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    My family of 5 booked an interior cabin and an ocean-view room on a Carnival cruise. Here’s how they compared.

    I booked two rooms on the Carnival Legend for my family.Lisa Galek

    • I booked two 185-square-foot rooms on the Carnival Legend for my family of five.

    • My husband and I shared a windowless accommodation, and my three kids stayed in an ocean-view room.

    • Staying in separate cabins gave our family more space and privacy during our seven-day trip.

    I was searching for a getaway in November, so I booked a seven-day cruise on Carnival Legend for my family of five.

    lisa in front of carnival legend

    My family and I embarked on a seven-night cruise.Lisa Galek

    On past vacations, we’ve all stayed in the same hotel room. Once, we all crammed into the same tiny cruise cabin.

    This time, I reserved two separate 185-square-foot staterooms on the Carnival Legend’s Riviera deck for more space and privacy.

    My husband and I stayed in a windowless interior cabin that had a king-sized bed.

    carnival legend room one bed

    My husband and I had our own interior stateroom.Lisa Galek

    The king was actually just two twin beds pushed together.

    We each had a bedside table with a reading lamp.

    bedside lamp

    My husband and I sometimes go to sleep at different times, so the light in our room came in handy.Lisa Galek

    If one of us wanted to stay up a little later, we turned off the main lights and turned on the lamp.

    My three children — aged 14, 11, and 8 — shared an ocean-view stateroom across the hall.

    twin beds in kids carnival cabin

    My kids’ room had two twin beds and a sleeper couch.Lisa Galek

    Connecting rooms weren’t available, so my kids stayed in their own separate room.

    The kids’ room had two twin beds and a sofa that converted into a third bed.

    couch in carnival legend room

    The couch in my kids’ room turned into a bed at night.Lisa Galek

    It was more than enough space for the three of them.

    The kids’ picture window offered lovely natural light.

    window in stateroom carnival legend

    Our kids’ room looked out to the water.Lisa Galek

    Our room had no windows and was sunless. In the future, I’d also reserve an ocean-view room for the adults.

    The bathrooms in both cabins were identical.

    bathroom sink and mirror on carnival legend

    Even though my kids had an ocean-view stateroom, their bathroom, pictured here, looked the same as the one in our cabin.Lisa Galek

    Inside the bathroom, there were a lot of storage shelves for our toiletries.

    Cruise employees cleaned the bathrooms and replenished our towel supplies every day.

    carnival legend toilet and towels

    The kids’ bathroom, above, was clean and well-stocked with freshly washed towels.Lisa Galek

    Many hotels we’ve checked into stopped offering daily cleaning since the coronavirus pandemic began, but we enjoyed a clean bathroom and fresh towels every day on the Carnival Legend.

    The showers had shampoo and gel dispensers.

    shower in carnival legend stateroom

    My kids’ shower had complimentary soap and shampoo.Lisa Galek

    There was also a retractable clothesline in our bathroom for drying wet swimsuits.

    Even with three kids sharing one small bathroom, the floor stayed dry thanks to the shower’s well-designed drainage system.

    shower floor on bathroom carnival legend

    The kids’ bathroom never flooded.Lisa Galek

    I was glad to see there wasn’t water covering their entire bathroom floor.

    Both rooms’ layouts made excellent use of the 185-square-foot space.

    carnival cruise closet

    My husband and I had no trouble fitting our belongings in our interior cabin’s storage spaces.Lisa Galek

    We could easily store a week’s worth of items thanks to all the drawers, shelves, and hangers.

    Two of the closets had hanging rods for dresses and coats, with enough room to tuck away our suitcases in the bottom.

    closet space in carnival legend

    In our interior stateroom, we could put our luggage away after unpacking and didn’t have to worry about it until we had to leave.Lisa Galek

    My husband and I had no issues neatly stowing our suitcases and clothes.

    Like many cruise cabins, our room had one outlet next to the desk.

    tv screen and shelves carnival legend

    All of our belongings fit in the interior room’s storage spaces.Lisa Galek

    This was slightly annoying because my husband and I had to take turns charging our devices.

    The crew confiscated one of our power strips.

    outlet with plug in it carnival legend

    The interior stateroom had one outlet, which is common in cruise cabins.Lisa Galek

    I packed two power strips to avoid having to take turns using the outlet, but only one made it on board. Unfortunately, the crew confiscated the other.

    Carnival’s website says power strips without surge protectors are allowed, but ones that the crew deem hazardous will be removed and returned to the owner on the last day of the cruise prior to disembarkation.

    However, the kids had no issues bringing their power strip into their cabin.

    The TV screen was so small that my eyes felt strained by the end of the trip.

    tv screen carnival legend

    I like to watch movies before bed, so I was disappointed by the small size of the in-room TV in the interior stateroom.Lisa Galek

    The too-small TV screen is no big deal if you’re not a movie-watcher.

    However, our family likes to wind down by watching shows, and by the end of the week, the tiny screen was straining my eyes.

    Inside a table, there was a mini fridge that was big enough to store two bottles of wine and a few snacks.

    mini fridge on carnival legend

    The mini fridge in the interior stateroom didn’t keep our drinks and food as cold as I’d prefer them to be.Lisa Galek

    The one downside was that it didn’t get cold enough to chill drinks.

    Our rooms had thermostats, but I don’t think they worked well.

    thermostat in carnival legend

    We were supposed to be able to control the temperature in both rooms.Lisa Galek

    The rooms had thermostats with moving dials, but turning them didn’t seem to affect the temperature.

    Our cabin seemed too cold, and the kids’ space seemed too warm.

    Even though we were on a Thanksgiving cruise, we decorated our stateroom doors for Christmas.

    holiday decorations on cruise cabin door

    We put this holiday decoration on the outside of the interior stateroom.Lisa Galek

    The little copper box was a mailbox where crew members could drop off our excursion tickets and other informational flyers.

    On future family trips, I’m going to stick to booking two separate rooms.

    lisa galek sitting on bed in carnival room

    Staying in a different room than our kids was the perfect way to give them their own space.Lisa Galek

    Our cabins were small but offered a lot of storage options that made them feel more spacious.

    Next time we cruise or go on vacation, I’ll consider booking separate rooms for adults and kids so everyone has their own private retreat.

    Read the original article on Insider

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