the inside room dilemma

[leslielightfoot]

well, not that going on a DCL cruise for 7 nights is a dilemma even if we do book an interior room.

we have NEVER cruised before.
we have 2 young kids (4 & 6).
we are booked in a cat 11 midship room (room #6547)

are we going to be climbing the walls and wishing we'd upgraded to a balcony?
we were talking to my uncle who went on this cruise and he says a balcony is the only way to go. i know it all depends on the person and how much they are willing to pay.

but in general...
-is it hard not knowing what the weather is like when you get up. i 'm thinking that is going to bug me. like if we get up and then all get in our swimsuits just to discover that it is raining and cold or something.

-will there be enough room in the cabin (without a balcony) for the kids to be sleeping and us watching tv from 10pm on? or are we going to be shooting ourselves for not having that balcony to sit on and drink a glass of wine on.


background. we started on a princess cruise, balcony. switched to a DCL and are paying MORE but for an interior room... it just a more expensive cruise but we felt it was better with the small children.
so... we can spend more but we feel like we keep spending more than we already intended. add on to that the cost of flights (we are in canada $$) and overnight stays before trip and onboard charges which i know will add up since we both enjoy cocktails, etc

i would love opinions for those that book interiors, those who have done both or those who just have any advice for us.

ps: how much more does a balcony upgrade from cat11 usually cost.

 

[din]

We had the same questions before our first ever cruuise. After consulting with a few veterans we settled for a large porthole or in Disney terms Cat 9 & Cat 8 (it depends on location) and we have been in Cat 9 ever since.

The reason, the large porthole gives us natural light. Cat 9 on Disney also have a split bath. We felt that we would be out of the room more than in the room and therefore a balcony was an extra that we felt was not needed. If you like the possibility to lounge about for coffee, then the balcony is the way to go. Now that our kids are older my DW and I are early risers so we are up on Deck 10 enjoying coffee and sunrise before going to wake up the kids for breakfast...or enjoying an evening at the adult section enjoying a glass of wine with music under the stars. (yes they are strict about not even allowing strollers there.. but that is a whole diifferent story)

Something to consider....

 

[mommasita]

We have always cruised in a cat. 11, except once time we were lucky enough to have a veranda. We did enjoy it, but it is not worth the $$ to us. We slept beautifully in a dark room, and enjoyed it beyond words.

That said, we try to book as close as possible to deck 7 aft. There is an unheard of veranda there, and we make BIG use of this. Although most of us here on the DIS know it is there, it is almost always empty, or almost empty. We eat there, sunbathe there, talk there, and that is it. It is heavenly. We often get our breakfast trays, and bring them outside and eat in solitude...

The kids clubs sometimes will use it at night, but very rarely...

This is my 2 cents worth. I would rather use that money to rebook, or spend on excursions, on the ship, in port, etc.

 

[alikat99]

We have 2 little ones (almost 3 and 5) and have only cruised with a verandah once. While we enjoyed it, we didn't use it enough to actually justify the cost. We've been lucky enough to book the cat 10 secret porthole rooms a couple of times, so we've at least had some sunlight. But, on the times that we've had a regular cat 10 inside room, we could easily turn on the TV to see the weather outside. And, it did force us to get up and dressed and ready for the day, since it would get us out of the windowless room.

And, as for watching TV with the kids sleeping, I guess it depends on how well your children sleep. For ours, they are SO busy on the ship, that when they crash, they are out cold, and no waking them until morning. So, I've easily watched some TV (but I usually end up falling asleep too because of all of the activities onboard too).

 

[LiserAnn]

but in general...
-is it hard not knowing what the weather is like when you get up. i 'm thinking that is going to bug me. like if we get up and then all get in our swimsuits just to discover that it is raining and cold or something.

-will there be enough room in the cabin (without a balcony) for the kids to be sleeping and us watching tv from 10pm on? or are we going to be shooting ourselves for not having that balcony to sit on and drink a glass of wine on.

I've only stayed in a cat 9 but I've heard people suggest that if you're in an inside cabin and you want to know what outside is like, turn the TV on to the channel that has the bridge view, which is a 24 hour channel, and you'll always know what it's like outside! Some have even said they've slept with it on but with the volume all the way down.

In regards to being enough room...DCL's rooms are already 25% bigger than most lines. Your kids are little so odds are you wouldn't be on the balcony that much anyway. We found that we only looked out the window of our cat 9 about 4 times the entire cruise and I think we would have been fine without the window. Our kids were 3 and 7 at the time. Ultimately, it's a very personal decision and you only know yourselves. I can say, you won't be unhappy about switching from Princess to DCL!! Your kids will love their cruise!!

 

[tammymacb]

I booked two cat 11 deck 7 aft rooms for our labor day cruise and I'm hoping to book the same for our 2007 Christmas cruise. The room just isn't important enough to me to spend big money on, but I was afraid my guarentee would backfire and I'd end up under the disco.

 

[Aussiechick]

We have a 3 yr old and 5 yr old and are thinking the same thing. I'm a bit of a freak about "natural light" so do you think I'll go stir crazy in an interior room?

