Family of 4 in an interior on the Dream?

[Joaljoe]

Hi everyone! :)

 

We've had an oceanview and a balcony for hubby and me in the past. But this time we'll be cruising with our kids. They are 7 and 9. We wanted to go with a balcony but now are thinking to save ourselves some money and go with an interior.

 

But the photos of the interior make the room look small and narrow. Will we be comfy? I know we won't be spending much time in there but I don't want to be crammed either. Is the room the same size as an oceanview without a window?

 

If anyone recently on the dream has any photos of an interior room that would be great. Not sure if there are different types or not? We're thinking of staying on the lido deck floor.

 

Any info and tips would be greatly appreciated. :)

[mferris77]

No they are a bit smaller. The interior rooms are basically the bed(s) and the counter/mirror with bathroom behind it. There's not even a couch. 4 people in an interior - even if it's two young ones - would be a bit challenging, in my opinion.

[k2excursion]

Inside rooms are 185 sq.ft. Balcony rooms are 185 sq.ft. plus the 35 sq.ft. balcony. So you can compare the size of the indoors of your balcony to an inside room. Was your OV on the Fantasy? If so, that was also 185 sq.ft. OV rooms are 220 sq.ft. on the larger ships, which would include your Liberty.

 

It might be a little cramped, but it won't be so bad. We put 4 adults in a 185 sq.ft. OV room on my first cruise, then 5 adults in the same room on my 2nd. The 5 was a little too much, but the 4 wasn't bad. If you are able to make a change without penalty, you can look into getting a category PT room, if there are any left. It's the same price as a 4A inside, but it has portholes, and it's almost as big as the 220 sq.ft. OV rooms. There are a couple of those that sleep 4, but they may be taken already.

[falkcor]

i wouldn't go for an interior with 4, even if 2 are kids. though tons do. but i think an OV is a better idea...

 

if you don't want to go for a balcony (which you noted), and if you are sailing on the dream, get an OV cabin.

 

on the dream, the OV cabins are 220 sq ft. interiors are 185. more importantly, for quad capacity, OV rooms have the couch / sofa, which interiors do not by standard. the sofa will make an extra bed (they pull off the back cushions, it doesn't pull out), and the extra bunk will typically come down from the ceiling. so you've got a bunk bed in a corner, which you wouldn't use while in the twin / king bed configuration. and the OVs with the extra space - the layout makes it seem much larger, in fact...

 

dream also has an 'oceanview deluxe family stateroom' which is 230 sq ft, cat 6L, 6M and 6N, and has 2 baths (one with shower/toilet/sink and the other with tub/sink)... that might be a great idea, if you get a relatively comparable rate... these type cabins are new to the dream.

 

regardless, i'd go for the extra room of an OV vs. inside.

[firefly333]

Inside rooms are 185 sq.ft. Balcony rooms are 185 sq.ft. plus the 35 sq.ft. balcony. So you can compare the size of the indoors of your balcony to an inside room. Was your OV on the Fantasy? If so, that was also 185 sq.ft. OV rooms are 220 sq.ft. on the larger ships, which would include your Liberty.

 

It might be a little cramped, but it won't be so bad. We put 4 adults in a 185 sq.ft. OV room on my first cruise, then 5 adults in the same room on my 2nd. The 5 was a little too much, but the 4 wasn't bad. If you are able to make a change without penalty, you can look into getting a category PT room, if there are any left. It's the same price as a 4A inside, but it has portholes, and it's almost as big as the 220 sq.ft. OV rooms. There are a couple of those that sleep 4, but they may be taken already.

 

I agree, the inside cabin will be the same size as the balcony cabin inside part.

 

The OV would be a bit bigger at 220 s.f. and give you a bit more space.

[Marie51]

You say you don't want to be cramped. That says it all. No way to have 4 in an interior cabin and not be cramped.

[dadofgage]

to the OP, I just got off the Dream and stayed in 10202 (on the Lido) and it was a perfect room for our family of 4 (our kids are 9 and 6).

 

It is a handicapped room which we knew when we booked but it obviously was much larger than the normal interior room. We had more room than our family members who had balconies.

 

Just remember that if Carnival needs the room, they can move you - we had two cabins in our group of 5 cabins that used a handicapped room and neither of us got moved and it worked out very well for us.

 

My SIL who was in a balcony mentioned that next time they would book 2 interior cabins just to not be jammed in all together - I say this to point out that pretty much unless you are in a suite - 4 people is a lot in that amount of space.

[MustardStation]

It can be done, but it's pretty cramped, and if you don't wanna be cramped, then it's probably not a good idea!

[dadofgage]

I will also add in that we sailed the Glory last year on an interior on the Lido deck and had a quad where the two kids beds were pull outs from the ceiling - this worked well for us that they thought they had their own 'space'. The other thing as you said - you aren't in your cabin that much - save the money to spend somewhere else on the ship!

[truchattycathy]

We do four adults all the time in an interior cabin. I am not sure I would do it with kids, and we have the two twin beds against the walls with bunks above. I imagine you would want the bottom beds together, which would make the room way too small and hard to get around in with two bunks above.

 

The OV rooms that have two twin beds that convert to a king with a sofa and an upper would be great. No bunks over the king. The sofa converts to a bed and the bunk is over the sofa. On the key this type of cabin is noted with a square beside the cabin #. Not as cheap as the inside cabin, but feels so much roomier and the bunk will not be in the way.

 

Good luck!

[bratgrr1]

I've done an IS with 2 kids (teenagers). Since we mostly just sleep in the room, and change clothes in the room, we've found it's a good option for us. I dont really feel cramped when I am sleeping :p

We've also done an OV as well but since we're rarely IN the room, our next family cruise will be an IS again.

