Deck 5 Extended Verandah (Dream, Fantasy)

[tjkraz]

We're booked on the October 2024 transatlantic on the Dream. Last cruise booked as Silver CC members. Our first choice was the aft extended verandah cabins but those were all gone by the time we booked. Instead we took cabins 5662 and 5664.

These specific cabins don't seem to have any obvious drawbacks. They're above the night clubs, but situated more around the corridor between restrooms and Evolution. They should have some separation from the deck 5 elevator vestibule. (The opening appears to be more around door to cabin 5660) Our hallway is a dead end, so there shouldn't be a ton of foot traffic. Since it's such a long cruise, we expect to take advantage of the larger balconies. I know there's a little bit of a fishbowl effect with guests on higher decks being able to see some of the verandah. But looks like some of it is undercover too. I don't think they have the full lounge chairs, but the half loungers where the back reclines...which is fine. We have 4 adults traveling and this 13 night cruise is the closest thing we've ever had to a sabbatical. Looking forward to truly relaxing during those days at sea, which includes some quiet time on the balcony.

A few of the extended verandah rooms are still available today, though they seem to be less desirable ones; closer to elevators and on the port side where there could be more foot traffic around kids' clubs. Maybe they're sort of a hidden gem that many people aren't aware of? This will be our 6th Disney cruise and it's the first time I've really researched such things.

Am I missing anything "bad" about these rooms?

Our last cruise on the Fantasy we were in 9640. I thought that was great for a variety of reasons. Biggest turnoff was probably the narrow balcony.

 

[karmacats]

I'm currently writing this from 5664 on the Dream WBTA. . The room is fabulous. Keep it! If you don't, I might steal it.

A couple items to note:

Because it's the last bump out balcony, the side of the balcony that faces aft has a railing rather than a wall. It gives you a great aft view, but also makes it windy if you're near the edge.

The connecting door between rooms is pretty soundproof. The kid next door had a meltdown last night and we could hear the screaming, but that's all we've heard from next door in 4 days.

You can sometimes hear the elevator ding. It's quiet enough I only notice it once in a while, and it would never wake me up even though I'm a very light sleeper, but it's there. Hall traffic is very light since it's a dead end as you've noted. No sound at all from the adult area downstairs as you're above a quiet hallway.

We booked this cruise very last minute and can't believe this room was still available. I'd book it again in a heartbeat.

 

[auntlynne]

We picked a 4E for the extended balcony. We have had a half covered/ half exposed balcony on Princess and loved the extra space.

There is nothing happening on our balcony that needs privacy. If you don’t want to be seen, utilize the area near the door.

You might have a railing separately the open area from the part that is “normal” balcony depth. If so, that’s a reason why there would not be a full-size d lounger. But still should have 4 seating options.

There are photos of Fantasy 5664 online. I expect the cabin on the Dream would not differ.

Elevator noise? Never had issues. Deck 4 - yep, it seems to line up above the ramp into Evolution.

Sounds great!

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

We like the large balconies, but on our Dream cruise we found food trash (presumably dropped from cabins above?) at least twice, which was really gross. Hopefully we just got unlucky with extremely inconsiderate guests and it’s not a common experience.

 

[tjkraz]

I'm currently writing this from 5664 on the Dream WBTA. . The room is fabulous. Keep it! If you don't, I might steal it.

A couple items to note:

Because it's the last bump out balcony, the side of the balcony that faces aft has a railing rather than a wall. It gives you a great aft view, but also makes it windy if you're near the edge.

The connecting door between rooms is pretty soundproof. The kid next door had a meltdown last night and we could hear the screaming, but that's all we've heard from next door in 4 days.

You can sometimes hear the elevator ding. It's quiet enough I only notice it once in a while, and it would never wake me up even though I'm a very light sleeper, but it's there. Hall traffic is very light since it's a dead end as you've noted. No sound at all from the adult area downstairs as you're above a quiet hallway.

We booked this cruise very last minute and can't believe this room was still available. I'd book it again in a heartbeat.

This is great info. Thanks so much!

Do you mind confirming one thing for me? There's a panel between the verandahs of 5664 and 5662 which can be opened, correct? We have adult friends staying in that neighboring room, and expected to be able to congregate on the balcony at times.

I know I'm getting off topic but would love to hear more about the TA cruise if you feel like sharing in this thread or elsewhere.

 

[karmacats]

This is great info. Thanks so much!

Do you mind confirming one thing for me? There's a panel between the verandahs of 5664 and 5662 which can be opened, correct? We have adult friends staying in that neighboring room, and expected to be able to congregate on the balcony at times.

I know I'm getting off topic but would love to hear more about the TA cruise if you feel like sharing in this thread or elsewhere.

