Help?! Second cruise, first with kids, so confused... Room size and bed options??

[Cruisin'CaveChick]

Hi,

This is my first post here, so hopefully I'm doing it right! I have a couple questions that basically overlap, so I hope it's ok to combine them...

 

 

1 - Are the rooms true to size?

2 - Can I request to put 5 people in a room without upper pullmans (without it being a suite)?

 

Background on question 1: I've looked up info on line in written form, and I've looked at pictures and videos, and it just doesn't seem to match up... According to what I can find, the Ocean View staterooms on Inspiration are 185 sq ft, the Deluxe Oceanview with Balcony on Royal Caribbean (the only other room we've had) is 184 sq ft, but the one on Royal Caribbean had ample room to lounge around with a king size bed, couch, coffee table, writing station, closet, bathroom, etc..., and the floor plans I can see of what the Oceanview Cabins on Inspiration *theoretically* look like would be similar, but the photos and videos I can find show a MUCH smaller room with just a queen bed and a tiny writing station, plus closet and bathroom, no couch/coffee table area, so I don't understand... Is Royal Caribbean bigger than it says or Carnival smaller?

 

 

Background on question 2: My in-laws want to go on a family cruise in June, and not going will cause issues (lots of drama and we had to skip the other cruise they did because of pregnancy complications, which caused some issues with us already, so...). We have 3 kidlets under 5, they can't safely sleep on an upper pullman, and neither can hubby or I (I need to be next to my littlest baby, and he is over the weight limit). I'd rather not have them to hit our heads on and make the room feel even smaller when we can't use them anyway.

 

The part that overlaps: is it even possible to fit extra beds on the floor? From the videos it looks like the cabins have essentially no room aside from a couple feet between the bed and wall, and when they were convincing us to go we were picturing a room like the one on Royal Caribbean, minus the balcony (cost and safety reasons), but again, it doesn't look at all like the situation, so I don't know if this is all moot and we have to tell our kids and in-laws that we can't go because there isn't anywhere to stay safely with multiple littles? Please, someone tell me there's some way to make this work... (btw, we don't need to fit 5 beds, but we will need more than just a queen...)

 

Sorry, I know that's very rambly and I'm hoping it makes some sense... I'm afraid I'm going to need a vacation just from the stress of planning this "vacation", and then a vacation from the stress of taking a cruise with 3 under 5 (and in-laws...) :p

 

Please be nice in your responses, I know that's a lot of young kids and not the ideal age for a cruise, I know it's a less expensive room than we stayed in before, I'm just trying to figure all this out and see what options (if any) we have...

[JMAE]

Q1. We have sailed on a few classes of CCL ships and other than suites we have found all the rooms to be the same size. We usually book a balcony room.

 

Q2. I don't believe the Inspiration offers rooms for five. We started to sail when our kids were younger. When we sailed with our kids we would get connecting rooms and we love it. It would be very difficult to add an additional bed if you used one room.

 

Good luck!

Edited February 6, 2016 by JMAE

[mzloolue]

We stayed in a pair of connecting rooms on Triumph.

We kept the connecting door closed most of the time, but open some.

 

They were square rooms that were between the inside the inside cabins on deck 6.

 

I liked them and remember thinking that they would be excellent for a family.

Lots of room for sleeping and playing.

Plus an extra bathroom.

 

I don't know how two insides compares price wise, but it is worth a look.

[cb at sea]

Carnival's cabins are generally larger than RCI's....the layout may affect the "feeling of space"....

[dave_k58]

The Carnival rooms are not huge by any means, but are usually larger than Royal. Personally I can't imagine 5 people in a room. Even a balcony is not as big as a standard Holiday Inn room. The bathroom situation would not be good. I would go for two connecting rooms. Other than that, in all honesty, a cruise may not be the ideal extended family vaction.

Edited February 6, 2016 by dave_k58

[fuddrules]

Rooms are true to size but with 5 it is crowded.

 

So you're wanting a 5 on the floor (vs. 3 on the column - :D j/k).

 

You will have a trundle bed that fits under one of the twins. Beyond that- ?? You may be able to get just the mattress from another trundle bed. They are plenty thick for kids to sleep w/o the metal frame underneath. I've never asked at add an additional mattress vs. using the pullman.

 

Otherwise you may be able to pull the mattress off the pullman and onto the floor each night. Then put it back up each morning. Although I'm not sure it would fit on the floor? At least both pullman mattresses would not fit.

[KatieCharlotte]

We cruise with five in a room, but with kids old enough to sleep in uppers. I don't think it's possible to have five in a room without upper beds. The rooms for five would have two uppers, which your steward can fold up during the day so you are not hitting your heads. Then, you would have a king size bed and a trundle. You could theoretically have your steward leave the uppers put away, sleep with husband and baby on the king, put one child on the trundle, and make a bed of blankets in basically the only remaining floor space for the third child. I don't think they would be willing to bring in another trundle, even if you could fit it. You may actually feel okay with your oldest on an upper, because there is a small rail and the bed would likely be directly over the king bed.

