How much time do you spend in the cabin?

[Hundredacre]

If you have a sick kid or a kid who is even a bit under the weather, you will be spending a lot of time in the room. If not the rest of your entire vacation. Happened to us on one cruise. Would have really been nice to have a veranda on that cruise.

 

[Sytrace]

If you have a sick kid or a kid who is even a bit under the weather, you will be spending a lot of time in the room. If not the rest of your entire vacation. Happened to us on one cruise. Would have really been nice to have a veranda on that cruise.

oh my goodness yes. That would be really useful to have a verandah. Poor kiddo (and you)

 

[moremouse]

We've been in oceanview, regular verandah, and an aft verandah. Last September when we stayed in a 5E was the best cruise I've ever been on. I don't really like to lay out in the sun, but I do like to relax and read outside. Especially sea days. Most places are just too noisy. Our room had two lounge chairs, two regular chairs, and a table. It was PERFECT. I could lay outside and be in or out of the shade. Relax in whatever I wanted to wear, and just BE. All I heard was the wake of the ship. It's beautiful. I am totally ruined for a 5E.

 

[steves100]

Thanks for the info. This may not sound nice, it is not intended to be mean. The cruises I am looking at are ~$6,000 for 3 of us. If I am spending that much money, I don't plan on sitting in the sun reading (if you get the meaning). I can do that at home on my deck for free. That is kind of the same thing we do when we go to WDW. We get out to enjoy the parks, play the pool games, enjoy everything they have to offer.

There are no pool games on the cruise. We always have a verandah and use our cabin. On sea days the deck can get very hot and can only take it so much.....

 

[BigredNole]

I appreciate all of the feedback for or against the way we go on vacation. It gives me more impressions how people go. When we do go, it will be our first ever cruise. That means we will unsuccessfully attempt to do everything. If we take more, we will learn how to take it more casually. Our last trip to WDW, in July for that matter, was one of the most relaxing. We were able to do what we want in the morning, relax and enjoy the resort in the afternoon, and whatever we wanted in the evening.

 

[21stamps]

I appreciate all of the feedback for or against the way we go on vacation. It gives me more impressions how people go. When we do go, it will be our first ever cruise. That means we will unsuccessfully attempt to do everything. If we take more, we will learn how to take it more casually. Our last trip to WDW, in July for that matter, was one of the most relaxing. We were able to do what we want in the morning, relax and enjoy the resort in the afternoon, and whatever we wanted in the evening.

I didn't know it was a "for or against how you vacation" question.

But here's my reasoning on booking a veranda for our upcoming cruise- I think it will be nice to sit outside in the evening, I think it will be even better to have my morning coffee on the veranda, I want to wake up to the ocean right outside my door every morning, and bc the size is larger than an interior room.

There is no 'one size fits all' on a vacay.

It's your money, spend it however you feel it will be utilized best

 

[Jennifer777]

We use our room quite a bit and our verandah a lot. We spend a lot of time out there having breakfast, sipping coffee or having a drink or just watching the water go by. We also have a son who is on the spectrum so we need to take frequent breaks from the more crowded and busy areas of the ship and spend some time in a quiet room just so he can center himself a bit.

With that being said, I don't think there's a huge difference in rooms with respect to square footage. The deluxe family verandahs only have an extra 50 square feet and while it's nice, we have found it's not entirely necessary. Even if you do use the room a lot, you can still have an enjoyable time in a less expensive room. I would be more worried about location than size and trying to determine whether or not a window or verandah would be worth the extra cost. If you don't plan to be in your room much, you could probably do without.

 

[TestingH2O]

There is no 'one size fits all' on a vacay.

This.

I learned within the first few months that some people will work very hard to convince you that their vacation style is the best. We travel with multiple generations and a child who still naps. This means we spend time in the room.

I know there are people who go from dusk to dawn, but we really like to have a mix of active and relaxing time on our trips anywhere we go.

 

[wjs3]

I didn't know it was a "for or against how you vacation" question.

But here's my reasoning on booking a veranda for our upcoming cruise- I think it will be nice to sit outside in the evening, I think it will be even better to have my morning coffee on the veranda, I want to wake up to the ocean right outside my door every morning, and bc the size is larger than an interior room.

