January Rate Drop

[Tay N Evie's Mom]

I saw on Mousesavers.com that DCL dropped the prices for most of the 3,4, and 7 day cruises in January, but only for cat 11. I'm considering taking advantage, but was wondering if everyone is getting upgraded as they make more cat 11 available. I wouldn't mind a cat 11 for a 3 or 4 day cruise, but I would prefer a porthole for the 7 day-but I don't want to spend the extra $$. It would be easier to convince DH to go at the lower price. What's everyone elses experience??

 

[Lisa F]

I just downgraded yesterday on the 1/4 cruise from a cat 10 secret porthole to a cat 11 on deck 7. When I asked about availability there was 1 cat 11 on deck 7, a few on deck 6 and plenty on deck 5 (though I don't know what numbers those translate to). I would really love to try to cruise with a verandah one of these days but honestly for the price (with all taxes and port charges but minus $50 DU rebate it came out to just over $600/person) there is no way I could justify a verandah. I guess knowing I got such a phenominal price makes me feel better than having my own personal verandah when there are so many wonderful places to be outside on the ship anyway (though we do not have children and I think the dynamic would change if I had to be in the stateroom while kids napped or something, then the verandah would be necessary).

My personal feeling is if it's cruise without a verandah or no cruise at all, I would pick cruise without a verandah. Then again we haven't ever sailed with one (just cat 8 both times) so we don't REALLY know what we are missing. Something that we are considering doing is seeing how far that $800 that we saved would buy us in upgrades at the port... If for the same price as we were paying before for a cat 10 we could upgrade into a cat 5 or 6 I might still consider it to be a great bargain (but honestly I'd be happy in a cat 11 also).

Lisa

 

[Gillian]

DON'T GET A VERANDAH! You will be spoiled for life! Our first cruise was a 7 day non-disney in a tiny, inside cabin. We were just looking for a cheap vacation. We loved it! We thought we would hate cruising, but enjoyed the food & the service & the way everything fit so neatly into such a small space.

Then we did a 4 day on the Wonder in a cat 6. Now DH won't cruise without a verandah! We booked for 2004 & could have had a secret porthole cabin for almost $1000 less, but he said no way! I loved the verandah too, but I love saving money more

 

[macbasset]

hi, the first two times we cruised, we had the verandah on deck six and it was okay, but we seldom were on the verandah and what i didnt like was how you practically had to crawl over the bed every time you moved around the room or went to the living area. my parents had a category 11 on the same deck six and i liked the arrangement of their room much more. you walked into the living area and their bed was in the back, out of the way; it seemed more spacious to me. also, i dont like light when i am sleeping. so, we got a category 11 on deck six for our next two cruises (including 7 day) and loved how dark the room was for sleeping! we are leaving again on dec. 28 and have a deck six category 11 inside room and love it. we can always go out on deck if we want to look out. barb

 

[MelissaE1]

Originally posted by Gillian
Now DH won't cruise without a verandah!

Mine too! We got upgraded on our honeymoon Princess cruise(DH skeptical about even liking cruising, I had been previously) and he's spoiled for life. I do like the verandah, but for the cost savings would be just as happy with a window or porthole. (I do need daylight coming in.) Especially if I didn't have kids. I think being able to sit out there while they are going to sleep will be nice, but dollar for dollar, with the cabins pretty much the same size, I would still probably pick no balcony.

I say go with the cheapest cabin you will be comfortable with. Most of us don't spend that much time there, anyway, and the rest of the ship is the same no matter how much you pay.

 

[Lisa F]

On our first cruise we cruised in cat 8 on deck 7. The best thing about the room for me was the location on deck 7. It was nice having the porthole but both my husband and I decided that it really didn't matter that we had it. We probably spent 5 minutes total looking out of it and the rest of the time outside on deck 4, 9 or 10. Someday I would LOVE to cruise with a verandah and I don't think I will be one of those people who gets spoiled by it and can never cruise any other way. I am a DVC member and one of the arguments that I hear constantly on that board is that once you are in a 1 bedroom, you can never go back to a studio (get spoiled). I have no problem whatsoever switching between the room types and have never felt let down by a studio... so my guess is that if I ever decide to splurge for a verandah, it won't spoil me for life against the less expensive cabins (especially because of the rush I get when I get a bargain). On our last two cruises we really did spend almost no time in the room except for dressing and sleeping and both of those I can do without a window!

Lisa