When choosing a stateroom for your cruise, you have plenty of options. All cruise lines offer a variety of cabin accommodations in different classes, starting with the most economical inside cabins and progressing up (in style and price) to outside view cabins, to balcony (or veranda) cabins, to different suite options.

To reserve money for other elements of our cruise vacation- like shore excursions and drink packages- we almost always stay in an inside cabin. Even within this category, there are a few options depending upon the ship on which you are sailing, like a “virtual balcony” or a Promenade view.

In keeping with our typical trend, we booked an interior stateroom for our sailing on Adventure of the Seas August 2015. Looking over the deck plans, we could not find any standard inside cabins mid-ship available, so we opted to book one of the Promenade Staterooms.

Aptly named, these Promenade Staterooms are interior staterooms located on decks 6, 7, and 8 that have a bowed window that overlooks the Royal Promenade. Thus, even though you are facing into the center of the ship, you still have a window and a view- just not of the outside.

Promenade Staterooms Offer Views of the Royal Promenade

Given that these rooms were centrally located and were about the same cost as a regular inside cabin, we decided to try out this unique cabin class. Since we were traveling with family on this particular cruise, we booked 2 staterooms side by side, 8291 and 8293, on the starboard side of the ship.

For travelers considering this cabin type, we have put together our Promenade Stateroom Review to help you determine if these cabins are the right choice for your next vacation.

Royal Caribbean Promenade Stateroom Review

Having stayed in multiple inside cabins, we are familiar with the layout and dimensions. Cruise ship cabins are small by nature, so we are used to the tight quarters; but if you are a first time cruiser, you may have a little bit of a shock when you enter any cabin, nevermind an inside one.

Layout of Promenade Stateroom

Our first impression when entering the room was that the cabin was laid out more like a traditional balcony stateroom, with the bed off to the side, instead of positioned up against the inside wall. This made the room feel bigger, even though the Royal Caribbean website states the Promenade Stateroom is only 10 square feet larger than an inside cabin at 160 sq. feet.

Promenade Stateroom Review – A peak inside the Bathroom

As we entered the room, the closet was off to our left and the bathroom door to our right. Again, these bathrooms are tiny, but they had a pretty standard layout. The stand-up shower, toilet, and sink were all there as this bathroom is about function, not style!

Passing through the little hallway, you will find the bed to your right and a small television and storage area with 4 drawers tucked in the corner to your left. To get to the rest of the room, you need to walk between the foot of the bed and the wall which is a tight squeeze.

Promenade Stateroom Review – Room Layout from the “Seating Area”

Beyond the bed, you find the vanity and desk area with a large mirror, cabinets, and drawers offering more storage space. This is similar to most Royal Caribbean ships. The mini refrigerator is also located here; although, it never did seem to keep things that cold.

Desk and Additional Seating in a Promenade Stateroom

Directly behind the desk area was a small seating area complete with a sofa and coffee table which came in handy for those room service trays at breakfast time. Of course, the couch never ends up being a place to sit but rather a storage area and “zoo” for the towel animal creations. The extra 10 square feet of space comes in here with the addition of a small, built-in sofa directly below the bow window. Again, this space became a storage area for us.

With privacy curtains in place, you could have a view of the Promenade when you wanted and just pull the curtains shut the rest of the time. The view from our room looked over some of the stores, and even though the online deck plans showed that there was retail space under our rooms, we were actually right above the Gravity Sports Bar.

A View From Deck 8 Promenade Stateroom

With a Promenade Stateroom, you also have the option to watch parades and events from the comfort of your room. We always made it a point to be on the Promenade for those events, but we did see other fellow Promenade Stateroom occupants viewing Promenade activities from their room.

The decor and color scheme of our Promenade Stateroom was the standard Royal Caribbean motif with green furniture and muted colors throughout the room, unlike the newer ships that have a more modern, sleeker look to the furniture and room design. Everything in our Promenade Stateroom was clean, though it was beginning to show some signs of wear especially in the bathroom.

Reading Promenade Stateroom Reviews prior to our trip, there was some debate on the noise level in these rooms. The Royal Promenade is on deck 5, and we stayed on Deck 8 right over a bar, and never had any issues with noise from below. Now, we were never in our room for any of the parties or parades that happened on the Promenade, so it is possible that there might have been some noise during those events. But, once we were ready to retire for the night, usually between 11pm-12am, we never had any issues.

All said and done, we found the Promenade Staterooms on Adventure of the Seas to be a great value with adequate space and storage, with the added perk of a window overlooking the Royal Promenade!

Comments

Have you stayed in a Promenade Stateroom on Adventure of the Seas or any other ship? We would love to know your experiences with these unique inside cabins. Drop us an anchor below to share your thoughts and let us know what your cabin preferences are when sailing.