Although quality of accommodation can make a big difference to the cruise experience, do remember that your cabin will serve different purposes depending on what sort of cruise you are on. If, for example, yours is a port-intensive cruise, then the only time you might see your cabin is when you are ready to collapse at night; whereas on other cruises it might be an integral part of your daily holiday experience.

it might be an integral part of your daily holiday experience.

Terminology can be key! Cabins, staterooms, suites, inside, outside, ocean view, verandah, balcony – the vocabulary is varied and unclear, and there is no true standardisation, so some expert guidance is essential to help you make your choice. There is a huge variance between the top and bottom pricing on a single ship, let alone across the market. Don’t assume because one brochure offers you a ‘stateroom’, that this is necessarily better than the ‘cabin’ in another.

It is important to decide whether you prefer to go for the top grade of accommodation on a certain ship, or a lower category on a superior ship. And when comparing prices, make sure you are comparing like with like – an eye-catching ‘fares from’ price may attract you to a particular line, but if you will be buying a higher grade of accommodation, compare it to an equivalent grade on another ship.

When choosing your accommodation, size and facilities are key.

Inside Cabins

An inside cabin is one with no sea-view. It tends to be well-designed and lit in such a way that in the evening you would be none the wiser, and many light sleepers welcome the full darkness that an inside cabin brings. If you are on a port-intensive cruise, or like to be out and about, and you are on a budget, go for an inside cabin

Outside Cabins

Outside, or seaview, cabins, have a porthole or picture window. Cheaper grades often have obstructions (such as lifeboats or gantries) in front of the windows. Lower grade outside cabins can still be quite small

Verandah Cabins

More and more ships now often verandahs as standard over a wide variety of cabin grades. As this is a relatively recent phenomenon, it is moderately reasonable to assume that if the ship you are looking at has no verandahs or very few verandahs, the vessel was probably built prior to 1995.

The advantage of a verandah is not only that you can step outside and check the weather (or maybe even enjoy breakfast outside), but also that you have floor to ceiling French windows increasing the lightness of the cabin.

Verandah accommodation comes in all shapes and sizes, so your agent’s job is to ensure you know what you are getting

Suites

Many cabins are termed suites or junior suites to indicate they are at the upper end of the scale, but often they are simply larger, rather than cabins with a separate bedroom and sitting room. Top grade accommodation differs greatly from ship to ship and you need guidance to compare like with like

Facilities

In the old days, there was such a thing as a cabin with no bathroom. This simply does not exist nowadays, but bathrooms differ greatly. Some are very small, and comprise a tiny shower, WC and washbasin. Top of the range ships feature a host of stylish amenities such as twin basins, Jacuzzis, bidets, and branded top of the range soaps, shampoos and conditioners etc, (as opposed to simply finding stocked dispensers in your bathroom).

Beds on most modern ships can be configured either as twins or doubles – you simply need to specify at the time of booking. Third and fourth berths can be sofabeds, rollaways, or upper berths. On older ships, twin bedded cabins cannot always be converted to doubles, and on some ships (for example the lowest grade cabins on QE2) there is an upper and lower bunk.

Relative Pricing

It is often hard to assess why different cabins are priced at different levels, but a general rule of thumb is that you pay more for more space, of course, and you also pay more for position on the ship. Nowadays, the cabins which are highest in the ship, and therefore lightest, are the most expensive. Midships accommodation is often more expensive than that at the front or back of the ship