River Cruise Cabins

[hilarys]

I think we are going to book one of the 2021 Rhine River Cruises on Monday! My son has been talking about going to Tokyo Disney for a HS graduation trip for several years, but with this week's announcement of the add-on activity to the Meyer Werft shipyard, I think we have a new choice. He loves DCL and spent several years building his own ships out of legos, card board boxes and then on Minecraft so to get to see one under construction will be a dream.

For those of you who have been on the river cruises what are your thoughts on the different cabins. On the DCL cruises I have come to realize that I need to have a veranda cabin so that I can have fresh air and the sound of the ocean. On the AMA ships is having the full balcony vs the french balcony a big deal? We are going to need two cabins - one for us and one for the teens - so if the full balcony doesn't add that much "wow" over the French balcony, I figure we can save a little there.

Let me hear your thoughts and recommendations.

 

[sayhello]

Personally, I thought the French balcony was fabulous. The French balcony is basically a sliding glass door that opens completely (ie, you don't have one half open, one half glass). There is still a railing with glass under it so you won't fall out!



There's an area in front of the French balcony that is flooring that looks like wood planks, rather than carpeting, and you have upholstered chairs and a little table in that area. You get just as much fresh air from the open French balcony as from a veranda, you just aren't *outside* like you'd be on a veranda. It was actually perfect when it started raining during our cruise of the Wachau Valley. I could sit there & watch all the castles and villages go by without getting wet. Personally, I don't think it's worth a lot of extra money to get the veranda. I think the veranda cabins are a little bit larger, but I'm not sure if that square footage includes the veranda or not.



Sayhello

 

[quinnc19]

I agree with Sayhello (I had a similar cabin on the Rhine). Since you won't need the extra space that the veranda offers, I think you would be very happy with the French balcony.

 

[OhanaCuz]

We had the tiny French balcony and it ended up being one of the most memorable parts of the trip. We *LOVED* sitting out there at various times of the day and watching the world go by. On the night of the night cruise in Budapest to see the city lit up it was raining like crazy. Many guests went up top in raincoats and umbrellas. We just stood out on our little balcony and stayed dry. When we took a second cruise it was unthinkable not to get a room with a french balcony.

BTW, Tokyo DisneySea is incredible also. That's a tough choice.

 

[hilarys]

We had the tiny French balcony and it ended up being one of the most memorable parts of the trip. We *LOVED* sitting out there at various times of the day and watching the world go by. On the night of the night cruise in Budapest to see the city lit up it was raining like crazy. Many guests went up top in raincoats and umbrellas. We just stood out on our little balcony and stayed dry. When we took a second cruise it was unthinkable not to get a room with a french balcony.

BTW, Tokyo DisneySea is incredible also. That's a tough choice.

Thank you - I think this is the way I am leaning - French balcony a must, full balcony not a must. Talked to my son and it sounds like we are going to go for it with booking tomorrow, however it is all contingent on getting the shipyard tour - If for any reason we cannot get that (we have several departure dates that work for us so I am hoping it is not an issue) we will not book the river cruise and proceed with the Tokyo parks. The saving grace is that I have a DD who is two years younger and she is also really interested in going to the parks in Japan - so I am pretty sure we will get there in the not too distant future

 

[Sakura1017]

Thank you - I think this is the way I am leaning - French balcony a must, full balcony not a must. Talked to my son and it sounds like we are going to go for it with booking tomorrow, however it is all contingent on getting the shipyard tour - If for any reason we cannot get that (we have several departure dates that work for us so I am hoping it is not an issue) we will not book the river cruise and proceed with the Tokyo parks. The saving grace is that I have a DD who is two years younger and she is also really interested in going to the parks in Japan - so I am pretty sure we will get there in the not too distant future

I think if you do the shipyard tour it will be an additional cost

 

[hilarys]

I think if you do the shipyard tour it will be an additional cost

Yes it is an extra cost and must be paid at the time of booking. That is why we are only going to stick with this vacation if we can get the tour confirmed when we book tomorrow.

 

[sayhello]

Thank you - I think this is the way I am leaning - French balcony a must, full balcony not a must. Talked to my son and it sounds like we are going to go for it with booking tomorrow, however it is all contingent on getting the shipyard tour - If for any reason we cannot get that (we have several departure dates that work for us so I am hoping it is not an issue) we will not book the river cruise and proceed with the Tokyo parks. The saving grace is that I have a DD who is two years younger and she is also really interested in going to the parks in Japan - so I am pretty sure we will get there in the not too distant future

The one thing I'm going to note is that a TA on a fb group I belong to got all of the shipyard tour tickets for an Adults-only departure in May. She can't be the only TA going for that. So there might be a shortage. However, if they don't sell all 40 spots, I'm not sure what happens. Just kind of an FYI

Sayhello

 

[hilarys]

The one thing I'm going to note is that a TA on a fb group I belong to got all of the shipyard tour tickets for an Adults-only departure in May. She can't be the only TA going for that. So there might be a shortage. However, if they don't sell all 40 spots, I'm not sure what happens. Just kind of an FYI

Sayhello

Hoping that we are fine - since DS will be done with HS we won't have to worry about sports schedules so we gave our TA 4 different dates to work with - hopefully one of them will be available at 5 am tomorrow.

