How Stateroom Category Affects the Price of Your Disney Cruise

You’ve decided on the ship and itinerary you want – now it’s time to get the best price on your Disney Cruise. There are two factors you can control when booking your cruise to keep costs down. First is your dates – and we looked at that yesterday if you want a refresher. Second is your stateroom category. Some people have strong feelings about their staterooms, right down to wanting to book the exact same one from cruise to cruise. Others take the approach of “it’s where I’m sleeping so who cares – I’ll take what’s cheapest.” But whatever your preference, your choice can have a big (or surprisingly not so big) impact on the price of your cruise.

Click the image to see it full size.

If you’re not already familiar with the different stateroom categories on Disney Cruise Line jump to the section that explains the differences before looking too closely at the price chart.

Disney Cruise Line Pricing per Stateroom Category

For this article, I looked at the pricing for my median 7-night cruise, which happily still had all the categories available (except category R, concierge royal suites). Pricing is for two adults. If you’re seriously looking at the royal suites – call me, I can squeeze into a full size suitcase if I need to. Seriously, these suites (which do sell out) will run you in the high 4 figures for a 3-night cruise on the Dream up to well over $20,000 for a 7-night on the Fantasy during a slow season. At this time, it’s $22,000 for two adults for the least expensive December cruise, but most sailings are sold out. I don’t even want to think what the Christmas and New Year’s fares are.

What’s remarkable is the steady slope of the line (until you reach the concierge level). This tells us that Disney is very consistent in its pricing across the categories. This is interesting because there isn’t the same amount of staterooms in each category. The vast majority are verandah staterooms, but in this case a larger supply doesn’t equal a lower price. Disney seems to have just the right amount of each type of staterooms to meet guest’s demands.

A category 4A (the most expensive non-concierge stateroom) will average about a third more expensive than the least expensive cabin. For this you get 130 more square feet of space (for reference a room at Pop Century is 260 square feet). You also get a view. This seems pretty fair to me.

I haven’t had the pleasure of cruising in a suite (December, get here NOW), but a reader was kind enough to let me see hers on my last cruise. Sorry I wasn’t able to get photos, but take my word for it that one bedroom was a SWEET SUITE. I can’t afford it any time other than early December (we got it for 2 people for 4 nights for just under $3300), but I can tell you it’s head and shoulders over the regular staterooms. When you see the room, you understand the price difference. Not that they’re bad – I’ll cruise in any type of cabin I can – but this was really nice. And you’ll get a great photo tour of it in 10 months. The only stateroom type that perplexes me is the OOV on the Dream and Fantasy. In this case, you’re truly only paying for the perks of staying concierge (86% more in fact) without getting an upgraded room.

Just the facts:

• Inside staterooms (category 10 & 11):
  • Average – $2955
  • Low – $2909 (11C)
  • High – $3007 (10A)
  • Difference between 11C and 10A – 3%

• Outside staterooms (category 8 & 9):
  • Average – $3097
  • Low – $3021 (9D)
  • High – $3189 (8A)
  • Difference between 9D and 8A – 5%
  • Difference between average inside and average outside – 5%

• Verandah staterooms (category 4 to 7):
  • Average – $3597
  • Low – $3217 (7A)
  • High – $3903 (4A)
  • Difference between 7A and 4A – 21%
  • Difference between average outside and average verandah – 16%

• Concierge staterooms (category OOV, OOT, OOR):
  • Price $7263 (OOV), $10609 (OOT)
  • Difference between OOV and 4A – 86% higher
  • Difference between OOV and OOT – 46% higher

• Across all categories:
  • Difference between 11C and 4A – 32% higher
  • Difference between 11C and OOV – 245% higher
  • Difference between 11C and OOT – 359% higher

Disney Cruise Line Stateroom Categories

All stateroom categories are pleasant and functional. And this isn’t the Titanic – other than the folks in the concierge rooms, everyone receives the same level of service no matter which category they’ve booked. I can honestly say I’m happy in any of them, and was really pleasantly surprised how much I like my outside deck 2 staterooms the last time I cruised on the Dream and Wonder. The perspective being that close to the water is really nice.

Inside staterooms

These are category 10 and 11, with 10 being the Deluxe Inside that is slightly larger and includes the split (sink and toilet, and sink and shower) bath that Disney pioneered. They’re found on most decks, but are only about 12% of the total guest cabins on the ships. On the Dream and Fantasy, they include the “virtual porthole” – a round screen over the bed that shows guests a view of the outside with the occasional animation.

Outside (Oceanview) staterooms

These are category 8 and 9. They are found on the lower decks where it is impossible to have a verandah, but do offer a porthole view of the ocean. Deluxe Outside staterooms (category 8 on the Dream and Fantasy) offer the same square footage of category 5, 6, and 7 verandah staterooms. All outside staterooms have split baths. These are found on all nearly all decks. 16% of guest staterooms are oceanview.

Verandah staterooms

These are category 7 to 4, with 4 being the larger Deluxe Family Verandah stateroom. Verandah staterooms offer an outside balcony off your cabin. These are found on deck 5 and higher. 72% of guest staterooms have a verandah.

Concierge staterooms

Concierge staterooms offer perks like priority check-in and booking windows, and, on the Dream and Fantasy, a dedicated lounge with snacks during the day. Think of it as similar to club level at a resort. Tammy Whiting wrote an excellent article on her Disney Cruise Line concierge experience that you should read as soon as you’re done reading this. Concierge level offers different types of rooms depending on the ship:

Magic and Wonder:
OOT – One bedroom concierge
OOS – Two bedroom concierge
OOR – Royal suite (there are only 2 of these per ship – the Walt and Roy suites)

Dream and Fantasy:
OOV – Concierge Family verandah – this is a 4A floorplan on the concierge level
OOT – One bedroom concierge (can connect to a OOV for a two bedroom)
OOR – Royal suite
(Click these images to view them full size)

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