What level is best to stay on cruises? What do the letters mean, 8C vs 8H?

Question

What level is best to stay on cruises? What do the letters mean, 8C vs 8H?

Answer 1

Though you don't say it, I can tell you are referring to a Carnival Spirit class ship.  There are four such ships:

Carnival Spirit

Carnival Pride

Carnival Miracle

Carnival Legend

The number refers to the category.  Four is inside, six is ocean view and eight is balcony.

The letter refers to the level within the category.  All the 8As are on the main deck (deck 4).  All the 8Bs are on the Upper deck (deck 5).  All the 8Cs are on the Upper deck also (except for four 8Cs on the rear of the main deck).  All the 8Ds and 8Es are on the Empress deck (deck 6).  All the 8Fs and 8Gs are on the Verandah deck (deck 7).  All the 8Hs and 8Is are on the Panorama deck (deck 8).  

Since only the Spirit class ships go up to 8H (and even 8I) I knew it had to be one of these four ships.  

So, what is the difference between an 8B and an 8C?  The 8A, 8B, 8D, 8F and 8H cabins have standard balconies.  Standard balconies are about 40 square feet (4x 10).  All the 8C, 8E, 8G and 8I balconies are extended balconies.  Extended balconies are about 60 square feet (6 x 10).  

So, as the letters move through the alphabet, the cabins move up to higher decks.  Then, starting with "C", every other letter is an extended balcony.  Starting with "B" (and including "A") every other letter is a standard balcony.  The extended balconies are about 50% bigger than a standard balcony.

Answer 2

Zef is correct- The higher letters start at the lowest 'Passenger' Deck.  Most passngeres prefer to be higher up in the ship--it goes back to the Classic Age of Sea Travel when 'steerage' was at the bottom and First Class was higher in the ship.  In reality-if you are afraid if feeling motion it is better to be towards the middle of the ship and lower -just imagine a see-saw- if you sit in the middle you don;t feel the up and down motion---The newer ships have great stabilizers though so anywhere on the ship is great!

If you are looking to save money go lower...

Bon Voyage!

Answer 3

Where to stay depends on the cruise. If you are going to the islands and spend a lot of time at sea, then an inside cabin is better because there is nothing to see but the sea, and you won't spent much time in your cabin anyway... But if you go up the inside straight to Alaska, there are things to see on both sides of you so a balcony would be nice. Not sure about those number letter references. Probably means different things on different cruise lines. You can usually go to their website and look at the layout of the ship.