Veranda room, not necessary in Alaska sailings in my opinion

[MinnesotaMouseketeers]

We will always get a stateroom with veranda. It isn't meant to isolate us from the crowds for the entire cruise. We can still get up out of our stateroom and join the crowds when we believe the majesty of the surroundings is calling. I was up very early in the morning before the ship started making its way through the Panama Canal; surrounded by a very large crowd. We were on top of the deck during our Alaska cruise many times, including during the day at the glacier.

But we really like our veranda. I am an early riser. I start out walking the decks enjoying the ship as it becomes alive with activity. Grab a cup of coffee at some point and than go back to my veranda to sit and enjoy the morning waiting for my family to get ready for the day.

And we love it in the evening and at night watching sunsets and the ocean and sky slip by as we make our way to the next port. And yes we sometimes do use it during the day when we want some quiet time.

 

[sadiecatie]

I’m in the camp of a veranda is not necessary, but nice if you can afford it. I do think there’s value in a thread like this with these opinions because you hear so many people saying a veranda is an absolute must for Alaska! It’s not - it’s better to go in an inside than put it off because you aren’t ready to shell out for the veranda (and that price difference is HUGE). I’m of the opinion that being on the ship in any room is better than not, and there are so many ways to enjoy the beauty on an Alaska sailing.

We had a standard inside cabin in Alaska this June. It was absolutely fine - the room was comfortable and the only time I wished we had a veranda was on our last sea day when my daughter felt off and ended up napping half the morning. I would have enjoyed sitting on the veranda enjoying the scenery while she slept, but in the end it wasn’t that big a deal. It was maybe 2 hours when I was missing out. We will have a veranda on our next cruise and are looking forward to it, but the cost difference between stateroom categories is also much smaller than it was in Alaska.

 

[PsylockeSmythe]

I'm in the navigator's verandah camp for Alaska. It's the cheapest of the verandahs and there is a little more protection from the wind. One of my favorite memories on my Alaska cruise was sitting out on the balcony on the last night, the water was like glass and watching the sun set with mountains in the background. It was so peaceful!

That was us in 2022, here is a picture that I took from ours one evening.

Psy

 

[Starwind]

We sailed on DCL's last Alaska sailing this year. We had a veranda stateroom for the first time; this was our ninth DCL cruise but first Alaska cruise.

We were very glad we had a veranda as the weather was cold and rainy for much of the cruise, including glacier day. While we spent time on deck on glacier day, we ultimately retreated to our veranda and were much more comfortable there (warmer, dryer, and a place to sit - which was few and far between on deck). On sea days we spent lots of time just sitting out on the veranda watching the land and sea go by.

With the weather in particular it worked out well having a veranda. If the weather had been nice it likely would not have mattered as much.