Rough estimate for family of 5?

[cruisingky]

Hi,

 

I am fairly new to cruising, having only been on two and never having my children along. My husband and I would love to take our 3 boys (ages 5, 8 and 12) on a cruise either the first week of April (spring break) or next summer. With being a family of 5, I can't get price estimates online and have little time to make phone calls during my work day. Does anyone have a general idea of what it may cost to do a 4 or 5 night cruise with a family of 5? I have only cruised on Royal Caribbean, but am open to other cruise lines. We would probably be looking to go to either the Bahamas or the Caribbean. Thank you for any suggestions or advice!

[crzgrl66]

You will have to call cruiseline directly to get rates on family rooms that hold more than 4. If you decide on 2 rooms, then you can get a pretty good idea by looking at rates for 2 in a room & 3 in a room. BTW 2 rooms are usually cheaper than family rooms. Good Luck.

[mrspjotter]

Can't comment on price as we are from the UK but we had a family promenade inside on Freedom of the Seas earlier this year and it was a brilliant cabin loads of room and a bath as well as a shower. But because it is an inside cabin it was much cheaper but as it was a promenade cabin with huge windows you didn't feel like being inside.

 

We've also had a family oceanview on Explorer last year and I would book the family promenade inside again as my preference.

[cb at sea]

The prices can vary from sailing to sailing.....it really is best to pick a few dates, and then call them....it doesn't take long to get an idea of what you'll need, moneywise.

[Camlott]

Hi,

 

I am fairly new to cruising, having only been on two and never having my children along. My husband and I would love to take our 3 boys (ages 5, 8 and 12) on a cruise either the first week of April (spring break) or next summer. With being a family of 5, I can't get price estimates online and have little time to make phone calls during my work day. Does anyone have a general idea of what it may cost to do a 4 or 5 night cruise with a family of 5? I have only cruised on Royal Caribbean, but am open to other cruise lines. We would probably be looking to go to either the Bahamas or the Caribbean. Thank you for any suggestions or advice!

 

 

It can vary wildly, I called RCI about spring break for both 2011 & 2012 out of Galveston. For a family suite price for 2012 was around $4800 total for 5 (taxes etc.) on the Mariner. 2011's spring break on the voyager is chartered, so I priced first week in April it was over $9000 :eek::eek::eek::eek: for 5 people. I could book a bunch of balconies on the same sailing for that same $9000!!! They told me they only had four more available at that price. I laughed because there are only four on the entire ship!

 

We ended up booking a standard E1 balcony and a family oceanview. The family oceanview was $965/pp for #1 & #2 and then $449 for each additional.

 

Hope this gives you an idea. What I noticed as a very generalized rule with RCI was that the family suite's were about the same price as the owner's suite's. Do a mock booking for 3 passenger's in an OS and you can have a rough idea of the $/pp for #1 & #2 as well as extra passengers.

[harryfat1]

As others have said, there are way too many variables in there for anyone to give you a number off the top.

 

It depends on what types of cabins you want (inside versus ocean view versus balcony versus suites).

 

Also depends if you want one or two connecting cabins (not all cruise ships can accommodate 5 in a cabin).

 

Age of ship also makes different as people will pay premium for newer ships.

 

Finally, the month/season of the cruise make s difference. During the holiday periods (Spring break/summer/Thanksgiving/Christmas), the price sky rockets as families like to get together on vacation during those times. If you sail one or two weeks away form the cruise, it can be a big difference.

[rolloman]

What is your cruise budget? How much do you want to spend? Let me know and I will help narrow it down for you. My picks with your limited info are:

 

RCCL Navigator out of Fort Lauderdale April 4th, 5 nighter EXcellent choice for the family.

 

Disney Dream brand new innovative 3 or 4 day out of Port Canaveral April 7th. My number one pick!!

 

RCCL Radiance of the Seas 5 nighter out of Tampa April 2. Great ship, not as exciting as Navigator but a class above alot of junk sailing the short cruises.

