Disney Cruise Room Types And Categories Explained

One of the toughest choices you’ll have to make early on when planning a cruise is choosing your room location and category.  You must decide on your preferred stateroom location.  Upper deck or lower deck, forward vs aft, near certain activity locations or off in a secluded location, near an elevator; there are plenty of options. And then there is choosing your room ‘type’.  Inside, outside, veranda, or if you want to splurge…concierge. If that is not overwhelming enough each type, has sub-categories. And of course, every choice you make will affect your Disney Cruise price.

This article will attempt to simplify, or at least explain, all the options.

Disney Cruise stateroom definitions

Inside Staterooms – Outside Stateroom

The typical Disney Cruise deck with staterooms will have 2 corridors running the length of the ship.  Each corridor will have a row of inside staterooms and a row of outside cabins for a total of 4 rows of staterooms. Not every deck is filled with staterooms.  Some decks will only have staterooms forward or aft and occasionally only have staterooms port or starboard.  And of course, some decks are filled will non-stateroom rooms.

Here is a typical deck layout

Disney Cruise Stateroom Categories

Disney does not make it easy.  Disney Cruise staterooms are categorized with a number and a letter…the exception being concierge rooms which are categorized with a letter and a letter.

The number corresponds to the room type…with the lower number being the most desirable (meaning expensive) room.

Category Numbers

The letter part of the stateroom category is not as straight forward or consistent.  They range from A-E.  In general, they refer to how desirable the location is.  The stateroom on the upper decks tend to be the most desirable as well as the decks in the middle of the ship. 

So on the Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy a category of 5A would be a Deluxe Oceanview Stateroom with Verandah on Deck 10… the highest deck with non-concierge staterooms and a 2B is a Standard Inside Stateroom on Deck 2.

Portholes

There are 3 types of portholes in staterooms without verandahs… 2 real and one not so real.  All non-verandah oceanview rooms have either 1 large or 2 portholes (smaller on the lower decks).  On the Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy all the inside staterooms have ‘Magic’ portholes… a virtual porthole displaying ocean scenes… with an occasional Disney character swimming by.

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Verandahs

There are 3 major types of Verandahs.

• The standard verandah features an open-air balcony skirted by an acrylic wall, allowing for a full view of the horizon even while seated.
• The whitewall verandah offers open-air lounging with a solid wall from the deck to the railing. Most of these staterooms are located in the aft portion of the ship.
• The navigator’s verandah is enclosed for greater privacy while still affording a stunning view and sea breezes through a large, open-air porthole above the railing

Verandahs differ in size and style depending on which ship your are on and location and some verandahs have obstructed views. On connecting verandah staterooms, the partitions can be opened to create an even bigger balcony.

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Sleeping Arrangements

The typical stateroom on a Disney Cruise ship sleeps 3-4 people.  There will always be a queen-sized bed and the couch converts to a single bed.  For the rooms that sleep 4 there will be a ‘bunk bed’ that folds down from the ceiling over the couch bed.  There will be a few family deluxe rooms that holds a 5^th person.  That bed will fold down from the wall.

Concierge and suite rooms can sleep up to 7 with 1-2 queen beds and a variety of configuration of couch, bunk, wall beds. Some of these rooms have split living spaces and the largest has 1781 square feet.

All these different configurations seem complicated and space consuming.  Do not worry.  You stateroom host will expand all the beds and make them in the evening while you are at dinner and in the morning turn it back into a regular room.

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Split Bathrooms

One of the most unique things about Disney Cruise ships are the split bathrooms.  A split bathroom is where the a bathtub and sink is in one room and the toilet and a sink are in another room. Standard inside staterooms have a traditional bathroom while almost every other stateroom has a split bathroom.

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