1st post! Family of 5 in one room?

Hi there!

We are a family of 5. 3 kids. At the time of our cruise the kids will be 5 and 4 ( twins).

We haven't chosen our cruise yet. We are going on a cruise for my parents 50 year wedding anniversary. (July 2014) I'm trying to be the planner because I have the youngest kids, and 2 of my kids have autism. I'm trying to find what works best for my family.

1. There are 5 of us. Are there any cruises that allow 5 people without having to get a suite or 2 staterooms?

2. My twins have autism. Which cruise do you think is the most understanding of kids with disabilities?

3. We are not willing to fly, so we must leave out on NY, NJ, Boston or Maryland. Do any cruise lines have half price or at least a lower price for kids?

Thanks everyone!!

Hi there!

We are a family of 5. 3 kids. At the time of our cruise the kids will be 5 and 4 ( twins).

We haven't chosen our cruise yet. We are going on a cruise for my parents 50 year wedding anniversary. (July 2014) I'm trying to be the planner because I have the youngest kids, and 2 of my kids have autism. I'm trying to find what works best for my family.

1. There are 5 of us. Are there any cruises that allow 5 people without having to get a suite or 2 staterooms?

2. My twins have autism. Which cruise do you think is the most understanding of kids with disabilities?

3. We are not willing to fly, so we must leave out on NY, NJ, Boston or Maryland. Do any cruise lines have half price or at least a lower price for kids?

 

Thanks everyone!!

1. Some rooms on RCCL's Grandeur of the Seas (Baltimore), Explorer of the Seas (Bayonne, NJ), NCL and Carnival ships (both NYC) can sleep 5. You generally have to call the cruise line for those rooms (at least on RCCL) because they won't show on the website.

2. See autismontheseas.com

3. 3rd, 4th (and 5th) passengers in a stateroom will pay less than the first and second passengers. NCL will more often have kids sail free promotions, but not likely in July.

We sailed out of NYC on Norwegian when kids were free (had to pay taxes) but this was during the fall (off season). I could be wrong but i dont think you will find something like this during summer.

And we sailed when we were kids with my parents with 5 in a room on Carnival. 2 bunk beds and a cot. Was very crowded.

Don't discount getting CONNECTING rooms.....it's just like a 2 room space! Immediate access without going out of the room...the connecting door can stay opened or you can close it for privacy.

Ship cabins are notoriously small....

We can't afford 2 rooms. What we may do is have one kid claim to be part of my sister's room, but they will still sleep with us.

I posted in another thread. Norwegian Breakaway (brand new ship) sail out of New York to Bermuda in the summer and they have the 214 sq ft family oceanview stateroom that can sleep 5 max. It has a tub, double sink and two faucets. 3rd/4th/5th passenger charge lower fee than the 1st/2nd passenger, regardless of age.

This is a picture from NCL's website:

Here is a post from further down the page dealing with your question:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1835364

None of the Carnival ships sailing from your preferred ports have cabins for 5. EM

Now that our older 2 no longer cruise with us, we always cruise as a family of 5. We have been on both Carnival (Grand Suites, Ocean View, & Deluxe Ocean View) & Disney (Deluxe Family Oceanview Stateroom with Verandah).

Carnival Dream ( Port Canaveral) has ocean view rooms for 5 that are nice and also affordable. They also have 2 bathrooms. You can book these rooms from the website. Although PC is outside of your list of ports, its really not a bad drive and is the northern most Florida port. Carnival is known to have some of the best kids clubs.

Check out the pricing for 2 staterooms. We just cruised last week and just out of curiousity i looked it up and it was $2000 for 2 rooms, 2 of us in each room or $1800 for 4 of us in a room, so only $200 more. Not sure if thats normal but i was surprised that it wasnt that much more. We still went with 1 room but thats because my kids are only 2 and 3 and one was in a crib and the other likes to wake in the middle of the night to sleep with me. In a few years we will probably go the 2 room route if we can get connecting.

We have two trips planned and on both we booked connecting rooms. On our upcoming trip it was only $90 more to book 2 rooms verses one room, and on our trip for next summer it was less than that.

Last year on NCL we book connecting rooms on paid about $200 more. The extra space and bathroom was so worth it. It was also good because one of our children still nap, so she could nap in one room with the connecting door open while I read or did whatever in the other room. She won't nap if she can see anyone.

It might be worth checking out.

