Family of 5 cruising on Liberty - How to arrange?

[mommyof2monkeys+princess]

It will be dh and I then 3 kids. Two boys will be 10 (almost 11) and 9. DD will be almost 4. I wanted to keep it under $5k but 2 oceanview rooms means you have to go to the bottom of the ship. I know elevators are always crowded so I would hate to be at the bottom of the ship with 3 kids. It would be a little over $4K so that sounds great. But then that is a whole week of being in a salt water enviroment with no bathtub. I am really looking at the Suite and inside room combo. Selecting the category grade to get them accross from each other would be at $5250. My boys would do fine sleeping across the hall. The suite would get us the tub.

 

Any other advice/ideas?

 

Tammy

[mosel]

We like to be on the bottom deck for the elevators because by the time they get down to you they are empty except for the people getting off. We have waited a long long time on other floors because they were always full. Plus it is easier to walk down if you can't get an empy elevator and like I said to go up they are always empty. So I don't think that would be a consideration for us.

As for the suite that would be a personal decision as to whether the perks of the suite(tub,balcony,Vip checkin,extra room) are worth going over the budget you felt comfortable with. We always choose inside cabins because we prefer to use the extra money for other things. On the other hand, my brother and mother would never cruise without a balcony. Good Luck and have a great cruise. Cindy

[firefly333]

That sounds like an awfully lot of money to me to spend, but then I book cheaper than you do. I would be happy in one of the 1As that has two twins plus a balcony across from it and save my money, but then I dont care about a bathtub, so wouldnt pay extra to get one. Take a small blow up pool to put in the bottom of the shower for your DD?

 

Iv even booked lower decks to get the cheap port holes and we are fine with that, but sometimes book the higher 1As to get more central. My sister is challenged mobility wise, so I do get it about elevators, we cant really do any flights of steps, so we do the elevators constantly, but we just deal with it. We still have to take a elevator even when we are on higher decks, just not take it as far up or down.

 

Personally, I still wouldnt pay that much more to save elevator time.

 

What date(s) are you looking at, we may be able to give more suggestions with more knowledge?

[salty dingo]

You may want to consider... the kids that age will probably be in the pool a lot, and they will stay pretty clean because of that. A shower may be all you need to knock off the chlorine. I also would not pay a premium for a tub on a cruise ship. The showers have detachable heads so you can bathe the kids if they do not do a good job themselves.

 

I would suggest an inside cabin for the kids and then whatever type of cabin you like. Regarding lower decks - you are closer to the gangway but farther from the pool and buffet. Depends on how many trips you make to the cabin, I guess. We tend to stay out of the cabin most of the day.

 

Kids won't mind walking lots of stairs but adults may... but there are always elevators.

 

We also like to book a guarantee and usually end up with a nicer cabin than we pay for, but with two cabins needing to be close together, I don't know if a guarantee would work well for you.

[sharonny]

As other posters said elevators on the lower decks aren't a problem at all. To save expenses I'd consider a inside across from an OV or balcony. Some ships even have connecting insides to balcony (Legend, Miracle, etc.). Some even allow 5 in a cabin (tight but doable). I do understand the tub thing especially with youngest but keep in mind that the shower heads do come down to use as hand held. Maybe that would work.

[firefly333]

As other posters said elevators on the lower decks aren't a problem at all. To save expenses I'd consider a inside across from an OV or balcony. Some ships even have connecting insides to balcony (Legend, Miracle, etc.). Some even allow 5 in a cabin (tight but doable). I do understand the tub thing especially with youngest but keep in mind that the shower heads do come down to use as hand held. Maybe that would work.

 

I dont think 5 in a cabin would work for the OP, since she says she is considering Liberty. Only ships built before year 2000 allow 5 to a cabin. OP wouldnt even be allowed to put 5 into a suite on the ship she is considering.

[sharonny]

I dont think 5 in a cabin would work for the OP, since she says she is considering Liberty. Only ships built before year 2000 allow 5 to a cabin. OP wouldnt even be allowed to put 5 into a suite on the ship she is considering.

 

Oops you are right. I missed that :o Thanks for catching.:)

[bfkkbc]

You may want to consider... the kids that age will probably be in the pool a lot, and they will stay pretty clean because of that. A shower may be all you need to knock off the chlorine. I also would not pay a premium for a tub on a cruise ship. The showers have detachable heads so you can bathe the kids if they do not do a good job themselves.

 

I would suggest an inside cabin for the kids and then whatever type of cabin you like. Regarding lower decks - you are closer to the gangway but farther from the pool and buffet. Depends on how many trips you make to the cabin, I guess. We tend to stay out of the cabin most of the day.

 

Kids won't mind walking lots of stairs but adults may... but there are always elevators.

 

 

We also like to book a guarantee and usually end up with a nicer cabin than we pay for, but with two cabins needing to be close together, I don't know if a guarantee would work well for you.

 

I thought all pools and hot tubs were salt water. Am I mistaken???:o

[firefly333]

I thought all pools and hot tubs were salt water. Am I mistaken???:o

 

Dont they put cholorine in salt water pools??? (what do I know, not much about pools?)

[Rowan555]

Dont they put cholorine in salt water pools??? (what do I know, not much about pools?)

 

No, they don't. I do believe there is chlorine in the hot tubs, though.

[Nunu]

lol at your screen name

[firefly333]

No, they don't. I do believe there is chlorine in the hot tubs, though.

 

See, I learned something else new. I assumed they put chemicals in the pool water.

[Rowan555]

See, I learned something else new. I assumed they put chemicals in the pool water.

 

No, and that's a big reason it's SO bad when people plop their swim-diapered kids into the pool! Yuck.

[bfkkbc]

No, and that's a big reason it's SO bad when people plop their swim-diapered kids into the pool! Yuck.

 

That is just too gross!!! Don't get me started on that!! I agree YUCK!!!!!:eek:

[mommyof2monkeys+princess]

Thanks so much for all the replies. I thought that all the pools were salt. DD is basically potty trained already - just if she feels like it type of thing right now. While my boys took forever to train I expect to be completely trained by the end of the year well before we get on the ship. We have also done the guarentee for dh and I but I don't feel comfortable doing that for bring the kids. I love the idea of the blow pool as I know they have tub shaped ones for babies learning to sit in a big tub. I didn't think about that before. I could take that. I am just worried about getting the salt of dd from the pool.

 

I think we are looking at an inside and oceanview.

 

Tammy

[mosel]

I think the inside and ov are a great idea and use some of the extra money to do something really cool that the kids would really love. Cindy