 

Or, you could get connecting rooms and leave the door open (connecting rooms are very limited and you probably have to call to book, but it may not be much more expensive depending on the sailing), or put one child with the in-laws.

[cruisinqt]

My husband is 6'6" tall and easily weighs 250 lbs and he has slept on the upper bunks many times without issues. They are made out of steel and are very sturdy. He's such a sweety giving our (afraid of heights) youngest daughter his spot on the big bed. :) So if your hubby slept on the upper Pullman the little ones might be able to sleep with you on the big bed. My oldest child was five when she started sleeping in the upper Pullman. The rails are high, sturdy and almost run the length of the bed. And there's a night light up there too. She loved climbing up and down the ladder. So there's that option.

Also, you can look up videos of the rooms on YouTube, there are plenty there. Maybe seeing it in a video will help in seeing how much room you have.

[zqvol]

You cannot put more people in a room than it is rated to hold, no matter where they want to sleep. OP is going to have to find a cabin that accommodates five or book two cabins.

 

As another aside, the two twins pushed together are not the same size as a king at home the total width is about 12 inches less than a true king.

Edited February 6, 2016 by zqvol

[RW20]

Check the price of two inter-conneting rooms. You may find that the pricing is very similar to a suite and then you get two bathrooms.

[RuthlessBoss]

Check the price of two inter-conneting rooms. You may find that the pricing is very similar to a suite and then you get two bathrooms.

 

I think for the sake of sanity, 2 cabins. I can't fathom 3 kids under the age of 5 having a smooth cruise with providing naps and whatever with everyone cramped in one cabin. With 2 cabins, the kids can nap and play there while allowing the t.v. on and you having some space to breathe.:eek:

[summersigh]

Another factor with little ones is that Carnival regular cabins have showers only. Basically, to get a bathtub you have to book a suite.

 

I don't know whether or not yours will shower but it's a consideration.

[Liverpoollovely]

Hi' date='

This is my first post here, so hopefully I'm doing it right! I have a couple questions that basically overlap, so I hope it's ok to combine them...

 

 

1 - Are the rooms true to size?

2 - Can I request to put 5 people in a room without upper pullmans (without it being a suite)?

 

Background on question 1: I've looked up info on line in written form, and I've looked at pictures and videos, and it just doesn't seem to match up... According to what I can find, the Ocean View staterooms on Inspiration are 185 sq ft, the Deluxe Oceanview with Balcony on Royal Caribbean (the only other room we've had) is 184 sq ft, but the one on Royal Caribbean had ample room to lounge around with a king size bed, couch, coffee table, writing station, closet, bathroom, etc..., and the floor plans I can see of what the Oceanview Cabins on Inspiration *theoretically* look like would be similar, but the photos and videos I can find show a MUCH smaller room with just a queen bed and a tiny writing station, plus closet and bathroom, no couch/coffee table area, so I don't understand... Is Royal Caribbean bigger than it says or Carnival smaller?

 

 

Background on question 2: My in-laws want to go on a family cruise in June, and not going will cause issues (lots of drama and we had to skip the other cruise they did because of pregnancy complications, which caused some issues with us already, so...). We have 3 kidlets under 5, they can't safely sleep on an upper pullman, and neither can hubby or I (I need to be next to my littlest baby, and he is over the weight limit). I'd rather not have them to hit our heads on and make the room feel even smaller when we can't use them anyway.

 

The part that overlaps: is it even possible to fit extra beds on the floor? From the videos it looks like the cabins have essentially no room aside from a couple feet between the bed and wall, and when they were convincing us to go we were picturing a room like the one on Royal Caribbean, minus the balcony (cost and safety reasons), but again, it doesn't look at all like the situation, so I don't know if this is all moot and we have to tell our kids and in-laws that we can't go because there isn't anywhere to stay safely with multiple littles? Please, someone tell me there's some way to make this work... (btw, we don't need to fit 5 beds, but we will need more than just a queen...)

