First cruise and confused about staterooms

[wdwcp2001]

Hi Everyone!

Currently researching our first family Disney cruise. It will be me, my husband and two sons (5 &7) in one stateroom and my parents in their own. We have it narrowed down to either a 4 or 5 night cruise the week of April 15 2019 (my kids school break).

I'm confused about the stateroom types. On the Disney site it lists the cost for the 4 main room types (inside, ocean view, verandah, concierge). But when looking through the posts here it seems like there are a lot more options. I was initially just comparing the price difference between ocean view and verandah and I would try to get mid ship to avoid any motion issues. But is it more complicated than that? Is there anything else I need to know before booking? I'm thinking of booking through Costco.

Thanks for your help!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Hi Everyone!

Currently researching our first family Disney cruise. It will be me, my husband and two sons (5 &7) in one stateroom and my parents in their own. We have it narrowed down to either a 4 or 5 night cruise the week of April 15 2019 (my kids school break).

I'm confused about the stateroom types. On the Disney site it lists the cost for the 4 main room types (inside, ocean view, verandah, concierge). But when looking through the posts here it seems like there are a lot more options. I was initially just comparing the price difference between ocean view and verandah and I would try to get mid ship to avoid any motion issues. But is it more complicated than that? Is there anything else I need to know before booking? I'm thinking of booking through Costco.

Thanks for your help!

Within each stateroom TYPE are different categories (levels). For example, an Oceanview room could be a category 8 or 9. Typically an "8" is considered "better" than an "9". Of course, "better" is in the eye of the beholder, also. There are many of us who love the category 9 rooms and wouldn't do an 8. And vice versa.

Within each category there are also subdivisions. For example, a cat 9D on the Magic class ships are on deck 1. Cat 9A, B & C are on deck 2. Cat 9A is midship on deck two, while Cat B & C are forward and aft of that. Midship is considered "better" than forward or aft.

Thus categories rank from lowest number to highest number. Lowest number (4) is the "best" veranda. Highest number (10 or 11) is the bottom of the list inside room. And A, B, C, D indicates highest to lowest ranking within a category.

Your criteria for looking for a room is fine. Price out the oceanview vs verandah. And then look for mid ship location.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

oops

 

[Love2Cruise2015]

If you are worried about motion sickness you should stick to a room closer to the middle of the ship. My family and I have sailed 3 times and are going on our 4th this upcoming week and we have always sailed the 304sq verandah rooms because we like the extra space for our two boys to play and we like the verandah to sit outside and enjoy the views as we sail. But the choice of room is really up to what your family likes.
Have fun

 

[Maggie'sMom]

Hi Everyone!

Currently researching our first family Disney cruise. It will be me, my husband and two sons (5 &7) in one stateroom and my parents in their own. We have it narrowed down to either a 4 or 5 night cruise the week of April 15 2019 (my kids school break).

I'm confused about the stateroom types. On the Disney site it lists the cost for the 4 main room types (inside, ocean view, verandah, concierge). But when looking through the posts here it seems like there are a lot more options. I was initially just comparing the price difference between ocean view and verandah and I would try to get mid ship to avoid any motion issues. But is it more complicated than that? Is there anything else I need to know before booking? I'm thinking of booking through Costco.

Thanks for your help!

I was typing up a long explanation of the numbered and lettered categories, but saw that PrincessShmoo beat me to it with a clearer explanation than the mess I was typing. I just wanted to add that DCL's current website isn't as clear with these distinctions than their old website so it does take a bit of searching to figure out the pricing differences. If you are wanting oceanview and a mid-ship location, those rooms will be on deck 2, which is supposedly better for motion sickness. Verandah rooms will be deck 5 and above. If you look at an oceanview room on decks 5 and above, those staterooms will be either forward or aft, not midship. There are only verandah rooms mid-ship for decks 5 and above.

 

[mmmears]

I agree midship is the best for less movement.

As for categories, when looking at the site, click one (say, verandah) and you will see that there are different categories (with different) pricing within the verandah section. Also note when you click on one of those that you can look to the left and it will give you a choice of decks you can choose from - that will also change the price. Their prices when they show just 4 Cats is "starting from" meaning that it can go way up in some cases.

