Virual Porthole

[Zandy595]

I'm wondering if it will be as good as having real daylight when you wake up in the morning. Anyone know?

We had an inside stateroom (Carnival) a long time ago and I HATED it.

 

[nenis]

great question!
bumping!

 

[Hygiene99]

Can let you know after first Cruise! we have one.

I know it can be turned off!

 

[NancyIL]

I don't mind inside staterooms. I booked an inside on the Dream because of the price...not the virtual porthole.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

The porthole is supposed to be a direct feed of actual outside weather, view, etc.

As to how bright, as the other folks said..........well all have to wait until the 1st reports!

AKK

 

[jlwhitney]

I am thinking it will be more like a tv screen in terms of brightness...

 

[KSDisneyDad]

I am thinking it will be more like a tv screen in terms of brightness...

I agree....isn't it just a big LCD or LED screen? Is watching a fire on your tv screen the same as a fire in your fireplace? There's no replacement for natural sunlight IMO.

While the virtual porthole is a nice novelty item, it's no replacement for a real view from your verandah or actual porthole. The perceived popularity of the rooms I think is created from two things. (1) They are lower priced initially although on some cruises the bookings have caused the prices on inside rooms to increase to a point where they are more expensive than a true outside room and (2) there are not nearly as many inside staterooms on the Dream/Fantasy than on the two older ships.

 

[Zandy595]

I agree....isn't it just a big LCD or LED screen? Is watching a fire on your tv screen the same as a fire in your fireplace? There's no replacement for natural sunlight IMO.

While the virtual porthole is a nice novelty item, it's no replacement for a real view from your verandah or actual porthole. The perceived popularity of the rooms I think is created from two things. (1) They are lower priced initially although on some cruises the bookings have caused the prices on inside rooms to increase to a point where they are more expensive than a true outside room and (2) there are not nearly as many inside staterooms on the Dream/Fantasy than on the two older ships.

I don't know why I didn't think of it like a tv before. That makes sense.

Your post got me thinking... do you think they will ever put the virtual portholes in the Magic and Wonder?

 

[cmclaura]

We always book an inside stateroom for several reasons:

1) Cheaper! Even when we use our DVC points.

2) Best nights sleep ever! And this is coming from two people who sleep like the dead. There's just something cozy and comforting about the dark inside cabins and the gentle rocking of the ship that makes us so refreshed, even with just a few hours sleep.

3) It forces us out of the room and onto the rest of the ship. Many people who've sailed with verandas report they dawdle a lot and miss things that are going on throughout the ship.

It's simply a personal preference but we LOVE the inside cabins.

 

[narsibvl]

I'm wondering if it will be as good as having real daylight when you wake up in the morning. Anyone know?

We had an inside stateroom (Carnival) a long time ago and I HATED it.

Between a ocean view porthole and an inside cabin with a virtual porthole shouldn't make a lot of difference, I personally wouldn't settle for anything less then a balcony, need the air outside..

 

[Zandy595]

Between a ocean view porthole and an inside cabin with a virtual porthole shouldn't make a lot of difference, I personally wouldn't settle for anything less then a balcony, need the air outside..

I like how a real porthole lets in the sunlight and lights up the whole stateroom during the day, especially when I'm waking up in the morning. If the virtual one only lights it up like a tv would in a dark room that wouldn't work for me.

 

[kay1864]

Your post got me thinking... do you think they will ever put the virtual portholes in the Magic and Wonder?

I think this is extremely unlikely. It's one thing to design and build the screens (and cables and power) into the plans from the start. It's another thing entirely to rip out end walls, run new cable, etc. It's not like replacing carpet, or exchanging regular TV's with flatscreens.

 

[Page4]

I think the virtual portholes are neat but I need light not a tv. An inside room would remind me of my solitary confinement days in prison...just kidding

 

[kalikat420]

We're traveling on the Dream next November. This will be our 3rd Disney cruise - all in inside cabins. I can't wait for the virtual porthole!

I agree with the previous poster - so easy to sleep (especially if you need a quick mid-day nap) and we found we spent much more time enjoying sitting out on the decks enjoying the sea and the ship. Not to mention the price difference

 

[lucas]

We have a virtual porthole cabin booked for our March Dream cruise. I know this is an older thread but I would love to hear reports from anyone who has actually had a virtual porthole. How was it? Did you love it, hate it?

I just read a review that said they never saw any characters go by - does it have to be turned on/off? Can you sleep with it on to get light in the morning - or is it too bright at night?

 

[nursesami]

I sailed on the Dream last September. The virual porthole was ok when it worked properly. We had to call maintance multiple times to come fix it. We also didn't spend enough time in the room long enough to see the magic happen on the screen when it was working. The kids were a little disappointed with it when we did however. I hope my comment helps you and you have a wonderful time on the Dream! P.S ride the Aqua Duck its the best!

 

[cmclaura]

We were on the New Year's cruise and the following one and had the same cabin with a virtual porthole.

LOVED IT!

We like that category room because it is so dark and cozy, providing us our best night's sleep all year. The virtual porthole was entertaining; we saw plenty of characters go by on each cruise -- a lot of the same ones but also some different ones on the different cruises.

The funniest thing was when we were at CC, maintenance was up in front of the camera doing some work and I actually grabbed something with which to cover myself as I thought there really was a guy outside my window!

Tinker Bell was the most exciting, in my opinion, but we had lots of fun catching and identifying so many other characters.

And no, we weren't in the room all the time -- we actually didn't spend all that much time in there, except to sleep and change, and we turned it off at night for total darkness.

I highly recommend it!

 

[shelbell77]

The virtual porthole is a television. So at night, it doesn't really see anything in the dark and gives a tv fuzz glow. So we turned it off at night. Which means no waking up to sunlight.

I LOVE waking up to the light, and hate inside cabins so I thought this would be a good alternative. Plus, I hate a room that gets no outside light at all, makes me a bit claustrophobic. But it just didn't work. And these days, inside cabins are MORE money than oceanview because everyone wants to try the virtual porthole.

Skip the inside and go for the real thing!

 

[NancyIL]

The virtual porthole is a television. So at night, it doesn't really see anything in the dark and gives a tv fuzz glow. So we turned it off at night. Which means no waking up to sunlight.

I LOVE waking up to the light, and hate inside cabins so I thought this would be a good alternative. Plus, I hate a room that gets no outside light at all, makes me a bit claustrophobic. But it just didn't work. And these days, inside cabins are MORE money than oceanview because everyone wants to try the virtual porthole.

Skip the inside and go for the real thing!

Insides on the Fantasy and Dream start out as the least expensive cabins, but their prices go up more rapidly than oceanviews due to their popularity. Both of my 11C cabins on the Dream and Fantasy were the least expensive options when I booked them. Had I booked later when insides were the same price or more than an oceanview, I would've booked the latter.

 

[WDW Princess 71]

I had an inside for the 1st time last week on the Dream and loved it. As others have said, it is great for sleeping. I hate to be woken up with light so it was perfect for me. I turned the porthole off at night because it was just a fuzzy darkness, no view. I set a Mickey wakeup call for every morning and when I heard that, i would flick the tv screen on an wah-lah, have a beautiful morning view of wherever we were. It was a great way to slowly wake up as it lets a good amount of brightness in but not enough to be abrubtly woken up. I'm looking forward to having it again on the Fantasy next year (this May I'll have a verandah), but do hope I actually see characters that time. I'll have an inside on the Magic also next year so it will be interesting to see how that feels compared to having the virtual porthole.