Category 11 Question, and a Few Others

[laurenk]

We are thinking of booking our first cruise. There will be 4 of us. How bad or good is a Category 11? Pros and Cons please. Also, if we have never cruised before, should we do a 4 day, or 7 day and why? We usually stay at WDW for 10 days, so we are leaning towards the 7 day. Thanks!! Also, Do you recommend Eastern or Western?

 

[Nasi]

We've done the 3, 4 and 7 day eastern cruise. Our first cruise was a 4 day in a category 11. I didn't think I'd like cruising but after that cruise I was hooked. I think the 4 day is good to try things out. We spent 6 nights at WDW before the cruise. I thought the category 11 was ok for 3 and 4 night cruises. It was crowded getting dressed for me, DH, DS 13 and DD 11. We had the coffee table removed and that helped. We weren't in the room much at all. For our last cruise, the 7 day, we had a category 5. We LOVED the veranda, the split bath, light in the room and the days at sea. We are going on another 4 day in April and I booked a category 5 again. After having the veranda I don't think I could go back to an inside. I can't wait to try the western next year. Nasi

 

[westjones]

We have cruised three times in a Cat. 11. I think they make great use of their space. There is a privacy curtain between the King Size bed and the rest of the room (good for dressing behind). The upper bed gets put up during the day and the lower bed is turned into a couch. I am sure the larger rooms are nicer, but we never spent much time in our rooms. We do have a Cat. 10 reserved on deck 5 (one of the secret porthole rooms) for our next cruise and I am excited about trying it out. I just never liked the idea of being on the 2nd deck for the other Cat. 10 rooms, so we never tried them. I loved deck 7 (which is what we had on our last cruise).


You will have a great time no matter what. I think you have to just consider your own finances. The DCL rooms are larger than other cruise lines (from what I have heard, we have never been on another cruise line). We have been fine with our Cat. 11. I just wanted to surprise our twins for the 10th birthday with something different.

We did the Western 7 day and loved it. So much to see! I think the Eastern is more relaxing though (3 days at sea instead of only 2 like on the Western). So again, it depends on what you like. I would love to try the Eastern too (but probably won't get a chance to do so).

Have a great time!
DJ

 

[musicgirl]

Hi, We went cat 11 this past summer on the 3-day. We LOVED it!!
There are 3 of us. I felt that the rooms were great. We never felt crowded, but then again with so much stuff to do we were hardly in the room!! We have booked the same room for this summer. We discussed moving up and decided that the room was great and why spend the money. Even though going up to a cat. 10 is only about $100, we felt that it would be better spent on an excursion.

This was also our first experience cruising. We went with a shorter trip just to find out what it was like. Obviously we didn't get enough!!! If it works out, go for the 4-day, because even though it was a wonderful trip, the 3-day just isn't enough!!!

You'll have lots of fun no matter what you pick. Good luck!

 

[pal2pluto]

We cruised 7 and 3 day in Cat. 11......2 adults 2 kids (3 & 11). Cat 11 worked fine for us.......naps in the afternoon were great for both DH and the 3 yr old.


There are a couple facts to consider:
--Cat. 11 is cheaper than other cat. (no brainer).

--I've never heard someone who gets a verandah or a window room say "can't wait to go back to that cat. 11 next time!"

That said.........if your aim is to experience a cruise cheaply, try the cat. 11. If you get hooked on DCL like most of us around here, try a better cat. next time. If this is your one and only cruise ever, then consider the splurge.

 

[TigH]

We cruised on the Wonder (3-day) in 2001 and loved it! Stayed in a category 11 room. Follow the link to our website in my signature and then scroll down to the bottom. I have a partial trip report written and there are quite a few pictures (including pictures of the room).

We are planning to do the 7-day cruise next, and we are saving up for a full verandah. The category 11 was great for the short cruise. We didn't spend much time in our cabin, just slept and showered there.

Have fun!!!!

 

[pintrader]

I have always thought that if you are going on your first cruise you should take a shorter one just to see how well the whole concept agrees or DISagrees with persons in your party.

We booked cat 11 and were upgrade to a cat 11 on deck 7 by our travel agent.

THAT room was spectacular!! inside hallway and all but we were on deck or in some lounge until we could hold our eyes open no more. So we never really noticed we were not in a porthole room.

Have fun !!

 

[westjones]

I would say, unless money isn't an issue at all with you, go with the Cat. 11, save the extra money for something else. You will have a great time. The rooms are very nice and you will not been in them much at all.

DJ

 

[laurenk]

Thanks everyone! I am having a hard time deciding what to do, and your replies have helped. This is all VERY overwhelming. My head is spinning with all of the info. you all have on DCL. I am thinking of the 7 day October 25th cruise for my twins BDay.

Does anyone have a preference between the Eastern and Western cruise?

 

[hawkrn]

We did 3 day Wonder in Cat. 11 and we were too crowded! There were 3 adults and a 9 year old. Not enough room to hardly move! (Maybe we had too much stuff since we went to WDW for 6 days first). I didn't like having to turn on the TV to see the "view from the bridge" just to see if it was sunny or not. We are booking a cat. 9 tommorrow for xmas cruise. This time there will be only 2 of us!

 

[laurenk]

I think we are now leaning towards booking a category 9. I know we will spend very little time in the room. I am just waiting for a qoute from Dreams. I have gotten prices from Disney and Costco so far.

Thanks!

 

[TinkHappy]

This is so funny~I was going through the exact same thing you are going through. We have cruised in a cat. 5 and I just didn't want to spend $1000.00 for a balchony we really didn't use. Don't get me wrong, we LOVED having the balchony, but we just didn't use it enough to justify the $. I thought about a cat.11, but after driving my husband nuts and going back and fourth, I decided that a cat.9 was a good "happy medium". We went through Dreams, and I just think they have the nicest people working there!!
Good luck and remember...any cruise is better then NO CRUISE!!