Is a Balcony Worth It on an Alaska Cruise? What We Learned in an Oceanview Room

Is a balcony worth it on an Alaska cruise if it’s cold outside?

It’s one of those questions that comes up every time you plan an Alaska cruise.

Someone asked me exactly that on Instagram during our Disney cruise to Alaska, and honestly, I thought about it a lot on that trip, too. In September 2026, my husband, our two teenage boys, and I sailed 7 nights roundtrip from Vancouver on the Disney Wonder. A verandah would have been about $2,000 more for our family of four, so we went with an oceanview stateroom to stay on budget. I’ve sailed with Disney nine times, and six of those were in verandah staterooms.

In this post, I’ll share what our oceanview room was really like, the moments I wished we had a balcony, how cold it actually got, and where I’d spend the money instead. For the whole trip, check out our complete guide to a Disney cruise to Alaska.

If your budget allows, yes. A verandah is worth it on an Alaska cruise.

Verandah staterooms are super popular on Alaska sailings, and they cost a lot more. (Disney calls a balcony a “verandah.”) For our family of four, the difference was about $2,000 at the time we booked, so we chose an oceanview stateroom.

The biggest difference is the view. Through a window, Alaska looks like a 2D picture. From a balcony, it’s 3D. The view is all around you, and you can feel the wind and hear the sounds.

Still, I’d never want anyone to give up on an Alaska cruise because a balcony is over budget. We loved our week in an oceanview room.

We booked a GTY stateroom with restrictions, so Disney assigned our room instead of letting us choose. We ended up in an oceanview stateroom on deck 5 with a big round porthole. If you’re curious how that works, here’s how we saved with a GTY stateroom.

Being able to see outside was a big plus. From our room, we could tell where we were and what was out there, morning or night. I really appreciated that.

Our sons even grabbed the camera when an iceberg showed up outside our porthole. We took photos through the glass, but the reflections made it hard to get a good shot. If you love taking photos, that’s one more reason to book a verandah.

If I’m honest, though, I kept thinking how much better that view would have been from a balcony, big and wide.

This was the question I got on Instagram: isn’t a verandah kind of pointless in Alaska, since it’s so cold?

On our September sailing, Glacier Viewing Day was the only day that was really cold. We had sunshine on most days.

On those sunny days, I kept wishing I could sit on our own balcony with a cup of coffee and just slow down. And with a balcony, you can step outside in your pajamas!

We had a verandah on our Disney Fantasy cruise to Norway in September 2025. It was cold there, too. Really cold.

But in the morning, I could wake up and walk right out to see the Norway scenery, still in my pajamas. While the rest of my family got ready, I was out on the verandah enjoying the view. This photo is from our verandah in Olden.

Curious what a Disney verandah stateroom looks like inside? Here’s my tour of the Disney Wish Deluxe Family Verandah Stateroom.

On our sailing, Day 3 was Glacier Viewing Day. In the morning, I watched the scenery from the upper decks.

I wanted to keep watching forever. But it was so cold that all I wanted was to go back to our room. That’s the moment I thought, if we had a balcony, I could keep watching right from our room.

That day was busy, too. Outdoor character greetings ran from the morning until early afternoon, and in the afternoon, we took a small boat tour to the glacier. (Here’s our Disney Cruise Glacier Explorer review if you’re deciding whether to book it.)

With a balcony, I could have rested in our room between the greetings and the boat tour and still enjoyed the view. And if you don’t plan to do every character greeting, being able to watch from your own room is an even bigger plus.

We did see whales! But I saw them while I was out on the open deck, not from our room. Some people with verandahs said they could see them right from their balcony.

We saw orcas, too, but that was on a port excursion.

This is where that 2D vs. 3D thing really comes in. An oceanview window and a balcony give you completely different views.

With GTY with restrictions, we didn’t get to pick our room. Here’s what I learned, and what I’d choose next time.

Our Deck 5 room was close to the Deck 4 promenade, the atrium, the shops, and the restaurants. It was really convenient.

Honestly, we watched most of the scenery from the upper decks, not deck 4. If I could choose next time, I’d book a room closer to the top so we could get up there quickly.

For faraway scenery, the top decks are the place to be. For wildlife, though, you’ll get a better look from the lower decks.

This one is just my personal opinion. We’ve stayed in inside staterooms on other sailings, and I’m not a big fan.

In a place as beautiful as Alaska, I’d want at least an oceanview, so I can see the scenery from my room, morning or night.

That said, I’d never say an Alaska cruise isn’t worth it just because an oceanview room is out of budget. Everyone enjoys cruising differently, and you can still take in Alaska’s big views from the open decks.

For family trips, I don’t think the goal is simply to spend less. It’s about choosing where your money matters most.

Keeping your room cost down and putting that money toward Alaska excursions is a great choice, too. Excursions in Alaska add up quickly, so it helps to plan for them from the start.

If your budget allows, yes. For our family of four, a verandah was about $2,000 more, so we chose an oceanview stateroom. We still loved the trip, but I often thought a balcony would have made it even better.

On our September sailing, only Glacier Viewing Day was really cold, and most days were sunny. On our Norway cruise, it was very cold, but I still loved stepping out on our verandah first thing in the morning.

For us, yes. We could see the scenery from our room morning and night, and we headed to the open decks for the big views.

We saw whales from the open deck, not from our oceanview room. Some people with verandahs said they saw them right from their balcony.