When we booked our recent Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Disney Fantasy, we originally had another stateroom on Deck 8 booked. However one night when wide awake and suffering the effects of jetlag from another trip, I was looking at our booking online when I noticed that stateroom 8188 was showing as available. I knew that this was one of the cabins that have a giant oversized verandah so I moved our reservation to it there and then – it made sense to given how much we both loving having a verandah on a cruise.

Stateroom 8188 is a Category 5E “Deluxe Oceanview Stateroom with Extended Verandah” on Deck 8 Aft of both the Disney Fantasy and the Disney Dream. Many of the staterooms at the aft of the ship have extended verandahs but 8188 (and several other rooms in the centre of the ship on different decks) have extra wide verandahs in addition to this due to having a cleaning closet between them and the stateroom next to them. I also found this room location to be extremely quiet as there is barely any foot traffic outside the room and Deck 8 gave us quick and easy access to all other decks on the ship as the Aft stairs and elevators are not too far away.

Our photo tour begins at the Aft elevators and stairs. As Stateroom 8188 is located exactly in the centre of the aft of the ship, you can get to it using either the port or starboard corridor. You can also see the cleaning closet next to the door for 8188 but we did not hear any noise from it at all during our week onboard.

The muster station for Stateroom 8188 is “O” which on the Disney Fantasy is located in “The Tube” and on the Disney Dream located in Evolution – both Aft on Deck 4.

The layout of the stateroom is the same as the majority of other rooms you will find on all the Disney Cruise Line ships. As you enter the room you will find two wardrobes on your left which contain your lifejackets, a drawer-style safety deposit box and the ladder for the bunk bed. Next to the wardrobe is a set of three large drawers – once again there was so much storage space throughout the entire room.

On the right hand side as you enter the room is a split bathroom. The first room has a toilet and sink whilst the other room has a bath, shower and sink. One major difference on this cruise is that Disney Cruise Line no longer provides individual tubes of shampoo, conditioner, body wash and lotion as they now use larger refillable bottles which are so much more environmentally friendly than before. This change does not bother me in the slightest as I have always brought my own toiletries with me as I am not a fan of H2O products but the outcry online over this change was something else – mainly by people who used to hoard the miniature bottles to take home. In fact as soon as we got to our room, we moved the H2O bottles to the shelf by the sink so we had room for our own toiletries in the shower.

The bed is the same as on all of the other three Disney ships and there is a small nightstand with a drawer on each side. There is also more than enough space underneath the bed to be able to store all of your luggage out of sight during the cruise.

There are two power sockets on one side of the bed which is the same side as the clock which also has two USB ports. There is a telephone located on the nightstand on the other side of the bed.

The sofa can be converted to a bed for a third person and this room can accommodate four people as it has a bunk which is pulled down from the ceiling which your stateroom host will set up if needed. Next to the sofa is a trunk coffee table which provides even more storage space when opened.

There is more storage space in the cupboards and drawers of the desk area and there are several electrical as well as USB sockets available at the desk as well as two Wave Phones which again we did not use. The Disney Cruise Line Navigator app has changed completely since our last cruise and it works brilliantly for staying in touch onboard.

A powerful hairdryer is provided in one of the drawers but it can only be plugged into the outlet at the desk. There is also a mat provided to place any heated hair stylers on to avoid damaging the surface of the desk.

You will also find a small refrigerator here which is perfect for keeping any drinks chilled that you bring onboard with you.

However the best part of this room is definitely the verandah as it is huge! The extra space is incredible and it feels so perfect to have such a large area of outdoor space to yourself on the ship. There are two chairs and a table as well as two sun loungers making it a great place to sit and relax in peace and quiet.

I absolutely loved our verandah not only whilst we were at sea but also during the days we were in port – the view of Castaway Cay was perfect. It was also a great place to sit and watch sailaway from each port which a cold drink in hand.

There are however
some downsides to this room:

I knew before our trip that the aft verandahs on the ship can get covered with soot and this was indeed true for us during this cruise. Each morning the verandah, the chairs and sun loungers would all be covered in soot but it was always cleaned up every morning by our amazing stateroom host when he serviced our room. You always had to remember to wear shoes on the verandah and not walk outside barefoot as your feet would get filthy.

I had also read online that the Disney Fantasy suffers with a vibration issue at the aft of the ship and this is also true although it is only when the ship is travelling at higher speeds and using more engine power. There was no vibration during our first two sea days when we were sailing from Port Canaveral to Tortola at 17 knots. However when we then had one sea day to cover nearly that same distance from St Thomas to Castaway Cay, we were cruising at 22 knots and everything at the aft of the ship was shaking for that entire time we were at sea. Even when lying down in bed, you could feel your head being bounced from side to side constantly. To help us both sleep, we had to keep both the bathroom doors open at night as otherwise they kept rattling against the door frames when shut.

This issue is more prevalent on the Eastern Caribbean itinerary than the Western and it would not even be noticeable on the Disney Dream as she currently only sails very short distances from Port Canaveral to the Bahamas so never has to travel at a higher speed.

Having said all of this though, I would book this stateroom again but on a different itinerary that does not need to cover such a vast distance in such a short space of time. Sitting and relaxing on that giant verandah during our week on the Disney Fantasy was simply the best and the exact reason why we booked that stateroom in the first place.

Since this blog post was written back in 2019, some of the information may no longer be accurate or up to date. Be sure to do your own research and check official websites for the latest details before making any of your own travel plans.

Support Me and Buy Me a Coffee
Pin this Blog Post on Pinterest
Follow Me on Instagram
Follow Me on Bloglovin’

Related Posts:

Disney Magic Transatlantic Cruise: Day One - Barcelona, Spain

Disney Magic Panama Canal Cruise: Day Fourteen - Ensenada, Mexico

Disney Magic Panama Canal Cruise: Day Seven - Transiting the Panama Canal

Disney Treasure Western Caribbean Cruise: Day Three - Cozumel

Navigator's Verandah Stateroom - Disney Wonder

Disney Wonder Hawaii Cruise: Day Three – Hilo, Hawaii

Disney Dream Transatlantic Cruise: Day One - Southampton

Disney Wish Back to Back Bahamas Cruise: Day Four - Castaway Cay

Disney Wonder Very Merrytime Cruise: Day Four – George Town, Grand Cayman

Disney Wonder to Alaska: Day One - Vancouver