Best cruise line/ship staterooms with a separate sleeping area?

[cruiser4305]

I'm a newly divorced 40 year-old that wants to do a cruise with my two elderly parents. We were planning on booking separate cabins, but with the single supplement it might make sense for us to pay a bit extra to book a one or two bedroom suite. As long as there is a wall and door between us, it should be OK. It's such a chore to wade through all of the stateroom layouts, I was wondering if anyone knew of any ships in the Caribbean that offer a separate bedroom and pullman/pull out couch or something similar that is reasonably economical? We don't need butler service or anything like that, just a wall between beds.

[Joebucks]

What numbers have you looked at that make it a fact it is better to book the suite? It sounds to me like you are looking to get the equivalent of two rooms, with none of the price. You're probably better off comparing options, consider what features are important, and seeing what works best before you hear all of the opinions on everyone's favorite suite.

 

Personally, I loathe sharing rooms with too many people. Bathrooms get tied up, snoring is unavoidable, and storage/clutter can become an issue (maybe not so much that last one in a suite). In fact, we were going to go on a land trip a few months ago, and friends once again thought this was the better method. We booked a "bigger place" and crammed a bunch of people in miserable conditions. Only to find that vastly more comfortable accommodations in multiple, smaller rooms, were also cheaper. 

[Szt]

Our experience cruising with my elderly mom was it is significantly less to book two cabins that a suite. Suites are easily 2-3x per person what a balcony cabin is. With two cabins you essentially paying the base cruise price for 4 people. But only pay the taxes and gratuities for those traveling. Be sure to ask for an entry only room key for your parent’s room.  

[crystalspin]

3 hours ago, cruiser4305 said:

...We were planning on booking separate cabins, but with the single supplement it might make sense for us to pay a bit extra to book a one or two bedroom suite. As long as there is a wall and door between us, it should be OK. It's such a chore to wade through all of the stateroom layouts...

My experience is that you have to get pretty high in the Suite category to get a wall and a door. High in the sense of fare-cost!

 

I would suggest two CONNECTING balcony rooms. Voila a wall and a door! Two bathrooms! Most balconies have doors that can be open between them. Depending on cruiseline, you may need to go as high as a mini-suite to get cabins with comfortable seating (i.e. a sofa as well as a desk chair). 

 

For the chore of stateroom layouts, try CruiseDeckPlans.com -- I think the free version gives the room category layouts as provided by the cruiseline, and the paid membership lets you see actual photos provided by cruisers!

 

Welcome back to posting on Cruise Critic!

[Szt]

We always used to ask the room attendant to remove the barrier between balconies. That way we could go back and forth easily. Mom didn’t hear well so we couldn’t rely on her opening the front door. But the last cruise we took together the steward said it was a fire hazard to remove the balcony separators. So we got the access key card for her room. They gave us a hard time about this but we made it clear it was for mom’s safety. She was 91 on our last cruise. Sadly, she passed away in Jan. This will be our first cruise without her. Enjoy cruising with your parents. And be grateful for every moment with them. 

[leaveitallbehind]

To answer your original question, RCCL and Celebrity, for two, have suites that have separate bedrooms, with a convertible couch as well in the living room.  

[George C]

Rccl grand suites do block bedroom but not totally, they do have a two bedroom grand suite which has two separate bedrooms and bathrooms. Celebrity celebrity suite has a separate bedroom.

[GeezerCouple]

3 hours ago, Szt said:

We always used to ask the room attendant to remove the barrier between balconies. That way we could go back and forth easily. Mom didn’t hear well so we couldn’t rely on her opening the front door. But the last cruise we took together the steward said it was a fire hazard to remove the balcony separators. So we got the access key card for her room. They gave us a hard time about this but we made it clear it was for mom’s safety. She was 91 on our last cruise. Sadly, she passed away in Jan. This will be our first cruise without her. Enjoy cruising with your parents. And be grateful for every moment with them. 

I'm very sorry for your loss.

 

But about the keycard for someone else's cabin or suite... this is very easy. and done frequently.  (Who gave you a "hard time"?)

The "extra" guest keycard will allow entry to the relevant cabin/suite, but will not allow any charges.  All that is needed (or should be!) is that the occupant in the cabin/suite needs to give permission, obviously.

