Choice between Balcony room on Lido deck (10th floor) or suite on 7th floor help (Carnival Vista)

OPUS< that's exactly the point many cruisers seem to miss. The OP made his decision a few posts back, so none of this will help him. Some folks might have missed that. BUT, the sq footage quoted on ANY line doesnt leave much room to actually maneuver, once you start subtracting things. walking sideways sometimes helps heheheh...the cruise ships have it figured out to the sq ft what it costs to build em and show a profit over their lifespan. It was a standing joke on the old NCL SPIRIT (cruised her 2x and still a favorite) that "large people need not use the showers....bring your soap to the pool..."

We had a Junior Suite on Majesty OTS, which translates to a standard Balcony room on Symphony/Harmony/Alure/Oasis. With the Sofa-bed pulled out at night, there was 18" between the King bed and the Sofa-bed, 14" between the foot of the sofa-bed and the chair, and 6-8" between the sofa-bed and wall/sliding balcony door. Made getting out onto the balcony slightly treacherous when our roomie was sleeping

It depends on your logistics:

1.) More space means more people can get ready for the day at the same time but.....

2.) If you're not planning on spending a lot of time in your cabin, it may be a waste of money.

They already decided, but that's an excellent piece about the actual usable space within a cabin. Same thing applies (with some differences from ship to ship) just about all over. We had a thread in here waaay back when about just how much "room" there is in a given cabin, after you deduct a whole bunch of things. Not much left for humans eh? Good reading for just about everybody, especially newbies. Can't compare em to even small rooms at home. Thanks again!

This may not help but here are some facts about cabins and suites on the Carnival Vista in general.

A standard balcony regardless of what deck it is on will be 180 square feet with a balcony space giving about another 45 square feet of outdoor space. That translates to a room that is about 12 feet wide by just about 15 feet long, but you need to subtract area for the bathroom, 3 closets, and fixed to the wall furniture. The bathroom is about 4'X5', it contains a shower that is about 30"X 24", a toilet, and a sink with vanity. The closets and the desk area take up another 20"x 8'. So this leaves room for 2 xl twin beds (that coverts to a king bed), a sofa day bed, and a pullman bunk bed that folds out from the wall or drops down from the ceiling. The pullman will be situated over the sofa, being about 5 feet off the floor.

An Ocean Suite will be 265 square feet with a balcony space giving about another 60 square feet of outdoor space. That translates to a room that is about 14 feet wide by just under 19 feet long, but you need to subtract area for the bathroom, a walk-in closet, and fixed to the wall furniture. The bathroom is about 5"X8', it contains a a whirlpool jetted tub w/ shower, a toilet, and a vanity with a double sink. The walk-in closets and the dressing area take up another 4"x 8'. So the main room has 2 xl twin beds (that coverts to a king bed) with an upgraded mattress, a sofa fold out double bed, and more room around the fixed to the wall furniture. Suites also comes with priority check-in, express boarding, and priority debarkation choices.

I do love Lido Balconies-but 4 people in a room is going to be tight. The positive- if anybody is feeling claustrophobic they can take a few step to get some space-plus your got the extra space on the Balcony. I think one of the most underrated choices is an interior LIDO if you don't spend a lot of time in your room.

We still have the balcony room booked which is what we had booked originally. Not going to change it as of yet. I just think what we can spend the extra money on (souvenirs, excursions, etc) instead of the suite. They also do have a family harbour suite which is pretty tempting, but I still think we are going to stick with the balcony and just know for next time whether we want to get a suite or not. Thanks for all the replies.

I personally would go with the suite. Two sinks will help get four people ready in a timely fashion for whatever activities you do. I'm not very good a sharing space with anyone except my husband, so bear that in mind. The suites tend to be placed midship, so it would be equal distance to activities on the upper (weather) decks and to the inter theater type and debarkation (for shore tours) decks.

And the winner is?

We just got back from a cruise on the Vista.. it was me, my hubby and our 4 year old. It was tight for us, but we tried to not be in the room too much. It worked out well this time around. We were on the 8th floor..not right where the action is, but close enough. I would be leery of booking on the same floor as the Lido.. just like Yankee said, a lot of wanderers.