the corridor is advised
9:41
because there's less traffic less people
9:42
walking by and so it'll be quieter
9:44
because there are few people walking
9:45
past your cabin i have a different view
9:48
if you like the view over the bow of the
9:50
ship or like the view of the wake of the
9:51
ship at the rear that's the reason to do
9:54
that not the other reason i don't think
9:56
that traffic is a big issue in deciding
9:58
where you should be on a particular deck
10:01
however there may be some other
10:02
considerations
10:04
where on the deck you should be for
10:06
example being at the rear of the ship
10:08
means you're closer and have more direct
10:10
access to the buffet and the main dining
10:12
rooms because these are usually towards
10:14
the rear the back of the ship if you're
10:16
very into fitness and the spa you may
10:18
want to be the front of the ship as they
10:20
tend to be there and so again easier to
10:22
access if you are worried about
10:24
seasickness the rules on best deck
10:27
actually still apply in my view you can
10:30
go low close to the waterline and middle
10:32
of the ship as is the most common advice
10:34
but they tend to be inside or ocean view
10:37
cabins and normally actually under the
10:39
main or the promenade deck
10:41
i would still though if you're worried
10:43
about sea sickness go for a balcony
10:45
cabin in a more middle deck and be
10:47
midships on that particular deck because
10:49
easy access to fresh air and seeing and
10:51
watching the horizon are also great ways
10:54
of dealing with seasickness if you're
10:55
worried about that the only time a low
10:57
deck may be ideal and i would go low
11:00
is on
11:01
cruises where you've got guaranteed
11:03
rough seas so for example drake passage
11:05
heading to antarctic peninsula or
11:07
perhaps a winter transatlantic crossing
11:09
on queen mary 2. but does being in the
11:11
middle deck rather than
11:14
higher up mean that i'm actually giving
11:16
up the best views on a cruise in my
11:18
experience on all the scenic cruises
11:20
i've been on i can see that you get
11:23
fantastic views on the middle deck in
11:25
alaska it's more eye level with the
11:27
glaciers going through the panama canal
11:29
it's closer to the wars and the mules
11:31
that help guide the ship through you're
11:32
perfectly close enough high enough to
11:34
get fantastic views you don't have to go
11:37
totally high up and again you've got
11:39
which will be a big plus the the
11:41
convenience of heading up or down to the
11:44
activities on the ship if the scenic
11:46
cruising often you might want to be
11:48
right at the top of the ship anyway or
11:50
you might want to be out on the
11:51
promenade deck despite all of this
11:53
though there are still bad cameras on a
11:55
ship so watch this video where i start
11:58
talking about the worst cabin on a
11:59
cruise ship to avoid
12:01
see you over there
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