deck level/section - what do you like and why?

[FigmentSpark]

Okay, today the boys were saying it might be nice to go on another cruise next year and can I make it happen... (yeah, AFTER the prices went up last month!)

Anyway, we had a 4A on deck 9 portside, (Fantasy), which was really nice (except for the balcony skin, but that wasn't that bad), but now looking at the prices and the availability I'm trying to decide where to go (on the ship) next.

The 4A next to ours is available, so that's always an option (the most expensive that I would consider), but I could save some money by going to a 5C on deck 7, too. Then again, 4Es on forward deck 5 might be nice. Or just save a little and go deck 8.

I wanted to stay away from deck 10, as most availability is aft, under Cabanas and deck 6, as it's over the kids' area and the theatre. I worried a little about deck 5 because of the Vibe entrance, but is that really a problem?

So.... any advice?

 

[Luvzmy3boys]

We r a family of 5 so that limits our room choices but we prefer 4A (deck 9 mid ship) because it's close enough to the pools, drink stations and snacks but one deck removed from all that deck chair noise (we stayed on deck 10 one year and the noise was mostly early morning when staff were setting up chairs and on pirates night). We did deck 7 one year and it was ok but not really convenient for us. Our kids don't spend a ton of time in the kids' clubs.

 

[Dug720]

I usually do OV cabins just because there are plenty of outside spaces to explore on the ship (and since I travel solo I don't have to deal with anyone but me napping). I'm typically all about as high and far forward as I can get, but last year on the Magic kind of got me into the Deck 2 lovers' group. I'm staying Deck 2 but WAY far forward (2504!!) for my Feb Wonder cruise. 7500 (another OV) is available which meets my "high and far forward" usual preference, but it's $600 more than 2504!! For $600 I will happily stay closer to the water!

 

[FigmentSpark]

Yeah, I hear a lot about deck 2. DH is all about the verandah, though.

I was looking at deck 7, but good point about the drink station. Is it worth the extra hundred dollars? Then again, what's another hundred when you're paying over $5000? lol.

 

[tink1970]

We've been on 7, 8, 9, 10 and 12. In inside, outside and concierge. Sounds like cat 5s and cat 4s are acceptable to your family (read DH--I know making one of those happy is important when you're the trip planner) so other than the cat 4/5 on deck 10 I'd say you have lots of options. Honestly I'd weigh the extra space of a 4 v. the extra stairs of being on deck 6/7/8 if that makes sense. We have loved every cabin (except for me the inside on deck 7 but still the location of 7 was fine!). In my mind, if you're on the Fantasy, sailing the big blue it's hard to go wrong

 

[FigmentSpark]

I'm also struggling with being near mid-stairway vs being aft halfway down from the mid-stairway. We didn't hear much hallway noise in our room last time, but we weren't anywhere near the stairs. Also, there's not much left on the starboard side, which is what DH wants to try this time. I would be good on either side, but if he's saying 'book it', I guess I should take into account his needs.

Another concern is 4 vs 5. We don't need the 4, but the extra space was nice. Was it $500 worth of nice? Since I haven't been in a 5, I'm not sure.

 

[SoozCruise]

We (2 parents, 1 teen, 1 tween) love the 6A rooms on deck 9 starboard. The solid verandah doesn't bother us because we're all tall and can see over it when sitting. Fabulous view of Castaway Cay when docked; I tend to come back midday and eat lunch on the verandah while enjoying the scenery. I prize quiet over distance to midship, but it's super easy to get to Cabanas and the MDRs, and we enjoy the exercise when heading to other areas of the ship.

 

[FigmentSpark]

I hadn't thought about the 6As. DH will spend most of his time on the verandah, so that's important to him, but he's tall and might not mind if it was a solid rail.

 

[wanderlust7]

Another concern is 4 vs 5. We don't need the 4, but the extra space was nice. Was it $500 worth of nice? Since I haven't been in a 5, I'm not sure.

