A top travel personality has taken to YouTube to urge future cruise passengers to always do one thing before they book a cruise holiday, particularly if they want a balcony cabin with a good view. The majority of cabins found on most cruise ships give passengers a small balcony, allowing them to get some fresh air, sunshine, and a good view of where they are sailing with some privacy.

However, in a recent video, Ilana Schattauer from the YouTube channel Life Well Cruised noted that passengers should take some precautionary measures to prevent booking a balcony cabin with an obstructed view. She explained: "The lowest price for a balcony cabin on many cruise lines will be an 'obstructed cabin' view and, in all fairness, you will see this on the cruise line's website when you book. However, if you're a new cruiser or just even if you're not paying that much attention, you might end up booking a cabin with a less-than-ideal view. Sometimes the obstruction might be a single pool or a window-washing ladder, but it could be a ledge or even an entire orange lifeboat."

In most cases, the cheapest balcony cabins found on board a cruise ship feature an obstructed view, typically caused by an accessory that is fitted nearby.

Whilst almost all of these cabins still give passengers a reasonable view of their surroundings, guests staying in them may not be able to see directly below.

As a result, cruise passengers looking to spend their holiday on a balcony with a perfect view should make sure they avoid cabins that are marked as being 'obstructed' on the company's website.

Later in the video, Ilana also suggested that passengers can avoid balconies that feature an obstructed view by searching for the best and worst cabins on the particular ship they are interested online.

She added: "Unfortunately, when you are booking this type of cabin, you usually won't be able to know exactly what the obstruction is, and, trust me, this can make a big difference.

"What can you do to avoid a disappointing cabin? Well, first of all, Google search. You can simply type in the cruise ship's name along with 'obstructed balcony cabin reviews' and there you'll find Reddit threads, cruise forums including Cruise Critic, and likely some YouTube videos as well."

Ilana also encouraged passengers to also look up the number of the cabin passengers are interested in, with many previous guests uploading photos of it to social media.

She continued: "You can also Google search your exact cabin number and, by doing that, you may find that people have posted photos online. Again, you may see those pictures or reviews right on TikTok, YouTube, or Instagram reels.

"There are some websites that can be good resources as well. This includes Cruise Mapper and cruisedeckplans.com, as well as the Shipmate app."