Second cabin cheaper than 3rd and 4th in room?

[andnosyd]

I was looking at booking a suite for our family of 4 in the caribbean. When I price it out, it's cheaper to book an inside guarantee than it is to book our 2 kids (9 months and 3 years) than it is to have them in the room with us? How is this correct? With the 2 young kids, I doubt we'd eat in Luminae every night if at all, so should I just book the second room with my wife and second kid in 1 room and me and our other kid in the other?

[cruisestitch]

Normally, the advice would be that if you never plan to eat in Luminae, it doesn't matter how you book the rooms, but if you do plan to eat there or you just want to keep your options open, then put one adult in each room.

 

HOWEVER, I doubt that you can put the two children by themselves in an inside Guarantee. In order to put children in a room by themselves, the inside must be across the hall from the parents' room. With a guarantee, that wouldn't be likely.

 

Even if you put one adult and one child in the inside guarantee, how will you handle it if the inside room is on a completely different deck from the suite? That's the most probable scenario.

Edited May 26, 2015 by cruisestitch

[andnosyd]

I would put one adult and one child in each room, regardless. I doubt Celebrity would allow or like me to book a separate room for 2 young children. It wouldn't be a huge deal if the rooms were on different decks as the kids would just stay in our room and I doubt much time would be spent in the other room. Is this not ethical? Not trying to get away with anything, but I also find it odd to have a whole separate room to cost less than adding 2 kids to a suite.

[chemmo]

If you do book a second cabin what happens when the kids want to sleep and you and your wife want a drink on the balcony watching the stars?

 

They are too young to be left alone in one room and you in another, even if the inside guarantee was very close.

 

I do not know what suite you were looking at but there are perks other than Luminae including quicker check in and often a much bigger room. In suite dining is much nicer with a bigger space which can be really useful if after a tour day when kids are tired out.

 

I am not saying don't consider, I am just suggesting you consider the practicalities.

[ORV]

Wouldn't you be getting into the situation that if you did decide to eat in Luminae the people that are not booked in the suite would have to pay the $50 per person to eat there? Something to consider.

 

Sometimes they have specials where third and fourth are cheaper, sometimes not. Or even if they are cheaper the discount for 3rd & 4th on a suite price still might be higher than the regular inside price.

[Essiesmom]

If you do book a second cabin what happens when the kids want to sleep and you and your wife want a drink on the balcony watching the stars?

 

They are too young to be left alone in one room and you in another, even if the inside guarantee was very close.

 

I do not know what suite you were looking at but there are perks other than Luminae including quicker check in and often a much bigger room. In suite dining is much nicer with a bigger space which can be really useful if after a tour day when kids are tired out.

 

I am not saying don't consider, I am just suggesting you consider the practicalities.

 

If you read her prior post, they do not plan to use the inside cabin. They plan on the kids sharing their suite. It is just cheaper to book an inside gty for two than to pay the 3/4 passenger fare in a suite.

To the OP (and anyone with experience): If you book one adult in the inside gty, would they be allowed into Luminae? Since they are not booked into a suite? If they were allowed, would they have to pay the 'guest' charge for two each time? EM

[andnosyd]

I was looking at a Celebrity Suite or Royal Suite. My thought was that the kids would just stay in the suite with us. I'm trying to understand if this is possible to book the 2 rooms but everyone stays in the same room and why I'm paying at least $600 more for 1 less room. If it's not possible for all 4 of us to be in the same room if we book 2 rooms, then that pretty much answers my question.

[cruisestitch]

OK, if you are never planning to use the inside room, then do it this way:

 

Book one adult and one child in each. That way you can book the inside guarantee which you would not be allowed to book if you had the two children listed as the only occupants.

 

Sort out the business with Luminae once you are on board, since that isn't a priority for you.

 

You will probably also run into "issues" with entrance to Michael's Club, but maybe that isn't a priority either.

[PSU]

What is the price difference you are talking about? I think I would just go with the suite because if you book an inside with one of the adults, it might cause difficulty and cost a lot more in the long run. The adult that is booked in the inside could be blocked from some of the suite advantages.

