Question Concerning Category 3 Stateroom

[Roveer]

I'm working on a land/sea vacation or my family march/april 2006 and am finding a bit of trouble with which category stateroom to chose. We will be a total of 5, my wife and I, a 1.5 year old, 4 year old and a 7 year old. I like nice accomodations and my last cuise (not Disney), we had a room with a viranda, but it didn't seem especially large. So I'm looking at category 3.

I've noticed that there can be quite a difference in the catetory 3's onboard. I guess I want to stay away from those at the back of the ship as they can be looked down on from above.

Will we be cramped in a Cat 3? Some people purchase 2 lower category rooms, but to me that's just a larger bedroom. I kind of like the idea of having a nicer room.

I'm interested in everyone's input on this.

Also, I'm getting some interesting quotes on my land sea package. One quoted a cat 4 higher than a cat 3!!! One said it's better to book them as seperate packages to get a better price.

Also, any experience sailing in March? Too cold? just right? April gets more expensive and easter seems to have things all messed up.

Finally, we love Disneyworld, and we love the Polynesian, so we will likely stay there again. I'm thinking of 4 nights at the Poly and a 4 night cruise. This would mean I would book seperatly, or do 3 land / 4 sea and just add a night at the beginning. Anything I should be looking out for?

Thanks for all your help. As you can see, I'm just full of questions.

Roveer

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Hi,
I can only help with one question.
We have sailed in march and it was perfect weather!!!! It was average of 80 degrees. We had a nice breeze, no rain, just perfect for our tastes. Summer is too humid . We love the weather from October to the end of March.
Sorry I cant help with other questions you had but we all had our own rooms, so I have only experienced for a couple in one. But I can say the Disneys rooms are larger than the average stateroom on other cruise lines and the split bathrooms are fantastic!! One person can be showering while another is using the potty. This is a life saver for families.
Have a magical cruise!!!

mom x4,grandma x4

 

[Roveer]

Thanks for the reply.

I believe we went to Disney once at the beginning of March (probably our first trip), and I remember the weather was great. I've been in April a few times and had very cool days, so you never know. It's good to hear that March weather is good, as it opens up our possibilities for our trip. I know exactly what you mean about the summer months being too hot. Nothing worse than hot and crowded.

Roveer

 

[flexsmom]

The midship cat 3s have the murphy bed in the living room, which would probably be a good alternative for you - the staterooms are a bit larger than the other cat 3s. We had a "standard" Cat 3 with myself, my husband, 4-year old, and 1 1/2 year old and had plenty of room. If your 1 1/2 year old is in a pack and play, you'll still have room, or you could put the 4 and 7 year old on the pull-out and the little one on the murphy. There are two full bathrooms including one HUGE one, and lots of closet space. It was great to have the "living room" back each day when the bed was closed up, particularly with having one child still napping each afternoon. We put DS down in the bedroom to sleep and whoever was on duty for naptime could hang out in the living room or the veranda. Concierge was also a plus - they brought by coloring pages and crayons for the kids, arcade cards, and helped to set up extra Flounders time, etc.

On the land/sea combo, many people say you get a better deal by arranging the land portion separately. We did the land/sea for our first cruise and added an extra night at Wilderness on the front end. In retrospect, we'd have saved money by booking the resort stay ourselves as opposed to land/sea via DCL.

Enjoy!

 

[justmestace]

Hi,
We've done the Cat 3 in the back, and while the verandah is nice and big (I don't mind people looking down)...the sleeping room was not good for us, as we have a DD15 and DS12, who wouldn't share the one fold out couch (no extra pull down beds in those) so my son slept on the floor.

Any of the other Cat 3's will be wonderful for you, as long as two of the kids will share the double couch bed. The third child will have a murphy bed that comes out of the wall. Some of the Cat 3's have that bed in the master bedroom and four of those rooms (mid-ship and sell out fast) have the murphy bed in the living room. This bed is not the same as the smaller beds that come down from the ceiling. And, you'll have two bathrooms. You'll do great.

We're going on another cruise line soon, and even though we have a balcony, the room we have is smaller than DCL's smallest room. So I think you will be very pleasantly surprised.

I don't think there is enough of a price difference whether you book as a Land and Sea, or separately....unless....you are going to add on extra days at WDW. If you are going to add on days, it's better to do it separately. The nice thing about a Land and Sea is that when you check into the hotel, you show them all your passports, and you don't have to do that part again at the port. At least, that's the way they did it a couple of years ago.

March will be a PERFECT time to go.

Have fun!

 

[CACruisin']

WIth the ages of your children, I would book a Cat 3 for the following reasons:
1. When someone is napping, it is really nice to be able to sit outside on the verandah or be in the second room watching TV, playing quietly, etc.
2. Concierge was very helpful in coordinating flounders, spa, palo, etc. Also, having a hot breakfast room service was really helpful with little ones. There is a table and four chairs to eat at. We also requested a high chair that was left in the room. We were not crowded at all.
3. Booking two rooms, you are paying for 4 "adults" and an infant vs 2 adults, 2 children and an infant. For us, the cat 3 was nearly the same price as 2 cat 6.

