Couple of DCL booking questions

Our friends have booked a cruise on Fantasy next year, and are "strongly" encouraging us to join them :D We have already booked the Harmony for Thanksgiving, so we are not sure we want to take another cruise - however, I thought I should at least book a cabin while we make up our minds.

So, my question is - what is the deposit required for non-concierge cabin? Is it refundable (I thought I read that it was)?

Our friends are booked into a 4A, so we were going to book similar on the same deck. Any positives or negatives about these cabins? Any locations that are better than others?

Also, we do not have a TA, so will probably book direct - is it better to do this online or should I call?

Thanks

It is purely your choice based on your comfort level whether you book on line or call DCL. The one advantage to doing it on line is that you KNOW you put the info in correctly rather than hoping the person on the other end of the phone got it all right.

A non-concierge deposit is fully refundable up to the penalty date. There is a long list of when the penalty date is based on length of cruise and embarkation port. I believe that for a 7 night, non-holiday cruise from a US port the penalty date is 90 days before embarkation. At 89 days, you would lose your deposit which is 20% of the cruise cost.

A cat 4A is actually a rather expensive cabin. I'm not saying that is a good or bad thing, just that is is the most costly cabin short of concierge. On the Magic and Wonder, all of these cabins are made to sleep 5. I believe that on the Fantasy not ALL of them sleep 5. If cost is important, there are many cheaper balcony cabins. If it doesn't matter, these are nice cabins.

I believe that 4As are midship on decks 9 and 10. I would prefer deck 9 as it is not directly under the pool deck. THere have been some reports of noise from the pool deck as the chairs are moved, deck cleaned, etc. On deck 9, you have guest cabins above you.

Many TAs will give you an onboard credit as a "thanks for booking" gift. That may or may not be worth the effort of using one.

Have fun!

Thanks. I have not had a chance to look at all the cabins, so was not aware that the 4A was the priciest, but that does not surprise me. I will look at some of the other balconies to compare prices. We are only three people, so we might be able to move to slightly smaller cabin - although, I think my wife will want a balcony.

Another quick question - in looking at the pics of the cabins, it appears that some may have sofa beds, and some pullman beds. How can you tell which one you are going to get - is there a key that shows up on the deck plans? If so, I could not find it.

The least expensive cabin with a balcony is a cat 7. While most of these are navigator's balconies (partially enclosed), there are also some that are standard balconies with partial sight obstructions. I have stayed in a partially obstructed balcony on the Magic. in that room, had we not known to look for the obstruction, we would probably have not noticed it!

The standard balcony cabins are cat 6 and 5. The cat 4s are larger or have special features. Originally, cat 4s all slept 5 people. I believe that there are some on the Fantasy and Dream that do not hold that many people though.

The standard 3rd person bed is the sofa bed. It is NOT like a sofa bed that you would buy at home. It does not pull out, it has a "flip" feature that converts the sofa into a twin size bed. I have slept on them--MUCH more comfortable than anything I've seen in a home. I'm not aware of anywhere on the deck plans that you can tell if a room has a murphy bed other than cabins that hold 5 have the murphy, sofa, and bunk bed. Sorry, I'm better on Magic and Wonder. There, all 3 and 4 person rooms have a sofa bed; 5 person rooms have a murphy bed in addition.

Thanks. This helps.

I can add to the opinion that the "sofa bed" is pretty comfy. Disney likes to keep their guests comfortable :)

Also, we generally stay in Cat 5's (it ranges and depends on price difference between A and C) and are quite happy with the size of the room. We have never had an obstructed view, but depending on what you want the balcony for, I don't think it would be a game changer.

A TA may also help you book nearer to your friends, even if in different categories. And they may also know which rooms have which types of beds, or have the resources to find out.

Ditto other's opinions! Sofa bed is amazing! On a cruise a few years back when they still had a Queen bed you could split into 2 twins our room steward convinced me to use the sofa bed the first night instead of splitting the bed as it gives more room. I thought I'd hate it but I absolutely loved it. It was so comfy just like being in a normal bed.

A TA can definitely help to get you guys close to each other. Also you will need to get your reservation numbers linked if you want to dine together and they can do this too.

Thanks everyone - booked today!