Are you rethinking inside and OV rooms post shutdown?

[Canadian Girl]

I have an OV cabin reserved for a Greek cruise next June. In CAD, a verandah is just too much extra $$$$ and when I cancelled this years, I got a refund as it was the PIF date, lost my obb credit and no 125% for rebooking, so a verandah is out of the question for us. I saw the stories of those quarantined in rooms without access to fresh air. Is anyone else worried about not not booking a verandah going forward? Of course, I don’t want to travel next year to Europe period if there are not at least some identified treatments for Covid.

 

[BadPinkTink]

no. I am a solo cruiser and I am booked on an European cruise in September, which most likely wont be cancelled. I have an inside room.

I have stayed in "pod" style hotel rooms before, with no windows and The Magics inside stateroom is a lot larger than the "pod" style hotel room.

As a solo cruiser the inside stateroom is perfect for me

 

[Canadian Girl]

Under normal circumstances yes, but people who had access to fresh air certainly had an advantage when quarantined in their rooms . I have always had a verandah on my longer cruises.

 

[Mainsail Minnie]

I have an OV cabin reserved for a Greek cruise next June. In CAD, a verandah is just too much extra $$$$ and when I cancelled this years, I got a refund as it was the PIF date, lost my obb credit and no 125% for rebooking, so a verandah is out of the question for us. I saw the stories of those quarantined in rooms without access to fresh air. Is anyone else worried about not not booking a verandah going forward? Of course, I don’t want to travel next year to Europe period if there are not at least some identified treatments for Covid.

I think you'll probably be safe next June from the threat of being quarantined onboard. That happened this spring because the virus was novel and every nation was scared of it infiltrating its borders. But it's too late to worry about that now as COVID has already infiltrated Europe and America. I might avoid sailing around countries like New Zealand and Canada that still boast low numbers and are keeping everything tightly bolted down.

But honestly, yes, it is a consideration, as there is no way to know for sure. We have a March 2021 cruise on the Magic booked & even the flights booked. I did upgrade from oceanview to a Navigator's verandah partly to be assured of fresh air if an unlikely quarantine were to happen, but also because we sailed in a Nav vernandah once before and liked it, and we like being on a higher deck for easier pool deck access (our oceanview was deck 2, since the higher deck oceanviews cost just as much as a Nav verandah).

On a Dream class ship we'd be fine sailing in a family oceanview stateroom with its massive window. That's our favorite stateroom type: the room is big, it has the round tub and rainfall shower, and my son likes sleeping on the pull-down bed right in front of the window. We would not change from that to a verandah.

We would not consider sailing in an inside stateroom at this time, however.

 

[MomOTwins]

Yes--until there is a vaccine we will only sail in a room with a verandah. I like OV generally, but if we are quarantined I would like fresh air.

 

[ArielRae]

We have always sailed in an inside stateroom. Our last cruise Disney upgraded us to a veranda stateroom and it so spoiled us. Now with Covid-19 going on DH is now considering sticking with the veranda or at least an ocean view for the window from now on.

 

[Mich123]

@ArielRae That is an awesome upgrade! We sailed with a veranda room for the first time last October and DH loved it so much that we have that booked for our cruise in November. With the risk of quarantine, I'm glad to have the veranda. (Noting that I'm still on the fence about travel.) Prior to this we had OV rooms and in one instance, for Alaska, it was a secret porthole window, so we paid inside wait and got a slightly obstructed view--I highly recommend this option if you can get it, especially for an expensive cruise. We were lucky enough to be sailing on the day that the summer cruises were announced and the CM at the booking desk recommended the room to me.

 

[Canadian Girl]

I do have one of the secret porthole rooms reserved. It was was actually the same or a bit more than a deck 2 unobstructed OV, but much less than the unobstructed OVs on the same deck. We have had it before and loved it. I don’t want to give it up if my youngest comes with us so she and her sister would each have their own beds. Both will be older teens by then. There is only one navigator left on the deck we prefer and they all only sleep three. Of course, no guarantee we will even be going unless there are some real safety guarantees.

 

[FigmentSpark]

I guess the real question is who will be sailing when there's a chance of being quarantined in your room? We have a cruise booked for March, but there's no way to tell yet whether we'll actually be on that ship, even if the ships are sailing. But if I was worried I might be stuck in a non-verandah room, I would probably be re-thinking the entire cruise.

 

[Canadian Girl]

I guess the real question is who will be sailing when there's a chance of being quarantined in your room? We have a cruise booked for March, but there's no way to tell yet whether we'll actually be on that ship, even if the ships are sailing. But if I was worried I might be stuck in a non-verandah room, I would probably be re-thinking the entire cruise.

That‘s basically what I am thinking too. If the situation is still so tenuous that being quarantined in my room was a possibility, it would not be the time to travel. We have DVC rooms booked for March Break at AKL. Not really getting excited as I doubt the parks will be risk free without a vaccine by then, but one never knows. SARS did completely disappear. So many unknowns. We can only really do one day at a time right now and keep our fingers crossed. .

 

[Minnie222]

Prior, I don’t mind OV.
But onwards I would only go for verandah. It’s just too risky to be trapped with no fresh air for quarantine.

Money is the question. If too expensive, I will move to a shorter trip, but still keep the balcony.