As for location, the larger verandahs are nice in the back, but they are all metal so the little one's can't see out. Also, I believe they only accomodate four (?). Many people like the midship cat 3's since they have a triple wide verandah and the murphy bed is in the main room. We had a forward cat 3, 8022, last month and really enjoyed it. It was very quiet (very nice for naps) and close to the forward elevators & stairs which are less crowded.

We have not done a land and sea yet, but my understanding from reading these boards is that it is better to book the two separately. You can customize your stay: # of nights, which property, etc. I believe with a cat 3, land and sea pkg you are assigned to the Grand Floridian. The one benefit of the land and sea package is you only need to check in once at the resort. However, at the FL port, check in for concierge guests is very smooth, so it really would not be a big deal to check in again.

 

[justmestace]

With the Land and Sea, you are offered the Grand Floridian, but you don't have to stay there.....we wanted to be at the Poylnesian, so that's where we stayed. It's a choice of any of the Deluxe resorts....they did call and ask me twice if I was SURE that I didn't want to stay at the GF....but we wanted the kids to have the "tropical" feel of it.
We waited until the next time to stay at the GF.

 

[kcashner]

As to booking the Land/Sea together or separately, you can frequently get a better price by booking separately. This occurs for a couple of reasons. First, you choose a resort other than the one tied to your cabin category (the Poly is less expensive than the Grand Flo). Secondly, the resorts frequently offer special rates during the off season. Finally, you may already have WDW passes of some sort--leftover from another trip, annual passholders, etc. which will not be reflected in the land/sea. Of course, you can just hang on to leftover passes from another trip.

Also, the land/sea will include DCL bus transportation. For a family of 5, it will be cheaper to take a private limo service. Another advantage to that is that the limo service will run on your time schedule, not on the DCL schedule. Most limo services allow a 15 minute grocery or Wal-mart stop on the way to the port--a blessing if you've forgotten something.

I experienced a TA who didn't want to do the separate booking--obviously, the package is the easiest thing for her to do. So...I do my internet homework and watch the sales! Book the cruise ASAP. Book the land package at the Poly, but keep your eyes open. If you see discounts, you can always call and change (rebook ) your resort stay!

 

[HeelMD]

We went with my wife and I, two kids 1 and 4. We got a Cat. 3 with a connecting stateroom and it was perfect. All five of you in a Cat. 3 is going to be quite crowded and may not be allowed.

 

[Roveer]

These are all really great responses, thanks so much for the input.

The responses are falling along the lines of what I was thinking about the cat 3. Our two girls 4&7 will have no problem sleeping in the same bed, they do regularly at home, and as for monster baby, we'll, it's most likely going to be a pack and play.

My wife did make a comment to me last night and It's been on my mind ever since.

We know there are lots of activities for the girls 4&7, but what can a 1.5 year old do on this cruise? We always bring all of our kids (some folks leave the young ones behind), but we feel that it's all for the kids on these vacations.

Are there any programs for the little one that would allow Mom & Dad some free time? It's funny. The last 4 disney trips have all had a very young children, and all the fun stuff that goes along with you kids (ear infections, fever etc). But we are troopers, it's all or nothing for us!!!

Roveer

 

[CACruisin']

Except for the handicap rooms, all of the Cat 3 suites sleep 5. I think HeelMD may have been mistaken about the category room he had. We were not at all crowded with 5 in our suite.

As for things for the little one, there was a thread recently about what to do with a 2 yr old that had lots of good suggestions. We also used Flounders nursery several times: for spa and Palo times, and also for a few hours while in port so we could do an excursion with our older DD's. I didn't think I would be comfortable leaving the baby on the ship, but by the end of the week, we were all so comfortable with the staff, that it turned out to be a great day for everyone!

 

[TammiMcMan]

We've had 5 in a standard category 3 and had no problems at all. There was myself, DH, DD18, DS15 and DD8. We did get a mid-ship category 3 though this past January and the layout was so much better. The verandahs in this section are triple length. We had 4 chairs, 2 tables and a lounge chair on the verandah. As others have mentioned, plenty of bathroom space, a walk in closet, vanity area, large master bedroom, 2 tvs with a cd player and vcr. The concierge staff has a video and music library for you to choose from. Another plus is room service. By staying in a suite, you can order a hot breakfast as well as from the more expansive restaurant menus.

The cat 3's in the back of the ship are handicapped units and they do only sleep 4.

Tammi

 

[jlima]

We had 8546 four years ago. I would not book a cat 3 cabin again, unless it is one of the midship cabins that end in 32 and 34. 8546 had several flaws, including too much furniture. You could not use the veranda in the sitting room when the sofa bed was set up; there was no room to walk between the end of the bed and the entertainment unit. The wet bar was not accessible as the table and chairs were set up flush against the doors to the wet bar. Add in a pack and play and a high chair for DS (who was 16 mos) and you could barely move around. There is a chair and ottoman in the bedroom just in front of the murphy bed. I have no idea where this chair and ottoman would go if the pull down bed were set up. We had the pack and play set up in this spot.

On our cruise this year we had connecting category 6 cabins (6066 and 6064). This was a much better arrangement with adaquate sleeping area, space and even more bathroom space as there were two split bathrooms. I did not miss the concierge, except for the access to an expanded room service menu, esp. breakfast. The kids did not have to share a sofa bed; DS5 took the top bunk and DS11 took the big bed in 6064. I would highly recommend this arrangement, unless you can get the 32 or 34 cat 3 cabins.