Verandah Stateroom

Although we have cruised many times on Celebrity, RCL and Princess, we are looking to take our 4 year old grandson on a Disney cruise. Looking at the choices of verandah staterooms I am stumped. Typically we go with 8 or 9th floor but not sure if it is the same on Disney. We like midship and not sure the category number we should be looking at as they offer so many. Any help on cabin choice on the Disney Dream would be appreciated. Thanks!

It may help if you realize that DCL started with just numbered categories. When the Dream was launched, they instituted all the alphabet soup and added it to the Magic and Wonder so it would be "consistent." I read that as they realized that they could charge more for midship cabins.

My suggestion would be a cat 5 (a normal balcony cabin) with a midship location. From there, pick your deck.

Basically any cabin on deck 7,8, or 9 are good options. Those floors are sandwiched between other floors with rooms on them to help possibly be more quiet, assuming the rooms above and below you aren't incredibly loud people. As Moki'smommy said cat 5 rooms are most similar to other lines normal balcony cabins and the cat 4 rooms are mostly the same layout just more space in the length of the cabin.

Most cat 4s sleep 5 people and cost considerably more than 5s. A cat 5 is the basic, "normal" balcony cabin. 6 and 7 have some features that result in lower cost.

Although we have cruised many times on Celebrity, RCL and Princess, we are looking to take our 4 year old grandson on a Disney cruise. Looking at the choices of verandah staterooms I am stumped. Typically we go with 8 or 9th floor but not sure if it is the same on Disney. We like midship and not sure the category number we should be looking at as they offer so many. Any help on cabin choice on the Disney Dream would be appreciated. Thanks!

A balcony stateroom on Disney is comparable to a mini-suite on Princess in size. We just got off the Wonder and had 3 adults in one with no issues on space, you would be just fine with one with your grandson.

To be honest, a balcony with a young kid scares me. :/ I ended up getting a porthole for my upcoming cruise.

To be honest, a balcony with a young kid scares me. :/ I ended up getting a porthole for my upcoming cruise.

We each must make our own decision on this. The balconies have a lock at about adult shoulder level as well as a handle that must be manipulated and the door itself is VERY heavy. So the first barrier would be that the young child would have to get to the balcony. Once on the balcony, they are constructed to have no place for a child to get a foothold to climb to the railing which is about 40 inches above the floor. SO the only way a child can climb over the railing or fall over the railing is to move the balcony furniture over and use that to climb. DCL really built these with safety in mind.

Since the Magic launched in 1998, NO child has accidentally gone overboard from a balcony on a DCL ship. Yes, there was a teen who intentionally climbed overboard while the ship was in port. This was from an area on deck 4 (not from a balcony) and that area has since been closed off so there is no guest access. There was at least one CM lost and presumed overboard--no explanation on this one. I won't say that it can never happen, but DCL has done all the it knows to do in order to prevent an accidental overboard situation.

The times that I've been aware of people going overboard from ships owned by other lines, the individuals involved have been drunk, fighting with a spouse, or teens doing stupidity.

for the disney dream, i agree that you should look at decks 7, 8 and 9 as these all have stateroom decks above and below them, so theoretically are quieter..

if you're a money is no object sort of person, then go for the bigger verandah stateroom, what's called the "deluxe family oceanview stateroom with verandah" (category 4A)

that will put you midship and give you the biggest verandah stateroom...

if you're slightly more frugal, go for the next biggest verandah stateroom, "deluxe oceanview stateroom with verandah, (category 5A).

both 4A and 5A have midship staterooms - look at the deck plan to pick out the exact room you want..

here's the deckplan of deck 9

http://www.cruisecritic.com/disney-dream-deck-plans/dp/?shipID=548&deck=9

on our next cruise, we'll be in rooms 9570 and 9572....(category 5A)..

we didn't exactly 'pick them'....that was what was available in midship when we booked.....those were the only two staterooms that were still available midship at that time...(there were lots forward and aft, but very very little midship)...

when you book, see what's available and pick accordingly...

We have had connected balcony rooms with 4,2 and infant. There is nothing to worry about. A 4 year old could not be able to move the slider to open it, the weight/friction is to high. The top rail was way above their head and below the top rail was a sheet of something similar to plexi glass for the normal balcony rooms. The lower cat / obstructed balcony rooms have a lower solid metal wall.

We have had connected balcony rooms with 4,2 and infant. There is nothing to worry about. A 4 year old could not be able to move the slider to open it, the weight/friction is to high. The top rail was way above their head and below the top rail was a sheet of something similar to plexi glass for the normal balcony rooms. The lower cat / obstructed balcony rooms have a lower solid metal wall.

4 year old?.... i usually can't open the door.. :rolleyes:

Oh, and if you have the balcony door open, the pressure differential makes it very hard to open the door to the hallway. So, there is little chance the 4 year old could escape while the adults are on the balcony.

Oh, and if you have the balcony door open, the pressure differential makes it very hard to open the door to the hallway. So, there is little chance the 4 year old could escape while the adults are on the balcony.

But if you follow the information posted by DCL in the cabin, you are asked to not leave the balcony door open. If you are concerned about completely closing it without an adult in the cabin, you can "almost" follow the request by leaving it open only a crack.

Supposedly, leaving the door open interferes with the AC system for that entire block of cabins.

But if you follow the information posted by DCL in the cabin' date=' you are asked to not leave the balcony door open. If you are concerned about completely closing it without an adult in the cabin, you can "almost" follow the request by leaving it open only a crack.

 

Supposedly, leaving the door open interferes with the AC system for that entire block of cabins.[/quote']

 

My family was on the Dream in early January in connecting deck 5 outside cabins. When a balcony door was opened, lots of air went out. Much of the return air was coming from the connecting door frame (both connecting doors open). It was plenty loud. I have no idea how HVAC works on a ship, but the DCL cabins seem to be under pretty high positive pressure. When the balcony door opens, cabin loses air and really pulls hard on the rest of the system.

 

As a side note, the OP might pick a starboard cabin so that you can watch the fireworks from your balcony. The view may depends on where you are on the ship. We were pretty far forward and it was fine.

 

As a side note, the OP might pick a starboard cabin so that you can watch the fireworks from your balcony. The view may depends on where you are on the ship. We were pretty far forward and it was fine.

We were in a far aft cabin and got a notice in our cabin asking us to NOT watch the fireworks from the balcony and to please be sure that there was nothing other than DCL furniture on the balcony. It specifically asked that we not leave any towels or clothing there during the fireworks.

I think whether or not you receive this notice may depend on the exact cabin location. The fireworks are shot off from the aft of the ship, so that may be the difference. I just don't want anyone to plan to watch from their balcony and then find that DCL requests that they not do so.

But if you follow the information posted by DCL in the cabin' date=' you are asked to not leave the balcony door open. If you are concerned about completely closing it without an adult in the cabin, you can "almost" follow the request by leaving it open only a crack.

 

Supposedly, leaving the door open interferes with the AC system for that entire block of cabins.[/quote']

They also ask you not to prop open the cabin door, I had proped it open waiting for special need services to bring us a high back chair for DH and they told me don't do that, it interferes with the AC system.

Thank you all for the great info! We are booked in a 5c verandah and 4c verandah on deck 7 so I think I will be happy with that. All the info on the safety of the balcony was very reassuring. Thanks again!

We had a midship balcony on Deck 10. It was right next to the stairs and two flights up was the Edge preteen club. Also it was one flight down from the pool and the food service (Goofy's Galley maybe?) where they had the little sandwiches and fruit. It was such a great location we got the room next door for the next cruise!

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