Best cabin w/baby

[bmccarthy]

My husband & I have had a balcony on both of our caribbean cruises and would like to book a balcony for our Alaskan cruise as well. We are planning to go on Royal Caribbean Serenade of the Seas. We will be cruising w/our baby, who will be 20 months at the time of sailing. We would like to try an aft balcony, but I am not sure if these cabins accommodate more than 2 people? What about the hump balconies? From what I understand, we have to book a room with a space for her, even though she won't sleep in a pullman bed.

 

Any help would be appreciated.

[rebeccalouise]

It appears that unless you are in a junior suite the aft balcony staterooms don't hold three.

 

If it helps, I have cruised to Alaska four times. I have had a balcony stateroom three out of the four times and have never done an aft. You will have just as good a view from whatever cabin you are in. There are things to see on both sides of the ship- so I wouldn't limit yourself to an aft cabin. Also, I have been in an aft cabin and you feel more vibration at the back of the ship due to the engine. I would always recommend a cabin midship.

[crusinmama06]

The "hump" balcony only means you'll possibly have a bigger balcony. It has nothing to do with the size of the cabin. On some RCCL ships, the balconies bow out on the hump. But that doesn't change the size of the cabin.

 

The Aft balcony cabins have a deeper balcony.

 

Any balcony cabin should be big enough for the 3 of you. If you want more space, then go for a D1 which has more space than an E1/2.

 

If you want even more space, a bath tub and priority embarkation (in some ports) then get a Junior Suite.

 

If you want suite perks though, then they start at grand suite. Which is nice, but not needed. ;)

[crusinmama06]

It appears that unless you are in a junior suite the aft balcony staterooms don't hold three.

 

The baby is 20 months and on RCCL, they sometimes make exceptions to allow a D1 to hold 2 adults and an infant.

 

But you're right, I would go for a cabin that was set up to hold 3/4 to begin with. :)

[wrp96]

Many of the hump balconies on the Radiance class are larger than regular side balconies, especially those on the port side.

 

If you are looking for a bigger balcony, you could also consider E1 cabins on deck 7 as they also have larger balconies (these are the cabins that are all the way forward and all the way back on the ship).

 

You can tell if a cabin will accommodate more than 2 people by looking at the symbols on the deck plans. The bottom of the deck plans have a legend that shows what the symbols mean. If it has a sofa bed or pullman beds then the room will accommodate more than 2 people.

[sharktums]

They won't let you book it on the website, but just call RCCL directly and they'll most likely let you book 2 adults and an under 2 in any '2-person' room.

 

We booked a '2 person' Promenade Cabin on the Liberty of the Seas this past December for myself, hubby, and 21 month old no problem.

[smile1234]

My advice is go for the junior suite with the baby. My DD was 2 when we went in Sept 07. First of all it is bigger (more play room for the toys and for her to wander), has a bath tub (i couldnt imaginge my dd in a shower), walk in closet (which was great to put the stroller) and best of all priority check in. Yes it was more $$$$ but it was worth every last cent. We had a blow up bed that stayed on the floor for naps and nighttime. The room had tons of storage. My opinion is if feasible go for the JS.

[NYreadytogo]

We recently cruised with our 18 month old son on the RCI Explorer of the Seas, and we all stayed in a balcony cabin that is officially only for 2 people (my husband was officially booked in another room with his brother), and it was a really tight fit, with basically no floor room once the pack n play was set up. More problematically, the lack of a bathtub was a huge issue, since my son hated hated hated the shower. Even though this is a baby who loves water, and loves baths, and loves the ocean. Each shower was a catastrophe and akin to trying to bathe a cat- he would try to leap out of his father's arms and escape while wailing at the top of his lungs. I would absolutely get a junior suite next time or not cruise at all. However, the "2 person" balcony cabin definitely fit all of us, even though it was tight.

[cb at sea]

The aft cabins have HUGE balconies---much deeper than the side balconies.

Book the largest cabin you can afford---any balcony will comfortably accomodate 2 adults (and a small child!)