The Dreaded Obstructed View Cabins!

In sales, there is nothing louder than an awkward silence.

Now I’ve been lucky enough to work in the cruise industry for most of my adult life, but over the years, selling the same product on a daily basis, there are a few things that, over time, start to really rub you up the wrong way.

If you are me, it’s lots of things.

In my day to day life, I’ve been told I’m actually quite a negative guy, always moaning about something, never happy, always dishing out punishment to whoever I see fit, whinge whinge whinge etc etc……….. I don’t realise I’m doing it most of the time.

So how does my personality fit into selling cruises?

Well the one thing about me is that I am brutally honest, I cannot stand liars or people that dress up the truth – i.e salespeople.

When booking with me, I will not only tell you how bad your cabin is, I will tell you why it’s bad, and why I would’t pay money to stay in it……….. and that’s before I even start with pictures.

A friend once referred to me as the Jack Dee of Cruise Sales. A title I was proud to accept.

Anyway I have gone off topic as usual. But my inspiration for this blog has been this entire week, I’ll be honest it’s been a bit of a struggle. Busy? Yes. But there is a difference between busy and easy!

This week, thanks to a large amount of advertising, I’ve seen one of my old foes rear its ugly head………… the dreaded, obstructed view cabin! (Insert dramatic music here!)

That little O word is one part of this entire industry that I absolutely loathe.

Whichever way the cruise lines spin it, sheltered, obstructed, partial view, metal fronted, lifeboat view, etc etc……..You’ve heard them all.

Basically it’s their terminology for what most of us would all commonly refer to as a cr*p balcony.

Now don’t get me wrong I understand that ships need lifeboats, and ocean liners need something more stable than glass. But how have they not engineered or designed a big ship that doesn’t have this aggravating flaw?

Take the two latest ships, Anthem of the Seas and Britannia, both magnificent in their own ways, yet once again they have fallen victim to this poor design issue.

The cruise lines will say that it’s done like that for safety and it’s so there are enough lifeboats to go round.

But I’m pretty certain the truth is literally that they want to cram as many cabins on these things as possible.

Older and smaller ships I can forgive, but the newer ships cost so much money to build, and require so much planning that surely someone would have the brains to get rid of this god awful cabins?

I mean if you bought a big car but were told you could have it slightly cheaper if there was a spare tyre in the middle of your windscreen you wouldn’t buy it would you!

What’s more is that a lot of these cabins only sleep two, and are similarly priced much of the time to regular clear view rooms. So why bother?

Where is the incentive?

‘Oh well they are mid-ship’

I’ve found myself saying this on a number of occasions in a desperate ploy to sell them.

(grim awkward silence around this point, with a soundless air sense of disappointment)

Pull the other one! Everyone knows that on a large ship the stability is so good that you could be perched in a hammock hanging off the nose of the ship and you would be fine.

For me the cruise lines that have these cabins should offer a better incentive to book these cabins, or give them something that makes them unique.

Royal Caribbean have started the ball rolling by inventing these ‘Virtual Balcony’ rooms, so why not have them instead? Likewise P&O have completely scrapped oceanview cabins altogether on Britannia, in favour of just interior and balcony – something that should have been done long ago in my opinion. But both of their latest ships still have obscured balcony cabins! Arghhh!

There are of course many ships that don’t really have these obscured view cabins, and to them I salute you. But in the past couple of years they seem to be making an unwanted coming back, and I for one do not like it.

SO the question is this:

Other than a sharp drop in price, what would make you choose an obscured cabin? Better yet, what would make you want one?

I’d love to hear peoples thoughts on this topic as it’s something that regularly keeps me awake at night.

Any feedback is appreciated, and as always, thanks for reading and until next time…………..