Best cabin(s) for family of 5 on Infinity?

[CarolinaMamma]

We are considering an Alaska cruise this July or August. My husband and I have 3 kids, who will be 12, 8 and 6 as of this summer. They are probably too young to be in a non-adjoining rooms, so we are considering adjoining rooms or the elusive aft family verandah staterooms.

 

How hard is it to get these family verandah cabins? Do we stand a chance?

 

How much, ballpark could we expect to pay for them in July or August with 5 people? Seems impossible to find any published prices.

 

Would 2 adjoining cabins be more expensive than the family verandah cabin? We would consider inside rooms, although I am a little nervous about that, as one of my kids is prone to motion sickness. Would prefer outside or balcony.

 

Given that we are going to need adjoining rooms or the family verandah room, are we better off going with a TA or calling Celebrity directly? I don't mind doing the work. Just looking for the best deal.

 

I'm also interested in other families' experiences with kids on Celebrity. How was the kids club? Has anyone used the in cabin babysitting? Anything else we should consider?

 

We are also looking at HAL Oosterdam.

 

Thanks for your help.

 

-Emily

[kitty9]

Have you looked at Celebrity's website? The prices are right there for Alaska cruises. For example, balcony cabins start at around $1500 and go to $1900 per person depending on what date you select. The kids, if you share a cabin, are either $499 or $599 per person. If they get their own cabin, two will pay the full fare and the third will pay the reduced rate. You can't book online with 5 passengers, so you have to call for prices IF you can even book a FV, which is pretty unlikely seeing those are usually booked at least 10 months out. And you may have waited too long to get connecting cabins either. I just did a check of 8 Alaska cruises, and none had a FV cabin available.

 

You really shouldn't need the in cabin sitting, at $19 an hour, as your kids could use the club in the evening. The only charge there would be after 10pm, and it's a lot cheaper than the $19.

[CarolinaMamma]

Thanks. Yes, I've been to the site and looked at the prices. I can easily price out adjoining cabins, but have no idea what they charge for the FV with 5 people, so no way to compare the 2.

 

From what I have read on these boards, they don't list the FV cabins on their site, even if they might have them available, because they are waiting for families of 5. If one of these cabins were available and cost less than 2 outside adjoining rooms, it would probably be the deciding factor in choosing celebrity over HAL.

 

Our dates are flexible as long as school is out. Heck, we could even save this trip for summer 2013. Just trying to figure out availability and price of FV make it worthwhile to choose this ship over others. If it's going to be same price as adjoining rooms, then we have more options, as lots of ships have adjoining rooms.

[SusieV]

You will have to call either Celebrity or a TA to get pricing for the FV cabins. They don't post those online until much closer to sailing, when they open them up for groups of 2.

[fleckle]

We are considering an Alaska cruise this July or August. My husband and I have 3 kids, who will be 12, 8 and 6 as of this summer. They are probably too young to be in a non-adjoining rooms, so we are considering adjoining rooms or the elusive aft family verandah staterooms.

 

How hard is it to get these family verandah cabins? Do we stand a chance?

 

How much, ballpark could we expect to pay for them in July or August with 5 people? Seems impossible to find any published prices.

 

Would 2 adjoining cabins be more expensive than the family verandah cabin? We would consider inside rooms, although I am a little nervous about that, as one of my kids is prone to motion sickness. Would prefer outside or balcony.

 

Given that we are going to need adjoining rooms or the family verandah room, are we better off going with a TA or calling Celebrity directly? I don't mind doing the work. Just looking for the best deal.

 

I'm also interested in other families' experiences with kids on Celebrity. How was the kids club? Has anyone used the in cabin babysitting? Anything else we should consider?

 

We are also looking at HAL Oosterdam.

 

Thanks for your help.

 

-Emily

I would consider it too crowded to put 2 adults into an FV with 3 children of those ages on Infinity, or any other M-class ship. There is very little privacy as there is just a sliding divider with translucent panels that separates the room into 2 sections.

 

There is only one bathroom. The parents' bedroom area is closest to the bathroom. The children sleep on couches in the sitting area, in the part of the room closest to the balcony.

