Photos of 4 person cabin with drop down bunks - Aloha Deck (A430) on CB

Hello all,

Before our cruise a few weeks ago on the CB, I scoured the internet looking for photos of the 4 person balcony cabins. I found one lonely picture. I thought I would take a few on our trip to give others an idea. I was torn between booking a minisuite or a balcony. We were two adults and two younger children. In hindsight, we are happy we booked the balcony as we were able to use the extra money we saved on tips, gifts and goodies. Remember, tips run $70 per person, so almost $300 for a family of four (yes, the kids get charged the same amount).

Anyway, the plus of having a 4 person balcony was saving money...lots of negatives, but as I said in our case, we justified it in saving $$. During the day, if you are a family of nappers, forget it...you only have two "bunks", the bottom ones available, although the steward will leave the top back bunk halfway out of the ceiling, so that you can just pull it down if you need it. The steward brings down the bunks after evening turndown service, so don't expect to hang out in your cabin after dinner, except to get ready for bed (but it was nice hanging out on the balcony then...kids loved that right before bed). If you like to watch tv in bed before going to sleep or in the morning...forget it...the one bunk closest to the balcony blocks the tv for all the beds..there are two chairs in the room by the balcony door; you could feasilbly sit there and watch if you like. Also, not a lot of movement in the room because of the ladders and bunks in the way...we ended up putting the ladders at the ends of the beds, as we were always tripping over them. Be careful sitting up in bed...if you are tall, you will hit your head on the top bunk...plus my little one hit his head twice just walking by the bunk...they are that low! One other minor point, the bottom beds are kept apart, so if you like to cuddle with hubby, it won't happen there...BUT, I am sure you can ask the steward to put them together for you...but we thought it would be a hassle, then he'd have to climb on our bed to make bunks and less floor space to move around when the bunks are down, etc...so we just accepted as is.

Here are some photos of the bunks dropped down (the kids loved sleeping up there..each bunk also had its own light).

Note: Photos already submitted to cruisestateroom.com (you get 50cents per photo upload)

It looks like that last picture, where the bunk is almost closed, still has one of the young'uns in it. Kiddie Jail???!!:D

Thank you so much for posting these. I'll be on the CB in just over 2 weeks in cabin A432, which is just next door to the one you stayed in, so I really appreciate the pictures.

I know our room is going to be crowded but my main concern is how near the room is to the elevators. Did you experience much elevator noise on your cruise? - SF

Thank you for posting the pictures. I have looked everywhere for pics also. We stayed in a four person inside cabin on the CB before, but I wanted to see if they were set up differently.

Thank you so much for posting these. I'll be on the CB in just over 2 weeks in cabin A432, which is just next door to the one you stayed in, so I really appreciate the pictures.

 

I know our room is going to be crowded but my main concern is how near the room is to the elevators. Did you experience much elevator noise on your cruise? - SF

I also appreciate the pictures. I have A431 on the Oct. 7th sailing and am going with my 2 daughters. At least we only need 1 of the pull downs and can use to one that doesn't block the tv.

SF are you on my sailing?

Actually, while they are close to the elevators, they are a few cabins down where the noise isn't much of a bother. You won't hear the echoing or the dinging of the elevators at all.

I wish I were back in this cabin......... :')

Thanks for posting the pics. I was trying to explain this configuration to a client (newbie cruiser) and she just couldn't imagine it. This will help. Thanks!

ewheelock,

Yes, I'm on the 0ct. 7th cruise also. It looks like I'll be right across the hall from you in A432. I'm sharing a cabin with my brother and his family. (Snakelover)

The pull down beds look shorter in length than a regular bed. Does anyone know if this is the case? - SF

In one of the pictures the beds seem shorter but the last 2 it looks to be the same length as the regular beds.

I am elected to sleep in the drop down bunk since my dd's get sea sick more easily but I think that I will like it because I like to read and there is a light up there and maybe it won't bother them.

Sierra Fox, looking forward to seeing you and your brothers family, it isn't very long now!

We had similar cabin on Crown...Riviera R333. We were three and occasionally 4 when my grandaughter stayed in our room. During the day its was ok with them up. At night they put them down while you're at dinner, and it is really difficult getting around. They are right about the TV, no watching from bed with both bunks down. The top bunks are ok for small children. They are smaller than the bottom ones (not a lot), and my 6 ft son slept with his feet hanging over.

is this the 7th Oct Roll call?!...

My three children are going to be sharing a room. The youngest was very concerned about the "bunk" scenario. Having seen the photographs, she's a lot happier - and very suprised that someone comes into the room to turn the beds down. Oh well, they'll have to keep their room tidy - for a change....

BD

Thank you very much for sharing your photos. I am going with 2 15 year old as well as 2 of us. I only have a triple with a rollaway bed coming in. It's going to be interesting!

Nifty. How many rooms have this configuration available? We ended up booking adjacent balconies because we coudn't find an affordable cabin for 4 on the CB.

