Disney Cruise Line in a Jiffy: What is a Verandah

If you’ve looked at pictures of modern cruise ships, you know that many rooms on the upper decks have balconies. On Disney Cruise Line, this balcony is called a verandah. With the exception of the Disney Adventure, all verandahs on Disney Cruise Line ships face outward toward the ocean. So do you want (or need) a verandah? Are they all the same? Will your kids fall off them? Answers to these questions and more, just below!

First things first: what does the verandah even look like? The typical Disney Cruise Line verandah has two chairs and a table. The inside of the railing is solid plexiglass up to the top rail to prevent climbing. All outside (sea-facing) railings on the Disney ships are at least 42″ high. You’ll access the verandah through a sliding glass door in your stateroom, similar to how you might access a patio or deck space from a house.

There are a few variations. A whitewall verandah has a solid, opaque white wall that extends up about three feet, instead of the transparent plexiglass. These are usually found in aft areas of the ship. A Navigator’s verandah is an enclosed verandah with a window. A Navigator’s verandah or whitewall verandah will be listed in the stateroom category description; you’ll know when you book that you’re getting this type of balcony.

You’ll also find some oversized or “extended” verandahs that are deeper and have four chairs. On the Triton class ships (Wish, Treasure, and Destiny), there are some “bump out” verandahs that are curved and slightly larger. And on any ship, concierge staterooms or suites may have larger verandahs or extra features (such as private hot tubs).

Next question: Yes, a stateroom with a verandah costs more than a similar stateroom without one. And the square footage of the verandah is included when Disney lists the stateroom size. So if a verandah won’t make a difference to your cruise experience, you may not want to pay for it. Here are some points to consider.

⭐ Warm weather sailings make a verandah pleasant to spend time on. If you’re sailing where it’s chilly, you might not love it as much – unless you’re on an Alaska or Norway cruise where you’d prefer to cuddle up with a blanket and watch the glaciers or fjords in private. There are plenty of public spaces on deck to take in the scenery, but if you’re an introvert, you might prefer a verandah.

⭐ If you won’t spend much time in your room, you probably won’t use your verandah much. But if you’ll stay on board in port, time on your verandah can help you feel like you’ve still made a visit when you didn’t get off the boat. And if you have mobility issues that limit the number of times you’ll head out of your stateroom, a verandah can help you avoid the feeling that you “went on vacation and spent the whole time in your hotel room”.

⭐ If you have four in your stateroom, the verandah space can help keep you from feeling too crowded in your cabin. Or, if you have a large party that has booked several adjacent staterooms, verandah barriers can often be removed. This creates a common space for socializing that’s still private to your group.

⭐ If you love to look out at the ocean, or crack open the door and enjoy the sound of the sea, that might be reason enough on its own to book a verandah stateroom. My husband loves it so much, he would sail less often in order to be able to afford a verandah when we do go. Having the outside be right there can also help if you tend to claustrophobia.

⭐ On the flip side, not everyone loves to look at the open ocean. Some find it downright intimidating and would prefer not to. You can keep the verandah curtains closed, but it might be a better choice to save money by not booking a verandah stateroom.

All of these points should be taken in the context of the length of your cruise. A crowded stateroom that might not bother you much on a short 3-4 day sailing could be pretty frustrating by the end of a week. If a verandah would help with that, it might be more worth it on that longer sailing. Conversely, some discomfort with an ocean-facing stateroom view might not be a problem for a few days, but could be something you’d like to avoid for a longer cruise.

There are different schools of thought when it comes to kids. First: safety. Verandah doors are heavy and have child-safe locks at about adult shoulder height. This is typically enough to keep small kids off the verandah when parents aren’t there to supervise. But any parent of a climber knows that for kids who are pushing the limits, they may find a way around it. You know your kid, assess accordingly.

On the other hand, parents may find the verandah space nice for relaxing at night after the kids have gone to bed. You will have to pass through their sleeping area to get to the verandah, but once outside with the door closed, it feels like a separate space. It’s “in the room”. But it’s not right there in the room where conversation might wake them up.

Disney Cruise Line in a Jiffy is for first-time Disney cruisers looking to learn about the DCL experience. Got a Disney Cruise Line term that you want to see explained? Suggest it in the comments below!