Cheaper to book 2 rooms?

Does anyone know why it's cheaper to book 2 rooms than have 4 people in one room? We are trying to get the best deal for a family of 4 and are finding it quite challenging. If we went with the 2 rooms, how do we make sure that the rooms are near eachother or adjoining?

We're looking at an RCCL sailing over the summer on one of the Oasis class ships to the Caribbean.

Sometimes this is true; other times this isn't true.

Once you've picked your ship, google deck plans and you'll be able to verify that the rooms are close, connecting, whatever suits you.

No way to say for sure. Prices can change all the time. Different sales, different dates, types of rooms. If you are researching yourself do a dummy booking, using 4 to a room and then using two cabins.

What your asking is the reason a good travel agent is important. Some lines have connecting rooms...some with a little hall way that can be locked off. If your having a balcony see if it is connecting ( if that's what you want) Depending on the childrens ages you may have to have one adult with one child in each room , if you don't want 4 in a room. Costa sometimes have children free. MSC usually always have children free. The price of a third and fourth person in a room is always cheaper. If you book 2 separate rooms it can be more expensive because both people will be charged the same even if one is a child...unless the Cruise line is having a buy one get one half off sale...which, because it's summer..proberly won't happen. Just find a Travel Agent with Cruise Experience and credentials to go with it !:)

Call Royal Caribbean, have the ship's deck plan on your computer in front of you, and have the RC rep look for two rooms in the type of cabin you want, when they give you the cabin numbers you can look on the deck plan in front of you and see if you agree to those cabins, If you don't like their location, she/he will look for more.

For four people two bathrooms are very valuable IMHO.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/oasis-of-the-seas-deck-plans/dp/?shipID=368&deck=9

Change to different decks and look around. :)

We finally got it squared away. Found adjoining rooms on a sailing we liked and will call tomorrow. After researching prices all day it was actually 2-3k more for 1 cabin with 4 beds than the 2 rooms next to one another. This is on royal Caribbean. Carnival seems to have more logical pricing, but we went on carnival last year and wanted to try royal.

The price of a third and fourth person in a room is always cheaper. If you book 2 separate rooms it can be more expensive because both people will be charged the same even if one is a child

This is not always the case, as the OP discovered. Often in high capacity times (NYE, Spring Break, some summer cruises, etc), the cost for 3rd and 4th persons can be as high or even higher than the first two. Why? Supply and demand. Those are the times when families are more likely to cruise and the cabins for 3 and 4 persons are in higher demand.

If you MUST have connecting cabins or cabins across from each other, it's best to call on the phone, with the deck plans in front of you, so you can see what you're buying....and book that way. Do NOT book "guarantee" cabins...they can be anywhere! You must book specific cabin numbers!

Some of RCI's ships have a balcony that connects to an inside cabin...they are at the very front and very back (on the sides) of the ship. That's a great option for folks with kids....Kids don't need a balcony!

Almost every sailing I have priced up, it has been cheaper to book 2 rooms than squeeze 4 into 1 room.

The site I book on shows which cabins are available and whether they are connecting. I have my C&A preferences set to not upgrade without contacting me first, to avoid either cabin being re-assigned, and I link the bookings. I will put one adult and one child in each cabin for booking purposes and we just switch out the key cards on board.

As far as I can tell, they have less cabins that hold 4, and more that hold 2, the cabins for 4 are almost always booked first on ships and dates that attract families which is why they become more expensive (less of them available). So many people just assume it will be cheaper and don't even check.

Trip is booked. We got connecting cabins.