 

So you lose the use of the sitting area if the children go to sleep before you do and you need to walk through the area where they are sleeping to get to and from the balcony.

 

Also, the children need to walk through the bedroom area where the parents sleep to get to and from the bathroom or the closets.

 

It would be a lot more comfortable for everyone to get 2 connecting cabins instead. If you want to save money, you can get one balcony cabin and an inside cabin across the hall for the children. That way you get a second bathroom, more storage space, and privacy.

 

It really depends on your comfort level, your budget and what type of accommodations you are accustomed to having on vacation. Some would be miserable having a family of 5 crammed into an FV on an M-class ship, while others who enjoy camping or vacationing in a trailer would be fine with it.

 

 

(The FV cabins on Celebrity's S-class ships are a different story. They are much better designed and actually have a small, separate bedroom for the children. So on those ships the adults still have full use of the living room after the children go to sleep.)

 

As for your booking question, booking with Celebrity directly gives you more freedom and flexibility, but a TA can give you additional onboard credits or other perks that you don't get from Celebrity.

 

Many people like to book with Celebrity directly first, then take their time to shop around to see which TA will give them the best perks.

You have 60 days from the time of booking with Celebrity to transfer your booking to a TA of your choice.

[northwoods2]

I think the FV would work great for a couple with kids of those ages. I know we preferred having our kids in the same cabin when they were that age. We are sailing on the Millennium in July to Alaska in a FV. The cost for the first 2 passengers is $4397. The cost for 3rd,4th,5th should be $949 each. And I know on our sailing there are still plenty of these rooms available. Just call Celebrity.

[CarolinaMamma]

Thank you for the helpful info.

 

We are not really into being squished into a small space, but the balcony just looks so awesome...

 

Knowing a ballpark price is really helpful, too, so I can factor that in when considering connecting cabins.

 

The inside-outside combo is a great idea for when they are a little older. For now I think I would like them where I can hear them.

 

Thanks again!

 

Emily

[junglejane]

We have a family of 4, and we have done connecting cabins on Infinity (connecting oceanviews), Summit and Equinox (connecting balconies). Connecting rooms have worked great for us. We never tried the FV so I can't compare, but unless it works out cheaper, I would prefer the connecting rooms if for no other reason than to have two bathrooms. It really helps. You get the benefit of having the kids where you can easily see them, but you still have your own separate space.

 

Our kids are now 15 and 10, so we are willing to try an outside/inside combo next time. But for our recent Equinox cruise, the insides were not that much cheaper than the 2C balconies, so we went with two connecting 2C's.

[bestmom1]

As already posted, you need to call your TA and ask for the FV. Celebrity holds them back for families of five until closer to sailing when they open them to smaller groups.

 

We always sail with our DD who is now 13, and we had a corner FV on Infinity when we did the South America itn. The balcony is large enough to hold a square dance, and you can see both sides of the ship. For Alaska, the balcony is totally worth it. You will also pay less than you would for two separate balcony 1A cabins. The beds are trundle beds rather than fold out couches, so you can still move around, and DD said it was very comfortable. There is a triple closet, plus cabinets and drawers in the sitting room. And, if you get a corner, you have a private hallway where you can stash empty suitcases, wet shoes, umbrellas, etc.

 

Down sides are privacy, and only one bathroom. However, I think I recall that the toilet was in a small WC so someone could be using the sink area at the same time. I'm not 100% sure about that.

 

Run, do not walk, to the phone and call your TA. In order of desirability:

1. Corner FV on deck 7 or 8.

2. Corner FV on deck 9 (Mast bar is over you) can hear deck chairs being drug in the AM.

3. non-corner FV on deck 7 or 8

4. non-corner FV on deck 9

 

Or as suggested, call Celebrity and then transfer the booking to a TA within 60 days.

 

Liz

[siestaclaud]

Hi Emily -

 

We are just back from the Summit - same ship as Infinity. We have had aft cabins on both ships. Once with kids once without.