There is no 'one size fits all' on a vacay.

It's your money, spend it however you feel it will be utilized best

Nor did I realize it was a vote for or against. Seems sort of strange to take a poll. I thought the OP was trying to gain insight on what/when people use their staterooms to perhaps change choice of stateroom...not as a referendum on a vacation style.

Well said, though--we all vacation different ways and do what we each enjoy.

 

[bethy]

I think we use our time differently. My family is just less commando. When we do Disney (mostly AKL or Ft Wilderness) at least half the day (if not more) is spent at the resort. I wanted to ask the question here how could I ever give up the verandah but I can see if you are just never in your room and go from activity to activity it would make sense. The rooms are always a home base for me and I venture out for specific things more sparingly.

This is our family, too. We are homebodies and spend a ton of time in the room. As such we usually get two rooms and we wouldn't cruise without a verandah. About the money, having a nice room is a priority for me because we spend so much time there.

To answer the seemingly indignant questions as to why I would waste my money on a nice vacation when I could relax at home the answer is two fold: I am a stay at home mom of a busy family. My home is where my job is and the last thing I can do is relax there. I am surrounded there by countless demands for my time and attention and many tedious daily chores.

And two, we live in a high COL area and so our house isn't nearly as nice as a luxury resort. It is very small and modest and there is no view, no luxury amenities and definitely no room service or maid service.

I'm sorry if people who prefer more active vacations disapprove - I personally have no problem with the fact that others might have different needs and vacation styles than I do.

 

[bethy]

If you have a sick kid or a kid who is even a bit under the weather, you will be spending a lot of time in the room. If not the rest of your entire vacation. Happened to us on one cruise. Would have really been nice to have a veranda on that cruise.

This is another reason we get a verandah. Plus my DH has health issues and so chances are he'll spend at least one full day in the room.

 

[Jess_S]

I am in the mix of activities and relaxation category. I definitely enjoy my lounging with a book or cocktail time to the extent I'm able to get it.

My personal preference would be to do that relaxing near the pool, but I find that it doesn't necessarily work out that way because I have a small child (now 3). He tends to get extra-tired from all of the fun and stimulation on vacation and need naps. Sometimes we get lucky and he falls asleep in his stroller while we're out -- but we've found that if we're on a Disney trip he will force himself to stay awake well past the point of exhaustion. So we need the room as a home base for naps during the day and, as a result, we wind up doing our reading and relaxing in the cabin. I found that I was perfectly happy with the porthole cabin on our Alaska trip, so that's what I've booked for our next cruise.

 

[Pills]

We just spent a lot of time in the room on our last cruise. We're the kind of people that don't feel that it's necessary to ALWAYS be doing something on board. It was just nice to have a private seating area that we could sit with a cool breeze going by where we could read or just relax. The verandah made it so we didn't have to fight for deck chairs, which was a real turn off on our first day.

It was nice to be able to go to a port, do what we wanted to do, go back to the room to relax, and see the show before dinner.

 

[cedricandsophie]

We spend a good amount of time in cabin. My husband probably more than me but I spend it at the cove pool sunnIng and reading. We get ocean view at the least and sometimes verandas. We have been on about 17 Disney cruises and there isn't much I want to do anymore. Can't stand an inside room. But when we go to DW we rarely go to parks. We love the resorts and spend the day at pool and then out to eat at night. So I spend my vacation dollars doing exactly what I want. Sometimes busy, sometimes not.

 

[Sir William]

I like a veranda and spending time on it is one of my favorite activities when cruising. DW likes to sleep in, so I get tea from the beverage station and read on the veranda until she rises. During the day, I'll sit on the veranda to read and watch the ocean, especially as I don't like the crowds or the noise of the pool deck, or the constant coming and going of people on the Promenade Deck. In the evenings, I enjoy a drink on the veranda before dinner, and often afterwards as well. On port days I enjoy watching us dock or depart, and I like people watching as they come back aboard. I do other things onboard as well so I don't spend all day on the veranda, but to me it's a nice quiet place to relax.

DW, on the other hand, would be perfectly happy with an inside cabin. During the day she enjoys sitting by the adult pool. She joins me on the veranda for a pre- or post-dinner drink, but otherwise doesn't spend too much time on it. She tolerates me getting a veranda because it keeps me happy.