[Nowisthetime1]

Went on the Dream in one of the new Cove balcony's. Was great. However, our friends (2 adults) tried to save money and got an inside cabin. It was the worst cabin we have ever seen. They were miserable in the inside cabin. It was smaller than the other Carnival ships. The Dream is considered a larger ship, but in our opinion, what they did was make the public areas smaller and some of the rooms to get more cabins, guest, but not more ship. Of the 12 Carnival ships we have been on the Dream was our personal least favorite. I am not saying not to go on the

Dream but I would definately not have an inside cabin for four of you. Go out on the website and look at the floors. Alll inside cabins on all Carnival ships are not 185' and bancony 185'. Have fun!

[crewsweeper]

OP...if you're going to look at OV cabins, just keep in mind that on the Dream they are all on the Main or Rivera decks. 1A interiors are only 160 sq ft which must be what Nowisthetime's friends booked. The 4A-4S interiors are around 185 sqft. Ask your PVP for a Quad room to get the folding down bed and couch.

[Joaljoe]

Thank you for all of your opinions! Can't wait for hubby to get home to read all of these!

 

Yes, our OV was on the Fantasy. For us it was good with space. I just wasn't sure how it works with the beds in the interior for 4 people.

 

We have been collecting Airmiles for years (not sure if you have these in the States) but we have over 6000 now and we can get a great savings just not sure which we should go for. The balcony would only cost us $800 more than the interior and we really enjoyed it last time.

 

Actually, hubby really wanted a cove balcony but if we go through airmiles they said they could put us in 8A for a balcony or 4F for interior.

 

Decisions, decisions....

 

Watch...we'll end up doing a balcony!! LOL

[k2excursion]

Thank you for all of your opinions! Can't wait for hubby to get home to read all of these!

 

Yes, our OV was on the Fantasy. For us it was good with space. I just wasn't sure how it works with the beds in the interior for 4 people.

 

Both of your first 2 cruises were in a 185 sq.ft. room, the same size as an interior room. Configuration of the room: As you walk into the room and pass the bathroom (for this example, let's say the bathroom was on your left as you're walking in), you stop as the room opens up. The upper bunks will run length-wise against each of the walls on the right & left. The 2 regular beds pushed together would lay in the opposite direction of the uppers, with the pillows underneath the upper to the right. I attached a crude drawing of how it was for us when we had 4 in the room (since I don't have a picture). The upper on the left of the room may not be all the way up against the bathroom wall; it may be up against the back of the room. I'm not sure. During the day, they will put the bunks back up in the ceiling, creating more open space while you're awake (you may need to ask the steward to do this for you).

 

A balcony stateroom will have the sofa bed and one upper, most likely with the upper directly above the sofa bed. Again, the indoors part of that room will be the same amount of space as an inside room. I agree that "Nowisthetime" must be referring to a 160 sq.ft. 1A room. The Dream's inside room we had was the same size as our inside room on the Valor, and the same size as our 185 sq.ft. rooms on the Celebration.

 

Also, I must say that for me, the Dream was my best cruise by far, of all 7 I've taken! I loved the ship, I loved the people I got to meet, I loved the waterslides, I loved the shows, I loved all the extras that the ship has, and the lines weren't as long as lines on the smaller ships. You can read all about it and see pics in my review in my signature. :)

[mpcaruth]

I consider myself very frugal and try to get the biggest bang for my buck. We cruised on the Sensation in January in an interior quad. The interior room was 185 s.f. The beds pulled down over our "king bed". I cannot tell you how many times my daughter bumped her head. I will probably never book this type of cabin again

 

We have also cruised on the Legend in a 220 s.f. OV with french doors and absolutely loved it. There are no pull downs above the king bed. There is a sofa couch with a pull down above the sofa. We currently have booked an OV room on the Freedom this winter so that we can get the same 220 s.f. room set up.

 

Sensation

 

 

 

 

 

 

Legend: (photo taken looking to towards the cabin door. King bed behind photographer)

 

[MustardStation]

It's most likely doable, I know we've done it in the past. It's cramped, but if you're willing to put up with it, why not?

[JohnStevenGordon]

Hi everyone! :)

 

We've had an oceanview and a balcony for hubby and me in the past. But this time we'll be cruising with our kids. They are 7 and 9. We wanted to go with a balcony but now are thinking to save ourselves some money and go with an interior.

 

But the photos of the interior make the room look small and narrow. Will we be comfy? I know we won't be spending much time in there but I don't want to be crammed either. Is the room the same size as an oceanview without a window?

 

If anyone recently on the dream has any photos of an interior room that would be great. Not sure if there are different types or not? We're thinking of staying on the lido deck floor.

 

Any info and tips would be greatly appreciated. :)

 

Inners are not my cup of tea but I have seen many families of (4) staying in them. I spend time in my room, espically on Carnival so an OS or higher is required for me. If you spend all your time elsewhere and don't mind no windows, why not? Try and get one on a higher room, the prices quoted on the website are only for levels one and two.

[mpcaruth]

Also keep in mind that you can book a OV Guarantee cabin for about the same cost as an assigned IS cabin.

[firefly333]

We have also cruised on the Legend in a 220 s.f. OV with french doors and absolutely loved it.

 

 

Just for the record, there are no OVs on Legend that are 220 s.f. .. and the 4Ks, french doors, are categories as insides, not OVs.

 

Nice pictures... those 4Ks, you might have been booked in one a couple years back when they used to be 5As?