I was looking at booking a suite for our family of 4 in the caribbean. When I price it out, it's cheaper to book an inside guarantee than it is to book our 2 kids (9 months and 3 years) than it is to have them in the room with us? How is this correct? With the 2 young kids, I doubt we'd eat in Luminae every night if at all, so should I just book the second room with my wife and second kid in 1 room and me and our other kid in the other?

[CHEZMARYLOU]

I would book the suite. As PSU says there is more to consider than just the net cost of the booking. The adult in the suite will probably have a beverage package based on current promotions, if it is a RS it will be a free premium package which is worth about $535 for a 7 night cruise. The suite also includes unlimited specialty dining for a RS and 1 night free in CS. The adult in the inside will have to pay they want a beverage package or if you want to try a specialty restaurant. I hate to mention the issue of gratuities but here goes: You will be paying gratuities to the cabin attendants in the inside but all of the work will be done by the attendants and butler in the suite if all 4 stay together. The suite will also not be provisioned for 4 guests if only 2 are booked in it.

Edited May 26, 2015 by CHEZMARYLOU

[andnosyd]

What is the price difference you are talking about? I think I would just go with the suite because if you book an inside with one of the adults, it might cause difficulty and cost a lot more in the long run. The adult that is booked in the inside could be blocked from some of the suite advantages.

 

It's at least $600, maybe a bit more. The classic beverage package doesn't mean anything to my better half as she generally doesn't drink anything besides water or tea, with 2 very young kids Luminae would be a challenge every night so we might eat there only a couple of times and order room service more often for dinner. The only challenge would be Michaels Club, but again, besides the small food offerings there isn't too much appeal there for (one) of us besides the bar.

[villauk]

Why don't you book 2 interconnecting balcony cabins instead of the suite if you aren't that interested in using the extra suite facilities? Alternatively, book 2 balcony guarantees, a child and adult in each on the paperwork, and only use one of the cabins? You can still order room service, use the balcony etc. and possibly even be close to each other once allocated if there are still many cabins available.

[cb at sea]

Yes...you can book the inside cabin, but not put the kids in it. They will not get any of your "suite" perks, but as kids, they don't need them!!

[dkjretired]

I was looking at booking a suite for our family of 4 in the caribbean. When I price it out, it's cheaper to book an inside guarantee than it is to book our 2 kids (9 months and 3 years) than it is to have them in the room with us? How is this correct? With the 2 young kids, I doubt we'd eat in Luminae every night if at all, so should I just book the second room with my wife and second kid in 1 room and me and our other kid in the other?

 

I've traveled with my kids many times, at your kids ages, I'd do just one room.

[TSC]

I think you could easily do the two rooms (1 adult and 1 child in each) and then all stay in the one cabin. But, for muster drill you'll most likely have different stations.

 

Also, don't forget the port charges, taxes etc. We've booked two rooms before instead of fitting 4 into a balcony room when we took our grandkids and it was almost as cheap as putting 4 in a room, except the additional port charges. (We ended up actually using the extra room with 1 adult and 1 kid and it was nice to have an extra bathroom.)

[WestLakeGirl]

If you could be certain that the inside would be near the other room it might be a nice second bathroom, closet, quiet room, nap room. But with the GTY you can't be sure of that. How much would a non GTY inside be?

[BunnyLebowski]

We recently had the same dilemma when booking one of the larger suites for our family of 4 including 2 elementary school age children.

 

Price of suite for 4 was exactly equal to the price of same suite for 2 plus a C1 2 doors down for the kids.

 

I called the Captains Club, and after some checking was told it would be fine to book the adults in the suite and the kids in the C1 because the cabins are so close together. In fact, even though they were not booked in a suite, the children would be assigned to Luminae with their parents because it makes no sense for the cruise line to expect 2 children to eat alone in the MDR (but this also may have had something to do with the category of suite we were booking).

 

In the end, we opted to keep everyone together in the suite, both to avoid any of the hassle factor associated with 2 cabins and also to keep a closer eye on the children (for our own peace of mind). Had there been an actual savings (as seems to be your case) associated with booking 2 cabins, we probably would have done that instead. But our kids are much older...

 

Enjoy your trip!