Family Suites or Suites for 6 people?

Has anyone here used a family suite before? I was searching the RCI website, but couldn't find out how many can sleep in one. Hard to find pricing too. It's my hubby, myself, and our 4 teens. I'm trying to decide if we should get two regular rooms, or get a suite big enough for all of us. Suggestions?

Thanks!

Robin

RCL's suites or family staterooms have a maximum occupancy of 4 (even in their largest suites). They actually allow 5 max providing the 5th passenger is under 2 years of age.

You will need to get 2 rooms for 6 people.

Has anyone here used a family suite before? I was searching the RCI website, but couldn't find out how many can sleep in one. Hard to find pricing too. It's my hubby, myself, and our 4 teens. I'm trying to decide if we should get two regular rooms, or get a suite big enough for all of us. Suggestions?

 

Thanks!

Robin

I would think the problem will be the bathrooms....with 4 teens..........especially if some are girls......you will need a few.......:)

We stayed in the royal family suite on the Serenade. There was 8 of us. Master bedroom sleeps two, second bedroom sleeps 4 (2 beds & 2 pullmans) and the sofa in the living area sleeps two. It was perfect for us.

2 bathrooms also.

RCL's suites or family staterooms have a maximum occupancy of 4 (even in their largest suites). They actually allow 5 max providing the 5th passenger is under 2 years of age.

You will need to get 2 rooms for 6 people.

This is incorrect. RCCL has several classes of staterooms that will hold more than 4 people. However, the maximum that can be booked online is 4 people so to book more than 4 people in a room you have to call for pricing or use a TA. The staterooms that hold more than 4 people require a minimum of 5 people to book and do not show up online.

The options are:

The Family Oceanview Stateroom which holds a maximum of 6 people, but it only has one bathroom.

The Royal Family Suite holds up to 8 people, has 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.

The Presidential Family Suite (Freedom of the Seas and Liberty of the Seas only) holds up to 14 people

Interior Family Stateroom, and Promenade Family Staterooms hold more than 4 people as well.

In addition, the Grand Suites and the Owners Suites can hold 5 people.

We just sailed Grandeur and had the Royal Family Suite. There were 6 adults and we hand no issues at all. The suite had 2 bedrooms 2 baths and a living room area with a couch that turns intofold out bed. I have some pics posted in my Grandeur album if you care to look. The pics are titled RFS8084

Thank you all for your replies on this. Especially to wrp96 for the detailed breakdown of the different suites. Tony, I checked your pics, thank you for posting those. I'm pretty sure we would need the two bathrooms as we have two teen girls!

Another question, I've never used a TA before and when I purchase airline or hotel online, it's always directly with who I'm buying from. From what I can gather (I'm new here) people can't recommend specific places in a post. Can people email me with recommendations of who they've used and who they like or don't like? I don't know if that's against the rules so I won't post my email yet!

Thanks again,

Robin

if you're accustomed to and comfortable with making your own travel arrangements without a TA, why not just go straight to RCL? You may need to call them instead of doing it online...

Had the RFS on Serenade this past Oct with myself, DH and 3 teens and we absolutely LOVED IT. I would book it again in a heartbeat. The master bed/bath is like your private mini inside cabin. You then have another bedroom and bathroom for the kids to use. The family room/sitting area was huge. There were more closets than both of my teen girls could fill so space is not an issue. PLUS you get 2 cruise C&A credits because it's a suite, plus concierge service and priorty check it. My vote would be for the RFS.

if you're accustomed to and comfortable with making your own travel arrangements without a TA, why not just go straight to RCL? You may need to call them instead of doing it online...

From reading through the boards it appears that through a TA or certain websites we might be able to get better pricing. Because we are paying for 6 people to go, that would be very helpful to us, more money for excursions.:)

Robin

From reading through the boards it appears that through a TA or certain websites we might be able to get better pricing. Because we are paying for 6 people to go, that would be very helpful to us, more money for excursions.:)

 

Robin

Travel agents (online or otherwise) are not permitted to give discounts on RCCL's cruise rates. Therefore, the price will be the same anywhere. Some TAs will give onboard credit or a free bottle of wine, etc. But before you book with any TA, I would ask these questions:

1. Do they charge a cancellation fee? You get 100 percent back if you cancel with RCCL before final payment date, but some TAs will charge you a fee if you cancel or even if you make changes to your reservation.

2. Will they honor price drops? If your cruise price drops and you've booked with RCCL, all you do is call them and they honor the price drop. Some TAs will not honor the price drops because it cuts into their commission.

If you have to book air, a travel agent will charge you a fee per person. It's best to book air on your own directly with the airline.

I personally like the idea of dealing directly with RCCL and handling my own reservation.

Also, if you choose to book with RCCL and want to book any cabin for more than four passengers, you will have to call them as you can't do it on their website.

Hi, We have stayed on the Brilliance and Granduer in Family Suites. We have 3 girls and found that the suite is perfect for 5. 6 should do well I wouldn't try to put 8 in, that would seem a bit tight. Another option is get ajoining rooms. You can get 2 different class rooms i.e. Junior suite with a regular balcony room. Good Luck

Hi! We are a family of 5 and found that adjoining cabin are great! The price difference was huge between a suite and two cabins. We had a balcony and the kids an oceanview and it was $1,200 less than the five of us in a suite.

Wow, you all are so wonderful with the info you have!! I'm sooo glad I just happened upon this website. LOL I was wondering if the adjoining might end up being less. I think what I need to do now is just start calling the cruise lines to get the different pricing. There are 3 cruise lines I'm interested in, but Royal Caribbean stood out because of the Family Suite.

Thanks to all of you for your helpfulness!!

Robin:D

And you get added privacy with 2 seperate rooms! It is a vacation, after all--privacy is a must!!!!