I was deciding between the 4 vs 5 recently and the difference was $300. We'd stayed in a cat 5 previously and didn't feel cramped at all (with little kids 3 and 7 at the time). I looked at YouTube videos of the cat 4 and tried to imagine if I would enjoy the extra space enough for $300 worth. Seems the main differences are the extra space from the couch to the veranda for the Murphy bed (which the cat 4 cabin I was considering didn't have) and the extra long desk. In the end, I decided that it wasn't worth it to me and went with a cat 5.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

We usually stay deck 7 aft on the fantasy and like it. I just wish there were a laundry room there though.
No noise and convenient to take the stairs up to deck 11.

 

[tink1970]

Was it $500 worth of nice? Since I haven't been in a 5, I'm not sure.

Do y'all spend a lot of time IN your cabin? Or are you on the verandah and out and about on the ship a lot? Are there 4 of you or 3? Are you over packers or 1 bag per person? Do your bags explode in the room or is everything immediately unpacked and stays in its place? These are things that I think can account for $500 worth of space or not. For instance my DH and I are fairly tidy and compact in our living (granted we were both in the Navy and are neat by nature). Add teenage DD to the mix and that goes out the window. She is an only child and her things immediately take up 10x the space, if that makes sense. So if it's the two of us we could easily fit in a 7A/6A, etc. Traveling with her is a whole 'nother story. So depending on your family, then a 4 might be the best fit, and if you add starboard preference then maybe for this trip then paying the extra $500 is the right thing (for your family for this trip) to do.

 

[Shanti]

I really liked sailing forward on our last cruise, and I disliked the vibrations the time we sailed aft. The up & down movement you can get forward doesn't bother me, though. I kind of like it- reminds me that I'm on a boat. Midship sounds convenient, but I remember all the walking & talking I and others did past the midship cabins on our cruises, whereas our inside forward cabin was tucked away and quiet within its own little hallway- loved that. We also like being on a higher rather than lower deck, though I'm not sure why, maybe because it's further from the engine.

 

[Dug720]

Okay, today the boys were saying it might be nice to go on another cruise next year and can I make it happen... (yeah, AFTER the prices went up last month!)

Anyway, we had a 4A on deck 9 portside, (Fantasy), which was really nice (except for the balcony skin, but that wasn't that bad), but now looking at the prices and the availability I'm trying to decide where to go (on the ship) next.

The 4A next to ours is available, so that's always an option (the most expensive that I would consider), but I could save some money by going to a 5C on deck 7, too. Then again, 4Es on forward deck 5 might be nice. Or just save a little and go deck 8.

I wanted to stay away from deck 10, as most availability is aft, under Cabanas and deck 6, as it's over the kids' area and the theatre. I worried a little about deck 5 because of the Vibe entrance, but is that really a problem?

So.... any advice?

To answer the Deck 5 question, I got put there from a GTY upgrade (it was too low and too mid for my preferences, but the cabin itself was fine - hence why I say "put") in 5044 and don't recall any issues with the Vibe entrance. The only issue was two cabins just down from me (towards the stairs) who couldn't seem to get the message that they were not allowed to store their strollers in the hallway. Finally by mid cruise either someone higher up than the stateroom host convinced them to move the strollers at least to the kind of open and not really used corner of the elevator lobby or someone else got sick of them and moved the strollers themselves and then the people either never used them or decided that was a good parking place.

 

[FigmentSpark]

Heh, I can see some people just deciding to move the strollers, like they do magnets. Did you like the extended balcony?

 

[Dug720]

It would not have surprised me if someone did. I saw once that someone had moved them to block the stateroom doors - it was shortly after that they moved into the elevator bay. LOL.

