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Do you feel the size difference between family ocean view with veranda and the stateroom with veranda?

lynnfitz

DIS Veteran
Joined
Dec 31, 2008
Hi, haven't cruised, so this is our first one. I know the rooms are small. On the Wish the difference in the size of the staterooms is the family veranda room is 284 feet, and the non-family with veranda is 243 feet. What are your thoughts, has anyone stayed in both and can make a comparison?
There is a $500 difference between the 2 for the 4 night cruise, just wondering what to do-
Also, out of the Disney cruise line, for the staterooms with veranda, does the Wish have the largest?
We're 3 adults.
Thank you!
 
So, first thing to know is that the total space being shown on the DCL site includes the balcony.

On the Wish, the Deluxe Family with Verandah is a 241sq ft cabin with a 43sq ft balcony.

The Deluxe Verandah is 200sq ft with a 43 sq ft balcony.

The only exception to the size of the balcony is if you get a Category 4E, in which case the balcony can be up to twice the size.

The 3rd (and possibly 2nd depending on your sleeping arrangement preferences) person will be on a pull-out sofa or a pull-down bed, so that extra space is really nice.

That said, the rooms on Disney are typically bigger than other cruise line rooms.

As far as within DCL, the rooms on the other ships are bigger than what's listed for the Wish.
 
Not sure about the Wish but my wife and I were just on the Fantasy in a Family Veranda.
The extra room is in front of the sliding door. The room sleeps 5 and the extra room is for a Murphy bed that fold down from the wall, not sure if that is the same on the Wish.

Over the years we have stayed in both kinds of room category and because it is only the two of us it was not a big deal.
The only reason we got this room was because we did a last minute guaranteed ocean view rate. We were traveling with friends so Disney put us all together in the same area.

In the past we did a guaranteed rate on the Fantasy and lucked out and Disney put us in the double window ocean view room, it was huge. Not sure if the Wish has any of this kind of room.
 
ok thanks everyone, wrapping around a room of 200 sq feet o_O.
We've gotten use to renting DVC points and staying at 1 and 2 bedroom resorts at Disney. But it is only 4 nights, and I'm sure we won't be in the room that much. That's why I wanted at least the veranda-
So Geekymamam I"m curious, do you know what ship has the largest state rooms on the DCL?
 
ok thanks everyone, wrapping around a room of 200 sq feet o_O.
We've gotten use to renting DVC points and staying at 1 and 2 bedroom resorts at Disney. But it is only 4 nights, and I'm sure we won't be in the room that much. That's why I wanted at least the veranda-
So Geekymamam I"m curious, do you know what ship has the largest state rooms on the DCL?
They are all really about the same between the different ships for the standard rooms. The big thing that is a differentiator is the amount of STORAGE in each of the rooms.

I felt that the original ships have it set up the best (Many rooms have a "steamer trunk" set of drawers and a little cabinet that is perfect for folded clothes. These are not in the rooms on the Dream/Fantasy/Wish. Those rooms have more space for hanging than anything else. The Wish has a set of open shelving which works but wasn't my least favorite storage design out of all of them.

The rooms on the Wish feel very spacious with the amount of space to walk around the bed and move about the cabin. We pretty much exclusively stay in Verandah's when we sail. Depending on the room category for the upgrade, that 500 dollars could be a steal for you if you do really like a bit bigger of a room.

When we (2 Adults) sailed on the Wish at the end of November, we used the room to sleep and eat and that was about all. I wouldn't think we would personally need much more space even if we actually planned to be in the room.
 
Some of the family verandah rooms only sleep 4 and have a chair where the Murphy bed is located.

I personally don’t think it’s worth an extra $500 for that bit of space unless maybe none of the three adults are sharing a bed and all are really opposed to sleeping in the top bunk … but in that case you would want to be 100% certain the family verandah room you book actually sleeps 5.
 
ok thanks everyone, wrapping around a room of 200 sq feet o_O.
We've gotten use to renting DVC points and staying at 1 and 2 bedroom resorts at Disney. But it is only 4 nights, and I'm sure we won't be in the room that much. That's why I wanted at least the veranda-
So Geekymamam I"m curious, do you know what ship has the largest state rooms on the DCL?
CruiseDeckPlans has all of that information.
 
They are all really about the same between the different ships for the standard rooms. The big thing that is a differentiator is the amount of STORAGE in each of the rooms.

Deluxe Family Verandah on the Dream/Fantasy/Magic/Wonder: 256sq feet with a 43sq ft balcony.

Deluxe Family Verandah on the Wish: 241sq ft with a 43sq ft balcony.

So, not a massive difference, but it is there.
 
ok thanks everyone, wrapping around a room of 200 sq feet o_O.
We've gotten use to renting DVC points and staying at 1 and 2 bedroom resorts at Disney. But it is only 4 nights, and I'm sure we won't be in the room that much. That's why I wanted at least the veranda-
So Geekymamam I"m curious, do you know what ship has the largest state rooms on the DCL?
In general, DCL verandah and family verandah staterooms have gotten smaller as the ships have gotten larger. The Magic and Wonder staterooms are 268 sf for category 5, 6, and 7 and 304 sf for category 4. The Dream and Fantasy staterooms are 246 sf for categories 5, 6, and 7 and 299 sf for category 4. And, as noted by NEGeekymama, the Wish staterooms are 243 sf for category 5, 6, and 7 and 284 sf for category 4. All including balconies. All measurements from the PDFs of deck plans posted on the DCL Cruise Blog.

We usually book category 5 staterooms. With the loss of storage and floor space on the Wish compared to the Magic/Wonder which we have cruised most frequently, we expect to feel a little cramped when we board the Wish next Monday. We noticed the 22 sf difference between the classic ships and the Fantasy for the cat. 5 rooms when we finally sailed the Fantasy for an EC cruise, to the extent that we booked category 4 the second time we sailed the Fantasy on the WC itinerary.
 
For just two ppl I would save the $500. The space isn’t really adding much due to where it is located. If there is a Murphy bed that you won’t be using you won’t even get an extra chair.
 
The round-tub and waterfall shower in the Family Veranda (Cat 04) is very nice - much more roomier than the regular tub (Cat 05). If someone in your party is over 6 foot tall, this might be a nice-to-have upgrade as the regular tub is a bit snug, especially in height.

I once checked to see the cost to do a day-of-departure upgrade from a 05C to a 04C - and it was several hundred dollars, so we declined - nice but not worth the additional cost to us.
 
For two people, the smaller room will be plenty of space. When our family of six sails, we get two of the smaller connecting rooms. On our upcoming cruise, we are a party of four and all in one room for a 7-night cruise, so we splurged for the extra space.
 

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