Oceanview vs. Balcony

[EbayCruiser]

We are thinking of booking a Disney Cruise next June. There will be four of us - 2 adults and 2 children in the room. I've only cruised with a balcony but since Disney is so expensive, we are leaning towards an oceanview room instead of a balcony room.

 

For people that have cruised in both size rooms please give me your comments. A balcony is around $1,000 more - not sure it would be worth it. I've heard people say you don't spend alot of time in your room but we always have (never cruised with children though).

 

Any comments appreciated!! Thanks!

[Host Mick]

After years of reading posts on whether or not a verandah is "worth it" I've learned that either way, it is. Those that can afford the extra money for the verandah seem to spend more time in their stateroom and enjoy the view and extra spece. Those that opt out of the verandah and save the money are mostly glad that they did because they "don't spend much time in their room anyway" and have more cash to spend on excursions, the spa and goodies. Yep, I'm not much help, I know.

So either way you're going to enjoy your cruise so just toss a coin and count the days.

 

Merry Christmas and a Cruising New Year

[wdw1972]

I've found the people who say they never spend any time in their cabins are usually the people who booked the smallest, cheapest cabins - no wonder they'd rather be elsewhere! Once you've sailed with a verandah it can be difficult to give that up - but I will say the oceanview cabins on Disney's ships are very nice. The cabins themselves are the same size, and the oceanviews have a really big round porthole. You get a great view, just don't get a balcony to step out on. When I cruise Disney usually I go for the category 9, for a couple of reasons - even though when I cruise on my favorite line (Holland America) I always go for a verandah. 1. Disney is ridiculously overpriced (as a DVC member I can use my points and cruise for only $75 in cash - otherwise you'd never find me on a disney ship) and it gets worse the higher up the category chain you go. 2. The verandahs on Disney are disappointingly small compared to what I'm accustomed to on HAL - on HAL they're deep enough to accomodate a chaise lounge and a regular chair, while on Disney there's just enough room for 2 of those cheap plastic white chairs. If I want to relax with a book on my verandah, I don't want to be sitting upright - I want to stretch out on a chaise lounge and can't do that on Disney. 3. The inside of the cabin is no different whether you go oceanview or verandah - and I do like the deck 2 location of the category 9 Disney cabins.

 

That said, in a couple weeks we're cruising on Disney, and I booked a verandah on deck 7 - but only because it's the other person's very first cruise and I wanted to show him how to do it "right" and I wanted to be able to sit on our verandah and share some quiet time.

 

I guess only the individual person/party can decide whether the verandah is worth the extra $$ for their vacation. If I was paying cash and had to choose between a verandah or no verandah, I think I'd look at another line where I'd be able to get the verandah for Disney's no-verandah price, probably with some $$ left over for other fun stuff!

[EbayCruiser]

I'm a BIG HAL fan!! We would be cruised on HAL but no short cruises available on HAL.

 

I am taking my daughter and two grandsons on a 4 night cruise (hince the Disney cruise). I have read so many good things about Disney and we are all BIG Disney World Fans!!

 

I may just book the oceanview on deck 2 - not sure we would use the balcony that much with an 8 and 12 year old. I've just always had a verandah - oh well ....

 

Thanks for your comments!

[settingsail]

Hello

I have been on both sides of this coin . We just sailed on RCCL and had a junior suite with a very large balcony on the AFT very back of the ship and we loved it !!!! I have had interior and windows . We are sailing Disney for 7 days in April and we opted for just the oceanview , same size cabin as the verendeh . The price like you said is crazy . I did it this way ... for the difference in price we are staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge for 4 days prior and they will pick us up there and take us right to the terminal . We did pay some extra of course but heck $1,000 should get you 3 days at a moderate Disney hotel at least . Now we have an 11 day wonderful vacation instead of just a 7 :) . I can deal with the window to get a wonderful view of the Savannah !and we get a balcony at our hotel with more to see then waves :)

[EbayCruiser]

Well I did it .... booked the family verandah on the Disney Wonder for 6/04. We only wanted a 4 day cruise (I think that's enough for the grandkids first cruise).

 

Opted for the best room available .... wanted them to have the best cruise experience possible. The family verandah is actually a little larger than the verandah so hopefully we will enjoy it.

 

Thanks for all your comments! :)

[edcarp]

These pictures are from my standard oceanview cabin from my cruise on Disney Wonder in 2003.

