Deck 2

[CynLyn]

We're about to make reservations for the Eastern 7 day in July and I'm looking for some feedback.

We are travelling with one other family. Both of us have 9 yo girls and we have a 7 yo boy. We are going back and forth on what type of room to get. We have gone from a Cat 5 with a veranda to either a Cat 9 or Cat 10. We are now leaning toward a Cat 10. The only current availability is on deck 2. We would be above an empty spot on deck 1 and below Luminaries.

The Cat 9 is above the hallway across from the medical center but below Barrell of Laughs night club.

Right now the Cat 10 is looking the best. We are active families and don't plan to stay in our rooms much. Our children are active and will stay out late with us. We changed from Cat 5 because of the price difference. Also it is our first of many cruises (hopefully) and we shouldn't spoil ourselves on the first one.

Any feedback?

 

[tstobb]

Originally posted by CynLyn
Also it is our first of many cruises (hopefully) and we shouldn't spoil ourselves on the first one.

Any feedback?

That I can comment on - we visit WDW at least twice a year for a total of about 2-2/12 weeks and have always stayed either off grounds, at one of the value and sometimes at one of the moderates. On our last trip, we went all out & stayed in the twoer at the Contemporary & now won't go back unless we can stay that close again! It's great to be spoiled but stepping backwards is tougher than it sounds so your plan is great!

 

[jrabbit]

We sailed in January on the Eastern cruise. We choose the Cat 10 room on deck 2. (Cat 10 and higher has the split bathrooms - very nice). This was our second cruise. On our first we were in a cat 11 room up somewhere on the upper decks (6-8).

I didn't mind being on deck 2, very easy access to deck 3 activities (atrium, restaurants, nightclubs) or even up to deck 4 or 5 (kids clubs). You just figured out what part of the ship you want to go to, walk down the very long, narrow hallway to the stair near your destination and "pop up" to that location. Since deck 2 is just rooms, there is not a lot pedestrian traffic except for your "deck mates". DW didn't care for it because we were "down in the dungeon." If we told someone where we were staying, you immediatly got the feeling of being looked down upon - "oh - you're DOWN there!" These rooms are actually nicer (and more expense) than the interior rooms in the upper decks (because the outer rooms up there have the verandas). For me, the biggest drawback to deck 1 or 2 is the long climb up the stairs to get to deck 9 or 10 for the outside activity areas (pool, basketball, ping pong). 9 flights is a lot of climbing. Yes they have elevators (or "Lifts") as they are called on the ship. Sometimes the waits can be long. The good thing about deck 2 was that by the end of the cruise, climbing up to deck 9/10 was not such hard work (and made for a good workout to burn off some of that good food you get on board). The stairs are "half flights" so you have to turn around to take the next 1/2 of stairs to the next floor. This made going down dangerous - I got dizzy doing all of those circles going down.

We have also stayed in the upper deck rooms (cat 11). They are smaller, and do not have the split bathroom. The seem to be more in the middle of the action (a couple of flights up or down and you are back in public areas).

We have always had inside staterooms while cruising. The biggest problem with them is when the lights are out - its totally dark, and when you wake up, you don't know if it is the middle of the night, 8 am or noon!!!

We only used the room for taking changing cloths and taking naps (1am to 7am is only a nap - but there was so much fun stuff to do that we stayed up late and got up early).

Our DS didn't have any problem finding his way around the ship and he is a dirrectionally challenged kid most of the time. In the stateroom hallways there is a "icon" every so often in the carpet. I think I finnally decided that the blue portion faced the front of the ship and the red pointed to the back (or red for "rear"). This may be backwards, but after a while you will figure it out.

enjoy the cruise, we most certainly did.

 

[mausmu]

We just got back from staying in room 2134 and I would do it again. It was an outside room with 1 big round window. We were in it to sleep and change and it wasn't too bad for us. The only thing I will say is that when they sail in reverse such as pulling into Castaway Cay, It did just about shake us out of bed. We were right on top of the rear thrusters. Hope this helps.

 

[JODIELYN]

tstobb
Those pictures are AWSOME quality. What did you use to take them? How did you publish them?

I'm jealous!

 

[tstobb]

Originally posted by JODIELYN
tstobb
Those pictures are AWSOME quality. What did you use to take them? How did you publish them?
I'm jealous!

Thanks!

I use a Sony Cybershot DSC-F505V (now 2 models old) that saves to a MemoryStick. I brought a laptop on the trip so I could burn the pictures to CD right away & not wory about running out of memory - We took over 1400 pictures!
Webshots lets you have 10 albums with 24 pictures each for free and their software lets you upload in bulk & is pretty easy to use.