Is the Suite & Verandah Worth It on a Cruise to Alaska on the Disney Wonder or Holland America?

Note: Updated May 2019.  We traveled in June of 2018 & June of 2013.

This was our very first cruise ever, in 2013 on the Holland America’s Voldendam, and we didn’t know which state room to choose.  There are many options of a suite with a verandah (balcony), rooms with just a window, smaller windows, and rooms without windows.  Is the extra cost for the suite and verandah worth it on our Alaskan Cruise on Holland America?

We rolled the dice and took the chance that the extra cost would be worth it.  For us, we were correct.

The views up the coast to Alaska are breathtaking, calming, inspiring, and so many more adjectives…  If you only do ONE CRUISE in your life-time, a cruise to Alaska is the one.

When we cruised to Alaska again, this time on the Disney Wonder, the decision was easy, and we chose the Deluxe Family Oceanview Stateroom with Verandah.

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I’m going ALL IN To Get The Suite & Verandah!

This is a “once-in-a-lifetime” type of trip is my thinking.

It’s roughly $2000 extra for a suite… added to the regular price of the 7 day cruise. This was on Holland America’s Ms. Volendam, but I think roughly the same amount would apply on most cruise ships for 7 days.

What does that include? Obviously more space, but is the extra space worth it?

A Private & Quiet Space On The Verandah

My husband does not enjoy traveling as much as the kids & I do, and this upgrade was mainly for him to feel more comfortable.

He is claustrophobic, needs alone time & quiet time, and he doesn’t like crowds.  Sometimes he doesn’t even like people.

The suite turned out to be the perfect amount of room for him to feel relaxed and comfy.  Not only was the room spacey enough to sit & read or lay down, but also the private verandah was large and lovely.

He spent hours and hours on the verandah, staring at the beautiful sites.  Just for this reason, the suite was worth the extra massage hours I put in to pay for it.

The Verandah Alone is Worth it!

To watch him leaning on the verandah rail, calm, relaxed and happy was great and a small price to pay for him to enjoy the time.

But the views from our balcony:  priceless, truly.  Whales, eagles, orcas, otters, sea lions, seals, and dolphins.

It was extremely relaxing to sit on the balcony, have breakfast delivered and watch the amazing Alaskan shore.  This is what I loved the most and is what I want to see again:  the view from the verandah.

Other Perks of a Suite with Concierge Service (on the Volendam):

For us it was worth it for several other surprising reasons:  The daily laundry service! OMG, I’ll take it! Pick up, wash, dry, fold & deliver?? Are you kidding? Awesome!

The breakfast delivered in bed…yes please!  We really enjoyed this feature and took our food out on the verandah to have breakfast with the ocean.  So lovely to drink tea out there!

The concierge!  She helped us with dinner reservations, any questions we had about the trip, our room, etc.  She checked on our shore excursions even when they weren’t booked through the ship!

And she was in the Neptune Lounge which had snacks, drinks, movies, computer access, magazines, etc, right across the hall from our room.

The daily High Tea delivered to our room!  Yummy!  Can you say “weight gain”? I felt like we never stopped eating!  But the food was delicious.

Is the suite worth it for you?  It really depends on:

• How much time you want to spend in your room…some people are only in their rooms to sleep.  With a suite and verandah, we spent much more time in our room.  We had High Tea, watched movies, and sat on the balcony for hours.
• How comfortable you are in public spaces…because there are some LOVELY public places all over the ship, so staying in your room is not really needed.
• Is a verandah important to you?  Again, there are many places to sit and watch the views/water NOT in your room.  We just prefer to be alone sometimes.
• If the verandah is important to you, do you need a big one?  Because you could get the smaller verandah for much less.

Cons:

• The price

Pros:

• More space
• Large verandah
• (Volendam) Extras that come with the suite: laundry service, food delivery, concierge, luggage delivered first in/out, rooms ready first, get to have drinks with the captain, High Tea delivered daily, help with shore excursions-even if they are not through Holland America, and a long list of more.
• Privacy
• Views

Bottom Line:

It is worth it for us, but we are willing to do some cruises without one to see if it made the big difference we think it does.

What do you think? Is a suite or verandah worth it?