Help pick a room! First cruise ever (Fantasy Verandah for 5 people)

[jacobzking]

Hey guys, hope this post is ok. It'll be our first cruise ever. October 13th 2020, 3 night Halloween cruise from Port Canaveral. 2 adults and 3 kids in a "Deluxe Oceanview Verandah." Any suggestions on which section or deck to be on? Any particular room numbers or things to look for? Thanks in advance!!!

 

[pixiedustedme]

The Fantasy sometimes has significant vibration issues in the aft due to a mechanical problem, so avoid aft staterooms.

 

[Rob1872]

We love 7584 for a Verandah and 7586 for a Family Verandah. Midships for reduced ship motion, and right between the deck 11 activities and deck 3 atrium, so we take the stairs to help combat eating all of the cruise food. Close to the midships stairs/elevator lobby. Plus, that is where the hallway bumps out to accommodate the longer family verandahs, so being at the hallway corner helps my youngest DS who is slightly autistic remember where our stateroom is.

 

[FigmentSpark]

How old are your kids? Will you be going down to the kid's club a lot or up to the pool and activities? I've not had a problem aft. We've been in 9114, 8628, 8630 and will be in 8626 and 8624 next spring

 

[ember1205]

Here are things to think about...

- As stated, aft rooms should be avoided on the Fantasy at all costs, especially those within about a half dozen doors forward or aft of the aft elevator area - these are prone to SIGNIFICANT vibration issues (ask me how I know...lol).
- Deck 10 is the highest deck with staterooms. Deck 11 is where Cabanas is and the pools are. Cabanas is aft, pools are mid-ship, and forward is where the quick service restaurants and adult areas are.
- Main Dining Rooms are mid-ship (Royal Court and Enchanted Garden) and aft (Anamiator's Palate).
- Theaters are forward.
- Mid-ship elevators are the most congested "in general".
- Most characters greets are mid-ship with some being forward on Decks 3 and 4.
- The adults section with bars and lounges is aft.
- The adults only dining is aft.
- Kid's clubs and such are mid-ship / aft.
- Shopping is mid-ship.
- Deck 2 is lowest passenger deck and is where Enchanted Garden is located.
- Starboard side would allow viewing of fireworks from your verandah.
- Starboard side seems to be the more common side to be able to view Castaway Cay from your verandah when docking (the ships tend to back in more often than nose in when docking).

Now, with all of that said in terms of how to get where... It's a really big ship, but you can navigate it pretty easily. I had an aft room that was "uninhabitable" and got moved to a forward room (both on high decks). Neither of them felt further away from things than the other.

Personally, I like the higher decks when you have a verandah because the view tends to feel "less obstructed". I do not seem have issues with motion as it has never made me ill (even in rougher seas on my 2014 cruise in early December on the Dream), so the higher decks work for me.

Be mindful of what's directly above you if you book Deck 10 - the pool areas will make noise as they set up the loungers at the start of the day. Some have had noise from Cabanas in the mornings, but that hasn't been my experience. On the Dream / Fantasy, Deck 9 seems to be a good compromise for me as it's high up but not directly below a deck area where there's activity.

Avoid a room that's directly visible or within a couple of doors of an elevator access area as these are the most likely to have extra noise from foot traffic. In fact, a forward room that's a few doors forward of the access area will tend to have the lowest foot traffic overall in front of your room... We really like 9526 on the Fantasy (wont' work for you as it only sleeps 4) because it was SUPER quiet in that area (and the laundry was a one minute walk forward of our room along our hallway).

 

[LizGirl]

We've been in 9674 and 10160 (both aft verandahs) and have not had issues with the vibration. You can feel you are on a moving ship, obviously, and the thrusters will wake you when docking. I'm not sure how to avoid that. I think it must be a matter of personal preference and sensitivity. Or maybe ocean conditions? We've not been bothered.

We were in 9510 and had terrible creaking so I would not advise to book that room.

We like deck 9 because it's only two flights up to the pool deck and Cabanas. I think decks 7-9 are very safe bets as you are always surrounded by other cabins. We liked deck 10 for location but there was noise from Cabanas that was a bit annoying when using our balcony.

 

[UNDDisney]

We are also a family of five and get the deluxe oceanview verandah. Our ideal is deck 8 midship (we take the stairs all the time, so equal distance up and down to most of the things we do on the ship). Our top priority is midship over deck level though (since we like taking the stairs). We find it annoying to stay aft, because the stairs/elevators drop you off in cabanas (buffet restaurant), so you have to walk through cabanas every time you want to get to the pool. First world problems, I know...

 

[hnthomps]

Deck 8 or 9, midship, starboard!
Deck 10 is annoying, as noted, because of the noise of chairs being dragged around. On 8 or 9 you can still walk to the clubs (on 5) easily enough, and are so close to the pool and Cabanas.