[Cuizer2]

Hi,

 

I am fairly new to cruising, having only been on two and never having my children along. My husband and I would love to take our 3 boys (ages 5, 8 and 12) on a cruise either the first week of April (spring break) or next summer. With being a family of 5, I can't get price estimates online and have little time to make phone calls during my work day. Does anyone have a general idea of what it may cost to do a 4 or 5 night cruise with a family of 5? I have only cruised on Royal Caribbean, but am open to other cruise lines. We would probably be looking to go to either the Bahamas or the Caribbean. Thank you for any suggestions or advice!

 

Unless you are looking to book one of the family staterooms, you will need two cabins. Just go online and get the price for three and the price for two and add them up.

 

If you are looking to book a family stateroom, you will have to call.

[MNmomof4]

If you are open to other cruiselines, Carnival has some ships that accomodate 5 people. You can check the prices on their website. The Carnival Dream can accomodate 5 and has a great slide area for the kids. The other ships that accomodate 5 also have been refurbished with the waterworks area. We have put 5 people in a Carnival cabin but we were hardly in our room and that saves a lot of money.

 

Cruises are great for family vacations and I'm sure you will enjoy it.

[mary_228]

We, too, must travel at peak periods and have a family of five. I have kept data on our cruises and am happy to share that with you. I like to break it out as per person/per day, since the cruises had varying lengths. You can see which ships and times of year (and what year) we have sailed below. Other than the Celebrity Mercury sailing, where they allowed a rollaway in our quad OV cabin, we have had two cabins. Much preferred, as you can imagine. My fares include all taxes and the benefits of onboard credits if available, but not gratuities or shore excursions or other onboard spending.

 

Sapphire (balcony and inside) $137pp/day

Serenade (balcony and inside) $111pp/day

Brillliance (OV and inside) $111pp/day

Sea Princess (OV and inside) $84pp/day

Mercury (OV) $100pp/day

 

Based on the most recent cruise on which we traveled with five, you might expect $4795 + tips and other spending. Wow, I really don't like to think about that huge number. Good thing my husband doesn't know what we spend! Hope this was helpful.

[TxPirates]

It is doable to put 5 in a room without booking a family suite or multiple rooms. 5 (2 adults, 3 kiddos all under 10) of us are booked for a January cruise on the Ecstasy in 1 interior cabin w/ two uppers and a trundle.

 

Yes, it will be packed! The only reason we did it this way was because we got my parents a balcony across the hall. So when we are not sleeping we can spread out a bit.

 

I don't plan to spend much time in the room unless we're sleeping. I am a little concerned about being packed in, but for the price savings I'll get over it! However, I'll have a better idea after the trip if I'll ever do that again.

[Mack2]

I price the things out online... I like to use Travelocity (those commercials with the gnome guy)

 

I use the Travelocity price as a guideline when shopping... either booking the cruise directly from the line's website or asking my travel agent (who may or may not be able to beat the price, but can add personal touches to make the experience nicer)

[cruisingky]

We are open to other cruise lines. We are thinking either first week of April or pretty much any week in June or july. I don't know how realistic it is, but we were hoping to stay within $2000-$2500. Is that just a dream? :) We would probably prefer Bahamas. This would be a huge deal for our kids. They've never been to the ocean & barely out of the state! We just don't have a ton of money for big vacations but really want to do something they will love & remember forever. Thanks for all the advice so far!

[G&TQ]

We are taking our son on the Monarch the first week in April. right now ocean view is $399 for passangers 1 & 2 and 299.00 for passanger 3. That would be roughly $1097 before taxes exct. 4 nights. You would need to call RCI to see if connecting cabins are availible. We are hitting the space center and making it a land sea vacation.

 

Hope this helps.

[Camlott]

Hi,

 

I am fairly new to cruising, having only been on two and never having my children along. My husband and I would love to take our 3 boys (ages 5, 8 and 12) on a cruise either the first week of April (spring break) or next summer. With being a family of 5, I can't get price estimates online and have little time to make phone calls during my work day. Does anyone have a general idea of what it may cost to do a 4 or 5 night cruise with a family of 5? I have only cruised on Royal Caribbean, but am open to other cruise lines. We would probably be looking to go to either the Bahamas or the Caribbean. Thank you for any suggestions or advice!

 

I found connecting staterooms (lots of these still available in this cat.) on Monarch of the Seas, April 4 sailing. Oceanview cat. I leaving out of Port Canaveral.

