trying to decide between an inside stateroom vs stateroom with ocean view

[christmas angel]

Ok, here's the thing... the family wants to go on a Disney cruise for the first time, but mommy has to watch the budget very closely. We are planning on going for the 7-day Eastern Carribean package on the Disney Fantasy this December 20. The inside stateroom is $400 cheaper than the stateroom with ocean view porthole.

2 questions foremost in my mind -
1. Is the $400 extra worth the port hole? Am I going to feel claustrophobic in the inside stateroom? Will I run screaming down the hallway after the first night?

2. (and more important of the two, I think) Is there a pull down bunk bed on a Cat 11 like the ones I see on the picture for Cat 9? Or is it just a pull out sofa? I don't think my two little ones will survive sleeping beside each other for 7 days.

Would really appreciate some help here ladies (and gents). Am thinking of booking with Costco, and I hear that the rooms are starting to sell out. Hope to hear from y'all soon!!!

 

[cris0809]

If you search for a room for 4 you will get selections with one with a queen bed, sofa bed (twin) and either a pull down bunk or murphy. Since I don't think the categories mentioned will have a murphy you should be safe with a bunk. Even if you are only booking for 3 this will give you some room numbers that should definitely have a bunk.

We have done inside and ocean view (and verandah and concierge). Inside gets dark which is really good for sleeping/naps. Since you are on the Fantasy you'll have a virtual porthole which you can turn on and off. At night it just kind of glows which works for a nightlight if you prefer.

It depends on how much time you anticipate spending in your room. We haven't had a claustrophobic feeling in an inside but others really don't like it.

 

[danfromca]

Ok, here's the thing... the family wants to go on a Disney cruise for the first time, but mommy has to watch the budget very closely. We are planning on going for the 7-day Eastern Carribean package on the Disney Fantasy this December 20. The inside stateroom is $400 cheaper than the stateroom with ocean view porthole.

2 questions foremost in my mind -
1. Is the $400 extra worth the port hole? Am I going to feel claustrophobic in the inside stateroom? Will I run screaming down the hallway after the first night?

2. (and more important of the two, I think) Is there a pull down bunk bed on a Cat 11 like the ones I see on the picture for Cat 9? Or is it just a pull out sofa? I don't think my two little ones will survive sleeping beside each other for 7 days.

Would really appreciate some help here ladies (and gents). Am thinking of booking with Costco, and I hear that the rooms are starting to sell out. Hope to hear from y'all soon!!!

1. I've had inside staterooms and portholes. I find that an inside stateroom is just fine. If there are four of you, I would encourage you to consider a deluxe stateroom with the split bath. The deluxe rooms are noticeably bigger.

2. There are two ways to know for sure if a cabin has a pull-down bunk bed. One is to see if the room comes up when you place a reservation for four. The other is to call DCL and ask.

 

[GatorMomInNC]

On the Fantasy you will have the virtual porthole, which my kids loved. They would sit and stare, waiting for a character to appear on the screen. I prefer a verandah or OV, but my (then) 5 and 8 yr olds loved the VP. For $400 savings on the Fantasy I would take the inside since you will get a VP. Without the VP though (on any ship BUT the Fantasy or the Dream, in other words) I would pay extra to be in an OV.

 

[DahliaRW]

I think it would depend on what else you plan to spend money on on the cruise. You could stay on the ship for one port and skip excursions and make up a chunk of the difference. Think about the overall cost of the cruise too.

Either way you will have a great time!

 

[Summerl30]

You won't feel claustrophobic inside. It you prefer to see the sea, then only you can say if it's worth it. On disney, we are happy with any room they offer (not puny like other lines can be). If you have 4 people and they book you into a room, it will have a pull down.

 

[disprincess4ever]

Inside staterooms are great! I find that you're not going to spend much time in the room with so many fun activities and spaces around the ship, so save your $$! It also depends on how much $400 is in your budget, if it's a lot and you're tight on money just skip the porthole. Like others have mentioned, I recommend a Deluxe inside stateroom for 4 people, but a regular inside can also work.

 

[wiigirl]

On the Fantasy you will have the virtual porthole, which my kids loved. They would sit and stare, waiting for a character to appear on the screen. I prefer a verandah or OV, but my (then) 5 and 8 yr olds loved the VP. For $400 savings on the Fantasy I would take the inside since you will get a VP. Without the VP though (on any ship BUT the Fantasy or the Dream, in other words) I would pay extra to be in an OV.

 

[pacomom]

With the small amount of time spent in the cabin, I can think of so many other awesome things to spend $400 on-either on the ship or in the ports.

 

[epfootballcutie04]

Ive been in inside rooms, rooms with large port holes and rooms with verandahs.

I like them all.

We are hardly in the room at all except to sleep and occasionally go to the bathroom/shower. So for us (two adults in our 20's) we don't care what type of room we have.

The dream and fantasy both have the virtual portholes which help with a claustrophobic feeling since you can virtually see outside. it's also fun to see disney characters float by The only down side of the inside room for us is that there is not a split bathroom. For two people its not the end of the world, but for a family of 3 or more i can see how it could be a deal breaker.

The large port hole rooms do have two bathrooms, unless you get a handicapped room and then i believe those only have one bathroom but they are larger than the typical one bathroom. We liked our large porthole room. It was nice to look outside occasionally and we could sit in the window which was peaceful to just stare outside at times. But, once again, we were hardly in our room so we didn't necessarily need that.

The verandah room is really nice! We like having the option to be outside on the deck but we hardly utilized it.

Generally speaking, for us the upgraded rooms are not worth it. We have been quite fortunate that my parents have actually funded the last 3 disney cruises I've been on so I don't care what room type they book us at all.

If my hubby and I were to purchase our cruise, we wouldn't do anything but inside. It's just not worth the extra money for us at this point in our lives. That will probably change though once we have kids. Then we will at least do the large porthole room for the little bit of extra space and two bathrooms

 

[christmas angel]

Thank you so much for the replies folks! You made my heart calm down a little bit. Will book an inside stateroom this weekend, and will see how much more with the deluxe cost. Cheers!!!

 

[carissa1970]

Thank you so much for the replies folks! You made my heart calm down a little bit. Will book an inside stateroom this weekend, and will see how much more with the deluxe cost. Cheers!!!

Get a category 10, though. Slightly bigger, split bathroom. We loved our room with the virtual porthole and did not feel claustrophobic once. I thought I would.

 

[cheezwhizard]

For $400, take the inside. I've only had an inside stateroom once, but noticed how refreshed I was feeling. It was easy to fall asleep & sleep in without the sun peaking in. If you don't want to sleep in, set an alarm

 

[klepton]

For $400, take the inside. I've only had an inside stateroom once, but noticed how refreshed I was feeling. It was easy to fall asleep & sleep in without the sun peaking in. If you don't want to sleep in, set an alarm

Heh... that's surely the truth. I've never had an inside with a virtual porthole, but the ones we have had have made it very easy (too easy) for us to sleep. Our short nap in the afternoon after an excursion turned into us sleeping straight through our late seating dinner.

Getting the wakeup call in the morning it always felt like it was the middle of the night. I started leaving the TV on (but muted) to the webcam off the front of the ship just so I could have an idea on if the sun was up outside or not. We'll call that the "poor cruiser's porthole".