Family of 5 - Cabin Options

I am new to the board, and I am hoping that the rest of you can share your cruising experience with me. My husband and I would love to take our three children on a cruise, and I am having a horrible time determining our cabin options. Due to the ages of our children, we must have either connecting cabins or one large cabin that will accomodate our family of five. I am leaning toward selecting a Royal Caribbean cruise in hopes of traveling in a Royal Family Suite or a Family Oceanview Stateroom.

What do other families do when they are trying to accomodate five?

I would try and book connecting rooms so you can have a little privacy at night and with 2 rooms you have more closet space and another bathroom. Believe me you'll need both with a family of 5. When are you looking to travel and which ship, maybe I can help more.

When I was traveling as a family of 5-- we booked the cheapest category for a cruise-- always wanted to take a cruise but prices dictate what we had to do-- we booked an inside cabin on the Sensation. It saved me over 700.00 to book 1 cabin compared to booking 2.

We were in the room to sleep- the boys took showers in the gym.

Most of carnival ships let you book 5 in a room except Conquest class and Spirit class ships.

I was not aware that Carnival allowed five in a cabin. I was under the assumption that they were like RCCL, Disney and Princess and had a max. capacity of four to a cabin.

My husband and I have sailed on Carnival and Crystal cruise lines (yes, I know, completely opposite spectrums), but never with children. We had hoped to take the kids on a Disney cruise during Spring Break (March) 2006 or (the first half of) Christmas Break 2006, but that line is just too expensive for us, right now, plus we would also have to pay for airfare for five. So we are now looking at Grandeur of the Seas out of New Orleans, because we can drive to that port in a reasonable amount of time.

I would prefer to not cruise on Carnival (been there, done that), Princess quoted me a ridiculous price (plus I found their representatives to be snotty and not very helpful), and I do not know anyone that has been on a Norwegian Cruise, so that scares me. By default, I wind up with Grandeur of the Seas. That is, of course, assuming that the Port of New Orleans is up and running in 2006.

I hate to tell you this but Grandeur won't be sailing out of New Orleans in the Spring but will instead be sailing out of Tampa. She will be sailing out of New Orleans by next Christmas though. Your options for Spring Break on RCI are drive to Tampa for Granduer (4 and 5 night sailings) or Legend (7-night sailings) or drive to Galveston for Rhapsody or Splendour. Currently there are some pretty good deals for Granduer next Spring due to the changes but the staterooms are going fast so it may no longer be available.

If you want to sail in one of the family staterooms on RCI you need to book as soon as possible as they fill up fast and there are very few of them. Your other option with a family of 5 is just to get a regular suite, like an owner's suite, and they will allow you to put a rollaway in there.

What you need to do is call a TA or the cruiselines themselves to see what is available since websites will only allow you to book up to 4 people in a room. The staterooms on RCI that are meant for 5 or more people won't even show up as available since they require at least 5 people to book.

And Serene is right. Certain Carnival ships, but not all, will allow a family of 5 to book into one stateroom. You just need to call and ask which ones.

There are some family suites on Princess that seem to have 2 bedrooms, but not sure if there are 2 bathrooms. that is the biggest problem with a suite for 5. You do get a living room area which is nice.

I hate to tell you this but Grandeur won't be sailing out of New Orleans in the Spring but will instead be sailing out of Tampa. She will be sailing out of New Orleans by next Christmas though. Your options for Spring Break on RCI are drive to Tampa for Granduer (4 and 5 night sailings) or Legend (7-night sailings) or drive to Galveston for Rhapsody or Splendour. Currently there are some pretty good deals for Granduer next Spring due to the changes but the staterooms are going fast so it may no longer be available.

 

If you want to sail in one of the family staterooms on RCI you need to book as soon as possible as they fill up fast and there are very few of them. Your other option with a family of 5 is just to get a regular suite, like an owner's suite, and they will allow you to put a rollaway in there.

 

What you need to do is call a TA or the cruiselines themselves to see what is available since websites will only allow you to book up to 4 people in a room. The staterooms on RCI that are meant for 5 or more people won't even show up as available since they require at least 5 people to book.

 

And Serene is right. Certain Carnival ships, but not all, will allow a family of 5 to book into one stateroom. You just need to call and ask which ones.

You can request a rollaway for an OS??:eek: :confused: We are a fam of 5 and did 2 rooms on our last cruise (because we thought that was the only option besides the $$$ suites). One room would certainly be cheaper than 2 - This means we could cruise again, possibly this spring or fall!!!

Can anyone else confirm this info? :)

~Connie

You can request a rollaway for an OS??:eek: :confused: We are a fam of 5 and did 2 rooms on our last cruise (because we thought that was the only option besides the $$$ suites). One room would certainly be cheaper than 2 - This means we could cruise again, possibly this spring or fall!!!

 

Can anyone else confirm this info? :)

~Connie

FORGET THAT! Just checked RCCL's prices :( I'm gonna stick with 2 insides LOL. I'll miss the balcony but not enough to wait until I can afford it again! Besides, with 3 girls we NEED that extra bathroom!!! :rolleyes:

~Connie

What do other families do when they are trying to accomodate five?

Celebrity Cruises have inside and outside cabins that are are 20% larger than standard cabins and come furnished to sleep 5 (1 double bed, 2 single sofa beds, and 1 bunk bed that folds out of the wall). My family of 4 have been in one of those cabins on the Century and Mercury. Here are some photos to help you judge further:

Century aft outside Cat 3

Galaxy aft outside FO 1156

Mercury aft outside FO 1152 (our cabin)

Galaxy inside Cat 10 8257

Galaxy inside Cat 9 1137

Disadvantages with these cabins: no balcony and only 1 bathroom to share.

just got back from majesty of the seas.

i went with 9 others. we had 2 ocean view triples and it was fine.

we also had an inside cabin that was a quad and it was not only very very very cramped but very claustrophic. i would suggest 2 ocean view connected rooms. they do have some on the 6th floor of the majesty.

only problem i had with the 6th floor is that you are right underneath the jogging track so at times it sounded like people were marching on your head.