 

What we've done is to put some sort of code on the extra "guest" keycard with permanent marker (usually at Guest Services, etc., where we get the extra keycard).  We then put some code on it, but NOT the actual cabin/suite number.  (It could be initials or "Nana G" or whatever is easily identifiable.)

 

Also, cruiser4305, try to get adjoining cabins with INTERIOR connecting doors.  (Don't let someone helping you with reservations confuse this with "adjacent" cabins.  You want doors between the two rooms such that no one needs to go into a public corridor to go between the rooms.  You can keep them locked as needed, but you'll have the ability to open them when it's convenient (which might be most/all of the time).

 

Enjoy!

 

GC

[Essiesmom]

Celebrity S class ships (except Reflection) have adjoining cabins that can form connecting cabins by creating an outer vestibule or foyer by closing outer doors.  The two cabins can leave their own cabin doors open and go back and forth through the vestibule.  They can also open the connecting piece on the balcony.  EM

[leaveitallbehind]

2 hours ago, GeezerCouple said:

Also, cruiser4305, try to get adjoining cabins with INTERIOR connecting doors.  (Don't let someone helping you with reservations confuse this with "adjacent" cabins.  You want doors between the two rooms such that no one needs to go into a public corridor to go between the rooms.  

 

Enjoy!

 

GC

The most correct terminology to use with the cruise line representatives when desiring two staterooms next to each other with a common wall with an interior door opening between them is to ask for "connecting" staterooms.

 

(And as @Essiesmom indicates, on certain classes of Celebrity ships this is done via an outer private vestibule, but would still be referred to as "connecting" staterooms).

Edited November 9, 2023 by leaveitallbehind

[GeezerCouple]

36 minutes ago, leaveitallbehind said:

The most correct terminology to use with the cruise line representatives when desiring two staterooms next to each other with a common wall with an interior door opening between them is to ask for "connecting" staterooms.

 

(And as @Essiesmom indicates, on certain classes of Celebrity ships this is done via an outer private vestibule, but would still be referred to as "connecting" staterooms).

 I would have thought that "connecting" would be the appropriate terminology...

... until we ended up in a nice hotel with the two "connecting rooms" we had requested.  Even the manager insisted that because they had a common wall, they were "connected".  I wish I were making that up.  The hotel was *full*, so we were stuck with that for the entire week.  

😡

We had it all in writing, but it didn't matter, because they *insisted* that they gave us exactly what we had requested.  (And this was in a location where there was no place else to go.)

 

Ever since, we try to be as SPECIFIC as possible, including describing what we want in more than one way if possible.  And we now try to call a few days to a week in advance, but that works better with hotels than with cruise ships.  One can't speak with the "Manager On Duty" of the actual floating hotel/cruise ship as one can at a land hotel.  The latter also don't block rooms months or even years in advance.  They do have the ability to assign rooms closer to arrival, etc.

 

As for cruise ships, one can see the deck plan which usually shows where there are "interior connecting doors".  We also request "no upgrade", because what someone else may think is "better" may well NOT be what we think is better.  We select what we want and will be happy with, etc.

 

GC

 

 

[leaveitallbehind]

9 hours ago, GeezerCouple said:

 I would have thought that "connecting" would be the appropriate terminology...

... until we ended up in a nice hotel with the two "connecting rooms" we had requested.  Even the manager insisted that because they had a common wall, they were "connected".

 

 One can't speak with the "Manager On Duty" of the actual floating hotel/cruise ship as one can at a land hotel. 

 

As for cruise ships, one can see the deck plan which usually shows where there are "interior connecting doors". 

 

 

That's very unusual indeed! Can't answer regarding your hotel experience other than to suggest you were dealing with a "misinformed" hotel employee.  But with regards to the cruise industry, "connecting staterooms" is the correct terminology. 

 

And with your booking confirmation the stateroom(s) will be shown, which can, as you indicate, be confirmed by looking at the website ship's deck plans and checking for the connecting door icon.

 

And, as with any problem, guest services will have a supervisor on duty to talk with, and failing that, the Hotel Director has full on board authority with issues.  The only problem is - as you suggest -  once on board, stateroom change options are extremely limited.