Our family of 6 recently sailed on freedom in a family promenade stateroom. It was only $60 more than the 2 interior rooms we originally book. It had a queen sized pullout sofa (was hard but comfortable. I slept in it one night with my 3 yr old) & a seperate area seperated by a curtain with bunk beds in addition to the main queen bed. Plus 2 large windows & window seats overlooking the promenade. There was a couple days my 3 & 5 yr olds insited on sleeping on the window seats & did. They're still small enough that they were sble to stretch out.

Now we did have to have 2 reservations. Rci said the max to a reservation is 4 so we spilt 3 & 3. So we had to pay the 1st & 2nd passenger price, twice. Didnt like that at all....but what can you do?

Been there! Been there been there been there :D. Best cruise ever. Carnival Elation, me (mom) and four of my five sons in a quad cabin with a rollaway. We had the two twin beds with two bunks configuration with a trundle bed (smaller than normal twin). There are only a few of those per ship, and only on certain ships, so you have to book ahead, but they are cheap and fun. You could easily have the twin beds be a king and put the kids in the bunks and rollaway. It's tight but it's so fun. Can't address the autism issue but there are plenty of threads on that.

Good luck and have fun!

We decided to get adjoining rooms with my sister, who has 1 child. There will be 7 of us between 2 rooms. That should help, I hope!

Adjoining or connecting?

Adjoining cabins share a wall, connecting cabins share an interior door.

Connecting! Thank you :)

Explorer of the Seas has a Family Oceanview Stateroom that can sleep up to 6 people. That ship currently goes out of Bayonne. Royal is very family friendly. NCL also has the Breakaway out of NY. They have a family oceanview as well. I think those may be your best bets.

Definitely check out Autism of the Seas. They were a great help. I used their services when I went on The Liberty of the Seas with my DD who also has autism. They can even arrange a separate muster drill for you. :) They helped me even though I did not book through them. I got social stories, PECS icons, schedules, etc. I would definitely contact them. They may even give you suggestions on which ship would be the best fit for your family. BTW my DD used the nursery on the Liberty of the Seas and they were beyond excellent with her!

You need to check out the cruise lines and ships carefully. I don't know if many have rooms that can sleep 5. Some that do are the more expensive "family suites." Two inside rooms may not cost any more than a room that sleeps 5.

Several of the older Carnival ships will still accommodate 5 people.

We have been on 14 Carnival cruises with our child with autism. If you need information about what to ask for to help you have a good cruise I would be happy to share my experience with you. He has cruised from age 18m - 10 years.

1. Some rooms on RCCL's Grandeur of the Seas (Baltimore), Explorer of the Seas (Bayonne, NJ), NCL and Carnival ships (both NYC) can sleep 5. You generally have to call the cruise line for those rooms (at least on RCCL) because they won't show on the website.

 

 

 

2. See autismontheseas.com

 

 

 

3. 3rd, 4th (and 5th) passengers in a stateroom will pay less than the first and second passengers. NCL will more often have kids sail free promotions, but not likely in July.

Hi there!

I just got back from a cruise with autism on the seas. I just wanted to thank you for suggestion them to me. It was may of last year, you responded to my post about choosing a cruise. I really appreciated your suggestion. They made our cruise a great time.

If you don't mind sharing, where did you first hear of them? I'm writing a letter to the owner right now, and I'm letting him know how I heard of them.

Thank you again!

Tracey

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

Check out the pricing for 2 staterooms. We just cruised last week and just out of curiousity i looked it up and it was $2000 for 2 rooms, 2 of us in each room or $1800 for 4 of us in a room, so only $200 more. Not sure if thats normal but i was surprised that it wasnt that much more. We still went with 1 room but thats because my kids are only 2 and 3 and one was in a crib and the other likes to wake in the middle of the night to sleep with me. In a few years we will probably go the 2 room route if we can get connecting.

We are a family of 5 and normally get 2 cabins, and normally the price is close if not lower. Cabin that hold 4 or 5 can have a higher 1st and 2 nd passenger rate in some cases, pricing two cabins with a lower price 1st and 2 nd passenger rate could wouk out cheaper.

We have done 5 in a balcony room more than once. Worked out so well we did it again. We also camp 5 in a tent, raft with 5 in the boat, sleep 5 in a hotel room, and ride 5 in a car. Our family likes being together. Do what works for your family.

We did a Carnival cruise a few years ago with 5 of us in the room. Snug but worked just fine (kids were 4,5,7). This year we have two more children so were going with two connecting rooms and with NCL as the kids were free so the two rooms were actually very reasonable.