Verandah vs Porthole

[jaylensmom]

We cruised the Wonder 2 years ago and had a stateroom with a verandah...Loved it...I'm researching the Dream for June 2012 and was debating if we should go with a verandah again or the porthole...What do you think? Would I be totally disappointed if I don't get the verandah?

 

[mmouse37]

We cruised the Wonder 2 years ago and had a stateroom with a verandah...Loved it...I'm researching the Dream for June 2012 and was debating if we should go with a verandah again or the porthole...What do you think? Would I be totally disappointed if I don't get the verandah?

We found a porthole to be quite nice....even after a verandah. We now book mostly porthole cabins.

MJ

 

[Big L.E.E]

We did a 3 night cruise on the Dream last month, and hardly ever went out on the veranda. Normally I like sitting on the veranda, but without a sea day, there really wasn't much of an opportunity to do so. If I ever do another cruise that doesn't have a sea day, I'll probably skip the veranda.

 

[lexlaw69]

I believe on some ships there are actually 2 kinds of portholes. The first is a giant glass window and the other a small window that is in line with your thinking about a porthole. I'm sure this is all ship dependent my experience was on the magic.

 

[mmouse37]

I believe on some ships there are actually 2 kinds of portholes. The first is a giant glass window and the other a small window that is in line with your thinking about a porthole. I'm sure this is all ship dependent my experience was on the magic.

All oceanview cabins have a "porthole"...some are bigger than others. On the classic ships Deck 2 have the large porthole and and Deck 1 there are two smaller portholes..that as, said above, do look more inline with a classic "porthole".

On the Dream/Fantasy the O/V cabins have one large (even a bit larger than the classic ships). There are no small porthole cabins on the Dream/Fantasy.

MJ

 

[plyeng2ff]

I believe a verandah is only worth the extra money on the longer cruises. I was on my verandah every day for a little bit on my last cruise, but the only time i expense any real amount of time is on the sea days.

 

[exnihilio13]

Remember the Dream also has the "virtual" portholes for some interior staterooms. Basically HD cameras send the feed back to the HD porthole to have a virtual view. Plus they have Disney characters show up on occasion.
If you have kids could give a neat techy option and save some coin.

http://www.everythingmouse.com/disney-dream-ship-virtual-portholes
ex

 

[jaylensmom]

Thanks...we're considering the 5 day and we would be at sea 1 day (I believe)...I'm considering the Dream so if it has a big porthole we may try this time around...

Thanks for the responses...

 

[moniqueelaine]

I have never cruised yet but we are next summer and I have a verandah room, I want the whole experience to be perfect I want to sit on it at night and just hear the water...I cannot wait....i so wish it was this year instead, but not so lucky

 

[darkwing818]

Honestly having enjoyed both types of staterooms you can't go wrong with either (although when the kids were young my DW felt safer staying in a cabin with a Porthole).

 

[jetskigrl]

That is a really tough question because it varies. I'm a verandah person so the extra money is worth it to me. But to others, it isn't worth it because they don't spend much time out there.

I love early mornings, late evenings...well, just about any time out there. If I'm not getting ready to go somewhere or sleeping, I'm out on the verandah. I like the fresh air and I like being able to look towards the front and back of the ship (I especially loved being out on the verandah when we docked and departed ports).

I know others said that you can just go on deck for that, but I really enjoy the privacy of my own little space to sit back and watch everything.

If the only way to go on a DCL crusie was in a porthole room, of course I would still take it. But if I have the ability to book a verandah, I would.

