One or two rooms with teens

[cjc cruiser]

We want to cruise on the Liberty next June and I am wondering if we should do one or two rooms. Teens will be 15 and 18??? I can't imagine one bathroom for that long!

[firefly333]

Try to find connecting cabins so you can go in and out and check on them??

[cruisin07family]

We get two cabins but then we have three teens and I don't know if they make a cabin for 5 but if so, yikes! Even in hotels now it is either suites or two rooms. They need their privacy and so do dh and I! What we typically do is a balcony and an inside across the hall. We love the balcony and they love the pitch blackness of an inside. On sea days they sleep til noon.

[DaDivaMom]

Ours are 17 & 20 now but since they were 14 & 17, they have had their own room. It is generally within 12 or so cabins.

 

We make sure we have a room key and also that we meet their cabin steward. We have meet up times or phone contact times and dinner together each night. Never had an issue.

[glorialagos]

Definitely two rooms.

 

You will have to book one with each parent and switch cards. You may be able to get an extra card to their room. We did this with our daughter and since I had my card which got me in their room, we were fine. (the two girls always stayed together and only needed one card)

[LovesAllTravel]

IMHO, they're too old to share one room and one bathroom with the folks. We always get a balcony room for us, and an inside room across or down the hall for the girls. Works out great! We always have an extra key made so we can check on them -- it keeps them honest!

[byucougs]

I agree with the others that the best bet is connecting rooms or rooms across from each other. Having the extra bathroom and privacy is nice. Some lines have family suites with two bathrooms but I am not sure Carnival does. Since teens like sleeping in, an interior stateroom is usually good enough.

[HawaiianGoose]

We have cruised with our two kids before when they were 10 and 8, but it was like a Tetris game whenever you needed to move around. We had one pulldown and one chair that folded out into a bed. Moving at that point was a delicate balancing act. Now they are 16 & 14 and get an inside cabin across the hall and we have extra key cards. Works out beautifully.

 

Aloha,

mg

[jerseytomato]

if you have 2 balcony rooms next to each other, you can ask them to open the divider on the balcony for easy access.

[cjc cruiser]

Thanks for all the info. I will book two rooms! Four of us in one room is no vacation for me!

[DDFla]

We had four of us in one room last summer on Inspiration and it wasn't the end of the world. That said I have two rooms for October and that will be nice. We really were not in the room that much and the windows of mayhem were limited. I am of the get me on the ship mindset and everything else is minor though.:D

[mahwah]

Two summers ago, we went on the Liberty. We took our 15 year old daughther and our 18 year old niece. Our niece came at the last minute. We were all booked in an inside cabin and NEVER again. It was too cramped for us. We are going on the Freedom July 31st, my daughter is now 17 and she is bringing a friend. Hubby and I have booked a balcony cabin and our daughter has an inside cabin across the hall from us! Can't wait

[terigo]

IMHO, they're too old to share one room and one bathroom with the folks. We always get a balcony room for us, and an inside room across or down the hall for the girls. Works out great! We always have an extra key made so we can check on them -- it keeps them honest!

 

this is exactly what we did with our girls.... now they are grown married women, and we still occasionally cruise with them all.... but we don't have to check up on em anymore.. :D

 

i couldn't even imagine getting ready for dinner with 4 people and one bathroom!... :eek:

[pe4all]

I guess we are the only cheap ones who still get one cabin for the 4 of us!! As we sail during peak expensive sailing times, getting 2 cabins -one balcony and one inside- would cost at least $600 more, and we would rather spend that on other things like excursions. We have come up with a system for dd19 and dd22 ( dd22 is special needs - so we feel more comfortable with her in our cabin anyway) for clothing storage, showering, bathroom use, etc. The privacy issue is not a real problem. (dh and I have learned to become "inventive"- ice cream on the balcony, anyone?:cool:) Our kids sleep later, so dh and I go exercise, shower in the gym, eat breakfast, and bring a tray back for them. We sit and read on the balcony, or tell them where we will be sitting on deck. They come up when they are ready, and our day begins. Our only problem is dd19 coming in very, very late. She is usually very quiet, and we all actually enjoy the closeness - it is the only family time we get all year.