 

[aprilgail2]

I was a bit claustrophobic in the inside room and I can't say that I would book at Cat 11 again. As far as watching TV, The TV was on the couch bed/bunk bed side of the room, we could tilt it towards the adult bed but I found it hard to watch unless I was sitting on the kids couch/bed. My daughter sleeps like a rock so we really could just put her in the stroller and take her anyplace with us on the ship at night (iother than the clubs, no kids there) so generally when we went back to the room to sleep, we all went to sleep at the same time so the TV wasn't really an issue.

 

[niccic]

We upgraded from a cat 10 or 11 inside room on deck 5 to a cat 5 on deck 7 with a verandah. We will never go back, it was worth every penny. It was nice to sit out on the balcony and watch the sea. Its not like we do it everyday. We would sit out there everymorning and have roomservice delivery a pre breakfast. Since i never stayed in a inside stateroom i cant tell you if it will be to small. But if you have the extra money i would go for the balcony. If you dont then just be glad that you are on the cruise to begin with. You will have so much fun no matter what.

 

[JennsBabySky]

We've done 5 cruises now and have booked #6 and #7. We tried both the porthole and verandah rooms and decided they are not worth the money for us. There are so many exciting things to do on the cruise, that we only end up in our room to change, nap and sleep at night. So, the first thing we do is cover the window so that it is dark. We love the darkness in the inside staterooms once the lights are off. Plus, we put the money we save from the inside stateroom towards our next cruise. It definitely adds up!

For reference, our kids are 3 and 6 and our little one started cruising at 8 months, so we still find the inside staterooms work best for us. My DH and I usually take a small nap in the afternoon with the kids, there are so many exciting things to do at night (shows, buffets, activities), that we keep the kids up later than usual. We do make sure that they nap, so the dark room is great for this.

Like the earlier post mentioned, we do use the TV channel with the camera to see the weather outside. We've only cruised during late spring/summer/early fall, but we've never had it cold. Even if it looks cold outside, it is WARM! It has been rainy, but it has always cleared up after a couple hours. We've found rain time to be great for naps/movies/shopping/eating. Usually those tropical storms dump a ton of water and then move on quickly.

We absolutely love the inside staterooms. And I like being on the higher decks. If we were going to upgrade, I would only upgrade to a verandah. I would never again pay for a window, I just don't like the lower decks and the tease of being able to see out the window, but not go out.

About the room in the cabin for watching TV, we always ask our room steward to leave the top bunk down and the bottom couch made into a bed. That way we all have a comfy place to watch TV and nap. We've never run out of room.

Have fun,
Jennifer

 

[mattmommy]

My ds6 would love to live in a hotel room. Just give him a different bed and a tv with room service and he's set. When are you sailing? I doubt you'll be in the room much, so I wouldn't worry about not having an outside room. We've had a verandah and a porthole. We're going inside this time. DH doesn't want to get a verandah until ds is a bit older.

 

[maryisme]

Hi,

I've cruised in categories 11, 10, 8, 9 and 5. While the verandah is great and I do love it I feel the cat 9 is a much better value for us. The porthole is huge, 3 feet I think and lets in alot of natural light which I love.

I have a small child (3) and usually end up hitting the room for some down time. I can't say that I really enjoy being in a windowless cabin. If I didn't have kids (also have a DD11) I might consider it.

Really though, whatever you decide you will have a great time. The cabin you choose won't make or break your cruise. Just make sure you aren't in one of the noisey cabins.

Mary

 

[leslielightfoot]

thanks for all your advice and comments
my travel agent just called disney and the cruise is entirely booked so we won't be switching/upgrading... which i think is fine. 1st timers and i'm sure we will just be freaking out to be able to go on the cruise. i cannot wait.

november seems sooooooooooooooooooo far away !!

 

[Gina]

DS and I have sailed on the Magic 3 times -- twice in a Navigator's Veranda and once in an inside. We're sailing on a single mom budget, so money is *always* an issue, but I would honestly never stay in an inside ever again, I don't care how much the savings. Not having natural light just about drove me crazy -- I felt like I was in a coffin. Plus, some of the insides are laid out so that the beds are situated cross-ways instead of longways. What I mean is, when the ship rocked, the bed was rocked head-to-toe, instead of side-to-side. It was one of the most unnerving things I have ever experienced. Looking at the deck plans though, it looks like your stateroom number is at least not one of those.

We're booked into a cat. 8 on deck 7 for next February, and I'm looking forward to that. It's sort of a happy compromise for me between the Navigator's veranda and an inside, and still up on a high deck like I want.

-gina-

 

[WldWcnWmn]

My daughter and my first Disney Cruise onboard the Magic was in cabin 6547! I understand you have more people than our party of two, but we enjoyed the room very much. The location is awesome, being one deck up from the kid's club and the laundry room wasn't too far away from what I remember. If you MUST have a balcony, then upgrade, but upgrading from that cabin to one with porthole windows is just silly (IMO). Enjoy your cruise!

 

[smoof]

I can't answer your questions, because I am preping for our first cruise too. My thought on the inside room is; I plan on being very busy doing all sorts of stuff, and when I get to my room I hope I will appreciate the dark room to sleep in. Thats my philosophy. I will let you know...

 

[meegster]

If you're still curious about upgrading, you can always ask about it when you check in at the terminal. If there have been any cancellations, you might get a deal on an upgrade as you're coming on board - worth asking and seeing what the increase in price would be!
-megan from sc,ca