 

But you are correct that confirming with your booking, with several terms of clarity, early on is a good idea.

Edited November 9, 2023 by leaveitallbehind

[mjkacmom]

3 hours ago, leaveitallbehind said:

That's very unusual indeed! Can't answer regarding your hotel experience other than to suggest you were dealing with a "misinformed" hotel employee.  But with regards to the cruise industry, "connecting staterooms" is the correct terminology. 

 

And with your booking confirmation the stateroom(s) will be shown, which can, as you indicate, be confirmed by looking at the website ship's deck plans and checking for the connecting door icon.

 

And, as with any problem, guest services will have a supervisor on duty to talk with, and failing that, the Hotel Director has full on board authority with issues.  The only problem is - as you suggest -  once on board, stateroom change options are extremely limited.

 

But you are correct that confirming with your booking, with several terms of clarity, early on is a good idea.

We have 5 kids, so we book a lot of connecting rooms. Hotels won’t guarantee connecting rooms, we’ve been put in 2 separate rooms several times, one booked. 2 bedroom and they said they gave it away, but we could have 2 one bedrooms for no extra charge (really? We paid for 1 room). We’ve had no issues on cruises since we choose the cabins and can see they’re connected on the deck plans.

 

NCL has one and two bedroom suites but they cost way more than two regular cabins.

[sanger727]

The issue is that cruise line's don't usually define a suite the same way as a hotel. Most of your lower level suites will just be a bigger room; not have a defined separate sleeping space. To get into a 2 bedroom cabin will cost significantly more than two rooms.

[George C]

25 minutes ago, mjkacmom said:

We have 5 kids, so we book a lot of connecting rooms. Hotels won’t guarantee connecting rooms, we’ve been put in 2 separate rooms several times, one booked. 2 bedroom and they said they gave it away, but we could have 2 one bedrooms for no extra charge (really? We paid for 1 room). We’ve had no issues on cruises since we choose the cabins and can see they’re connected on the deck plans.

 

NCL has one and two bedroom suites but they cost way more than two regular cabins.

Agree suites will cost more than two regular cabins but suites will give you lots to f perks like dining room for suites ,  internet, lounge with free drinks etc

[leaveitallbehind]

23 minutes ago, George C said:

Agree suites will cost more than two regular cabins but suites will give you lots to f perks like dining room for suites ,  internet, lounge with free drinks etc

That's actually a point I was just about to make.  Comparing costs between booking two standard staterooms and suites with 2 bedrooms is like comparing apples to oranges - they may both be staterooms but they differ significantly from each other in terms of total size, included benefits, and perks.

 

To add to the general discussion, there are cruise lines that offer family staterooms that are not suites but have a separate (generally a bunk room) sleeping area apart from the main bedroom.  They typically will hold up to 6 and are priced in a comparable scale to standard staterooms.

 

 

Edited November 9, 2023 by leaveitallbehind

[new_cruiser]

You can also look for cruises with a reduced solo supplement or no solo supplement (i.e. a solo passenger in a room pays the same fare as per person double occupancy). A lot of cruise lines offer that for some cruises. 

[leaveitallbehind]

5 minutes ago, new_cruiser said:

You can also look for cruises with a reduced solo supplement or no solo supplement (i.e. a solo passenger in a room pays the same fare as per person double occupancy). A lot of cruise lines offer that for some cruises. 

Along that line of thought, there are cruise lines that offer dedicated solo staterooms on some of their ships that are somewhat smaller than standard but are intended specifically for solo cruisers and are priced accordingly at a fare that is somewhat higher than a typical per person double occupancy rate, but far less than the standard stateroom rate priced for a solo.  NCL and Celebrity are two, for example.  This might be an option for a lower total cost on two separate staterooms

Edited November 9, 2023 by leaveitallbehind

[JDincalif]

As an alternative to an actual suite or an actual wall, Regent has some good-sized rooms where the sleeping and living areas can be screened off by floor to ceiling curtains, giving a modicum of privacy.

[Aquahound]

Royal Caribbean's Quantum Class ships have junior suites that connect with interior rooms.  

[cruiser4305]

Thanks everyone, we decided to book two rooms on a Windstar ship because of the low (19%) single supplement.