The only concern regarding cloaking, is that the higher level players will always be able to keep ahead of your cloak, so you end up spending all your research to defend yourself, leaving you even further behind... and still with your station in a million fragments.
There is a middle ground. If you just simply get your cloaking high enough to be above the masses, yet still below the top players, your stations will last much - MUCH longer... For instance, last round a cloak of about 15 would have made you safe from all but 3 or 4 players... of which you must consider 2 of them didnt even hit stations last round... so just raise your cloak high enough above the masses, but not so high that you are set back by it.

Also, you can track a players progress around the galaxy. Once you get your cloaking above the masses, you track the players' progress that you know is after your stations, and you place them in a quadrant that he/she just finished ravaging... You will have a solid few days before he/she makes their way back to that area...
I am not telling any more of my lavished strategies and tactics, but seriously people. Use your freaking heads.