 

We have 4 kids and this was their third cruise. Here is what we have done in the past with them:

 

Carnival - first cruise with kids - got 2 adjoining cabins - outside - no balconies. I was scared to death someone was going to fly over the edge so we did not pick balconies for this trip. The rooms were nice with floor to ceiling windows. It was crazy with 4 kids They were little too - 3, 7, 10, 11. We used the kids club after early dinner to go to a show alone and on sea day.

 

Royal Caribbean - 2 aft balconies. This ship had a wide deck area right below our balcony so i did not fear anyone falling over. We had 3 kids in one room and adults and youngest kid in the other. Kids were 6, 10, 13 and 14 at the time. No problems - except kids wanted to stay out at kids programs that ran until 1 AM. Parents wanted to be in bed by 11! There was SO much to do for kids on this ship that my kids did not want to get off in ports to go on excursions! Good and bad!

 

Celebrity Summit - 2 aft balconies - Deck 7. Perfect! Same set up as Infinity. I think you would love this location on an Alaskan Cruise. The balconies are protected from the wind, huge and in a great location on the ship. Dining and kids clubs were in the back of the ship. Kids programs were good - but there were a lot of kids on our cruise so my kids met many new friends. The kids area was nice looking - we toured it - and my youngest participated in some of the organized activities. Older kids were given agends for the day of teen activities and dropped in when they could. They really liked this. There were some nice areas of the ship for them to hang out and later in ther evenings they would end up in the buffet together hanging out. I loved the balance of kids activities on this ship. We went on an excusrion every day with the kids and when we got back on the ship they would head to the pool to meet up with new friends or up to the basketball court. Ages this trip 10, 14, 16, 17. Older 3 wanted to stay out LATE every night.

 

I would get the aft balconies if you can and split up mom and dad in each cabin. Also there was a family aft right next to us with 2 girls 7 and 10. We could see the cabin divider, and the balcony was just as big as ours. I might try it with 3 little kids, but NOT with teens! It will be cramped but everyone will be together. Have fun!!

 

Claudia

[CarolinaMamma]

I called Celebrity and got some pricing info. FV will cost less than 2 balcony cabins but more than 1balcony+ inside directly across the hall. All are still available.

[Conrycol]

We have done the FV with my wife and 3 kids. Worked out great. If u can get a corner FV grab it now!!!! You won't be disappointed.

[siestaclaud]

FV corner or Aft balcony with interior across the hall would be my choices to save $$.

 

C

[CarolinaMamma]

Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who provided advice. Thanks to you all and some previous CC members who have posted about this, I was able to get a lot of information, and even pictures of the actual cabin I was looking at with beds for the kids folded out so I could see exactly how much room we would have. How awesome is that?

 

The first Celebrity rep I spoke with told me the cabin was 170 sq. ft. And my family would want to kill each other, but thanks to CC I knew he was wrong and that the cabin is larger than that. Another rep tried to tell me they were all corners, which I knew was not true. I really appreciated the advice about avoiding deck 9 because of 5 a.m. Chair moving above.

 

I just booked Infinity 8166 and am SO excited. It is so nice to be confident of our decision based on the pics and real life experiences of others. Dh and I wanted a balcony but did not want our kids to have their own balcony, as our youngest daughter will have just turned 6, and we also did not quite feel comfortable putting them in their own room across the hall.

 

I don't know if it Is kosher to post what you paid on these boards, but I did compare all three options -2 connecting verandas, verandah or concierge plus inside triple across the hall, and the family verandah. All 3 options were within about $1,200 of each other, with connecting verandas most expensive, FV in the idle, and verandah or concierge + inside triple the least expensive.

 

Hope i am not breaking any CC rules by posting this, but, for anyone interested...We are paying $7544 for 5 ppl in FV in August, when school is out. I'm sure better rates could be had during the school year, or maybe by waiting, but I did not want to pass up one of thee cabins. I guess we won't know if there is a price drop since they don't publish rates for these rooms. They quoted us $2,199 per adult on this.

 

I booked directly with Celebrity. I think I am too much of a control freak to not be able to call them about my own reservation.

 

Sooooo excited about this cabin & our cruise!

[ASASJ5]

CarolinaMamma,

 

How was the cruise and did you enjoy the FV? We just booked the same cabin last night for July 2013 for 5 of us via Costco and I am dying to know how you liked it!