Best Room Category For A First Timer.

[Groot]

I’m currently planning my first cruise for sometime next year (hopefully) and I’m confused by all these different room types.

Currently, only me and my mom are going, but that can change between now and the time of the cruise. All I know is that we definitely want an outside room with a balcony in a good location.

Another thing of importance to note is that we’ll need a handicap accessible room with a roll in shower since I’m bringing my personal powerchair. (Heard that taking a scooter on some of the land excursions isn’t always feasible so we opted to bring my folding powerchair for ease.)

So, what room would be good for a first time cruiser?

 

[Lisa F]

I’m currently planning my first cruise for sometime next year (hopefully) and I’m confused by all these different room types.

Currently, only me and my mom are going, but that can change between now and the time of the cruise. All I know is that we definitely want an outside room with a balcony in a good location.

Another thing of importance to note is that we’ll need a handicap accessible room with a roll in shower since I’m bringing my personal powerchair. (Heard that taking a scooter on some of the land excursions isn’t always feasible so we opted to bring my folding powerchair for ease.)

So, what room would be good for a first time cruiser?

What itinerary are you doing? The Dream class ships have HUGE handicap accessible rooms aft but they can be very loud with vibration on the fantasy - I know someone who was booked into one at the last minute when it wasn't needed by someone for mobility purposes and they ended up having to give him a separate sleeping room the vibrations were so bad... but it is not an issue on the Dream... so if you're doing a 3-4 night I'd definitely pick one of those.

 

[Groot]

What itinerary are you doing? The Dream class ships have HUGE handicap accessible rooms aft but they can be very loud with vibration on the fantasy - I know someone who was booked into one at the last minute when it wasn't needed by someone for mobility purposes and they ended up having to give him a separate sleeping room the vibrations were so bad... but it is not an issue on the Dream... so if you're doing a 3-4 night I'd definitely pick one of those.

I have no idea of what itinerary I’m doing yet.

 

[Quellman]

5e handicap rooms on the Dream and Fantasy are glorious. Very spacious inside and large large balconies. They do lack some storage and the television is comically far from the bed and couch, making it difficult to actually watch. We moved chairs closer. There usually are not dividing curtains in the 5e handicap rooms either, so if that is a requirement for privacy arrangements, you might reconsider if that is a priority.

 

[Rob1872]

All I know is that we definitely want an outside room with a balcony in a good location.
Another thing of importance to note is that we’ll need a handicap accessible room with a roll in shower
So, what room would be good for a first time cruiser?

Well, you've convienently eliminated most of your options!
Normally, the discussion is for inside versus porthole versus verandah. If you have already decided that you have to have a balcony, then you are really just deciding if you want to have the normal verandah cabin or the family verandah cabin. The only real difference is that the family verandah is a few feet longer and some of them have a murphy bed that pulls down from the wall for a 5th sleeper.
(I'm making the assumption that you are not going to go do a conceirge room, which brings in a whole new array of service options for the minor inconvience of having to sell a kidney to be able to afford it if your vacation budget isn't a lot higher than mine.)
One thing to consider if you haven't set your itinerary: The Dream class ships (Dream and Fantasy) were designed with a lot of verandah cabins. So the price difference between an inside cabin to outside cabin to verandah is fairly small. The Magic and Wonder have fewer verandah cabins, so there is a steeper price jump between inside / porthole / verandah cabin classes.

 

[Rob1872]

With regard to location, the only things I'd say are that lower decks and mid-ships have the least motion, so if you have any sea-sickness worries that is a consideration. (And the aft end of Fantasy has been known to have vibration issues for years.) If you aren't trying to be near a kid's club, etc. then I wouldn't worry too much about which deck you are on since you will be taking an elevator everywhere with a power chair. Cabanas (primary breakfast and lunch buffet restaurant) is located aft, so you'll traverse the ship length if you have a forward cabin. (Never bothered my family, but we aren't in a power chair either.)

 

[MomOTwins]

I am wondering why you are seeing so many room types given there are only a handful of rooms that are handicap accessible with verandah. The subcategories within that are either family-size (extra square footage) or standard, and then different subcategories based on the location on the ship. Generally, midship and higher are more expensive. That doesn't necessarily mean they are better. Some people prefer lower floors midship because you feel the motion of the ship less there, if you have motion sickness. But aft and forward elevators tend to be less crowded than midship, which would be a good thing with a power chair.

