can we be in the same cabin??

[jojabis]

Dh and I just booked our first cruise on the ncl star we got two rooms right next to each other can we put the kids (5, 7, 9) in one room and us in the other??

[6rugrats]

NCL's policy:

Company policy dictates that a passenger under 21 years of age must be accompanied in the same or connecting stateroom by a passenger 21 years or older who expressly agrees to be responsible for the under 21 passenger throughout the cruise.

[boulders]

No matter what the cruiseline's policy is, I would make sure that the rooms are connecting, not just adjoining.

[6rugrats]

No matter what the cruiseline's policy is, I would make sure that the rooms are connecting, not just adjoining.

 

Yes, but NCL's policy is that the rooms must be connecting.

[kitty9]

I would never put kids that young in their own cabin unless it's connecting with an interior door between both cabins and not just adjoining cabins where the doorways are only via the hallway.

[Keith1010]

I think the ages of your children are too young for them to be in another cabin, so as others have said rules or no rules I would not recommend it.

 

We have very mature children for their ages but we did not let them stay in another cabin until our oldest was 17 and our youngest 13.

 

We would book suites that would accomodate the four of us until they were at an age where they would have their own cabin.

 

Keith

[katyjeka]

We travel with our 3 dd's, the youngest is now four and have always paid for connecting cabins. We have the door between the rooms opened as soon as we board, and sleep the kids in one room, us the other. The cabins are so small that we could almost touch the bed in one room while sitting on the bed in the other. That being said, I would never put them in a room without a connecting door. Wow, I would be scared to death all night. Have a great time. Janice

[CeleBrat]

We splurged once and got two connecting cabins on the NCL Star, and put the kids in one and us in the other, with the door open between the cabins. It was almost like we had a suite.

 

And--don't forget that you can also ask your cabin steward to open the balcony dividers between your cabins so you can have an extra-large balcony.

 

CeleBrat

[eyegel]

Cabins with connecting doors are few and far between on many ships. Also the cruise lines do not restrict sales of cabins with connecting doors to parties who reserve both cabins, so it can be very hard to locate such a cabin unless you are booking at least a year in advance.

 

On our 15-day cruise to Hawaii last year, I could not get connecting cabins, so we got adjoining cabins. The kids (ages 5, 6, and 7) were in one cabin. My wife and I were in the other. We brought a nursery monitor along so that we could hear what was going on in their cabin.

 

While my wife and I were sleeping in our cabin, we always opened the latch on our cabin door (even at night when sleeping). In that way, our cabin door was always unlocked and the kids could enter whenever they wanted. Their door was always left to lock automatically so that you could enter only with a cabin key.

 

During the day, we usually kept both doors open with a rubber door stop because the kids were constantly bopping back and forth.

 

We felt comfortable and the kids felt they were "grown up". It was also fun to listen in on the conversations they had in the privacy of their own cabin. The reality was that, for most of their waking hours, the kids were in the kids program or with us on the ship or in port. They only spent long periods of time in their cabin alone when they were sleeping at night. They were locked in and we were monitoring them, just as we would do at home.

 

We have also done the same thing with cabins opposite each other. In that way, you just leave your door open with the doorstop so that you can keep an I on them. We had to change in the bathroom to avoid giving our neighbors a "free show", but it worked for us.

[Crusin6]

Cabins with connecting doors are few and far between on many ships. Also the cruise lines do not restrict sales of cabins with connecting doors to parties who reserve both cabins, so it can be very hard to locate such a cabin unless you are booking at least a year in advance.

 

On our 15-day cruise to Hawaii last year, I could not get connecting cabins, so we got adjoining cabins. The kids (ages 5, 6, and 7) were in one cabin. My wife and I were in the other. We brought a nursery monitor along so that we could hear what was going on in their cabin.

 

While my wife and I were sleeping in our cabin, we always opened the latch on our cabin door (even at night when sleeping). In that way, our cabin door was always unlocked and the kids could enter whenever they wanted. Their door was always left to lock automatically so that you could enter only with a cabin key.

