Disney Alaska Cruise is an inside stateroom a mistake?

[tntstults]

We have been wanting to go on an Alaskan cruise and we have a placeholder from a previous cruise. I’ve heard that a verandah or ocean view is a must. I just can’t fathom the cost for my family of four. Would we regret booking an inside room? It’s the Wonder so there are not any virtual portholes.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We have been wanting to go on an Alaskan cruise and we have a placeholder from a previous cruise. I’ve heard that a verandah or ocean view is a must. I just can’t fathom the cost for my family of four. Would we regret booking an inside room? It’s the Wonder so there are not any virtual portholes.

In reality, a verandah or oceanview room is not really a must.

For the best views, on deck, upper or promenade, is IMO more of a "must" That way you can move with the scenery and not be restricted to only what you would see from your verandah/oceanview window.

 

[holula]

I’ve done Alaska twice, once in an inside, once in an oceanview. If I’m honest, I don’t feel the oceanview was worth it and I would have done an inside again except my friend wanted natural light. I’d rather spend the money on excursions. The best views are IMO on deck 10 forward or aft (although very windy at the front!) as you get a 360 view. There are also always other people wildlife spotting so you likely will see something that you wouldn’t have from a verandah.

 

[Bad Pink Tink 2.0]

I had an inside room on The Magic Norwegian Fjords, which is similar to Alaska. I had the cheapest room rate, 11A and loved the cruise. I spent a lot of time on the top deck watching the long sail ins into the Fjords. I have some amazing photos from the very front of the ship, overlooking the crew pool. I got up early to watch the sunrise. Being on the ship is what matters. You can have just as amazing experience with the scenery in the public areas of the ship.

 

[Skippyboo]

With 4 people, I would suggest booking the Deluxe inside if you’re going inside since you get the split baths. Regular inside only has 1 bath.

I am doing the Wonder this May. Booked a deluxe inside on Deck 7 forward. Going solo I couldn’t justify the balcony price since I had to add airfare to cost. I can drive to PC. Plus the port excursions are pricey- using Disney Visa points for those. The 3 port days- the ship is in port for a pretty long time especially in Skagway. I am fine using upper decks and the promenade deck.

 

[Bibbidi_Boo]

We are going for inside rooms for our Alaska Cruise because its just so much cheaper. Won't even be phased plenty of chances to see the scenary will out and about,

 

[jimmymc]

When I did Alaska with a balcony, the only time I really used it was for taking pictures on glacier day. For things like sail away or coming into port, it was easy enough to get space on deck.

 

[AquaDame]

Unless someone in your party has mobility issues that would keep them in the room and/or doesn’t like being in crowds, I wouldn’t worry. We did an inside on DCL’s Alaska and a verandah on RCCL years later. Both were great trips! The verandah was more a nice to have; we were still out of the room a lot as there is stuff to see on both sides and who wants to be cooped up all day?

 

[justafigment27]

We pretty much always get verandahs but had an oceanview for Alaska. We really only used the window to peek outside on occasion. I mean the natural light was nice, but we did not sit in our room looking out the window. I spent most of my sea day time on deck 4 loungers with a blanket, a book and a hot chocolate. On glacier day, the best views are on the top decks.

Edited to add: excursions are expensive in Alaska and I feel like it’s one cruise where you definitely want to get off the ship and explore. In our case, the difference between an oceanview and a verandah was enough to cover all of our excursions and a pre-cruise hotel. It was really significant.

 

[MomOTwins]

For me it depends a lot on the age of the kids. If you have little kids who need to nap in the room, I feel like it is a must to have a view of some kind to take in while they sleep. If older kids/teens who will be out and about with you, it's less essential.

 

[cruisehopeful]

You'll have better views on deck 4 and the top deck anyway. Inside is fine. I always get a window on deck 2 because the first thing I do when I get up in the morning is look out the window. I do all my glacier viewing and kicking back by a window in the public areas.

I've heard lots of people say that they didn't use their balcony much because it was too cold to sit out there.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

IMO it's more how you use the room. Since we're on a Disney forum I would liken it to how you would use your hotel room at WDW. For us because we aren't in the room much and it's not a big thing to us Value is fine or off-site is fine. A cruise we've discovered we do it differently.