 

[OhanaCuz]

Thank you - I think this is the way I am leaning - French balcony a must, full balcony not a must. Talked to my son and it sounds like we are going to go for it with booking tomorrow, however it is all contingent on getting the shipyard tour - If for any reason we cannot get that (we have several departure dates that work for us so I am hoping it is not an issue) we will not book the river cruise and proceed with the Tokyo parks. The saving grace is that I have a DD who is two years younger and she is also really interested in going to the parks in Japan - so I am pretty sure we will get there in the not too distant future

I think that is a solid plan.

 

[sayhello]

Hoping that we are fine - since DS will be done with HS we won't have to worry about sports schedules so we gave our TA 4 different dates to work with - hopefully one of them will be available at 5 am tomorrow.

Fingers and toes crossed for you!

Sayhello

 

[Sakura1017]

The one thing I'm going to note is that a TA on a fb group I belong to got all of the shipyard tour tickets for an Adults-only departure in May. She can't be the only TA going for that. So there might be a shortage. However, if they don't sell all 40 spots, I'm not sure what happens. Just kind of an FYI

Sayhello

I can't believe they would let a TA grab all of the quantities for 1 trip. So it must be that each TA can grab a certain allotment for each trip. Booking through Disney by itself should have more spots available than a TA from another agency/organization.

 

[sayhello]

I can't believe they would let a TA grab all of the quantities for 1 trip. So it must be that each TA can grab a certain allotment for each trip. Booking through Disney by itself should have more spots available than a TA from another agency/organization.

I was surprised, too. Unless they are planning 2 groups. But my understanding was that was it, one group of 40 per cruise.

Sayhello

 

[Sakura1017]

Really hoping to get a rhine cruise that has the ship tour plus early bird rate. Chances are slim to get both. Then I can call them about the China trip. Maybe I should switch the deposit to the river cruise, but at the same time I brought trip insurance so I don't know if that will switch over.

 

[wishiwasindisneyjen]

Really hoping to get a rhine cruise that has the ship tour plus early bird rate. Chances are slim to get both. Then I can call them about the China trip. Maybe I should switch the deposit to the river cruise, but at the same time I brought trip insurance so I don't know if that will switch over.

Were you able to get what you wanted for the Rhine?

 

[Sakura1017]

Were you able to get what you wanted for the Rhine?

I was able to get both but had to do the oct 14 sailing . It's considered the food and wine sailing too. So hopefully it won't be that bad, get to celebrate my bday on this cruise. My parents aren't that big on wine but I had to choose the only

I had to break up the categories. I gave myself the single supplement as CA. My parents got BB. There were no early bird discounts for both in CA. I got room 325, my parents got 214. Are those good rooms?
I saw on the forum to not be by the engine area and I didn't want to be too far aft either. But CA only 325 on violin or 227 on cello. I think the Sept 30 sailing only had BB or BA rates. Was kinda getting confused with the categories on the phone lol.

So essentially by booking the early bird discount you could say it's a free gift if you get the wish excursion since it basically cancel's each other out.

Also they asked me how many beds I wanted in the room. Is it true that if you ask for 1 you will automatically get a queen?

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

I was able to get both but had to do the oct 14 sailing . It's considered the food and wine sailing too

Curious what they said about the shipyard tour in terms of booking. I have wanted to do one of those since I read about it on the DCL cruise board last time (even though the cost was exorbitant), but I figured ABD wouldn't give you any kind of guarantee and as that would be my main reason for doing the cruise, I decided that I would wait until the excursion could be booked and see the availability before I booked the cabin. But if they actually sign you up at the time of booking for the excursion, I might reconsider.

 

[Sakura1017]

Curious what they said about the shipyard tour in terms of booking. I have wanted to do one of those since I read about it on the DCL cruise board last time (even though the cost was exorbitant), but I figured ABD wouldn't give you any kind of guarantee and as that would be my main reason for doing the cruise, I decided that I would wait until the excursion could be booked and see the availability before I booked the cabin. But if they actually sign you up at the time of booking for the excursion, I might reconsider.

There's only i think 40 for each sailing. So you sign up at the time of booking. If you get Early bird discount it's essentially paying for the excursion. They told me that it's quite possible if you have a later sailing date you might be able to see other ships beside the wish being there.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

There's only i think 40 for each sailing. So you sign up at the time of booking. If you get Early bird discount it's essentially paying for the excursion. They told me that it's quite possible if you have a later sailing date you might be able to see other ships beside the wish being there.

Wow, that's great that you can sign up at the time of booking. I may have to reconsider now ...

 

[Chiasgirl]

Wow, that's great that you can sign up at the time of booking. I may have to reconsider now ...

When we booked, we paid the 10% deposit and the $499 for the shipyard tour.