 

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=12mhl50z.5xh7d4jz&Uy=-6ri15v&Ux=0

 

It was the largest oceanview cabin I've ever had, and it was beautifully appointed. I don't think you'll be dissapointed, nor will you feel the slightest bit uncomfortable hanging out in your room.

 

With all that said...

 

I booked a balcony cabin for my coming Disney Wonder cruise in February. It does add a little something special...whether it's worth an extra grand....that's in the eye of the beholder...

 

In any case, you're bound to enjoy it.

 

Ed

[EbayCruiser]

Thanks Ed ... your pictures are breathtaking!! Can't wait until we cruise.... now just waiting for airfares to go down!

 

Vickie

[cruisinmama0]

There have been a lot of airfare sales this week. If you subscribe to Southwest airlines "Ding" program you may have seen the $34-69 each ways to Orlando from most cities. Also Airtran is having a $69ish each way sale.

 

Good luck.

[EbayCruiser]

I have subscribed to "Ding" and I have a $120 credit from last year with Southwest when our airfares went down right before our last cruise. So .... I am checking SW daily for cheap fares.

 

Vickie

[RCUMMING]

We always do the category 9 oceanview. I like it because I have a 3 year old that has gone on 3 cruises with us and the balconny scares me a bit :-) but thats just me.

[rwm]

Ed,

Really enjoyed the pictures. We are taking two of the grands Jan. 7 on the 7 day Caribbean.

In Ref. to Balcony vs. plain ole room. We found when we traveled with our family, we did not use the balcony. When it is just the two of us, we really enjoyed it. We pick and choose depending on the cruise and where it is going before we make the decision on the type of room. Frankly, I prefer either an inside (no light -can sleep better) or veranda. The outside is nice but not worth the extra just to see the weather!!! We've had everything from the cheapest inside to a suite - love them all as long as we are on a cruise! We did 7 last year and have 4 booked for 2006. We LOVE the cruising life.

 

Rosemary

[EbayCruiser]

Well ....another reason I chose the veranda (besides always crusing with a veranda) was my 12 year old grandson really wanted one. We are doing this cruise as kind of an award for him. He has had a hard time in school and his parents just recently moved him from the public school system to Sylvan Learning. He is doing so well .... and a short cruise was what he wanted as an award. I was hoping to find a "cheap" 3 or 4 night cruise but was unable to find one that we liked so .... cheap went to expensive on Disney but hopefully it will all be worth it.

 

Vickie

[NHLady]

Ed-

 

Great pictures of the oceanview room. DH and I just had to cancel our Feb 26th cruise on Disney :-( but rebooked for April 2007 and we decided to go with the OV instead of the FS. Wasn't sure from the pictures I could find if I'd be happy with that decision, but I can see that it'll work out just fine!

[crooooze]

Here's an idea...

 

1) Select a week when the price is the lowest. It's also the week when demand is the lowest.

2) Book an ocean view and save the $1000+ buckaroos

3) Keep your fingers crossed that you'll get a free veranda upgrade.

 

The worse thing that can happen is your cruise is cancelled because of a massive caribbean hurricane, (You picked the cheapest week, remember?) they reschedule your trip, and you wind up getting a really nice onboard credit.

 

How can you lose??

[Olokun]

Cruise Critic wrote an article recently on choosing between oceanview and balcony cabins.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=1882

[dorisis]

hello

i have been on both sides of this coin . We just sailed on rccl and had a junior suite with a very large balcony on the aft very back of the ship and we loved it !!!! I have had interior and windows . We are sailing disney for 7 days in april and we opted for just the oceanview , same size cabin as the verendeh . The price like you said is crazy . I did it this way ... For the difference in price we are staying at the animal kingdom lodge for 4 days prior and they will pick us up there and take us right to the terminal . We did pay some extra of course but heck $1,000 should get you 3 days at a moderate disney hotel at least . Now we have an 11 day wonderful vacation instead of just a 7 :) . I can deal with the window to get a wonderful view of the savannah !and we get a balcony at our hotel with more to see then waves :)

 

like!

[Gardeneroflove]

this post is 10 years old...

Edited September 11, 2015 by Gardeneroflove

[CELTICGIRLCRUISER]

this post is 10 years old...

 

Yes someone pointed that out yesterday in a not so nice way but it was removed I guess, unlike this 10 year old thread!