I honestly didn't use it that much. I'm generally much happier in ocean view cabins, so the magic of verandahs (yes, I have had one before - twice besides this one) is kind of lost on me. I'd rather be out on deck for air so I can see all around and not have the more limited view from a verandah (as in you can't just walk over to the other side). But I know I'm an anomaly on the boards and kind of defy the "once you've had a verandah you'll never go back" line of thinking. If you're into verandahs though, it's probably great. (And yes, when I was on the Fantasy for next Feb I had booked a verandah simply because I don't do Star Wars and wanted an outside space I could guarantee would be free of all things Star Wars. But I switched back to the Wonder, so all about Deck 2 now! )

 

[FigmentSpark]

Do y'all spend a lot of time IN your cabin? Or are you on the verandah and out and about on the ship a lot? Are there 4 of you or 3? Are you over packers or 1 bag per person? Do your bags explode in the room or is everything immediately unpacked and stays in its place? These are things that I think can account for $500 worth of space or not. For instance my DH and I are fairly tidy and compact in our living (granted we were both in the Navy and are neat by nature). Add teenage DD to the mix and that goes out the window. She is an only child and her things immediately take up 10x the space, if that makes sense. So if it's the two of us we could easily fit in a 7A/6A, etc. Traveling with her is a whole 'nother story. So depending on your family, then a 4 might be the best fit, and if you add starboard preference then maybe for this trip then paying the extra $500 is the right thing (for your family for this trip) to do.

I explode into a room and it takes me 7 days to get organized (which means until it has to be put back in the suitcase). There are 4 of us, but we'll be getting 2 rooms, so 2 and 2. That helps, but since the kids love the bunks, that also limits the rooms (that are left!) that we can get. I did like all the room in the 4 for sure. Could I do without it? In a pinch, yes, but I might not be as organized.

DH loves the room and the balcony. It's his sanctuary and he tends to stay there unless hungry. I liked getting out and about, but did like being able to use the balcony when I wanted. The kids just find out when dinner is and it's off to the clubs or the AquaDuck, so they don't care.

 

[NZMUM]

We stay on deck 7 (4C & 5C/11B). It's midway between breakfast/drink station/pool deck & dinner (we use that stairs most of the time). I don't find it too far to go to the drink station.
We did 4C when all four of us were sharing. Last time we had the kids (late teens) in an inside cabin & we were in a 5C. Worked out great - no more being woken at 2am when they get back.

 

[FigmentSpark]

We stay on deck 7 (4C & 5C/11B). It's midway between breakfast/drink station/pool deck & dinner (we use that stairs most of the time). I don't find it too far to go to the drink station.
We did 4C when all four of us were sharing. Last time we had the kids (late teens) in an inside cabin & we were in a 5C. Worked out great - no more being woken at 2am when they get back.

I looked at putting the teens in an inside, but the way the rooms are laid out, it was down the hall, not just across the way. Did you give the kids keys to your room (and vice versa), too? How close was your room to theirs? The privacy would be nice.

 

[bcwife76]

My kids love the kids club and are still on the younger side (6&8 this past January on the Fantasy) so we stayed on deck 5 aft in a 4E room. We have the same room booked for Nov 2018 on the Fantasy. When they are a bit older and can both check themselves out of the clubs I'd like to stay up a bit higher, say deck 7 or 8. I won't do a Forward cabin ever, doesn't matter what ship I always feel the movement forward no matter what deck I'm on.

 

[NZMUM]

I looked at putting the teens in an inside, but the way the rooms are laid out, it was down the hall, not just across the way. Did you give the kids keys to your room (and vice versa), too? How close was your room to theirs? The privacy would be nice.

We did a b2b and couldn't get them the same room, we were in the same one (7064). So the 1st week they were in a forward cabin (7033) and the 2nd week they were 2 doors and a corner away from us (7071). 7033 looks a long way, but it wasn't that far from ours really, and was on the way to the laundry too.
We went to guest services when we boarded and they gave us all new keys that accessed both rooms. I can't remember what happens when the teens get keys for Vibe.
It was definitely great to have privacy and be able to move about without trying to be quiet in the morning. I told them if they wanted to use the veranda, they could. But they didn't. My son we only saw for breakfast & dinner (as usual) and my daughter (too old for vibe) hung out with us most of the time anyway.