 

[Chemist]

I guess the real question is who will be sailing when there's a chance of being quarantined in your room? We have a cruise booked for March, but there's no way to tell yet whether we'll actually be on that ship, even if the ships are sailing. But if I was worried I might be stuck in a non-verandah room, I would probably be re-thinking the entire cruise.

I don't think ANY of the cruise lines should be sailing if there is a real risk of being quarantined in your room. Yes, it happens for norovirus. But an instance of Norovirus won't put an entire ship under quarantine.

 

[gotomu212]

After following Princess in early March, my husband said he’s never sailing in an inside room again. In the past we didn’t really consider the possibility of being quarantined- even if it was Noro- in the room. Now that the realities of that sink in there’s no way that will work for us.

 

[ladyofthetramp]

Not worried. OV for next year's cruise. If they are sailing and even the possibility they are quarantining for cruises that far in the future, I won't be traveling. All good.

 

[AquaDame]

I'm also not worried. While we've been booking verandahs more and more since my husband loves them I still enjoy OV down on deck 2 and also the virtual port holes. We have no plans to cruise anytime soon, so I doubt we'll be booking anything until things have calmed down. I understand it could happen again, but odds are far more in our favor that it wouldn't be literally the cruise we're on that has that severe an issue. I'm just not afraid of it happening enough to make [multi-]thousand dollar decisions on it for the rest of my life.

 

[GuardMusic]

I have an OV cabin reserved for a Greek cruise next June. In CAD, a verandah is just too much extra $$$$ and when I cancelled this years, I got a refund as it was the PIF date, lost my obb credit and no 125% for rebooking, so a verandah is out of the question for us. I saw the stories of those quarantined in rooms without access to fresh air. Is anyone else worried about not not booking a verandah going forward? Of course, I don’t want to travel next year to Europe period if there are not at least some identified treatments for Covid.

Yes. We grabbed a guaranteed for this month before the virus truly took off. I was fine with OV, but BFF brought up the possible quarantine/fresh air option. I was sold the second she brought it up and probably will never go back to OV after all of this.

 

[sweetpeama]

I don't have the funds to even consider a Disney Cruise at this point so it all a mute point to me but let's pretend for a moment that I had the funds to go on my first DCL cruise.

I honestly have mixed feeling about a veranda room required.
I like the idea of having open air and the idea of being able to go out and enjoy a cup of tea in the morning while looking out over the water and feeling a nice breeze
I have a special needs 12 year old who is already over 5ft tall and who is a stealth disappearer. The giggles that most kids do when getting into something that they shouldn't like they are telling a secret to an imaginary friend doesn't happen with this one. Due to age and height my child has the strength to unlock doors so I would be nervous that my child who has a tendancy at times to decide not to sleep (up for 16-20 hours, sleep for 3-4 hours, and then back up for another 15-18 hours sleep for 10-12 hours and sometimes repeat 2-4 times until we get back to a regular sleep for 8-10 hours a night) would decide to go out and would climb up (unless the kid decides that water and the height are scary) and be over the railing into the water.

I was honestly leaning towards an oceanview state room for the first trip when I was able to afford to go so that I would have a bit more space and could see the ocean but not have to worry about my child who I don't know how will react in new situations. I was planning on using a first cruise of 3-4 nights to gage my child's response at being near a railing in public areas of the ship so unless there is some sort of alarm that would sound loud enough to wake me, my DH and our 15 year old so that we could stop 12 year old from going out without one of us there to supervise I honestly would postpone going while there was this restriction if it is implimented.

Considering that while we are a family of 4 I might look at a room that sleeps 5 and plan on placing 15 year old on the bed that goes out from the wall along the balcony door, that or have DH do what he did at the cabin we stayed in just outside of Hill City, SD to prevent now 12 year old at the age of 6 from walking what was a 6.5 hour drive home to get her Pooh when it was realized that DH forgot to put the box it and her blankets were in (unfurnished cabin including bring own bedding they provided a bottom sheet only) into the vehicle we were driving. DH ended up sleeping on the floor across the doorway of the cabin until a certain small child cried herself to sleep using me as a substitute. I ended up driving into Custer, SD after finding out they had a thrift shop when I learned Hill City didn't and finding a couple of accptable subsitutes even if I couldn't find a Pooh or a Minnie Mouse. I was to the point I would have driven the 66 mile round trip into Rapid City in order to go to a store where I knew I could find a stuffed animal or two for my child if there hadn't been one as close as there was to where we were.

 

[Surgie2]

I've always sailed verandah in the limited number of cruises I've been on. I am not totally claustrophobic but I feel the need for my own slice of fresh air on a ship. After watching the people in quarantine on the ships, my husband and I both said - verandah for sure in the future if there was ever a doubt! Months ago we booked two verandah cabins for ourselves and grandkids on our first DCL for a short cruise in late November. We'll have to decide by late August if we'll actually go - unless it is decided for us by then. But will be happy to have the verandah if we go.

 

[randumb0]

If a cruise requires quarantine then the whole industry will be shutdown again and he cruise industry will have much bigger issues. With that being said the OV will be fine

 

[AngelDisney]

I have always booked verandah and wanted to try out the secret OV room to see the difference. Booked one for this Christmas but just cancelled it due to the possibility of being stranded at sea. I think I would only book verandah moving forward. I am retiring in 7 years. I will stick with land vacation for now until I retire and then cruise in off seasons with verandah on Disney ships.