Help with booking Epic for a family of 4, two cabins what are the perks?

We are a family of 4 considering sailing on the Epic in December 2019 out of Puerto Rico. There are no available cabins for 4 except suites and we do not want to spend that kind of money. The 7 day cruise is port intensive with only one sea day. My inlaws will also be joining us, so a total of 6 people. I thought about booking a cabin of 3 for us and a cabin of 3 for my inlaws with the hope that we could switch to a cabin of 4 if someone cancels. When I price out a cabin of 4 a different week (with similar fares to our week) a balcony cabin for 4 would be around $4000. However I stated looking at photos of the cabins and noticed the weird couch bed and then the 4th bed right in the middle. I do not like the look of this so now I am considering 2 cabins for our family of 4. My boys will be newly 11 and almost 10. To date we have always shared a cabin since they are currently 9 and 8. Would you book a balcony and an inside or 2 balconies? The price for a balcony and inside right across is $4200 and for two balconies is $4900. But an extra perk for the balcony. Can I book my 2 kids by themselves or does it need to be an adult and kid in each room? My thought here is could I book my balcony with the drink and Dining and then their room with wifi and dining and my husband and I would both have the drink package? Also I like the thought of opening the divider to both balconies and having a larger balcony. Do all the balcony dividers open on the Epic? At this time there are also no connecting rooms left.

Questions I need help with....

1. Do all the dividers on balconies open?

2. Thoughts on 2 balconies vs a balcony and an inside

3. When I book do I have to book my husband and a child and me and a child. How does this work with the drinking package since my sons don't need it.

4. Should I worry so much about having the boys across the hall?

We cruise with two girls 15 and 11 now.. The last couple of cruises we book 2 rooms. You have to have an adult in both rooms. By the way, after getting them their own room we will never go back to sharing. Worth the extra just to not have us stress over their mess.

1. yes, and no. The new policy is not to open them. On our last two NCL cruises we went to the guest relations manager and told them we have children in both rooms, and need faster access as they are not connected. They did not want to open them, but in the end did. Your room attendant will not open them. We also got extra keys for each room.

2. Wife wanted rooms next to each other, so we went 2 balconies or mini

3. All party's in the same room will need the same packages. So yea, they both will end up with the drink package.

4. Thats all you....

Every cruise line will require at least one adult to be booked into each room; I imagine you can switch rooms for actual sleeping arrangements. I wouldn't let my kids be in a room across the hall from me and DH but that's just me.

By the way, when you said there were no connecting rooms left is that from calling NCL? I only ask b/c it seems like there may be some in the B3 category for the one Dec 2019 sailing I checked.

Can I book my 2 kids by themselves or does it need to be an adult and kid in each room?

An adult needs to be booked in each stateroom. People can sleep wherever they want.

My thought here is could I book my balcony with the drink and Dining and then their room with wifi and dining and my husband and I would both have the drink package?

No.

The adult/child combo each needs to have the same promo. The child's UBP becomes the soda program once the child's age is added and a lower service charge vs. the UBP.

Also I like the thought of opening the divider to both balconies and having a larger balcony. Do all the balcony dividers open on the Epic?

NCL policy is that the dividers are not to be opened for passenger enjoyment. The dividers serve a fire safety purpose.

By the way, when you said there were no connecting rooms left is that from calling NCL? I only ask b/c it seems like there may be some in the B3 category for the one Dec 2019 sailing I checked.

I didn't call yet. We are looking at the Dec. 15 2019 cruise. From looking on site, I found only aft balcony that were connecting/adjoining rooms.

We have 4 kids and have recently sailed on 2 Breakaway cruises out of NY and have an Epic cruise in the Med booked for next year. In all 3 cases, we booked 2 connecting cabins with 1 adult, 2 kids in one and 1 adult, 2 kids in the other. We sleep in one cabin and all 4 kids sleep in the other.