We also have 5 and have found that taking a air mattress for the youngest ( or the last kid to come into the room) worked for us. It didn't take up as much space as a rollaway and my kids thought it was more comfortable than the rollaway. We were in a Grand Suite out of Galveston ( booked at the 60 day mark). During the day we just stood the air mattress up against the wall. Just a thought. Good Luck.

This time it was cheaper to get 2 inside rooms as every day we are at a different island and won't be in the room.

Hey 38018

This was a big point for me also. Hang on, you're not alone! We have a family of 5 and have booked the Celebrity Summit cabin 7199; it is a large FV with balcony, aft corner, and supposedly much larger than some of the suites. It also has a sliding door which separates the main bedroom from the sleeping area. Our kids are 13, 12, and 6.

Granted, we do have an "escape route" planned, which is via the grandparent's cabin, where we can stick one or two of the more bothersome children! But from what I hear from the GP's, they plan to be up on our large veranda sightseeing...

Then again, this is our first family cruise, so maybe you shouldn't be listening to me.

My sister, also on the cruise, has planned two adjoining OV cabins. That particular setup cost over $2500 more than the FV, but she does have that extra bathroom. Her kids are still in diapers so it's a moot point.

I like the air mattress idea for the youngest; the problem with sending the extra kids to the GP's cabin is that (as you may surmise from other posts) not all senior citizens are on a cruise to babysit.

There are 5 of us and we always book 2 inside cabins.

We are sailing on"The NEW" Enchantment of the Seas. They have new Family state rooms, inside and ocean view. The interior only runs about 2500.00 for a 5 night. Has anyone heard of these cabins?

Hi! Our family of 5 has sailed Carnival twice in an inside cabin. They have two upper bunks, two lower twins and a rollaway. Lots of storage space too. The 5th person on a 4 night was $99. 7 nights was $149. You'll love it!!

Not all carnival ships sleep 5 to one cabin..the newer ships spirit class and conquest canonly fit 4.

How come family suites costs so much more then a reg cabin?

I was not aware that Carnival allowed five in a cabin. I was under the assumption that they were like RCCL, Disney and Princess and had a max. capacity of four to a cabin.

 

My husband and I have sailed on Carnival and Crystal cruise lines (yes, I know, completely opposite spectrums), but never with children. We had hoped to take the kids on a Disney cruise during Spring Break (March) 2006 or (the first half of) Christmas Break 2006, but that line is just too expensive for us, right now, plus we would also have to pay for airfare for five. So we are now looking at Grandeur of the Seas out of New Orleans, because we can drive to that port in a reasonable amount of time.

 

I would prefer to not cruise on Carnival (been there, done that), Princess quoted me a ridiculous price (plus I found their representatives to be snotty and not very helpful), and I do not know anyone that has been on a Norwegian Cruise, so that scares me. By default, I wind up with Grandeur of the Seas. That is, of course, assuming that the Port of New Orleans is up and running in 2006.

On Disney you can get a deluxe family stateroom that sleeps 5. Quite a nice cabin. Loved the split bathroom.

We are sailing on"The NEW" Enchantment of the Seas. They have new Family state rooms, inside and ocean view. The interior only runs about 2500.00 for a 5 night. Has anyone heard of these cabins?

I just booked 2 OV staterooms on the Enchantment. The only family suite I saw was interior. I opted for the view and the extra bathroom. It was worth the price difference for me , and I don't think it was very much.

Thanks

That would be great except we booked Feb 1 for the end of Feb and there were no connecting. Maybe we should waitlist.

I realized today that I had not come back to this thread in a bit (I've been having a lot of problems getting into the threads lately).

After checking out prices for the five of us, it was evident that we could not afford to travel during Spring Break (in our case, mid-March) 2006. After this year's hurricane season, I wasn't willing to book a cruise during the kids' summer vacation, so that left me with Christmas Break. We are currently booked on Grandeur of the Seas on December 16, 2006. Since we can drive to the Port of New Orleans, we are able to save on the additional air cost, which was being quoted at $349 per person.

I really, really wanted to book a Royal Family Suite. A RCCL customer service rep. informed me that was the only type of cabin on Grandeur that would accomodate my family of five. The total cost was going to be $4,032. Even though we would have loved the extra space, and the balcony, I just couldn't justify it. We really needed the two bathrooms, especially since our oldest daughter will be thirteen at the time, and is already obsessed with her appearance. We wound up booking the lowest category oceanview stateroom (Cat I) with connecting rooms for less than $2,700. HUGE difference. I could have saved more money by booking an inside room, but I really wanted the window. (Maybe we'll get lucky and get bumped up to a balcony room. One can only dream.)

We are in the same boat. (pun intended). It seems the best bet is connecting rooms.

It depends on the age of the kids. We were on MIracle Jan 15-22, 2006. We are a family of 5, but we put my oldest in her grandparent's room on paper, but she slept, dressed, etc with us. OUr kids are almost 3 (in a week), 6.5 yrs, and 11.5 yrs. We had absolutely no problems wtih the 5 of us in 1 cabin. The youngest slept with me, dh in the other twin bottom, the older 2 were in the upper 2 bunks. I would not have put the youngest on an upper bunk anyway. The amount of time we were in the cabin was TINY!! It worked well for us and saved us a ton of money. The bathroom had plenty of storage space. If we had 3 teen girls, would probably think differently, but if your kids are younger, then 5 in a cabin can work.