For us, outside of keeping my motion sickness in mind which isn't a big issue for ships/boats, etc but is still something we keep in mind, a verandah/balcony is a must in general with rare exceptions potentially possible. We love the views and the ability to look outside without leaving our room. In addition sleeping inside with no natural light will mess with me. I've done it before in a normal hotel room and it just wasn't good for me. You might ask/consider if anyone in your party (not sure the ages of your family) would have issues sleeping or motion issues which if they were with you on your previous cruise.

To me cost may be a very important part of any potential vacation but it should always be weighed with how your traveling party is. I'm all about saving money but if what I'm doing isn't going to make me enjoy the vacation then there wasn't a point to doing it. And enjoy is incredibly subjective. We've booked cheap very small hotel rooms for a night to two nights (looking at you Tokyo or Hamburg or Glasgow) and we knew there would have been no way we would have wanted to do it for the whole trip but it saved money for that portion and we weren't in our rooms much. A cruise you're on it for more than a night or two and for us we might be out of the room to explore the ship or be on an excursion or tour the port on our own but it is still a big part to the overall trip for us.

I think someone made a really good point about the layout of the room. No matter what you choose keep in mind who you have in your traveling party and if you need to select a different type of room to make it work better.

 

[DCLMP]

x

 

[DCLMP]

We have been wanting to go on an Alaskan cruise and we have a placeholder from a previous cruise. I’ve heard that a verandah or ocean view is a must. I just can’t fathom the cost for my family of four. Would we regret booking an inside room? It’s the Wonder so there are not any virtual portholes.

I would regret spending thousands on a verandah.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I've heard lots of people say that they didn't use their balcony much because it was too cold to sit out there.

It depends on when you're cruising Alaska. It was for a different line than DCL but there were Alaskan cruises people were on with Seabourn where it was 70s and 80s and everyone was hotter than hot instead of being cold. If you're trying to be out on your balcony while you're in the wide ocean parts yes that cool air will likely make it uncomfortable to sit out long.

We were in the Med in late March/early April last year and it was high 50s, 60s (the first cruise of the season for certain ports) a tad cool for long-term sitting outside on our balcony but it also depended on when, if we were in port and facing the sun it could get warm fast. Now 20s, 30s and 40s? Yes wouldn't be the best to want to sit out long even if you had some sun. Conversely even though we still used it a lot on our 2023 July Med cruise it was too hot to use the balcony during the bulk of the day but then again we were in port on excursions or touring on our own but late afternoon was still too hot to sit out even in the shade.

 

[DisneyBelle_x]

We did Alaska a couple of years ago and will be again this year, both in the same room which is an oceanview but technically classed as inside (cat 10A) and we only booked that because we wanted deluxe room for split bathroom but would happily take an inside because we were hardly ever in the room, there was so much to see and enjoy that we found we spent most of our time on the top decks and deck 4 where it was easy to switch sides, I feel like verandah or oceanview are too confined to enjoying the scenery or wildlife spotting to one area

 

[dclpluto]

I was on Disneys very first Alaska cruise. Beginning of May 2011. We were in an inside stateroom. Have zero regrets. Some people will tell you the better stateroom you have the more time you will spend in your stateroom. Well I don’t go on cruises to spend extra time in the stateroom.

 

[o&smom]

Just did Alaska in September in an inside cabin...did not miss a thing!

 

[Memorymakerfor4]

We used our verandah more on our Alaskan cruise than we have on any other cruise. What we liked was some privacy where the kids could bounce around freely without me feeling like we needed to keep one eye on them (one is special needs and wanders). Those late sunsets also afforded us a lot of verandah time after kids were in bed. On glacier day, the top decks were crowded, but the vibe was fun and we enjoyed talking to people. Once the boat turned we grabbed hot chocolate, headed back to the cabin, and enjoyed a fantastic view with some quiet.

My in laws had an inside cabin and liked it fine, but to me it seemed like they spent very little time in there, either going to other decks or to our cabin. One thing I did like better than the verandah cabins was the layout with the bed at the back. So if you're ok with less down time in your room, this might be a good option.

 

[tvguy]

In reality, a verandah or oceanview room is not really a must.

For the best views, on deck, upper or promenade, is IMO more of a "must" That way you can move with the scenery and not be restricted to only what you would see from your verandah/oceanview window.

This exactly. I have done two Alaska cruises on HAL both with Oceanview staterooms, HOWEVER you miss most of the scenery which is ALL around you. You HAVE to spend a lot of time on the top decks to fully appreciate the beauty and wildlife on an Alaskan Cruise.