 

[sweetpeama]

Looking at the interactive maps I have noticed some handicapped acessible staterooms with a Navagators veranda that sleep 3 since it is just 2 people at this time planning to go would one of those work especially for a September Alaska Cruise for example since it looks like those are enclosed from doing a search and would provide some protection.

 

[Groot]

Looking at the interactive maps I have noticed some handicapped acessible staterooms with a Navagators veranda that sleep 3 since it is just 2 people at this time planning to go would one of those work especially for a September Alaska Cruise for example since it looks like those are enclosed from doing a search and would provide some protection.

What’s the difference between a regular verandah and a navigator verandah?

 

[Weedy]

The beds in all cabins regardless if handicapped or not will have a queen bed and a couch that folds out to a twin.
This picture is of a standard cabin. Handicapped cabins are more open but I wanted to show you the beds.

 

[Weedy]

I found these photos on another site. This cabin is no longer a handicapped cabin because the balcony isn’t big enough.
There will be a queen bed and the couch folds out to a twin bed.

 

[Ravenclaw78]

What’s the difference between a regular verandah and a navigator verandah?

A Navigator's Verandah (Cat 7A) is partially obstructed. On the Magic and Wonder, the balcony is enclosed in a white wall with a large open porthole, but has some neat touches like a map and compass and a bench seat. I haven't sailed in one on the Dream or Fantasy, but I think on those ships it's just a generic partially obstructed view.

 

[g_ppetto]

We travel with an ECV and have stayed in 8588 (accessible) on the Fantasy and Dream. There is plenty of room in the cabin to park and charge the ECV. I joked that we could do figure eights on the scooter in the room. It was actually a nice 'K' turn to get the ECV in and turned around, and parked along the wall for charging. There were no noise issues in the cabin on either ship. These cabins have a single bathroom unlike the split bathrooms in a normal cabin. There is a roll in shower with fold down seat / bench. The veranda is big. ECV parking on the Dream / Fantasy for normal cabins is just outside the Enchanted Garden. Check this page for more information - https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/faq/guests-with-disabilities/wheelchair-accessible-staterooms/

We're cruising on the Magic in a few months, but in a normal, non-accessible room. I understand there is an area for ECV parking / charging behind the elevator bank a few doors away from our room. The accessible rooms on the Magic and Wonder are mainly aft. Maybe that is where someone complained about noise issues. We were concerned about rough seas cruising out of NYC and having an aft cabin.

Sorry, can't comment on excursions as we didn't do any. We just wandered through some of the shops just off of the ship in Tortola and St. Thomas. On our visit to Nassau, we went over to the Never Say Never Again bar for mimosas, photos and a call home to our daughter. It is the octagon you see on the left side of the PTZtv Port Nassau camera.

You should contact DCL to check on availability, as I have seen where the accessible rooms do not always show up online as being available.

 

[sweetpeama]

What’s the difference between a regular verandah and a navigator verandah?

Looking at photos I can find online a Navagators Veranda is smaller with a built in seat on one side and more of an oval window that is open. They do have a partially obstructed view on one side as that side is often next to an ocean view room. The window is open and they are narrower from the room edge to the edge of the balcony and look like beside the bench (which looks nice and wide like they have a 2nd chair along with a small table and a stool or footrest (looks like you could use it for both.
Because the view is partially obstructed the price is also a bit lower than a regular veranda and they do look like there is more of a roof over the top than just the floor of the veranda directly above you if there is one.
I would encourage you to do a quick search on Disney Navagator Veranda and you should see a bunch of images. You might also be able to do a search for specific rooms such as Disney Wonder 7098 (not sure if that is an actual suite number on the wonder or not but you get the idea) which should also bring up photos and reviews on various sites though there are some good ones on here if you go to the wdw infor page go to disney cruise line and drop down to room reports and also to photos. The room reports are only going to have ones that have been reviewed so doing a search online for specific cabin numbers might be in order if you don't find the one you are looking at. When your looking on the disneycruise line web page on the interactive map on at the bottom part of the page if you click on a cabin number it will tell you what type it is, there is a handicapped symbol on the accessible rooms so just start clicking on those and it will say things like navagator veranda sleeps 3, veranda sleeps 4, family deluxe oceanside sleeps 4-5, ect.
As acessible rooms are much more limited especially if you are restricting yourself to only veranda rooms from just a general person's view though I have traveled some in my life (not as much as I would like due to finances or should I say lack there of) I would book as soon as the itenerary I was interested in opened up for when and where you wanted to go or send a message to the boards really nice sponsor which happens to be Dreams Unlimited and ask for an agent. Webmaster John will assign you someone and they can handle it though you do need to give a general idea of dates and iteneray such as late June to mid July Alaska cruise (which is when my parents went to Alaska a few years ago on a non Disney trip and they were so cheap they had me doing their research-I still get mailings from that cruise line who I believe they are using again to go on a Panama Canal cruise-which just does in on the Atlantic side a ways and turns around somewhere in the middle (a big manmade lake I believe) and goes back to the orginating port to end the cruise) in November. This time I was given the look up on one of your atlases where these places are because they are the only places we plan to get off the ship and the lady at the county health dept said vacines are not required if they are close to Panama City. well my National Geographic atlas is worthless for Central America ( that is a part of the world that all of them tend to ignore) but google maps and zooming out to the world view and then going to the general area and zooming in told me opposite side of the country though it is less than 60 miles from one ocean to the other.