 

[wdwcp2001]

Thank you! Very helpful!

 

[MomOTwins]

There are also "family" oceanview and verandah rooms that are larger than the standard ones. This may be more room than your family needs, but something to keep in mind if you would like some extra space.

 

[accio]

Hi OP,

Just wanted to add that the DIS boards compiles a thread for stateroom reports along with a database of stateroom reviews that may be helpful to you as well

My family has in the past booked two staterooms, one oceanview with verandah (5B or 5C) and interior stateroom (11A or 11B), on the Magic (Deck 7) and Wonder (Deck 5). (I would upload photos, but then I realized that they're not on my phone LOL.) These staterooms are located aft, we've never had a problem with motion sickness with either of them

 

[Bonnie1222]

Also, if you are looking at a 4 day on the Dream (Fantasy too), inside staterooms have Virtual portholes, and it is a high def TV live streaming outside the ship in what ever direction the wall faces on the boat. DH and I did that a few years ago and it was really cool. Here is a picture of what it looks like. Keep in mind the inside staterooms are a little smaller, but it might be worth a look.

 

[TeresaNJ]

I was typing up a long explanation of the numbered and lettered categories, but saw that PrincessShmoo beat me to it with a clearer explanation than the mess I was typing. I just wanted to add that DCL's current website isn't as clear with these distinctions than their old website so it does take a bit of searching to figure out the pricing differences. If you are wanting oceanview and a mid-ship location, those rooms will be on deck 2, which is supposedly better for motion sickness. Verandah rooms will be deck 5 and above. If you look at an oceanview room on decks 5 and above, those staterooms will be either forward or aft, not midship. There are only verandah rooms mid-ship for decks 5 and above.

Thank you for that excellent explanation! I was wondering why all the mid ship ocean view rooms above deck 5 were already gone for our tentative April 2019 first Disney cruise!

 

[TeresaNJ]

Hi Everyone!

Currently researching our first family Disney cruise. It will be me, my husband and two sons (5 &7) in one stateroom and my parents in their own. We have it narrowed down to either a 4 or 5 night cruise the week of April 15 2019 (my kids school break).

I'm confused about the stateroom types. On the Disney site it lists the cost for the 4 main room types (inside, ocean view, verandah, concierge). But when looking through the posts here it seems like there are a lot more options. I was initially just comparing the price difference between ocean view and verandah and I would try to get mid ship to avoid any motion issues. But is it more complicated than that? Is there anything else I need to know before booking? I'm thinking of booking through Costco.

Thanks for your help!

We are almost identical to you! I, too, am researching our first family Disney cruise, and it will be me, my husband, my son, his wife, and our two grandsons who will be ages 5 & almost 7 at the time of the cruise, and we're looking at April 2019, but I was looking at two weeks later. Never thought of asking my DIL when the kids' school break will be, I was just going by prices. I'm looking at the Dream, 4 nights, two staterooms!

 

[wdwcp2001]

We are almost identical to you! I, too, am researching our first family Disney cruise, and it will be me, my husband, my son, his wife, and our two grandsons who will be ages 5 & almost 7 at the time of the cruise, and we're looking at April 2019, but I was looking at two weeks later. Never thought of asking my DIL when the kids' school break will be, I was just going by prices. I'm looking at the Dream, 4 nights, two staterooms!

I wish we could go on a different week- 4/15 is so expensive because school breaks but I don’t want to pull them out of school when they have this week off. Oh well! We booked verandah cabins on the Dream (4 nights). The price difference between the ocean view and verandah was minimal and I thought it would be nice to have the extra outdoor space- though I noticed the price difference between cabin types varied by ship/date. We are midship on deck 8 (5b).
Good luck with your planning!!

 

[GPaLarry]

I will bring out my drum one more time. With an inside or porthole stateroom smoking is not an issue. However, a verandah near a designated smoking area, especially on the Wonder in Alaska on glacier viewing day, can mean ashes and smoke messing up your verandah experience and ruining that day. Just a random thing to consider for only a few people, perhaps, but a lesson we learned from experience...not fun or magical.