Cat 4 vs Cat 5 (Cat 4 cruisers pls give comments)

[biggroofy]

We have staying in Cat 5 rooms on Wonder and Magic (both are on the 75XX side). Loved the location in general.

On our upcoming cruise (which will be at least 20 months from now), I have several thoughts...

1). Our family of four - DD1 will become DD3 in 2010, and will no longer stay in crib. DD5 will become DD7.... DW and I will stay the same (I mean weight, I hope). Do we need more room? Should we go for Cat 4 instead?

2). Hmm...Cat 4.... I did a quick check and it costs approx $300 more. So not an issue. However, I read the stateroom reports and seems everyone claimed that the rooms are noisy - noise from deck, noise from pulling chairs, noise.... Noise is a major concern for my family - should I ignore Cat 4 for this reason?

3). If we stay with Cat 5 - should we try the 70XX side? I liked 75XX mainly because a). closer to laundry, b). can see fireworks from our Verandah (although we were always on the deck for Pirate Party).

Any comments?

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

We have staying in Cat 5 rooms on Wonder and Magic (both are on the 75XX side). Loved the location in general.

On our upcoming cruise (which will be at least 20 months from now), I have several thoughts...

1). Our family of four - DD1 will become DD3 in 2010, and will no longer stay in crib. DD5 will become DD7.... DW and I will stay the same (I mean weight, I hope). Do we need more room? Should we go for Cat 4 instead?

2). Hmm...Cat 5... I did a quick check and it costs approx $300 more. So not an issue. However, I read the stateroom reports and seems everyone claimed that the rooms are noisy - noise from deck, noise from pulling chairs, noise.... Noise is a major concern for my family - should I ignore Cat 4 for this reason?

3). If we stay with Cat 5 - should we try the 70XX side? I liked 75XX mainly because a). closer to laundry, b). can see fireworks from our Verandah (although we were always on the deck for Pirate Party).

Any comments?

On DCL, I have on my recent cruises had all Cat 4s and found them great rooms, there is a small amount of extra space that comes in handy for our family, with kids aged 12 and 10, it was just right for us and worth the small extra $$

The location on deck 8 I have found has been great, we go for midship towards the aft elevators and I have had either port or starboard, you are correct the fireworks are seen on the starboard side and often pulling into Castaway thats the best view.

I have never experianced any deck noise or problems and find the location and rooms need our needs.

I find it funny people report they link deck 8 with deck noise, having spent 60 odd days on that deck, never noticed it and I sleep very light. Lots of trip reports agree, I am back on deck 8 this year and next.

 

[outahere]

Of our six DCL cruises, we only stayed in a cat 4 one time (cat 3 for the rest of them = spoiled!!). We were in 8508, which is directly under the hair salon and it was extremely quiet - we never heard a thing from above us, even in the middle of the day. We have heard noise from deck 9 in all of the cat 3 cabins we've been in (5 different ones), a couple of them much worse than others. If we were to book a cat 4 again, it would definitely be one of the starboard side cabins forward of the forward elevators.

To the OP..... with kids the ages you mention, I'm not sure it would really be worth the extra $$ for a cat 4. Your youngest DD could sleep in the sofa bed and the older one in the bunk. If you go with a cat 4 and they sleep in the sofa bed and the murphy bed, getting to the verandah door is very difficult, with the murphy bed in the way.

 

[Olga]

We stayed in a suite on Deck 8, there wasn't any noise at all when we cruised. Perhaps it depends on the location, we were midship.

 

[kcashner]

Going to the cat 4 will give you 3 feet extra. I can think of a lot more uses for $300 than buying 3 feet extra. Your kids will be fine in the bunk and the sofa bed. If your 7 year old is anything like mine was, she will love the bunk--there is a rail and a ladder. Your room steward can also put a rail on the sofa bed if you will feel more secure that way.

You'll actually have a lot MORE room in your cabin than you had last time as you won't have the crib there.

 

[biggroofy]

You'll actually have a lot MORE room in your cabin than you had last time as you won't have the crib there.

Thanks kcashner That's a very good point!

Actually in this past cruise - the sofa bed wasn't used. DD5 slept between DW and me, while DD1 was in the crib. Based on this - I guess in 2010 - DD3 will sleep with us, while DD7 should be ready for the sofa bed.

and YES - spending another $300 elsewhere would be nice

 

[RanCan]

To the OP..... with kids the ages you mention, I'm not sure it would really be worth the extra $$ for a cat 4. Your youngest DD could sleep in the sofa bed and the older one in the bunk. If you go with a cat 4 and they sleep in the sofa bed and the murphy bed, getting to the verandah door is very difficult, with the murphy bed in the way.

Actually our DDs slept in the sofa and bunk beds. The murphy bed was never used, and I found it really nice to have the extra chair to sit in while the beds were made up. I loved my cat 4, it was midship, closer to the aft elevators, and we never heard any noise.

 

[RubyCam]

We were on deck 8 midship on our 12/27 cruise and both of us commented on the amount of noise from deck 9. My DD24 and I both thought it would be hard to be a light sleeper on deck 8. Our room was great and in a great location but the noise was audible day and night.

 

[lbgraves]

The kids were 5 and 7 when we were in a 4 and they were 8 and 9 when we were in the 8 last time [same sized room as a 5] and we were fine and will travel in the same when they are 10 and 11 in two years. We did experience noise in the cat 4 when we were forward in 8004. It has to be location...of course that is true for any category as we had a terrible experience with noise on the last cruise in 5502 from the late night rehersals in the theater.

 

[modlin1024]

Hello! We always stay in room 8556 midship which is a Cat 4 stateroom. We never hear loud nouses above us and absolutely love our room. It is a pretty big room with a gorgeous veranda. I highly recommend a Cat 4 room as we just love ours! Good luck!

 

[DW2DH&DS]

we were in a cat 4 for our first and only Disney cruise through the Panama Canal. we booked a 5 but upgraded to cabin 8044 at port...we were celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary. we heard a little bit of chair movement as we were under the goofy pool. it wasn't bad though. we are in a cat 5 for the next cruise...there are only 3 of us. The extra 3 feet and chair was nice.