 

[Anal Annie]

We ended up with a verandah on our first Magic cruise (via a GTY upgrade) & while it was really nice to have it would've cost us another $1,500 if we'd have booked and paid for it ourselves!! (cough, cough, choke) It is NOT worth that much more than a porthole IMHO. The next time we cruised we did B2B's on the Wonder and booked one of the SPH cabins (obstructed view porthole sold as an inside room). Got along JUST FINE with the porthole. We found that with the shorter cruises there was even LESS time to enjoy it. We then booked another SPH cabin for our Med cruise this summer and eventually ended up upgrading to a 5C verandah at one point when DCL SLASHED the prices on the Med verandah cabins (but not on the inside ones). The net difference to upgrade (since we got more OBC from Dreams to book a balcony) worked out to only be $380. So we went for it - but for that $380 we went from a Cat 10A inside to a 5C verandah - 5 categories. The original price difference was about $1,200 which was too much IMO. We will only book verandahs if the price is right.

So my suggestion is for you to figure out the exact price difference per night & see if it's a fair price and remember that on the shorter Dream cruises there is less time to enjoy it. We do not find the verandah to be a necessity.

 

[over50visits]

We had a verandah once and it was very nice. Nice to sit out in the morning, relax in the evening, get a good view of the port in dock. Then we realized we were paying about $100 per hour that we sat on the verandah (that's the increased fare versus time spent there). Wow!!! I really like sitting up on the top deck, near the pool or outside the coffee shop, enjoying my coffee/drink, the quiet, the view, and loving thinking about what to do with the $100 per hour I'm saving!

 

[buddywesley]

We did a 3 night cruise on the Dream last month, and hardly ever went out on the veranda. Normally I like sitting on the veranda, but without a sea day, there really wasn't much of an opportunity to do so. If I ever do another cruise that doesn't have a sea day, I'll probably skip the veranda.

I sooooo agree with this person!!!! We usually get verandas but we've only done the 7 day disney cruises. We are doing Alaska this year on the Wonder and couldn't imagine NOT having a balcony. That being said, we are looking at Dream Cruises in the future and def will not get a veranda (unless pixie dust involved!) Even the last Caribbean 7 day we did, we didn't get out on the veranda much. Too much running around and the expense just isn't justified IMHO for a 3-4 day...

 

[dsnydaddy]

Had Verandah's for our first two cruises. Loved them. Had a smaller inside stateroom last time and surpirsingly, I didn't miss the Verandah. For Alaska I might like to have one. But otherwise. No big deal for me.

 

[robin19871]

There was nothing more majestic to me than waking up in the morning and going on my verandah and watching the sun rise... (Or watching the sun set at night.) For this reason, I have to have a verandah..(Best part is that I was in my PJs with a cup of coffee.) Pure Heaven...

 

[scootch]

We were upgraded to a verandah on our first cruise and didn't use it.... so went inside. The virtual porthole was great. I could see if you had kids who went to sleep early then the verandah might be worth it, but since we all crashed about the same time, we chose inside.

 

[neoavatara]

And there, the porthole would not have done you justice.

On other cruises, especially the Caribbean, I don't think it would make all that much difference.

 

[lolakat]

My DCL Cruise on the magic was the first time I ever had a cabin without a balcony. We did it b/c we were traveling with another family who didn't feel comfortable with a balcony with their young child. I thought I would really dislike it but I found we were so busy with activities outside the cabin that I really would not have spent much time out there. I thought I might have used it while our DD was sleeping but since her bed (the couch) would have been on the side of the room with doors to the balcony I guess we would have had to disturb her go get in and out. All in we were happy with the OV 09C cabin on deck 2 and would book it again. On a regular (ie non DCL) cruise I would still want the balcony as we participate in fewer activities and spend more time in the room.

 

[mousemom11]

On our first two cruises, we had a verandah. It was very enjoyable, but we really didn't use it that much. Mostly, we'd step out briefly in the morning and evening, and spend time out there watching the ship dock. Upon reflection, we decided that now that we've "been there, done that", we'll save the money and get a porthole from now on. We did make an exception for our upcoming Alaska cruise on the Wonder next month, but that was because we knew that we would be spending a lot more time on the verandah because Alaska is all about the scenery.

Given the short amount of time that you'll be on the Dream, I'd recommend going for a Category 8 oceanview, which has the very large porthole with a window seat. And then buy yourself a spa treatment and a few drinks of the day with some of the money that you'll save.