Alaska cruise, is 3k more worth it for verandah?

[love disney]

For those of you who have gone on Alaska cruises, is it worth it to pay $3000 more for a verandah room than a room with a large porthole? We really like the idea of a verandah but we are wondering if it’s worth three grand more. If you’ve been on an Alaska cruise how much time did you spend on your verandah, and did you think it was worth the extra money or would you have rather used that money elsewhere? Or if you didn’t have a verandah suite did you regret not having one?
Thanks!

 

[ScoutN]

Nope. Not at all. You spend so much time in ports and excursions that that alone nixes it for us. Then add in that the best viewing of the landscape, watching wildlife and seeing the contours of everything around you is on the top deck, no balcony. Our first Alaskan was an inside and our upcoming is an inside.

 

[ChuckElias]

the best viewing of the landscape, watching wildlife and seeing the contours of everything around you is on the top deck,

I'm not going to 100% disagree with this, but I am going to modify it slightly. The most CROWDED viewing of the landscape and wildlife are on Deck 9 and Deck 10. You may get the widest view, but you are jostling with 2,000 other people for those views.

I really liked our verandah. It was a quiet, easy place to enjoy the fjord on the way to Tracy Arm. We saw a LOT of wildlife from our balcony, including whales at one point, and seals lying on pieces of floating ice. My wife says she saw a bear, but I didn't see it. We liked wrapping ourselves in a blanket and having coffee and croissants on the balcony in the morning.

For those of you who have gone on Alaska cruises, is it worth it to pay $3000 more for a verandah room than a room with a large porthole?

Now, having said all that, I'm not sure it's worth $3,000 extra. That's a lot and much more than the difference for our family when we did the Alaska cruise way back in 2012. I honestly can't tell you if it will be worth $3,000 to your family, but I can tell you that we enjoyed the verandah a lot.

 

[love disney]

Thanks for the input. We ended up booking a category 9C Oceanview cabin with one large porthole. We considered an obstructed view verandah but based on the pictures of the available cabins they really seemed like a verandah with a large (probably larger) porthole rather than a wide open view. For 2k more it just didn't really seem worth it, and we can use that extra money for more excursions. Can't wait until June 2021!!!

 

[Maelstrom Troll]

Our room was 2012 for our Alaskan cruise and it was great, but next time we’ll take a verandah room. As others have mentioned, it’s a luxury but when so much is viewable from the ship it seems worth it.
Also bring good binoculars!