Port hole after balcony?

[maminnie]

For those of you who have cruised in both Disney balcony and port hole rooms, does having only a port hole bother you after having a balcony? Do you really miss the balcony when you do not have it?

We are hoping to travel in '06 but the rates are so high lately that we might have to book a port hole room rather than a balcony. We have had balconys the two times we have cruised on Disney and although we loved it, I must say we could never really leave the door open much because of the wind and a buzzing sound in the vent system. We also did not spend a lot of time sitting around in the room either; we were always busy and rushing to get places.

Your thoughts would be appreciated. Thank you.

 

[TootyJane]

Have cruised with a balcony on Disney, RCCL and Princess. Just cruised on Seabourn in February with only a porthole. I can't say I missed the balcony but it was nice having a window to look out of. For me a porthole is better than an inside room without a porthole. HTH

 

[glindamood]

Having never had a port hole I can't compare but have cruised in a Cat 4, Cat 6 and Cat 10 and I didn't miss the balcony. As you say - you are always going someplace and just didn't spend that much time out there. If someone were to give me a cabin I would take a balcony but I would rather cruise twice in an inside that once with a balcony.

 

[wildernessgirl]

We have stayed in both verandah and porthole staterooms. Since we have small children, we do use the verandah often during naps and late at night when they are sleeping. The porthole is a nice size, but I like the option of being able to go out onto the verandah and have some "alone" time. Yes you can go other places on the ship if you don't have one, but it is nice just to sit there and enjoy your own peace and quiet.

If you didn't really use your verandah, you probably won't miss it, but I think that we will always get a verandah room just for that "extra place" to go.

Hope this helped alittle!

 

[DisneyBill]

Excellent question! We just vacationed with friends who had the port hole, and we've only had veranahs. For all the money that it costs to cruise, we wouldn't cruise without the balcony. Also, a 3rd family that went with us that had both verandah and inside stateroom, they commented that in the future the verandah was worth it. OMT, I can tell you that we & they did everything there was to do onboard, spent little time in the room, but will continue to fork-over the extra money for the verandah.

 

[inkkognito]

We have done it both ways, including three back to back cruises on the Wonder in a secret porthole room. While I definitely prefer a verandah, we found many ways to enjoy ourselves without. We frequented deck 4 and the Rainforest, and we didn't suffer too badly.
Barb

 

[WDWLVR]

I love my veranda but we sailed with just a porthole once and it was fine. I don't think I would care for an inside room at all. The porthole was on a 4 day and I think it was fine. For a 7 day or longer give me my veranda!

 

[Michelemouse]

First Cruse - Inside Cabin
Second Cruise - Secret Porthole Cabin
Third Cruise - Verandah Cabin
Upcoming Cruise - Porthole Cabin

As you can see, we are also going from verandah to porthole and we did it purposely. While we enjoyed the verandah we just felt that we didn't use it enough to justify the cost so we went with Category 9.

Bottom line for me...I would be happy with any cabin, even an inside cabin, so long as I'm on the ship.

 

[maminnie]

Thanks everyone for all the great info. We'll see what kind of pricing we get on both types of cabins when the '06 rates come out.

I wish the '06 rates would come out soon. I called DCL today and they said not until later this year. It really makes planning a trip for 15-20 people hard. Everyone is anxcious to firm things up and start saving and dreaming!!

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Our first two cruises were verandah (a 7-day and 4-day). The third was a 4-day and we had a porthole. It was perfect. In the future, 4-day cruises will be porthole, 7-day cruises will be verandah.

 

[natdencro]

Dont care! Would just love to be on the ship ANYWHERE right now! However, although verandahs are nice, we didnt spend much time on it, so porthole cabin was just fine, and cheaper!Nat

 

[TinkHappy]

Originally posted by natdencro
Dont care! Would just love to be on the ship ANYWHERE right now!

I totally agree!!!

On our last Magical Cruise, we had a verandah, this Novemeber we are booked in a Cat.8 with a Porthole. I too was a little uneasy at first, but then I thought, I was acting like a spoiled brat . My feeling now is DFamily is very lucky to be able to go on this cruise at all!! Sometimes I just need to put things into perspective (this is not to say a verandah isn't really nice, but I wouldn't skip a cruise because we didn't have one)

 

[MBFergie]

Cruise 1 and 2 were Catagory 4. A few days before leaving for cruise 3 in Catagory 9 I was freaking out about not having the extra room and no verandah. Happy to say I loved my porthole room and will have a hard time justifying the additional $$. More money to spend in spa and shopping.

Side note: If I had kids that napped still it would be hard not to have the verandah.

 

[Suki]

We've had a port hole once and verandah once. After the verandah, I could never go back to anything less. We decided the verandah was well worth the extra money and we enjoyed every penny of it.

 

[PatricenPete]

My husband and I cruised for our honeymoon back in 2001 - we had the verandah and I just loved it. It was so nice to sit outside at night while we were sailing and wake up in the mornings to the view.

I definitely LOVED the verandah, but for us, our next trip will be in an Inside Stateroom. The way I see it is that I would rather be on the ship without the verandah than not on it at all.

 

[NYGiantsRule!]

On a 3 day cruise a porthole is fine, but on a 7 day or longer there is nothing like your morning coffee or a glass of wine on your verandah!

 

[HUFF590]

When my Dw wife and I first cruised in 99 we got a balcony, did not use it much because we wanted to see and do everything, we thought it would be our only cruise (yea right) we were hooked , our next cruise we said port hole only, as we were leaving the ship last day we discovered the window it was behind the curtain the whole trip we never even thought about it.

 

[bill kellum]

i don't think it's possible.I mean to cruise with a veranda and then downgrade.no way.