 

Sorry, I know that's very rambly and I'm hoping it makes some sense... I'm afraid I'm going to need a vacation just from the stress of planning this "vacation", and then a vacation from the stress of taking a cruise with 3 under 5 (and in-laws...) :p

 

Please be nice in your responses, I know that's a lot of young kids and not the ideal age for a cruise, I know it's a less expensive room than we stayed in before, I'm just trying to figure all this out and see what options (if any) we have...[/quote']

 

 

I think if you look at the newest ships there could be family rooms available which would meet your requests I recall listening in a cruise talk they mentioned having family rooms ... not sure if they had them penned as suites though

 

have you considered getting a room that is connected? This may be a viable option

 

All I know is I travel with my dad and my sister we fit with room for three cases and three cabin roll on cases in a Oceanview room three adults two single beds and a sofa bed ... I honestly cannot see five people fitting into an oceanview room even if 3 are under five years old

 

if you got two interconnecting rooms next to each other your hubby could be in one cabin with one or two of your children and you could be in the other with one or two children

 

look at the newer cruise ships though for accommodation options I honestly thought it may be on the Carnival Vista?.. Family friendly staterooms I believe they are called or something to that nature

[Essiesmom]

This is what a cabin for five looks like on a Fantasy class ship:

 

From the other side of the room, fifth sleeps on the rollaway:

 

 

If you can figure out how to fit the other two mattresses on the floor, and then move around to get to the bathroom in the middle of the night...

 

Is the youngest too big for a crib? Why can't you and Dad cosleep in the big bed with the youngest? You would have to be flexible to make it work. EM

[RuthlessBoss]

I think if you look at the newest ships there could be family rooms available which would meet your requests I recall listening in a cruise talk they mentioned having family rooms ... not sure if they had them penned as suites though

 

have you considered getting a room that is connected? This may be a viable option

 

All I know is I travel with my dad and my sister we fit with room for three cases and three cabin roll on cases in a Oceanview room three adults two single beds and a sofa bed ... I honestly cannot see five people fitting into an oceanview room even if 3 are under five years old

 

if you got two interconnecting rooms next to each other your hubby could be in one cabin with one or two of your children and you could be in the other with one or two children

 

look at the newer cruise ships though for accommodation options I honestly thought it may be on the Carnival Vista?.. Family friendly staterooms I believe they are called or something to that nature

 

Actually, with connecting cabins, parents in one, kids in another.

[swalton85]

Not sure how old your kids are, but would two of them be able to fit on the rollaway bed pictured above? then the youngest could sleep with you and dh in the king sized bed. or you could pull the mattress off one of the pullman beds and put it on the floor at the end of the king bed?

 

another option would be to have the kiddos rotate sleeping with grandma and grandpa in their room? just a thought :)

Edited February 6, 2016 by swalton85

[Liverpoollovely]

Actually, with connecting cabins, parents in one, kids in another.

 

with kids under five years old Carnival would not allow this

[fuddrules]

with kids under five years old Carnival would not allow this

 

While I'm not suggesting this be done, Carnival would have no idea what rooms people sleep. You just can't book it that way, where a family sleeps is up to Mom & Dad.

[Liverpoollovely]

While I'm not suggesting this be done, Carnival would have no idea what rooms people sleep. You just can't book it that way, where a family sleeps is up to Mom & Dad.

 

of course it is up to mum and dad I was only going from the original post which stated three children under five :)

[LREcruise02]

I think you could leave the uppers pushed up, sleep the littlest in bed with mom and dad, and the other 2 sharing the rollaway. My 5 and 7 year old usually sleep together on the couch bed with ones head at each end of the bed, and it looks about the same size as the rollaway. You would just tell your steward to always leave the uppers put away. Good luck!

[LilMissScareAll]

I think you could leave the uppers pushed up, sleep the littlest in bed with mom and dad, and the other 2 sharing the rollaway. My 5 and 7 year old usually sleep together on the couch bed with ones head at each end of the bed, and it looks about the same size as the rollaway. You would just tell your steward to always leave the uppers put away. Good luck!

This is what I would suggest doing.

 

Another idea if your driving to port, you can purchase a portable cot for the toddlers to sleep on. Would take up less room than the trundle bed and can fold them out of the way during the day

 

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk

[RuthlessBoss]

with kids under five years old Carnival would not allow this

 

Connecting, not adjacent. The door is between the 2 cabins.

[missy428]

This is what a cabin for five looks like on a Fantasy class ship:

 

From the other side of the room, fifth sleeps on the rollaway:

 

 

If you can figure out how to fit the other two mattresses on the floor, and then move around to get to the bathroom in the middle of the night...

 

Is the youngest too big for a crib? Why can't you and Dad cosleep in the big bed with the youngest? You would have to be flexible to make it work. EM

 

 

You can't even sneeze in that room 😳😳😳

[isaiahsnana]

You can't even sneeze in that room 😳😳😳

 

I have one of these cabins booked for my daughter, her husband and three small children on the Triumph next month. Since I paid for the trip, we have a family saying: you get what you get and you don't throw a fit. I am in a similar cabin with son and his daughter.😳:D

[missy428]

I have one of these cabins booked for my daughter, her husband and three small children on the Triumph next month. Since I paid for the trip, we have a family saying: you get what you get and you don't throw a fit. I am in a similar cabin with son and his daughter.😳:D

 

If you're treating that's a different story I'll sleep on the floor for a free cruise lol