 

[DisneyHelen]

I would get a balcony for your first cruise.

 

[allison0523]

If you require a HA accessible room, I would suggest you book as soon as you can. What month are you looking to go? If the cruises for that time period are listed on the disney website, you can look and see what HA verandah cabins are still available (although I don't know if all inventory shows up). Those rooms are very limited and in theory people can book them online without providing any sort of documentation as to whether it's truly needed or not. I know it was somewhat late but I tried to book one on a 3 night halloween cruise for the end of October this year in the beginning of May and none were available. So, I booked an oceanview HA room and kept checking for cancellations. Closer to PIF date, a HA verandah popped up and I called to change cabins. If you want the main dining time, you will need to book early also.

 

[Groot]

If you require a HA accessible room, I would suggest you book as soon as you can. What month are you looking to go? If the cruises for that time period are listed on the disney website, you can look and see what HA verandah cabins are still available (although I don't know if all inventory shows up). Those rooms are very limited and in theory people can book them online without providing any sort of documentation as to whether it's truly needed or not. I know it was somewhat late but I tried to book one on a 3 night halloween cruise for the end of October this year in the beginning of May and none were available. So, I booked an oceanview HA room and kept checking for cancellations. Closer to PIF date, a HA verandah popped up and I called to change cabins. If you want the main dining time, you will need to book early also.

I’m looking to go June-November of next year. Do you need to show LEGITIMATE Documentation so you can get an accessible room?

 

[Geomom]

I’m looking to go June-November of next year. Do you need to show LEGITIMATE Documentation so you can get an accessible room?

This is what it says on the Disney site if you click 'accessible room'
"By selecting a wheelchair-accessible room, you have indicated that you or a member of your party has a disability that requires the features of this stateroom. You may be required to provide written confirmation of this need."

Also, when you're looking at a specific cruise, you can see the list of accessible rooms for that ship. It looks like the Magic/Wonder have 7 accessible verandah rooms and the Dream/Fantasy have 9--so you'd definitely want to book early/have multiple dates in mind.

I would think that if you're coming with a powerchair; then you'll be fine--your 'written confirmation' may just be you emailing them that you will be using a powerchair and need an accessible room for it. I don't think you need a doctor's note.

 

[Groot]

This is what it says on the Disney site if you click 'accessible room'
"By selecting a wheelchair-accessible room, you have indicated that you or a member of your party has a disability that requires the features of this stateroom. You may be required to provide written confirmation of this need."

Also, when you're looking at a specific cruise, you can see the list of accessible rooms for that ship. It looks like the Magic/Wonder have 7 accessible verandah rooms and the Dream/Fantasy have 9--so you'd definitely want to book early/have multiple dates in mind.

I would think that if you're coming with a powerchair; then you'll be fine--your 'written confirmation' may just be you emailing them that you will be using a powerchair and need an accessible room for it. I don't think you need a doctor's note.

Kk. I just wanna be safe, so would filling out the form help in getting the room I need?

 

[Geomom]

Kk. I just wanna be safe, so would filling out the form help in getting the room I need?

I don't have any firsthand knowledge of it. But, if you click 'accessible' it will show you all the accessible rooms for that cruise and you can book them. The way it's written, I'm guessing DCL might or might not email you after you've booked an accessible room to check that you actually need it. (I'm guessing that most of the time they don't email about it...maybe only on really full cruises or if someone with a 'known' accessible need has called them and there are no rooms available for them on a cruise.)