 

Total for cabin #1 $1204.21 (3 people) cabin #8024

Total for cabin #2 $916.14 (2 people) cabin #8026

 

Cruise Total: $2120.35 (including fee's & taxes) Tips not included. You would get two bedrooms and two bathrooms with this option.

 

Called RCI (2 minute call literally) just for kicks checked on the Royal Family Suite for the sailing on the 4th - not available.

 

However the rep was so excited when I had her check the April 11 sailing for the Monarch and the Royal Family Suite was available!!! Thought she was going to come through the phone when I didn't at least put a hold on the room :eek:, I told her I wasn't booking for me but checking for a "friend" :D.

 

Two bedrooms, two bathrooms, two cruise credits and a balcony plus all the suite perks (free drinks!!!!, priority embarkation etc).

($1099 - 1&2, $229 - 3,4,&5 + taxes) Grand total including taxes $3180.35

[lilone]

We are open to other cruise lines. We are thinking either first week of April or pretty much any week in June or july. I don't know how realistic it is, but we were hoping to stay within $2000-$2500. Is that just a dream? :) We would probably prefer Bahamas. This would be a huge deal for our kids. They've never been to the ocean & barely out of the state! We just don't have a ton of money for big vacations but really want to do something they will love & remember forever. Thanks for all the advice so far!

 

 

I would look at one of the Carnival Ships... I think its the Fantasy class. I hope this helps.

[cruisingky]

Thank you so much to everyone! And especially to Camlott for making the call and getting such great information! I really appreciate it! Looks like connecting staterooms would be the way to go, and about the price we were hoping for. Glad I found this website! You've all been a huge help!

 

Tracy

[muddyfamily]

You can have 5 people in the rooms on the Carnival Fantasy class ships. We have friends that did 5 in an inside room on the Fascination, and they got the room for a super great price. Hope you find something that works for you and your budget :)

[MamaParrotHead]

We cruise Carnival. Roughly, our budget for our family of four (7 day sailing), though we still book two cabins (connecting ocean view cabins) is about $4000. That's with airfare ($1000), precruise hotel stay ($150), snacks/meals in the airport/s, transportation to/from airport-hotel/hotel-port/port-airport, spending money onboard (pictures, drinks, babysitting fees a few nights, supper club for adults one night, tips, etc.), spending money in port (shopping, snacks, taxis, excursions), EVERYTHING. That ofcourse could be altered in almost every way, depending on your spending habits. We sailed last November (week after Thanksgiving) for $389 pp on a 7 day sailing.

[cruiserjt]

We cruise with family of four - last year we had a connecting room on the Carnival Legend that was a balcony connecting with an inside. Perfect for kids - around $2200 for the four of us. We discovered while booking our 14 DAY HOLIDAY CRUISE(!!) that it would be only $300 more for the connecting oceanview room on Celebrity. (total $5100) Two bathrooms, TV, closets..... etc. and maybe even a little privacy! Just be sure to request 'connecting' not adjoining. Enjoy!

[Bound4Bermuda]

I agree with the suggestion that you can just go with the per person rate and multiply it by 5. Also add on a couple hundred extra per person for tax/port fees--that little add on of $200/person that they don't tell you about until they're totaling up the price, just raised my family of 5 another $1,000. Your cheapest bet is to get two adjoining inside cabins. Your 5th person (who would be the third person in one of the rooms) will be charged a slightly lower price. This is much more economical than getting a large family suite, in which all five of you will be charged a much higher suite rate. My family of five just did Royal Caribbean Explorer of the Seas 5-day from Bayonne to Bermuda for $3,500 (including gratuities of about $50/per person, or $9.75/pp/night). But since it's the end of October, the rates were cheaper than the peak times of spring break or summer. Probably a reasonable amount to budget would be $4,500--give or take depending on what you spend on excursions, drinks, and other extras.

[Redsfan]

we booked with Carnival Destiny for our November Cruise, and will break down our up front costs below. We are Canadian:

 

Flight for 4 adults, 1 lap baby out of Buffalo: $850 U.S.D

5 Night Eastern Caribben Cruise-Oceanview Room for 5: $1440 U.S.D

 

Tips, soda's, excursions extra of course. We booked Early Saver and paid something like $279 for the first two in our cabin, than a reduced rate for the next 3. Yes, we paid for the Infant..