 

During the day, we usually kept both doors open with a rubber door stop because the kids were constantly bopping back and forth.

 

We felt comfortable and the kids felt they were "grown up". It was also fun to listen in on the conversations they had in the privacy of their own cabin. The reality was that, for most of their waking hours, the kids were in the kids program or with us on the ship or in port. They only spent long periods of time in their cabin alone when they were sleeping at night. They were locked in and we were monitoring them, just as we would do at home.

 

We have also done the same thing with cabins opposite each other. In that way, you just leave your door open with the doorstop so that you can keep an I on them. We had to change in the bathroom to avoid giving our neighbors a "free show", but it worked for us.

Sorry, but I cannot condone your methods with children as young as yours are. While you did not ask my opinion and don't expect you to agree with me, I believe the risk vs. reward of what you did was just not worth it.

What would I have done?

1. Booked early enough to get connecting cabins

 

2. If the ship did not have connecting cabins at the level I wanted, which is usually OV, then I would have found a ship that did.

 

We have 4 children and our vacations must account for the needs of all of us, but the children always come first on family vacations. It is just plain irresponsible to leave kids that young alone in adjoining cabins, baby monitor or no baby monitor. JM unselfish HO.

[Eclipsepearl]

That's too young to have them in a separate room IMHO. Once we were split on a land-based vacation. Not ideal but we should have booked earlier. We kept the doors locked for security reasons but we both had the other rooms' keys.

 

I was also going to point out that our cabin attendant was able to even remove one of the doors when he saw that it was getting in our way. You only really need one door. The rooms were so tiny that their beds were only a few feet away.

[msmayor]

Call ME crazy, but in that situation my DH and I would split up...one of us sleeping in each room. No way would I have kids that age alone in non-connecting staterooms.

 

To me, its just no big deal if I DON'T sleep in the same room as my husband for a week on a family vacation. Our marriage will survive.

 

Even on our just-completed cruise with our 14-year old son and 17-year old daughter, we HAD connecting staterooms and still split up...girls in one cabin, boys in the other. We kept the connecting door unlocked (and usually open) so it was nice to have the 'larger' space. But our kids had never cruised before...and we just felt more secure having an adult with them at all times in case they awoke in a VERY dark inside cabin and got disoriented from the lack of light and the unusual sounds.

[Tennessee88]

14 and 17 is a bit old to still have parents spliting up and staying with the kids..... they are in high school by that point (not exactly kids anymore)

IMHO

[msmayor]

14 and 17 is a bit old to still have parents spliting up and staying with the kids..... they are in high school by that point (not exactly kids anymore)

IMHO

 

Perhaps...but I did explain why we felt it was best. Plus one is a boy and one is a girl...and my 17-year old daughter really doesn't want to share a 'bedroom' with her brother.

[Lowie]

my kids are now 13 and 8 and i would consider adjoining cabins, although connecting would be better.

[cb at sea]

Yes, you can--once you are on the ship, they don't care who sleeps where. They make these rules for booking, so that they KNOW there are responsible adults onboard to care for the underaged. They don't want an adult calling and making reservations for the kids, and then not accompanying them!

[Crusin6]

Just want all of you to know that if this thread were on the Carnival board, all of us who think the kids are too young to be alone would have been blasted and the very few on this thread who think the the kids could be alone would have been hailed as the "normal parents".

 

Just thought you might want a laugh!:D

[jimswims]

Dh and I just booked our first cruise on the ncl star we got two rooms right next to each other can we put the kids (5, 7, 9) in one room and us in the other??

 

The AB suites on the Star accomodate 5. They have 2 bathrooms and 2 bedrooms. We booked one of these on the Dawn, the sister ship of the Star. It was more money but worth every penny to have us all together. Especially since my DS (now 14) has a tendency to sleep walk only when we are on a cruise. It has happened on two different cruises (NCL Spirit in 2006 and Carnival Miracle 2008) and does not happen at home. He tried to get out of the cabin both times and we would not have known if we were in another cabin.

 

I believe that there are connecting cabins on this ship as well and this may work better.

 

Good luck.