What do you think of Navigator's Veranda?

[nifferearly]

A friend is trying to book 3 rooms on an Alaskan cruise for this summer. The travel agent is trying to get him to book 2 category 7A rooms, Navigator's Veranda. Can someone who has stayed in this category give me their opinion? Cons compared to a "regular" balcony cabin? Any pros?

Thanks!

 

[jlynch924]

We stayed in a room with the navigator's verandah on the Dream... It was absolutely fine. Hardly any obstruction (a little off to one side and there was a maintenance cage right above us)... Nothing that was really a hinderance.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Just a comment - the navigator verandahs on the Wonder are nothing like the navigator verandahs on the Dream class ships. They are much more enclosed. I've read that can be an asset in Alaska.

 

[Weedy]

I wouldn't recommend it because of the white wall height you cannot sit on the veranda and see the view. If you are going to pay the extra for a balcony you should be able to sit and enjoy the sites.

 

[Ware Bears]

I've sailed Alaska twice in a navigator's verandah stateroom - I found it ideal for Alaska as it gave some very welcome shelter when the weather wasn't so good.

 

[Karlzmom]

We've done Alaska twice in a navigator's verandah and wouldn't do it any other way! Very, very nice to have the wind break. Seriously, I couldn't stand at the rail up on deck but was able to be quite comfortable on the Nav Verandah without all my arctic gear- just my sweater and a hat.

 

[quickcat]

For Alaska, I think maybe as Karlzmom stated, it would be a nice break from elements, but for my opinion on them in general, I didn't like them at all.
We were on one on the Magic and I just felt like it was a tunnel or something, too boxy for me. I would not spend the money on one, I would either pay more for the 'regular' balcony or pay less and get an oceanview. Just my own personal opinion, its not for our family. We had a balcony for Alaska and just dressed warm out on it.

 

[eskimoinparadise]

Navigator veranda on Wonder only has one chair and a really uncomfortable bench seat. Not only is the cushion (and I use the word loosely) virtually non existent, but the width of the seat almost guarantees you'll hit your head on the wall behind you. I'd try for 7120 or 7620; 6134 or 6634; 5132 or 5632 if you can get one of them. They're classified as 7A cabins, but they're really Cat 6 cabins with a slight obstruction aft. (almost identical to what a cat 7a looks like on Dream or Fantasy.)

 

[Weedy]

The weather was beautiful on our June sailing in 2011. This is in Tracy Arm. The ship moves slowly so there is not much wind from the forward movement of the ship. We were fine wearing light jackets on the balcony. And we are Florida people.

 

[eskimoinparadise]

The weather was beautiful on our June sailing in 2011. This is in Tracy Arm. The ship moves slowly so there is not much wind from the forward movement of the ship. We were fine wearing light jackets on the balcony. And we are Florida people.

View attachment 140444

This looks like one of the cabins that they had to reclassify as a 7a because of the curvature of the superstructure above your heads, Do you remember the cabin number?

 

[Weedy]

Cabin 7536. If they did reclassify it was not really nesssary. The was a small area of the balcony blocked. It would only be a problem if you stood in the corner. Still lots of room. Or if you were 10 feet tall lol.

 

[eskimoinparadise]

Cabin 7536. If they did reclassify it was not really nesssary. The was a small area of the balcony blocked. It would only be a problem if you stood in the corner. Still lots of room. Or if you were 10 feet tall lol.

That makes more sense. That's a cat 5a cabin.

 

[diznymom]

We had a Navigator's Veranda during our Alaska cruise. It was awesome!!!! We got an awesome view and it blocked the cold wind. This is the only type of room we will get when we sail to Alaska. (We usually get a regular balcony room.)

 

[Ware Bears]

We were on one on the Magic and I just felt like it was a tunnel or something, too boxy for me. I would not spend the money on one, I would either pay more for the 'regular' balcony or pay less and get an oceanview. Just my own personal opinion, its not for our family. We had a balcony for Alaska and just dressed warm out on it.

For anyone who doesn't know, the open port hole on the navigator's verandah is much larger on the Wonder than on the Magic - we wouldn't have chosen one if the Magic was the ship doing the Alaska route.

 

[Carie Baker]

We've done the navigator twice both on the wonder ... once in Caribbean and once in Alaska. We were on deck 5 though. We thought it was great. I felt it gave a bit more privacy then the open verandas and defiantly helped with wind and weather. All of our sun rises and sun sets were amazing and so were the views just sitting on the benches or chairs.