[paper1122]

When I was younger and I cruised with my family we always shared one cabin (4 of us). Even did this as a senior in high school. It was the only way we could afford the vacation since we had to fly in. Now that I am a married adult living in FL I could not imagine having to share the room with two kids.

What I am saying is, it can work if you need it to work, you spend so little time in the room.

[A&Jfamily]

We want to cruise on the Liberty next June and I am wondering if we should do one or two rooms. Teens will be 15 and 18??? I can't imagine one bathroom for that long!

 

Which cruise? We are taking my then 18 yo step-son for his high school graduation present on 6-25.

[dmdiver]

We've always done 2 cabins side by side with our 3 kids. I refuse to share a bathroom with them. Plus, it's pretty hard to get any privacy sharing a cabin. Our teens like to sleep in as well, so they like not being woken up by us when we get up in the morning.

[babyher]

I added another wing onto my house because 3 teenagers were driving me crazy. Couldn't imagine all of us cramped into one cabin with one bathroom.

 

For the extra bathroom alone it is worth the extra money, especially if there are teenage girls involved :(

[nothomeonacruise]

We've always done 2 cabins side by side with our 3 kids. I refuse to share a bathroom with them. Plus, it's pretty hard to get any privacy sharing a cabin. Our teens like to sleep in as well, so they like not being woken up by us when we get up in the morning.

 

I can well understand! :)

[Cruiser418]

When I was 20 and my sister was 16, we did a cruise with our parents and we all shared a room. It DID NOT work!!! My father got angry that I was coming back consistently at 3 in the morning, it's hard to sleep too late because others are getting up, and it was very crowded! Not to mention the bathroom situation....I guess it depends on each family, but for my family it was awful!

[Tbay-eh]

Up until recently we too had to economize and if we wanted to cruise it was 1 cabin for 4 of us. As our kids got older they wanted their own cabin so I made them a deal - we took the cost of an inside cabin and paid what we would have paid for them in the cabin for 4 and they paid the difference plus half the auto tips. They had the privacy they wanted and they appreciated the cruise so much more now that they had a vested interest in it.

[jbh7]

Just cruised with a 14 and 18 year old in one cabin - last time we'll do that! Next time we will have an outside cabin and put the teens across the hall in an inside cabin. you are basically putting 4 adult size bodies in a small cabin with limited closet space and one bathroom.

[cjc cruiser]

Which cruise? We are taking my then 18 yo step-son for his high school graduation present on 6-25.

We are going on June 11th. It is a graduation gift for our son.

[cherbear4000]

I first started cruising in high school. My sister and I always had our own room near our parents. I couldn't imagine having to share with them.

 

My sister and her husband had a regular balcony cabin for them and their 2 kids ages 4 and 6 recently and they thought that it was too crowded. Next time they plan on booking a suite.

[sturderick]

I guess we are the only cheap ones who still get one cabin for the 4 of us!! As we sail during peak expensive sailing times, getting 2 cabins -one balcony and one inside- would cost at least $600 more, and we would rather spend that on other things like excursions. We have come up with a system for dd19 and dd22 ( dd22 is special needs - so we feel more comfortable with her in our cabin anyway) for clothing storage, showering, bathroom use, etc. The privacy issue is not a real problem. (dh and I have learned to become "inventive"- ice cream on the balcony, anyone?:cool:) Our kids sleep later, so dh and I go exercise, shower in the gym, eat breakfast, and bring a tray back for them. We sit and read on the balcony, or tell them where we will be sitting on deck. They come up when they are ready, and our day begins. Our only problem is dd19 coming in very, very late. She is usually very quiet, and we all actually enjoy the closeness - it is the only family time we get all year.

 

Nope, you aren't the only one. We brought 5 kids on one cruise and had two rooms between 7 of us. No problem at all. We have booked two of our older kids (19, 21) in the same room with us too and never had a problem. We saved money and they would rather be in a cabin with 4 people than no cabin at all. If you have the extra money to blow then go for it but we try to save money for excursions and such since we don't spend much time in the cabin. We do get a balcony when we do this though. That makes a big difference. Spa has extra showers if that's the issue.