stateroom and deck question About This Page:

[maryjanenancy]

We're going on our first cruise (seven days) at the beginning of December. My travel agent called this morning and told me that, because of a mix up, the stateroom we originally booked, a cat 10 deck 5 secret porthole room, was not booked. They rebooked our cruise (same seven days) but in a cat 10 deck 7. So same category but different deck. Aside from the porthole (which would have been nice), does the deck make that much of a difference? if so, why? Should I ask them to do something?

I'm really nervous b/c this is our first cruise and first real vacation in over 4 years.

Thanks,
Mary

[crystalloubear]

to the boards!! I wouldn't worry much about the change. I like the higher decks more than lower ones.
You will have a great time and will be addicted to cruising!! We cruise! We have been on 7 and have #8 coming up and #9 (our first disney one) coming up next year!
Don't sweat it - you will have a fantastic time!

[JoanW]

Do you mean that you booked a secret porthole room, but now have no porthole room, but on deck 7?

I'd be fussin if it was a smaller or no porthole. You asked for it. At least they should give you a room credit or something to compensate for the screw up.

[maryjanenancy]

Thanks for responding! That's exactly what happened. The deck 7 room actually costs $250 more which they are picking up. I'm just wondering if I should push a lot harder for the porthole room or just be happy we're on deck 7.

Thanks,
Mary

[JoanW]

Deck 7 is pretty awesome, it's not too far from the restaraunts, not too far from the kid's stuff. If the elevators are full, it's not too far to take the steps. I justified dessert every night with my vow to take the steps.

[Dave Marx]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm just wondering if I should push a lot harder for the porthole room or just be happy we're on deck 7.

[/ QUOTE ]

There are only six Secret Porthole rooms, so the chances you'll get another are quite slim. The only real possibility is a free/cheap upgrade to a higher category. How hard you can push for that depends on the circumstances of the mess-up. It's hard to know whether an upgrade can happen, as it depends a lot on how overall bookings are going on that sailing.

We were just on Deck 7 for our 14-night cruise (and on several other sailings) - it's a nice, quiet deck to be on. It's an easy walk up to Deck 9, and not a bad walk down to decks 3-5 when the elevators are busy.

However, if a porthole is really important to you, I'd suggest looking into a Cat 9 on Deck 2 (the small portholes on Deck 1 aren't worth the extra money in my opinion). Overall, the choice of decks is not nearly as important as the room's amenities.

But if nothing changes (and these days, with DCL's heavy bookings, changes aren't easy to come by), that Cat 10 will be quite adequate. Just focus on all the other pleasures of the cruise, and don't let disappointment over your room bring you down.