 

[dreadpiraterose]

We spend some non-sleeping time in our cabin. Usually it's just between show/dinner. Or after we get back from an excursion but before dinner. Sometimes in the afternoon if we're not up for the sunscreen/pool/crowds. We typically throw on a Disney movie from the OnDemand service, or sit on our verandah. It usually isn't more than an hour or so. Personally, I really like having the verandah, and we do sit out there and relax. I don't think I'd be willing to do a 7-day without one.

 

[piccolopat]

We haven't cruised yet but when we do it will be with a verandah. I get up earlier than DH and use the balcony at resorts now to read, have a quiet cup of tea and just enjoy the view. We are also not party people and having a place to get away from the crowds is important to us. As for the PP that couldn't understand why some people wouldn't want to take advantage of all the ship activities and instead relax, here's why. When we are home, we have work, volunteer activities, church, family, friends and virtually no down time for weeks at a clip. On a cruise, many of the activities we have read about don't interest us but the various ports do and so we will use the at sea time to relax. When we travel on land, we are busy with almost no down time but that's because we go places that hold our interest all day, every day.

For those of you that have sailed with a verandah, do the sliding doors on any cruise lines have screens? I'd love to keep the door open for the breeze but wouldn't want anything to fly into the room (birds, insects).

 

[DnA2010]

We have done 3 cruises (RCL Oasis and Freedom and DCL Fantasy) and spend very little time in the room. On Oasis we had an inside balcony over the Central park (booked by MIL)- we did use this- we used it as extra space on port mornings to eat room service breakfasts, enjoyed sitting out there in the evenings listening to the piano or violin players in the park. On Freedom we had an inside and were too busy enjoying the ship, were never in the room. On the Fantasy we had a VGT- we honestly didn't have a chance to use the verandah much at all...we found it very windy a lot of the time. We used it when we were arriving at/leaving Puerto Rico and CC, but not much else. If there had been an IGT or OGT for cheaper we probably would have gone with those and been just as happy. There were so many activities we wanted to do, we pretty much just crashed there at night.

 

[darnheather]

Thanks for the info. This may not sound nice, it is not intended to be mean. The cruises I am looking at are ~$6,000 for 3 of us. If I am spending that much money, I don't plan on sitting in the sun reading (if you get the meaning). I can do that at home on my deck for free. That is kind of the same thing we do when we go to WDW. We get out to enjoy the parks, play the pool games, enjoy everything they have to offer.

Well as someone who is very introverted and suffers extreme anxiety if overloaded with people, it is for your safety that I spend some down time in my room reading. I choose to do that in an inside stateroom so I can spend any extra money on excursions. Different strokes (and rooms) for different folks.

 

[jetskigrl]

Add me into the verandah group that loves the peace and quiet of having my own little space. At my job I'm constantly being asked for things, can't walk out the door for lunch or to go home without being stopped in the hall, etc. So when I vacation, I want to be able to cut off from everything, if I choose to. I have done 10 DCL cruises so I don't feel like I need to participate in every activity or see all the shows. But I keep coming back to DCL because I still love the Disney atmosphere and the service that we have received. We find a good balance of activities vs. quiet time on DCL.

Sure, I can sit in my backyard and read, but I cannot get that total relaxation of my veranadah at home (there is always something that needs to be done, people needing me for something, etc). And I can't get the view of the ocean or the constantly changing scenery in my backyard. I love to be out there as we are leaving and arriving ports. I step out there as soon as I wake up (in my pjs, LOL) to see what the day looks like and sitting out there is the last thing I do before going to bed. When we are close to shore (especially in Alaska), I will sit out there with a drink and my camera and grab some wildlife pictures. When I'm waiting for my family to get ready, I'm out on the verandah. Our verandah gets used a lot

My DD prefers hanging out in the room drawing vs. the clubs so many times when we are off doing something else, she will sit out on the verandah to enjoy the view while she draws.

I also understand people being on the ship for all the activities and love to be doing things non-stop, so a verandah might be a waste of money for them. But that isn't what I'm looking for on my cruise. So yes, I will pay more for that verandah and the complete disconnect with work and every day life that comes with it for me. Good thing we all have the option to pick what works best for us.