Giant Porthole or Navigators Verandah?

[Mainsail Minnie]

We're going to sail on the Fantasy over New Year's, and are currently booked in a deck 2 oceanview stateroom. However, I think I'm going to upgrade us to at least a family oceanview stateroom (giant porthole) on an upper deck, because we'd like more room, more sunlight and a better view out of the porthole. It's a pricy holiday cruise, so upgrading won't be cheap.

I noticed that there is a Navigator's Verandah available for only a small amount more than the family oceanview. Now I'm not sure which to choose. We've sailed in verandahs and insides on DCL before, but never in an oceanview, and never in a family-sized stateroom with the round tub & rainfall shower, so I'm leaning towards the oceanview for the new experience & more living space. But is it silly not to get a navigators verandah for just a small amount more? What do you think?

 

[linznjody]

Do you have kids? Ours chose for us. They LOVED the giant porthole window and refused to let us book a verandah this time. I loved how much room we had - apart from the suite we booked for an anniversary, it was the biggest cruise ship stateroom I've stayed in. We had one that had a murphy bed and the pull down, so we did those at night and still had a couch just to sit on (or throw stuff on if I'm being honest), which was nice.

The one downside? The rooms are all far forward or aft. If you want to be somewhere closer to the middle, the verandah might be the better choice. The only time I really noticed it, though, was when we did laundry. We were far aft, and my husband and I did at least 40 rounds of rock, paper, scissors once we figured out how far away it was to drag the bag of clothes.

 

[Aby]

Personally I would always choose a verandah over an Oceanview if the cost difference was negligible, but as you can see from the previous poster, not everyone would agree. Keep in mind that not all the navigator's verandah's on the Fantasy are the same. The all have different variations on how much obstruction there is - most are only mild to moderate, but there are a couple (I believe the ones aft on deck 5) that have very tiny verandahs.

Aby

 

[Starwind]

Do you have kids? Ours chose for us. They LOVED the giant porthole window and refused to let us book a verandah this time. I loved how much room we had - apart from the suite we booked for an anniversary, it was the biggest cruise ship stateroom I've stayed in. We had one that had a murphy bed and the pull down, so we did those at night and still had a couch just to sit on (or throw stuff on if I'm being honest), which was nice.

The one downside? The rooms are all far forward or aft. If you want to be somewhere closer to the middle, the verandah might be the better choice. The only time I really noticed it, though, was when we did laundry. We were far aft, and my husband and I did at least 40 rounds of rock, paper, scissors once we figured out how far away it was to drag the bag of clothes.

A hint - the closest laundry room is sometimes up or down, not across. May not have helped where you were, but for future reference.

Our first cruise we were in an 8A on the Dream, deck 5 forward. I was leaving the stateroom with laundry prepared to haul across the ship [I was aiming for the deck 6 laundry, so from fwd to fwd elevators, change floors then forward again] when our stateroom host stopped me and asked if I was going to do laundry. I said yes and he asked me where, I told him . He then explained that the closest laundry room was actually on deck 2, right beside the forward elevator. So all we had to do was go from forward to the fwd elevators and then down to deck 2. The laundry room was right there, easy access and half as much walking

SW

 

[TestingH2O]

I'd pick whichever one was forward or mid. In my experience, the aft vibration on the Fantasy is no joke.

 

[Mainsail Minnie]

Thanks, everyone. After talking to my son, I booked a foward oceanview. He's excited about the big porthole and the rainfall shower in the bathroom. I'm looking forward to the big porthole & how much living space we'll have.