Yep, there is a panel between the balconies that can be opened. The back 2/3 of the divider (closest to the ship) is stationary, but the front 1/3 (closest to the rail) can be opened.

We have 2 half-loungers, 2 regular chairs, and a small side table. As a previous poster noted, there's a small rail where the balcony would end if this was a normal depth balcony. It's only about a foot wide and doesn't get in the way at all, though. I believe on Fantasy it may be longer. If you do a google image search for the room you should see it. No trash on our balcony, though our upstairs neighbors do stomp around. Heard the kid next door thru the connecting door this morning, which was disappointing, but it was brief at least.

Really enjoying the TA so far. This is our 6th Disney cruise and some of the more experienced Disney cruisers aren't so happy. There are some new crew so dining isn't smooth for everyone (ours is fine), and there were no fireworks for pirate night, so people are grumpy about that. The seas are a bit rough and it's a little cold, but we're on the balcony with a jacket on and totally comfortable. Fellow passengers are super nice and we've met some great folks. Lots of activities on the sea days - my favorite so far is a retired imagineer giving talks about the projects he worked on, including building Epcot . Food wasn't great the first couple nights but has gotten better. Room steward is friendly and competent. Overall I'm very happy with the cruise so far. Wish it was a bit warmer, but you just never know - we did one previous transatlantic (not on Disney) in Sept and it was 80, sunny, and calm the entire time.

If you have specific questions, let me know.

 

[professorandmom]

My family had four of these at the stern on the Dream in August, 5150, 5156, 5164 and 5162. 5150 verandah is ENORMOUS and 5164 is two sided and afforded such views! The outdoor space was AMAZING. Both sons who were closer to the kids club felt that, at transition times, the noise of the kids coming and going from the club to the elevator was loud. I was further aft so my corrider noise was not noticeable. That said, I'd recommend starboard side to avoid this
The only other issue is privacy - everyone can see you when you utilize the verandah. In fact, when I've been on regular verandahs, I have seen folks in the nude in the extended spaces (different thread).

Barb

 

[tjkraz]

My family had four of these at the stern on the Dream in August, 5150, 5156, 5164 and 5162. 5150 verandah is ENORMOUS and 5164 is two sided and afforded such views! The outdoor space was AMAZING. Both sons who were closer to the kids club felt that, at transition times, the noise of the kids coming and going from the club to the elevator was loud. I was further aft so my corrider noise was not noticeable. That said, I'd recommend starboard side to avoid this
The only other issue is privacy - everyone can see you when you utilize the verandah. In fact, when I've been on regular verandahs, I have seen folks in the nude in the extended spaces (different thread).

Barb

Thanks!

Yeah, we chose starboard side to help avoid noise from the kids club. There are sixteen 4E rooms on deck 5 aft, and I identified about 4 of them which seem to fall in the "sweet spot." So far, I haven't heard anything that worries me.

Thanks all for feedback!

 

[karmacats]

Yes, port side is way noisier in the hall due to kids clubs and also laundry (5 aft, but can only get there from port side). Also, deck 4 on port side becomes smoking area in the evening which we are glad to have avoided.

 

[tjkraz]

Lots of activities on the sea days - my favorite so far is a retired imagineer giving talks about the projects he worked on, including building Epcot .

I've seen sessions like this on past itineraries and we definitely want to do that. Do they tend to fill-up with passengers such that you have to arrive early? Or is there ample seating?

Do you know if the lack of fireworks was planned all along, or something that came up at last minute? (I'm not much of a fireworks guy, so it won't impact me either way. Just curious.)

Hope your weather improves as you get closer to the U.S.!

 

[karmacats]

I've seen sessions like this on past itineraries and we definitely want to do that. Do they tend to fill-up with passengers such that you have to arrive early? Or is there ample seating?

Do you know if the lack of fireworks was planned all along, or something that came up at last minute? (I'm not much of a fireworks guy, so it won't impact me either way. Just curious.)

Hope your weather improves as you get closer to the U.S.!

The first session with the imagineer was in the movie theater and ended up standing room only, so they moved him to the larger theater for today's talk (his second). It was very full, but there were random seats here and there if you arrived late. We got there 10 min before start and got decent seats in the lower middle section, so you don't need to arrive super early to do ok.

There's some confusion on the fireworks. Many were told before the cruise that there wouldn't be any. The day we boarded pirate night was moved and a lot of the crew said it was so we could have fireworks after all, but then there were no fireworks. Some crew today said the lack of fireworks was because it's so windy, but others said fireworks were never planned because we need to go so fast to get to NY on time. It's hard to get a straight answer out of anybody. I love fireworks, but had heard before the cruise that we wouldn't have them, so I was prepared. (We have some very active social media groups and chats, so got a lot of info from them.)