Mediterranean cruise inside or veranda

[robandkelly13]

Hi! We are booking our 13th DCL cruise, but our first Mediterranean cruise. We have only sailed in veranda rooms before, but due to the price difference, we were considering saving $2,000 and staying in an inside room. I’m concerned we’ll be disappointed. On the other hand we’ll be doing long excursions everyday (other than the 2 sea days), so I feel like we will spend less time in the room than previous cruises.

Does anyone have experience with both room types?

Any advice/ insight would be appreciated?

 

[sambycat]

is ocean view not an option? i always want a verandah, we did ocean view for the med cruise. i find inside cabins just too dark and too easy to sleep for 16 hours a day!! ha! honestly, i don't think this was a verandah must cruise (like Alaska would be) - but i'd rather cruise than not so i'd vote for just getting on the boat!

also, this is a port excursion intensive port. we honestly were in our rooms to change and sleep.

 

[angelinaxox]

I stayed in an inside room when I did the Mediterranean cruise and loved it. I agree with sambycat that we were hardly in our room as the itinerary was port intensive and even when we had sea days we were out and about on the ship.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Hi! We are booking our 13th DCL cruise, but our first Mediterranean cruise. We have only sailed in veranda rooms before, but due to the price difference, we were considering saving $2,000 and staying in an inside room. I’m concerned we’ll be disappointed. On the other hand we’ll be doing long excursions everyday (other than the 2 sea days), so I feel like we will spend less time in the room than previous cruises.

Does anyone have experience with both room types?

Any advice/ insight would be appreciated?

The only inside room I've been in was on the Dream. I gotta have my daylight, but I figured I could handle a short trip in an inside room to experience the virtual porthole.

When we did the Med, it was an oceanview room. Is that a possibility for you?

 

[fredandkell]

We are doing an inside room on the Med next summer for the exact reasons you mentioned. I think the lack of windows will help my kids with the time change issue (at least I hope so) and I don't anticipate sitting on the balcony much anyway.

 

[bobbiwoz]

We booked a Navigator Veranda on our upcoming Mediterranean cruises.

 

[FSU Girl]

The two times I've done a Mediterranean cruise (neither on Disney) I had ocean view not veranda. It's very port intensive so you wouldn't get much use out of it so I'd say save the money and do something fun with it.

 

[aggiedog]

You could do a lot with that extra $2,000, like a few days pre- or post- cruise. And you are right, those cruises are port intensive so you won't spend a lot of time in your room.

 

[fredandkell]

Also, I'll add that the port excursions for the Med are quite expensive because of the distance between the port and where you want to go - in Rome, you're looking at 1 to 1.5 hours to get to the city, for example, so that is pricey. Similarly it's about 40 minutes to get to Pisa and I think an hour or so to get to Florence. So going ashore in the Med can cost a lot more than going ashore in the Caribbean, Alaska, or other places where you can just walk off the ship and immediately "do something."

 

[kiford]

We've had balcony cabins both times on our Med cruise. We didn't spend a lot of time out on it because the port days were so long although we did spend a couple of hours on it when we passed through the Straits of Messina with our binoculars. Of course, you can do that on deck. Although we would never sail in a non-balcony cabin, it can make a lot of sense to save the money if you are OK with less light and what I feel is the more open feeling of a balcony. You won't spend a lot of time in the room. Our port tours typically had us out of the room by 6:30 am and back in at about 7 pm or so (obviously you can get shorter tours but we did the longest ones so as to maximize our sightseeing). Just enough time to cool down and change for dinner (late seating). Then to bed. There's typically only a couple of sea days and we spent that on deck, in the lounges, in the theatres, in the pool.

 

[o&smom]

Go with the inside stateroom and use the money for your port adventures. We usually stay in oceanview staterooms, but have done a cruise with a veranda and a cruise in an inside stateroom. We got upgraded on the Fantasy to a veranda and then our next cruise was a 12 day Med in an interior room. I was a little concerned with going from one extreme to the other. The reality was that I did not even notice it except that when we came back to our room it was dark before turning on the light. The different placement of the bed I thought would be an issue, but wasn't. We have continued to sail in oceanview rooms, but I would not hesitate for a second to stay in an inside stateroom even for a longer cruise. Enjoy your cruise in the Med!

 

[oufpat]

Having done the Med Cruise with a Navigators Veranda, due to the price difference I wouldn't do it again. As everyone else has said, it is a port intensive cruise, so many other things you could spend the money on. But it's a great cruise!

 

[GPaLarry]

We had an oceanview for Med/WBTA B2B and it worked great for us. As mentioned above, the Med cruise gives very little verandah time, with long day excursions. You control this, of course. On the WBTA part, most of the days have just vast ocean views, available up top. We have had verandahs on our EBPC and Alaska cruises, which I highly recommend.

 

[Shanti]

Hi! We are booking our 13th DCL cruise, but our first Mediterranean cruise. We have only sailed in veranda rooms before, but due to the price difference, we were considering saving $2,000 and staying in an inside room. I’m concerned we’ll be disappointed. On the other hand we’ll be doing long excursions everyday (other than the 2 sea days), so I feel like we will spend less time in the room than previous cruises.

Does anyone have experience with both room types?

Any advice/ insight would be appreciated?

I've sailed in an inside on the Magic and it was fine. Especially since you'll be taking long excursions most days, I just don't see the point in spending an extra $2,000 on a verandah.

 

[DCLCrazy64622]

Personally, I enjoy the fresh air of the balcony. I tend to get seasick and the fresh air helps. Pulling back the curtain and seeing a new port or the open sea every morning is also energizing to me.

 

[remlap]

We did an inside cabin this summer on the Magic. As others have said, this cruise is so port intensive, if a veranda isn't a must for you and you're asking people's opinions, save the money for something else in Europe.

 

[cruiser21]

I would never spend an extra 2000 on a verandah on any cruise not even Alaska. I guess you have my answer on that. I also hate insides. I will do an inside if it saves me a considerable amount of money. I would go with an ocean view.

 

[GPaLarry]

It boils down to what you can afford and personal preference. No matter what it takes, a DCL cruise is better than almost any alternative. It is truly fun with the mouse.