 

[lilsonicfan]

We were on deck 7 (7600? I think) and really liked the location. Midship, between cabin decks, easily walkable to dinner (and FROM dinner), close to the pool deck, etc. On the Fantasy i felt like the elevators were constantly busy so it was nice not to be too far up - especially felt this on port days.

 

[jacobzking]

Oh wow! Thanks for all the tips guys. I love this community. So in short, I guess I'll be looking for 8 or 9, midship Starboard.

Our kids will be 10,15 and 4. We're pretty active people, so I'm not too concerned with having to walk a little more or less. Any way I can get them to move Tiana's Place to the Fantasy for this trip? lol

 

[MomOTwins]

The good thing is because you are a family of 5, none of the verandah rooms that sleep 5 are very far aft (if you were looking at the oceanview that would be a different story).

One our first cruise we booked deck 7 forward and I was sooooooo seasick. Booking deck 6 midship was nice for us because midship and lower decks are both good for seasickness. It was also closer to the kids clubs on deck 5 and the restaurants/lobby/theater etc. on decks 3 and 4. We found ourselves spending more time there than on the pool deck (pools were very crowded, so we were there probably only once or twice a day versus constantly using the kids clubs). So I do think you should consider whether you want to be closer to the pools or closer to the indoor entertainment.

 

[jacobzking]

I waited for about 75 minutes and was able to book 8606 for Oct 10th 2020 Hopefully its a good room. Anyone ever been in that particular room?

 

[DIS_MIKE]

I waited for about 75 minutes and was able to book 8606 for Oct 10th 2020 Hopefully its a good room. Anyone ever been in that particular room?

Here’s a link to three stateroom reports
https://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/cruise-new/roomreport.cfm?Room=8606Cliff notes: people loved the room.

 

[jacobzking]

Here’s a link to three stateroom reports
https://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/cruise-new/roomreport.cfm?Room=8606Cliff notes: people loved the room.

yep! i found that link earlier. looks good! only thing I wish I had known in advance that I would change if I could, is the fact that its a linked room (risk of creeking door which in no way would ruin my trip lol).

i went back this evening to try and change to a non linked room and from what I can tell, out of the entire midship deck 8 section of rooms, there were literally on 2 rooms left (neither starboard). does that sound right? all those rooms booked before even being available to general public?!?! insane!!!

in any case, thank you DIS_Mike, MomOfTwins, lilsonicfan, hnthomps, UNDDisney, LizGirl, ember1205, ember1205, pixiedustedme, Rob1872 and FigmentSpark! hope i didn't forget anyone.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

(risk of creeking door which in no way would ruin my trip lol).

The connecting door really doesn't have that much movement when closed/locked.

 

[FigmentSpark]

yep! i found that link earlier. looks good! only thing I wish I had known in advance that I would change if I could, is the fact that its a linked room (risk of creeking door which in no way would ruin my trip lol).

i went back this evening to try and change to a non linked room and from what I can tell, out of the entire midship deck 8 section of rooms, there were literally on 2 rooms left (neither starboard). does that sound right? all those rooms booked before even being available to general public?!?! insane!!!

Did you phone DCL to ask what rooms are available? If you're just looking on the website, I hope you know that they don't show all the rooms that are actually available. If you want a particular room, it's best to call.

Also, in the event they are actually all booked, make sure to keep checking in the next couple of days (yes, phone), because someone might just have a hold on the room and it will expire 3 days after it was placed. Or they might choose a different room and let the one you want go.

All that said, we always have connecting doors. No squeaking and no noise, even if one of the two connecting doors is open.

 

[jacobzking]

I think I'll just stick with that room and not worry about the connecting doors. Sounds like a non-issue. Thanks again peeps!!!

The connecting door really doesn't have that much movement when closed/locked.

Did you phone DCL to ask what rooms are available? If you're just looking on the website, I hope you know that they don't show all the rooms that are actually available. If you want a particular room, it's best to call.

Also, in the event they are actually all booked, make sure to keep checking in the next couple of days (yes, phone), because someone might just have a hold on the room and it will expire 3 days after it was placed. Or they might choose a different room and let the one you want go.

All that said, we always have connecting doors. No squeaking and no noise, even if one of the two connecting doors is open.

 

[Sepo]

Yes connecting doors are very common and no issue in my experience.

As said above, there may be more rooms available than you can see. You may be a bit hampered by party size though. When you change party size (try searching without logging in) different avaiablities appear sometimes as I suspect DCL strives to position small parties in rooms without extra beds when possible.

 

[matthew517]

Deck 7 midship the best location and ship movement.

 

[BigRob66]

Were on the Fantasy right now, 9576 and 9564 (in-Laws). Perfect to go up 2 flights of stairs to get to pool deck, 1 floor as a sound buffer for early morning deck cleaning, and its easy to go down the stairs for decks 3,4,5. I love it.

The vibration in Cabanas in the aft today was extremely noticeable today.