Wow, lots of replies! To answer some of your questions. I was worried about the elevators too...but there is a wall between the elevator bank and the hallway...I rarely heard foot traffic and at night, it was actually calming to hear the ding of the elevator every now and then...right when we went to bed...so it never did wake me up. I'd say it is not a problem. I honestly thought I would hear more folks running back and forth. I do hate the way the doors slam when you leave, but a made a conscious effort to close them gently...i know someone else on our cruise had a neighbor who was constantly letting theirs slam and it bothered her.

In the last photo...it looks deceiving, but the bunks are DOWN in that photo...one whole side of each bunk has a wall, so that's why they look so enclosed..if you look at the other photos, they are open towards the inside, ie between the beds...you can see how low it is between the bottom beds and the top.

I didn't really notice the lengths of the beds being different...but now that you mention it, they may have been only a few inches shorter than the bottom bunks...not too much.

Oh, and how they do these four person cabins...if you look at the ship plans, they are limited in the balcony, outside and inside categories...it looks like there are four on each side of the ship by the middle elevators...on each deck that has those category rooms...I know when we sailed, 2 months out, those rooms were all gone. We would've had to have booked a mini after that (with pull out couches) instead.

Hey Thanks very much for the photos that was exactly what we were looking for - we were having a hard time understanding where those burths would be. Really appreciate that.

I think my DS was better off in his triple balcony on Ruby A703. The bed configuration was a queen size with one pull down bed above it for one child and a rollaway bed which was brought in every evening for the second child. During the day the two kids siesta'd on the queen size bed:D

Thank you very much for sharing your photos. I am going with 2 15 year old as well as 2 of us. I only have a triple with a rollaway bed coming in. It's going to be interesting!

As I say that is what my DS had on our recent cruise. The rollaway bed is quite a good size and, in fact, one night my 6'2" son slept in it quite comfortably. The pull down bed is a good size as well.

If you go with the rollaway, then at least everyone can see the television which is in the corner of the room, although there is less room to move around the cabin at night.

We found the quad cabins to be very expensive b/c of 3rd/4th passenger rates being almost as high as 1st/2nd. Here's an idea for those that haven't booked yet.

Even though we have 2 small boys (5 &7) we booked a balcony cabin + an interior directly across the hall. The TA has 1 adult/1 child per cabin. This will give us extra beds, an extra bathroom, and a little extra space. Also if anyone wants to nap the interior cabin will be nice & dark and the others can be in the balcony cabin. We obviously will not have the kids sleeping alone in the cabin at night, but will trade off one of us with one kid each night. I mean how romantic can you be anyway with 2 kids sleeping above you?!

The 1st/2nd rate for the interior was significantly less ($200+pp!) than 3rd/4th in a quad cabin. The ships can only have so many 3/4 passenger rooms due to coast guard regs so they book fast, and cost more.

Hope that helps someone!

Christie

Hello all,

 

Before our cruise a few weeks ago on the CB, I scoured the internet looking for photos of the 4 person balcony cabins. I found one lonely picture. I thought I would take a few on our trip to give others an idea. I was torn between booking a minisuite or a balcony. We were two adults and two younger children. In hindsight, we are happy we booked the balcony as we were able to use the extra money we saved on tips, gifts and goodies. Remember, tips run $70 per person, so almost $300 for a family of four (yes, the kids get charged the same amount).

 

Anyway, the plus of having a 4 person balcony was saving money...lots of negatives, but as I said in our case, we justified it in saving $$. During the day, if you are a family of nappers, forget it...you only have two "bunks", the bottom ones available, although the steward will leave the top back bunk halfway out of the ceiling, so that you can just pull it down if you need it. The steward brings down the bunks after evening turndown service, so don't expect to hang out in your cabin after dinner, except to get ready for bed (but it was nice hanging out on the balcony then...kids loved that right before bed). If you like to watch tv in bed before going to sleep or in the morning...forget it...the one bunk closest to the balcony blocks the tv for all the beds..there are two chairs in the room by the balcony door; you could feasilbly sit there and watch if you like. Also, not a lot of movement in the room because of the ladders and bunks in the way...we ended up putting the ladders at the ends of the beds, as we were always tripping over them. Be careful sitting up in bed...if you are tall, you will hit your head on the top bunk...plus my little one hit his head twice just walking by the bunk...they are that low! One other minor point, the bottom beds are kept apart, so if you like to cuddle with hubby, it won't happen there...BUT, I am sure you can ask the steward to put them together for you...but we thought it would be a hassle, then he'd have to climb on our bed to make bunks and less floor space to move around when the bunks are down, etc...so we just accepted as is.

 

Here are some photos of the bunks dropped down (the kids loved sleeping up there..each bunk also had its own light).

 

Note: Photos already submitted to cruisestateroom.com (you get 50cents per photo upload)

 

 

 

 

Thanks! That definately helps.

Thanks for posting that, confirmed that we will go with 2 cabins for the 4 of us. With DH at 6'4", DS15 6'1" and DS10 5'0" and I'm a klutz, we spend a lot of time in the medical center with banged heads. :D